Let me make it clear that I am not Buddhist, but I have always believed in a happy medium. The way to get through life is to be a good person and to have balance. I don't like to speak in absolutes.
I'll give you a few quotes from Karen Armstrong's book so you can read for yourself what I liked about the book.
"Gotama was developing what he called a "Middle Way," which shunned physical and emotional self-indulgence on the one hand, and extreme asceticism (which could be just as destructive) on the other." Page 71
The Buddha went from one extreme to the other before he found his own version of how to live life.
"The Buddha always insisted that his disciples test everything he taught them against their own experience and take nothing on hearsay." Page 101
Listening is different than following. You can listen to a person or idea, but flat out following without using your own brain to calculate whether the facts add up is harmful.
I marked many more passages, but I don't want this to turn into a religious debate. I did not read the book for the religion, I read it for the knowledge. Now I understand something else about the world that I didn't before.
1 comment:
buddhism is something i've long wanted to learn more about! i'm adding it to my own list as it's time i finally do it.
i tend to stay away from talking about religion for many reasons: i'm rather ignorant about most, actually all, religions, i don't want to offend anyone, and it's just such a controversial subject. but you seem to have the same understanding as i do: i could never be one religion as i truly don't think only ONE could encompass someone's entire belief system. instead, i like the idea of taking bits and pieces from different religions and using what makes sense and works for YOU.
anyway, that's my two cents :P
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