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Paths of Buddhism
Mingle
Veteran
Can someone explain them for me? Theravada, Mahayana etc. I haven't really gone into depth and chosen one. I just follow Buddhism in general at the mo. How do the teachings differ? Do they differ at all? Do they contradict each other at all?
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Comments
It's a large topic, but this might be a place to start:
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/comparative.htm
Are there any local Buddhist groups or centres you could visit?
http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/
@mingle -- Please pardon the repetition, but the following cheat-sheet version of Buddhism that I wrote some time ago may give your quest a small framework:
BUDDHISM
The truth of Buddhism does not come from a book. It does not come from a temple. It does not come from someone else. It is not written on a piece of paper. The truth of Buddhism comes from the individual effort to investigate, verify and actualize a clear understanding of this life.
Shakyamuni Buddha, the man most often referred to as the founder of Buddhism, was born on the border of India and Nepal in about 565 BC. He attained what is sometimes called enlightenment at 35 and preached until his death at 80. Many schools of Buddhism sprang from his teachings … in India, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan among others. Uncertain estimates put Buddhist numbers at about 350 million worldwide.
All Buddhist schools agree on at least two things:
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: These are observations about the world around us.
The Four Noble Truths are:
*** 1. There is suffering (dukkha – the uncertainties, dissatisfactions and doubts that life can dish up); 2. There is a cause of suffering; 3. There is an end to suffering; 4. There is a way to end suffering.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH: These are the tools suggested as most useful when seeking out a truly peaceful life in a changing world.
The Eightfold Path is:
*** 1. Right View 2. Right Intention 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration.
The word "right" is sometimes translated as "complete." A “complete” effort is thorough-going and whole-hearted. Nothing is held back. Buddhism is not a threat-based persuasion: You won’t go to heaven (right) if you practice it and you won’t go to hell (wrong) if you don’t. But honesty is required -- complete honesty.
The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path carry with them the verifiable observation that everything in life changes. There is nothing that does not change. Joy turns to sorrow, love turns to anger, birth turns to death, and the family car always gets a flat. All Buddhist schools agree on such things, but how they approach them may vary.
But as the Dalai Lama put it once, "Everyone wants to be happy." And that is probably as good a summary of Buddhism as any.
Easy!
Therevada (Hinayana) think they have original buddhist scriptures. They wear orange robes and meditate all day, everyday. They hate hair and food.
Mahayana didn't like the above so they wrote their own book and claimed it as lost Buddhas notes. They have no idea how to become enlightened so they try and make everybody else wake up instead.
Zen they burnt all the books and decided to hit people with sticks. If you ask them anything they answer in an unsolvable riddle called a koan.
Pure Land they believe saying Amitaba Buddha all the time will allow then to die and go to heaven where they will be born into a lotus at Buddhas feet.
Tibetan (Vajrayana) pretend they are deities with 4 arms and claim this is the fasted way to enlightenment. They also like flags and training their lucid dreams to carry them into a favourable rebirth.
There's a few more but these are the dominant regimes.
In general, the traditions don't contradict each other on the main beliefs, but that didn't stop the monks from arguing about which is the best practice down through the centuries. Monks are people, too.
There is almost nothing we can say about Theravada or Mahayana or Zen Buddhism that doesn't have its exceptions. Buddhism is probably better described in relation to the culture or nation that each developed in its own way. None of these surviving traditions are an exact match for the original Indian Buddhism as founded by Gautama, by the way. By the time the missionaries arrived, India itself had developed many different traditions.
Theravada, for instance, is a very legalistic and rigidly structured school of Buddhism practiced and pretty much confined to a handful of countries like Thailand and Myanmar. They limit their authorized sutra canon to a set of writings in the Pali language, the oldest surviving written records. The practice is highly cultural and most Western people would have to travel to them. There is very little offered to the lay population in the way of an active practice and women are not allowed to become monks.
Mahayana is a reform movement if you will, that has a much more open canon of sutras and I once snarkily defined it to my Zen Teacher as "anything that isn't Theravada" and he laughed and clapped. Really, that's all you can say about it. The sutras are varied and include later popular poems, sermons, and collections of wisdom literature. The actual practice varies widely due to incorporating local beliefs and elements. That means the highly esoteric and mystical Tibetan Buddhism with its unique Tantric practices are Mahayana, but Japanese Zen with it's stripped down "meditation only" and koan practice is also Mahayana.
I'm pretty sure this didn't help.
It helped me. The local Church bell is ringing, I think they are Anglican Buddhists ...
... and now back to the sensible Buddhists ...
Play that funky music
I found this book to be a very good introduction to the different schools of Buddhism.
Rule of thumb: In Buddhism, as elsewhere, when anyone uses the word "authentic," duck and cover!
"The tree of enlightenment" is a pretty good general introduction.
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/tree-enlightenment.pdf
@Earthninja, Your post was delightful, now where's my stick :-)
"How do the teachings differ? Do they differ at all? Do they contradict each other at all?"
Why don't you ask the Buddha ? He would say that "All paths lead to Rome Home !"
Yea I think there are differences and contradictions if I look for them. If I have no commitment to any particular doctrine it's not a problem. Cherry picking, some like to call it.
