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Is it fun being a Buddhist?
lobster
Crusty Veteran
Then they asked some interesting questions: Is there a God in Buddhism? Do Buddhists eat different food? Do they have a celebration like Christmas? Is it fun being a Buddhist? How do you become one?
The above is from another thread. The questions are from children.
It often is not fun BUT it can be. How?
- More child dharma, less sombre sangha sufferers
- More fun meditations. Will introduce red nose tantra teachings for clowns ...
- Send Ajahn Brahm on a comedy workshop to increase his skill set
Any other tips?
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Comments
Take every opportunity to find humour where you're at. Laugh. Everything is so ridiculous, especially the really serious bits.
(This of course, does not mean laughing inappropriately; schadenfreude is inconsiderate; laughing at the guy who slipped and banged his head on the ice, is inappropriate).
But many serious situations can be lightened by finding something to smile about within them.
Find it. And smile.
After all, most smiles are begun by other smiles. And we all look younger with a smile on our face.
Be young at heart. therein lies the fun.
Dodge ball meditation possible? Reverse the fifth precept? Mindful pizza eating? Mindful artwork? Dharma quests in the world of Skyrim?
Some things don't seem to fit in as well but some fun things I think we can do with the dharma. I am oversees so I don't get to partake but it seems my teachers group likes to hike around the wilderness of Wales and do smoke puja or things like that. That sounds very fun to me. My brother has a hobby of looking and taking pictures of mushrooms. So some things like outdoors seem to fit. I don't think it's a good idea to reverse the fifth precept I guess though. Also some traditions like Tibetan singing and dancing (songs of enlightenment) are part of it while some traditions entertainment shows is prohibited but sometimes it's hard to know what types of entertaining shows they were talking about in ancient scripture?
Of course it is fun being a Buddhist. Part of the development of self confidence derived from the practice of Buddhism is the increase in the ability to better enjoy life with all its foibles. For me Buddhism is life and life is fun. of course life is serious. There is nothing more serious than life. But it is the greatest adventure. it is the ultimate adventure and we each have the opportunity to live it fully. life with all its glory, with all its pain, is full of mystery and exciting possibilities each and every moment. Yes Buddhism is fun because it allows me to create value from every situation. It enables me to love myself with the inclusive love the opens to take in family, friends and strangers.
Peace to all
Thanks everyone, we may haz plan ...
From @federica we may need the taboo breaking crazies
https://cundi.weebly.com/crazies.html
Some of @Jeffrey ideas are part of traditions for example beginner zen monastics quite often have to train under the cook, who trains them in mindful cooking.
https://goodlifezen.com/zen-in-the-kitchen/
As we increasingly take formal stillness into more activities, all potentially becomes dharma mindfulness. Initially I would suggest from experience this is easier in quieter activities ...
For me:
Here’s the ‘Housework Meditation’ technique:
Focus only on the task at hand
And your breathing
Breathe normally, just pay attention to it
And the task at hand
Try and catch yourself when you start thinking about something else, something irrelevant to the task at hand
Then – without berating yourself for losing concentration – move your focus back to the task at hand
repeat until the task is done.
http://rebelzen.com/2008/10/how-to-meditate-while-youre-doing-housework/
Celebrate. Dance. Be creative. Enjoy being together. Make music.
And afterwards do a little meditation together.
Unconditional LOVE is god...
Buddhists eat mindfully, this way the food becomes different...
Every day is a celebration where we exchange gifts of smiles & kindness with friends and strangers..
The Heart of Happiness (being happy) is a serious business...just ask the Dalai Lama
With practice... (This question is quite profound.... )
No fun? Pah! What sort of austerity is fun?
Flower bondage?
or hardcore mala chains ...
The older these monks get (and I've been with my own teacher for almost 20 years), the more relaxed and amused they get.
MUST be fun.
I can't speak for all Buddhists, but can say that the more serious my practice became, the more life experiences seemed to lighten up...what was once important/serious gradually became less important when looked at more closely.... ie when sorting out fact from fiction...in fact the thoughts that pop into my head are ridiculously funny at times...
