What is a Buddha?

lobster

As a Buddha (coming soon) in a state of snooze, it is important to know how awake, how non arising, how wise, how mutated, how evolved I am going to be.
Obviously I will be obsessionally kind and ready with wise quips and profound insights . . . or maybe not.

I may just die with a mona lisa smile on my para nirvanic lips . . .
Maybe I will just know and be silent [Did I just hear cyber cheering at the back]

I may on reaching the far shore, paddle back for stragglers . . . That would the mark of a Bodhisattva . . .

The truth is I will soon know what a Buddha is, then the question is irrelevant . . . Until then . . .
What do you know of Buddhas? :wave:

robot

Shouldn't you be meditating or something?
When Siddhartha decided it was Buddhahood for him, he sat down and didn't get up till he was there.
Nevermind all the BS.

federica

Actions speak louder than words.

First, become Buddha.

Then we'll tell you if you're doing it right.

poptart

You'll make a fabulous Buddha, @lobster!

I imagine buddhas to be fun people, with an incredible lightness of being.

Takuan

this may be of help

lobster

Shouldn't you be meditating or something?

I only meditate about an hour a day. Any more would not be the Middle Way. The Dalai Lama does about six hours a day. I suppose I could do another hour or two, any more seems a little desperate . . .

'Something' is probably the better option.
I am aiming for more awareness, mindfulness and expression of my inner Mu.

Thanks for the Thurman video. As much use as daughters 'kill bill' movies frankly. I never know what that man is talking about or why . . . but I appreciate the kind thought and provision.

Thanks for the tips guys.

:clap:

I_AM_THAT

There is no Buddha and there is no you.

vinlyn

robot said:

Shouldn't you be meditating or something?
When Siddhartha decided it was Buddhahood for him, he sat down and didn't get up till he was there.
Nevermind all the BS.

Too much "flipness".

robot

vinlyn said:

robot said:

Shouldn't you be meditating or something?
When Siddhartha decided it was Buddhahood for him, he sat down and didn't get up till he was there.
Nevermind all the BS.

Too much "flipness".

Oh really? Was I supposed to take the OP seriously? LOLOLOL

taiyaki

Do you hear that?
Can you taste that?

Can you see that?

When seeing just the seen.

Just that.

No seer, no objects, no time and no space.

How does one attain this clear function? Like sand in the hands what is there is attain.

Yet the buddhas are the ones that attain this no thing. Then ceaseless enlightenment.

BhikkhuJayasara

What I know of Buddhas? They show up every few eons after the dhamma is forgotten to bring it back to us. The last one was Siddhartha, the next will come when the dhamma is forgotten, hopefully not for an eon or two.

Florian

I would suggest that there a far more buddha's than this. No point in the Buddha telling us to follow him when only one person succeeds in every few aeons.

mfranzdorf

@lobster Mona Lisa was onto something...

Wisdom23

I too have thought how will i know if i reach it? How do you know the fire is hot before you stick your hand in it? Does it matter if we know when we are a buddha? will our practise change? Will we stop meditation, studying and of being benefit to others? Lol sorry to go all matrix on you and answer a question with a question but i hope you can grab some sense from my jibberish.

I originally came to Buddhism for self benefit but now recently i am starting to realise on the grand scale of time and space, my self importance is nowt. So have i reshifted my attention to using buddhism more so as a tool in my work when i am helping others. I love the path and i would quite happily walk for mile upon mile lol. And if you believe in reincarnation you could reason that because we have done so much hard work the next person will have an easier job.

I hope that sheds some light on your q or atleast amuses you for a short while.

All the besy

Takuan

lobster said:

Thanks for the Thurman video. As much use as daughters 'kill bill' movies frankly. I never know what that man is talking about or why . . . but I appreciate the kind thought and provision.

He goes on a lot of tangents, but I think that's why I like him so much. Any way, you really have to pay attention to get his message. I watched the video twice before the "Oh, now I kinda get it moment." lol Sorry it was of now use!

BhikkhuJayasara

Florian said:

I would suggest that there a far more buddha's than this. No point in the Buddha telling us to follow him when only one person succeeds in every few aeons.

It is not a matter of enlightenment.. it is a matter of verbiage between traditions.

In Theravada there is no difference between a Buddha and an Arahant other then the fact that a Buddha's special role is to find the dhamma and proclaim it after it is lost(this direct from the Pali Suttas). This happens every few eons or so. So enlightened beings who learned the dhamma from a teacher are called Arahants and are part of the Ariya Sangha.

I know in Mahayana connected traditions everyone being fully enlightened is a buddha.. I'm not sure if there is a real difference in the actual enlightenment, it's just how the different traditions use different words. I do know from my time at a Mahayana monastery that what the Theravada considers fully enlightened, aka Arahant, is actually just the first level of enlightenment and that there are a bunch more levels then that until "full Buddhahood".

Jeffrey

@Jayantha, love how Buddhism sounds like a role playing game with 'levels' hehe.

lobster

Takuan said:

Sorry it was of now use!

Everything is of now use, no?

Thurman strikes me as the professor with the full cup in the Zen story.
In Sufism the scatter approach, many impacts to make a point is well known. This is different to Thurmans meaningless opinions and meandering waffle. IMO we need less 'experts' of his calibre. He seems to be lost in tibetan magical gaga land. Too judgemental and harsh?


I am sure Thurman has many fine and refined qualities.

pegembara

A Buddha is one who has woken up from the dream of existence.

"This world, Kaccāyana, for the most part, bases its views on two things: on existence and non-exis­tence. Now, Kac­cāyana, to one who with right wisdom sees the arising of the world as it is, the view of non-existence regarding the world does not occur. And to one who with right wisdom sees the cessation of the world as it really is, the view of existence regarding the world does not occur."

"`Everything exists', Kaccāyana, is one extreme. `Nothing ex­ists' is the other extreme. Not approaching either of those ex­tremes, Kac­cāyana, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle way: Kaccayanagotta Sutta


Whatever is seen, heard, sensed or clung to,
is esteemed as truth by other folk,

Midst those who are entrenched in their own views
being 'Such' I hold none as true or false.

This barb I beheld, well in advance,
whereon mankind is hooked, impaled,

'I know, I see `tis verily so'---- no such clinging
for the Tathàgatas. Kalakarama Sutta

Florian

For Plotinus a fully realised being would be one who has become one with the whole. Thus the Buddha's enlightenment would be a truly cosmic event.

BhikkhuJayasara

Jeffrey said:

@Jayantha, love how Buddhism sounds like a role playing game with 'levels' hehe.

I thought the same thing when I first heard it haha.