I was reading through John Chicks tracts for pure enjoyment and laughs, when I came across one that pissed me off (as a Buddhist) more than usual. It was "The Tycoon" ( http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0016/0016_01.asp ), about a Buddhist who "finds out" (read burns in Hell) that "Buddha didn't die for his sins".

As I read through it, I was horrified at Chick's total ignorance of Buddhism, he doesn't even know about what he is attacking! In his comic, he protrays Buddhists as actually worshiping Buddha like he is a god, which is totally untrue. Budhhists aspire to become Buddha, not worship him. How can you worship Buddha if "he" is not even a single person? The word "Buddha", simply means "enlightened one". Sure, there is a historical Buddha, Gautama, but Buddhists do not worship him as an "idol".

Chick also completely misunderstood the idea of reincarnation. Buddhists do not believe that the ego survives death, the person I am now will die upon death, my memories and personality will be erased. I will not be aware of my next life. Buddhists describe it as simply the flame of one candle lighting the wick of another. My energy is reincarnated, not my personality.

Shame on you, Chick.

Also, am I the only one who has trouble accessing Chick's site? I only reach it once in a while, the rest of the time, I get redirected to PerfectNav. It really cuts down on my laughs when I can't reach it.

[This message has been edited by Social Junker (edited 07-31-2004).]

I personally dont recommend all Chick Tracts. I just use the ones that present salvation.....some of his tracts are a little "Out there"

You could be right about "The Tycoon"....but right now for some reason I cant pull up his sight http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif)

Jack Chick is an idiot who presents himself as real knowledgeable about Catholicism, but all his objections to it are pretty easy to refute.

Before i started posting, i always say you saying you are buddhist cyber junker. and frankly it annoyed me because I have a preconcieved notion of you being white. I know it is completly ignorant and quiet un-buddhist to feel this way, but I have a problem with all these white kids desperately grasping to fragments of eastern (namely buddhist) beliefs without much if any real understanding of it's elements. however i was happy to see that you understand it pretty damn well, especially if you are white. (if not, correct me).

and yes, that comic strip is completely retarded, chick obviously has no knowledge of buddhism of any kind, be it therevada, mahayanna, zen, tibetan traditional, etc.

he got it all wrong. As cyber junker said, the historical buddha was siddartha gotama. however in therevada there are about 60 arhats (or saints) that have also reached nirvana. There is also Musayaki the buddha of the future, and a buddha of the past, siddartha was just a human manifestation of the buddha of the present.

the word "budhha" means enlightened one. there is a "buddha-nature" in all of us. (not unlike christians notion of christ being inside us) in both examples it really just means that their is a great capacity for love and compassion in each of us.

when you see asians kneeling before a statue of buddha, it is more in the tradition of ancestral "worship" than anything. (i use worship in qoutations because I disdain that word in this context, it is more of a hightened sense of respect to your ancestry). It is no different than praying in front of a crucifix, you don't really believe that the statue is really jesus, it is a representation of him, and moreover he is a representation of God/Allah/YWHY/etc.'s Love and Compassion. (isn't that something we can all agree on? love and compassion?) It's the same thing for showing reverence in temples and and in front of statues of Buddha, it isn't gotama, it is the buddha-nature.

also you have all seen different buddhas that you think of as buddha. the fat, bald, jolly chinese buddha. The think buddha with the "crown" on his head. (the crown is the name for that big bump on his head). a starving aesthetic buddha. they are supposed to be the same person but they are all obviosuly asthetically different.

.............wow ok, i've completely lost my train of thought, i'll respond to whatever though. THE POINT IS....

that basically we should all get along and stop bickering over denominations and the differences in our sources of revelations of Truth. the basic notion in almost every religion is Love and Compassion. (i'm using that a bit much huh?) If the hardcore christians and muslims and jews and even buddhists (yes as proud as i am of my heritage and faith i will admit that their have been periods of oppresion in asia at the hands of monks or tyrannical lamas) would see past the doctrine and dogma, the underlying meaning is the same.

Actually, I am white, but my dad has been teaching me about Buddhism for years, so I guess I have a leg-up on all the other white kids. It's cool to hear from someone else who is well-versed in Buddhism, as well. Thanks. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

thats really cool that your pops is teaching you something like that. By all means keep learning. I know i sound hostile about white kids with buddhism, but you gotta understand, I see all these psuedo-christians that wanna break away from that faith becuase it is their parents faith or becuase it has been shoved down their throuts, and they should explore, but they cling to buddhism and try to talk like they know shit, but probably just picked it up by skimming over a few chapters of a book by his holiness the dalai lama or some fragmented interpretations on some web site.

read anything by thich nhat hanh, he is my living buddha, i look up to that man so much, he's up their with quac nhat (the monk who set himself on fire in protest to oppresion) actually he definately beats that guy, but quac was fucking hardcore for doing that, he just sat their and chilled, just meditated the pain and suffereing away, i think he was in mental nirvana already when he did that, but anyway i digress.

read anything by thich nhat han, his holiness the dalai lama, dogden, koden, or any other real monks, sri-lankan monks always have a very interesting viewpoint on many suttas.

if you are a christian, or were, or know enough about christianity, a great book by thich nhat hanh is "living buddha, living christ" he parrallels the faiths and shows how much they are alike, if practiced the way their founders wanted them to.