The Nature of Lying

I have not made a posting in a couple of months.  I have been preoccupied with different projects. I have begun attending a Saturday meditation class at a Buddhist Temple. Buddhism does not conflict with Christian, Jewish or Islamic beliefs; however I find the afore mentioned religions present various misconceptions about Buddhism.  I discovered that Buddhism is not a religion but has been classified as a religion by other institutions.  Just as there are many different forms of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the same is true of different schools of Buddhism.  In searching for the Truth or the meaning of one's existence, people turn to different religions or belief systems and the answer is found within oneself as you come to terms with your own personal beliefs.  In our world one is constantly being deceived, so it is difficult at times to perceive what is the Truth.  I recently reread a book by Sissela Bok entitled  "Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life"  that describes the different forms of lies that are perpetuated in our society, and institutions.  I have summarized the different forms of lying from her book in a topical outline.  If you click on the following link you will find my outline of lies:   Types Of Lies

If one wants to learn more about deception one should read Noam Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent".   After reading this documentary one can view all governments and all major corporations with eyes wide open and do not allow oneself to become manipulated into becoming subservient worker bees.

Here is a picture of the Leshan Buddha that is near Chengdu in Sichuan Province. Notice that the people at the base of the Buddha, the people do not even come up to the Buddha's  big toe. The Leshan Buddah is now the largest statue of a Buddha in the world,.The largest Buddha in the world was in Afghanistan but the radical Pashtun Afghans, known as the Taliban blew it up with dynamite because they saw the Buddha as an affront to their Jihadist Islamic fundamentalist beliefs. Statues of Buddhas are not idols to be worshipped. Buddhists use the statues to help them visualize the powers of enlightenment when they meditate to gain inner peace.