buddhism

[sylviaguardian]

Cool - will definitely have a look at them - for the same reason as you Cranium

[Outcast]

I still prefer christian philosophy on this, which teaches detachment from the visible, earthly world and attachment to the Kingdom of God. So detachment from possessions ("you cannot serve God and mammon"), status (see any of Jesus' comments on the pharisees), expectations (the notion of grace) and all the trappings of this visible world, but on the other hand attachment to people ("loving your neighbour), your emotions (living life to the full) and God. The whole thing seems more balanced and (dare I say it) red-blooded to me.

 

There's no need to set up a dichotomy. You can learn and implement many buddhist principles and still be a Christian. I am. Actually, read this by the Dalai Lama - to me it demonstrates why buddhism is almost a perfect expression of Christian ideals

 

Material progress is of course important for human advancement. In Tibet, we paid much too little attention to technological and economic development, and today we realize that this was a mistake. At the same time, material development without spiritual development can also cause serious problems. In some countries too much attention is paid to external things and very little importance is given to inner development. I believe both are important and must be developed side by side so as to achieve a good balance between them. Tibetans are always described by foreign visitors as being a happy, jovial people. This is part of our national character, formed by cultural and religious values that stress the importance of mental peace through the generation of love and kindness to all other living sentient beings, both human and animal. Inner peace is the key: If you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect your deep sense of peace and tranquillity. In that state of mind you can deal with situations with calmness and reason, while keeping your inner happiness. That is very important. Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed or unhappy because of circumstances.

 

Clearly, it is of great importance, therefore, to understand the interrelationship among these and other phenomena, and to approach and attempt to solve problems in a balanced way that takes these different aspects into consideration. Of course it is not easy. But it is of little benefit to try to solve one problem if doing so creates an equally serious new one. So really we have no alternative: we must develop a sense of universal responsibility not only in the geographic sense, but also in respect to the different issues that confront our planet.

 

Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our Community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on. When we feel love and kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. And there are ways in which we can Consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness. For some of us, the most effective way to do so is through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment we live in seriously.

From the Nobel Prize speech

 

The detachment from EXPECTATIONS is, I think, one of the most valuable lessons of buddhism. As long as you allow yourself expectations - expecting that others should behave a certain way, for instance, you set up lots of reasons to be upset as your expectations are not met. When you learn to accept what is for what it is, life becomes simpler and more peaceful. Of course this is not to say that you accept evil.

 

What really is the purpose of meditation?

 

Summary: The brain waves of meditators show why they're healthier. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex—brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before.

 

Practitioners would say that it helps to achieve peace of mind. Scientists concur!

 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030424-000003.html

[westernxer]

As I understand it - and, granted, my understanding of buddhism may be completely wrong - a practicioner of buddhism doesn't necessarily have to be 100% pure buddhist in word, thought and deed. It's a process, not a destination. So, whatever buddhist paradigms work for you are the ones to practice, and whatever ones you find that aren't good for you where you are now, you can safely ignore.

 

Correct.

 

I lean toward Buddhisht philosophy, even though I don't adhere to the formalities.

 

The great thing about it is, you can follow Buddhism and still practice your own religion. Buddhism allows for this, whereas other religions do not.

 

The main thing is achieving and maintainin inner peace, which I believe I have (for the most part). Not having a relationship has a lot to do with it, too.

 

In case anyone's interested, I recommend "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring," a beautiful, allegorical tale about the trials of life and the quest for inner peace. So basic, yet so touching, and wonderfully filmed.

[Pocky]

Most followers of Buddhism today follow a new form of Buddhism which is termed, "Engaged Buddhism". If you are interested in reading more regarding Buddhism practices today, I suggest the book titled Buddhism: A Concise Introduction by Houston Smith and Philip Novak.

 

It is important to keep in mind that Buddhism has many branches that have varying philosophies and beliefs.

 

I am a student of Buddhism and a follower of the philosophy, but not the religion.

 

One-A-Day-Tan

[ButtonPusher]

Can anyone give me tips on meditating?

There are a lot of techniques around, not just for buddhists. I think you should experiment and find what works best for you. The method in this link is the one I found to work the best for me.

http://www.bswa.org/modules/icontent/index.php?page=93

 

How often do you do it for? Every day?

Admittedly I dont do it as often as I'd like, but a little bit everyday will go a long way. You don't even have to do it as formal sitting meditation. You could be 100% mindful of what you are eating for example. Or walking around, try and be mindful of the way your feet touch the ground and how the muscles in your legs work to move your feet.

 

What really is the purpose of meditation?

On a mundane level, its to develop a peaceful state of mind. On a deeper level, its the path to developing wisdom. Once you start to meditate you will realise how active your mind is, as it jumps from one thought to another. By meditating you develop strength in your mind to focus on one thing. When you get to an advanced stage, you can turn that one pointed mind to the deeper questions in life, eg who am I? Whats the purpose of life? Meditating is also the path to developing super powers such as remembering past lives, or reading peoples minds, or walking through walls. Ok some people will probably read that and laugh and think yeah BS, but thats cool.

[slubberdegullion]

Meditating is also the path to developing super powers ...

Cool. All I want is x-ray vision.

[ReluctantRomeo]

There's no need to set up a dichotomy. You can learn and implement many buddhist principles and still be a Christian. I am.

 

 

I like the Dalai Lama's emphasis on peace etc starting with us and our hearts. I also liked the quote on material development without spiritual development causing serious problems.

