None of these three things can be dealt with by the rational mind.
They can only be dealt with by the irrational mind.

That’s why people who are slightly wacky, or religious, cope with
these big things much better than scientists do.

For years we’ve been saying, "Be more rational, be more practical,
be more scientific."

And now we’re saying, "No, hang on a minute. Let’s be a bit sillier.
Let’s think about faith and belief."

Seeing things that we’re not meant to see is actually what we’re
supposed to do..."

[columnist, comic, children's books author] Nury Vittachi
on journalism, death and the irrational mind
http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/play/nury-vittachi-will-now-take-your-questions-175376/

http://www.dharmanet.org/Bankei.htm

Are we ready for now?

One of the first things that confused me greatly when trying to decide where to study and learn was all the talk about lineages, and traditions, and how they vary. Buddhism stresses lineages as being an unbroken chain of master and student all the way back to historical Buddha. But this has not seemed to stop the creation of new schools within Buddhism.

While the roots of Buddhism will always be in India, it has spread to the East and been growing in the West for quite some time (4th largest “religion” in the US). Despite this there seems to be a lack of any solid “Western Traditions”. Mind you most of the practicing Buddhists in the US are typically from other countries.

There are plenty of westerners that have gone on to become Buddhist monks and teachers such as Ajahn Pasanno for example who studies under the forest monks of Thailand.

While I am not a scholar in regards to this topic, I have done a little bit of reading. It would seem to me that the initial spread of Buddhism in the East could be attributed in a large part to the likeminded cultures. I would venture to say that most of the Eastern cultures have a strong focus on family, honor, and maybe to a lesser degree community.

So my question then becomes why do you think that a “Western Tradition” has not arisen? What obstacles are there for the West to really make Buddhism its own? Is it just a matter of time perhaps? We just aren’t there yet?

In an interview for a magazine, he once related that a Beatles LP record
mysteriously materialized in his living room, causing him to remark that
someone must have lost it.

I made nothing of that account until, in the last year or two, personal stuff
would occasionally became displaced from their usual location in my
apartment, turning up in the most unexpected place: my friends are not
known to play practical jokes.

Most recently, my kurta - a traditional Indian clothing - disappeared
from where I had kept it, and only a week before, I had worn it to show
my Myanma friend.

Presumably someone may have had a kurta appear within their home,
and wondered where on earth it could have come from.

So if you tripped over a light beige kurta and you're reading this, you
now know its source and may keep it since it's quite inexpensive;
after all, I can always buy another.

I expect this miraculous universe in which I live, move and have my
being to continue to leak. :-)

Manning meanwhile still receives pleas for help but appears to be
rather more selective about the cases he investigates.

Matthew Manning UK Healer

AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW MANNING: POLTERGEIST BOY
(a long read at 5,000 words)

So he's saying we can still talk about a world of meaning with love, morality, choice... the big picture things while taking a naturalistic approach to the world without need for the supernatural.

Naturalism has been certainly been around for a very long time, but as more people become naturalists and talk to each other, their disagreements within naturalism are interesting. I thought there was a judicious middle ground, which I call poetic, between “the world is just a bunch of particles,” and “science can be used to discover meaning and morality.”
To me the connotations of “poetic” are that there’s some human choice that comes into how we talk about the world. In particular, when it comes to questions of morality and meaning, the way we go about deciding what is right and wrong, and meaningful or not, is not the same as the way we discover what is true and false.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/godless-universe-a-physicist-searches-for-meaning-in-nature/

Would anyone here consider themselves a poetic naturalist? Or maybe being a Buddhist forum a religious naturalist

Is it really possible to do this? Can you really be both into a faith or religion, and also not, depending on the day or week? I tend to see it as either you're committed to your relationship (faith) or you're not. It's certainly okay either way as long as everyone is honest. For example... if I was dating someone and they didn't want to see me unless they "needed" me, fair-weather style, I wouldn't call that a relationship, I'd call that Friends-with-Benefits. Correspondingly, if I have a friend who goes to Church/ Temple/ other Services only when she's having a time of sorrow or has a question, but then never thinks about her faith otherwise, not even on her own, is she really a Christian/ Muslim/ Jew/ Buddhist, etc ? I'd argue no... but that person can certainly gather good information in those times when she is participating.

