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Picking a School of Buddhism for the new Buddhist
matthewmartin
Amateur BodhisattvaSuburbs of Mt Meru Veteran
This is a draft, if real life permits, I hope to make it into a flow chart to give out at my book club attended primarily by non-immigrant Americans. Despite wording, my intention is to portray all schools and equally valid.
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Choosing a flavor of Buddhism for the new Buddhist, guided by the idea that you’ll have to start where you are now and the likelihood that most people don’t make a huge leap when subscribing to a new religion.
How to read this chart.
The forms of Buddhism that don’t ask a lot of you in terms of belief don’t necessarily ask you to not believe in something, i.e. Japanese Zen practice doesn’t preclude belief in all the same things Tibetan Buddhism believes in, it just isn’t given any significant attention.
Are you explicitly bothered by the idea of supernatural beings (God & Brahma), afterlife and sentient cosmic judges (i.e. Karma & King Yama) (i.e. Are you a materialist, not an idealist)
-> Head towards Secular Buddhism (Batchelor & Wallis) & Japanese Zen, maybe US Punk Rock Zen, maybe Shambhala style Tibetan Buddhism
-> Yes, but karma and rebirth are plausible, head to monastic style Theravada.
-> Not bothered by those? Keep reading
Are you already pretty sure there is a supernatural being like God or Brahma and an afterlife or are you explicitly bothered by not affirming supernatural beings, an afterlife and so on? (i.e. Are you a dedicated idealists/not a materialist?)
Should religion primarily solve the problems of the afterlife?**
->Chinese Mahayana (Chan, et al)
->Tendai (some overlap with esoteric Buddhism, see below)
-> Pure Land, (Chinese Chan, Judo Shinsu, Buddhist Churches of America)
-> Pretty sure religion should solve mundane problems too? Keep reading.
**(But not only that of course, merit has some benefits now, subscribing to one of these varieties doesn’t preclude using religion to solve mundane problems, but it isn’t as much of a focus)
Should religion solve equally the problems of this life and the next? (and by that, I mean, do we differentiate between the mundane and supermundate, can you chant for a new car or appeal to the Medicine Buddha for help with a disease? Again, all forms of Buddhism involve merit and those actions have benefits now, but can you efficaciously cast a spell, heal the sick, prevent being trampled by an Elephant?)
-> Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Esoteric Buddhism (Korean, Chinese Tantra), Nichiren
-> Theravada lay Buddhism (Thai Buddhism with amulets for example)
-> Pretty sure that science and ordinary means should be solving mundane problems? Head back up to previous questions.
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Did I leave out any major schools? At the moment I'm a bit fuzzy on the Chinese schools-- I would guess there is a secular Chinese Buddhism, but I haven't tracked it down.
Any other suggestions?
-------------------------------------------
Choosing a flavor of Buddhism for the new Buddhist, guided by the idea that you’ll have to start where you are now and the likelihood that most people don’t make a huge leap when subscribing to a new religion.
How to read this chart.
The forms of Buddhism that don’t ask a lot of you in terms of belief don’t necessarily ask you to not believe in something, i.e. Japanese Zen practice doesn’t preclude belief in all the same things Tibetan Buddhism believes in, it just isn’t given any significant attention.
Are you explicitly bothered by the idea of supernatural beings (God & Brahma), afterlife and sentient cosmic judges (i.e. Karma & King Yama) (i.e. Are you a materialist, not an idealist)
-> Head towards Secular Buddhism (Batchelor & Wallis) & Japanese Zen, maybe US Punk Rock Zen, maybe Shambhala style Tibetan Buddhism
-> Yes, but karma and rebirth are plausible, head to monastic style Theravada.
-> Not bothered by those? Keep reading
Are you already pretty sure there is a supernatural being like God or Brahma and an afterlife or are you explicitly bothered by not affirming supernatural beings, an afterlife and so on? (i.e. Are you a dedicated idealists/not a materialist?)
