Buddhism is wrong

Practiced meditators from any religion or school all harp on about one thing: letting go.

Letting go of attachment, wants, desires, fears, and pains. Their path to happiness involves avoiding the pursuit of happiness. To a Buddhist, the human want for fulfillment is what creates unfulfillment. That is very stoic, and helpful for those whose lives are ruled by the physical.

But is there something wrong with this anti-human detachment? I'd you accept all that comes to you, where does your will manifest? Is the most glorious death to a Buddhist monk simply to be swallowed by the tide?

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=3bM1STI8Hkc
youtube.com/watch?v=MV0wiAuOqik
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkō-ikki
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaiśravaṇa
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

I understand where they're coming from, in the sense that they oppose materialism, which many of us oppose also.

But these guys are essentially aiming for suicide, or at best for life as if we were some kind of plant.

That's my understanding of it as well. Controlling want is not a bad thing, but removing yourself from the world's ecosystem is. Nature takes into account (some) human action in the environment.

We are stewards of the Earth.

I just don't understand why Buddhism has become the meme religion for white girls that it is

They don't practice real buddhism. They practice a weird mix of buddhism, native American practices and nigger witch doctor theories. They get white girls by stupid mantras that make them feel better. its easier than practicing an actual religion. It lets liberals fill the missing gap the being godless leaves.

What a shame

Keep in mind our version of buddhism that made it to the west is hippy piss that isn't necessarily like the real deal.

My understanding of it is you should strive to remove suffering from your life, that means different things to different people.

Personally, I believe suffering builds character and makes you stronger, whilst buddhism seems to shirk life and thus you never really grow, you just sound all wise and profound in your temple in the middle of fucking nowhere.

If you think buddhism is bad though, you should read taoism, it's arguably even worse.

Taoism doesn't even tell you to let go of everything because it removes suffering, it tells you to let go of it because it's too much effort and effort disrupts harmony.

Taoist scripture discourages learning and expanding the mind because it believes there's no point in it and it disrupts peace.

It's hard to believe Taoism was the main religion in China for so long desu senpai.

you guys have no understandment of buddhist teachings and are trying to judge it somehow

get a grip

not even a buddhist btw

youtube.com/watch?v=3bM1STI8Hkc

you don't understand what Buddhism is about.

in Buddhism, the will you speak of is ego, and ego is the main cause of suffering in Buddhism. there is no soul. there is no "you". they aren't swallowed by the tide - they/we are the tide. you are judging something from a different mindset and thus do not understand it.

From what I understand Buddhism encourages you to assert your wants but wants not to become attached to things you "have". It doesn't advocate rolling over and dying.

Nothing wrong with them; buddhists seem like peaceful people. Zen seems to have a very interesting philosophy because it teaches to not believe in simple words and thoughts but to be aware of your environment and consciousness. It's about a deeper experience of the world. Some philosophical teachings in Buddhism resemble modern western views.

>buddhists seem like peaceful people

Until Muslims ruin it, like they do with everything.

Gotta get a grip gotta get a grip gotta get a grip gotta get

I don't understand the Buddhist thing with Tibet. It was here. Now it is gone. Let go of your attachments

TIBET BTFO!!
KEK

It always has to be Straya.

I actually am finding that asd I get older, I enjoy myself more the more I stop desiring things.

It's an odd way of going about things, as I can now afford all of the things that I used to want.

It's not a religious process for me, or even philosophical though. It started when I quit smoking, I am enjoying the freedom of not needing to consume every few minutes.

And this is translating itself into other aspects of my life, food for example, I no longer long for anything.

And I always had to mix pleasures, if I got to a good part in a book, I would stop and want to be eating something good while reading it ect.

Now, I prefer to not detract from one experience by in incorporating another.

This coincides with shifts in my musical tastes as well, where I am now enjoying minimalist styles, exploring the nuances of base elements that I previously never even regarded.

As the world around me bombards me with more and more information, I am finding that I enjoy the times in which I can reduce the amount of stimulation I am exposed to.

Again this is kind of ass backwards, I was born in the early 70's in a small town in a home with no television ect, and I used to be very bothered by this, I always felt like I was missing out.

Now I am starting to feel like I am missing out when I AM watching tv.

