Thoughts on Buddhism

[Bgood]

Hi everyone, I can relate to Laurens concerns about Buddhism. Reincarnation is probably the most outlandish concept to understand in BuddhaDharma. I think mhikl explained it very well it saying that it represents constant change, or transformation from one form to another. Buddhism teaches that when one reaches enlightenment, the cycle of birth and death is stopped. This cycle is called the Wheel of Life or Karma. Rebirth can be the 'rebirth' of a habit, or addiction, or repetitve way of thinking that causes suffering, such as anxiety or fear, etc. When we attain Nirvana, we are always in the present moment, so no more 'rebirth' of habitual anxiety nor any 'death' of happiness. Just ingenius awareness persists in the well trained mind.

Now with a little imagination and flexibility, one could equate Buddhism to the School of the Jedi, where students learn to use the power of 'force' to master their own mind. That's all it is! It teaches you to have self control, to love others, and to be fearless...like any good Jedi would strive to attain. All the chanting and meditation practices are vehicles or tools to get there, that's all. There is effort and introspection to be done, but it is guided with logic, common sense and rationale. But there is a mystical side to buddhism that is achieved with total openess and perhaps even with some "medicinal" plants. At least that has been my own personal experience lol.

The thing is that not every buddhist monk is going to reach full enlightenment, probably most won't! But the few who do, where the power of the force is strong and well developed and craftily honed, their luminous aura and personality will be so great and magnetic that we could do nothing but have reverance and respect for them and call them great, wise men. My best advice is not to get hung up on trivial details...don't sweat the small stuff. It doesn't have to be perfect, just the best for you.

I don't believe in God, I despise Christianity, but Buddhism is actually really cool. For me to be atheist, and not follow some kind of ethics, spiritual practice, and inspirational devotion to a greater wisdom than my own, is just plain foolish and dishearting. Buddhism to me just seems like the most practical and also quite paradoxically the most transcendental "religion" to follow out of a sea of relative garbage. Call it the Tao, call it Zen, call it crazy, but there is definitely something special about buddha's teachings that cannot be fully grasped with mere words and psychological analysis. PEACE OUT

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One more tidbit of info that I'd like to share is that some of buddha's teachings are meant to be functional and skillfully effective rather than just to be blindly believed or intellectually understood. Such are Zen koans that ask, what came first the chicken or the egg? The answer to this question is irrelevent and unimportant, but it is the state of being, the mind of unknowing, that this type of simple koan places one in, that is really the essence of it's function. I think that the idea of Non-Self or No Self (anatta) is kind of like that....If one truly believes that essentially there is no self anywhere to be found...then the universal problem, endless attachment, and harmful vice of stubborn selfishness is completely let go! So although in theory, anatta may be "wrong", in practice, it is dead-on liberating and pacifying.

The Buddha Mind constantly evolves! Worship him or spit on him, nonetheless, he smiles in equanimity! Hey, I think Yoda, buddhist he was. lol

[kılıç_mehmet]

Did I mention that Chingiss Khan approved of Buddhism just as he did of other religions?
I respect buddhism, as it obviously teaches humility, and at least a way to live your life. It has tenets, although I do not approve of some, like abstaining from meat...And the fact that it drives people to be more pacifistic than they have to, although it certainly did not stop some of his grandsons to unleash some pretty carnage, he he he...Like the sack of Baghdat, although that only served to create more friction amongst his grandchildren.

[Bgood]

kılıç_mehmet wrote

Did I mention that Chingiss Khan approved of Buddhism just as he did of other religions?

That's interesting, and that makes sense since he was Mongolian. I will have to read up on that. I personally don't see it as very relevant to the dharma teachings, my meditation practice or to any modern community of buddhists, but I think I see where you are coming from in a historical context. I am curious about it now. As far as meat is concerned, I probably eat way too much of it! I don't follow all the rules very religiously lol. Actually I have forgotten that I wasn't supposed to until I came onto this site, haha. Oh well, eat steak and enjoy the moment! Nice hearing from you kılıç_mehmet! Take care, peace.

[kılıç_mehmet]

That's interesting, and that makes sense since he was Mongolian.

Actually, it doesn't, but it did after later on in the "remnants" of the Mongol empire in Mongolia as we know it were converted to Lamaism(Tibetan Buddhism), whereas the Mongols in western provinces all turned to Islam.
But pre-imperial mongols and other tribes around them were mostly of mixed religion: Uyghurs were Manicheists(if that it spelled that way), Naimans and Merkids were nestorian christians, and the "Mongols" the proper Mongols(which is actually the name of a single tribe) were mostly pagans of the Tengri faith.
After he was crowned Great Khan, and formed the Yasa, he declared that no religion should be favored upon the other, although he was a firm believer in the God that gave him his divine right to rule: Tengri, he also exempted lamas, priests, shamans, muezzins, imams, fakirs and other men of the faith from paying taxes or military service.

I personally don't see it as very relevant to the dharma teachings, my meditation practice or to any modern community of buddhists, but I think I see where you are coming from in a historical context.

Read his laws, brother. Also, many of his grandchildren, particularly those who ruled China, were Buddhists, however, they were not adherents of the Lamaist school I think.

I don't follow all the rules very religiously lol.

Neither do the present Mongols.

Take care, peace.

Thanks, you too.

[tackattack]

I have a question for buddhists:

Would it be safe to assume that buddhist belief encourages emotional detachment? I ask because I read a lot about emotions are reactions to expectations or thought instead of reality.

