"We should know, that learning to cherish others is the best method for establishing world peace in general and for our own peace of mind in particular."
Yes that's the work of the ego. If you say "I love my self," you're just sustaining the illusion there is an 'I' and 'self' when there really only the 'I' that says 'I am.' The I is the self, there's not two of me. Love cannot love love. Neither the self nor love are an object. It's a subtle but critical distinction.
As long as you identify your 'self' with what you do, your title and perceived status you cannot know how to be or give love. Love can't do anything but be love. It doesn't know or care about status and cannot produce fear, anger, jealousy or anger.
Whilst there are gods in some older forms of Buddhism what most Buddhists believe these are not gods at all. There are Bodhisattvas who are highly venerated, but they are not considered to be gods. But what I was really asking was, given that most Buddhists reject the idea of an all powerful God, would this make them athiests?
bodleing2 Forum Posts (6,132)
RE: Fault Finding
"The unexamined life is not worth living."Socrates
Bit extreme I'd say, but I get the gist.