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Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
@Ren_in_black said:
that could be my own hang-up about what I think a Western Buddhist should say and do.
Probably. It's usually the case with Spiritual Materialism
Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
What should an Eastern Buddhist say or do then? 😊
Lostie
Not chasing pleasure nor avoiding pain
One thing that I recently read in Nisargadatta’s book I Am That is that “desire is the memory of pleasure, and fear is the memory of pain”. I’ve for a long time held with a kind of stoicism, of neither chasing pleasure nor avoiding pain, but instead being like a tree and letting the sunshine and the rain come and go as they please.
Now I don’t know where this attitude came from, I haven’t been exposed to real stoic philosophy at any point in my life, but somewhere in my childhood it came to me that this was the way to be in life. This basic enduring has sometimes been good for me, it has kept me from chasing sex or being easily addicted, but it has also had downsides, like when my knees started playing up and I didn’t go see a fysio for a year.
In enduring the sunshine and the rain, and not being easily moved, I have found a kind of wisdom about the passing nature of things. I have been a witness to good events and bad, and have found that with patience personal happiness tends to return.
Jeroen
Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
Do both and then be mindful and honest every time you break a precept. They’re training rules and guidelines to help protect you and others. You don’t have to take them only when you’re 100% able to not break them, that’s not their purpose.
Jason
Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
@Ren_in_black said:
I've read that when a person accepts the Buddhist philosophy and wants to make it part of their life, the traditional way is to say "I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha."And then, I suppose the natural next step is to take the 5 precepts.
But I'm not ready to take the 5 precepts.
Would you say this means I'm not truly ready to say "I take refuge?"
I want to start on the path, but not in a self-deluded way.
Some traditions will allow you to take four out of the five or even three. Plum Village groups are usually like that.
Taking the Three Refuges would mean finding a Sangha either in person or those days, online.
David
Re: The Three Jewels, Five Precepts and Delusion
I have heard, that merely saying the Three Refuges is enough to declare oneself a Buddhist, if you so wish.
Jeroen