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Westerners and highly educated people likes to read books and have intellectual discussions?

jlljll Veteran
edited August 2011 in General Banter
Westerners and highly educated people likes to read books and have intellectual discussions?

Comments

  • jlljll Veteran
    Ajahn chah commented that Westerners and highly educated people
    tend to read many books about buddhism. have many different ideas
    in their head. have endless discussions n debates.
    Instead of doing the actual practice.
    do you agree?
  • DhammaDhatuDhammaDhatu Veteran
    edited August 2011
    no

    when Ajahn Chah was alive, most Western Buddhists were meditation practitioners

    however, at that time, Thailand had tens of thousands of monks (whatever), where only 5% to 10% practiced formal meditation

    Asia also has/had an enormous scholarly Buddhist traditions

    Ajahn Chah died 20 years ago yet we are still parroting his rhetoric from the grave

    :)

  • jlljll Veteran
    Buddha died more than 2000 yrs ago,
    yet you are still quoting him.
    no

    when Ajahn Chah was alive, most Western Buddhists were meditation practitioners

    however, at that time, Thailand had tens of thousands of monks (whatever), where only 5% to 10% practiced formal meditation

    Asia also has/had an enormous scholarly Buddhist traditions

    Ajahn Chah died 20 years ago yet we are still parroting his rhetoric from the grave

    :)

  • DazzleDazzle
    Buddha died more than 2000 yrs ago,
    yet you are still quoting him.

    A very strange comment considering that this is a Buddhist discussion group !


    :screwy:
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    The down side of intellectual approaches is that they can be so alluring that the point is lost and peace goes begging. The upside to intellectual approaches is that, because they can never provide peace, eventually they can inspire a more sensible and fruitful effort.

    Everyone is 'smart' before they decide to get smart.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    Does it have to be an all or nothing approach? Isn't there something the Buddha said about the 'middle way'? :)
  • DazzleDazzle
    edited August 2011
    The down side of intellectual approaches is that they can be so alluring that the point is lost and peace goes begging. The upside to intellectual approaches is that, because they can never provide peace, eventually they can inspire a more sensible and fruitful effort.

    Everyone is 'smart' before they decide to get smart.
    Good Dhamma teachers have usually studied and practiced the teachings of the Buddha.

    In my experience,people who enjoy word salads and clever 'sayings', on closer investigation, appear to be still knee deep in their own dukkha just like me. LOL !


    :)
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Sometimes.
    It's definitely in Western culture to talk about it, but then not put any of the things into action or into experience.
  • kayward2011kayward2011
    hi, sorry i just had to comment to say i am one of those westerns reading the books, lots of them to learn and understand. I dont have access to any friends or associates who are Buddhists, its just something that for some reason or another is what i want to know about it. Now having read quite abit i do want to take it further. I have no idea where i would find a monk, or anyone that i can access to speak to so l read. I do hope one day to take action, the opportunity has not appeared yet so l carry on reading books!! hope u dont mind me commenting!
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    Sometimes.
    It's definitely in Western culture to talk about it, but then not put any of the things into action or into experience.
    There's a whole industry devoted to that. It's called "psychiatry" :)
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    edited August 2011
    As a Westerner without a teacher, the first thing I did was devour as much of the Buddha's teachings as I could, from every source that I could. I must've read over a dozen books on Buddhism, not to mention visiting websites (and using study guides on such sites as BuddhaNet), listening to and reading dharma talks, and not least of all reading a great deal of the sutras themselves.

    And then, after all of that, I was finally frustrated enough to stop seeking answers from others. ;) All of the study can only help guide us to how we should really learn, which is to investigate our own minds and our own experiences through meditation and mindfulness. As they say logic is only the beginning of wisdom... some of us are slow and need to wear out the possibilities of intellectualising reality, which is how we've been trained/raised/taught to figure things out.

    The sooner we see that the answers aren't out there, but "in here", the sooner we can walk the right path. That's not to say that textual study doesn't have its uses, and a teacher can be a great ally on the path, but in the end it comes down to personal effort and personal experience... not the words or thoughts of others.
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