Buddhism

[LiquidMidnight]

Hello all, I know I'm taking a risk by posting a thread on religion; so hopefully this won't escalate into something controversial.

Anyways, I've become increasingly interested in Buddhism. (I'm currently a Unitarian Universalist) While I'm not an existentialist, I do hold some existentialist views that border on Buddhist philosophy. I find that many of my own personal philosophies are very close to zen philosophies, and I've been basically practicing a lot of Buddhism without placing a label on any of it. I find that I'm a much more happy person by trying not to identify myself and my ego in society. I'm much more happy to enjoy simple things in life, and I'm driven by career and relationship goals because I find than personally fulfilling. I'll be majoring in pysch, so I find transcendalist and the ability to consciously alter one's alpha waves fascinating, from a scientific stand-point. I've always been a rather ascetic person, so losing attachment to wordly possessions isn't a big deal for me. *LOL*

I was wondering if any Buddhists on the board could share their ideas on the belief system. How did you find Zen? How has it helped you find peace in your life? What do you think about the "trendiness" that surrounds Buddhism? Do you find your Mahavishnu Orchestra albums more satisfying.

Thank you very much, and let's please keep everything civil.

 

[kserg]

hehe friend of my is really into that... it sounds very cool... i cant wait to take eastern philosophy class be very intresting...

good luck:]

Cheers

 

[Against Will]

There seem to be a rash of "I though these kinds of things were banned..." threads.

I've been more interested in the philosophical, rather than religious/spiritual aspects of Eastern Culture. Though the two intersect at a number of points. I've been interested in Daoist philosophy, particularly that of Chuang-Tzu, whose teachings would later lend themselves to the development of Zen philosophy.

I've been reading the book "The Tao of Pooh" which is a fun, easy, and great read. In its early chapters, it describes an old tapestry that depicts 3 men standing around a cauldron of soup and tasting it. One man is staring angrily at the cauldron, the other is giving it a sour, disapproving look, and the 3rd is perfectly content and happy. The 3 men represent the 3 main religious thoughts at the time.
The first man was Confucianism, which angrily tries to designate and arrange nature into tradition and ritual. Purposely going against the natural order to impose an image on it.
The second man is Buddhism, which rejects the natural world and sourly puts down all things connected to reality. It calls them illusions and believes embracing them causes one nothing but pain.
The third man is Daoism, which happily accepts the way the world is, and finds that the fastest path and the one that is most natural.

Of course, it was painted by a Daoist.

 

[Microbass]

i started taking a slight interest to Buddism. However, sooner than later it became just as troubling as christianity had been to me!

following the idea of impermanence, it seems hard to find something i had that had any significance... with something significance, what was the point of being here?!

hope that isnt too "religious"..

 

[unharmed]

I consider myself a lay-buddhist. I also consider myself unqualified to offer much more than: "Good luck" and I hope you find your path.

 

[nanookanono]

out of subject haïku:
.....Yes my Mahavishnu orchestra albums are satisfying...

specially electric guitarist period
( seen live in St Jean de Luz, around 1978 )
Shankar violin... when hearing such musician, sure it is some
crazy traditionnal sort of yoga or zen as you like.

 

[bmc]

There seem to be a rash of "I though these kinds of things were banned..." threads.

I've been more interested in the philosophical, rather than religious/spiritual aspects of Eastern Culture. Though the two intersect at a number of points. I've been interested in Daoist philosophy, particularly that of Chuang-Tzu, whose teachings would later lend themselves to the development of Zen philosophy.

I've been reading the book "The Tao of Pooh" which is a fun, easy, and great read. In its early chapters, it describes an old tapestry that depicts 3 men standing around a cauldron of soup and tasting it. One man is staring angrily at the cauldron, the other is giving it a sour, disapproving look, and the 3rd is perfectly content and happy. The 3 men represent the 3 main religious thoughts at the time.
The first man was Confucianism, which angrily tries to designate and arrange nature into tradition and ritual. Purposely going against the natural order to impose an image on it.
The second man is Buddhism, which rejects the natural world and sourly puts down all things connected to reality. It calls them illusions and believes embracing them causes one nothing but pain.
The third man is Daoism, which happily accepts the way the world is, and finds that the fastest path and the one that is most natural.

