Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Mantras
blu3ree
Veteran
So for lack of patience on the hindu forums sending me a confirmation email and an eagerness to recite the gayatri mantra I came across a few big steps.
I read correct ways to recite this mantra was to have a statue of Krishna and to never recite in ones bedroom well I am kinda forced to recite in my room and there is not a statue of Krishna.
Does anyone knOw proper recitation techniques?
I read correct ways to recite this mantra was to have a statue of Krishna and to never recite in ones bedroom well I am kinda forced to recite in my room and there is not a statue of Krishna.
Does anyone knOw proper recitation techniques?
0
Comments
Reciting can be respectful, and kinda used for calming and some focusing through patterned repetition. If you just want to use a particular mantra to do what I said sans god worship, then you would not please a Krishna nor a Hindu. You just pronounce it right and use the pattern that pleases you. That is neither good nor bad for you yourself.
He is also Indra king of heaven.
I do not need nor want a god to worship now, I am not a pure self worshiper either fully. I used to pray a lot, but any results seemed only to be for others. Am I bitter, no, that is just what happened or as Buddhists would term it, what appeared to happen.
This is not a Hindu forum, so I will not go deeply into Hindu practice here (even if I knew fine details of Hindu practice). you need to talk to a Hindu if you would practice a Hindu way more fully. As with any religion, you go with some common custom and as to fine details, you wing it some.
@blu3ree - after some Googling, this site even says that you can recite it while showering. Other sites I've read don't seem to mention the rules that you state regarding where to say it, nor the presence of the statue. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places though.
Look at it this way, to get expert knowledge you go to source where it is to be had. There are Buddhist experts here. And if you look for a Hindu specialist, a Hindu forum or Hindu knowledge site would be the best place for it.
The Buddhist way (and I am a beginner here) seems to be to chant to center/focus/get clarity/have something to fall back on when distracted. Religions that worship a god or gods tend, even within the religion's adherents, to have a variety of details. Varied will be the fine details, sometimes down to the individual level. But Hinduism considers the bedroom a non-holy place to pray, and the use of a statue to honor Krishna expected.
Compassion to practical effect of benefit when knowledge is lacking or limited to share, is only limitedly possible, obviously. I have done some comparative religion study, so can help a little. But only the little that I have already done.
I would like to join a work exchange program that isn't in a city. I live in Michigan. I don't have a vehicle and prefer one that you can live on in exchange for labor. Mahayana vipassana I am somewhat more familiar with.
Any recommendations
And yes, this isn't a Hindu forum, but there might be those who identify as Hindu who do use NewBuddhist. Or there might be those who like Hinduism and take inspiration from it. Such as myself.
Also, let's not forget that Buddhism came from Hinduism and many paths are greatly influenced by Hinduism. Such as some schools in Vajrayana.
To be a Buddhist you have to believe in the Buddha's teaching's not rejecting them, including the teaching about having to not follow samsaric/worldly Gods.
There is so much more too Buddhism than 4NT and 8FP that is absolutely essential. A Buddhist would conform to what Buddhists actually do/believe otherwise you're not one.
What is the proper number of teachings before one can label a bunch of ideas a "philosophy" or "religion?"
Are you really saying that many Mahayana and Vajryana schools of Buddhism are just full of bad Buddhists, since they "worship" deities? :wow:
This doesn't mean Buddhism is just willy-nilly whatever you want to believe, but it also doesn't mean it is a cut-and-dry, one-size-fits-all ideology to conform with. The Buddhadharma would not have and could not have spread if it were so inflexible and rigid as to exclude all 'foreign' elements--rather it adopted regional customs and used it for its own purposes. Anything less would be unskilful means.
And besides, karma and rebirth had its origins Indian religion prior to the Buddha (though re-interpreted in a new way), and there were Indian gods like Indra who were incorporated into Buddhist thought also. Guanyin was the result of cross-fertilisation of Chinese myth, and Avalokiteshavara became a female Bodhisattva. This notion of ideological purity is foreign to the Asian culture in which Buddhism arose.
No Buddhist fundamentalism for me, thank you.
They don't worship them,just pay respect to them neither are they deities, they are embodiments of different things such as compassion.
I agree that it goes against the pure essence Buddhist beliefs. Hence Hinduism and Buddhism are two different religions they still share similarities like the attainment of enlightenment.
Meaning of gayatri
Given our understanding of the mythological origins of which formed the basis of the culture and religious beliefs of his time, would it be a stretch to think the whole point of the Buddha's teaching was to put an end to the notion of rebirth which was believed to be a literal fact?
And many "ethnic" Buddhists do indeed see Kuan Yin and Manjusri (among others) as deities.
As well as one exiting the cycle of birth and death!
What is amitabha a bodhisattva or a deity? Couldn't one be both?
Also, Buddhism does not negate the existance of gods. It merely removes the role of creator and makes them more finite than what we usually think of. Since gods themselves are not enlightened, there is no reason (according to Buddhism) to worship them, but that is different than saying they do not exist or are merely a delusion. Perhaps some of the roles we attach to them are delusional, but that is different matter.
It's also good to remember that some people will adopt certain aspects of Buddhism without leaving behind their old religion. The Buddha gave good advice, that any can follow whether or not they choose to label themselves as a Buddhist.
And finally, nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything is influenced by something else and that goes for religions too.