I’ve heard that the story of the Great Flood in the Bible and Quran were taken from stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh, is that true? Is there any writings or evidence to back this up?
The title basically summarizes what I’ve been going through lately, being born into a Muslim family with religious family members while being an Ex-Muslim critical Islam can feel absolutely harrowing something.
For context I also have OCD so this makes things even worse, as someone who has spoken about Islam extensively on Ex-Muslim forums, websites, and servers, I can still feel its grasp on my mind. My OCD now usually takes the form of a religious type of OCD saying that I will “revert to Islam and see the truth”. Now this sounds ridiculous right? That’s because it is, I had someone ask me “what would be so bad to become Muslim again?” Firstly I can’t choose what I believe and secondly if hypothetically Islam were true, all this would say to me is that there is a God who created us solely for his worship as well as there being an eternal hell waiting for disbelievers, that kind of existential dread is horrifying.
My OCD always urges me to watch as many dawah and “Ex-Muslim refutation videos” as possible and when I don’t all it says is that I’m a “jahil stuck in the error of my ways” and how I’m “scared of the truth” or that I’m an “arrogant kafir Islam always says I am”, it then causes me to watch videos critiquing Islam because I worry if I don’t something bad will happen. Rinse and repeat
I think being apart of the LGBTQ community is also shit, when you’re “Muslim” you have been surrounded by people of the same community as you, I’ve had people openly tell me anything out of heterosexuality is “demons” and transgenders are just mentally ill folk, as a bisexual man it makes me think “will I ever be accepted?” Sometimes I feel like I even deserve to be accepted, it’s stupid but I feel like that sometimes.
I think my hatred for Islam and how it affected me affects me everyday, I get frequent anxiety attacks, headaches more often, I can feel my body screaming in agony and I remain silent, masking like everything is fine but it’s not. I am so angry and sad it’s unbearable.
Recently I’ve been seeing some photos of the Genealogy regarding the Prophet Muhammad. At the end it states that Muhammad was relatives with a man named Adnan who was related to Ibrahim and Ishmael. Now I don’t really believe in Ishmael and Ibrahim for starters due to the lack of evidence behind them, nor them building the kaaba but now this has me curious. All I know in regards to this claim is it being stated in Sahih Muslim 2276 where it states
“I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Verily Allah granted eminence to Kinana from amongst the descendants of Isma'il, and he granted eminence to the Quraish amongst Kinana, and he granted eminence to Banu Hashim amonsgst the Quraish, and he granted me eminence from the tribe of Banu Hashim.”
So going back to my next question, is there a chance that Muhammad was genuinely a distant relative to the patriarch figures Ibrahim and Ishmael or is this a later fabrication that became widely known in Islamic tradition?
Have you ever felt the feeling of thinking something, and then all of a sudden you can’t even think of the next work you’re going say? Or feeling like all of your thoughts are messy and incoherent? That’s what I’ve been going through for quite a bit now. If I had to describe how it is for me, I would say it’s like a room and all of the space in that room is representative of critical thinking, and just the ability to think in general, now throw in a massive fucking boulder in there and now that task is 100 times harder for no reason, I could be trying to think and then all of a sudden my next word is gone and I have to actively search for the next thing to say, I could be looking for something online, see a video that distracts me for two seconds and then all of a sudden I forget it outright, it doesn’t help that I already have weird issues going on such as a prominent facial twitch and this constant need to tap my foot and certain amount of times before I can walk, I want to know what’s wrong with me and I fear that it could become a neurological issue that will cause me a lot of pain in the near future, has anyone else dealt with this type of stuff?
I am really scared of sharing my story not because of my OCD itself but because I believe it will reach the wrong audience but I feel really alone and confused so it’s about time I speak up.
