Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
i have no idea if this is in the right section but
i need to learn how to meditate and all the other things along that line. i also need to gather any religiouse books and scriptures i may need so i can continue my studies [it may have become apparent that im and very stronly considering becoming an actual buddhist but i know almost nothing and i still need to learn more before i can actualy consider complete conversion]
oh and a a side note to anyone who read my first post about the dream i had, i do believe it ment somthing but if i tell anyone im quite sure everyone will think im NUTS ill probobly be pming someone very soon with my suspisions and check it with them to see ahead of time what the general raction would be... maybe when i feel a little more settled in and feel i can ley my gaurd down a bit [havnt had the best of experiences with forums... oh and thank you to everyone ive been talking to for helping me and giving me links and your input on my dreams :bowdown: ]
oh and a a side note to anyone who read my first post about the dream i had, i do believe it ment somthing but if i tell anyone im quite sure everyone will think im NUTS ill probobly be pming someone very soon with my suspisions and check it with them to see ahead of time what the general raction would be... maybe when i feel a little more settled in and feel i can ley my gaurd down a bit [havnt had the best of experiences with forums... oh and thank you to everyone ive been talking to for helping me and giving me links and your input on my dreams :bowdown: ]
0
Comments
May I make a comment or two?
You will have everyone's favourite Buddhist book recommended, be it Sogyal Rinpoche and Thich Nhat Hanh from me or whoever from others. It is sometimes very difficult to know what will 'fit'. Buddhism is not a single, monolithic body of work. Nor is there a 'normative' Buddhism which can be said to be true Buddhism. Whereas, in other faith systems, there are arguments over matters as small as a tiny Greek subscript, Buddhists tend (on the whole) to find a lineage or aspect of modern Buddhism and stick to that, whilst remaining interested in all the many other schools.
The notion of "conversion" is a delicate one. Most religions include some notion of personal revelation and conversion experience. This is not the way with Buddhism. To be a Buddhist means that we are simply practising a specific set of disciplines which have, as their object, the end of clinging and aversion, and understanding the nature of mind.
Many temples and groups use formal ceremonies of Taking Refuge as a sign that we are "working the programme", the Noble Eightfold Path. But it is vital to understand that this is not like baptism, an essential prerequisite to membership. Taking Refuge is part of our daily practice and of the texture of everyday life.
It is very important, IMHO, to avoid the sort of deification that is central to deist/theist religions. As in your dream, as we go to the Buddha for Refuge, the gold leaf begins to come off. We begin to understand the profound humanity of the Buddha as that towards which we aim: this is called the Refuge of Causation because it draws us forward along the Noble Eighfold Path. As in those old "Magic Eye" pictures, what happens is that we suddenly become aware that this "teleological" Refuge, with Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as aspirations is not the whole picture. We become aware of the Refuge of Fruition. This is the realisation that the final result is already with us.
This is the reason, above all, that we need to establish a practice of arousing bohicitta and correct view as they are called in Mahayana. And this practice is, itself, founded in the Noble Eighfold Path.
Thus, as I reflected on your dream I became aware of the way in which the Buddha has transformed from the gorgeous statues and heart-warming stories into flesh and blood. From there the Buddha has ceased even to be that and has become (in brief flashes, I admit) the real nature of this clutch of phenomena that I name "Simon".
In conclusion, I would like to stress that "Buddhism" as such does not exist: it is an amalgam of schools and differing interpretations. It is dynamic and constantly developing. It is also logical and "evidence-based". I once saw the Dalai Lama interviewed. He was asked what he would do if science demonstrated that rebirth did not happen. HHDL answered immediately that he would abandon his belief in it because it is not essential to the Dharma, nor can the Dharma and science be in conflict. Mind you, he went on to ask Jeremy Paxman (the interviewer) what sort of experiment he thought could prove or disprove it!
Is that any use or just more confusion?