Thoughts?

"The Bhagavat is truly marvelous. His actions are rare. He teaches the Dharma according to the natural capacities of the beings in the world through skillful means, wisdom, and insight. He leads sentient beings away from their various attachments. We have no words to describe The Buddha's qualities. Only the Buddha, the Bhagavat, is able to know our deep intentions and original vow." LS

If the mind is Buddha and Buddha is no other than the mind (WND), would we say this is an analogy of the wisdom and insight our true nature (Buddha-nature) is in us? Nichiren put more emphasis on The Dharma rather than The Buddha. So, when it says "The Buddha is able to know our deep intentions and original vow" what is that saying? Is it the historical Buddha who knows this by how he describes who he is (our mind personified?) as the many manifestations of himself: wisdom, compassion, etc? Is he really in us, as The Sutra (the Gohonzon) teaches?

How would we (any Buddhist) interpret this? Even in a general view.

This question arose in my mind today - how to know whether am I still on the spiritual path? - because my sitting practice has gone for the last 5 to 6 months, since I last used to sit in the morning, so for the last 5 to 6 months, many days would have gone in which i would not have done sitting practice, and very few days in which i would have sit for just formality sake for 2 to 3 minutes - so almost no sitting practice on an overall level during the last 5 to 6 months - even hearing to dhamma talks on internet has reduced, since for the last few months, i am working in a new area at office, so since that software technology is new to me, so I am interested in acquiring that knowledge on how to work in that software technology. Just a thought at random arosed to me today - whether am I still on the spiritual path or gone back totally to materialistic world? Any pointers, or areas in which I can try to analyze my situation to know if am I still on the spiritual path? Please suggest. Thanks in advance.

Fascinating.

Drag and drop with mouse pointer to move around the graphic. Enlarge with buttons at top left.

http://kachetiendg.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/religious-fundamentalism-could-soon-be.html

I am very much interested to know more a about Buddhism, to seek truth, and to understand and appreciate complexities.
By the way, I would like to raise some questions/arguments and probably you could clarify the points. It would shed some light, really. So here it goes:

[a] Is Buddhism an organized religion or more of philosophy?
[b] Buddhism is the same as as pantheism
[c] If reincarnation is real, how come our number (population) still increase since the soul can fit in only into one particular body?
[d] I have read that Buddhism does not believe in God or a god(esses), is this true to all categories/types of Buddhism?
[e] How were we created in the Buddhist point of view?
[g] Are there monks or teachers of Buddhism (I don't what they are called) here in the Philippines? I seriously want to have a long discussion with them even if I am from Ilocos Norte.

Thank you!

I found it very informative.

I hope youz guyz can watch this....

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/23/no-religion-outnumber-christians-england-wales-study

I was unaware of this early connection ...

Maybe a good topic for another thread, but I can't help observing that there is some similarity in the two positions. In Buddhism, everyone is "saved" and they don't even have to be Buddhist to inhabit this state. All are "saved", but we don't realize or see it.
To see it takes a lot of work.

In Christianity - as I understand it - only Christians are "saved". They don't see it either, they have only to accept the dogmas of the Church - that is, to take someone else's word for it. My experience has been that "seeing" hardly rates a mention in the average congregation - One of the reasons I hightailed it out of there a long time ago.

Christians also can become enlightened, or something like it, but it never seemed to me that they get much help in doing so. Nonetheless, the two approaches are not completely incompatible.

In some Christian mysticism it is recognised that other traditions reach states of being or grace that are comparable to the interior journey with Christ. Here for example are my efforts at expression from other perspectives, including the Christian ...
http://yinyana.tumblr.com/day/2013/08/08

Neither Buddhist, Christian, Islamic or Flying Speghetthi Monster enlightenment is easy for dabblers. However the interior landscape in my experience is indeed the same.