I was raised as a Muslim, and began to experience symptoms of OCD at age 14, it ranged from so many subtypes from POCD, Suicidal OCD, and a lesser subtype which was a religious OCD which was an intense fear of becoming a Satanist or worshipping the devil, as a result I rooted myself in prayer, I would pray very frequently hoping it would go away and also believed it was God testing me, eventually I felt my faith drift further and further from me while I was also questioning the religion as a whole but it fell on deaf ears so I left and became an Atheist,
That was 4 years ago, I am now 18, fresh out of High School and heading to University in the fall, in case you’re wondering, my relationship with religion is very different now, I’m no longer and Atheist but I’m not a Muslim either, rather an Agnostic with beliefs that are very similar to Buddhism (yet I’m not sure whether or not to call myself a Buddhist because I cannot believe in certain aspects).
Nowadays I suffer the most with religious OCD, specifically in returning to the religion I used to follow, I believe that it would be akin to forcing myself into following something I just cannot believe, I have a past with the religion and when I try to express it on atheist forums sometimes I would have Muslim lurkers trying to revert me to it, I have thoughts saying that “you just don’t know the truth” or “you are hiding the truth from yourself” or “you are everything the Muslims say a Kafir truly is” so I have to look deep into the reasons I truly don’t believe in the religion and my thoughts go “look at EVERY Muslim video out there talking about the truth and if you don’t you’re not being intellectually honest and hiding the truth”. I feel as thought that this is actively hurting my mental health cause I am plagued with the fear of hell with I’m trying to deal with. Does anyone else deal with something similar?
Hey y’all I’ve recently been chosen to be interviewed for the Halloween Haunt Atmosphere performer for the Tricks and Treats segment of the event, I’ve been hearing there is an audition portion of the event and it’s got me really nervous, I want to know how the interview would go and what to expect, let me know soon
My sense of self and view of myself [18M] has always been quite flawed to be honest with you. I don’t know why but for whatever reason I feel as though I was born to kind of be the human representation of what NOT to be, in my case that would be a loser, nerd, etc. I perceived myself as lesser than others and the fact that I was a sensitive child who used to have paper thin skin did not help at all. I swear it felt like I could hear every mean and negative comment reverberate through my head like someone yelling in an empty cave and hearing their echo bounce off the walls.
High School came along and oh boy was it pretty shitty, around the 9th grade due to my behaviour and mannerisms, I was kind of mocked relentlessly and was just constantly disrespected and made fun of, people would laugh at me thinking I was weird, autistic, some people genuinely believed I gave off “school shooter vibes”. People literally excused my behaviour with the phrase “because your (insert my name here)” I was thought of so lowly that my very existence alone with sufficient reason enough for mockery.
This kind of caused this deep seeded complex built up of inferiority towards others, I always have a presupposes notion that people believe that I am mentally stunted, stupid, weak and the feelings of powerless you feel from it are unbearable, imagine being in the most anger and agony ever and you blow into a meltdown and in response a whole crowd is either looking at you like a parent waiting for their child to stop having a temper tantrum while the other half is laughing their ass off at the sight of you. I want to respect myself, I want others to respect me. All I really wanted was for people to say “hey, that guys intelligent, and great” and not think I’m some bottom of the barrel retard and I don’t know how to do that. How? How can I love myself?
Hello everyone. I’ve been looking deeply into Buddhist theology before I decide to convert. Recently I’ve been noticing some things in the theology that just don’t sit right with me. For context I am a man but I hold women in a deep regard in terms of respect just as every person should so this still rubbed me off the wrong way.
The first thing that threw me off is the teaching that only men can be Sammasambuddha, Sakka, Brahma, Mara, or Wheel Turning Monarch as stated in Bahudatuka Sutta MN 115 which reads:
“He understands: ‘It is impossible, it cannot happen that a woman could be an Accomplished One, a Fully Enlightened One—there is no such possibility.’ And he understands: ‘It is possible that a man might be an Accomplished One, a Fully Enlightened One—there is such a possibility.’ He understands: ‘It is impossible, it cannot happen that a woman could be a Wheel-turning Monarch…that a woman could occupy the position of Sakka [66]…that a woman could occupy the position of Māra…that a woman could occupy the position of Brahmā—there is no such possibility.’ And he understands: ‘It is possible that a man might be a Wheel-turning Monarch…that a man might occupy the position of Sakka…that a man might occupy the position of Māra…that a man might occupy the position of Brahmā—there is such a possibility
I understand that women can be enlightened, reach nirvana, become Bodhistvattas but why not a fully realized Buddha without a teacher? The idea that if a woman were to become a Buddha that they would have to be reborn as a man also seems quite weird to me too.