I tend to laugh at my self a lot...especially when those ridiculous thoughts pop in to say hello...
I guess I've changed the way I look at things and the things I look at have changed
...and having a happy disposition helps... but is not essential ...after awhile happiness(AKA a sense of well being) grows on you as the mind gradually sheds its accumulated junk )
And as my friend's Dharma teacher once told her group...
"Beware of unhappy Buddhists...they are not really practicing...just being intellectual"
Dear BlueNoses and Crusty Clowns of Tantra
Time to tweak
As we knows, nobody on reflection is either a complete clown or an incomplete Buddha ...
However if we laugh for others maybe we can collect:
my fake zen,a time for work and a time for fun.literally im man child.got no teeth."perfect"--born without teeth;die without teeth.
@paulyso you might be interested in the Sacred Buddha Tooth of Kandy fairy story ...
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-buddhas-tooth-449905
You could not make this stuff up ... or then again ...
Must be all that 'letting go' and simplified living ...
They are also on permenant 'retreat', surrounded by dharma fanatics friends and ...
No wonder they are one of the three jewels ...
If someone sponsors your business class trips and 5-star hotel stays - plus all the fame and fortune - then I am sure you'll also be amused and relaxed all the time.
@techie sometimes I am rendered speechless by your banal and tactless whittering.
Such a stupid thing to say.
Would you rather they walked everywhere and slept in a cardboard box?
At least their lives have meaning and significance.
Which is more than can be said for others who travel by private plane and feel entitled to luxurious surroundings.
There are many Buddhists even today (in places like Burma and Bhutan) who live very simple lives, survive by asking for alms, never accept donations or luxuries of any kind. We should derive inspiration from them, wouldn't you agree?
Cardboard box? You were lucky. We used to dream of a cardboard box!
Cue Four Yorkshiremen ...
Not necessarily, no.
Poverty is not a form of inverse-spiritual attachment. Spiritual poverty is a state of inner emptying. Are we independent of status, spiritual attainment, ladder or level based spiritual attire?
Sometimes we have to wear out the adornments ...
And now back to fun riches ...
Again, of course it's fun being a Buddhist. It is also challenging, sometimes difficult, occasionally tedious, but still, even then, fun. When I developed that strong sense of self worth coupled with the realization that everyone is worthy of respect as a person, (yes, that can be a challenge regarding some people), life became fun. Buddhism and life are interchangeable. Of course, not the "Ha! Ha! Bunji Jumping crazy fun", but the " Life is good, I can appreciate any challenge and everyone, including myself." kind of fun.
Peace to all
Thanks @Lionduck
It is mature, tempered, calm fun. Frenzy and chocolate eating fun (two bars today for me)
is often indulgence and attachment rather than enjoyment. Subtle.
Long live Chocolate Buddha!
^^^. Literally, the picture of Impermanence!
My mother once said, I have tried living with money and living without money, and with money is definitely better. But I think as long as you can be happy and find time for meditation and dharma talks, you will be fine.
Expansion:
I once attended a Workshop, run over 3 days, by the now well-known Karen Kingston - an authority on Feng Shui, Space-Clearing and living in harmony with your surroundings and neighbours.
She explained that when she came to the UK, for around 6 months, to organise and administer, hold and conduct Workshops, she stayed with her sister in their shared-owned house , complete with 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, downstairs loo, sitting room, dining room, Kitchen, conservatory, utility room and gardens front and back, and there never seemed to be enough room to do what she needed to do.
Back in Bali, where she also lived for the remaining 6 months of the year with her partner, they lived in a 3-room shack-cum-hut, on the beach front where he ran a small and modest business of hiring out beach parasols and sunbeds, Mopeds, scooters and mini-mokes to tourists. They sat on orange boxes or cushions, cooked over one fireplace, and slept on rush mats. They showered using the beach showers and used the bathroom facilities there too, which her partner maintained. All her belongings fitted into one tea chest.
It's all relative to environmental conditions, lifestyle, social habits and attitudes.
