Buddhism for beginners, moderates, and experts

I wonder what the Buddha would think of this intellectual masturbation and semantic academic BS.

Probably the same way the Christ views the division between Southern Baptist and Pentecostals.

reply to post by whaaa


A good point. Why don't you tell us what christ thinks?

I already prefaced my response with an apology for the silliness. If that isn't enough for you I don't know what else to say other than maybe "lol wut u mad?"

Originally posted by sidewayszombie
I don't know what else to say other than maybe "lol wut u mad?"

About intellectual masturbation and semantic academic BS? Nope, amused perhaps....

Originally posted by filosophia

Originally posted by jgarcya
reply to post by filosophia

 

I would add that true understanding of the way of buddhism is only possible through the practice of meditation.It is meditation that lifts the veil or the illusions, it brings us to our core being of infinite god like potential.

true. Meditation is a free exercise that anyone can do, to unlock personal happiness and self-esteem. Let's spread the message of meditation

Meditation is a journey. Not to happiness, but to well being. Self discovery can be a painful thing, we are not always what we think we are

Originally posted by whaaa
I wonder what the Buddha would think of this intellectual masturbation and semantic academic BS.

Probably the same way the Christ views the division between Southern Baptist and Pentecostals.

When studying the words and histories of our past great spiritual teachers, we find corruption sprouting up around their teachings. It doesn't matter if it was Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, or even Ghandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. These men taught love, understanding, unity, and peace in this life and the hereafter. But when looking around at their 'followers,' we see religious separation, superiority complex issues, judgmentalism, and arguing. The religions that emerge from the teachings sometime even lead to hatred, murder, and war.

Pick any "religious founder," and I bet they will be unhappy with their 'followers.' Anything counter-productive to love, understanding, unity, and peace is a corruption.

"He found the Buddha and said, "Teacher, if you will agree to answer my questions, I will continue to follow you. If you refuse, I will abandon the sangha. Tell me if you know whether or not the universe is finite or infinite. If you don't know the answer, just say so."

The Buddha looked at Malunkyaputta and said, "When you asked to be ordained, did I promise to answer such questions? Did I say, 'Malunkyaputta, become a bhikkhu, and I will solve your metaphysical problems?' "

"No, Lord, you did not."

"Then why do you insist that I do so now? Malunkyaputta, you are like a person shot with a poisoned arrow whose family summons the doctor to have the arrow removed. The man is given an antidote, but he refuses to let the doctor do anything before certain questions can be answered. The wounded man wants to know who shot the arrow, what his caste and job is, and why he shot him. He wants to know what kind of bow the man used and how he acquired the ingredients used in preparing the poison. Malunkyaputta, such a man will die before getting the answers to his questions. It is no different for one who follows the Way. I teach only those things necessary to realize the Way. Things which are not helpful or necessary, I do not teach.

Malunkyaputta, whether the universe is finite or infinite, temporal or eternal, there is one truth you must accept, and that is the presence of suffering. Suffering has causes which can be illuminated in order to be removed. The things I teach will help you attain detachment, equanimity, peace, and liberation. I refuse to speak about all those things which are not helpful in realizing the Way."

[Old Path White Clouds - Thich Nhat Hanh (pages 299-300)]

Accept disgrace willingly.
Accept misfortune as the human condition.

What do you mean by "Accept disgrace willingly"?
Accept being unimportant.
Do not be concerned with loss or gain.
This is called "accepting disgrace willingly."

What do you mean by "Accept misfortune as the human condition"?
Misfortune comes from having a body.
Without a body, how could there be misfortune?

Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things.
Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.

That's a verse from the Tao Te Ching which I believe also highlights Buddhism very well.

There was a different quote I was looking for, I will look it up tonight when I get home... it is something like:

Accept all misfortune on yourself and give everything to others.

I think I missed the essence of the message but I will find it, it is part of a Buddhist proverb where a disciple learns the true meaning of everything.

I've studied and practiced Buddhism for many years.
I'm not an expert, but I believe I have a decent grasp on it's teachings and history.
Of the various Buddhist paths, I find the Nichiren path to be best, in that, to me, it makes most sense, has a practical form of practice, and one can realize the results.
For those that don't know, Nichiren Buddhism comes from Japan, by a Buddhist monk named Nichiren, who did a indepth study of the teachings of Buddhism, and found the core essence of the Buddha's teachings is in the Lotus Sutra. That everyone posses Buddhanature, and can attain Buddhahood. The practice is a mantra meditation, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is not only the title of the Lotus Sutra, but in itself details the essence of Buddhism. Nam meaning reverence to, myoho, means the unmaifest and manifest, and renge means law of cause and effect, and kyo is the interconneting thread that binds everything. This is a Mahayana path. Nichiren also devised a yantra/mandala for focus on when doing the chanting practice, in a more formal way, and it is a scroll(many Buddhist sects use a scroll as their main altar object), with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo written on it, and some other things.
I recommend ready Nichiren's writings, called the Gosho nichiren.info...
and the Lotus Sutra:
nichiren.info...

My only complaint of current Nichiren Buddhism, is there are many sects of this path, that hold a conflicting sectarian view of each other, but one does not need to join any sect to study and practice it.

if you are interested in reading books on buddha meditation you can find some in indikat.hubpages.com...

hi there, I can recommend these very interesting Books on Buddhism in
indikat.hubpages.com... Enjoy

Thank you for this thread. OP and participants alike.

I started meditating years ago to confront the emotions what they called PTSD, in a neutral environment. That was the best thing the VA did for me.

I practice Buddhism simply because I married into it, and I had already been meditating regularly. I also practice Shinto rituals with my wife and her family. Prior to choosing my current path, I was somewhere between athiest and agnostic.

My path differs from that of most Buddhists. Dainichikyo and Kongochokyo are the main texts I read. I can honestly say that I believe everything in existence is a manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai. I believe that enlightenment can be reached in a single lifetime.

I'm not interested to make anyone believe what I believe. I'm interested to learn from all of you, actually. I will contribute as I can.

I believe that all of existence is Diainichi Nyorai, because it rings eerily similar to what I came to believe from studying biology at the university. For 15+ years, science was my guide, and then I saw my most fundamental belief in Shingon.

I almost didn't share the name of the sect I am learning from. So many people get it all wrong. I'm still a layman, but I have a teacher, and am not trying to go it alone.

My only foray into anything Buddhism related was through Alan Watts... I got turned off very quickly; from his explanations it seemed to be all about the self, almost bordering on solipsism... Maybe it's time I should check out some more sources...