The second thing that threw me off was the inferiority between Buddhist nuns vs monks. This is displayed in the Eight Garudhammas in which nuns must adhere to rules such as paying respect and bowing to a monk ordained on the same day even if the nun has been in that position for 100 years. To me it feels like Monks seem to be socially superior to nuns and once again rubs me the wrong.
How do Buddhist reconcile with these ideas which from atleast my view appear to display women in a position inferior to men. I understand 5th century India was probably quite patriarchal and I understand that Buddhism preaches equality spiritually but these rules feel odd to me. I have heard that these were placed not by the Buddha himself but the monastic order in a later date but that’s just a claim and I want to know if that is true or not because I haven’t looked into it much and am looking into it at face value so I’d love for someone to educate me on the topic. Thank you
It’s gotten me thinking for a while, I feel as though Epic seems to not really care about the other game modes besides OG and Festival and it gets me thinking if eventually it is going to be cancelled or something. With Season X OG starting on the 3rd of September it gets me thinking how they are going to handle it after it ends. During the End event will the servers shut down for a day or two before Chapter 2 Season 1 OG start?
From what I know the main similarities to Yeshua (The Historical Jesus) and Isa (The Islamic Jesus) is that they were both preachers and known to be prophets yet they were different in some ways such as how historically Yeshua was crucified while Isa was taken up to Heaven and replaced by someone else along with Isa speaking perfectly as a baby while also breathing life into clay birds. Were there similarities to their preachings and were there differences too? Let me know
Hello everyone. I’ve been looking to convert to Buddhism for quite some time and have been looking to have some questions answered before I make the big leap.
One major question I had is in connection to Rebirth and how it works in Theravada Buddhism. From what I know when one dies, rebirth is instantaneous and the result of not knowing your past life is just the result of not having the same brain/consciousness to remember that (or at least that’s how I perceive it, perhaps it’s different here).
One question that has been burning inside of me is the idea of coming back from a clinical death. I have heard numerous stories about people who have clinically “died” and came back to report what they saw. Some would say they saw a bright light. Some would say that they saw all of their memories flash before their eyes while others report seeing absolutely nothing.
What does this imply for rebirth that’s supposed to be instant? Shouldn’t a clinical death mean “the end” and on to the next? Or is there something I am missing here? Please let me know. Thanks!
Recently I’ve been feeling like I’m not deserving to call myself Buddhist, I’d say I take refuge in the 3 jewels, aim to follow the 8 fold path, and believe in concepts like karma and rebirth but it’s hard for me to believe in different sorts of concepts such as the 6 realms (outside of a psychological state but not actually a metaphysical one) as well as existence of pretas, devas, asuras etc. Can I still call myself Buddhist if I’m selective with my belief?
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Hello everyone, I have been considering converting to Buddhism for months and I have recently been talking to one of my closest friends who just so happens to be a Muslim. When I tried to explain Buddhism to me he brought up some of his beliefs of the religion.
There is no empirical proof to believe it is true.
He asked me if there is any proof to the claims of Buddhism and I told him that the proof is in the millions of people who have managed to brighten their lives significantly thanks to the teachings of the Buddha, while we can’t physically prove reincarnation and karma (despite it being something I believe in which I came to my own conclusion of), I tried to focus his attention to the psychological impact of the religion which brings me to my next topic.
Buddhism is not a “real religion” because you can pick and choose what you believe in.
In Islam if you choose to believe in the religion, you need to believe in EVERY single aspect of it, no matter how supernatural or conflicting with the natural world it is. I tried to explain the Kalama Sutta to him and how the Buddha said to constantly question and be a hard skeptic (which is why I believe in a literal rebirth and karma, but not much regarding demonology and 6 realms), but he said “you can’t cherry pick and choose what parts you believe in” in a way he’s right but only half, there are some things in the religion you need to believe in like the 4 noble truths, and 8 fold path but the Buddha has always encouraged us to question, and saying that it’s not a real religion is quite rude to be honest.
