Teach Doug Buddhism

[DougShrapnel]

FM and MidGe care to teach me buddhism? Also this is open to anyone else that has a positive view of buddhism that wants to share. Where do I start?

[FortunaMaximus]

Buddhanet (http://http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/basic-guide.htm)

Seems as good a place as any to start for resources.

But, really, it can be distilled into this: When you're hungry, eat. When you need to make water, find a pot. When you're tired, sleep. The rest is to recognize suffering and come to terms with it. That survival is not necessary, because having survived, you have done what's necessary to survive.

As for nirvana, well, you are, independent of any other force, regardless of cause or change, you are. That doesn't mean you were or you will be, but that it is enough to realize that you are. And that's a slippery concept to explain to a Western mind, I think, because the mind is so dependent on cause and effect.

The point of existence is to not alleviate suffering, but recognize that it exists and you can not do anything about it. That if you can ease your own suffering and that of others without infringing on their desire to manage their own suffering, you should.

It is understanding that control over anything is an illusion, and when you realize this truth, you can release yourself to the understanding that being is enough. That enlightment is not to be created, but to be found and allow yourself to realize that by existing, you have fulfilled all that you need to fulfill for yourself.

Perhaps it seems tautological, and perhaps it is. As far as paying tribute or worshipping Buddha, I've never quite understood how that fit in, because even he would not have understood why people were inclined to do that. You don't reach enlightenment by worshipping an idol, it is the methods and the things you do, meditating, ritual lighting, pilgrimages that set you into the necessary mindset to be receptive to the teachings and wisdom.

You cannot pass or fail by any standards, because there aren't any. Your true master is yourself, and when you allow yourself to flow, to look around and discover the harmony, you're closer to enlightenment. The masters are there to guide you towards the better paths, and to the teachings that give you the framework to discover within yourself.

So as far as teachings go, it is best to look upon them as merely a collection of wisdom come to individually by previous individuals, nothing more.

It's not about endgoals, really, or about a future Paradise. Everything is in the now, and the sooner it is realized you exist and merely have to let yourself see that, the sooner you are better able to find peace within yourself.

If I have a bias about my own understanding, it is that I realize the rituals and worship of Buddha or the Dalai Lama are unnecessary, but that's not to say it's a pragmatic way of keeping cohesiveness among the faiths.

And I've considered, also, that the perfect Buddhists are felines. When you watch a cat go about its existence for a interval of time, and can understand why the cat exists, and how it recognizes itself... That's a realization that stays with you, and when the chaos of life overwhelms you, you can always go back and remember the cat, and understand it.

Wow. So many words to explain what seems simple. Perhaps it isn't, after all. Hmm.

Even Shakespeare lends credence to this in one of his lines: "All sound and fury, signifying nothing."

[hmkpoker]

As a former practicing Buddhist, I highly recommend finding a Zazen sitting group and practicing meditation with them. That's something I've been meaning to get back into actually.

[FortunaMaximus]

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As a former practicing Buddhist, I highly recommend finding a Zazen sitting group and practicing meditation with them. That's something I've been meaning to get back into actually.

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Pretty good idea. So's finding an informal t'ai chi group.

[hmkpoker]

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As a former practicing Buddhist, I highly recommend finding a Zazen sitting group and practicing meditation with them. That's something I've been meaning to get back into actually.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretty good idea. So's finding an informal t'ai chi group.

[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds like a cool idea, I've always wanted to try that. My old zazen group did something similar, kinda; we would break up the sitting halfway and do a walking meditation where we walked about in sync at a slow, steady pace. It was very cool.

[untouchable]

"As far as paying tribute or worshipping Buddha, I've never quite understood how that fit in, because even he would not have understood why people were inclined to do that. You don't reach enlightenment by worshipping an idol, it is the methods and the things you do, meditating, ritual lighting, pilgrimages that set you into the necessary mindset to be receptive to the teachings and wisdom."

Many great spiritual masters would disagree with you there. /images/graemlins/wink.gif In fact, they say the opposite. They say that you can reach enlightenment by either surrender to God or the guru or through self-inquiry, as long as you do it with extreme devotion. Things like meditation could never lead to enlightenment, because enlightenment is the realization that the 'ego'-self is just an illusion, and not real, while meditation presupposes the ego's existence to practice it!

