Summary: [display_podcast] What Buddhists Don't Believe Welcome to Episode 3 of Daily Buddhism. We're obviously still not Daily, but at least we can get the Buddhism part right. I'm your host, Brian, and here we go! At the end of last episode, I said that this time we would talk about what Buddhists believe. That's a huge subject, and there's no way I can get into that in a single show. So instead, I'm going to go about it in a different way; I'm going to talk about what Buddhists don't believe. From stereotypes to misinformation to just plain wrong ideas. Once we get some of this disinformation out of the way, we can move on down the middle way and start talking about the true path of Buddhism. First, let me get some podcast stuff out of the way. First, I'd like everyone listening to subscribe to the podcast. Listening on the website is nice, but if you are subscribed, you will receive new episodes automatically. On the website, www.dailybuddhism.com, click on the logo image on the right-hand side of the screen. A message will come up saying that something or other wants to open a program. If you have iTunes installed, it will talk about opening iTunes. If you listen to podcasts using some other piece of software, open it instead. Just give it your “OK” and the program will open and automatically add Daily Buddhism to your subscription list. Now, every time you update your podcasts, all new episodes will automatically be downloaded. Once we get going at full speed, it might be all too easily to accidentally is an episode if you have to remember to visit the site to listen. Of course, you should subscribe to the email service as well. I'm still not completely decided whether the podcast is going to be daily or weekly, but there is no doubt about the email list; it's going to be daily, and it's the heart of my plans for Daily Buddhism. If in doubt, go with the mail list! We still don't seem to be listed in the Itunes store, but we are listed on Podcast Alley and Feedburner. If you know how to vote or do a review on those sites, please vote for us there. If you don't know how to do that, I'll explain in a future episode. But now, let's get on with talking about “What Buddhists Don't Believe” First of all let me put out a disclaimer: There are hundreds of different varieties of Buddhism. Just like the denominations in Christianity, there are many different competing ideas and schools about Buddhist beliefs. As much as possible, I am going to try to stick to the ideas that are common to all of them, but I will be making some general statements, and in nearly every case, there will probably be some exceptions. As you will soon learn, everything I say is true; not only that, but everything I say is a lie. Buddhism is sometimes insanely difficult to nail down. OK. Do Buddhists believe in God? No. And Yes. Well, maybe. When Buddha was asked about this, he simply stated that no one can know for sure. Since no one can know, it is non-productive to debate or hypothesize about his existence. If there is a god, he is so far above us and removed from us that we cannot comprehend him, so involved guessing and debate on god is a waste of time; if there is no god, then there is no point in wasting our time thinking about him. So maybe there is a god, maybe there isn't, but Buddhists don't concern themselves with him. Buddhists certainly would deny the existence of a personal god that you can pray to for miracles; Buddhists live in reality, and accept what they can see and experience. Another problem with god is that it puts the responsibility for … pretty much everything, in the hands of an outside force. In Buddhism, salvation, if you want to use that word, comes from within. You are responsible for saving yourself. It's your responsibility. If you choose to be a drunken thief, that is your choice and your responsibility, not some outside force such as the devil.
