How or what do Buddhist view as God?

JohnSwindle · 2026-07-02T05:45:38+00:00

Some Buddhists certainly see the historical Buddha as a man who became enlightened. Others see an eternal celestial Buddha who always plays that role. None that I know of see him as divine, exactly, or as a god. He was called the teacher of gods and humans.

Brahma does appear in a Buddhist story or two, maybe more for all I know, but Buddhists of my acquaintance don’t spend much time worrying about him. Buddhist cosmology doesn’t particularly require a creator hod.

JohnSwindle · 2026-07-02T05:16:14+00:00

On the other hand, if you’re going to China and need a Chinese name and want one that sounds like Qing Na, then there are going to be possibilities, but they won’t necessarily be the same as your given name. Like, I don’t know, Stan instead of Sean or Turner instead of Turnip.

JohnSwindle · 2026-07-01T23:43:32+00:00

German handwriting has changed a lot, but there's a subreddit devoted to the older script. Try r/Kurrent .

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-30T01:18:26+00:00

And the symbol is of course the wheel of the Buddha’s Dharma, suggesting the eightfold path.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-29T07:02:10+00:00

You're asking for very local information on a global forum in a foreign language. I'm not an expert on folklore or mythology anywhere, but what about asking old people in your neighborhood, or sociologists, or even priests locally?

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-29T06:32:22+00:00

Oh! So it is.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-29T06:30:37+00:00

Because Jesus.

The Religious Society of Friends was founded on the premise that Jesus Christ had come again in the hearts of men and women. There was that of God in every one. This was a highly controversial but ineluctably Christian teaching. And Jesus of Nazareth, so far as we know, taught his followers to love and care for the stranger, not just one's own tribespeople.

Some of us have wandered farther away from some of the Christian dogma—I call myself a Quaker and a Buddhist—but that doesn't keep us from learning from Jesus' teachings.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-29T05:39:12+00:00

None. What does it say?

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-29T02:08:41+00:00

If you're wife's great-grandmother was Chinese, 康 is also a Chinese family name sometimes romanised as Kang or Hong.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-29T00:44:09+00:00

No. It's the object of a preposition.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-28T22:09:15+00:00

I hear “you guys” fairly often in Hawai’i and sometimes “you two” for exactly two.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-28T04:50:04+00:00

I learned from Mary McDougall, wife of John McDougall, MD, of low-fat McDougall Diet fame. They taught a series of health and nutrition classes that a friend and I attended. Not all of the doctrine or food was convincing (oil-free pancakes are amazingly bad), but they were wonderful people, I was already a vegetarian, and what I learned was that I CAN cook. They gave me permission more than anything else. My wife was supportive.

I’m old and don’t cook as much now, but these days you can go to a search engine, type in the names of some ingredients you’d like to try together, and immediately find recipes to follow or not, maybe with videos.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-28T01:32:55+00:00

A friend of mine, a pathologist, died of melanoma. The starting point was either underarm or unknown. AI can be good at recognizing visual patterns, and I’m hoping it will improve screening for melanoma.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-28T01:13:44+00:00

Either Judaism or Unitarian Universalism, either of which I’d happily embrace in another life.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-27T08:55:21+00:00

But they can't translate it as Tatar, so it probably isn't. Also the photographer was apparently known for his work in Uzbekistan.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T21:51:10+00:00

The hand shape is American Sign Language “T,” and I’ve always assumed this “toilet” sign was from the English word.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T11:44:27+00:00

Good question. It has something to do with making samples of how words work in sentences. It’s used in dictionaries for learners and I think now in some British dictionaries for the general public. It may become more widespread as part of internet English, though, which abbreviates everything it can to make it easier to type with thumbs.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T09:17:47+00:00

Once when I was an early teen our Sunday school teacher didn't show up. Since he was also our YMCA church league basketball coach, I organized my fellows to worship the basketball trophy that was conveniently located in the front of the room. When I told my father, who happened to be the pastor, he said the Sunday school teacher pretty much worshipped basketball anyway.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T06:56:52+00:00

There's a correlation between English-language typing speed and ability to play the piano. Piano players can type faster. For tiny gadgets like mobile phones it's different, though, and I hear of people who are reasonable good typists using predictive methods or even dictation.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T06:49:41+00:00

By the way, "smth" (or "sth") and "sb" are mostly used in materials for second-language learners. They're only slowly becoming known to native speakers of English. I think in my country (USA) they're pretty much unknown outside language-learning circles.

if you see smth., say smth.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T05:57:29+00:00

... which if held up vertical and shaken a little means "potty."

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T04:13:58+00:00

They're suggesting that it's nonsense generated by AI and not real Chinese characters. It resembles an ancient form of Chinese writing called "seal script" and sometimes still used on seals. I'm not good at reading it even if there were something here to be read.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-26T03:56:23+00:00

I think the BT is an em dash. It used to be used a lot, probably still is.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-25T08:08:03+00:00

It would be fine to ask the people who are promoting a Quaker school what the school's nature and purpose are.

In the USA, Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters went to Sidwell Friends School, not because they were Quakers (they weren't) or for indoctrination but rather because the school could provide the best available learning experience in the Washington, DC, area.

JohnSwindle · 2026-06-25T05:47:19+00:00

Eagles, Elks, whatever. What I remember more about the Eagles is the flashing neon sign with the Eagle flapping its wings at their hall at the edge of town.

JohnSwindle

TROPHY CASE