Up until now, i.e., August 2023, religious prayers were NEVER an issue at the Laconia Rotary Club — where I WAS a member as of TODAY.
All of the Rotary Presidents I have had the honor of serving under, until now, understood & appreciated the NON-RELIGIOUS aspect of Rotary.
Not so now. The new leadership (as of July 2023), under the cunning influence of a Club Elder, has started to use the God prayer. The Club Elder had the AUDACITY to have LAMINATED card printed with that prayer! This is 2023.
I really STRUGGLED over this.
Very unlike I, who prefers not to mull too much about decisions & actions, I wrestled with this for weeks.
I finally decided that I cannot …
Just cannot.
NO, I WOULD NOT ask for the Club to rethink its stance. I strongly believe in majority-rule & democracy. I THINK I am the ONLY non-Christian in the Club. Yes, some may not be practising Christians now, but I think they were all born Christian. I can’t think of any that may be Judaic. I am also the ONLY NON-WHITE. The bulk of the Club is made of up retired males. They don’t have to change their ways for I. I would NEVER expect us.
This is why Darwin gave me LEGS. I can walk out — & I will. SMILE.
I also appreciate that the God-centric prayers, still referred to by SOME as ‘Rotary Prayers‘, are from way back — having their roots in the 1920s.
Up until now, i.e., August 2023, religious prayers were NEVER an issue at the Laconia Rotary Club — where I am currently a member of.
All of the Rotary Presidents I have had the honor of serving under, until now, understood & appreciated the NON-RELIGIOUS aspect of Rotary.
Not so now. The new leadership (as of July 2023), under the cunning influence of a Club Elder, has started to use the God prayer. The Club Elder had the AUDACITY to have LAMINATED card printed with that prayer! This is 2023.
I have ONLY been to ONE meeting where I was subjected to this prayer. I WAS STUNNED. So stunned that I was not quick enough to walk out. Well I have had plenty of time to reflect on it. As I have told a number of other members the NEXT TIME I am at a meeting where this prayer is invoked I WILL WALK OUT — & it will be my last meeting. My days at Rotary are numbered anyway. Very unlikely that I will be a Rotarian in 2024 — & IF I AM, it certainly will not be at this Club that is RAMMING GOD down my throat.
NO, I will NOT ask for the Club to rethink its stance. I strongly believe in majority-rule & democracy. I THINK I am the ONLY non-Christian in the Club. Yes, some may not be practising Christians now, but I think they were all born Christian. I can’t think of any that may be Judaic. I am also the ONLY NON-WHITE. The bulk of the Club is made of up retired males. They don’t have to change their ways for I. I would NEVER expect us.
This is why Darwin gave me LEGS. I can walk out — & I will. SMILE.
I lucked out this week. We had a temporary leader. He knew that I was all set to walk out. So, he, very astutely & KINDLY, did a ‘minute of contemplation’. That was VERY COOL & I am very grateful for his gracious act (so much so that I treated him to lunch).
Smile. Well some of you know my feelings about prayer — never mind God.
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Facebook’. Appeared on my timeline.
Click image to access my earlier post from this August.Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google’. Do your own search.
The Buddha would be aghast. He would have realized that he failed, failed miserably.
They, i.e., the Sri Lankan Buddhists have failed to grasp the most basic concept in Buddhism.
The Buddha does NOT exist in any way, shape or form. Other than his legacy there is NOTHING. There is NO Buddha in heaven. There is NO spirit of Buddha. No Holy Ghost. NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. But, that is what HE wanted. NOTHING. No rebirth. State of NO EXISTING. Jesus Christ! Can’t they get this into their skulls.
Don’t WASTE food offerings to something that is NOT there. Jesus wept!
