A Playful Misconception, A Childhood's Dream

Speaking to a cousin who studies Buddhism (and I mean really studies), I found out that what I had learned in my previous post titled Revelation were all rubbish.

Buddhism’s first wave was when Siddhartha Gautama reached enlightenment from meditation and spread the religion. Soon after it died down. The people who tried to revive it told stories to enliven the religion. Soon after again it died down. And we are now living in the third wave, with more stories told than ever.

Especially what we read from online, those are stories. Nothing more.

So what is Buddhism about? Simply put, it’s just the state of being. For example, if you ask why are we here. The answer is because we are here, that’s why the question exist. If we’re not here, that question couldn’t be asked anyway.

There’s reincarnation. But nothing governs what our next life would be. At least not to any knowledge. Karma is about being good to everything around us to prevent retribution in whatever form it may take in future lives.

And, as I’ve always tend to believe, there’s no such thing as a “soul”.

That’s what I’ve gathered so far. Next, heaven and hell.