Due to constant misunderstanding with my name I feel the need to change my intro. I am hateful, hateful of religion. I hate what religion does to people and that people use it as an excuse to not think. I have spent many years of my life as an Atheist and have learned to handle my emotions, but no other word quite describes how I feel towards religion short of hate. I am outspoken, open minded, and will share my opinion. If you're looking for someone who will always agree with you, that won't be me.
The Out Campaign: Scarlet Letter of Atheism
(Ricky Gervais is my icon photo, I seem to be asked a lot.) Follow HatefulAtheist on Twitter

5th November 2010

Question with 8 notes

Anonymous asked: What do you think of Buddhism? It actually has no gods.

Buddhism is actually the Eastern religion that I am most familiar with. I spent quite a bit of time learning about Buddhism and really enjoyed it. For those unfamiliar with Buddhism I’m not going to give a lengthy explanation but the ideas of suffering leading to existence, suffering being the cause of existence, and using meditation to break free of this cycle were all very interesting ideas. I spent many many hours meditating which was often very relaxing and helped me feel at ease. It helped me get through some rough times in my life as well with relative tranquility and acceptance. It also happened to coincide with a period where I experimented a lot with psilocybin mushrooms and the two definitely had a synergy. Buddhism is at it’s heart a very peaceful religion, and honestly is unlike Islam or Christianity who likes to claim they are well still wiping the blood off their hands.

I have always been a huge fan of Buddhist art work and design. I don’t know why but it has always been visually appealing to me and is probably my favorite style. I have a large stone wheel of life that is hand carved and extremely impressive. My favorite picture in my house came from Tibet (via Ebay). It shows a multi-face and multi-armed Buddhist deity in yab yum and standing on the backs of slaves well meditating Buddha sit in the clouds around him. It’s fairly typical style of Buddhist art and is hand painted on a silk screen, it is a really amazing picture to just look at, but I have always seen it somewhat symbolic of all religion in general which is why it’s hanging in my bedroom. Some big monstrous multi-visaged image of God standing on the back of humanity, deistic oppression. Although Buddhism does not have a creator God it does still have an extensive list of deities all with their various responsibilities and symbolism.

I suppose what lead me to not continue down the path of Buddhism is the fact that it made me feel like I was half in reality. Sort of like a mental Amish so to speak. I would spend hours and hours meditating, and although it was relaxing and something I enjoyed it accomplished nothing practical. I would cut short time sleeping, with friends, doing other activities in order to meditate. I eventually had to come to a decision, if I wanted to focus on my life and spend time on the real and tangible aspects of life or spend half of it in a state of semi-consciousness probing the depths of my mind. Not necessarily able to know if what I was feeling, thinking, or experiencing was real of just a product of my own imagination. I do still use meditation techniques at times to relax and calm myself, but I don’t devote nearly the time I used to. Fully devoting your life to Buddhism like the old ways, shaving your head, putting on the robes, and taking your rice bowl to beg for food is just not a realistic way to live in modern America.

Really there is not a lot negative that I can say about Buddhism. It is something that is truly peaceful, the worst I can say about someone that devoted their life to is that they probably have little to no clue about the current state of the world or what is happening in it. They live a life of half reality and half fantasy. The Dalai Lama is a bit of an exception to that, but he is allowed special exception with his lineage of reincarnation, if you accept that of course. I do greatly appreciate the quote floating around from his Twitter, “I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion.” Thank you for the question because I am personally quite fond of Buddhism, although it’s not the life for me.

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  1. hatefulatheist posted this