Autism and Buddhism

[Nitro]

Why?

Not looking to start and argument, just curious as to why you don't believe the scientists.

The way it was explained to me by a person of the Christian faith was that the creator made everything with age built into it. If one believes in the creation of Adam and Eve,they would have to be fully functional from minute one in order to survive because there would be no other humans to nurture and guide them...I hope this helps you better understand that part of that belief system

 

[Paiva]

I'm a Buddhist, and I don't see why it shouldn't go along with autism.

If you feel drawn to Buddhism, I'd encourage you to learn more about it. But I wouldn't recommend converting to another religion (or giving up religion altogether) just because some Christians have bad opinions on autism. Religion is not one thing. Since people are different, we will interpret things differently.

Buddhists don't agree on everything, and we are certainly not perfect. Just like Christians, atheists and all other people on this earth.

If you do decide to learn more about Buddhism, and maybe become a Buddhist yourself, I suggest you start by learning what you can about the core beliefs. The Four Nobles Truths and the Noble 8-fold Path are most important. There are many different branches of Buddhism, but this is the basis of them all.

Finally, I'd like to say that you don't have to be a Buddhist in order to incorporate some elements of Buddhist practice into your life. A lot of people use Buddhism to become better at whatever else they are doing. Buddhism was a part of my life for 15 years, before I recently decided to actually convert.

I hope this was helpful to you. And feel free to ask, if you have any questions. Buddhism is a subject that I'm rather passionate about, not just because of my personal beliefs, but also because I have a master degree in History of Religions, and Buddhism was my main reason to study this.

 

[Ender]

Any faith may be compatible with autism. Having ASD should not exclude you from believing that which gives you hope and comfort.

Personally, I am a Christian who has incorporated Theravada Buddhism into my philosophy. There is a lot that Buddhism has to offer, I think, that would be beneficial to many. As I believe the Dalai Llama said, "You shouldn't practice Buddhism to be a better Buddhist. You should practice Buddhism to be better at whatever you already were." This is true. And Buddhism has made me a better Christian. It is a philosophy that encourages harmony, rationality, peace, meditativeness, and temperance.

It is sad that many Christians have a holier-than-thou attitude. The same is often applied to many peoples who are "different," be they autistic, LGBT, or even of a different theological stance. But I would like to point out that I have met many a Christian who is sincere, kind, humble, and genuinely loving. It depends on the person. So I do not think "Christianity" as a faith is necessarily at fault, but rather the flawed people that make up the church and their tendency to misrepresent the point of the Scriptures.

My advice would be to take what you can from the religions which appeal to you. Take time to truly examine the evidence and message of the belief and how that applies to you. Try not to be bogged down by the poor examples present in every religion.

 

[Professori]

The truth of Christianity does not imply that you have to be healed. That is a twisted theology which has morphed the truth. Of course Christ healed many people but this does not imply that everyone will be healed, least of all when society decides that a category or people are not 'normal' or are mentally ill.

Just accept that we are simply different, and that we do not necessarily need 'healing'. That is not the ultimate question here.

You have opened a huge area of debate, and unfortunately it is too difficult to engage on the depth of discussion that would justify a meaningful answer, especially when it comes to Religion. Christianity is not a religion - you are not given an 'ity' or an 'ism' but the person of Jesus Christ in order to develop a personal relationship with Him.

Remember that on the basis of Buddhism, or Islam or any other religion, or worldview, you will have to pay for yourself, save yourself, whether it be through the endless cycle of karma, or weighing your good deeds against your bad deeds in order to determine whether you have a right to enter 'paradise'. There is no 'healing' here, especially when the focus is selfish in the extreme. You will never save yourself on this basis - it is exhausting!

This is not a simple matter of changing ideas or ideologies, but realizing the truth of the fact that we all desperately need grace - a personal Saviour. There is no salvation, grace, forgiveness in any other religion or worldview.

I suggest that you listen to Ravi Zachariah, an apologist, on YouTube, comparing the different religions as well as answering the most important questions we all ask about religion or philosophy, or whatever.

