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Qualifications for being Buddhist
I've been thinking about the Buddha's quote of "Believe nothing...unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense,” and realized that I don't believe every aspect of Buddhism. I know people have expressed the idea of not believing in reincarnation, but I would take it a step further and say that I don't know if I believe in enlightenment. I've read that I should weigh every idea against my own personal experience and not accept something just because it's popular or a neat idea, but the more I do that the more I feel I am stripping down Buddhism to a personal philosophy that fits me but is not what is commonly practiced. I believe in the benefits of a spiritual life through the methods of Buddhism, and I believe that the Buddha was a regular human being just like we are, but beyond that it feels a bit metaphysical to me. The rebirth, and Nirvana, the Cosmic Mudra, Chakras and the inner vibrations of the body, all of these seem alien and take a step outside what my mind can understand/wants to accept right now.
Am I allowed to do this, to keep what is useful and makes sense to me and disregard those aspects that don't resonate with me? Am I not "Buddhist" if I do?
Am I allowed to do this, to keep what is useful and makes sense to me and disregard those aspects that don't resonate with me? Am I not "Buddhist" if I do?
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I just found this quote that kind of sums up what I'm feeling.
"But if there is no other world and there is no fruit and ripening of actions well done or ill, then here and now in this life I shall be free from hostility, affliction, and anxiety, and I shall live happily." - Buddha
Maybe he was one step ahead of me and thought this through
By the way, you also have to know the secret handshake and password to join the club. :vimp: Do you already have your membership card?
Ok.. enough joking around.. hope you get the point.
Metta!
Second, pay attention to the "collective wisdom" on this site, but don't obsess over what any one individual says here. After a while on this site you begin to get a better view of the individuals who post here. It's a pretty nice bunch of people, but we all have our flaws, and some of those individuals who can talk a pretty good game also have lives that are far from settled. And I include myself with any criticism...as well as the moderators. All well meaning, but few have it all mapped out, even those who think they do.
Third, I don't much care which religion a person identifies with, but believing in every thing any religion says does nothing more -- in my view -- than prove someone will swallow something hook, line, and sinker (as my grandfather used to say). Listen to others, consider their views, but think for yourself.
Fourth -- and here is an aspect of this that I have greatly evolved in -- think about whether you see Buddhism as a religion or a philosophy. That decision alone will go a long way toward determining how you interact with Buddhism.
Second, there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Third, don't label yourself nor allow anyone else to.
Forth, it's your practice and no one elses.
Atta Dipa
Viharatha
Atta Sharana
Ananna Sharana
Dhamma Dipa
Dhamma Sharana
Ananna Sharana
There's nothing wrong with not believing in enlightenment but then Buddha would not have been enlightened. I believe both H.H. The Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hang are awakened beings but they are both so different.
That's just me though. Sometimes I talk a good talk but on many levels my walk needs some work.
..
There's nothing wrong with not believing in enlightenment but then Buddha would not have been enlightened. I believe both H.H. The Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hang are awakened beings but they are both so different.
That's just me though. Sometimes I talk a good talk but on many levels my walk needs some work.
..
When it comes making your spiritual practice part of your identity, just make sure it doesn't become a false identity or false-self.
These two ways are the following:
1. To take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
2. To hold the Four Seals.
Geshi Tashi seems to place emphasis on No 2, since they underpin all Buddhist thought.
The Four Seals:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1814
I can quote his books, but please don't make me dig through them!
But seriously, could I call myself a Buddhist if I believed in Jesus as my personal savoir and thought the Four Seals were a bunch of bunkum?
I guess there has to be some conventional definition of what a Buddhist is, otherwise it's gonna get confusing for someone new to Buddhism. And before anyone starts, yes Buddhists do use conventional means to understand ultimate truths.
And yes, the Buddha wasn't a 'Buddhist', but he would've held the Four Seals.
There are three ways of attaining Bodhi or Enlightenment according to the ability and capacity of each individual: namely, as a Sravaka (disciple), as a Pratyekabuddha (Individual Buddha) and as a Samyaksambuddha (Perfectly and Fully Enlightened Buddha).
For example, would someone on the path of a Pratyekabuddha be the slightest bit interested in Buddhism as an instititution?
Actually, the middle paragraph is from "The Basic Points Uniting the Theravada and Mahayana", a document endorsed by the World Buddhist Sangha Council (WBSC) --- although it was composed by a monk of the Theravada tradition, it was ratified by members from both traditions:
http://www.mahabodhi.net/points.htm
or i will go to heaven after i die. what kind of christian am i?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism#Christianity_and_Gnosticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shelby_Spong
I thought my Dad was too strict, & I hated always having to be home for dinner right at 5pm. Didn't understand why it absolutely had to be at the kitchen table either...
