Australian census: people with no religion (38.9%) will overtake Christians (43.9%)

“You say that like it is a bad thing”.

Ethics in Christianity is just an extension of an angry father threatening punishment.

What modern person would want that or be scared of that?

They are ignorant of Buddhist “ethics” being more akin to “you reap what you sow”. The best example of this are the frequently asked questions about The Five Precepts that denote that they take them as laws to be obeyed or bargained with, not “training rules”.

Doesn’t Buddhism teach “rebirth” using similar similes/metaphors? For example:

“If, Ānanda, there were no deeds to result in the sensual realm, would continued existence in the sensual realm still come about?”

“Kāmadhātuvepakkañca, ānanda, kammaṁ nābhavissa, api nu kho kāmabhavo paññāyethā”ti?

“No, sir.”

“No hetaṁ, bhante”

So, Ānanda, deeds are the field, consciousness is the seed, and craving is the moisture.

“Iti kho, ānanda, kammaṁ khettaṁ, viññāṇaṁ bījaṁ, taṇhā sneho.

The consciousness of sentient beings—hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving—is established in a lower realm. That’s how there is rebirth into a new state of existence in the future.

Avijjānīvaraṇānaṁ sattānaṁ taṇhāsaṁyojanānaṁ hīnāya dhātuyā viññāṇaṁ patiṭṭhitaṁ evaṁ āyatiṁ punabbhavābhinibbatti hoti.

SuttaCentral

PTS Pali English Dictionary

vepakka

neuter

ripening, ripeness, maturity. - (adj.) yielding fruit, resulting in (-˚) AN.i.223 (kāmadhātu˚ kamma); AN.iii.416 (sammoha˚ dukkha); Snp.537 (dukkha˚ kamma).

fr. vipakka

:deciduous_tree: :apple: :green_apple:

same phenomena in all the western countries, while at same time they have world records of conssumption of antidrepressants:

a similar thing happens with the increasing of suicides in young people, growing fast in all the western countries.

The news about losing spiritual supports are always celebrated by the materialists. Although these parallel facts shows how the growing of new generations in societies emptied of collective moral and spiritual resources, it increase their individual suffering and the general decadence of the West that everybody can perceive.

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That’s Putin’s misguided reason for starting the war. This is falling into the trap of taking conventional reality to be ultimate. Conventional and ultimate reality must be separated:

" “There is the case, monk, where a monk has heard, ‘All things are unworthy of attachment.’ Having heard that all things are unworthy of attachment, he directly knows every thing. Directly knowing every thing, he comprehends every thing. Comprehending every thing, he sees all themes[2] as something separate. [3]”—SN 35.80

The increased prescribing of antidepressants in Western countries coud be related to an increase in secularism, but there are other possible explanations, eg a greater availability of drugs in those countries, a culture where medics are more willing to prescribe them, etc.

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Perhaps, but I don’t see how you can stop young people “cherry-picking” from religious traditions, or wanting to be “spiritual” on their own terms.

yes, that’s sure. Although also these antidepressants avoid the increment of suicides which also are record numbers.

In this following paper, the conclusions are interesting because these reflects how Religion works like a mediator with the missed meaning of life:

“The results corroborate the hypothesis that meaning in life mediates the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and depression symptoms. Therefore, intrinsic religiosity has a protective effect against depression symptoms; however, it occurs indirectly, via meaning in life.”

Anyway, there are historical factors that hardly we will see in scholar papers and related with an objective situation of decadence.

At the middle of last century, the western Psychiatry discovered the potential to control the individuals and societies by taking profit of the worse of the human being. And quickly, all the entertainment started to replace the previous censorship with new images showing violence, sex, etc…

At first it was perceived by many people like a freedom from previous repressions, although like the proverb says “dosage makes the poison”. The conditioning was intensified and inoculated into our western culture. New generations grew up conditioned from an early age with billion messages and images showing psychotic violence, animalized sex, wild greed… And today we should add the economical crisis and the lose of natural human expectations: home, children, future… which probably were containing or balancing the effects.

Doesn’t sound strange that all together causes a massive disconnection with the heart and lives without meaning and hope. In fact, it is even surprising the resistance of many common people, because most ignore that they were conditioned to be de-humanized, and probably no psychologist will tell them.

In such scenery, rescuing the spiritual foundations to reconnect with the heart is very needed. Also because the Religion has the power to surpass the limits of the de-humanized environment. Science cannot not do that. Science follows the script of that design, and the reflections arrives when the populations are drugged massively, and the Science is silence without confronting that failed design in a serious way.

Nibbana should be pursued at any time, although if there is a coming world in where the Dhamma is not effectively possible because the minds will be manipulated with technological means, then it could be the wise thing to do.

There are episodes in the sources with Buddha disciples in previous lives, where they faced coming situations without possibility to follow the Dhamma, and preparing themselves to continue the Path in the next rebirth.

Because this and another reasons, it is a good thing investigate Rebirth until discover its logics. I understand.

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Separation of religion (church) and state under threat in America:

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