We can derive inspiration, yes.
But we cannot apply their living style, to ours. Not to the full extent.
We may modify, but cannot emulate precisely.
This no doubt all depends on the roller coaster ride known as Karma....Sometimes up...Sometimes down....Along the straight...Then around the bend... Never a dull moment
I guess the more experiential understanding gained, the more one starts to loosen up and go with the flow which can be fun
There's a difference between a comfortable life and a life of luxury.
It’s all relative... here in Europe or the US a comfortable life would be said to be a home, furniture to fill it and a semi-regular pay-check. In Africa or in North Thailand it might be different. But I don’t think my family and I will ever be accused of living a life of luxury. We live very frugally although we are not poor.
... And which applies to you?
I prepared my breakfast and poured water into the electric jug and turned it on, but having a moment of 'mindlessness' ( not the wholesome mindlessness
) forget to put the jug lid down which would automatically switch off when boiled... I went off to have a shower...Came back into the kitchen and it was like a sauna ....water on the floor water dripping down the walls and all over the bench...
Now in a past life because of all the mess, I would have really beaten my self up, and would have whinged bitched moaned about how useless I was AKA negative self talk...But instead I just laughed and set to work cleaning it all up,and in doing so, the thought popped into my head "Hmm now the floor benchtop and walls have been steam cleaned ...so that's an unexpected bonus
...
After all......
I have done that too... fortunately we have an electric kettle that switches itself off itf the water gets to below a safe level... then you have to wait 1 minute before activating the kettle switch again (during which time you've filled it up again, and wiped the underside of the kitchen wall cabinets anyway....)
Steam cleaning whilst making tea ...
Sounds like a plan ...
Bravo @Shoshin ... don't fume and get steamed up over the little stuff, eventually it is all little stuff ... Attitude is the Middle Way between steaming frenzy and frantic steam ??? ??
Correct me if I’m wrong but the chubby statue at the top of this post (as well as the chocolate “Buddha” picture) isn’t Buddha! He’s the “fat bald monk”. The Chinese “Santa Clause” of sorts. He lived post Buddha time frame and gave presents and laughter to kids of the Chinese countryside. Legend has it.
From all known accounts, the Buddha was never anything else but thin and never “chubby”.
Am I correct? Has anyone else know of this as well?
@Buddha-Dude Yup. Common knowledge...
Nobody said he is THE Buddha, but he is taken by some to be A Buddha...
There are also quite a few efigies or statues depicting the Buddha when he fasted for too long a period and nearly died, whereupon he was fed rice and milk by a young girl, which prompted him to subsequently speak of The Middle Way...
Yep...that was about it.....
Her name is Hotty, or Hotei
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/hotei.shtml
Of course only her Buddha Nature is gender independent ...
What a Babe!
You had fun being a Buddhist?! Sheer luxury! We had to meditate 26 hours a day, standing on our heads in a swamp, in between working three jobs on zero-hours contracts.... ?
Don't forget walking backwards through the snow...
Shere luxary. We didn't have any reference points to know what was forwards or backwards.
Sheer luxury! We never had forwards and backwards, or side to side. We had to make do with a bit of up and down, and even that were unreliable. ?
We all began as a bit of up and down, @DairyLama ....
While holding a hot baked potato.
Hot baked potato?! We could only dream of such things. Sheer luxury!
I think it's fun. I take myself wayyyy less seriously now.
@Quidditch, yep, my New Year’s resolution has been to take life less seriously. And it is helping.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah....!
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.It depends how one defines 'Fun' of course....
Fun is also relative. Mindfulness snaps me out of dwelling on negativity pretty quickly.
I used to trust my mind. Now I consider mind to be an interdependent manifestation of a variety of crazed karma.
For example who would dwell in and on negative being if they had a choosing? Not this encrustacean ...
In other words who would dwell in a hell realm without the Mind of a Purelander?
Fun is in the Buddhist sense not sought or fought but the result of presence or awareness/mindfulness.
There is a fun plan, sometimes called dharma ...