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What kind of ist are you?
Jeffrey
Veteran
Are you a buddhism-ist? Or a buddha-ist? Both? Neither? I'm not going to define these I will just leave it to interpretation and see what happens. 
I'll post what I mean later.
I'll post what I mean later. 0
Comments
If I had to define these I would say a "Buddhism-ist" is one who follows "buddhism" Meaning, 'the paper trail'. Kind of like how the Christian's have the Bible. Which is 'The word of God/Christ' only through the words of other. So, Buddism-ist, I would take to mean "The teachings of the Budda, through the teachings of others."
"Budda'ist" I would then say, is the direct teaching of the Budda. What the Budda ACTUALLY said, taught, so on and so forth. (Not what others 'think he might have ment)
By that definition, I would say at the moment I am a Budda-ist.
There are several reasons for that. One, I have a healthy distrust of pretty much everyone. lol. Secondly, I like to my own conclusions through learning. And thirdly, I find that over time the inital meaning of something is often lost over time as people tell it repeatedly. (Like the childrens game of 'telephone' where one person starts off whispering something so someone in the circle. They in turn pass it around and by the time it gets back to the original teller it's typically no longer anything close to what it was originally) So I'm going with Budda-ist because it seems less clouded. More honest. More straight forward.
To me, I'm definitely more of a buddhism-ist than a buddha-ist. Which means that although I would like to know how authentic the teachings are, I'm more interested in the application than the source.
I’m into being a Buddha not into being a Buddhist.
What that means is that I don’t care too much about the teaching; it is a raft, a tool, a finger pointing at the moon.
What I do care about is “the other shore” or “liberation” or whatever we want to name it.
I believe in it even though I cannot define it and even though the concept of it will obscure it.
If only I knew how to hit it, I would hit it with a hammer!
This! This! This!
:banghead:
Sorry to venture off, I am gonna guess buddha-ist. More into the practice and not really limiting where it comes from rather than the -ism-ist.
Definitions make me a little rebellious but I will NOT shave any part of my head or get a piercing, i am a grownup now
To me Buddishm-ist means adhering to the words old or new. Buddha-ist means adhering to the realizations, are there new realizations?
I try to be a Buddha-ist but adhere to the old teachings unless they can be shown to be wrong (mount Meru for example).
Some are nearer the center and some are further. Many elements are blended in. Buddha is the awake being. Whereas buddhism straddles the gap between ignorance and buddha.
I think we need both buddhism and buddha.