Below is my reply to an email that proposes disasters happen on the 26th of months.
You can see the email after the jump:
I think this is a terrific example of selective number-matching to further one’s beliefs in a self-fulfilling way. It’s not convincing because obviously, many other disasters do happen on other days of the month. What’s listed are only the disasters that happened to be on the 26th. There are also no proper statistics in terms of percentage below to show that most major disasters happen on the 26th. I would believe there is some truth in it if 99% of disasters in history happen on the 26th. Then again, if it is so obvious, the scientists would have discovered this pattern already. If it is true that disasters tend to happen on the 26th, it could be due to lunar cycles playing a part; not god – but this is unlikely too.
It is expected that adherents of the below will rationalise that only major disasters in recent times happen on the 26th but how recent is recent? The only slightly ancient date below is 1700. Why not list all the way all the disasters and show how many happened on the 26th? And how major is major? More than 1 dying, or 1000 or 10000 or… ? Yet, to 1 person bereaved of 1 family member, it is already a major disaster to that person.
The recent 2011 Christchurch quake is considered a major disaster in New Zealand’s recent history – but it happened on the 22nd of Feb. Does this mean it was not the ‘rage of god’? What is it due to then, to god-believers? The rage of the devil? (In Buddhism, there is collective karma of individuals at play, as reflected through the experiences of the elements in motion.) The Japan Richter-scaled 9 earthquake-tsunami in 2011, which is definitely major also did not happen on the26th. It was on the 11th of March.
The theory below, on disasters happening on the 26th is self-conceived too – not said in the Hebrew scriptures. It’s just selective number play. The idea that there is a god spares some in terms of killing many to save many is horrifying too, yet typical of the imagery of an angry god believed by some, who are god-fearing and wish others to be likewise so. If there is an almighty good and all-powerful creator god, he would have created a paradise void of evil and disasters in the first place, and not need to terrorise the world using disasters, which does not prove he exists anyway.
Just to be careful, avoid going to beaches, sailing and fishing at sea on the 26 of any month.
IT JUST CANNOT BE A COINCIDENCE!!
IT’S good to ponder over this.
HAGGAI 2:6 – The LORD of Hosts says:
“Before long, I will shake heaven and earth, sea and dry land”
The Hebraic numerical value of the Hebrew letters of God’s Holy name:
YHVH is 26! Something to think about! This matches your Haggai 2:6
reference perfectly! He is shaking the nations! In His mercy and grace
He’ll shake some to save many! Blessed be His Name!
Shalom Aleychem!
Take a look at this list too.
1 Gujarat India earthquake 26 Jan 2001
2 The Rhodes earthquake 26 June 1926
3 Taiwan earthquake 26 April 2010
4 Japan earthquake 26 Feb 2010
5 NE Japan earthquake 26 May 2003
6 NE Japan earthquake 26 July 2003
7 North America earthquake 26 Jan 1700
8 Yugoslav earthquake 26 July 1963
Just got the following from Indonesia and I have translated it for you all :
9 Aceh Tsunami 26 Dec 2004
10 Jogjakarta earthquake 26 May 2006
11 Tasik earthquake 26 June 2010
12 Mentawai Tsunami 26 Oct 2010
13 Merapi volcanic eruption 26 Oct 2010
OTHER HISTORICAL disasters :
14 Krakatau volcanic eruption 26 Aug 1883 ( 36,000 dead )
15 China earthquake 26 July 1976 ( 255,000 dead )
16 Portugal earthquake 26 Jan 1951 ( 30,000 dead )
17 Kansu, China earthquake 26 Dec 1932 ( 70,000 dead )
18 Turkey earthquake 26 Dec 1939 ( 41,000 dead )
19 Sabah Tidal waves 26 Dec 1996 ( 1,000 dead )
20 Bam, Iran earthquake 26 Dec 2003 ( 60,000 dead )
Why is it always ” 26 ” ?
Read Haggai 2:6 — For thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Before long, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land”
Coincidence or Predestinated?
God or Buddha knows.
No no no… we ALREADY know disasters all don’t happen on the 26th, and that there can never be a creator god who is all-good, all-powerful and all-knowing at the same time, who allows ANY disaster to happen. If he does, he is not all-good, all-powerful and all-knowing: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2010/12/did-the-universe-have-a-creator
Suffering is part and parcel of life.
