About
This page’s Contents:
- About Skeptical Buddhism
- About Second Life
- About this web site
Skeptical Buddhism, a.k.a. Buddhism Without Beliefs
At its very core, Buddhism is a very straight-forward way of looking at the world. When asked what we should believe, the Buddha answered that we should confine ourselves to what we know and have tested, rather than blindly following others, even to his teachings (see quote from Kalama Sutra below).
The basic idea of Buddhism is that if you see the world clearly, and live honestly within it, you will lead a more joyful life with less strife.
Skeptical Buddhism adopts the most basic tenets of Buddhism, and leaves behind centuries of additions from other religions.* There’s no reincarnation or multiple gods and goddeses to worry about, just the essential truths. As such, you can be a Buddhist and anything else you wish—you can be a Baptist Buddhist, a pagan buddhist, an athiest Buddhist or, like me, just a plain old Buddhist.
A good starting place to read about this sort of Buddhism is with Stephen Batchelor’s book “Buddhism Without Beliefs” which you should be able to get through your local library.
You do not have to have adopted Buddhism to join our Sangha (which just means Buddhist Group), just have an interest in learning more and meeting others walking along the path. We will meet whenever we find a few of us online.
Namaste (all that is holy in me, honors all which is holy in you)
Kalama Sutra quote:
It is proper for you to doubt, to be uncertain… Do not go by revelation; do not go by tradition; do not go by hearsay; do not go on the authority of sacred texts; do not go on the grounds of pure logic; do not go by a view that seems rational; do not go by reflecting on mere appearances; do not go along with a considered view because you agree with it; do not go along on the grounds that the person is competent; do not go along (thinking ) ‘because the recluse is our teacher.’ Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them.
- A student of Buddha’s, one Malunkyaputta, felt that he could not continue following his Teacher unless he could answer several questions popular at the time, such as whether or not the universe is eternal, finite or infinite, what is the nature of the soul and what happens after death, and so on. The Buddha told him that he had never promised to answer those questions and for good reason. ”...the holy life does not depend on these… Whatever opinion one may have about these problems… it is not useful, it is not fundamentally connected with the spiritual holy life, is not conducive to… tranquility… full realization.” (From “What the Buddha Taught” by Walpola Rahula, (C) 1959).
-Starsitter Quality ( Second Life Avatar )
About Second Life
Isn’t Second Life just a game?
Well, no it is not just a game. Many people use Second Life as a virtual world/meeting place. Unlike most other online worlds, Second Life’s content and activities are created by its residents. It was inspired largely by Neal Stephenson’s “Snowcrash” science fiction novel.
The Wikipedia has a good summary of Second Life
To get a feel for what the Second Life world is like, take a look at these two popular SL news sites:
Snapshot of a Meeting at the Second Life SkySangha
About this Web site
This site uses the excellent Radiant Content Management System (CMS). Radiant CMS is an Open Source application built upon the Ruby on Rails framework.
Contact the webmaster at email starjunky[ AT ]gmail.com for questions/comments.