Did Benedict XVI call Buddhism an "autoerotic religion?"

[elshiva]

If so, when and in what context? I heard it on NPR, usually correct, but not always...What do I know I am an Anglican..

[regnaD kciN]

1. I've heard the same from various news stories...

But, as to NPR, they had a beauty today covering us Anglicans, identifying (openly-gay) Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as "the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop" not once but twice.

(To give Roman Catholics here some perspective, that would be a little like them reporting about "Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Bernard Law." :crazy: )

[Princess Turandot]

2. I think mainstream Buddhism considers only sex that can lead to children..

to be 'kosher'. (Sorry, couldn't resist) I don't know their views on self-stimulation, but they seem to think that the only permissable sex between 2 people should be able to lead to a child. That's also the view of the Dalai Lama.This is from religioustolerance.org's website, discussing other religions' views of gays & gay sex..

Did he approve or disapprove per NPR???

[Matilda]

3. I know Catholics who interpreted

the doctrine of the Church that couples having intercourse should
always leave open the way for conception, as meaning that you
couldn't have sex if you didn't want to conceive, even in a marriage.

Darned if I know ....

[elshiva]

4. I don't think it had to do with sex per se...

sort of like "meditating=masturbation" thing, or at least how I thought it was meant. As a figure of speech autoerotic is self-absorption.

[DemBones DemBones]

5. But Catholics meditate! When we pray the Rosary, we meditate on

the mysteries -- one mystery for each decade of the rosary (each Our Father plus ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be to the Father.) For centuries, there have been 15 Mysteries of the Rosary: the five Joyous Mysteries (beginning with the Annunciation of the angel to Mary), five Sorrowful Mysteries (beginning with Jesus's Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane), and five Glorious Mysteries (beginning with Christ's Resurrection.)

Anyway the idea is to say the prayers without thinking much about them, meditating on a particular Mystery as you move through the prayers, moving your fingers to the next bead as you begin the next prayer. The Our Father beads are larger than the Hail Mary beads so your fingers tell your brain when you've reached the end of a decade, you say the Glory Be and then "announce" either aloud or silently the next mystery, say the Our Father and begin saying the next decade of Hail Marys, meditating on the mystery you just "announced."

Apologies if you already knew all or most of this, elshiva, but I think I recall that you are Anglican? And it's hard to explain it more concisely and yet precisely. Having written so much detail here, I'm going to use it in another post! O8)

It is not easy to learn to meditate in one part of your brain while another part recites prayers, even though you know the prayers by heart, but meditation is not easily learned in any tradition.

Anyone reading this should now see why it's sadly ironic when people who hear Catholics pray a Rosary aloud in a group say scornfully that "Those Catholics are just mouthing words without even knowing what they're saying"; the words aren't supposed to be the focus!)!!

More than sadly ironic, it makes you want to scream and bang your head on the nearest wall! :banghead:

[pelagius]

6. The Rosary is a very powerful meditational tool...

...and one that turned me back to the Western spiritual tradition. I was studying Buddhism for awhile and (especially in the Tibetan traditions) encountered rosaries, images of the saints, and all the other trappings I, raised austere Protestant, associated with the Catholic Church.

It blew my mind that all these hipsters who had paid $495 for an "empowerment weekend" with Lama Whomever were basically doing what the little old ladies in my neighborhood were doing for free!

[DemBones DemBones]

8. How true! I was attracted to Buddhism myself, Mahayana as

well as the trendier Zen or Ch'an that Alan Watts so eloquently analyzed for Westerners and that Jack Kerouac did so much to publicize with his "Dharma Bums," "On the Road," etc., I read Watts but also read Ananda Coomaraswamy, who covered Mahayana and Hinayana, spending what was then a fortune on a new edition of his great book.

Buddhism is a great spiritual tradition, with its own great art, meditation styles, etc.,but, to me, it ultimately made more sense to stay within the Western traditions. I don't mean it's wrong for Westerners to become Buddhists, Muslims, etc. -- and Christianity is at its root, an Eastern religion, anyway -- but I personally felt more comfortable staying within Christianity, literally the faith of my fathers. I loved my Brit granny's Anglican traditions always but was always drawn to go further back, to the Latin or Roman rite.

Like you, I was quite surprised to learn about the Mysteries of the Rosary, having heard the Protestant criticisms of this "Mary worship" all my life. It's sad that so many are so misinformed. Praying the Rosary is also a great tranquilizer.

[elshiva]

7. Yes, I know, I pray the rosaries, Anglican and Roman Catholic

It is basically meditation like Buddhist chanting really. I understand the connection, but I wish B16 understood. I heard he has a deep prayer life, too.

[imenja]

9. Many of his writings are on the Vatican website

You can go there and see if you can find it.

[Matilda]

10. A lovely congratulatory letter from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

to Pope Benedict.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0502-09.htm


And a very gentle little tap on the wrist?