“Buddhism was created so that Atheists can feel a sense of objective purpose”
This one was not just wrong but flat out disrespectful to me. His logic is that there are Buddhists that are Agnostic/Atheist, he came to the logic that they created the concepts of enlightenment so they can feel a sense of objective purpose that they could get with God. Saying this negates the thousands of Buddhists who are monotheists, polytheists, and Buddhists overall and just displays a strong sense of ignorance of the religion which upsets me, as we debated it seemed like he didn’t seem to understand just the amount of questioning it took me to even consider converting to Buddhism. After that he just tried to explain reasons why Islam made more sense and defended my critiques on Islam (and weirdly criticized me for using Reddit as an external resource).
This bothers me to no end, for context I am an ex member of an Abrahamic religion and highly suggested I spoke to Sheiks to get my questions answered. I just find his way of thinking just an example of a one track mind unable to open up the possibilities to others because his religion doesn’t allow that type of questioning. What do you guys think?
As someone looking to convert to Buddhism, I’m trying to figure out some reasons I believe in the religion, one of those ways is by looking at other people’s perspectives. So tell me, what makes you 100% sure that Buddhism is the right worldview, way of living, and religion?
Before I start this post I just want to say I am not here to challenge or make anyone leave the Buddhist faith. I’m more trying to get a sort of idea of how to understand certain concepts before I decide to convert.
Hello everyone, I have been considering converting to Buddhism for weeks now and want people’s advice on where I should go from it. For context I am an 18 year old male who left my previous religion and was an atheist for a few years. I currently identify as a pure Agnostic which neither leans towards theism nor atheism. Out of curiosity, I wanted to learn to understand different religions, the Abrahamic ones did not really make sense to me so I went looking at the Eastern ones, of them Buddhism caught my eye. Not only did I see the positive impact it had on everyday people’s mental health and way of living, but it also helped me to believe in more supernatural ideas. For example, I fully will say that I believe in the idea of rebirth and reincarnation, not one that is done through a creator god but one that is essentially just a cycle of living, dying and being born again (samsara). The concept just made more sense to me than heaven and hell. I also believed that the teachings of the Buddha to work well on keeping the mind at peace and removing suffering from our everyday lives through the 8 fold path, and precepts of Buddhism. I also have started to believe in the most important teaching of Buddhism, which is Enlightenment, I feel like there are or have been many people who have been enlightened so I believe in that yet there are things I have trouble believing in.
When I said that I believed in more supernatural Buddhist ideas, it didn’t mean everything, I still find parts of Buddhist cosmology to be a bit odd in terms of the 6 realms, I find trouble in believing in devas, titans, and pretas, and in a way kind of interpret it as how Secular Buddhists would view it, which is as psychological states (this is not me saying I’m converting to Secular Buddhism) when I just said I believe in supernatural elements). There is also the question of Karma, I feel like I understand it at least 60% but I have some questions regarding that.
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I also have critiques on the story of Siddhartha Gautama and his origin as a wealthy prince, while there is no historical or archeological evidence of him being a prince, I have heard theories of him still being very rich living in an aristocratic society. Now personally I have heard of the term selective religion where I don’t focus on parts that don’t make sense to me or I don’t believe in and keep the rest and if I convert to Buddhism (considering my questions be answered), I’ll follow the teachings of the Buddha, live on the 8 fold path and live a righteous life while believing in the cycle of samsara while not focusing on parts that are harder for me to belief in, can I do that? Will I be viewed as a “real Buddhist” if I do that? I might make more posts here before I make my decision but I was hoping to get some responses and insights, thanks!
1. Life involves suffering, the end goal is to end suffering - If there's no life without suffering, then isn't the end of suffering also means the end of life? This is just suicidal. Just as boundless freedom is meaningless, so is a life without suffering. Unless you want to transcend into something better. Which is desire.
