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What is the most important thing in Buddhism?

jlljll Veteran
edited July 2011 in Buddhism Basics
I think I have found the answer.
The most important thing is meditation.
Meditation is not difficult. It is as simple as noting your breath.
With patience and perseverence, you will make progress.
So, all you need is patience and perseverence. Simple!
Any comments?

Comments

  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    why do you meditate in the first place?
  • jlljll Veteran
    bcos I am unhappy.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    So wishing is important too. Too wish to be happy.
  • jlljll Veteran
    edited July 2011
    Wishing and washing. Cleanliness is next to godliness. But dont be wishy washy.
  • TalismanTalisman Veteran
    Right concentration is only part of the 8-fold path. Do not neglect the other parts of your ractice just because you have found succes with meditation. There many poeple who meditate who do not uphold the other factors and thus do not attain nirvana. The Buddha, before achieving enlightenment, attained great states of concentration but was left disillusioned because it was not enough to bring cessation of Dukkha.
  • jlljll Veteran
    I belong to the category who reads too many books. My head is full of Buddhism, what I need now is action.
  • jlljll Veteran
    edited July 2011
    I thought Buddha attained 1st jhana, 2nd, 3rd.......and on to nirvana,
    ? AjahnChah said samadi and vipassana is inseparable like the 2 sides of a hand, rite?
    Right concentration is only part of the 8-fold path. Do not neglect the other parts of your ractice just because you have found succes with meditation. There many poeple who meditate who do not uphold the other factors and thus do not attain nirvana. The Buddha, before achieving enlightenment, attained great states of concentration but was left disillusioned because it was not enough to bring cessation of Dukkha.
  • thickpaperthickpaper Veteran
    imo
    honesty
    then kindness
    then mental conquoring (contemplation, meditation, mindfulness...)

    But they all are there and all the path:)
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    wishing is the nature of mind of space. Possibilities.. Clear wishes. Sensitive wishes... open wishesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.............................
  • jlljll Veteran
    edited July 2011
    I think if a person has not experienced jhana its quite easy to fall off the wagon. What would keep a person practsisng Buddhist meditation instead of trying yoga, qigong etc?
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    suffering. Jhana is impermanent.
  • jlljll Veteran
    jhana is the clincher. you will be hooked after that.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    being hooked is not something good :)
  • newtechnewtech Veteran
    Hello:

    My opinion:

    Its way to simplistic to say that the most important thing in buddhism is noting the breath.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    what do you feel when you note the breath?
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    I think I have found the answer.
    The most important thing is meditation.
    Meditation is not difficult. It is as simple as noting your breath.
    With patience and perseverence, you will make progress.
    So, all you need is patience and perseverence. Simple!
    Any comments?
    Yes. :)

  • upekkaupekka Veteran
    most important thing is 'identifying the perception'

    for that

    we need meditation
  • VincenziVincenzi Veteran
    suffering. Jhana is impermanent.
    it may be impermanent, but it is useful.
  • Temporary_arisingTemporary_arising
    The most important thing in buddhism is the realisation that nothing is important.
    As a side, the 8 fold path is nothing to do with enlightenment, just a pleasant place to abide before enlightenment, and jhanic states are a pointless diversion and have nothing to do with realisation or nirvana.
  • VincenziVincenzi Veteran
    @Temporary_arising

    I doubt that someone who hasn't experienced the fourth jhana will be able to become a buddha.
  • taiyakitaiyaki Veteran
    i don't think a buddha is conditioned.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    What is the most important thing in Buddhism?

    No "thing" is important :)
  • Temporary_arisingTemporary_arising
    @ vincenzi.
    Dhyanic states are different to the classic yoga descriptions of dhyana's which are just levels of samadhi. It's not necessary to progress through the stages if your concentration is strong enough. You can go straight into annata non duality with correct practice and correct understanding.
  • SpacelessSpaceless
    The Buddha, before achieving enlightenment, attained great states of concentration but was left disillusioned because it was not enough to bring cessation of Dukkha.
    Is correct but ought to elaborate further on cessation of dukka. As buddha then had gone into deep meditation equal level as high as all brahman had experienced and taught him on emptiness. However that emptiness is also dukka because it is still samsara :wave:
  • DaozenDaozen Veteran
    That's a tough one. I would say mindfulness, which includes meditation but also extends into each thing we do - or it should, anyway.

