Do you look for the Buddha within you to answer your questions?

Billyboy

It is always quite obvious to me when writing in Buddhist forums and the like that many people ask many philosophical questions whilst looking for a determined absolute answer from fellow Buddhists in return.
Buddha's main intention for his teaching was for personal liberation from the realm of Suffering (Samsara), which comes from developing ones own insight and awareness through the practise of meditation and living a moral ethical life (Enlightenment).
Therefore, when we meditate or are mindful and have an insightful thought, in that very moment we were a Buddha, just for the briefest of moments until our minds once again return to mundane realm of desires and attachments (Samsara). So we then have experienced our own raw underdeveloped Buddha nature.
So when you have a question, before rushing off to ask someone the meaning of, first sit quietly and Meditate, the answer will come to you with patience and practise.
So do you connect to your own sense of Buddha-nature?

I_AM_THAT

Open your heart and free your mind and the Truth will be presented to you.

how

Do hang out with the Buddha when possible but also keep in mind how common it is for the Ego to carry it's own Buddha ID. The Sangha can often help in identifying fake ID.

Billyboy

How. yes I agree one must be mindful of Ego, but I think with practise one can feel the difference. Sangha's are very useful for their support if you can find a group in ones area or a group that resonate with you.
However I have never really stayed in any Sangha long, as I have found that I prefer to meditate on my own, and I like my own independence in what I practise like.
I prefer to read Buddhist prayers in English, only Mantra's will I learn to pronounce as I have difficulties speaking Tibetan naturally and tend to practise Zazen Zen meditation.
A dear Buddhist friend reassured me that I didn't have to be in a Sangha, as he pointed out the many lone practising Buddhists throughout history.
So I prefer to practise alone, but I do say hello to fellow Buddhists from time to time.

zombiegirl

When I sit quietly, sometimes the answers I get are brilliant... and sometimes they are garbage.

I think everyone needs a mental check every now and then, especially since this is pretty highly dependent on how far down the path you are. But having said that, I'm a lot like you in my solitary practice. Welcome to the forum. I hope you find this to be an acceptable middle ground.

Chaz

Billyboy said:

So do you connect to your own sense of Buddha-nature?

Nope.

I don't meditate to get answers.

I think my "own sense of Buddha-nature" will be largely contrived.

YMMD

Chaz

Billyboy said:

A dear Buddhist friend reassured me that I didn't have to be in a Sangha, as he pointed out the many lone practising Buddhists throughout history.

True, save for the fact that Sangha is one of the three jewels of refuge.

What lone practicing Buddhists did you friend point out to you? I assume you're referring to great yogins of the past such as Milarepa. I have something of a facination for such folk.

Billyboy

Yes Milarepa is the one I most have in mind. I believe there is an alternative Buddhist route that still stays loyal to the Sangha and the Dharma which suits a different kind of person or mind. Say suitable to what one might call introverted in personality.
I also must say that I like to stay independent from the arguments prevailing between the schools of Buddhism, so being part of a Sangha that might discredit another tradition seems unfortunately very unBuddhist. Such arguments cause confusion in the mind, which is not good for ones personal practise of mindfulness and meditation. I therefore have found it more productive to focus on my own practise with out the aid of a Sangha. I do however read and study and talk to fellow Buddhists from time to time, and keep up with any news. I see all true Buddhists as my Sangha, even if I'm never going to meet them, I still see them as my spiritual Brothers and Sisters, no matter where they live or what language they speak.

Chaz

Billyboy said:

Yes Milarepa is the one I most have in mind. I believe there is an alternative Buddhist route that still stays loyal to the Sangha and the Dharma which suits a different kind of person or mind. Say suitable to what one might call introverted in personality.

I would agree. There's no rule that says you must associate with a Sangha, even though there are many blessing that are attendant on such associations.

