Fighting over Einstein
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I was quite amused when I saw a post claiming that Einstein was a Buddhist. Einstein is held in such high regard that Buddhism, Christians and Atheists would like to claim him as their own.
Einstein the Buddhist:
A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compasion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
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The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which is based on experience, which refuses dogmatism. If there's any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism
Einstein the Atheist:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly."
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"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."
Einstein the Christian:
I was not actually able to find any quotes that would indicate that Einstein was a Christian though I keep hearing Christians claim that. To be fair though, I think majority of Christians now concede that Einstein was not a Christian.
The closest quote would be that:
"God does not play dice with the universe." -
einstein has spend most of time in lab and not church so people can play with his words but if u look at what he does, he is a scientist, which is just that.
science and maths is what he does.and violin. -
Einstein was just a very wise man whose words are being twisted by religious bigots to fit their own ends. That's the problem with language; your words can be taken to mean one thing or another.
Oh well, I must say that there are people (not referring to Einstein) out there who are a disgrace to their own religions. I can see why so many people are just staying clear of religion these days. -
And of course, making funny faces for his grandchildren.Originally posted by january:einstein has spend most of time in lab and not church so people can play with his words but if u look at what he does, he is a scientist, which is just that.
science and maths is what he does.and violin.
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From these I can deduceOriginally posted by Phaze:I was quite amused when I saw a post claiming that Einstein was a Buddhist. Einstein is held in such high regard that Buddhism, Christians and Atheists would like to claim him as their own.
Einstein the Buddhist:
A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compasion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
and
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which is based on experience, which refuses dogmatism. If there's any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism
Einstein the Atheist:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly."
and
"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."
Einstein the Christian:
I was not actually able to find any quotes that would indicate that Einstein was a Christian though I keep hearing Christians claim that. To be fair though, I think majority of Christians now concede that Einstein was not a Christian.
The closest quote would be that:
"God does not play dice with the universe."
1) Einstein does NOT believe in a personal God, but Spinoza's God
2) Einstein appreciates Buddhism (though he did not say he is a Buddhist)
So, he is neither a Buddhist nor Atheist nor what, but in a sense he is both.
There is another quote by Albert Einstein on Buddhism:
“If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.” -
He doesn't need to make funny faces.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:And of course, making funny faces for his grandchildren.
His haircut is already funny enough. -
I'm not sure I agree with that.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:So, he is neither a Buddhist nor Atheist nor what, but in a sense he is both.
I think Einstein simply respected Buddhism as a worldview that could accomodate science. But I don't think that in any way makes him a buddhist.
But I think that also depends on how you define a Buddhist. My definition of a Buddhist is one who accepts the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold path as the means to end suffering.
In that sense, I think you would agree that Einstein was not a Buddhist.
My personal view is that I feel Buddhism is a much more reasonable worldview than the monotheistic religions. At the very least, it appears to be logically consistent though there is still a lack of evidence. My worldview is in many ways compatible with Buddhism as well though I do not consider myself a Buddhist. -
Yet another quote by Einstein (or the more complete version of the above):Originally posted by Phaze:I was quite amused when I saw a post claiming that Einstein was a Buddhist. Einstein is held in such high regard that Buddhism, Christians and Atheists would like to claim him as their own.
Einstein the Buddhist:
A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe'; a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compasion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
and
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which is based on experience, which refuses dogmatism. If there's any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism
Einstein the Atheist:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly."
and
"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."
Einstein the Christian:
I was not actually able to find any quotes that would indicate that Einstein was a Christian though I keep hearing Christians claim that. To be fair though, I think majority of Christians now concede that Einstein was not a Christian.
The closest quote would be that:
"God does not play dice with the universe."
Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. -Albert Einstein -
Yes I don't think Einstein is a Buddhist, he just respected Buddhism.Originally posted by Phaze:I'm not sure I agree with that.
I think Einstein simply respected Buddhism as a worldview that could accomodate science. But I don't think that in any way makes him a buddhist.
But I think that also depends on how you define a Buddhist. My definition of a Buddhist is one who accepts the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold path as the means to end suffering.
In that sense, I think you would agree that Einstein was not a Buddhist.
My personal view is that I feel Buddhism is a much more reasonable worldview than the monotheistic religions. At the very least, it appears to be logically consistent though there is still a lack of evidence. My worldview is in many ways compatible with Buddhism as well though I do not consider myself a Buddhist.
p.s. regarding Evidence:Originally posted by Thusness:Hi Casino_King,
It is inadequate to use rational thought to understand spiritual matters. Logic is only that branch of philosophy that deals with reasoning. It does not deal with all types of thinking such as remembering (Recalling past life included), dreaming (Dream Yoga), day dreaming, neurosis, learning..etc. These other types of thinking are the job of psychology and parapsychology.
Although evidence is needed to serve as a base for inductive and deductive reasoning, full proof evidence to arrive at a certain conclusion is not necessary in logical analysis. In daily life, not all reasoning attempts to provide conclusive evidence for the truth of a given conclusion and more often than not, conclusive evidence cannot be produced. For pragmatic ground, we merely want the evidence we arrived at be 'well founded'.
As human, sleeping and dreaming took up pretty much percentage of our life. We are not just a rational being, to understand human, we have to deal with all these matters with spiritual issues included.