BTW, when you speak of enlightenment, what do you mean?

[Alobar]

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As a former practicing Buddhist, I highly recommend finding a Zazen sitting group and practicing meditation with them. That's something I've been meaning to get back into actually.

[/ QUOTE ]

how do you go about finding something like that?

[TimWillTell]

I think Buddhism to be fascinating.

Unfortunately I can never become a Buddhist, because I have low blood-sugar, and the best medicine for that is to eat raw unions every day, which I do.
Thus I cannot become a Buddhist!

If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha!

[FortunaMaximus]

[ QUOTE ]
"As far as paying tribute or worshipping Buddha, I've never quite understood how that fit in, because even he would not have understood why people were inclined to do that. You don't reach enlightenment by worshipping an idol, it is the methods and the things you do, meditating, ritual lighting, pilgrimages that set you into the necessary mindset to be receptive to the teachings and wisdom."

Many great spiritual masters would disagree with you there. /images/graemlins/wink.gif In fact, they say the opposite. They say that you can reach enlightenment by either surrender to God or the guru or through self-inquiry, as long as you do it with extreme devotion. Things like meditation could never lead to enlightenment, because enlightenment is the realization that the 'ego'-self is just an illusion, and not real, while meditation presupposes the ego's existence to practice it!

BTW, when you speak of enlightenment, what do you mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, but my misunderstanding of the paying of tribute or the worship of idols is merely one of my opinion. I do not consider these to be necessary steps. Perhaps they are for many Buddhists. I've found Nature herself to be temple enough.

Self-inquiry, yes, and that is where most of my progress has been made. Understanding myself and how I relate to nature and other individuals. And simply coming to the realization that even all a great teacher does is make the correct paths easier to find, and help you along the path.

I'm stubborn though, and would rather have explored all the wrong paths before the correct path made itself clear by elimination. Much like bowels, I suppose.

Ah, a paradox. I consider enlightment to be these brief interludes where you forget of yourself, and just let yourself go with Nature. But you, and your ego-self, as you term it, first have to recognize that selfness to let go of it. It may be a transitory illusion, but you can say the same of individual life.

I struggle to describe what I understand when I watch a cat. Certainly you recognize elements of yourself within the cat, yet are unable to attain the state that a cat is born into. It's not envy, perhaps, but a wistful wishing.

[untouchable]

Perhaps you'd like this. (http://www.heartofnow.com/files/nondual.inquiry.html) Not buddhism, but non-dual inquiry. /images/graemlins/smile.gif edit: also this (http://www.heartofnow.com/files/dialogs.html). (same website)

[FortunaMaximus]

Very nice. Preparing for a road trip, but I've bookmarked those and will give them a good look when I'm back home.

Nice SN, btw. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[madnak]

I'll say this - Buddhism as it's practiced in the West is generally based on Buddhism as a method of achieving happiness (absence of suffering, really). A "recipe," if you will. I recommend approaching it as such.

Also, if you really want to go into the philosophy of Buddhism, well.... Read poetry. Seriously. All kinds of poetry. Also read up on mythology (Buddhist but also Hindu, Shinto, etc), read some works from other Eastern religions (the Tao Te Ching, etc), and meditate.

Finally, stick to general concepts rather than specific sects. At first, anyhow.

[hmkpoker]

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As a former practicing Buddhist, I highly recommend finding a Zazen sitting group and practicing meditation with them. That's something I've been meaning to get back into actually.

[/ QUOTE ]

how do you go about finding something like that?

[/ QUOTE ]

You probably have to be in a reasonably metropolitan area. The one I got involved with was held at my college campus, and I found out about it through word of mouth.

Your best bet would be to find the closest New Age weirdo store and ask around, they might be able to give you a web address or something.

It's worth it if you can find a good group. Meditation with the right crowd is an awesome experience.

[The once and future king]

It important to understand that there are lots of different sects and flavours of Buddhism, all of which differ in very important ways. Zen and Tibetan Buddhism for example are very very different as is Theravada which is on the one hand the most practised form of Buddhism but at the same time the form westeners know least about.

