Another issue is projecting nothingness as something that Monadists (as terms of "Atman is Brahman" folks like people of Hinduism and Neoplatonists tend to do). To be succinct - we exist for God's/Krsna's joy. What possible goal could exist in such a mega-context? Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the doctrines of the Buddha, a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries BCE. Why do electrons jump back after absorbing energy and moving to a higher energy level? When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually Thanks for contributing an answer to Buddhism Stack Exchange! Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. And as long as one has not completely uprooted them, s/he will continue to wander in Samsara's 6 realms of existence. discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not The Buddha taught that humans suffer because we continually strive after things that do not give lasting happiness. Why would existence remove my knowledge after reicarnation? The religion of Buddhism has a very different approach to that of Catholicism, in which the main goal of followers of the Buddhist faith is to escape the suffering which exists in the world. If you do not follow the faith, you would never know. Which interestingly matches with Dante's Inferno, The divine comedy. It’s not really fair or even meaningful to equate attachments and there forces to sin. Getting to the BIG why question - we exist for joy - but that joy cannot be realized independently. Why is there ignorance and learning? It comes from ignorance and it causes a state of suffering and dissatisfaction. We have to face reality squarely, and we have to do it alone. Plato and the majority of Greek philosophers went with the same logic, most popular being the allegory of the Cave. With about 470 million followers, scholars consider Buddhism one … I know how much he stated about reasons why we should not exist such as Nirvana being the highest goal to escape from the karma bond!! They seem a little bit like magic words – that all we have to do is recite them a million times and all our problems will be gone. Samsara in Buddhism can be overcome by following the Buddhist path and improving your karma. More fundamentally, we can't talk about a beginning to this chain of causes and effects, either because we don't know about that (which is the common Theravada approach), or because there simply is no beginning (which is broadly the Mahayana approach). Buddhism's philosophy revolves around the concept to be free from reincarnation. This is primarily the part that creates the confusion, because a rational person would think that if you recall past life (or lives), then that must have been “themselves” in … First up: Theravada Buddhism. Anatta also means objective reality or what is not Self or what is other than the Self. Buddhism does attempt to answer why we exist now, and what comes next, though its answers are at best very complex, and at worst, ambiguous and inconsistent. Why is Buddhism a thing, if it's MY choice to suffer or not to suffer? Buddhism (/ ˈ b ʊ d ɪ z əm /, US: / ˈ b uː d-/) is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. While Buddhism is a tradition focused on spiritual liberation, it is not a theistic religion. Why are we here? Where do we come from and where are we going? Sin is a very Abrahamic concept that does not equate to the forces that keep us within suffering. Why is there cause and effect? This isn’t just a religious belief; deep down, we all believe we have a soul. Buddhism is Not Controversial . IN the beginning, two chapters the teachings clearly say that there are some 7-8 maaras (or sins) that come in the form of lust, hunger, thirst, mocking the supreme, harming others, anger, ignorance of self, sloth, doubts and negative emotions are few sins I Can remember. Would it break things to allow a Barbarian to cast spells in rage? Consciousness feels the body rather than the ego. Theravada Buddhism: The School of the Elders. Study pinpoints places people are most likely to get COVID-19. Book about an AI that traps people on a spaceship. Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia, and, beginning in the 20th century, it spread to the West. We are part of all this progression, links in the chain. No more.• This is the dilemma Christians often run into. I'm stuck on this for now ...does the Buddha say anything about why we exist ( mankind ? By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Here's a sub search for "why do we exist": https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/search?q=why+do+we+exist&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all. I have many thoughts but I’m at work so that’s all I can say in this moment. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. It remains one of the most perplexing unexplained mysteries of the universe. We all ponder this question. Earlier this morning I started reading Buddhism ( not biased, although later I Am thinking of reading new and old testament too). Why do you think? There are many different types of Buddhism, including Zen, Thai Forest Tradition, and Pure Land Buddhism. Do you think we have enough Buddhism in our life?