 

 

The detachment from EXPECTATIONS is, I think, one of the most valuable lessons of buddhism. As long as you allow yourself expectations - expecting that others should behave a certain way, for instance, you set up lots of reasons to be upset as your expectations are not met. When you learn to accept what is for what it is, life becomes simpler and more peaceful. Of course this is not to say that you accept evil.

 

Agreed

[sylviaguardian]

Totally agree with ya Romeo!

 

Well, now I've started to meditate - boy is it hard? My head is buzzing all the time, no wonder I am so disorganised and scatter-brained!

 

I have another question - the renouncing attachment thing sounds great but how does this work in practise? In relationships for example, how is it possible to avoid depending on someone or having expectations from them?

 

Syl

[Outcast]

In relationships for example, how is it possible to avoid depending on someone or having expectations from them?

 

You have to talk yourself through it. Change your way of thinking. Albert Ellis is a big help in this regard. He's the founder of Rational-Emotive Behaviour Therapy which, IMHO, is Buddhism in secular form. He explains how we distress ourselves by allowing ourselves to hold ideas which are not based in reality and how to conquer that habit.

[ButtonPusher]

Well, now I've started to meditate - boy is it hard? My head is buzzing all the time, no wonder I am so disorganised and scatter-brained!

Its the same for everyone, unless you were an experienced monk or nun in a previous life. The mind is a mess when it has not been trained in mindfuless.

 

I have another question - the renouncing attachment thing sounds great but how does this work in practise?

Buddhism is known as the 8 fold path for a reason. Its a very natural step by step method to becoming enlightened. At the beginning a lot of things will not make sense. Don't get so concerned about renouncing things and being attached to things at such an early stage. There will come a time when you won't need to consciously force yourself to renounce things, you will just naturally let them go.

[whichwayisup]

Syl, my cousin goes on Buddhist retreats afew times a year. She has a particular group she follows and has the same instructor too.

 

Might be something to look into, I am sure they have these retreats all over the world.

[Greg25]

I'm a practicing Buddhist, of the Theravada branch.

 

A lot of nonsense has been said about Buddhism, and also a lot of people have taken some aspects of Buddhist religion and philosophy (in a way, Buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy, there is no split between the two as was the case in Christianity) and woven it rather unsystematically into New Age wishy-washy stuff about self-empowerment and feeling good.

 

While there are various branches or 'schools' of Buddhism, many of these believing the historical Buddha (Guatma, an Indian prince who lived at around 500 BC) was actually just one of many Buddhas, Buddhism does have a certain core set of doctrines and ideals all schools follow. These can be roughly summarised as follows:

 

1) Everything is ultimately transient, ever changing, and 'empty' (sunyata)

 

2) All existence is conditioned and involves suffering, pain, death, birth, decay, and rebirth

 

3) All existence is conditioned by an impersonal moral law called 'karma'

 

4) There is a state of perfect bliss, happiness and salvation called 'nibbana' (or nirvana) which is reachable in this life, or in several lives

 

5) The way to achieve nibbana is the so called 'eightfold path.'

 

Buddhism has spread to many countries in its 2,500 year long history, broadly diverging into Thervada and Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism tends to dominate in places like Sri Lanka and some South-East Asian countries (i.e. Thailand) while Mahayana dominated China and Japan (in the form of Zen). Buddhism also made inroads into Afghanistan, Central Asia, Indonesia, and more recently, the West.

 

Central to all forms of Buddhism is cleansing the mind of ignorance, delusion, and negative or destructive forms of thought, such as malice, avarice, anger, hate, lust, envy, and jealousy (these interestingly are close to the cardinal sins of Christianity, excess love of self, love of the world, and of the flesh). Hence Buddhism has a very systematic and detailed program of conciousness-modification called 'meditation', designed to purge the mind of all forms of evil and ignorance and to lead the person to salvation. The process is complicated but can be done by basically anyone, though meditation usually needs to be taught by an experienced monk to the laity, giving each person guidance according to his or her unique temperament.

 

The biggest obstacle to meditation (designed to give the meditator a tranquil and peaceful state of mind) is the way our ego (which is not actually real) constantly craves for stimulation, sensation, and something else to make as an object of conciousness. This is the 'stream of conciousness' or 'buzzing in the head' one poster described, and incredibly hard to get rid of, but also the root of all our suffering, since craving and desire keep us chained to existence like mud to a spinning car tyre. Only when the craving stops will conciousness and the frustration of desire stop, and nibbana reached.

 

Buddhism has a collection of sacred scripture, however these are organised very differently from other religious books, such as the Koran, the Bible, or the Upanishads. Each school of Buddhism has a slightly different collection of 'scripture', though through all forms of Buddhism are those key ideas mentioned earlier. Bhikku Bodhi has produced the best selections of these in English.

 

I guess what attracts me to Buddhism is its recognition that our life here is a painful and often unhappy one, and teaches us to recognise our flaws, mistakes, and limits, and to accept ourselves while not ignoring evil, sin, and pain. I don't see Buddhism as entirely inimical to other religions, because it doesn't really either deny or affirm the existence of God(s); one can believe in a God or not, depending on your background. I believe in God, and have studied Christian traditions and ideas of God, and don't see a major conflict between the two faiths, unless you only accept the Bible as true and all other religions as in terrible error. Buddhism isn't Christianity or Islam, and certainly differs vastly in many ways from all other world religions, but that doesn't mean its unique and deep insights into the human condition are wrong or misguided.