Can Buddhist wear gems stones according to astrology? or it is an blind faith. please help.

rohit

I am using gems stones and i thinks so that it works for me. But i don't know whether it is blind faith or not.
What Buddhism says about astrology particularly Vedik astrology.

Dandelion

Hi @rohit

If it works for you, then I say continue. At some point you may stop, or you may not - I think things are best left to unfold from the point of view of an open mind, and experiences; it would make no sense to stop if most people reply saying it's pointless, and it would equally make no sense to continue to use gem stones if others on the forum show faith in what you are doing.

I don't think there are many people on this forum that use astrology in conjunction with Buddhism (I think I have been the only one!), in any shape or form. I am interested in people's responses to your question though.. and shall enjoy mulling them over

Chaz

rohit said:

I am using gems stones and i thinks so that it works for me. But i don't know whether it is blind faith or not.
What Buddhism says about astrology particularly Vedik astrology.

Don't worry about it. Wear what you like.

Simonthepilgrim

As far as I can see, Buddhism says litttle or nothing about the use of crystals, gemstones or astrology (although Tibetan astrology is often cited as Buddhist). It is Buddhists, and particularly Western, reductionist ones, who will assert that all such use is 'only' superstition. For myself, I used to find astrology useful and, as the Buddha taught that he was simply teaching dukkha and the ending of dukkha, if some practice gets anyone "through the night", use it while it is useful and let it go with a blessing when it stops.

federica

Dumbo thought the feather could make him fly.... After a long time he did without it, but while he had it, it was vital.....

Dandelion

federica said:

Dumbo thought the feather could make him fly.... After a long time he did without it, but while he had it, it was vital.....

I definitely agree with this analogy, actually.

Dakini

rohit said:

I am using gems stones and i thinks so that it works for me. But i don't know whether it is blind faith or not.
What Buddhism says about astrology particularly Vedik astrology.

The Buddha didn't teach the use of gemstones, if that's what you're asking. But Tibetans and Mongols certainly use them. Turquoise and coral, mainly, but also jade and lapis lazuli. And they use all manner of ground-up gemstones in herbal medicines. I haven't heard about a connection with astrology, but maybe....

cvalue

We, Chinese people like to wear Quan Yin green jade pendant. We all love Quan Yin (The Goddess of Mercy). And Jade is the gem which color can become darker or lighter dependent on the person who wears it, so the jade color can be personalized.

how

This question has me ask what is magic, what isn't and how do either pertain to the Buddha's path?
This question gets a bit muddy when one sees that everything that happens, has some effect on everything else so even magic becomes difficult to define.

The answer though is about if that effect really assists one towards sufferings cessation or is a resting spot beside the path.

Many cultural practices have been added to Buddhism over the years and mostly they look like ways of holding peoples interest in Buddhism for a while until those folks are ready again to progress further along the path.

I think the Buddha would have spoken about them if he thought they were a viable way to progress towards sufferings cessation........but he didn't, so personally I would say that their path heads off somewhere else.

Chaz

Simonthepilgrim said:

As far as I can see, Buddhism says litttle or nothing about the use of crystals, gemstones ( snip )

It do say something, actually.

There a lot of lore surrounding the use of different materials in malas - wood, seed, bone, antler, stone, crystal and metal. All have different levels of benefit.

Simonthepilgrim

Chaz said:

Simonthepilgrim said:

As far as I can see, Buddhism says litttle or nothing about the use of crystals, gemstones ( snip )

It do say something, actually.

There a lot of lore surrounding the use of different materials in malas - wood, seed, bone, antler, stone, crystal and metal. All have different levels of benefit.

Perhaps I should be clearer: I make a distinction between Buddhism (whatever that may be other than a teaching of dukkha and the ending of dukkha) and what Buddhists add to that for their own benefit - and the benefit of others of course.