• You should take what you need from Buddhism. Buddhism Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people practicing or interested in Buddhist philosophy, teaching, and practice. Why now do you assume 'a being'? The Buddhists do not believe that the world was created, rather it has simply existed forever and continues to recreate itself. Why do we exist? So, if ‘reincarnation’ or ‘transmigration’ doesn’t exist in Buddhism, then why do Buddhists talk about past life experiences? Which is to say that another reply could be: why do I exist? What is the term for diagonal bars which are making rectangular frame more rigid? But Buddhism does not teach there is no existence at all. No one can do it for you. Re: Why do we exist? Buddhism teachings state that the world is in a constant state of Samsara, meaning the continued repetition of birth and death. I can answer your question with questions. In Buddhist teaching, the reason Samsara exists is that people fixate on themselves and their experiences. Finally, new Buddhist communities have established roots in areas where Buddhism disappeared many centuries ago or did not exist at all before the mid-19th century. It is important to be mindful of framing here, for many different reasons. CTR's answer seemed brilliantly obvious to me, yet I had never thought of it. But. 1) We are born and reborn again and again because we don't know the true nature of reality that there is no animal, person, self, he, she, or we. Generally, people think Buddhism is not a religion because it has a lot of philosophy. are some subjects that prevent me from reaching the truth... then why the supreme lord/ universe created these sins in the first place? He basically questioned his … Buddhism Today. It and all that is in it exists for the joy and play of God. … We simply are. In that sense, you could say we exist because of what we did, said and thought before, maybe many lifetimes before. But either way, these ideas give a whole new meaning to the phrase "Thanks for nothing". As yet we don't have hard evidence that other universes exist. Please share your views on this. 5. Second there doesn’t need to be a supreme force, one thing to look into is the Buddhist concept of emptiness. Which is perhaps why I fell into an acute depression at the age of 27, and didn't recover for several years. Human nature is illustrated by the Buddhist teaching of dependent origination, or arising, which shows how poisonous mental states give rise to suffering. When the Big Bang occurred, equal parts of both should have been … Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. Philosophically, according to the Buddhist traditions, there is no purpose ordained by a higher power (as there is no higher power). Path to the cessation of suffering (Magga) The final Noble Truth is the Buddha's prescription for the … That's just an ego story. In this view, even to reflect on the question of whether one has or does not have a self leads to identification with a self, or perhaps an identification with nihilism. Your karma and afflictions do not come from some creator god. I thought there is no "Me", I thought that the purpose of Buddhism was to let go of identity. In which case, the question is again moot. And as long as one has not completely uprooted them, s/he will continue to wander in Samsara's 6 realms of existence. Anatta is the Pali or the crude version of the Sanskrit word, Anatma, meaning Not-Self. When the mind is free from 'self-view', 'existence' will cease. How did this material world come into existence if the ultimate reality is voidness? And our existence is part of a long chain of creation which is probably infinite. Buddhism and Jainism evince a shared belief in the existence of geographical regions beyond the parameters of Bharatavarsha, access to which could not be gained by ordinary human beings. Maybe we live in a difficult "immature" reality, where life is difficult until a more mature, stable and relaxed state is achieved, at which time life will make more sense. The first gives rise to many ethical problems. 'Existence' ('bhava') is a mental 'view' ('ditthi'). People who break the rules will always exist – but for hundreds of Buddhist communities around the world, the system of mutual dependence is a really important part of Buddhist spirituality. When later asked why, he said that to hold either that there is a self or that there is no self is to fall into extreme forms of wrong view that make the path of Buddhist practice impossible." No matter if it’s rebirth in our current life (“moment to moment”), or the continuous cycle of life and death , we can escape it and the Buddha gave us the foundation of this liberation with his instructions listed in the Noble Eightfold Path . Nobody makes us. No reasons can be given, in the same way that we cannot find a meaning to it all. It's like asking what's north of north pole. The only way to transcend the state of relativity and experience the state of absoluteness, is to understand, grasp and experience the nature of dependent-origination. Essentially, Samsara is life on earth, filled with sorrow and pain. Buddhism is famous for being the one major world religion with the most followers which is not a God based religion. Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the doctrines of the Buddha, a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries BCE. God,souls and matter have existed for all eternity and will continue to exist for all eternity(in monistic schools,the soul merges with God during Salvation,but in this case,the soul was never non different from God anyway). I read a bit of Socrates and Hegel's interpretation last night, the notes clearly said there are two truths, one a particular truth and second the universal truth. At the one-minute mark in the trailer, the character Kazuhira "Kaz" Miller says, "Why are we still here? Real joy requires relationship - love. [27] Existence is, and is the way it is – it is a given. So in a coconut shell if all the conditioned phenonminon were to uproot negative stimulus ..greed ..anger so forth then we would cease to exist, strange !! Also read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/ir9p5t/the_big_picture_according_to_buddhism_and_how_it/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share. The Buddha teaches that what we call ego, self, soul, personality, etc., are merely conventional terms that do not refer to any real, independent entity. In that sense we exist because mistakenly think we do. sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right Buddhism does not accept either of these explanations. But these are not doctrines of non-existence. And sadly, we do so mostly unsuccessfully. