What is a Buddhist?

lobster

OK not part of a zen Albert and Costello routine . . .


must admit I never found that routine funny but then humour is often different . . .

. . . so . . . More a defining of what makes us born that way (just an accident of location?)
What gives us an interest (tourists?) . . .
or like many here . . . practitioners . . .

If you are just studying are you Buddhist?
If you are not following the Buddhism of the Dalai Lama, Theravadin or [insert genuine teaching/preference] are you a buddhist?
Must you follow basic precepts to be a Buddhist? Must be vegetarian, passive, member of the Sangha?

In fact are you a Buddist who requires another label?

Holy Mother of God, pray for us sinners now etc. Gosh maybe I am not even a Buddhist?
This could scupper all my plans . . . Hooray!

Jeffrey

There are no beings and no life and no lifespan according to the diamond sutra.

Invincible_summer

In my extremely un-expert opinion, I think that if you honestly take refuge (whether in a ceremony or on your own) in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, then you are a Buddhist.

It's one thing to study something and think "Oh that's interesting," or even to think positively about Buddhism. IMHO it's another thing entirely to have faith in the Triple Gem.

federica

Read 'what makes you NOT a Buddhist?' Then you'll know.

karasti

As far as refuge, I think it has to be something you do though, something you practice. Not just something you do once (whether in ceremony or in the shower or in front of an altar at home or whatever). I was baptised and even completed confirmation classes. Just having done those things didn't make me a Christian. You still have to practice what it means to take refuge, and to me that means practicing the Eightfold Path. How can you take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha if you don't know what it means to do so? How can you take refuge in Dharma without studying it and knowing what it contains? I think taking refuge is the foundation, it's where you start. But I don't think you can take refuge and not practice, not study, and 10 years later still consider yourself Buddhist just because you said the words.

vinlyn

This thread makes me wonder, @Lobster, in your quest to be a real Buddha, have you given away all your worldly possessions? Wear a robe made of death shrouds? Renounced sex? Fasted for 40 days and 40 nights? Sat under a bodhi tree for days on end (and did a cobra really come and open his shield above you to protect you from the storm)? Or are you doing the Buddha-lite version?

Invincible_summer

@karasti - I agree with you. Actually in my post, when I said "having faith in the Triple Gem," I wanted to imply that one would have a pretty regular practice going which would give faith as one could see the truths of the Triple Gem. Clearly that implication was not delivered very well!

@vinlyn - It's called "Buddhist Modernism."

Gui

Whether I am a Buddhist or not a Buddhist is not part of the equation.
The clouds drift across the sky and the water in the creek flows downhill.
Does that make me a Buddhist or not a Buddhist?

Jeffrey

Didn't you get your decoder ring? And the handshake and all? What about the magic underwear?

Nevermind

I've recently heard that Buddhists don't care about silly labels, and that the important thing is the cessation of suffering.

Just to be clear, Buddhists don't care about labels. All the other deluded folks attached to their ego-based notions of self care about labels.

lobster

Labels eh?

Mistaking the form for the emptiness?

Let me put it another way. You go to a dharma centre, an elderly, peaceful and kindly looking monk is clearly a Buddhist. You ask for his advice and are pleased with his confirmation of your expectations.

In another encounter you meet someone who is enlightened but wears no signature or projects no clear indications. What happens does not register as anything 'Buddhist' . . .

Who would you rather encounter?

:wave:

Nevermind

Buddhists are ordinary people, so I don't know what would or wouldn't register as Buddhist, to be honest. If someone were warm and openhearted that wouldn't necessarily register as Buddhist. If someone were greedy, mean, and deluded that wouldn't necessarily not register as a Buddhist.

I wouldn't mind meeting the nice monk though.

riverflow

I prefer to say that I am someone who practices the Buddhadharma to the best of my own understanding and capacity--and that aspiration, therefore, makes me a Buddhist. The term 'Buddhist' is a helpful social descriptor.

In a deeper sense, however, there is no 'AM'--there is, at best, just 'DO.' It is in that sense that Buddhism is more an activity or an orientation--not an identity. I am not any one final, definitive entity--no one and no thing is one final, definitive entity.

In the end, one shouldn't get hung up on labels, but one shouldn't get hung up on hangups about labels either (I have done both in the past myself!). Labels are not inherently good, nor are they inherently bad, if you allow a label just be what it is--a label, nothing less, nothing more. A label is simply what you make of it.

karasti

Most of the harm in labels comes in using them to meet others' expectations. I am a female. It's a fact. However when I say "I'm a female and I need to look/talk/act a certain way because I need to make sure other people realize that I'm a certain kind of female" it becomes a problem. Labeling myself as a female does no harm until I attach all kind of other adjectives to determine what it means to be a female, beyond having the proper body parts.

I'm a Buddhist because I am. Because after listening to my son talk about it, I picked up a book and I read it and it sounded much closer to the truth to me than anything else I'd run across. So I kept reading. Then I met people to talk to. Then I met a monk. And then a lama. And then I realized the monk would be a good teacher for me. So I took refuge vows and refuge precepts from him and I agreed to take on his teaching and he accepted me as a student. I am as much at home with my Dharma brothers and sisters as I am with my closest friends. Some people know I'm a Buddhist. Most do not. I don't care if they know or not.

music

Don't try to be a Buddhist. It is useless. Try instead to be a Buddha. At least then you can 'tweet' about your enlightenment online. You can also have a large Facebook following. It is fun.

lobster

Thanks @music, it sounds like a fun plan.
Sadly my April 1 announcement of attainment was like the PS4 announcement - premature.

However Buddhas and Facebook may not be compatible . . . for now I am keeping an eye on Youtube . . .
This guy is not even a Buddhist . . .

carolann

I can't answer the question but would love everyone to know i m Buddhist x

lobster

Nevermind said:

I wouldn't mind meeting the nice monk though.

Sounds like a plan.
Any near you? My nearest is a bike ride away. May have to visit shortly to keep me on the straight and narrow or bent and crooked as the taoists prefer . ..

Dan3673

Q. What's the difference between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist?
A. The non-Buddhist thinks there's a difference.

And while I'm at it....

Q. What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?
A. Make me one with everything.

Have a great day!

Lucy_Begood

I came to this thread, thinking I could say something to add to it. And then I found, as I often do, that @riverflow has already said what I wanted to say, only soooo much better than I could. :wave:

riverflow

Thank you! @Lucy_Begood (blushing) --but your own words are sure to be good! (that was not an intended pun on your screen name!)

caz

Someone who takes refuge in the 3 jewels and tries to keep the associated commitments as best they can...This is a Buddhist.

nenkohai

Labels

how

Perhaps a Buddhist is just the one who's heart leans towards Buddhism,
in contrast to someone judging who is or is not membership material.

person

I'm sure many here have seen this already, but for those who haven't

lobster

I'm a Buddhist because I am

Well said.

Thanks guys, I do have other tendencies but my overall alignment is three jewelled.

Even if I am 'The worst Buddhist ever', it's OK . . .