It is very hard to explain, for a long time, I was repelled by simplicity, it was almost something I was ashamed of. But now that my financial situation is vastly different and simplicity is no forced upon me by circumstance, I find myself no longer desiring what I used to covet at all.


My next step is to retire fully, and get rid of this computer. I know that there is nothing I need from this. I remember before the internet existed, and how I learned so much more from libraries. This is decay, and my compulsion to participate is eroding rapidly.

I think it's retarded too. I don't know why Westerners obsess over it other than because it relates to their nihilistic tendencies.

buddhism is an attempt to find the middle path between brutal asceticism and worldliness. It is a philosophy which recognizes the inherent 'correctness' of asceticism, in a broad sense, but also recognizes that a truly pure asceticism is ultimately just death, and as such prohibitive of other 'correct' goals.

So really it's just a bullshit filter? Filter out the degeneracy and find a pure and purposeful goal and focus on that and find meaning in your life.

So really Sup Forums should just become a buddhist board. Then we really can say we're a board of peace.

Ew no thanks. I'll keep my soul

buddhism is asian

in asia insect like thinking is the norm and encouraged

and look how far it got them

It's not wrong by itself, it's just philosophically equivalent to a suicide. As far as I understand Buddhism, its goal is to commit the ultimate suicide and leave the circle of rebirth. For me, it's stupid.

Also, wrong board.

>ego death is totally enlightening, maaan

Dumb.

Why does he sit like that?

>Taoist scripture discourages learning and expanding the mind because it believes there's no point in it and it disrupts peace.

Taoism places great emphasis on studying and understanding the natural world, which is why many ancient chinese alchemists, astronomers, mathematicians, etc were Taoists.

Maybe his butt hurts

it already is, and always has been. Sup Forums in general. the internet in general. because the internet is wise.

Tbf they were the most advanced society for centuries.

Jesus also advocated what you call detachment.

I will admit, a lifetime of being influenced by Westernized views of Eastern religions, has corrupted any sort of drive to the future I ever had. Plus, I'm actually less empathetic. Psychedelics reinforced that view on me. If everything and everyone is infinite, yet all just one part of god viewing itself, what differences does anyone or any experience make?

Then why is the Tao Te Chang saying that it's all fuck all. That's the impression i'm getting reading the scripture.

Maybe if it was less flowery and just got to the point, I'd understand it better.

Fucking asians and their poetic nonsense.

The impression it's giving me is one should find fulfillment in nothing, in stillness. That learning is unnecessary and that one should fill their belly and not their head.

It just seems really idealistic and silly at the moment.

You should keep in mind though that actual buddhism and """""buddhism""""" that's practiced in the west (usually by dumb hipster chicks) differ by a lot

thank you for sharing this, I felt the same way and didn't even know it. Dem synchronicities.

he's a big man

>it tells you to let go of it because it's too much effort and effort disrupts harmony.

effort and chaos are also a part of the harmony. two sides of the same coin. the tao te ching doesn't say to not exert effort, it says to act without attachment.

>Religion
>Put on a costume and be a hobo

Why are there no religions that are just like "Meet once a week and find a practical problem in your local area, team up to help fix that problem, then hang out and play pool at a bar. Maybe go exercising or to the gym together on Mondays. Fuck Muslims."

If I could found a religion, that would basically be it.

>tfw 30% of American Buddhists are Jewish

The Jews are a strange people

>Buddhism

You are a little baby. Cynicism is the ultimate redpill.

>Fuck everything
>Masturbate in public
>Live in a barrel
>Never shower
>Tell Kings to fuck off out of your sun
>Get called a dog, embrace it and bite evildoers.
>Call Plato a bitch

If I was not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.

I think the church of Satan probably meets your criteria.

the thing is it really is required to be on a higher plane of awareness/intelligence/consciousness to understand what this stuff actually means. The esoteric stuff is the real deal, the mass consumed side of any religion which is the exoteric side is usually watered down generalized garbage.

I doubt you are going to have anyone successfully explain the esoteric side of Buddhism to you, Especially on Sup Forums. Even people who have discussed and read up on it for hours can have trouble with it.

"being detached" doesn't mean what you think it means. You can still work on things or believe in things etc. But your perspective comes from a higher plane.
Its hard to explain or understand, its almost like another dimension of thought.