As far as I concerned Buddhism is a practise. It is the act of meditating. What one "learns" through the act of meditating is in essence Buddhism.

I recieved instruction in my practise
Vipassana (http://www.dhamma.org/) by going on a ten day residential course in which one must under take a vow of silence for the full ten days. One must live as monk would. Which is OK because buddhist monks eat well /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Those ten days were increadibly powerfull. Since then my practise has lapsed which is incedibly stupid on my part as the practise bestows great benefits. When "I" die it is very likely that one of my principal regrets will be that I did not practise more.

[FortunaMaximus]

Very cool, once and future.

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one must under take a vow of silence for the full ten days.

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Yeah, this has never been an issue with me. The Universe has been on mute for me since '80. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Still, the contributions to this thread have made me realize that my education may be lacking in the formalized aspects. So thanks for the links, and more information on a subject that I was always interested in.

[The once and future king]

[ QUOTE ]
FM and MidGe care to teach me buddhism? Also this is open to anyone else that has a positive view of buddhism that wants to share. Where do I start?

[/ QUOTE ]

I copied this post by MidGe as it an excelent concise and clear explanation of the central ideas of Buddhism. This should be your starting point.

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The test as to whether a sect is accepted by Buddhists at large, irrespective of lineage/tradition, as Buddhist, is known as the three characteristics of existence.


Any sectarian view based on this is recognized as Buddhist by the three main streams: Theravada "Ways of the Elders aka as Hinayana or smaller vehicle, based on the oldest canonical texts exclusively, prevalent in Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka), Mahayana (The Greater Vehicle, includes Zen, Chan and most of Chinese, Japanese and other South-east Asian countries buddhism not mentioned under Theravada), Vajranya ("Way of Wisdom", prevalent in Northern India, Tibet and Nepal).


The three characteristics of existence are: Anatta, Anicca and Dukkha.


Anatta is the doctrine of no-self. That is there is NO enduring entities anywhere to be found in the the phenomena of existence. (Note: if a Buddhist sect promotes a view of "re-incarnation", that view must be explained in terms of this fundamental characteristic, thus nothing of essence gets transmitted from life to life as many uneducated westerners, and even some uneducated Buddhists, believe Buddhism posit).



Anicca is the doctrine that everything is always subject to change, there is nothing, no entity, that is unchanging or eternal.


Dukkha, is the doctrine of unsatisfactoriness. Basically that all mechanisms of existence are fundamentally unsatisfactory or, as is often said, that life is suffering.


I hope this clear some misunderstandings and that it is clear that Buddhism does not in any way, at a fundamental level, require any beliefs at all, except for the three mentioned above.


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[DougShrapnel]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread. /images/graemlins/grin.gif I will be reading all the links and posts and asking some questions. I'll try to ask some stupid questions in the new future /images/graemlins/wink.gif until then keep the recommendations coming.

[FortunaMaximus]

But of course. It's nice to have a thread that doesn't have theist and atheist alike foaming at the mouth. Actually learned a few things too, which is always useful /images/graemlins/grin.gif

No such thing as a stupid question, just stupid answers. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[MidGe]

FWIW,

I have been thinking about which would be the best single book about Buddhism to recommend.

I know that of the hundreds of books I have, could I only keep one this is the one, for me. It is rather complete in its topics, in the sense that it covers the necessary essentials, and is an excellent self training manual for those that find it hard to access capable teachers.
The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: Satipatthna : A Handbook of Mental Training Based on the Buddha's Way of Mindfulness, With an Anthology of Relevant Texts Translated from the Pali (Paperback) by Nyanaponika A. Thera (http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Buddhist-Meditation-Satipatthna-Mindfulness/dp/0877280738/sr=1-1/qid=1162867844/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7761414-6316138?ie=UTF8&s=books)

It is a book based on the Theravada's tradition, which in turn is the one of the three major tradition of Buddhism that accept only the earlier texts as canonical.

[BiPolar_Nut]

Just go to your local hot dog stand and order one "with everything"

[DougShrapnel]

Ordered.