Currently reading Buddhism (by Damien Keown), and it's really interesting. I knew a lot of it (like being a historical guy, not having any supreme gods, and so forth), but I didn't realize that the original Buddha didn't believe in an immortal soul, and said before he died that he wasn't going to be reborn. That, and the whole reincarnation thing is apparently extremely fuzzy, with different Buddhists having very different beliefs about it.
The cycle of birth and death is a remnant belief from the previous Brahmanism, which Buddha himself is trying to "break" (still is, he never "died"). But without proper context as in India, people elsewhere saw Buddhism as a foreign religion, and its "foundation" of believes must be built before it can be accepted. So it's not surprised Buddhism was not only carrying its core believes when spreading, but also some "root believes" from Brahmanism as well.
A center idea in Buddhism as "breaking free from the cycle" would seem odd, if you don't know or don't believe in cycle of birth and death in the first place. And Buddha as he is the embodiment of enlightenment, should always exist (or non-exist), and already break free from the cycle. So yes, there will be no incarnation of Buddha, and also there is no Buddha himself in the first place (his mortal body is just a temporary vessel). Since the concept of oneself is also an idea that needs to be abandoned on the path to enlightenment.
On the topic of the book I am reading, not surprisingly mostly about papers, like journals and conference collections. But on the case of publishing books, well, one of them is "Civilisation matérielle, économie et capitalisme, XVe-XVIIIe siècle" by Fernand Braudel (translated version of course). If you are interested in the history of economics thoughts, its a good book to read and think of. I am not quite accepting his whole idea, but it's a good way of thinking in terms of how capitalism functioned before the dawn of modern world. Like it or not, capitalism is all around you in every aspect of your life. You should understand more about it if you can.
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Topic: Book Thread: Yes im very serious (Read 6846 times)