 

[cory]

Because there are no such thing as a time machine to back up the scientists claims to the worlds age. I know the world is old, maybe 10 000 years, but billions I do not think so, and this is only my opinion. I would like to know for sure thou. Plus scientists are human and can make mistakes. Evolution can happen so fast imo too, I do not know if I believe in evolution, but I do believe in micro evolution or adaptation.

Radio isotopes prove the world is older than 10000 years old. Heavy elements are made in supernova or neutron star mergers. The crust of the earth contain some of these elements. By measuring their decay rates we can tell that some of these elements were incorporated into the earth long before 10000 years ago. BTW it's funny you use the number 10000 bc in eastern philosophy (taoism bhuddism) that number translates into our concept of infinity.

 

[superawesomeme]

I am thinking of studying buddhism, is buddhism compatible with autism?

Does anyone know about buddhism and whether it's a good idea, I am thinking of switching from Christianity to become a buddhist or atheist because some people in the christian faith think that people with autism are inferior and need to be healed instead of accepted and accommodated.

Hi Clintos,

Really wanted to weigh in on this as I was in a similar position to you, except I was born and raised athiest.

The first thing I need to say is "yes" it is very compatible, the second thing I need to say is... Don't feel you have to choose/switch.

I started exploring Buddhism because I had a misconception that it was a magical, spiritual way of life that would solve my problems and make me happy. A few weeks in I had my mind blown... because I was wrong... but in a really good way.

What I discovered by exploring this religion is how, unlike the teachings of some of the western faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam etc) the dharma of Buddhism is actually intended to be deconstructed, picked apart and questioned - then applied to a modern context.

The Buddha was a teacher, in a way like a modern day life coach, so he actually encourages doubt and disbelief. It was the original "try before you buy".

There's no deity, no heaven, no hell. There's no cosmic force looking over you to punish or reward you. It's a way to see the world as it is and cope with it in a way that brings you fulfilment. Also known as enlightenment.

With that in mind, you can study and even follow Buddhist teachings alongside other religions or belief systems. It is designed to be manipulated not for self interest but for compatibility with real life.

I really recommend the course I took through Harvard University's edX programme but whatever one to do study just try and look at it objectively and don't think that you need to dress in orange and shave your head. You can take as much or as little from the teachings as you want.

These are the key things that stood out to me and made the biggest impact on my life:

1. All life is suffering. There is absolutely no way to avoid it. Even blissful ignorance is painful eventually. You need to accept that life is hard, life is painful and life is suffering. We will all experience sickness, we will all experience aging and we will all experience death. It happens so accept it.

2. Life is finite. It will end. It may end in 5 minutes, it may be 100 years from now, but you will die and there is no second chance. Regardless of whether you believe in reincarnation or even heaven, in this time and place you only get one chance to be you, so make it count - remove the negativity and see the beauty in every moment.

3. There is no universal right or wrong, good or bad, etc. Life is more complicated than that. So don't judge others and don't push your beliefs on to them. Instead, have compassion for them. If they believe the world was created by one man in seven days then that's their right, perhaps it brings them comfort to believe in God and the structure that provides, perhaps the belief in heaven gives them purpose in their life and makes them less afraid to die - that is their reality.

4. Karma is... not at all what Hollywood would have you believe. It's not a cosmic reward and punishment system. It's a fundamental belief that if you live you life with good intentions, that you are kind to others and you respect yourself and the world around you, then your life will be better. Not magically better - cancer will still exist, death will eventually catch up with you, Trump will still become president, etc... But you will limit the the chances of bad things happening because you are not doing bad things. I prefer to call it common sense rather than Karma.

5. Don't let material goods hold you back. It's nice to have stuff and it's especially nice to have a safe home, food, etc. But if something isn't necessary then don't hold on it to. Whether it's material goods or relationships. There's a story of a man and a raft. He built a raft to cross the river and continue his journey... The raft was really useful and he wanted to keep it, but it no longer served a purpose on dry land and would have just held him back. So focus on what YOU want and don't be held back.