Your reddit is showing.

>For the Cynics, the purpose of life was to live in virtue, in agreement with nature.

Meaningful post.

Thanks.

>The Tao Te Ching praises self-gained knowledge with emphasis on that knowledge being gained with humility. When what one person has experienced is put into words and transmitted to others, so doing risks giving unwarranted status to what inevitably must have had a subjective tinge.

>"The pursuit of learning is to increase day after day. The pursuit of Tao is to decrease the doing of the self day after day." (chap. 48, tr. W. T. Chan)

I've never read it, just remembering documentaries and wiki. apparently it's really hard to understand with all the literary allusion to contemporary text and intentional vagueness

anyway it seems to encourage self-gained knowledge but looks down on book-learning, so it makes sense for Taoists to natural scientists, but I'm wondering why they bothered writing down and sharing their findings.

lol you are a baby.

>Cynicism
no it's not redpilled.

Why would you bother giving a serious answer to a 13 year edgelord fake Nazi on Sup Forums?

You just got fucking rused, you fucking baited retard.

it is the cuck mindset, letting go's all nice and well until you need to provide for yourself or defend yourself and then suddenly you are starving to death or getting your head caved in by niggers because you le dont le want for le nothing

itt white people misunderstand buddhism because they're angry christians

Does squatting look more comfortable to you?

Why don't you educate us, o enlightened one?

"Zen Keys" by Thich Nhat Hanh is a good introduction to the mindset of buddhists.

>but I'm wondering why they bothered writing down and sharing their findings

This is what I find funny too. The scripture itself seems half assed. Which is why I guess I though Taoism seemingly doesn't really give a fuck.

The happiest people are buddhists, and the only thing that really matters is happiness

>Then why is the Tao Te Chang saying that it's all fuck all
It's saying that everything is *born* from nothing, not that everything is literally nothing.

The example I always like to use is this: Hold out your hands. What do you have? Two hands, of course. Now cup your hands together. What do you have? A bowl. Your hands are not the bowl, but they give shape to the bowl. So where did the bowl come from? It came from "nothing" (aka the Tao, the source of all things). Essentially, Taoism sees the universe as a zero-sum object - so everything in it has come from nothingness.


>The impression it's giving me is one should find fulfillment in nothing, in stillness.
Stillness is the wrong word. Harmony is a better word. A central concept of Taoism is "Wu Wei" which translates to something like "effortless action." The jist of that concept is that you should not fight against nature but rather embrace nature and find harmony within it. (Note that "nature" and "heaven" are somewhat interchangeable in some eastern religions, so think less "tree-hugging hippy" and more the "order of the universe" when you see the word nature.) One of the most often used metaphors in Taoism is water - it is both immensely strong (fluids don't compress) and able to take almost any shape (whatever its container happens to be), yet when water moves it is seen as entirely effortless and fluid. So when you read "non-action" in the TTC, think of water flowing into a container, not someone literally doing nothing.

I think there are many paths to being free of desire...however, I think Buddhism is best viewed as as sub-set of Hinduism.

You cannot understand Buddhism without understanding Hinduism, just like you cannot fully understand Christianity without understanding pre-christian Judaism.

Desire is what creates the universe, what creates the world...everything that exists is a product of desire. Whether it be the divine willing the universe into existence. Or a man desiring a chair so he decides to build one, or two parents who desire each other and a child coming together to procreate.

Desire is the root of creation.

Eliminating desire is what you do for spiritual liberation. If you no longer need to create, or do anything, it's basically saying you're on another level, and you no longer want or need anything.

I think this is a valid path towards greater spirituality and enlightenment. I don't doubt that.

But how good is enlightenment? Is it something to be desired? Why should I want ot reunite with the great divine instead of live a physical life?

It's just about what you want. If you want to end the cycle of reincarnation and join Brahma/God as one, then yeah follow the 8-fold path.

Or, if you like the earth, and like living, keep on doing what you're doing. Nothing wrong with being involved in the physical realm.

Everything happens completely naturally at it's own pace. Just do what you think is right, eventually you'll want to do something else anyway.

>you cannot fully understand Christianity without understanding pre-christian Judaism

opinion discarded

Buddhism is literally the cuck religion par excellence

you obviously do not understand the spiritual revolution of the 1960s. It was much deeper and more profound than any of the political, social, or artistic movements of the time period.