That’s not very helpful for the victims. Should the whole world just tell Japan’s tsunami and earthquake victims that ‘suffering is part and parcel of life’?
It is true that it is so, but we can help one another alleviate suffering too. And ultimately, all suffering can be avoided by not creating more causes for it, by practising the Dharma diligently.
Whenever I read about prophecy on disasters in any religious books or even those people who crack some code within to reveal certain answers, I cannot help but feel a sense of shame for those who circulate it in a bid to reinforce how accurate their religion can be to stroke their religious pride or simply to tell others “See, my book told you so”. My immediate reaction is since you know, why did you do nothing about it? If lives are not saved becos of accurate predictions, what we should feel is SHAME and not HONOUR. In the same way, if superman exists, with great powers come great responsibilities, if ever he failed one man who needs help or simply ignore one man who needs help, is he guilty then even though he is not obliged to help every man?
Which is why in Buddhism, the idea of a being who tortures you, inflict on you suffering because of disobedience is unacceptable. Sin is already served by the death sentence meted out to us, why go out to further inflict pain by drowning people or burying people alive in the pile of bricks and mortar when one can prevent it? If so, then providence is really a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I have no interest dealing with an entity with such mental eccentricities. Is everything happening according to the PLAN of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde…..if so we can only be resigned to it for whatever bad and good things that happen is happening as PLANNED.
In Buddhism, prophecies do exist but there is no god who is acting according to the plan he has for us for better or for worst. Therefore, we do not blame god because there is simply no god to be blamed in any disasters.
Thousand of years ago, padmasambhava made his prediction about the world of the dharma ending age, one filled with wars, disasters and erosion of human morality. The suffering the people undergo will be a result of their actions. There are many types of actions. To not act is also an action of agreement. The same way, a policy/infrastructure that does not benefit man and yet is implemented and nobody voices out against it becomes and inaction endorsing it. Humans need to understand that the fate of our kind very much rest in our own hands. When we do nothing, there is nothing to be claimed against when things do not turn out the way we expected it.
But what did the Buddha do in the face of such impending dangers? Once, we were beings of light until we settle down to this abode in the form of coarse material bodies. The Buddha described this saha world as a burning world yet the occupants of this burning house do not see the flames, always lost, distracted and making merry by playing with the fires that entrap us. There are many types of fires that of desires, lust, war, greed, ignorance and pride. Gambling is also a desire that burns many yet many keep coming back for more. The greatest thing the Buddha did was he left the DHARMA, the raft for us to cross over to his shores of peace. His message to us, is to get out of this burning house, the world no matter how attached we are to this playground is really not the final place for us. All things are impermanent. While we have the responsibilities to do our best for our fellow sentient beings by making the world a better place to live in but whatever we do, this earth will no more be a pile of cosmic dust in the endless cycles of cosmic phenomenon. The recent incident really reminds me how tibetan monks can spent days building a mandala out of sand. With just one sweep of the hand, the entire mandala is no more than a pile of sand.
This earth though habitable is not really made for us. Winds will continue to howl and earth will continue to move. But is Nature in our way? Nature has always been like that before man existed. Rather, Man is in the way of Nature. The face of this earth and nature is scarred by mankind and his activities so much that the wounds that do not heal will eventually catch up with us as they unleashed their fury on us. If mankind continue to persist in his old ways in the name of greed and desires in the face of capitalism without a conscience, we can only be at the receiving end for what comes round will go around. If we in our diet continue to eat all sentient beings not even sparing the offspring of these sentient beings a chance to live, how can we expect the same mercy from Nature. In Greek mythology, Gaia meaning earth is a deity. In Buddhism, we are all a part of the sums of the parts in the law of interdependence. If Gaia is real, this earth is another form of consciousness at a macro level and whatever we do to it, it will respond in her own ways.
It is really pure ignorance when we regard natural disasters as disasters only. There are many disasters around if only we can take an effort to count them. The total number of world population aborting and getting sexually transmitted diseases. How is that not a disaster? Disasters can both be macro and micro. One is loud, the other is silent and for all we know the biggest disaster is that when we put all the micros together.
We are the masters of the outcome based on what we do. Simply put all things exists based on cause and effect. beCAUSE we are at the wrong place and time, we will suffer the effect of the cause. Sometimes, it is what we do that produces the causes. Say for example, we create a certain cause by building something but we did not factor in other considerations and the effects will be felt one day by our descendants.