I learned a lot more than that but that was it in a nutshell. Ironically it seems you can only achieve true happiness if you accept you cannot have true happiness but it makes sense eventually.

I hope you enjoy your spiritual journey.

 

[ilovetochat87]

You see I believe I need no healing, my autism is high functioning I do not have those outburst that others do. I am slow/do not show empathy for example and need to be born again literally with the knowledge I have now. I was already baptized in jesus name.

The thing that Temple Grandin made clear that was not known till she said it was that you CANT "CURE" Autism. Its not possible and even if it was why would you want to? Its not like cancer. We can't just cure it and we would be better or no longer sick. Its part of who we are. She put it that we have a different wiring of the brain than neurotypical people and more wiring or less wiring than neurotypical people do. and we produce more chemicals or less chemicals so we would totally change who we are personally even if we could take away the autism. Like the part of the brain that makes me veary visual, if i took that trait from myself then I would not have an active imagination I would not see things the way I do. I have a difficult time doing tests bc I am visual and most tests are not as accommodating for visual learners. But when I took my permit test I used the computer test. It helped immensely bc I saw a picture of a stop sign and the question was how far before a stop sign should you begin to put on ur signal? I visualized being at a street corner and seeing a physical stop sign. I immediately knew the answer. If I wasnt as visual I would have sucked at that test. So if I had the chance to decide whether I would be neurotypical now after having being diagnosed with AS or stay with AS I would stay with AS. And she showed a brain scan of hers and one of a neurotypical person. Showing that she has many wires going to the center of the brain for reasoning and the neurotypical brain showed it didn't have as many going to that center in that brain. She pointed out lots like that between her brain and the neurotypical brain. She said if you cut any of the wires it would kill ALL the cells and that center of the brain would shut down. Ad kill the brain bc the brain would shut down and die. So its not possible to rewire the wires in the brain or to shorten the amount of ones that have too many going to certain areas. So anyone who thinks that's possible is really nieve and really doesnt know what autism is or how it works. And yes, a lot of religious ppl think that it can be done, but not all. Its not a Christian thing to think that ASD should be cured. Many people think that it should. And it makes me sad how uneducated on the topic/subject that many people are. They claim to know about ASD and why it should be cured but know actually nothing or they would know it can't be done and that it would be inhumane to think that someone with ASD is broken and not love them for them regardless of who they are.

 

[WereBear]

I am a Taoist. It's a little free book on the internet that was the parent of Zen in many ways. It can be a way of testing reality, and living in harmony with it.

 

[HermanHesse]

My best friend started out Mennonite, went Pentecostal Christian, then Messianic Jew, then switched to Traditional Jew, is currently studying Hindu beliefs and practices, while also being an honest-to-God Jedi. She even is authorized in my state to officiate weddings, and has done so dressed as a Starfleet Captain (from Star Trek)!

Good luck with your studies!

Well philosophically, Jedism is basically Buddhism without Buddha plus space wizardry. Being controlled by emotions is a bad thing and you are supposed to be harmonious with everything and have great respect for all living things. Then you add some magic powers on top of it.

Please keep in mind that Buddhists can be as savage as any other people.

Right now Buddhists in Myanmar are massacring the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Rohingya Muslim crisis in Myanmar: The warning signs of a possible ‘genocide’

 

[Allen H]

Because there are no such thing as a time machine to back up the scientists claims to the worlds age. I know the world is old, maybe 10 000 years, but billions I do not think so, and this is only my opinion. I would like to know for sure thou. Plus scientists are human and can make mistakes. Evolution can happen so fast imo too, I do not know if I believe in evolution, but I do believe in micro evolution or adaptation.

