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Originally Posted by NYCSPITZ
You'd probably be against it but mahayanist buddhism, particularly the branch that chants nam myoho renge kyo the title of the lotus sutra. I tried chanting it today and placebo or not I felt peaceful. It's not something where I'm going to just stick to this, I'll probably have to get into some Alan Watts and translations of actual scripture but of all the major religions I identify more with buddhism. Other than that I read Siddartha by Herman hesse, the tao of physics, something by d.t. suzuki and a bunch of popular magazines. I can't forsake my natural urge toward being a grey jedi though - 75-85% good but also with the capacity for evil bc I can't fight evil with good I can only fight evil with evil. JMO.
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Ah for sure. That particular branch comes from a monk called Nichiren. He had an interesting life, survived some executions by what some call good luck or divine will. The lotus sutra is deemed as the most powerful sutra. A famous Chan master once said that if you want to find out why the Buddha came to Earth, read the Lotus Sutra. If you want to learn how he attained enlightenment, read the Surangama sutra.
And no I am not against Mahayana, that is my particular resonance, albeit I am inclined towards Chan/ Zen sect. Particularly old school type Chan.
If it made you feel peaceful that's good. If your willing, try chanting the Lotus Sutra one day in Sanskrit, it is even more powerful in effect in my opinion.
And I love Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, wish I could read it in German. One day I suppose. D.T. Susuki was a great scholar, check out his Lavankatara sutra, his greatest translation. And of course your inclined toward Buddhism, i have come to see that it attracts certain minds.
And as for Good vs evil. From the perspective of the great Confucian Mencius, evil doesn't even exist at the presence of true goodness. But relatively evil exists in contrast to good, but since this good is intertwined with evil, it is not true goodness. I think fighting exists because of good and evil, the evil think they are doing good, or they are trying to be good by doing evil. There are a couple of stories where some crazy murderers, psychopaths who would wear a necklace of their victims' fingers, were transformed when they met a being of true goodness.