People were looking for new modes of thinking and for new ideas in general.

While hinduism and buddhism had been in America since at least the 1890s, when Sri Ramakrishna (I think that's who it was, I could be wrong) gave a speech on eastern religions at the Chicago World's Fair, it was still a niche thing. Yes you had yoga workshops in the US in the 20s-40s but that was mostly confined to a small niche audience.

However, these philosophies exploded in the 1960s. Why is this?

People began taking LSD and psychedelic mushrooms. Lots of people took these drugs and had profound experiences. Many of them felt that they could not reconcile their experiences with Christianity. not that Christianity was against it...just that there was nothing in Christianity that explains these experiences (there is actually, but this information is mostly confined to theological scholars and not your average churchgoer).

And so people turned to Hinduism and Buddhism, which seemed to offer explanations of these experiences.

Chief among these if the Tibetan Book of The Dead, which was "translated" or rather, explained by Timothy Leary in the 1960s and others. Essentially they correlated the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is Tibetan Buddhism's instructions and explanation of the death process, with the process that one undergoes on high doses of psychedelic drugs. It is uncanny how similar this book, thousands and thousands of years old, is to the psychedelic experience of taking LSD or mushrooms.

And so, because of this, people began to study these religions more intensely. Alan Watts became popular. The west coast, having a larger asian population even in the 60s, had buddhism schools and centers. Watts traveled the country talking about Zen Buddhism.

it's not about fulfillment.

absence of fulfillment is also fulfillment.

Do you like hurting other people?

are you seriously that retarded?

Jesus is the Messiah.

In order for their to be a messiah, there has to be a group of people prophesying and waiting for that Messiah.

Have you even read the book of Isaiah?

I'm not saying Judaism is right, it isn't. But you cannot properly understand Christianity and the method of Jesus and how he fulfilled the prophecies without understanding Judaism.

Jesus fulfilled the law.

Thanks, both those points were extremely helpful. I'd understand the scripture better if it was more literal instead of vague.

Buddists want a soft genocide of all life. There can be no suffering then. It's a religion for cucks , Christ is the only way.

You don't need a deep understanding of pre-Christian Judaism to understand that he is the messiah (Christianity includes the Old Testament).

Judaism is so different from Christianity that many early Christians (the Gnostics) believed that the Jewish god is some kind of devil.

You could also say you need a understanding of the Roman Empire - but these are just historical facts that don't describe the essence of Christianity.

not just gnostic christians. canaan followed the same god apparently (el), but according to them el was the name of the golden calf idol, the "bull of heaven", the same one who jews were often chastised for falling for.

old testament has been heavily corrupted during the stay in babylon, combining moses's revealed god with the calf.

I could give a fuck about the beliefs and books involved int he actual religion or its practices.
The only part I like in the mental discipline aspect. The rest is just lies.
I remember watching some brit who became a monk invited to do a talk at google, at the end some girl with a nerdy voice asks the obvious question "why do you even need all that religious stuff, why not just focus on the mental practice part?" and the britmonk went insane and told her to shut up and listen to the buddhist shit because they've been doing it forever.
You could practice bullshit for ten thousand years, in my mind its still bullshit. I don't see any value in these philosophies beyond the practice of self-hypnosis and navel gazing.
The end goal being not feeling like shit. The rest of their musing is artistically interesting to me, but I don't see its connection to reality. No different than christian bullshit.
Buddhists have texts full of crap just like christians.

>I'd understand the scripture better if it was more literal instead of vague.
Completely understandable. Most translations tend to keep the vague and poetic aspect of the text because it's thought that style was intended, and is actually an important aspect of the book. The TTC sort of paints itself into a corner because it basically says "lel you can't find true knowledge in a book, dummy... uhh but this isn't a book of knowledge, its just poetry that tells you truths you already knew :^)". But the real point in there is to differentiate between knowledge that you're told to be true, and knowledge that you can work out to be true yourself. Sort of a faith vs logic thing.