'Know Thyself' as the Apollo Pagans used to say ...
http://ageac.org/en/ageac/know-thyself/

Are we on the same path as our brothers and sister?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/06/religious-children-less-altruistic-secular-kids-study

According to the respected Pew Research Center, which examines attitudes toward and practices of faith, most people around the world think it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person. In the US, 53% of adults think that faith in God is necessary to morality, a figure which rose to seven of 10 adults in the Middle East and three-quarters of adults in six African countries surveyed by Pew.

I don't have much to add, its a good argument against the "belief in God is necessary for morality"

Be extra nice....enjoy the cheer, and Happy new Year!!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!! ......And We know @karasti has one coming....yah!...And...@Bunks is somewhere in the Sag pool....hahaha. So Happy whatever everyone. Feel free to bring snacks over to the table, and make sure to be here when our own Santa Admin makes it snow.

Yes....for my birthday weekend, I'm going to be a fox in a hen house....lolololol....Turn up!!...a little...not too much, gotta be at work Monday morning... But next weekend...I'll do my Christmas cards!!!

I would like to thank you for all that I have learned from you the past couple of weeks that I have been roaming the board. I have compiled a list of teachings that I feel correlate with certain principles. I have taken texts from buddhists teachings and would love your response to know if I selected accurate texts. Feel free to tear it apart and give critical feedback. I would really appreciate it! There is a link to the principle vs. buddhist text comparison below. This should take less than 10 minutes.

https://qtrial2014.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_87DRlzKx0gsZq2F

(you can click the link up to 8 times and receive a different set of principle vs. buddhist text comparison. feel free to participate as much as you'd like!)

Thank you.

My name is Travis Lish and I am a Latter Day Saint (Mormon) from Boise, Idaho U.S.A.

I am working on building an interfaith appendix and would like to get some feedback from some who know more about the teachings of Buddha than me.

I am looking for quotes, passages, or scriptures from the Buddhist faith that teach principles of living your life in a noble manner. Living your life in an upright way. living according to high moral standards.

Are there any selections that come to mind?

Thanks!

Would you say that it is a positive thing for different religions to stand together in defense of good values?

In your opinion, would it be a positive experience for people of different faiths to gather together and learn about needs of their area and how to create personal and community changes?

http://www.alanwallace.org/Dialectic Paper.pdf

The distinction he makes is key to me in developing faith in some of the more esoteric aspects of Buddhism. The two sides are one where contemplatives are internalizing the past scriptural doctrines that have taught them, the other saying that the methods and techniques taught help the contemplative train and focus their introspection to make actual discoveries and genuine knowledge about the mind.

Which side you come down on would seem to indicate where you find the authority in Buddhism. Does it come from scriptural authenticity or expert testimony?

The Chakmas also worship Hindu deities. Lakshmi, for example, is worshipped as the Goddess of the Harvest. Chakmas offer the sacrifice of goats, chickens, or ducks to calm the spirits that are believed to bring fevers and disease. Even though animal sacrifice is totally against Buddhist beliefs, the Chakma Buddhist priests ignore the practice.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakma_people

I am constantly amazed how diverse Buddhism can be ... how it evolves and changes. Do you celebrate/welcome this diversity?

When you become an SGI member, you dont take the vows of the three jews. I assume only Nichiren Shu does this. As a result, when someone ask my religion (though I practice paganism) I am hesitant to tell them I am a Buddhist because I practice and hold a lot of Theraada and Mahayana Buddhist morals and some practices. Yet, SGI doesnt have any of this.

Would it be appropriate to say "I am a Buddhist?" I dont like lying to people and saying I am a pagan (which I assocate with practice not defined by beliefs) or would I say "I practice Buddhist morals" or maybe I'm a Boddhisattva?