Now, having my own child, I get it.
But I had to be here on my path to understand.
...and now I catch myself repeating my parents' lines... :grumble:
Am I allowed to do this, to keep what is useful and makes sense to me and disregard those aspects that don't resonate with me? Am I not "Buddhist" if I do?
Allowed..Yes. There is no one Buddhist abitrator to dissallow it just as there is no Buddhist saviour to absolve you of the karmic consequence of your following it or not.
Welcome to the nitty gritty of spiritual adulthood.
Since my path is through meditation, I try to leave the issue of what I might keep & disregard of Buddhist theory up to my meditation. What ever I have read or studied remains on file and appears when relevent without my active need to keep or disregard it.
What ever path you choose should be able to do the same for you.
See if your path shows who, why, when, where or what cares if you are a Buddhist or not.
Let us in on what you find.
As with the label Buddhist, there is more to being a christian than belief and recitations of beliefs.
Maybe as has been suggested, you think outside a narrow square, and that you can identify with the message of christianity and it's aim? especially if you lived in a predominately christian society??
By the way - deep six the Western concept of religion, you will only mess yourself up if you don't.
@intothedreaming - Perhaps you could elaborate as to why you "don't believe" in enlightenment? What are these "benefits of a spiritual life through Buddhism" that you're referring to? It would help us understand your position more.
I personally feel that the Buddha's little speech in the Kalama Sutta was sort of cheeky - he was saying all that stuff about how one shouldn't believe something until they feel it's right for them through experience, yes? Well, perhaps he was slyly suggesting that his philosophy and spiritual practice should be the flawless one that everyone would find agreeable, unlike the other religions being practiced at the time that were based more on ritual/tradition/superstition.
As for "believing every aspect of Buddhism," there are a lot of different schools of Buddhism that teach a lot of different things. Chakras/body vibrations aren't really emphasized (at least not to my knowledge) in Theravada or Zen. Nirvana and rebirth have varying interpretations depending on the sect you're talking about. There are also more modernist interpretations of many aspects/suttas of Buddhism that could be interpreted as supernatural/superstitious/metaphysical.
Basically, I'd probably investigate a little bit more and practice more before discarding anything. You never know when it might start to make sense.
I still recall my ceremony and the vow spoken as marking an important commitment and the occasion does have great significance for me, however, in the same way I remember my wedding day.
The Great Parrot of Buddhism (Pali: mahasuva; Skt.: mahacuka) -- better known for its thoughtless or distractive chatter, mimicker of jaberwocky, incapable of mustering an original thought if its life depended upon it.
Also, favorite pet of Dhammajocks (-jockettes) and Sacred Pathers, those who speak a good game regardless of sect, but have nothing to show for it, taking refuge in that which is external, only to fail to embrace the Dharma, failing to become an embodiment of the Dharma.
"Buddhist want a cracker?"
1. Adopt a wise and wizened demeanor -- someplace between George Clooney and Mahatma Gandhi.
2. Memorize the 108 holiest and most convoluted of all possible paradoxes. Dispense as necessary.
3. Clothes ... don't forget the clothes!
4. Walk slowly as if permeated with some weighty liquid.
5. If you're a lay person, yearn for ordination. If you're an ordained person, yearn for laicization.
6. Chant softly but audibly in public rest rooms.
7. If you visit a temple or monastery, make sure to bring home some small tourist treasure to indicate you visited. Hang it prominently, but with humble discretion, in your living room...next to all those books, perhaps.
8. Offer a small, carefully-crafted smile when someone tells you a first-class joke.
9. If someone asks you if you are a Buddhist, consider the question in a dour and somewhat quizzical silence.
10. Treat all beings with equanimity and kindness ... right up until the moment when you can't stand it any more and simply kick the cat. Repent as necessary.
And if all of this strikes you as utterly ludicrous, find a Buddhist practice, practice it and never mind who's a Buddhist and who's not.
Everyone suffers ... nuff said.
Meister Eckhart
:vimp:
Ta.
I remember going to a Buddhist monastery where a 'nun' from another tradition was talking all soft and slllooooowwww and callllmmm and swweeett and well my teacher is not really into that stuff, so I reckon we were mostly natural and normal and stuff.
Then suddenly, after hearing (misunderstanding) my teacher would not be in attendance in that retreat, she yelled (screeched) "WHAT! What do you mean he will not be here?" And we said, no he is here.
To which she recoiled back into her sweet uniform.
Personally I thought that was odd. I prefer the natural Buddhist student approach ma'self...