    But of course, compassion and wisdom are equally important, and completely interconnected with mindfulness. Each ultimately contains the other, the universe in an atom, and all of it causes and conditions empty of essence, radiant reality, simply being.
  • santhisouksanthisouk Veteran
    Mind (citta), heart (not physical), state of consciousness, and so therefore you are correct. Meditation purifies the mind and strengthens the mind (frees the mind as well).
  • zen_worldzen_world Veteran
    IMO, you can reach enlightenment by practicing in almost any type of religion. Take Wiccans for example, they also promote ethics but they have different approaches -i.e. they use magic to increase their spirituality. There is Buddhist enlightenment and there are others. I personally feel comfortable being in Budhhas and Boddhisatvas circle. But there is only and only one tool that will carry us all to enlightenment and that is the perfect ethics. Among all religions, Buddhism sets the most comprehensive ethical guideliness, we don't even kill a bug...So in my opinion, ethics is the most important thing in Buddhism...
  • kacikaci
    edited July 2011
    actually (back to topic, although i am not disagreeing with the previous post) i think that a different aspect of the dhamma will turn out to be the "key" element depending on the nature of the person - moreover, i have noticed that in my own experience this changes as time goes on. for around 20 years meditation was central - then i realized that i was quite removed from "reality". and, although it led to wonderful, blissful states it was not actually reliable - they were transient and i did not understand why. i decided to stop regular practice and for several years focused much more on study, including a number of non-buddhist things (phenomenology, linguistics, cognitive science and others) - essentially to understand better the functioning of the mind and the ways in which this is communicated and/or described; this informed my ...mmm .. insight into dhamma in many ways. when i took up regular practice again many many parts of dhamma fell into place due to the refinement of my understanding of the concepts.

    so, for me the progression of what was important went: meditation -> vicaya (investigation) -> insight -> sila -> meditation and finally a more comprehensive wholistic integration of many factors that is still evolving and literally a (wonderful) all day, full life sort of thing .. i imagine that for others it may be either the same or different.
  • jlljll Veteran
    It depends what you are hooked on. If it is skillful, like hooked on meditation, jhana, dana, sila, great. Most people are not hooked on meditation. I have been around Buddhists for a long time, I have yet to meet one who is hooked on meditation. Talking, watching tv, eating, yes. Hooked on jhana, havent met one yet.
    being hooked is not something good :)
  • sukhitasukhita
    edited July 2011
    What is the most important thing in Buddhism?

    I would say that there isn't a "most important" thing in the 4NT&8FP because they are all inter-connected and, IMHO, they are equally important. Choosing one as "most" important could imply the others are "less" important. But that said, I think its beneficial to start with "Right View" (or "Right Understanding") - it's the very first factor in the 8FP. When I think about this, the following three quotations come to mind:

    (1) "Both formerly and now, it is only dukkha that I describe, and the cessation of dukkha."

    (2) "Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are dukkha; associatiob with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five 'clinging' aggregates (clinging to self) are dukkha."

    (3) "There are these three forms of stressfulness, my friend: the stressfulness of pain (dukkha), the stressfulness of fabrication (conditionality/not-self); and the stressfulness of change (impermanence). These are the three forms of stressfulness."

    Familiarity with these type of "teachings" should, IMHO, precede any serious attempt at meditation, contemplation, mindfulness, etc... They point you in the right directtion... I think that it is this "pre-knowledge" (albeit conceptual knowledge) about dukkha and its cessation, about impermanence, about conditionality, that makes ones' meditation a "Buddhist" meditation. The other religions, especially in India, also practice meditation, including really deep concentration meditation.

    Excuse me for rambling on like this.... ;)
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    "I have been around Buddhists for a long time, I have yet to meet one who is hooked on meditation."

    :)
  • jlljll Veteran
    Great minds think alike.....
    "I have been around Buddhists for a long time, I have yet to meet one who is hooked on meditation."

    :)
  • mantra0mantra0

    meditation will make your mind focus and not distracted, but it doesn't let u know the truth about reality... IMO

    I think wisdom is the most important.
    Wisdom let us realize the truth of reality, which breaks IGNORANCE.
    And it shows the futility of attaching to reality that doesn't TRULLY exist independently. Hence, the greed and hatred are nullified.


    just my opinion.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    bcos I am unhappy.
    This needs addressing first.

  • DandelionDandelion London Veteran
    Surely it would depend on the individual. We are all born with different strengths, so wouldn't our own weakness be the more important thing (for us as an individual) to learn to better deal with? Some people may find meditating easy but other areas of buddhism a bit more difficult, (greed for example) therefore the difficult area(s) are the most important to that particular individual because that area(s) might be what holds that particular individual from reaching a better state of awareness, well being, etc. For me, honesty is much less of a problem than gluttony. Not killing even the smallest bug is a lot easier than not having a cigarette, or a glass of vino. I'm very new to this so maybe i've got it completely wrong!
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    "If you understand, then things are just as they are; if you do not understand, then things are just as they are." -- Zen proverb
  • DaozenDaozen Veteran
    Federica, your quote reminds me of another (source unknown)..

    "If the problem can be solved - why worry?
    And if it can't be solved - why worry?"
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    yes, me too.... I thought that, but felt this 'version' to be more pertinent to the current discussion.
    Looking at your version, I could be wrong.... :)
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