Monday, October 17, 2011 3:49:24 PM
@ almightybob1: while some Buddhists believe in Reincarnation, that's generally because they are from a society where reincarnation was part of the cultural belief system; ie: Tibet.
Most Buddhists do NOT believe in Reincarnation, and a lot of basic Buddhist teaching involves the idea of Anatta or Anatman= no self or no soul, the idea that there is no inherent self or soul that could be reincarnated.
Likwise, there is Heaven and Hell in Buddhism, they are two of the six realms (Heaven, Hell, Human realm, Beast realm, and realms of Hungry Ghosts and Titans), however every Buddhist I`ve met agrees these are meant as psychological metaphor, not faraway places you can actually wind up, literally.
And to reiterate my previous point, there are people who practice both Christianity and Buddhism, and many"Jew-bews" as well.
I say this as a practicing Soto School Zen Buddhist. I reside in a Buddhist temple, took the precepts in 2004, and became a
Monday, October 17, 2011 3:42:49 PM
At Kippran: Many people have been Buddhist and Christian. Thomas Merton was a Catholic Priest and Zen Buddhist, and that's just off the top of my head.