As I said to Ho-tei only this morning. If we find that Ox, let's barbecue ...
Study, assimilation and alignment can can take a while. Even though I read everything I could get my hands on, we can only digest so many cherries. Most of us are calming the monkey mind, finding the traces of the ox, learning how not to have a cow ...
http://www.mkzc.org/the-zen-oxherding-pictures-overview/
When we are near the start, asking how best to read, sit or use Google, it is important to have good advice.
Eventually cherries make for a jam. Go @Mingle!
https://boonvilleodz.wordpress.com/oxherd/
This might help shed some light on this great theological dilemma:
http://www.northernsun.com/Religions-T-Shirt-(1432B).html
If all else fails, just choose which style robes you like best. Pretty sure you can't go wrong.
What teachings do you guys follow?
To be honest I follow which ever resonate with me at the time.
They all point to the same thing and have the same central theme.
The culture/expressions change for each person and temperament.
I liked Theravada and Zen but now there's no real central following for me.
I never resonated with Tibetan Buddhism. The only buddhist group in my town is Tibetan. I'm going to go join them on Sunday. Hahaha.
The Sangha I go to I think Is Theravada but they all have hair lol. So I prolly should look into that.
Yeah, it sometimes comes down to these practical issues, like what's available locally. Probably better to have a sangha which isn't a perfect fit than to have no sangha at all.
That's so true, it's more being around a group of like minded humans. And hey I'm sure I will start to enjoy chanting haha. Why not right!
If you're interested in meditation, meditate. If you're interested in hair, go to a barber.
They're all fingers pointing to the moon. People tend to get hung up on the finger, missing the moon entirely; but if they're approached in the right way, I think they all lead in the right direction. What's more important than how they differ is how they speak to you and motivate you to practice.
I find the most important area of differences (just a thought here) is the different meditation instructions.
They complement and if advanced along compliment each other [do I get extra grammar points @federica?]
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/compliment-versus-complement?page=all
In other words the simplest, most new agey or even non Buddhist meditation may introduce us to a deeper awareness, practice and potential insight.
I follow the teachings up the garden of the Gardening Maitreya, which apart from a few spurious and premature compost heaps does not yet exist. Such trivialities should be no obstacle to the determined ...
Or to quote the 'second Buddha'
Nothing comes to beings -- nor does anything disappear. Nothing is eternal -- nor has anything an end. Nothing is identical -- nor is anything differentiated. Nothing moves here -- nor does anything move there.
Nagarjuna
"Gardening is the intention to improve.
Anyone who does not understand the necessity of gardening
as a service to the community and ultimately to themselves
needs to meditate..."
I do like Quantum Buddhism, too.
http://rational-buddhism.blogspot.fi/2012/01/buddhism-quantum-physics-and-mind.html
Examples of suitable robes for Quantum Buddhists.
@Mingle - I want to offer you a suggestion, to let your meditation practice determine the tradition you will follow. With the idea of "letting go of things", you might ask - which one matches your mindset to path of liberation and happiness. Good luck to your practice.
Nyingma Teachings
"Nyingmapas view the first turning of the wheel of Dharma as provisional, which is in agreement with both the Rangtong and Shentong positions. However, the Nyingma school also believes that both the second and third turnings of the wheel of Dharma are equally definitive. Why does the Nyingma school believe this? For the Nyingmas, the second turning of the wheel of Dharma emphasizes emptiness, whereas the third turning emphasizes clarity. Since emptiness and clarity are equal and inseparable aspects of the same nature, they do not contradict each other, and so one cannot make big distinctions between the two. For this reason, the Nyingma school perceives both the second and third turnings of the wheel of Dharma to be definitive, and thus does not consider the Rangtong and Shentong views to be completely separate or mutually exclusive.
In this way, Rangtong and Shentong merge in the Nyingma school without contradiction. On the one hand, Nyingmapas recognize the truth of the Rangtong view, which explains the absolute nature as emptiness. Hence they perceive the second turning of the wheel of Dharma—the Prajnaparamita teachings that clarify the nature of emptiness—as definitive. On the other hand, Nyingmapas also see the third turning of the wheel of Dharma as definitive because it expounds tathagatagarbha and the five wisdoms, four kayas, ten powers, and four fearless states of enlightenment, otherwise known as the clarity aspect of the nature. So clarity and emptiness are both the nature of mind, of tathagatagarbha. This was pointed out and accepted by Mipham Rinpoche as well as the great master Longchenpa. In his Tegsum Dzo, or "Treasure of the Different Doctrines," Longchenpa explains that the clarity and emptiness aspects of the nature are equally natural."
Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches
Opening the Wisdom Door of the Rangtong & Shentong Views (pgs 25-26)
http://www.padmasambhava.org/cart/catalog/product_info.php…
Photo of Venerable Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche in Deer Park, Sarnath, India in 2008.
Zen teachings often hit home for me most, but I do have a great appreciation for the ethics and sutta-based approach that Theravadans often have. So it depends what I feel I need at the time.
Tibetan and Pure Land teachings can be a bit more obscure and can appear to stray from the "original source" a bit, but if you go deep enough you can see that the goals are very similar.
You just have to figure out which method is right for you. That would either be by trying different groups in person, or watching some videos or reading some teachings from each tradition.