Of course, it was painted by a Daoist.

Try and get a hold of a copy of "365 Tao". It's been a daily read of mine for over 12 years.

 

[ravelleneil]

I got into buddhism a few years back, i was attracted by the ideas that is has and how they make more sense to me than other religons, not that im dissing other religions of course, its just buddhism appeals more to me.
ive never really considered myself an unhappy person but buddhism has really made me happier and made alot of positive changes in my life.

Im off to the the dalai lama at the end of this month, i cant wait

 

[Danksalot]

CAUTION: OPINION AHEAD!!!

If my actions every day determine my eternal future, my outlook would be pretty bleak. I'm not good enough to earn anything I'd want for myself. I personally believe that my eternal future will be good because I trust in someone else's goodness (Jesus) and not my own to get me there.

Please pardon me if I mis-understood how Budhism works.

Danksalot

 

[Wrong Robot]

A friend of mine has been tinkering around with buddhist philosophies for a while, but he's more or less irreligious, he has many beliefs, but he doesn't bind himself to any one thing.

Which is kind of how I am too, I don't like the idea of committing to one religion, so I don't commit to any.

 

[bmc]

CAUTION: OPINION AHEAD!!!

If my actions every day determine my eternal future, my outlook would be pretty bleak.

Danksalot

Why? If you live by a code of good behaviour, follow the commandements, etc, why would you not end up in the same place?

In fact, I would argue that the notion that "everyday actions determine your eternal future" is consistant with most religious beliefs. Is it not in line with the concept of judgement day, held by many religions?

 

[justBrian]

I've been reading the book "The Tao of Pooh" which is a fun, easy, and great read. In its early chapters, it describes an old tapestry that depicts 3 men standing around a cauldron of soup and tasting it. One man is staring angrily at the cauldron, the other is giving it a sour, disapproving look, and the 3rd is perfectly content and happy. The 3 men represent the 3 main religious thoughts at the time.
The first man was Confucianism, which angrily tries to designate and arrange nature into tradition and ritual. Purposely going against the natural order to impose an image on it.
The second man is Buddhism, which rejects the natural world and sourly puts down all things connected to reality. It calls them illusions and believes embracing them causes one nothing but pain.
The third man is Daoism, which happily accepts the way the world is, and finds that the fastest path and the one that is most natural.

Of course, it was painted by a Daoist.

Great book-- I've had several copies and loaned them out to friends that expressed and interest. They never came back which may be a good thing.
You may want to check out Suzuki's book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It too is a fascinating read.
I got interested in Eastern Philosophy and Zen in college. I had a class with Gary Snyder, a Zen master. (He hung out with Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Casady and Keroack in the '50s.) It was one of my favorite classes.

 

[DigMe]

Why? If you live by a code of good behaviour, follow the commandements, etc, why would you not end up in the same place?

In fact, I would argue that the notion that "everyday actions determine your eternal future" is consistant with most religious beliefs. Is it not in line with the concept of judgement day, held by many religions?

That's not the belief of Christianity. In fact I think that's probably one of the big misunderstandings of Christianity by non-Christians. The biblical Christian belief is that "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast." (Eph. 2:8-9). Christianity requires only faith to go to heaven and works count for nothing as far as salvation is concerned. In fact the Bible speaks of two different judgements, one for believers and one for non-believers. The believers judgement spoken of in the Bible refers to a judgement of one's works. The more good works then the greater the reward will be. Anyway...just a misconception about Christianity that I wanted to clear up. Bottom line is that in the Biblical Christian belief salvation is by grace through faith and is not at all dependent on actions.

brad cook

 

[Eyescream]

I've only barely scratched into Buddhism (if you call giving Siddhartha a serious read and talking to friends about Buddhism), and consider myself much more a Taoist. I think that's part of the reason that some of my friends marvel at how laid-back I am. I just kinda take things as they come and try to treat others as well as I'd like to be treated and that seems to be working.