Milarepa, although he is best known for his many years of practicing in seclusion, spent many years before that studying under the guidance of his Guru, Marpa, along with a number of Marpa's other students. Only when Marpa had taught him everything he had to teach, did Mila set off into the wild on his own. Even still, he never escewed the company of others and had his own students to instruct, such as the great Gampopa.

I also must say that I like to stay independent from the arguments prevailing between the schools of Buddhism, so being part of a Sangha that might discredit another tradition seems unfortunately very unBuddhist.

It is. VERY unBuddhist.

That said, I don't see that as a concern. I live in an area where there are many different kinds of Buddhists. I have some small contact with most of them. I never, and I do mean never, hear disparaging remarks about other traditions, or lineages, or arguments over points of doctrine. Where I see that is entirely on-line, in forums like this one. Out here in the real world, everyone sems to get along pretty good.

Such arguments cause confusion in the mind, which is not good for ones personal practise of mindfulness and meditation.

You are totally right and I think most folks have a certain sense of that. However, it seems like forums tend to cloud that sense.

I see all true Buddhists as my Sangha, even if I'm never going to meet them, I still see them as my spiritual Brothers and Sisters, no matter where they live or what language they speak.

:thumbsup:

Jeffrey

Just an aside, but Milerepa had a student named Gampopa who G eventually wrote the Jewel Ornament of Liberation. The JoL is the text for a the Lam Rim practice in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. It can be seen as the union between tantra yana and sutra yana.

Anyhow when Gampopa left Milerapa his teacher had one more teaching for him. He turned and pulled up his robe showing all the callouses on his rear from meditation.

Billyboy

Interesting, well before I discovered Buddhism, I also studied gnostic writings also, so have been spiritually aware before discovering the teachings of Buddha, so perhaps I have some old spiritual habits, or safe guards which ever way one wishes to see.

Billyboy

I would also agree Chaz that there is much negativity on some Buddhist forums which I have experienced. In my personal practise I utilise western psychology, as I used to be a Community mental health worker. So I am personally a believer in the Dharma and the enlightened teachings of the Lord Buddha, but wish to promote secular meditation to non Buddhists as I know the benefits of meditation myself. So I am finding my own balance and middle way if this makes sense?

seeker242

I don't look to my own sense of Buddha nature inside or outside. I question whether or not there is an inside vs outside to begin with!

Since time without beginning, the nature of Awakened Mind and Emptiness has consisted of the same, absolute non-duality of no birth or death, no existence or non-existence, no purity or impurity, no movement or stillness, no young or old, no inside or outside, no shape and form, no sound and no color. ~Zen Teachings of Huang-po

But if you don't look inside and you don't look outside, then where do you look?

how

I used to have the Buddha phone within. It was clunky with a rotary dial but pretty reliable. The only trouble was that it was a party line so you were never sure who else might be on the line.

Eventually I did get upgraded to my own line but that still tied down my position.
These days it's all wi fi so the location is pretty nebulous which at least better reflects my meditation.

I guess in hindsight, as seeker242 indicates, as long as you get a good connection beyond the self, inside/outside becomes irrelevant.

lobster

So do you connect to your own sense of Buddha-nature?

It might be more correct to say that the unconnected, in other words the non arising becomes apparent.
This is why the negating of self, including the 'killing' of the Buddha is fundamental. The Buddha-nature is empty. That is its 'form'.
If you connect, you are creating a sense of Buddha-nature to own. Where is the sense in that? :wave:

Billyboy

Am I indeed, well before we start discussing further, you did not know what I perceived Buddha nature as, so you are somewhat speculating Lobster. I do indeed understand the emptiness void like qualities without any sense of selfhood. That is how I recognise what is ego and what is Buddha nature.

Billyboy

So my question still stands.

lobster

Billyboy said:

So do you connect to your own sense of Buddha-nature?

No Sense
No Connection
No Nature
other than that yes.

Jeffrey

You can connect to it with resolve. Your resolve to let go of body, beliefs, and states of mind connects you to the Buddha nature. The buddha nature is there from the beginning but we don't 'taste' it because of all of the distractions of samsara.