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What exactly is Buddhist practice?
So it occurred to me, what exactly is Buddhist practice, and what is its effect? For a non-Buddhist observer, the practice appears to be the outward form — a long row of Tibetan monks chanting, a solitary person sitting in meditation, someone doing many prostrations in front of a Buddha statue.
For the person doing the practice, the outward is a representation of the inward, and it is the inward that is more important. The chanting monks may be reminding themselves of the compassion of Chenrezig, the solitary meditator may be deepening his sense of emptiness, the person doing prostrations may be trying to reduce their stubbornness.
The outward can be a way into the inward, following the hints of one’s sincerity. But after a while, one can carry the inward along with onesself, and the outward becomes no more than an occasional reminder.
Jeroen
Have a lovely day :)
Sending joy, happiness and peace to all seeing this message
Much love from South Africa
KRZ
Daoism book review
Digging Your Own Well: Daoism as a Practical Philosophy
Written by Cloudwalking Owl (Bill Hulet)….AKA…Bill, from Substack…..if you know, you know. 
So I ordered the paperback. It’s about 95 pages and the first 10 or so pages are his background and credentials, along with a few disclaimers concerning Chinese language and kind of a set up for why/how he presents and spells some things.
Then the good stuff starts. I found it very easy to read and very palatable. He gives practical stories and observations about applying Daoism in daily life and how to move and the different Dao meditations. I found him relatable.He connected some thoughts and concepts to Buddhist terms too, which made it easier for me, sprinkled with a few science examples also. I chuckled a few times too…extra points for being down to earth and what he calls ‘groovy’, hahaha.
I enjoyed the teachings on Hard vs Soft, and the universal problems with meditation as far as the delusions that can come from it. I think I’m going to apply the “Sitting and Forgetting” approach that he describes. The Daoist concept of doing without doing appealed to me as well.
From pg 29
There is something about Western society that encourages people to look at the world as being composed of “things”.
In significant ways, Daoism is different—-it teaches us to look at the world as a “process”.
Amen Brother Bill…I needed to hear that! Anyway, nice little read and I definitely took some things away from it and some things I’ll continue to think over.
Vastmind
Re: Should a Buddhist own a gun ?
@Shoshin1 An animal that lives a free life and is shot experiences almost no pain compared to factory farming, which was my main point overall. There are still people who think fish or bugs don't feel/register pain and suffering either, but we still err on the side of caution with them.
In any case, I'm just sharing my own thoughts on the matter. I am grateful I know how to hunt and fish because I know I can support my family beyond relying on the grocery store. I won't deny that the only real purpose of guns is to kill. I don't regret owning hunting rifles. That said, we all justify things we know aren't ideal. Owning cars, building a home instead of buying one, pulling weeds, killing bugs in the house, having pets for our own companionship, buying a new cell phone every year, eating to excess and so on. I just try to be honest about them with myself at least. There are a lot of them.
karasti
Re: Should a Buddhist own a gun ?
The question, "Should Buddhists own Guns?"
The question should rather be,"What attitude or mind set should Buddhists who own weapons have regarding their ownership and use of said weapons?"
Lionduck
Re: What is NewBuddhist.com?
NewBuddhist values inclusivity and being a welcoming community that does better than simply not discriminating. We believe "Right View" means compassion and mutual support, both to your fellow posters here and the humans in your broader community, regardless of their identity. We do not accept intolerant or uncompassionate beliefs, and will aggressively remove them from the community.
Don’t Do This:
- Sharing content advocating for intolerant or uncompassionate views, promoting the mass-accumulation of wealth or material goods†, or glorifying any behavior that aligns with those views & actions.
- Supporting & sustaining negative states of mind rather than attempting to cultivate & promote positive ones.
- Harassment which includes (but is not limited to) unwelcome & offensive conduct based on gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, level of ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), theological perspective, technology choices, or relationship status.
- Social or peer pressure, deliberate intimidation, bullying and/or stalking, and any other behavior which is likely to cause alarm or distress to a reasonable person.
- Targeting and/or intentional misgendering or deadnaming individuals, including in a passive-voice or sarcastic tone and/or structure. (Accidental misgendering is not a violation of policy and is encouraged to be addressed in a respectful, gentle manner by all parties involved.)
- Unwelcome sexual or other personal attention. Be aware of and respect the personal boundaries of other folks, which may differ from your own.
- Theft or extortion, including by deception.
- Mocking or sarcastic patterning/behavior towards rules and regulations.