The disasters in Japan is a very sad one. It is a disaster where nature wages war on man in all 3 modes of land, air and sea. But disasters in general, disasters do not have a specific date. Death does not take holidays and he is as close to us as the shadows that follows us.
May all aspire to Amitabha Pureland and may all continue do more good deeds so that when bad things strike us, should we go, we will not go with a heavy heart but one that is always free and at ease. If the heavenly gods are really looking, may they view us with pride and not shame and will always reach out to us and hold the honourable hands of man.
“If creation is real, I have been dead for a million. For a million years, i have enjoyed eternity and bliss until I came. Before i came, I need no god or heaven. Fear no sins, hell or devil. That is the ultimate bliss and eternity for me. May I stay like that always and let not anyone disturb my sleep.”
When is killing considered murder? When u plan to kill and you kill as planned. That is premeditated murder. This lowest of all behaviour has no honour worth beholding.
Everybody knows that a creator is already mighty. But he still needs our prayer. I pray that if the almighty is really mighty. May he use his head more than his muscles.
Resubmitted links on padmasambhava vision of the future.
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=228433116
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5215896701009hll.html
http://www.360doc.com/content/10/1027/17/1238440_64501761.shtml
If there is no God, why to practice any religion? Why one should think of Buddhism and leave a life of compassion. If there is no God, why think of anyone’s sufferings and even dream of obtaining Moksha.Sheer foolishness. Bible rightly say, “The fool hath said in his heart that there is no God”. Look at the Sky, the enormous space and the billions of celestial objects and you will discover it can never happen of its own. Look at the accurate path of every celestical object that they never collide. Who made the path for them? Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be SAVED.
Comment: bibl rightly says, the fool hath said in his heart that there is no God
Reply: The Buddha rightly taught so, that there is no creator God: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2012/03/the-buddhas-victory-over-a-god-demon
It is a great misnomer to assume all religions are god-centric. E.g. Buddhism is not. True Buddhists practise Buddhism out of compassion and wisdom, for the welfare of all beings; not to appease any diety.
If there is an all-good and almighty creator god, why is there anyone suffering in the first place? This is the simplest proof that there is no all-good and almighty god. This was taught by thge Buddha too. Part of true enlightenment requires the realisation of the above.
Intelligent design is fallacious. Look at the sky, where enormous storms brew and kill many. How can this be directed by an all-good and almighty god? Look at tsunamis and such, that kill hundreds of thousands. Is this the ‘accurate path’ of nature directred by an all-good god, that giant waves collide and kill so many? Who made the path for them? Believe in the impartial natural law of karma, and you will realise how it makes sense, and you will be SAVED with growth in compassion and wisdom.
Before any further comments, please read ALL these articles listed @ http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2012/03/the-buddhas-victory-over-a-god-demon & https://moonpointer.com/new/?s=creator+god&x=0&y=0
[Question by named, with answer by other commenters]
Q: Somedays ago I was walking besides a river. I came across some wooden logs. All of a sudden they were patched up to each other and a lovely ship was bewildering my eyes. Then further to my astonishment the ship went itself to the river and voila…. the next moment, it was sailing on it. Believe it……….oh…yeah……you say….NO. And WTH….still you think this whole universe, life, stars, planets, the orbits, the mother nature came just on its own. I wonder about your sanity……seriously.
A: What mentioned makes sense ONLY if you EVER did come across SUCH a ship, that was NOT created by many other moving parts, of MANY designers, construction workers, lumberjacks and so on. The universe arises, sustains and is destroyed dependent on MANY causes and conditions working together, NEVER dependent upon a single cause, especially since such a cause has NEVER created such ships out of the blue before. More on why there is no one creator, as explained by HHDL: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2011/08/why-there-is-no-creator
[Question by named, with answer by other commenters]
Q: even a cinema cannot be created without the creator. Hence, if there is a creation there will be a creator
A: Even a so-called creator cannot be created without another creator, which means there is no first creator in the first place: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2010/12/did-the-universe-have-a-creator There is so-called ‘creation’ only if there is delusional clinging to the concept of ‘creator’. Phenomena naturally rise and fall according to conditions in a cyclical manner. The Buddha hence taught that there is not one creator of all: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2014/05/does-buddhism-explain-creation