nirvnail

Is it possible to have a non-theistic (non-religious) form of Buddhism- devoid of all dogma and superstition- as a moral foundation for a society?

keyser_soze

Find those principals that are devoid of religious connotation, and use them. But is buddhism really a religion anyway? It would appear to be more a lifestyle....

Vitalij

This is Moral-Ethical Communism. You can read about it in the book "CYNICISM OF COSMIC WISDOM" and on other pages of the shock-site.

Have a pleasant reading and afterwards!

Vitalij
shock-site "Earth - the planet of biorobots"

Farren

Personally I think its not only possible but I for one would quite enjoy living in such a society. Not only does buddhism have a reletavistic and adaptive view of morality, but it actually extends moral reasoning and theory beyond the traditional western philosphical discourse in sophisticated ways.

Taoism in some ways extends a lot of buddhist principles even further and would also be a great start.

And I think Vitalij is a troll.

Seraphim

Taoism in some ways extends a lot of buddhist principles even further and would also be a great start.

Toaism is NOT about Buddhism ... It just adds concepts such as meditations, spirituality etc into the picture when Buddhism arrived to China.

Nowhere357

What concepts do you think might belong in this moral foundation?

Are any of those concepts found in other philosophy/religions?

I think finding the common threads may be a good idea.

nirvnail

The three basic concepts in the moral foundation of buddhism is:

1. The basis for all morals is based on minimizing suffering in all sentient beings :

Beings likely to have some form of consciousness and the ability to feel pain... both physical and psychological (For those who dispute how we can tell what is and what is not "sentient"....It can now be determined objectively, modern biology determines which beings have pain by the existence of a nervous system, psychological distress can be reasonably measured through hormonal levels... The existence of specific nervous systems/hormonal systems indicates consciousness for people who accept modern science... For those who don't, they might as well have religious superstition...

RANT: It is fairly obvious that animals feel pain and distress and have a consciousness... but some people like to make arguments about how humans have a superior consciousness and cannot be compared to animals so that they dont have to draw their arbitrary moral boundaries to include animals. Some people don't include "inferior" peoples in their moral systems. Some people exclude the opposite sex. I've always thought these aribitrary moral boundaries were to make oneself feel naturally superior so that one group could guiltlessly dominate another, and have no logical basis--- How do we meause "superior consciousness".. Am I superior to a mentally handicapped person and therefore can exclude them from my moral system? Some animals have measurably higher IQs than some people... but anyway.. Apathy is easier for the majority.

2.There is/are path(s) that lead to the least amounting of suffering.

3.The path involves awareness (enlightenment) for how oneself effects it's surroundings and compassion for all sentient beings

Nowhere357

The Buddha rocks. He's easier to hear than Jesus, and makes more sense.

I also agree with your rant.

Now will someone list the main tenets of Taoism, especially zen taoism?

nirvnail

I am not really sure what taoism is all about. I know that they use the yin-yang, just like buddhism, to represent a "spiritual balance" between several things: masculinity-feminity, good-evil, self-other.. etc.

I think there is a bit of superstition in taoism, they sometimes talk about spirits

I also forgot to mention a few key concepts of buddhism:

--All suffering is caused by desire. Desire itself is a form of discontent and even after getting what one desires, one continues to desire, because all pleasure is temporary. Also different beings desires are mutually exclusive: getting what one desires can cause another to lose what they desire and suffer. Only when there is no desire for change can one be content.
Theravada buddhists believe in ending suffering for oneself and finding nirvana. I dont really believe it is possible to end suffering completely (Is it possible to lose the desire to lose desire?) so I follow the mahayana path, which searches for enlightenment to minimize, rather than end, suffering for all sentient beings.

Zen is the Japanese form of buddhism and is harder to understand. Key concepts in zen are oneness of all things at the same time as each thing being distinct. Everything is meaningless and meaningful. Differentiation of things into individuals is seen as an illusion at the same time as a reality. The self does not really exists because.. everything is one, yet our consciousness separates life into self and non-self. Zen buddhist talk about grasping emptiness. I dont think I can explain it very well myself. It is all abstract and contradictory and doesnt seem to make sense at first, but sometimes I can grasp it-- just random times -- when I'm doing something without thought, like walking outside. When I feel I understand, everything seems to make perfect sense, everything in life seems to have a perfect place and I feel at peace regardless of all the suffering. These are what people call "moments of zen" but for me, they are rare and brief. Usually I have no choice but to focus on practical things.

Nowhere357

I know what you are talking about. When we notice the feeling, we try to grasp it and it's gone. It apparently can't be thought about - only experienced.

Thanks for the thoughtful post. I may stop wasting time on the Christian boards, and go study Buddhism and zen. There is something going on here that resonates with me.

There are a lot of sites on the subject. What do you recommend?