I talk with a lot of religious people who are very some see a lot of stereotypes in ther religions: all Buddhists are Asian. All Catolics are white and hispanic. All baptist are african american. All UU are white.

Seriously. This is true.

I just want to know if its appropriate given that is the only Buddhist Sangha that I can practice and cmmune with our a more frequent basis because of distance.

Thanks.

Ashokavadana also mentions that after his conversion to Buddhism, Bindusara's son Ashoka issued an order to kill all the Ajivikas in Pundravardhana, enraged at a picture that depicted Gautama Buddha in negative light. Around 18,000 followers of the Ajivika sect were executed as a result of this order.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ājīvika

I came to Buddhism about three years ago and up until then I would pray or make a deal with god if life became stressful. I would spend hours repeating that deal/prayer and this scenario would happen in every similar situation. I would get no relief from the stress, if anything I'd be more stressed because I'd wonder if had willed enough power to get the outcome I needed.

Fast forward to today - my dog is sick, we're talking one strong cough/sneeze away from death. My dog is the centre of my world, I know her life is going to be shorter than mine and my partners but she loves the world like I do and the love she gives inspires me to love the world even more. 3+ years ago I would be praying and stressing but now I'm just worried, very worried but not stressed. I'm not blaming my past deeds, I'm not blaming some fictional entity etc.

What if I posted a sutra verse, right? Then we talk about what it means and so forth. When the conversation get's less and less, someone else's post another sutra verse and we continue our conversation. It's kind of like the world association game as in it's continuous; but, I'm trying to figure how we know who is going to post the next sutra so it won't be multiple ones all at one time.

What ye think? You think we can pull it off?

"At the outset, let me state that Buddhism is not atheistic as the term is ordinarily understood. It has certainly a God, the highest reality and truth, through which and in which this universe exists. However, the followers of Buddhism usually avoid the term God, for it savors so much of Christianity, whose spirit is not always exactly in accord with the Buddhist interpretation of religious experience. Again, Buddhism is not pantheistic in the sense that it identifies the universe with God. On the other hand, the Buddhist God is absolute and transcendent; this world, being merely its manifestation, is necessarily fragmental and imperfect. To define more exactly the Buddhist notion of the highest being, it may be convenient to borrow the term very happily coined by a modern German scholar, "panentheism," according to which God is πᾶν καὶ ἕν (all and one) and more than the totality of existence."
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zfa/zfa04.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism

As I recollect poorly my own readings in the past (primarily Zen Buddhism), it seems to me that there were a number of well-respected teachers who expressed the hope that they might at last run into a student who would call their bluff, slap their face, kick their ass or in some other overt way stop groveling around the 'teacher's' skirts. Do I remember their names? No I don't ... I told you: Swiss Cheese Mind is my middle name.

But even if I cannot remember their names, I also have a hard time thinking I made all this up. And if my impoverished recollection is close to being correct, then my question is: 1. Why would anyone to whom a venerable understanding was attributed make such a wish and 2. what truth, if any, were they hoping such action might illuminate?

Apologies for my lack of specificity, but I hope others here may help fill in my vagueness.

Donuts are over at the snack table

May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind. ~Author Unknown

My Salutations to all of you!

I gave a posting more than 4 years ago in this Website’s forum (http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/11969/dhammapada-in-sanskrit) seeking a sponsor for bringing out Dhammapada in Sanskrit version in audio format. I received and still keep receiving mails from many keen and appreciative scholars and enthusiasts (but none interested in sponsoring) asking for the copy of the Sanskrit version of Dhammapada that I have.

I would like to inform all that what I possess is a handwritten copy of Sanskrit Dhammapada in Malayalam Script (and not in Devanagari or in transliterated English format). As you may know that there was a custom of maintaining Sanskrit and even Pāli writings in India since ancient times in the scripts of local vernaculars (and not necessarily in Devanagari), as all the vernaculars (except the Dravidian Tamil language) can absorb Sanskrit in toto in their respective scripts. I am unable to spare time to re-write the Version that I have in transliterated English format or in Devanagari Lipi.

