Is Mahendra Rajapaksha a Hindu or a Buddhist ?

[Indrani]

It's not worshipping the way you think it is. It's just participating in rituals in some important Hndu places. Same thing goes with Catholics as well. Most Buddhists go to well-known churches and pray there.

Just like Hindus do.

 

[Gibbs]

What ?

I thought Buddhism didn't have a concept of God init ?

It's a Dhramic concept mate.. Practicing Buddhism is different to Orthodox concepts.. Also Buddhism does not have prohibitions/Rules, Hell or heaven like Abrahamic religions.. Buddha preached ones own actions are his choices

And it's not rare to find religious places in Sri Lanka thats worshiped by people of all faiths.. Including Christians and Muslims.. People are deeply religious and spiritual but not fundamentalist.. Atleast the vast majority arnt

Adam's Peak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adam's Peak (also Sri Pada; Sinhalese Samanalakanda - සමනළ කන්ද "butterfly mountain", and also ශ්‍රී පාදය "Sri Paadaya"; Tamil Sivanolipatha Malai - சிவனொளி பாதமலை), is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft) tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada, i.e., "sacred footprint",Arabic Jabal Adam - جبل آدم a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu tradition that of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian tradition that of Adam, or that of St. Thomas. In Islamic tradition it is the site where Adam fell to earth and where his footprint can be found

It is revered as a holy site by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

Kataragama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kataragama (Sinhala: කතරගම(katharagama), Tamil: கதிர்காமம்(katirkāmam)) is a pilgrimage town sacred to Buddhist, Hindu,Muslim and indigenous Vedda people of Sri Lanka.

Temple of Syncretism

Kataragama is a multi-religious sacred town as it contains an Islamic Mosque within its temple complex as well.

St. Anthony's Shrine Kochchikade - Colombo

n Sri Lanka St. Anthony has many devotees and several Churches have been erected in his honor. Perhaps the most popular one that daily attracts people of every cast, creed or race is the one at Kochchikade, in the heart of the city of Colombo.

Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is a Roman Catholic Marian shrine in Mannar district of Sri Lanka. With a history of over 400 years, this shrine acts as a center for pilgrimage and worship for Sri Lankan Catholics. The site is considered as the holiest Catholic shrine in the island and is a well known place of devotion for both Tamil and Sinhalese Catholics. The church has been a symbol of unity not just between Tamils and Sinhalese, but also between people of different religions, including Buddhists, Hindus and Protestants

 

[DarkSeid]

Most Buddhists go to well-known churches and pray there.

You are wrong here. Most of us will never ever go to church. There is no such a thing called pray in Theravada Buddhism. We believe only Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha nothing else.

What ?
I thought Buddhism didn't have a concept of God init ?

There isn't.

Verse 188: When threatened with danger, men go to many a refuge, - to mountains and forests, to parks and gardens, and to sacred trees.

Verse 189: But such a refuge is not a safe refuge, not the best refuge. One is not liberated from all evil consequences of existence (dukkha) for having come to such a refuge.

Verses 190 & 191: One, who takes refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha, sees with Magga Insight the Four Noble Truths, viz., Dukkha, the Cause of Dukkha, the Cessation of Dukkha, and the Noble Path of Eight Constituents which leads to the Cessation of Dukkha.

Verse 192: This, indeed, is the safe refuge; this is the best refuge. Having come to this refuge, one is liberated from all dukkha.

 

[HeinzG]

You are wrong here. Most of us will never ever go to church. There is no such a thing called pray in Theravada Buddhism. We believe only Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha nothing else.

Buddhists don't go to pray but to seek divine help. They don't care which god it is they just want their work done. I think the 33 crore god theory applies in this scenario.

I think those who are in his private circles may know that (if it is), and the fact that you know it already does mean it is not something hidden, unless you are in his private circles..

SL is filled with hypocritic, shameless and judgemental souls, one reason why we are in this state, in such a scenario a gay christian who wants to go to a leadership position in this country might not be able to that. That is not his problem, SL society which is abundantly clear even here is not matured enough and tribal for such a thing. One from that society is hardly in a position to point at a supposedly gay politician

why should his sexuality matter to you or even to his leadership or political acumen ?? I personally think he is a weak leader but that has nothing to do with his sexual preference or belief's ? There is no need for him to proclaim it to the whole world? Why are you so curious ?

You seem to be one of those brain washed simpletons that think Just because Rajapaksa plays to the gallery with his antics of hugging babies and getting Buddhist monks on political stages makes him a better statesman ?? No wonder that country will remain a banana republic for politicians to plunder with such idiotic voters

His sexual orientation or his religious orientation dose not count. What counts is the fact that he try to hide it from general public IMHO to garner few more votes. AFAIK it is cheating. There is no harm admitting who he is.

Apart from his known orientation that he tries to hide, we as general public and voters don't know what else he's hiding from us. So we need to proceed with him cautiously.

 

[hadoken]

why do people outside of Nepal see Buddhism and hinduism as 2 separate religion Dis this originally stem out of caste disputes?

 

[Gibbs]

why do people outside of Nepal see Buddhism and hinduism as 2 separate religion Dis this originally stem out of caste disputes?

