ronin12/07/02 at 11:11:23#1December 25th is fast approaching.
What is the view of this day from a Buddhist perspective?
Do most Buddhist participate in Christmas with gift giving and receiving?
Ronin.
lian hua dance12/07/02 at 11:50:10#2Re: December 25th :)
In USA, most Japanese-American Buddhists (and non-religious non-Buddhist people and atheists, etc.) celebrate Christmas with gifts, trees, etc.
Just going along with the flow.
Easier to do than to resist and insist on maintaining religious purity. Christmas today is hardly a religious holiday.
lian hua dance
Last edited 12/07/02 at 11:50:35 by lian_hua_dance
ronin12/07/02 at 14:21:32#3Re: December 25thI agree with your last statement Dance, "Christmas is hardly a religious holiday"
I see most of the religious holiday celebrated in North America have been commericiallized to the point were the true meaning of the holiday have been losted or altered.
I struggle every year with Dec.25th, because I just don't believe that the people around me do not truely understand the meaning of Christmas and why it is celebrated.
Instead, what I see is a complete commercialization of Christmas. Kids have to have that latest and greatest toy/game or else you are not a "good" Uncle or Aunt. The parents of these kids would look down on you if your gift was not up to par to their quality of standards or appeared cheap in price and quality.
Thus I always felt Dec.25th is the most stressful day of the year for me. I can see it is also a stressful day for some of the other people around me too :(
This year I finally follow thru with a goal I always had on my mind and that was to volunteer my time to help an organization with their toy drive :)
Ronin.
vs12/08/02 at 06:23:07#4Re: December 25thHi ronin, are you using Linux logo ? :D i like it ;)
I'm not a budhist yet, but pay high respect to GM Lu by his compassion and love !
Based on Roman Chatolic church history, XMas was actually belong to evil celebration of heathen believes (forgot the name). Since, Jesus was accepted by Roman king as well as became state religion (this is the TRUE danger when
religion become politic, hopefully TB never go to that direction), so Father of church REPLACED the annual celebration with Jesus's religion. So, Christian become 'common religion', lost it's original senses, just a vehicle to ride into higher politica ranks !
Believers of Jesus also struggle w/ the same problem like u: "Should I celebrated Chinesse Lunar New Year ?" Because the celebration is based of cult/religion of eastern ... and so on.
This is my answer: IF YOUR INTENSION is TO SAVE the world, you must UNDERSTAND and 'JOIN' with them to 'win'/open their eyes about the TRUTH of Jesus ! The gap between christianity and the rest must be narrowed ! It is NOT a mixed/compromised of religion but BREAK DOWN THE HUMAN-PSYCHOLOGY BARIER ! Once again, BARIER-BARIER-BARIER-BARIER ! I personaly believe that Dharma is much easier to accept when it's presented with love and compassion,
instead of brought by a toilet bowl of narrowed views of dharma ! I want not go deeper !
Your move to join the organization is completely right, even commercialized is everywhere ! That's why some monks are begging at streets of Singapore and unfortunately
published on local TV news ! so samefull, same like several preachers of church in US !
This is HUMAN SIDE that riding religion !
Nothing wrong to attend a church to celebrate XMas, so they will see love in U, or probably your "invisible friends" can't stand in church or feel very un-easy due to HIGH pressure of angles of Jesus ?! If it is then review your religion !