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Therefore, the question, why do I exist because I exist, is invalid. this not an anwser but my point of view. Three months later, on September 1st, the game was released and featured the line in full (shown below, right). A similar form of functional … And who's or what's purpose would it be, given that all existence has been sacrificed to achieve that purpose? So in our particular case, the reason we, mankind, still exists is because the conditions to our existence, the 3 unwholesome roots of greed, hatred, and ignorance, still exist. Why do we exist? At least not as what I think I am! I heard an interview with Rigdzin Shikpo awhile back where he told about asking that question of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. Buddhists Believe in Reincarnation. it's a quest. is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world We simply are. Where do we come from and where are we going? A soul is considered to be something at our core that is single, independent, and unchanging. Buddhism: An Introduction. Buddhism does not accept either of these explanations. Feel free to reach through inbox too, if you'd like. And there must be something magical about all these figures with all the arms and legs. So in our particular case, the reason we, mankind, still exists is because the conditions to our existence, the 3 unwholesome roots of greed, hatred, and ignorance, still exist. Or, because Buddhists do not solicit for followers. Sameasu, shouldn't be too strange. By … Anatta represents all that exists outside the Self or other than the Self. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. A person can only keep getting reborn if there's still kamma driven by the 3 unwholesome roots. doesn't really make sense from a Buddhist point of view. With the fast pace and high stress of modern life many people are becoming interested in the peaceful philosophy of Buddhism. It is more like a state of existence. Why do we exist? There’s no one who’s going to do it for us, no place we can hide out for safety. According to Buddhism, the reality of life is dependent originated. The trailer (shown below, left) has been viewed more than 2.6 million times. How could God allow tragedy? And we only screw it up by skinning our own knees. That works too. Practically, no one really knows anyway, so stop worrying about it. We experience suffering and happiness. In Buddhism, there is no problem of evil. We desperately try to hold on to things - friends, health, material things - that do not last, and this causes sorrow. Everything can just be what it’s latent potential is. And to believe that you do exist as a self is a serious, albeit common, pathology. Why is there time? The various schools of Buddhism understand nirvana in different ways, but they generally agree that nirvana is not a place. Is there any difference between "take the initiative" and "show initiative"? The roots of Anatta or Anatma are not in Buddhism or in the teachings of the Buddha, but in the asce… rev 2021.1.8.38287, The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Buddhism Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us. Another answer you could give, looking through the lense of the teachings of dependent origination, is that all our experiences are fundamentally caused by unawareness (or ignorance, avidya in Sanskrit). So if the sole purpose of my existence is to know the absolute truth and if the universe has given me this life to know this truth, then why these sins exist in the first place? Why do Buddhists argue that nirvana is nothing in addition to the skandhas? Selecting ALL records when condition is met for ALL records only. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Only Christianity offers satisfying answers for all of these important questions. We are closer to atheists than God based religions. Suffering is a normal part of life, but the nature of suffering is determined by how one responds to it. Buddhists often refer to themselves as ‘practicing’ because living morally is a question of practice – something you get better at with time. Philosophically, according to the Buddhist traditions, there is no purpose ordained by a higher power (as there is no higher power). While Buddhism does not argue that gods don’t exist, gods are seen as completely irrelevant to those who strive for enlightenment. Ultimately, our experiences are directly or indirectly the fruit of our karmas, our intentional actions. Atheism in Buddhism, Jainism ... that can be reborn, they do not believe in a divine creator. Buddhism never claimed that the world, sun, moon, stars, wind, water, days and nights were created by a powerful god or by a Buddha. The Buddha says that we suffer because of our own ignorance or the ignorance of a past life - i.e. And so the reason to our existence, not just mankind but pretty much all conditioned phenomena is that the condition or the root cause for that existence still exists. Rather, they teach that we understand existence in a limited, one-sided way. It originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th … This paper explains the Buddhist concept of suffering (dukkha) and its relation to the Christian problem of evil.Although there is no problem of evil in Buddhism, the Buddhist understanding of the origin and causes of suffering will help us to find new approaches to the problem of evil. Comes lust/greed for things which creates pleasant feelings. ... ceases to exist. No God, supreme force, creator in Buddhism. There is no supreme force with some sort of independent agency. In India , for example, the Mahar Buddhist community established by B.R. I mean even if I know I Am supposed to be studying/ doing something to travel on the path of the truth, then why do I or anyone encounters these sins or allurements? Origin of evil, unwholesome qualities can be answered, it is ignorance. In other words, how should we live? This paper explains the Buddhist concept of suffering (dukkha) and its relation to the Christian problem of evil. And so they look to Buddhism as a method for gaining happiness and so on through these, as I said, magical type of methods. Woman: We exist first. With the roots of greed, hatred, delusion comes the whole mass of unwholesome qualities. Re: Why do we exist? Because it is said that the cycle of life is suffering. [26] Karakandu, a Pratyekabuddha in both Jainism and Buddhism, is a rare personality that is shared between Jainism and Buddhism. 