2. Compassion and love to all beings - but if there is no self, then who loves all living beings? Who gives? And to whom? It literally means nothing. To care, you must want it and mean it, and to mean it you must have a self. Coming full circle, again. Also, why care for something if it’s all just an illusion?
3. "Not this, not that" - you can't negate everything as a stance. A balaced world view is "maybe this, maybe that". You literally stand for nothing.
4. Emotional and object permanence - I can be upset today, but happy tomorrow, and still remain myself. Emotions are not me, but they are the unique expressions of me. I am with my emotions, not seperate from them. They are not objects floating in space.
5. Disintegrate anything until you trust nothing - Your emtotions and your own thoughts are not you/ not yours, but there is also no you to begin with?
6. Be here now, but renounce all worldly engagement, pleasure, and individuality - I don't need to explain that one. A corpse is living better in the present than that.
7. "Attachment is suffering" - oops, turns out humans and mammals are wired for attachment and connection, you can't just stop needing anyone. You must feel loved and cared for to survive.
8. "wants, needs and desire cause suffering" - so why do monks desire enlightment? If they desired nothing, they would just be at home sitting on thier sofa, eating pringles and watching TV, not practicing and trying to achieve anything. Desire to end desire is still desire.
9. "I am awake (buddha)" - this is the sin of pride. You diffrentiate yourself from what you percieve as "non awake", and you, "awakened".
10. "Monks/ masters are wiser and know better about the nature of the world" - literally how??? Have they experienced ANYTHING in their life before running away from it? intimacy in relationships? Closeness? Heartbreak? Had Hopes? Fulfilled their dreams? Risked being different? Had the courage to show up as they are? Risked being vulnerable and real? Trusted anyone with their whole heart? Tasted life? Who should we listen to? A person who did all that, or a coward who escapes life to avoid suffering? That passes their life sitting and praying for themselves to evolve to the level of god? How can you know something without going through trial and error?
11. "Buddhism is humble and noble" - erasing yourself doesn't make you humble/ wiser. It just makes you a doormat, less than a human. So why it feels like it is? Because you stop being bothered by judgement, negative emotions, shame, wants and needs, and the drama of life. It feels like a moral advantage. Nothing can touch you if you are nothing, if you escape from being something. There's nothing to risk.
Real humility is gentle and personal. It's someone that loves you and holds you even if you show up at your lowest, despite how messy, ashamed or broken you are. It makes you be more real. Not like in buddhism - You don't disappear so that others don't see your own flaws.
12. "Observe without judgemet" - judgement = healthy engagement in your own life? If someone’s hurting you, or you’re breaking inside - you just watch with a bucket of popcorn and don't react? What if your child is hurting, do you also observe their pain and do nothing? Have no opinion? No good or bad? Just live in 3rd person and float above life and consequences of existing?
13. "Be strong and still like the ocean" - of course you will feel strong, because you are literally untouchable, ungraspable, like water. You stop being real even to yourself, that's what "being beyond the self means". Being dead while alive. Just cut yourself from your ability to relate and connect to anyone. Even if your own child falls on their head, your everlasting inner peace will remain unshakable, not disturbed even just for a moment. Sounds good, right?
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This is just a step by step guide for how to be stop being human. It sells as a way to gain complete freedom, infinate power over your life, at the cost of life itself. This is not the freedom to exist, this is the freedom to not exist.
Buddhism is the most violent, toxic and oppressive religion. If in other religions being a bad person is a sin, in buddhism being human is a sin. Just another cult of "love love light light", that you can leave whenever you want, but won't leave because it has taught you to distrust yourself, negate your individuality and free will. It's cunning, malicious and twisted, using the most vulnerable and desperate wishes of a human to gaslight them into destroying themselves.
It doesn't directly tell you to stop being human, stop having preferances and being subjected to your personal truth, it just tells you that you are less worthy if you are, and let's you create the monster yourself.
To sum up, I want to share an Orwell's quote from the book 1984:
>"The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall towards the earth’s centre".
Trust yourself, trust your senses, and trust your individuality.