Also, there are some more literal translations of the TTC out there but they tend to be awkward as fuck to read. Sometimes they're useful for decyphering those horribly vague passages though. Also don't be afraid to skip shit and come back to it later... the TTC has a bad habit of saying the same damn thing a dozen different ways throughout the book.

i think one of the points of these flowery, hard to understand books is the drive to discover the truth in them yourself.

that is the basis of true freedom. one you discover, conquer by yourself, rather than having it handed to you on a silver platter and then squandering it with your ignorance.

have a man fight for his freedom and learn what it really means by himself, and he ends powerful like america. hand a man this freedom and he ends like most arab countries or africa, losing it to a sniveling jew or muslim because pretty words he heard, but not understood.

the reason why I baceme buddhist is because it brings piece to my soul.
You just let go of everything thant doesnt bring you froward. You let go of negative people, habbits,things- what ever.
Meditation brings you to a different level of existence. I could go on and on about the benefits of meditation, just google it for yourself. What I love about buddhist that its all about being focused, present to the moment and taking life for what it is without sugarcoating the fuck out if it. Like the american christioan who constantly ask for prayers leeching from outside, buddhism concetrates on yourself, since you shouldnt seek anything form outside to achieve inner piece and fulfillment. But thats just my take on it im sure many people will disagree with me.

This dude got me really inspired-

youtube.com/watch?v=MV0wiAuOqik

ITT:

People with no idea and experience talk about buddhism.

> Argentina
> white

>You just let go of everything thant doesnt bring you froward. You let go of negative people, habbits,things- what ever.


This sounds like new-age mumbo jumbo straight from E. Tolle.
What kind of Buddhism do you practice?

Buddhism is a bullshit religion for people wealthy enough to literally be of no use to the world.

It sounds to me that Buddhists are incredibly useless. All these things that are natural to human desires are the things that push political change and creates the world around us.

my kind.
but like i wrote im sure that many people would disagree with me.

click on the link and see for yourself. ( not particular that vid)

>Buddhism
>Based on the teachings of some rich fat kid that got enlightened after taking a nap under a tree
lol no thanks, just look at all countries that got their moral values from this cuck practice. There are only 5 prosperous cities in China, literally everything else is a complete poverty hellhole. You can not create an objective moral code from a religion that has relativism attached to it's core

The Buddha ≠ Budai.

The Buddha was an Indian prince who rejected his material wealth to seek enlightenment.

Budai was a Chinese and Japanese deity that was a symbol of good fortune and luck who later became incorporated into Buddhism as a Bodhisattva.

Also Buddhist morality isn't "relativist". There are no "sins" per se, but there is right action and right intention and straying from that path generates negative karma.

you're a fucking cunt for posting a tiny version of that painting and I genuinely despise you for it

yeah this sounds like the "hide from anything that triggers me in my safe space" type buddhism.

there is fear in your soul. in everyone's souls. you can either hide from it or confront it. if you hide from it, it will resurface and hit you over and over, denying you true peace.

if you confront and conquer it, it will no longer hold power over you, giving you the true inner peace.

Still far from objective and way insufficient to build high complex societies for long periods of time

i think you misunderstand.
Its not about hiding, its about removing.
If you have negative people in your live you will not go out and " conquer "them, will you? you cut them out and let them go. If you have bad habbits like drinking or smoking, you let those go too. Fear is something that I despise, since it holds power over you. What will happen , that will happen. Dont worry about the past or the future, stay in the now.

yes you do, you need to understand the Old Testament to understand the New Testament properly.

Yeah sure it can be enlightening but it makes more sense if you have studied the OT.

It's like playing Halo 2 without ever playing Halo combat evolved...like yeah it's fun but you won't fully understand the dynamic between humans and the covenant without playing Halo.

You're not totally wrong.

The Buddha himself was incredibly wealthy before he began his spiritual journey.

If anything, his extreme wealth afforded him a position where he had the luxury of pondering the nature of human existence, whereas most people in his time had to work all day. He could just travel around and do whatever.

blog tier religious info desu senpai
about as misleading as john3:16 christians

Well considering that China was more Taoist and Confucianist than Buddhist, I'd say that state doesn't offer much evidence to your claim. Japan was more Buddhist than China and clearly a complex and "advanced" society.

But having read Weber, I can understand how the desperate need to prove one's salvation can drive a person to accumulate signifiers of "blessing". Though I'm not sure how ideal accumulation is for building a lasting society considering every Calvinist-Capitalist Western society seems to be pushing towards collapse.

