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Is all Buddhism basically the same?
There is so many different schools/sects that teach Buddhism to varying degrees is it basically finding what appeals and resonates to you?
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To me, this is the first thing a one needs to understand to start the Path of Dharma, and avoid the Pitfalls of Dogma.
Be your own lights.
p.s. I tend to like Japanese food, cooked Soto Zen style
BUDDHISM
The truth of Buddhism does not come from a book. It does not come from a temple. It does not come from someone else. It is not written on a piece of paper. The truth of Buddhism comes from the individual effort to investigate, verify and actualize a clear understanding of this life.
Shakyamuni Buddha, the man most often referred to as the founder of Buddhism, was born on the border of India and Nepal in about 565 BC. He attained what is sometimes called enlightenment at 35 and preached until his death at 80. Many schools of Buddhism sprang from his teachings … in India, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan among others. Uncertain estimates put Buddhist numbers at about 350 million worldwide.
All Buddhist schools agree on at least two things:
1. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: These are observations about the world around us.
The Four Noble Truths are:
*** 1. There is suffering (dukkha – the uncertainties, dissatisfactions and doubts that life can dish up); 2. There is a cause of suffering; 3. There is an end to suffering; 4. There is a way to end suffering.
2. THE EIGHTFOLD PATH: These are the tools suggested as most useful when seeking out a truly peaceful life in a changing world.
The Eightfold Path is:
*** 1. Right View 2. Right Intention 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration.
The word "right" is sometimes translated as "complete." A “complete” effort is thorough-going and whole-hearted. Nothing is held back. Buddhism is not a threat-based persuasion: You won’t go to heaven (right) if you practice it and you won’t go to hell (wrong) if you don’t. But honesty is required -- complete honesty.
The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path carry with them the verifiable observation that everything in life changes. There is nothing that does not change. Joy turns to sorrow, love turns to anger, birth turns to death, and the family car always gets a flat. All Buddhist schools agree on such things, but how they approach them may vary.
But as the Dalai Lama put it once, "Everyone wants to be happy." And that is probably as good a summary of Buddhism as any.
We'd probably need to flesh it out to a bit more than "everyone wants to be happy". That's a fairly banal statement to make. To my ear, summarizing Buddhism like that is like summarizing Geology as "rocks are hard".
Just as Geologists take the hardness of rocks as a given, I'd take the need for happiness as a given, and at the absolute briefest summarize Buddhism as "the most reliable path to happiness is the transcendence of 'I'".
Actually, "rocks are hard" is a pretty profound teaching ... once anyone does some serious study of rocks. Ditto "everyone wants to be happy." Fleshing things out depends on the determination and willingness of the student/human being. Transcending (whatever that means) something called "I" is, in my experience, enhancing something that no one can lay hands on -- a dream added to a dream.
But that's just my take. Transcend away!
If you put in effort to purify your karma and gain insight into the nature of mind and all phenomena, any one of the schools should be a sufficient raft to liberation from suffering. Find one that suits your tastes after studying them all, as well as determining what's in your area if you wish to visit a traditional sangha.
Definitely know that the Four Noble Truths are the very core and essence of the teachings. They're the reason (suffering), the cause (craving), the state of peace (Nirvana), and the method of reaching that peace (Noble Eightfold Path). When in doubt, always turn the mind's eye back to the Four Noble Truths.
this doctrine-and-discipline has but one taste, the taste of
freedom."
I think it is fair to say all Buddhism at it's fundamentals starts off at the same place, but when you have some scriptures held as authentic by some, and others not held true by others, and many denominations base their practice specifically on certain sutras, plus cultural influences, you are going to get some pretty big differences.
I am Pure Land of the Japanese variety, so I chant the three Pure Land Sutras (or portions thereof...the Larger Sutra takes 3-4 hours to chant in it's entirety). My only 'meditation is reciting Amida's name, but not to become enlightened, but as an expression of gratitude.
Zen I think mostly chant the Heart Sutra, although other sutras like the Diamond Sutra are important. Of course in Zen they practice meditation (counting breaths, "just sitting' and koan study)
Nichiren is all about the Lotus sutra, so much so that their form of "meditation" is reciting the name of the Lotus Sutra.
None of the above Sutras would be considered authentic to Theravadan Buddhists who hold to the Pali Cannon. I think their mediation is primarily on the breath, but there are other meditations on death and so on, as well.
Then there seem to be a number of different scriptures in Tibetan Buddhism, and mediation practices I cannot pronounce let alone understand.
I say none of this to disparage other practices, just to say that there is a wide variety of groups, scriptures, and practices called "Buddhist". Ultimately all are about the end of suffering, but the paths taken vary a great deal.