BhikkhuJayasara

I know that the Buddha says that any kind of astrology related activity for monks is wrong livelihood, but I don't think anything is ever said for lay persons.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-ajivo/

Wrong livelihood for contemplatives

... reading marks on the limbs [e.g., palmistry]; reading omens and signs; interpreting celestial events [falling stars, comets]; interpreting dreams; reading marks on the body [e.g., phrenology]; reading marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire oblations, oblations from a ladle, oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil; offering oblations from the mouth; offering blood-sacrifices; making predictions based on the fingertips; geomancy; laying demons in a cemetery; placing spells on spirits; reciting house-protection charms; snake charming, poison-lore, scorpion-lore, rat-lore, bird-lore, crow-lore; fortune-telling based on visions; giving protective charms; interpreting the calls of birds and animals ... [The list goes on and on]

Hamsaka

rohit said:

I am using gems stones and i thinks so that it works for me. But i don't know whether it is blind faith or not.
What Buddhism says about astrology particularly Vedik astrology.

I can't imagine (within my own understanding of the Buddhadharma) that wearing gems or making choices based upon Vedic astrology is 'blind faith' behavior (thus, a wrong behavior or belief).

Blind faith is acquiescing to a statement of 'fact' that one has not determined to be truthful for oneself. Blind faith can be a description of just about everything, including what we in developed cultures never question. The presence of single celled disease organisms, for one thing, is a matter of 'blind faith' as the only people who have directly witnessed bacteria causing illness are research scientists (or participating in such research).

Blind faith isn't a *thing* applicable to certain religious doctrines or whatever It's everywhere.

If you live long enough (or practise Buddhism), what you find is that what ONCE worked fantastically (such as using astrology or wearing gemstones) loses its firmness and reliability. This is because all formations, thoughts, beliefs, concepts etc etc are inherently of no TRUE substance. All things are dependent upon other things for their existence, so have no independent existence of their own. When a person directly experiences this, it is not depressing or belief-destroying, it is just a step closer to what is actually going on here.

As long as what one does to promote peace, interpersonal harmony and compassion, and greater and greater awareness, whatever the symbol or method used seems like it would be alright. So far, I perceive the Buddhadharma as being inclusive to every manifestation, because it holds all manifestation within it, including gemstone wearing and Vedic astrology

Gassho

Nirvana

Well, Ajahn Chah would say that these are distractors from the Buddhist path that leads to true inner peace. I say that because they are more of the nature of superstition aids than material aids.

BTW, there are so many wonderful Buddhist teachings available on iBooks for those of us with iPads. Wow, The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah are just mind-blowingly astute and insightful.

Jeffrey

Some of these faith practices can at least help versus depression. By being inspired you can revitalize prana. This can give you more virya (spirit) to meditate and practice.

So knock yourself out just don't pay top dollar on snake oil unless you are wealthy.

Zayl

I'd love to wear by Birthstone.

But have you seen how expensive emeralds are lately? I mean I'd REALLY love one, since green is my favorite color and all. But I mean holy crap expensive.

Dakini

Zayl said:

I'd love to wear by Birthstone.

But have you seen how expensive emeralds are lately? I mean I'd REALLY love one, since green is my favorite color and all. But I mean holy crap expensive.

I love emeralds! But they're rare, so they've always been expensive (compared to diamonds, for example, which are actually quite common, but DeBiers keeps the price artificially inflated). But emeralds are delicate, they chip easily if you wear them set in a ring.

Jeffrey

I just found out that my birthstone is also emerald. Too bad they aren't particularly robust.

Kundo

You can try created emeralds. They are a lot stronger and a lot cheaper. And stunning.

Zayl

Ha, yeah but even the created ones are a tad pricey still. I think I'll just stick with my green spinel ring, it still looks pretty. (gold metal and a big green gem looks fantastic)

Dakini

You emerald fans out there, you know what stones are similar in beauty? Chrysoprase and chrysoberyl. Also green stones, though a little lighter in color. But beautiful. And cheaper.

DairyLama

I get nice stones from the beach, they are free.

Citta

Nirvana said:

Well, Ajahn Chah would say that these are distractors from the Buddhist path that leads to true inner peace. I say that because they are more of the nature of superstition aids than material aids.

BTW, there are so many wonderful Buddhist teachings available on iBooks for those of us with iPads. Wow, The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah are just mind-blowingly astute and insightful.

He would,
but that did not stop him from giving amulets...he may well have seen them as ' Dumbo's '
feathers, ' but i was very pleased to receive one and still have it.