And my main intention was (and still is) to record in audio format chanting of this excellent Sanskrit version of Dhammapada - each verse followed by its English translation so that anyone can peacefully sit and listen and also grasp the purport of each stanza. None today has time or patience for reading and I feel we should do something for the coming generation who are (somewhat) interested only in audio. I have two versions of Sanskrit Dharmapada, and both seem to be independent works of translation of Pāli into Sanskrit with minor variations mutually. I have no information about the authors who did the conversion into Sanskrit and their period. Of course translation of Pāli verses into Sanskrit was not a very challenging or tough job for a good Sanskrit scholar and so probably the persons who did the translation might not have felt it that important to give their names anywhere.

To give an example, here is the Sanskrit version of the famous verse that Lord Buddha uttered after he got Nirvāṇa - which occurs in Jarā Vagga.

अनेकजाति संसारे सन्धाविष्ये अनिर्विशन्।
गृहकारकं गवेषन्तो दुःखा जाति पुनः पुनः॥
गृहकारक! दृष्टोसि, पुनर्गेहं न करिष्यसि।
सर्वास्ते पार्शुका भग्ना गृहकूटं विसंस्कृतम्।
विसंस्कारगतं चित्तं तृष्णानां क्षयमध्यगाम्॥

aneka jāti saṁsāre sandhāviṣye anirviśan |
gṛhakārakam gaveṣanto duḥkā jātiḥ punaḥ punaḥ ||
gṛhakāraka dṛṣṭosi, punar geham na kariṣyasi |
sarvāste pārśukā bhagnā gṛhakūṭam visamskṛtam |
visamskāragatam cittam tṛṣṇānām kshayamadhyagām ||

And the first verse of Yamaka Vagga, the first chapter of Dhammapada in Sanskrit is this:

मनःपूर्वङ्गमा धर्मा मनः श्रेष्ठा मनोमया।
मनसा चेत् प्र्दुष्टेन भाषते वा करोति वा।
ततस्तं दुःखमन्वेति चक्रमिव वहतः पदम्॥

If anyone is interested to help me and sponsor (only) the expenditure for recording and also if someone has a proper outlet for publishing in the Web for the benefit of all (not with any commercial motive), he or she is still welcome to write to me in drurgiridharan@gmail.com

Thank you.
May all be happy!

Dr.Giridharan.U.R.

Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshicha (1765-1827) used to say that everyone should keep a piece of paper with “for my sake the world was created” in one pocket, and a piece of paper with “I am but dust and ashes” in another.
The Rabbi (PBUH) was expressing an essential spiritual truth: each individual being is important, but not self-important.

http://www.existentialbuddhist.com/tag/humility/

Outwardly, humility is not always stressed in Buddhism. In other paths it is important. What is it? How and why does it arise?

Gunfire and Fists Fly in Hamlet, Tx, as Marchers Wearing "Death to America" T-shirts Demonstrate

What would you think? Would you like to see the whole story? How long could you wait to see some of the story and then instantly condemn one party or the other? Who do you think would be the bad guys? You can bet that the Press would point out the demonstrators with their "ignoble, trouble-causing" motivations.

Politics and religion go hand-in-hand, depending on the religion.

Fortunately for "The One True Holy People," today's story is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/us/garland-texas-shooting-muhammad-cartoons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Growing up we were all taught that freedom of speech does not entitle you to cry out "FIRE!" in a crowded theater. No, some restraint is expected. Along with freedom comes the responsibility to be a grown-up who realizes that he's not always gonna have his bread buttered as he would like. That Citizen, to be a Citizen truly, must have a generous heart and must not let it get clouded in some high-and-mighty ideology or principle.