Should religion primarily solve the problems of the afterlife?**
->Chinese Mahayana (Chan, et al)
->Tendai (some overlap with esoteric Buddhism, see below)
-> Pure Land, (Chinese Chan, Judo Shinsu, Buddhist Churches of America)
-> Pretty sure religion should solve mundane problems too? Keep reading.
**(But not only that of course, merit has some benefits now, subscribing to one of these varieties doesn’t preclude using religion to solve mundane problems, but it isn’t as much of a focus)
Should religion solve equally the problems of this life and the next? (and by that, I mean, do we differentiate between the mundane and supermundate, can you chant for a new car or appeal to the Medicine Buddha for help with a disease? Again, all forms of Buddhism involve merit and those actions have benefits now, but can you efficaciously cast a spell, heal the sick, prevent being trampled by an Elephant?)
-> Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Esoteric Buddhism (Korean, Chinese Tantra), Nichiren
-> Theravada lay Buddhism (Thai Buddhism with amulets for example)
-> Pretty sure that science and ordinary means should be solving mundane problems? Head back up to previous questions.
----------------
Did I leave out any major schools? At the moment I'm a bit fuzzy on the Chinese schools-- I would guess there is a secular Chinese Buddhism, but I haven't tracked it down.
Any other suggestions?
0
Comments
Since I am a beginner when it comes to dedicated practice (rather than having just read a bunch of books and thought interesting thoughts about them for the past 25 years), I am going all over the place and not feeling convicted to settle into one tradition or another. Right now I'm reading Peter D. Hershock's "Chan Buddhism", which I see on your post up there is a tradition to gravitate toward if 'idealism' is more to heart. I never thought of it that way . . . I read an excerpt of Hershock's book somewhere and 'knew' Chan Buddhism had something important to 'tell' me.
It's 'true' for me that I perceive 'awareness' as a kind of 'beingness'; the awareness that filters through my genome is the same awareness that filters through the genome of my goose and my parrot and perhaps even the birch trees swaying leafless all around my place. Is it God or Brahmin or ???? No clue, don't care. I just want to GROK it, whatever that means.
Somewhere in the suttas the Buddha admonishes his monks to use 'the local language' when they go out into parts afar, to teach the Dharma in relative and meaningful terms pertinent to the lives of the people. He tells them this is more important than memorization of rituals or recitation of long complicated discourses on wisdom. The Dharma, he insists, is available right now for literally every sentient being to access right where they are, no matter where or under what condition. So . . . I have found TONS of powerful impact in secular Buddhism, or 'postmodern' unpacking that is being done all over the West.
Thankfully I am not aroused much by ritual or demons or worrying about where I'll be born next or if. There is such a proliferation of . . . of "Buddhism" that there is no 'one' Buddhism, just the "Buddhism" that is the Dharma I practice.
Your post above is illuminating in important ways, I encourage you. It will especially be helpful for those who still need to build their inner confidence in their practice, and those who look at the great weaver bird's nest that Buddhism has become all over the world and are overwhelmed. Distill it down to one's personal, already well established "life questions" . . . very very excellent
Gassho
1. To waste time and effort, continue indefinitely . . . else GOTO 2
2. If wish to be become enlightened, sit on 'Mr Cushion' else GOTO 1
Hope that is helpful :hiding:
WHY CHOOSE ?
slainte
Again, this is in the context of a non-denominational Buddhist book club I organize. Most people show up without any particular depth of familiarity with Buddhism, many appear to be looking for something more than a book club (maybe meditation classes and a christian-like sunday service delivered by someone with credentials). So I aim to please-- I tracked down the 20+ Buddhist organizations in the DC area. If someone wants to join them all, more power too them. Ditto to who ever wants to pick one at random, or pick based on the friend of a friend of a friend or some other method that has nothing to do with where one is now & what the ideological slant of a given form of Buddhism is.