>Christians (the Gnostics)

These two groups are mutually exclusive and antithetical to each other.

More half wrong nonsense. El's son is Ba'al, and Ba'al is represented by a bull.

YHWH is not El.

No buddhist will ever experience the peace that passes all understanding, available to all christians.

westerner's take on Buddhism is one of taking no responsibly in favor of self growth
ironically most of these people are usually wealthy, and just use "Buddhism" as an excuse for their own degeneracy
they're not really Buddhists just degenerates fetishizing eastern spirituality to feel special

And Japan won't last for more 200 years, yeah, that proves my point. Accumulating signifiers of "blessing" is not the main point of western belief systems. The new and old testaments provides objective and clear moral values that are fundamental on maintaining high complex and miscegenated societies. The benefits are unmeasurable

your explanations kind of sound like the feminist passive aggressiveness, hiding from anything that may trigger you so you can live in temporary bliss and ignorance until some nasty reality check slams so hard at your door it breaks through.

the conquest was a metaphorical conquest. not a barbaric beatdown, but standing up to them and the subconscious fear their presence generates in you. overcoming the adversity, not hiding from it whenever it appears. also called "growing a thicker skin." only that way can you get stronger and more stable mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

fear is like a black stain on your soul.

what you're doing is painting over it. a hard enough impact will crack the paint and reveal the stain again.

what you should be doing is scrubbing it out so it can never return no matter how much you're shaken, because the stain has been fully eradicated.

as you get rid of your fears, your ego slowly dissipates. then you'll find that people who bothered you before no longer bother or matter to you. old people often reach that point.

the bible says he is. "you knew me as El Shaddai (el the terrible, the destroyer), but as yhwh you did not know me" or something like this.

The most popular parts of the Old Testament are Genesis and Exodus (10 % of the content). Most of the stuff in the Old Testament isn't even relevant to the New Testament. And as I mentionend: The Old Testament is part of modern Christianity, but has a Christian Interpretation. Christians don't need the older Jewish interpretation to understand Christianity. Both religions are way too different.

They saw themselves as Christians as any other Christian group at the time (there were lots of them, as Christianity was still evolving). The New testament and Jesus was central for all Christian groups and we really don't know enough about Gnosticism to call them mutually exclusive.

old testament is useful for context, and interpretations of the prophecy symbolism (meaning of some symbols can be gathered from ot such as in hand and in forehead = in actions and in beliefs), but not as a way of life or worship, that contract was fulfilled by christ to free the jews from under its burden.

a gift they ultimately rejected, prefering to keep living in bondage.

Buddhism is about preserving the good while battling the evil.
Killing an innocent being, from and insect to a human, is bad, but killing an evil man if it means protecting the good is encouraged.

Buddhism is a lot more complicated than western new age shit would lead you to believe.

I.E.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkō-ikki

>If you have negative people in your live you will not go out and " conquer "them, will you? you cut them out and let them go.

This is new-age disguised as Buddhism.

> Fear is something that I despise

You are using hatred against you. Fear is an integral part of yourself.

You should read some books written by actual buddhist monks.
What we call Buddhism in the west has been mutilated beyond recognition by charlatans, in order to create a shallow and easily assimilated philosophy, suited for bored people with money to waste.

Holding on when you need to let go can be destructive as hell. Sometimes you just have to go "yolo". The trick is balancing the 2 states of mind.

>Buddhism is about preserving the good while battling the evil.

What is evil?

This again isn't Buddhism, just a new-age idea.

>This again isn't Buddhism, just a new-age idea.


idiot

>ad hominem

You just convinced me.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaiśravaṇa

>In Japan, Bishamonten (毘沙門天), or just Bishamon (毘沙門) is thought of as an armor-clad god of war or warriors and a punisher of evildoers. Bishamon is portrayed holding a spear in one hand and a small pagoda in the other hand, the latter symbolizing the divine treasure house, whose contents he both guards and gives away. In Japanese folklore, he is one of the Seven Lucky Gods.
>Bishamon is also called Tamonten "listening to many teachings" because he is seen as the guardian of the places where the Buddha preaches. He is believed to live halfway down Mount Sumeru. He is also associated with Hachiman.

Chinese Buddhism has Guan-Yu who fulfills a similar purpose.