Knowledge and Knowledge

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Good guess, I think. See if this makes any sense--

"Buddhists understand life as samsara, meaning perpetual wandering, and describe the transition like a billiard ball hitting another billiard ball. While nothing physical transfers, the speed and direction of the second ball relate directly to the first. So the term most often used is rebirth, rath ...[text shortened]... y, or dependant origination, where this arises because of circumstances which happened before."

So I've got my own soul but my life starts off on a particular direction because some random chap before me ended his life in some other direction?

Originally posted by lucifershammer
So I've got my own soul but my life starts off on a particular direction because some random chap before me ended his life in some other direction?

No, you don't have a soul 🙂

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
No, you don't have a soul 🙂

That sucks.

Originally posted by Halitose
That sucks.

Why?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Why?

No eternal existence. :'(

Originally posted by Halitose
No eternal existence. :'(

There IS eternal existence in buddhism. If you kill your ego the new you will live forever!😀🙂😲

Getting back to "knowledge" vs"knowledge".
If an ancient text was discovered that claimed to contain truth and a school of men interpreted the text to reach a certain understanding and further declared that their interpretation was the correct one, they could claim that any different interpretion was in error because it disagreed with their interpretation, which they have declared to be the correct interpretation.
Sounds dodgy.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
--which brings about an end to suffering. The Four Noble Truths speak of suffering; the Eight-Fold Path speaks of ending suffering.

(Question for you--I'm told that Buddhists prefer to talk about rebirth rather than reincarnation. Why?)

Edit for Freaky:

"The eightfold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Ri ...[text shortened]... dfulness, and Right Concentration." (http://www.acay.com.au/~silkroad/buddha/p_path_frames.htm)

Right understanding, et al.
Anyone eliminated from getting on that ride?

Originally posted by KneverKnight
Getting back to "knowledge" vs"knowledge".
If an ancient text was discovered that claimed to contain truth and a school of men interpreted the text to reach a certain understanding and further declared that their interpretation was the correct one, they could claim that any different interpretion was in error because it disagreed with their interpretation, which they have declared to be the correct interpretation.
Sounds dodgy.

Sounds like you came across a copy of the Book of Mormon?

Originally posted by LordOfTheChessboard
There IS eternal existence in buddhism. If you kill your ego the new you will live forever!😀🙂😲

I liked the old me better. 😵

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Right understanding, et al.
Anyone eliminated from getting on that ride?

Nobody's excluded.

Originally posted by Halitose
I liked the old me better. 😵

You only get to be you once. That's the rules. Next time, you have to be you, and that only once. After that, if you haven't become you yet, you will only have a few more chances at becoming so.
If, at the end of your you opportunities, if you have not become you, you are you forever, living in the regret that you never knew yourself.
Good luck, now get going, you.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Right understanding, et al.
Anyone eliminated from getting on that ride?

As far as I know, no one is prevented.
On the other hand, your present beliefs may bar you.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
Nobody's excluded.

If no one is excluded, how is the final conclusion decided, i.e., what is the factor which determines a person has arrived at the intended (?) state?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Sounds like you came across a copy of the Book of Mormon?

I didn't have that in mind.
🙂