For what it's worth, Siddhartha is really good for seeing Buddhism's tenets put into action, as well as understanding how the character came to his conclusions that Buddhism was the way for him.

 

[Eyescream]

That's not the belief of Christianity. In fact I think that's probably one of the big misunderstandings of Christianity by non-Christians. The biblical Christian belief is that "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast." (Eph. 2:8-9). Christianity requires only faith to go to heaven and works count for nothing as far as salvation is concerned. In fact the Bible speaks of two different judgements, one for believers and one for non-believers. The believers judgement spoken of in the Bible refers to a judgement of one's works. The more good works then the greater the reward will be. Anyway...just a misconception about Christianity that I wanted to clear up. Bottom line is that in the Biblical Christian belief salvation is by grace through faith and is not at all dependent on actions.

brad cook

Wait a minute, help me clear this up.

If I understand what you're saying correctly, one can go through life being a complete and utter bastard; but if, at the end, they decide that they'd rather not go to this hell place, they can repent for everything they've done, say "Jesus, I apologize for being a bastard and treating everybody like **** my whole life, can I come with you now?" and go straight into heaven with zero problems?

 

[justBrian]

I've only barely scratched into Buddhism (if you call giving Siddhartha a serious read and talking to friends about Buddhism), and consider myself much more a Taoist. I think that's part of the reason that some of my friends marvel at how laid-back I am. I just kinda take things as they come and try to treat others as well as I'd like to be treated and that seems to be working.
QUOTE]

I'm the same way, though much more so when I actually practice sitting.

 

[DigMe]

Wait a minute, help me clear this up.

If I understand what you're saying correctly, one can go through life being a complete and utter bastard; but if, at the end, they decide that they'd rather not go to this hell place, they can repent for everything they've done, say "Jesus, I apologize for being a bastard and treating everybody like **** my whole life, can I come with you now?" and go straight into heaven with zero problems?

Exactly. If he or she truly has faith then that is exactly what is stated in the Bible. This is one of the main concepts that differentiates Christianity from other religions. Example: The thief on the cross next to Christ when he was crucified.

This person's reward will not be as great but they will still be in heaven. This is addressed in I Corinthians 3:11-15.

brad cook

 

[Benjamin Strange]

I was playing Megaman 9 last night; I downloaded a ROM and played it on my Mac. Man, what a great game! Too bad it's all in Japanese; it was never released in the states. I can't understand what's going on, but I realized that it's true they dumb down games for the American audience. This game is HARD!!

Edit: This character's name is Bass, by the way. How cool is that?

 

[Eyescream]

I'm the same way, though much more so when I actually practice sitting.

I'm too antsy to sit still for longer than, say, 2 minutes. Can't even joke that I practice when I'm sleeping, cause I talk in my sleep and I'm pretty sure that breaks some sort of meditation rule.

I got into Taoism when I got into Tai Chi, and so really when I practice one, I'm automatically practicing the other. For me, that's just the way it works (the one guy that's credited with creating Tai Chi, Zhang San Feng was a Taoist priest and Shaolin master; although he called it Wudang 32-pattern Long Fist).

 

[Eyescream]

Exactly. If he or she truly has faith then that is exactly what is stated in the Bible. This is one of the main concepts that differentiates Christianity from other religions. Example: The thief on the cross next to Christ when he was crucified.

This person's reward will not be as great but they will still be in heaven. This is addressed in I Corinthians 3:11-15.

brad cook

I'm not sure I like that. I think it'd be much more fitting if Jesus came down and said "As if!" and gave them a wedgie or something.