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**Sydneyfonzi** · 04-10-2010, 04:22 AM

An interesting article by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche published in the Washington Post:

The Buddha wasn't a Buddhist

Just some advertising by another guru.

Just a kind of self-administered psychotherapy.

The Buddha taught faith as a spiritual power plus wisdom.

If things like the five precepts, greed, hatred & delusion, impermanence & unsatisfactoriness must be questioned then a little self-administered psychotherapy is useful.

Sit in meditation and watch our mind's own suffering because that is the fruit for those attracted to such teachings as Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

But the Buddha said the following:
It is in dependence on me as an admirable friend that beings subject to birth have gained release from birth, that beings subject to aging have gained release from aging, that beings subject to death have gained release from death, that beings subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair have gained release from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. The Buddha was certainly a Dhammist and his disciples where certainly Buddhists. They walked the path directly, straightforwardly. As soon as they heard the teaching, they applied it.

The Buddha taught the Dhamma so we would not have to replicate his search.

Religion, on the other hand, often provides us with answers to life's big questions from the start.

He saw beyond all belief systems to the profound reality of the mind itself -- a state of clear awareness and supreme happiness. Another guru stuck in infatuation with consciousness, who has not sought to verify the big questions the buddha answered.

Just half of the journey really.

This is what happens when one does not rely on an appropriate guide or map.

04-10-2010, 04:22 AM	#13
Sydneyfonzi Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 652 Senior Member	An interesting article by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche published in the Washington Post: The Buddha wasn't a Buddhist Just some advertising by another guru. Just a kind of self-administered psychotherapy. The Buddha taught faith as a spiritual power plus wisdom. If things like the five precepts, greed, hatred & delusion, impermanence & unsatisfactoriness must be questioned then a little self-administered psychotherapy is useful. Sit in meditation and watch our mind's own suffering because that is the fruit for those attracted to such teachings as Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. But the Buddha said the following: It is in dependence on me as an admirable friend that beings subject to birth have gained release from birth, that beings subject to aging have gained release from aging, that beings subject to death have gained release from death, that beings subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair have gained release from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. The Buddha was certainly a Dhammist and his disciples where certainly Buddhists. They walked the path directly, straightforwardly. As soon as they heard the teaching, they applied it. The Buddha taught the Dhamma so we would not have to replicate his search. Religion, on the other hand, often provides us with answers to life's big questions from the start. He saw beyond all belief systems to the profound reality of the mind itself -- a state of clear awareness and supreme happiness. Another guru stuck in infatuation with consciousness, who has not sought to verify the big questions the buddha answered. Just half of the journey really. This is what happens when one does not rely on an appropriate guide or map.
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