[KichigaiNeko]

I am to understand that is the case G-C .... While I would not consider myself 'Buddhist' I have taken many of their teachings on board. Detatchment is something I am still working with to align myself with

[Bgood]

tackattack wrote

I have a question for buddhists:

Would it be safe to assume that buddhist belief encourages emotional detachment? I ask because I read a lot about emotions are reactions to expectations or thought instead of reality.

Hey, that's a great question! Although I am no expert, I would say yes, in the sense that we do not become too overcome or identified with all of our passing emotions, particulaly negative ones such as anger or fear. In detaching from these we can see them in a more objective and reasonable light so that we do not become "slaves" to them. It is a way of having more self control, more composure, or maturity in other words. Of course this is not easy! Meditation helps us let go us of selfish desires and egotistical feelings of superiority and/or inferiority. It balances us out and gives us a fresh outlook on things.
Now Buddha does warn of the danger of becoming too emotionally detached in the sense of being cold and distant. We do not want to become robots or some unfeeling, unthinking automaton! The basic teaching of the Middle Way is finding the center of two extremes or duality such as black and white, the Tao, which represents harmony, unity, wholeness, etc.
Human nature generally tends to become too attached to their own personal feelings to the point where they can't grow spiritually or see other people's P.O.V. clearly. Buddhism I would say teaches self mastery over one's ego and passions more than anything in order for us to be more present and available for others.It is like Kung Fu for the mind lol. We open ourselves up to love, wisdom, compassion and awareness of reality. It gets us out of our heads, which think too much, and deeper into our everyday lives. It is a processs though that takes time, effort, study and much practice to achieve Nirvana or enlightenment. Buddha says that everyone has Buddha nature and it is just our job to rediscover it within us. It is a very positive and empowering religion to follow, if done correctly with some faith, and as well, some healthy doubt.

Thanks for asking, I encourage anyone to look into the BuddhaDharma for a greater understanding themselves. I'm sure you will find some very fascinating and revolutionary concepts in the dharma teachings that will be quite enlightening and benefiting to your whole mind, body and spirit! Peace!

[reverendjeremiah]

I have a question for a buddhist:

When i go to the oriental takeout, they have a huge statue of fat bellied happy buddha. If i rub his belly, I am supposed to get lucky.

The thing is, I feel more retarded than lucky when I do it.

Could you help me?

Signed - Lost my rabbits foot keychain

[passionatefool]

I have a question for a buddhist:

When i go to the oriental takeout, they have a huge statue of fat bellied happy buddha. If i rub his belly, I am supposed to get lucky.

The thing is, I feel more retarded than lucky when I do it.

Could you help me?

Signed - Lost my rabbits foot keychain

Buddhist don't believe in that. That "fat Buddha" is actually a Wealth Deity associated more with Chinese tradition and maybe neo-taoism belief, not a buddhist figure at all. However there is also a very similar "fat Buddha" called "Maitreya" in buddhism which according to Mahayana Buddhist is the "Future Buddha". He is in a fat form because it's apparently a representation of joy and happiness. There was a history on why he is fat, i think some historical monk claimed to be the manifestation of Maitreya. However if you look at a Tibetan depiction of Maitreya, he is totally different.

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The whole 'mindfulness' thing eh??

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Isn't the Mahayana canon the basis for Zen in Japan??

Zen one of the many tradition of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. So Zen is based on Mahayana Canon, but they mainly only focus on the "Heart Sutra" or the Prajnaparamita Sutra which is about emptiness, nothing is permanent, nothing exist independently of everything else, Everything is interconnected, nothing is really born or die, increases or decreases. I think they believe if someone is enlightened to that, they realize there is no negative or positive karma or something.

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I came across an article on Theravada Buddhism, now I did not spend enough time with Theravada buddhism to say much but they are quite interesting. An article said that ordained monks was trained and teach to not accept any teachings either from sutras or from teachers unless it agrees with logic and reasoning

If the bit about logic and reasoning is not just a smoke screen, then one might expect that 2000 years of repetitive injunction to logic and reason would have produced at leadt a few luminaries amongst Buddhists who would have advanced the craft of logic and reasoning in a way perceptible to those outside the echo chamber of mumbling chants that seem to characterize Buddhism.

Well of course they still pretty much have that basic fundamental belief. All religions does, and this is what I meant when I said Buddhism have much in common with other religions. There are blind faith and extremists. But what good about this is that it gives people a little more freedom to analyze things, probably still biased by belief, but they don't have to accept everything in the sutra or whatever taught and Buddhism have this thing call "middle Path" so most buddhists are moderate in general. But they will still share fundamental belief. They also believe in supernaturals and many things other religions have, that is why it is still a religion and what is why I am no longer a Buddhist.

[KichigaiNeko]

Zen one of the many tradition of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. So Zen is based on Mahayana Canon, but they mainly only focus on the "Heart Sutra" or the Prajnaparamita Sutra which is about emptiness, nothing is permanent, nothing exist independently of everything else, Everything is interconnected, nothing is really born or dies, increases or decreases. I think they believe if someone is enlightened to that, they realize there is no negative or positive karma or something.

Hmmm OK funnily enough that makes sense to me, then truly Zen finds YOU not you Zen. I would put another truism in there ..."everything has a price ...the question is ...are you prepared to pay the price?"