Religion
In reply to the discussion: Was Jesus even born? [View all]M.G.
(250 posts)Last edited Fri Nov 8, 2013, 03:39 PM - Edit history (2)
If by suggesting that in order to be "true and credible" you mean that today's Buddhism has to be exactly what it's founder taught, well then, guess what? You're right! No living Buddhist is engaged in anything historians can definitively trace back to Siddhartha Gautama's original words.
However, that's completely irrelevant to actual practice, since Buddhist tradition holds that one's relation with living teachers, and ability to meaningfully engage with the practices they disseminate, is much more important than Siddartha Gautama's exact words.
That was actually the exact point of my original post, btw; it makes zero difference whether Jesus lived or not. What matters are that large numbers of people have embraced certain narratives involving said figure as sacred myth.
Ditto for any other ancient religion, incidentally, whatever adherents claim. What believers live, think, imagine, and practice is much more important than dead historical letter.