Caste in Sri Lanka is almost non existent

 

[DarkSeid]

The faith

The Difference

 

[anonymus]

Most are hiding away in Canada

Canada seem to be repository of every rotten and shitty terrorist group from Asia.

 

[hadoken]

Facts to back this up macchi?


Buddhism is a seperate religion or else why would Sinhalese Buddhists massacre innocent and peaceful Hindu Tamils?


Say that to a Tamil in real life macchi

Well I cant speak for people from communities outside of my own , but where my folks are from (the actual birth place of Buddhism) people view the teachings of Buddhism as part of the overall "hindu dharma". The tamil and Sinhalese disputes probably is charged by ethnic / socio economic rivalry masked by religion.

 

[Armstrong]

Well I cant speak for people from communities outside of my own , but where my folks are from (the actual birth place of Buddhism) people view the teachings of Buddhism as part of the overall "hindu dharma". The tamil and Sinhalese disputes probably is charged by ethnic / socio economic rivalry masked by religion.

Longtime no see Bro !

I dunno why your name reminds me of Street Fighter !

Well I cant speak for people from communities outside of my own , but where my folks are from (the actual birth place of Buddhism) people view the teachings of Buddhism as part of the overall "hindu dharma". The tamil and Sinhalese disputes probably is charged by ethnic / socio economic rivalry masked by religion.

What ?

How does that work ?

Whats the common denominator between the two ?

 

[hadoken]

Longtime no see Bro !

I dunno why your name reminds me of Street Fighter !

lol hadoken is a nepali word for down right fierce (no its not)

What ?

How does that work ?

Whats the common denominator between the two ?

Well i think the term "hinduism" itself is something that was coined by foreigners. It pretty much included all the religious /spiritual practices from around the sub continent. The "hindu" as the world knows it now is a product of religious melting pot created in India within the last few centuries. There are of course local variants of the religion which you find in pockets which have kind of remained less influenced by the more popular version.

The common denominations between the religion = Concepts of Karma, Ahimsa, formless divinity

ANyways, didnt mean to hijack the convo

 

[Armstrong]

Well i think the term "hinduism" itself is something that was coined by foreigners. It pretty much included all the religious /spiritual practices from around the sub continent. The "hindu" as the world knows it now is a product of religious melting pot created in India within the last few centuries. There are of course local variants of the religion which you find in pockets which have kind of remained less influenced by the more popular version.

The common denominations between the religion = Concepts of Karma, Ahimsa, formless divinity

ANyways, didnt mean to hijack the convo

That sounds like saying football is a sport and golf is a sport so golf is football !

It doesn't make much sense to me but then Eastern beliefs haven't made much sense to me anyways.

Though I do admire Buddha and his teachings !

 

[Azizam]

You are wrong here. Most of us will never ever go to church. There is no such a thing called pray in Theravada Buddhism. We believe only Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha nothing else.


There isn't.

Verse 188: When threatened with danger, men go to many a refuge, - to mountains and forests, to parks and gardens, and to sacred trees.

Verse 189: But such a refuge is not a safe refuge, not the best refuge. One is not liberated from all evil consequences of existence (dukkha) for having come to such a refuge.

Verses 190 & 191: One, who takes refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha, sees with Magga Insight the Four Noble Truths, viz., Dukkha, the Cause of Dukkha, the Cessation of Dukkha, and the Noble Path of Eight Constituents which leads to the Cessation of Dukkha.

Verse 192: This, indeed, is the safe refuge; this is the best refuge. Having come to this refuge, one is liberated from all dukkha.

Are you a buddhist wahhabi?

 

[Gibbs]

Are you a buddhist wahhabi?

Was wondering the same.. Where is going with this thread ?

 

[samv]

He should have ashamed of himself for deceiving people as a true Buddhist leader.
But he has now become a Hindu devotee more than a Buddhist. Isn't it questionable too along with wasting public money.


May be.

You are not even a Buddhist, are you?

Many Buddhists in Sri Lanka worship gods and godesses from the Hindu pantheon and also visit Hindu temples. Infact, in Sri Lanka most Buddhist temples have small shrines to two deities; God Vishnu and God Skanda. God Vishnu is regarded by some as the protector of Buddhism, but the Buddha is considered to be worshipped by the Gods themselves. Basically Buddhism and Hinduism have lived side by side in Sri Lanka for thousands of years and elements of Hinduism have been, for lack of a better word, 'co-opted' into folk Buddhism in the island. This is not necessarily a "bad thing." Further, Mahinda's wife is a Catholic who also happens to take part in Buddhist and Hindu religious activities. A "true Buddhist leader" in my opinion would be open to other religions and other beliefs

This is much better than running around calling other people infidels and killing them left and right for their beliefs, don't you think? What you do not seem to understand is that Dharmic religions are not as rigid and straight jacketed as the Semitic religions. It is not a crime to worship in the temple of another faith, you do not burn in an eternal hell for worshipping other gods or taking part in the religious activities of people of other faiths and there is no death penalty for converting.

Historically Buddhism didn't spread around Asia by mass killings and forced conversions, but peacefully. As a result many local religious beliefs were also adapted into the practice of the religion. For example, folk Buddhism in Thailand is different to folk Buddhism in say Tibet, or Taiwan.

In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is regarded as a Buddhist deity: