Best Of
Re: Do Buddhists eat donuts?
@David said:
My Dad passed away less than a month later leaving me with my first koan.
What a story. Classic Dad joke leads to deeper meaning. 
Re: Letting go of games
One interesting thing about board games: they are more fun when you don’t play to win. I’ve been playing Wordfeud with a lady friend online, it’s almost exactly like Scrabble, and I noticed that if I exerted myself I would just win all the time, so to keep things interesting I started setting up opportunities for her to use the Triple Word Score tiles. She won a lot of games after that.
Jeroen
Re: What movies are you watching?
I found this an interesting video. It’s basically about getting the most from life, he has some good tips about how to approach your later years.
Jeroen
Re: Do Buddhists eat donuts?
Eating a doughnut is what got me into this mess. I was 7 and eating a doughnut. My Dad asked me to save him the hole. I ate around the hole and gave it to him. He said "no, just the hole" so I chewed around some more until the ring was skinnier. He still said "just the hole". I made it smaller still and he said the same. My Mom finally just told me to eat it and that Dad was just being silly. But I didn't think it was silly at all. I was a bit out of sorts. My Dad passed away less than a month later leaving me with my first koan.
Re: Going to the Gym
Bravo! This is a fine demonstration of bringing along one's meditation from stillness into activity.
how
Re: What movies are you watching?
'Buy Now!' is about consumerism, recycling mythology and convenient lies
Very much worth a watch
lobster
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
So a lady friend with whom I had been corresponding sent me a heads-up about an artwork called ‘the Silent Battle’, about suicidally depressed youths. She has for a long time tried to get more attention for those at risk of suicide, and now that this artwork is travelling through the Netherlands she is encouraging people to go see it and maybe talk to those who leave memorials at it’s side. Something to consider…
Jeroen
Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
@Lionduck said:
When you start on the path, you START on the path.
The three major divisions of Buddhism are the Thervadic, the Tantric and the Mahayana
Thank you Lionduck!
The closet temple to where I live is part of the Vietnamese Buddhist Association and they practice Mahayana. They do some services in English which I am looking forward to.
Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
When you start on the path, you START on the path.
Of course you start from the point of self-delusion. It is also called the fundamental darkness. You are seeking but yet do not understand other than, possibly in a theoretical or vaguely conceptual way, what you are seeking. But is is the first step.
In my school of Buddhism, one who makes the first step is honored equally with one who has made 100,000 steps. The student is equal to the teacher in action.
Of course, in terms of knowledge and understanding, there is a difference.
The three major divisions of Buddhism are the Thervadic, the Tantric and the Mahayana
The methodology of practice will depend upon
A. Into which division one's school falls
B. The cultural mores where one is practicing
C. The sutra(s) comprising the source or basis of one's school or sangha
D. The interpretation/application of the sutra(s) as defined and applied by the school
Using my school as an example.
My practice falls within the Mahayana
While the origin of of my school arises from Japan, and the basic practice is the same worldwide, being in a Western nation, specifically the USA, when practicing in even a formal group setting, men and women do not sit separately. A small thing, but a cultural difference.
My school has the Lotus Sutra s the primary sutra
It is a derivative the the Tendai or Tien Tai lineage with Nichiren as our founder.
The particular mantra is "Nam myoho renge kyo".
As this is for illustrative purposes only, not to proselytize, I will not elaborate further.
Other schools will, of course utilize or draw from other sutras, such as , for example, the Diamond sutra.They have their own methodology of practice, mudras and mantras.
Once more, you start where you are. Just as taking first step of a thousand mile journey.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: What movies are you watching?
Just a sneek peek of The Sandman Season 2, which is currently in production and will probably arrive in the second half of 2025… can’t wait! Big fan of the comics!
Jeroen