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Falling out with family , Being accused of "preaching" and coming across "condescending"
My old Zen Teacher had a saying for this situation: "Don't give acupuncture to annoyed cows."
I think that says it all.
But Cino, he's just putting things up on his fb page, not necessarily mentioning things in conversation. He's just decorating his space.
Yeah, I have someone who posts lots of those "like if you love Jesus" type posts and it gets annoying. It's not really "his space" but more like a common bulletin board. After all, you're posting things because you want people to read them. Guess it's just up to him. Sure, he has the right to post whatever he wants. If he chooses to exercise that right, they can choose to "unfriend him" I guess, if they're upset enough. that's their choice.
There's nothing wrong with not posting what you know will upset someone, just because you don't want to upset them. I guess everyone just has to decide what's more important to them, exercising their rights versus not upsetting someone.
Yes! Sometimes I would have to explain to my students that freedom of speech doesn't mean people will like you for what you say.
Buddhists should also learn for Earthstore Bodhisavatta on the metta of merits and blessings and great help to others :
Thus, in the continent of Jambudvipa, in the Saha world, this Bodhisattva teaches and transforms beings by means of thousands of myriads of expedient devices.
"Kings, to killers Earth Store Bodhisattva speaks of a retribution of a short lifespan; to robbers he speaks of a retribution of poverty and acute suffering; to practices of sexual misconduct he speaks of the retribution of being born as pigeons, mandarin drakes and ducks; to the foul-mouthed he speaks of the retribution of a quarreling family.
"To slanderers he speaks of the retribution of a tongueless and cankerous mouth; to the hateful he speaks of being ugly and crippled; to the stingy he speaks of frustrated desires; to gluttons he speaks of the retribution of sickness, hunger, and thirst; to those who enjoy hunting, he speaks of the retribution of a frightening insanity and disastrous doom.
"To cruel parents or step-parents he speaks of the retribution of being flogged in future lives; to those who net and trap young animals, he speaks of the retribution of separation of flesh from bone; to those who slander the Triple Jewel, he speaks of the retribution of being blind, deaf, or mute; to those who slight the Dharma and regard the teachings with arrogance, he speaks of being in the Evil Paths forever; to those who recklessly use the things of the permanently dwelling, he speaks of the retribution of revolving in the hells for myriads of kalpas; to those who defile the pure conduct of others and purposely slander the Sangha, he speaks of an eternity in the animal realm; to those who scald, burn, behead, cut, or otherwise harm animals, he speaks of repayment in kind.
"To those who violate precepts and the regulations of pure eating, he speaks of the retribution of being born as birds and beasts suffering from hunger and thirst; to those who make unprincipled and destructive use of things, he speaks of the retribution of never obtaining what they seek; to those who are arrogant and haughty, he speaks of a retribution of being servile and of low class; to those whose double-tongued behavior causes dissension and disorder, he speaks of a retribution of tonguelessness and speech impediments; to those of biased views, he speaks of rebirth in the frontier regions.
"This is a general description of the hundreds of thousands of differing retributions resulting from the habitual bad deeds of body, mouth, and mind committed by the living beings of Jambudvipa. Since they have such differing responses, Earth store Bodhisattva uses hundreds of thousands of expedient means to teach them. The living beings who commit offenses must first undergo retributions such as these, and them fall into the hells, where they pass through kalpas with no moment of escape. You should therefore protect people and protect their countries. Do not allow living beings to be confused by these manifold deeds."
On hearing this the Four Heavenly Kings wept sorrowfully, placed their palms together, and withdrew.
I have had simular comments made. I am probably just repeating what has already been said but jus be mindful of how you are coming across. If you wish to share it with others maybe do it in more indirect way aand if people are interested they will come ask you and theres your openin. Start off by practising rather that preaching. Whether this is coinsidence or not i dont know but i never really talk about buddhism unless an opening comes up in convo and even then it may not be direct and surprisingly recently My da has asked to borrow one of my dharma books to help him at work, just yesterday my ma asked me how my practise was goin and my bro asked me how to meditate to help him with his life stresses.
i hope this helps and i havent babbled on about myself too much.
Buddhism is about *practice*, rather than intellectual understanding . Thus, practice long and hard and little by little, the way you act in the world will change. Someone might notice and open up to you. That's when you bring up the Buddha.
It may sound harsh but words are cheap and usually get forgotten quickly, so do not attach to them. Focus on the *doing*. Find a community and get some guidance on what practice and doing it means. And you'll have someone to talk about "Buddhism" to
Comments
Thus, in the continent of Jambudvipa, in the Saha world, this Bodhisattva teaches and transforms beings by means of thousands of myriads of expedient devices.
"Kings, to killers Earth Store Bodhisattva speaks of a retribution of a short lifespan;
to robbers he speaks of a retribution of poverty and acute suffering;
to practices of sexual misconduct he speaks of the retribution of being born as pigeons, mandarin drakes and ducks;
to the foul-mouthed he speaks of the retribution of a quarreling family.
"To slanderers he speaks of the retribution of a tongueless and cankerous mouth;
to the hateful he speaks of being ugly and crippled;
to the stingy he speaks of frustrated desires; to gluttons he speaks of the retribution of sickness, hunger, and thirst;
to those who enjoy hunting, he speaks of the retribution of a frightening insanity and disastrous doom.
"To cruel parents or step-parents he speaks of the retribution of being flogged in future lives;
to those who net and trap young animals, he speaks of the retribution of separation of flesh from bone;
to those who slander the Triple Jewel, he speaks of the retribution of being blind, deaf, or mute;
to those who slight the Dharma and regard the teachings with arrogance, he speaks of being in the Evil Paths forever;
to those who recklessly use the things of the permanently dwelling, he speaks of the retribution of revolving in the hells for myriads of kalpas;
to those who defile the pure conduct of others and purposely slander the Sangha, he speaks of an eternity in the animal realm;
to those who scald, burn, behead, cut, or otherwise harm animals, he speaks of repayment in kind.
"To those who violate precepts and the regulations of pure eating, he speaks of the retribution of being born as birds and beasts suffering from hunger and thirst;
to those who make unprincipled and destructive use of things, he speaks of the retribution of never obtaining what they seek;
to those who are arrogant and haughty, he speaks of a retribution of being servile and of low class;
to those whose double-tongued behavior causes dissension and disorder, he speaks of a retribution of tonguelessness and speech impediments;
to those of biased views, he speaks of rebirth in the frontier regions.
"This is a general description of the hundreds of thousands of differing retributions resulting from the habitual bad deeds of body, mouth, and mind committed by the living beings of Jambudvipa. Since they have such differing responses, Earth store Bodhisattva uses hundreds of thousands of expedient means to teach them. The living beings who commit offenses must first undergo retributions such as these, and them fall into the hells, where they pass through kalpas with no moment of escape. You should therefore protect people and protect their countries. Do not allow living beings to be confused by these manifold deeds."
On hearing this the Four Heavenly Kings wept sorrowfully, placed their palms together, and withdrew.
i hope this helps and i havent babbled on about myself too much.
It may sound harsh but words are cheap and usually get forgotten quickly, so do not attach to them. Focus on the *doing*. Find a community and get some guidance on what practice and doing it means. And you'll have someone to talk about "Buddhism" to