Making any offering to the Buddha is beyond pointless! Unlike the Abrahamic God, the Roman/Greek gods or the Hindu gods, the Buddha does NOT exist in CURRENT TIMES. He is gone. Gone forever. No spirit, no sign, no life. NOTHING. GONE. Poof. That was his goal. The attainment of nirvana he cased to exist — utterly & completely. NOTHING. He is GONE. GONE. Poof. No Holy Spirit. No spirit in the sky. He is GONE. NOTHING. You can’t interact with the Buddha. He is gone. Yes, there are supposedly relics but the relics can’t do much IF there is NOTHING behind them (or above them).
So, making a food offering to someone (or something) that no longer exists seems ‘funny’. I could use stronger words BUT these folks are genuine in their … (SMILE). Hey, when I was a kid I subscribed to all of this.
[[Offering flowers to the Buddha is different! The flowers are NOT for the Buddha per se. The flowers are really for US. They are to show us — to remind us — of the impermanence of life. The fresh flowers offered, will in time wilt & die — just like all of us. That is what offerings of flowers is all about. Time to think about the impermanence of life.]]
So, there is that. This is also why it is so crazy to pray to the Buddha. He is NOT there. You are praying to NOTHINNESS. [[My mother, a QUEEN of Prayer, at least had this part right. She never prayed to the Buddha. She, though a Buddhist, prayed to the Christian God. She believed that he existed. But, her go to ‘guys’ were the Hindu gods. They are supposed to be around. So, she prayed to them shamelessly & incessantly. But, at least there was some logic to that. She was praying to gods who never said they were going BYE-BYE for good.]]
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Facebook’. Appeared on my timeline.
The above appeared on my ‘Facebook‘ timeline this morning because ‘relative’ had liked it. It cracked me up — I find it amusing & SAD, in equal parts, on so many different fronts & levels.
Leaving the whole sad issue of idolatry aside, there are two things here that just do not square up — & I will cut to the chase.
1/ Making any offering to the Buddha is beyond pointless! Unlike the Abrahamic God, the Roman/Greek gods or the Hindu gods, the Buddha does NOT exist in CURRENT TIMES. He is gone. Gone forever. No spirit, no sign, no life. NOTHING. GONE. Poof. That was his goal. The attainment of nirvana he cased to exist — utterly & completely. NOTHING. He is GONE. GONE. Poof. No Holy Spirit. No spirit in the sky. He is GONE. NOTHING. You can’t interact with the Buddha. He is gone. Yes, there are supposedly relics but the relics can’t do much IF there is NOTHING behind them (or above them).
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google’. Do your own search.
So, making a food offering to someone (or something) that no longer exists seems ‘funny’. I could use stronger words BUT these folks are genuine in their … (SMILE). Hey, when I was a kid I subscribed to all of this.
[[Offering flowers to the Buddha is different! The flowers are NOT for the Buddha per se. The flowers are really for US. They are to show us — to remind us — of the impermanence of life. The fresh flowers offered, will in time wilt & die — just like all of us. That is what offerings of flowers is all about. Time to think about the impermanence of life.]]
So, there is that. This is also why it is so crazy to pray to the Buddha. He is NOT there. You are praying to NOTHINNESS. [[My mother, a QUEEN of Prayer, at least had this part right. She never prayed to the Buddha. She, though a Buddhist, prayed to the Christian God. She believed that he existed. But, her go to ‘guys’ were the Hindu gods. They are supposed to be around. So, she prayed to them shamelessly & incessantly. But, at least there was some logic to that. She was praying to gods who never said they were going BYE-BYE for good.]]
And then we come to my SECOND point.
2/ The ONE thing that I still like about — & believe in — when it comes to the Buddha’s teaching was his advocacy of MODERATION. Bar three (at MOST four) exceptions, red wine being one of them, I try to lead a life of moderation. I believe in moderation. So, what has moderation got to do with this?
Look at that picture. 4 muffins! 4 muffins, strawberries, some type of cake & an expensive looking cappuccino. Does that look like moderation to YOU? 4 muffins. No wonder most Sri Lankan’s always look extremely well nourished — food shortages or no food shortages. 4 muffins. All those carbs. I am sure the Buddha would not consider that moderation.