Yes, you are correct in that we can't travel back in time and find out how old the earth and universe is. What scientists do is examine current data/observations to derive "laws" (regularities) in nature and use these to interpret the observations. Unproven (and unprovable) assumptions are part of the story since many things cannot be directly demonstrated. Radiometric dating of rocks is the primary way used to argue for an earth that is billions of years old. Existing radioactive decay rates may be measured, the rates at which a radioactive element decays into other elements. Then, if one assumes that the same rates have always been in effect (and makes certain other assumptions about the presence of the original amounts of radioactive elements in the minerals) one can calculate an approximate age for the rocks containing these radioactive substances. One can never verify the underlying assumptions, but you have to start somewhere. If they are false, then the results of the dating methods are not reliable. Sometimes they have been spectacularly wrong. I remember a case where a laboratory gave a date of millions of years old for lava from a volcano eruption which had occurred in the 20th century. They have explanations for these errors, but again the explanations themselves involve unprovable assumptions. The whole thing is very complex.

 

[Nitro]

Well philosophically, Jedism is basically Buddhism without Buddha plus space wizardry. Being controlled by emotions is a bad thing and you are supposed to be harmonious with everything and have great respect for all living things. Then you add some magic powers on top of it.

Please keep in mind that Buddhists can be as savage as any other people.

Right now Buddhists in Myanmar are massacring the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Rohingya Muslim crisis in Myanmar: The warning signs of a possible ‘genocide’

Rohingya Muslim crisis in Myanmar: The warning signs of a possible ‘genocide’

 

[superawesomeme]

Please keep in mind that Buddhists can be as savage as any other people.

Right now Buddhists in Myanmar are massacring the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Rohingya Muslim crisis in Myanmar: The warning signs of a possible ‘genocide’

Although really it has nothing to do with their Buddhism at all. It's the same as when people say the Islamic faith is to blame for the actions of ISIS or the Taliban. It has nothing to do with the religion, the groups just use religion to give themselves a common identity, in the same way a gang adopts a colour or a sports team adopts a mascot.

I wish the news outlets would stop identify terrorists by their religious preference or their organisation. It plays into their hands and gives them more strength through their combined identity.

 

[Nitro]

Although really it has nothing to do with their Buddhism at all. It's the same as when people say the Islamic faith is to blame for the actions of ISIS or the Taliban. It has nothing to do with the religion, the groups just use religion to give themselves a common identity, in the same way a gang adopts a colour or a sports team adopts a mascot.

I wish the news outlets would stop identify terrorists by their religious preference or their organisation. It plays into their hands and gives them more strength through their combined identity.

The issue I have with the Muslim faith is the lack of separation of church and state. The USA was formed with that in mind and took steps to keep it that way.
A majority of the followers want Sharia law,and view it above the established laws of the lands they enter. As their population spreads in countries as they have already experienced in Europe,they will gain more control,which under our established republic democracy we live in here in the USA can and will be tossed to the curb as they gain the control over it.That's not what the goal is for many here that like it the way it is.

Sharia law runs side by side with what is written in the koran,and those considered radical take that to extremes. I really don't think it is favorable to set their women back as second rate citizens and to trade,rape or kill the ones they don't accept. Their diety is for them and them only,and not a forgiving one for those outside of their faith

If you actually paid attention to the pattern of the craziest of times recently,you will also see a common denominator used as the media's focus to sell the news.

 

[superawesomeme]

The issue I have with the Muslim faith is the lack of separation of church and state. The USA was formed with that in mind and took steps to keep it that way.

A majority of the followers want Sharia law,and view it above the established laws of the lands they enter.

I don't know much about the USA but from what I do know your church and state and more entwined than ours in the UK and Europe.

Don't you have "In God we trust" on your money? That's about as opposite to separate as you can get.

It may just be the "version" of history we are taught here in Europe but we are taught that America was founded primarily by religious people (Quakers or something I think) escaping the separation of church and state when England started reducing the power of the church. (Our monarchs and governments have historically ruled in self interest since Henry VIII told the Pope to do one. Less than 50% of the UK are Christian compared to over 70% in the US.)

I think that Sharia law thing is a myth.

I don't know what American Muslims believe or how their communities operate there, they could be different than British Muslims.

In the UK, Muslims make up about 5% of the population (it's less than 1% in the US) and they follow the same laws as everyone else, and most have no issues with that and there are even some very prominent Muslims in British politics including Sadiq Khan, The Mayor of London. But his faith has nothing to do with his position or the job he does.