- Retaliation against any individual who reports an incident or concern.
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior, or any behavior that is against the law.
Do This Instead:
- Mediate First: If you are being subject to unacceptable behavior, notice that someone else is being subject to unacceptable behavior, please first consider informing the person or persons responsible that you would like them to stop. Often the offending behavior is unintentional and those involved will resolve the incident amicably.
- Hold Space: Normalize talking about feelings, what makes you uncomfortable, and how to feel safe in spaces even if parts of it are uncomfortable.
- Follow the Platinum Rule: Treat people how they would like to be treated. If you don't know how they want to be treated, ask respectfully. Honor differences and lead with curiosity, not shame.
- Report to Inform: We encourage you to report posts, even if only for awareness. You can specify it is for informational purposes only and requires no action. It helps the moderators understand context, even if we don't read every post daily.
When in doubt, ask questions. No rules are perfect, we're simply trying to communicate intent & growth with our words the most skillfully we can today.
†: "mass-accumulation of wealth" refers to billionaire culture & monopolist behavior, not "I'm investing in the stock market to retire early" — We're not anti-personal success within the system we must cope with, we're against the exploitation that must exist to reach its highest echelons.
Linc
Re: Why Sangha?
My sangha is largely nature these days. Old white pines have much to teach. As did the songs of 2 Grey Jays while hiking this afternoon. The pattern of the wind on the water. I don't live remotely close to anyone who does Buddhist teachings.
We had a small group here once upon a time that dissolved after the teacher decided he didn't want to deal with a group so far from his home location (even though he only saw us once a year). He helped us start a local group and then we did a yearly retreat together, and also watched his weekly teachings remotely for several years. If I'm being honest it made me a little bitter that I took refuge vows with him where we both made promises in the student-teacher relationship and he bailed after saying he was responsible to be my teacher forever 😆 The local guy who started that Sangha no longer considers himself Buddhist. Several of the people were older and have since passed. A group leader I am not. I miss gathering in a group with like-minded curiosity and interest. It was especially nice in meditation. The pitfalls of living in a rural town with 3,000 residents 😂 Our local Presbyterians do a meditation group, I have considered joining them even though it is Christan-focused just to have the group connection.
karasti
Re: All Squares Are Rectangles...
It’s true that language has its limits. And it’s also true language can be twisted and utilized unskillfully or even maliciously. I think it all comes back to context and intention. Sometimes generalization or categorization is useful in a particular context. Taking the example of slavery and racism in the US. For two centuries, a group of people were the legal property of other people. The people considered as property were then freed, but the other people created new laws segregating them and preventing them from having equal rights. Eventually they became free of those laws as well, but were subsequently prevented from getting loans, buying certain homes, etc. There’s some easy ways to categorize these segments of the population to make it clear who each group is and which group had political and social power over the other. And we can say not all of one group agreed with the way things were and tried to change them. But if we’re intellectually honest, we’d also have a hard time time saying that those categorizations didn’t matter or have real consequences, especially when talking to someone who experienced those consequences firsthand.
It’s definitely admirable to judge each person by their actions, as well as viewing them as an individual rather than a stereotype or through a preprogrammed prejudice. But it’s also a skill to see patterns and privileges and injustices and the ways some groups benefit from the oppression of others in an effort to ameliorate that harm and imbalance.
Jason
Re: Should a Buddhist own a gun ?
Although I live in a country with an astounding number of firearms, I personally do not own a firearm.
Some people own firearms as collector's pieces. They will never be fired except in rare safe displays and absolutely not on a living being.
I know individuals who have firearms who only use them on approved ranges.
I must point out that, in certain situations, even martial arts are potentially fatal.
Again, it matters not the potential weapon, gun, bow, club, rock, hand or foot. What matters is not the potential choice of weaponry, it is the mind set of the individual.
a knife to an assassin is a deadly weapon while a knife to a sushi chef is an indispensable tool. Archers were the field artillery until modern weaponry took over the battlefields.
Now, we have bow hunters and, while bows an arrows can be lethal, competitive and recreation target shooting are the prevailing uses. In Japan, archery is stylized and meditative in nature. Their ritual of the archery is the point, the target is an afterthought.
I could go on with various examples, but these will suffice.
Again, as a Buddhist, it is intent and mindset that matters, not the specific weapon. With the proper intent and mindset, weapons become not-weapons. Tool of death and destruction become tools of mending, healing, teaching.
Peace to All
Lionduck