I must say that RESPECT for the sensibilities of other peoples is Imperative if we are to be a truly civilized society. I call the Danish cartoons and their spin-offs HATE speech, not Freedom of the Press. Freedom of Speech and of the Press is all about the Right of people to speak Truth from their hearts. That truth is about justice, that human enterprise par excellence; that truth is about seeking amends when wrongs have been done and about getting for people what is rightfully theirs. That Truth is always beneficial to the lower strata of society. Truth doth never extol or condone intolerance of the sincere beliefs of others. And those who love Truth know that it is something which they can only see, but never possess. Those who know the truth want to see the truth incarnated in Freedom for All, with malice not permitted to reach out towards the Stranger among us. Those who love the truth do verily worship it with the Esteem they have for all their brethren and sisters.

Here is a thread from some few months back with varying stances: http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/22306/respect-as-the-highest-form-of-love-and-how-that-is-relevant-to-the-situation-in-france/p1

can anyone provide the missing one

thanks in advance

Moment i realised that human have no religion since start then why extrimist making this chaos of cruelity. All this muslim migrants are entering Europian but no muslim countries helping them. Turkey do not allow them to have employment and just offer temporarily shelter.
Soudi arabia rant about muslim brorherhood but do not allow people of different ethnicity to settle in their kingdom including muslims.

http://gayatriclab.com/2011/10/the-power-of-tara-mantra-“om-tare-tuttare-ture-swaha”-for-daily-protection/

I tend to easily believe in superstitions/magic type things such as astrology, psychics, tarot...etc. I feel I need to draw a line though because sometimes it gives me false ideas about my life and future since it's so fluid and maybe I read into it too much. Even though I think superstitions/magic have truth to it, I think it's an area that is very easily distorted and fluid and shouldn't be tampered with too much.

I need to find a balance, because I can't see myself just completely disregarding it (that would be illogical since everything is ultimately a mystery and magical). I think ultimately, it's not the psychic or tarot item that's the problem, it's the feeling that I have no control...it takes me down a path that I feel where my life has no will, I think that's ultimately what bothers me.

I think, at the same time, it can be a tool that may help to heal.

I suppose it brings me back to thinking I need to focus on what I know makes me happy ultimately...like establishing a strong mindfulness in compassion and emptiness where I have no fear because I realize there's nothing to harm. There's so much peace in this state, that no matter the outcome of superstitions everything is okay. I think more important than superstitions, is to just follow the magic of your own personal heart and growth for yourself.

And ultimately, if you're fated to have disappointment later in life, why dissect it now? Whatever I'd be doing then, I should be doing now...focusing on love, letting go, and being grounded.

On that note...I saw a psychic today that mentioned my somewhat recently deceased grandmother needed guidance and was still "hanging around" thinking she had not died. Does anyone have any advice on this? Was it BS? Forget about it? Pray? I should say also, her death was 3 months ago and since I've very often had dreams of her...similar dreams she's sick and survived death and she's unhappy. Anyone had similar experiences? I was with her when she was dying..she didn't know she was dying and I kept saying it's okay to go in peace and that "God is love" (she was Christian)...I tried to "guide her spirit/consciousness" best I could for her to go in peace. Even days/weeks after. I'm the only one in my family that's been flooded with dreams of her.

Bodhi Rabia was asked, "Do you love God?" She answered "Yes." "Do you hate the devil?" She answered, "No, my love of God leaves me no time to hate the devil."
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fana_(Sufism)
Basically she was full of it . . . God that is . . .

In Dharma the Buddha did not generally perform miracles or interfere too much in local politics, though he did chat with the leaders of two opposing armies one time . . .
He provided an austere and focussed Middle Way for those prepared to abandon the lights and twinkling samsara world. Gods? Not required . . . well in the higher stations of mysticism even notions of God are Void . . .

So is the 'top of the mountain' empty of All or Full of Nothing . . . so to speak . . . ?

http://www.goldensufi.org/a_suffering_and_realization.html

TWEEDIE: The Beloved is a great emptiness! It is a void, terribly frightening to the mind, but responsive. It is at the same time absolute fullness, absolute light. It is the nothingness where everything is. It is the fullness where nothing exists. It is the fullness of love.