Only extreme Muslims seem to believe in adopting Sharia law here and most people keep their beliefs within their communities. We have significantly more problems from Christian extremists (IRA, EDL, etc) than Muslim ones. You just get to hear about the Muslim ones more because certain right-wing newspapers like to stir the pot and capitalise on ignorance.

Just don't judge people by what you see in the news or by your comparatively small American Muslim populations. In much more diverse communities like the UK the biggest problems tend to be from ignorant Christians and athiests than Muslims.

The issue I have with the Muslim faith is the lack of separation of church and state. The USA was formed with that in mind and took steps to keep it that way.
A majority of the followers want Sharia law,and view it above the established laws of the lands they enter. As their population spreads in countries as they have already experienced in Europe,they will gain more control,which under our established republic democracy we live in here in the USA can and will be tossed to the curb as they gain the control over it.That's not what the goal is for many here that like it the way it is.

Sharia law runs side by side with what is written in the koran,and those considered radical take that to extremes. I really don't think it is favorable to set their women back as second rate citizens and to trade,rape or kill the ones they don't accept. Their diety is for them and them only,and not a forgiving one for those outside of their faith

If you actually paid attention to the pattern of the craziest of times recently,you will also see a common denominator used as the media's focus to sell the news.

 

[Nitro]

I don't know much about the USA but from what I do know your church and state and more entwined than ours in the UK and Europe.

Don't you have "In God we trust" on your money? That's about as opposite to separate as you can get.

It may just be the "version" of history we are taught here in Europe but we are taught that America was founded primarily by religious people (Quakers or something I think) escaping the separation of church and state when England started reducing the power of the church. (Our monarchs and governments have historically ruled in self interest since Henry VIII told the Pope to do one. Less than 50% of the UK are Christian compared to over 70% in the US.)

I think that Sharia law thing is a myth.

I don't know what American Muslims believe or how their communities operate there, they could be different than British Muslims.

In the UK, Muslims make up about 5% of the population (it's less than 1% in the US) and they follow the same laws as everyone else, and most have no issues with that and there are even some very prominent Muslims in British politics including Sadiq Khan, The Mayor of London. But his faith has nothing to do with his position or the job he does.

Only extreme Muslims seem to believe in adopting Sharia law here and most people keep their beliefs within their communities. We have significantly more problems from Christian extremists (IRA, EDL, etc) than Muslim ones. You just get to hear about the Muslim ones more because certain right-wing newspapers like to stir the pot and capitalise on ignorance.

Just don't judge people by what you see in the news or by your comparatively small American Muslim populations. In much more diverse communities like the UK the biggest problems tend to be from ignorant Christians and athiests than Muslims.

You know what? You are right,I'm just an American idiot that only watches TV.

 

[superawesomeme]

You know what? You are right,I'm just an American idiot that only watches TV.

I didn't say that. I said I didn't know what American Muslims were like but saying British ones are not like you described so they could be very different and don't assume all of them are the same as the ones you know or have heard about.

Never said you were an idiot at all.

 

[Nitro]

I didn't say that. I said I didn't know what American Muslims were like but saying British ones are not like you described so they could be very different and don't assume all of them are the same as the ones you know or have heard about.

Never said you were an idiot at all.

I think that Sharia law thing is a myth. You my friend,need to take a closer look

 

[superawesomeme]

I think that Sharia law thing is a myth. You my friend,need to take a closer look

I know it exists. I said that what you said was a myth that "the majority of Muslims want Sharia law".

Certainly the Muslims I know don't want it and all of the polls and research here say that it's not true. It may be very different in your country though.

 

[WereBear]

Muslims form a similar spectrum (hee hee) of belief as Christians and Jews do. They can be hardcore fundamentals all the way to very liberal and flexible interpretations.

However, in the US, the fundamentalists are the only ones who get attention.

 

[superawesomeme]

Muslims form a similar spectrum (hee hee) of belief as Christians and Jews do. They can be hardcore fundamentals all the way to very liberal and flexible interpretations.

However, in the US, the fundamentalists are the only ones who get attention.

That's what I was trying to say in my waffly way