2500 years ago Buddha himself said, "I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. We have taken rebirth in samsaric bodies due to our karma and afflictions. In terms of 'physical life', this comes from the elements & from mother & father. 1. That's all I teach” (BBC, 2009). Read More: Dependent Origination He said there can't be any purpose because if there were, each moment would be prostituted to the next. does not occur to one. Although there is no problem of evil in Buddhism, the Buddhist understanding of the origin and causes of suffering will help us to find new approaches to the problem of evil. How do I hang curtains on a cutout like this? The "nothing exists" folklore mostly comes from a misunderstanding of the teaching of anatta and its Mahayana extension, shunyata. https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/ir9p5t/the_big_picture_according_to_buddhism_and_how_it/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share, https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/search?q=why+do+we+exist&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all. — In Propositional Logic. The first one isn't good, the second one is. site design / logo © 2021 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. Updated January 19. and by observing the suffering we are bound to observe the happiness. In ancient Hinduism, the soul was called the atman and the basic Buddhist view was described as anatman—no soul. But don’t be fooled. Do you think Santi Asoke people really understand Buddhism?• They have their own style of Buddhism• There is no wrong way to practice Buddhism.• But I like some styles of Buddhism more than others. In the magestic elephant, in the freedom of the birds, in the cleverness of a parasite, in the persistence to exist in uniqueness. Socrates says we know a particular truth and yet we accept the universal truth without any questions asked. Theravada, the School of the Elders, is the oldest school of Buddhism. The typical answer is because he allows free will. When a microwave oven stops, why are unpopped kernels very hot and popped kernels not hot? Thought it was a very well articulated and sensible perspective on Kriya Yoga. The way Buddhism posits it that there are results/symptoms of ignorance. Just to suffer?" Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Buddhism: An Introduction. Buddhism's philosophy revolves around the concept to be free from reincarnation. Due to ignorance, delusion that self exist takes hold. Buddhism as a whole is an answer to that. Why is there chaos and order? Why do we exist in the first place? Well, I don't. of Buddhism. Although there is no problem of evil in Buddhism, the Buddhist understanding of the origin and causes of suffering will help us to find new approaches to the problem of evil. The path of Buddhist practice aims to be a successful attempt at eliminating dukkha. Why do we exist? If you want to say it in an incredibly wishy-washy, and mostly metaphysically wrong, way: the universe hasn't given you a job. Today, we’re going to cover the three main schools of Buddhism. All beings strive to avoid pain, and to experience joy. In Buddhism, the primary purpose of life is to end suffering. That's all I teach” (BBC, 2009). Of course, when asking why we exist, we could also take a sort of Dzogchen-, Mahamudra-, Zen-like approach and try to see who's asking. We are Buddhist, and there are certain religious aspects to it. I mean if lust, anger, self-doubts, sloth, inactivity, pessimism etc. However, the Buddha also said that anything we might say or imagine about nirvana would be wrong because it is utterly different from our ordinary existence. Monk: We exist – that’s already a given. It's encouraging to think we might be important workers helping some kind of Ultimate Glory Being, but there's no basis for such a belief. How can you determine the result of a load-balancing hashing algorithm (such as ECMP/LAG) for troubleshooting? We were created by God, and exist for Him (Colossians 1:16). How do I properly tell Microtype that `newcomputermodern` is the same as `computer modern`? 1) We are born and reborn again and again because we don't know the true nature of reality that there is no animal, person, self, he, she, or we. It only takes a minute to sign up. All of history and reality would be merely a playing out of a master scheme to achieve a specific goal. are some subjects that prevent me from reaching the truth... then why the supreme lord/ universe created these sins in the first place? If we behave we'll get eternal happiness... That's a child's version of spirituality. If you’re reading this blog right now, you’ve certainly pondered this question—and perhaps you’re hoping for some answers. The Angry Buddhist. You exist in this realm as a bunch of atoms put together flowing through time space. Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. 2500 years ago Buddha himself said, "I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. Why do we exist? occur to one. We don't have to practice it. So we suffer because we are ignorant. So if the sole purpose of my existence is to know the absolute truth and if the universe has given me this life to know this truth, then why these sins exist in the first place?