While the Buddha's teaching, like the ocean, has but one flavor, that of salt and liberation respectively, the various orgs around DC don't. Some have scary prerequisites, like fluency in Vietnamese before you can participate. I don't need to help them figure out that--most people know if they are fluent in Vietnamese. A typical batch of attendees is at the book club because they are shopping for a religion. Again, if they want to join them all, more power to them, but I can't help them, I can barely keep up with my Buddhist readings, let alone Wicca, Bahai, or Scientology.
So these searchers, who left Christianity (or the New Age flavor of the month), probably want to pick a community based on their religious preferences, but what criteria? Initially, I though, oh, you just pick by country, but that split doesn't work because Tibetan Tantra, Chinese Esoteric and Shingon are really more similar to each other than they are to other Buddhist traditions in their own country. Historical splits likewise aren't that helpful (i.e. 700AD buddhism vs 1500AD Buddhism?)
So from watching people on NewBuddhist & DharmaWeb & the Secular Buddhism.org sites gripe a lot about how they don't like materialists, or idealists, or dieties or atheists or reincarnation/rebirth or extinctionalism-- I hit on the idea that people's style of Buddhism seems to depend a lot on where they stand on those issues. When I went to the Pure Land temple in my community, after a few weeks and after I figured out what they were about, my main reaction was "I can go to an ideologically identical Christian Church up the street--" fortunately for my own Buddhist project, I was aware that there is more than one flavor of Buddhism, some more to my liking, rather than rotating on to the fad of the moment, (law of attraction? crystals? secular humanitarianism?) Again, not griping about PL, it's a fine tradition & has smart people writing about it & it is just what the doctor ordered for the right sort of person.
I commend your intent and efforts, which sounds very patronising but there it is . . . :wave:
It'd be very difficult for me to imagine a secular Chinese Buddhism, but it could be an extremely niche group.
Chinese people who practice Buddhism may be using "Buddhism" as a catch-all term for religious practice that vaguely involves Mahayana Buddhist rituals, as well as traditional Taoist/Confucian/animist deities or practices.
I prostrate to Buddha to show my humility and my deepest respect to Buddha (the teacher). I practice transcendental meditation by repeating "Namo Amitabha Buddha" constantly to purify my mind.
I believe in samsara, karma. I see the similarity between Near Death Experience and what describe in the Tibetan Book of Death. I believe in consciousness beyond life. Therefore, I express my wish while bowing to Amitabha Buddha to beg him to bring me to Pure Land upon my death so I can study Advanced Dharma there. And upon graduation from Pure Land university, I will follow Bodhisatva's footstep to come back to earth to help relieving suffering here. This is what Mahayana (The Great Vehicle) is about, is to help all sentient beings. That's why we need the great vehicle to transport everybody.
As a Mahayana buddhist, I must learn the basic, which is everything in Theravada school. On top of the basic, I must study Mahayana sutras.
Coming from a country that has thousand years deep rooted in Buddhism, I realize that the only way for Americans and other Westerners to accept Buddhism is to create a modern, secular school.
Also, when I say chant, I don't mean to say chanting is superstition and scary and repeating is somehow not-- even in the secular mindfulness tradition they "chant"-- (breath counting). It's a pity there isn't a neutral, generic word to describe the phenomena.
Somewhere on Dharmaweb there is a discussion on what a secular version pure land might be, but it is so much easier to explain it as a faith-based tradition & that appears to be how people of that tradition prefer to describe it.
the accounts and I consider the enlightenment-very sound. There was nothing at all about mythical/divine/after life/stuff. A lot of beatings by the masters and subsequent realizations. I assume the masters are using the wrath level of Bodhis I have used that and gotten results but it isn't magical. I don't actually resort to beatings-more like challenging the stupidity directly. Anyway no magic there. pretty esoteric and symbolic
not like the up-front Tibetan. I think I'd stick to Tibetan ( I like the Nyingma Tradition).
But that gets into magic too. The skills etc. like looking into the earth and flying seem pretty magical to modern ears. Of course like ending the cycle of rebirth (of compulsive discursive thought) might seem like reincarnation so?? Good luck and have fun. Joy is important. mtgby
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Chán#Post-classical_Ch.C3.A1n_.28ca._1300-present.29