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Changing my life
I have had a fascination with Buddhism for a long time and have been trying to understand the teachings. However, online recourse's tend to be boring or inaccurate. Meetups and temples are an hour drive from me and difficult to get to.
I am asking for help and support in a direction to start in. What is the best way to start learning? What are some books I may find in my library? Is there anyone out there willing to be so kind to teach me through the internet?
Let me know. Thank you!
I am asking for help and support in a direction to start in. What is the best way to start learning? What are some books I may find in my library? Is there anyone out there willing to be so kind to teach me through the internet?
Let me know. Thank you!
0
Comments
There are books and resources but the basics are a consistent and firm meditation practice, kindness - as much as you can muster, and the principles of awareness - knowing self for what it is, learning within the cauldron of experience (ie life) itself.
Practice, not perfection. In the realm of the Dharma, if you reach out sincerely, the Dharma will also meet you half way so there is an element of Grace involved also.
One step at a time, take it from where you are, be patient, be persistent. If this is the path you are interested in -- a decision only you can make.
It is not necessarily an overnight process in our practice, but there is much truth and benevolence to what the Buddha taught. Peace and joy are possible, but not without some work perhaps.
Wherever and whatever you are however, you are OK.
Good luck and best wishes,
Abu
Zen Meditation Instructions
Best wishes,
Abu
I will check out your link!
Palzang
What you WILL get is an excellent read on the spirit of Buddhism, where your practice is heading, and why that's a good direction to be heading in. This is similar to the sort of understanding that you usually get from an in-person teacher, so if dharma centers are too far away from you, I would recommend this book as a break in between the "heavy" reading.
As for being too far away to attend dharma centers, could you not go once a year, assuming you get vacation time and the money to make the trip?
Palzang
Pleasure.
I'll be going to the library soon, so i will make a list, find what books stick out for me, and then get to reading. Good to know some book suggestions.
I have some experience with meditation, but not like this however. I am used to closed eyes, sitting or laying comfortable, breathing in through your nose out through the mouth, tongue on the roof of your mouth, and letting your energy's flow through your body.
So why is posture and eyes open seeming so important in zazen meditation. What is the differences between the type of meditation I am used to and zazen? What is the goal of zazen meditation? Is this clear mind meditation or am I supposed to be meditating on something?
Thank you all for the suggestions and sharing your knowledge!:D
I wish everyone a great week! and how is everyone?
I think it is easy to become overwhelmed with the huge amount of information out there. Just remember the best part of Buddhism is it's ultimate simplicity. Simplicity for everyone. I think the Buddha crafted his basic message so all could understand and follow it. Stick with the basics and the rest will come.
Mike
Thank you!:D
On one level its all light and fluffy - interesting ideas, cool new people to hang out with, a little bit of a new perspective on your self.
On a second level you might start to see parts of your self you've been ignoring and this is very uncomfortable. This discomfort may push your mind away from what might actually help you. In this way you might stick with the light and fluffy parts of Buddhism, and then it becomes just another entertainment or distraction.
Why do you bring this up if I might ask?
A link I see tossed around a lot is accesstoinsight.org, and for good reason -- it contains or links to a huge chunk of the "Pali Canon" which you can basically look at as the Old Testament of Buddhism, but with considerably less smiting. The text itself is often very muddled to read through directly (not to mention that the written out Canon is probably heavier than you and I combined), but the site has some wonderful "introduction" pages as well.
What I like about the introduction pages is that they mix their own summarization of the major facets of Buddhism with direct quotes from the source material, so you don't have to commit quite as much while still not just pecking around at Wikipedia links. It's essentially the Spark Notes of Buddhism.
That said, Wikipedia is very helpful for looking up the odd term that you don't know like dukkha or arahant, and it has many useful summarizations itself.
Yes...I am very new, Got some books from the library and have started reading:D good reading so far. There have been a lot of terms and words that I have been learning. Lol, and the wiki idea...I already have been doing:D I'm Thomas nice to meet you!:D
Well everything in at least the western culture is geared to getting something. So then you hope to get it and then you fear losing it. IMO this is true even of spirituality. It doesn't depend on the religion, we usually hope to get something from it. Hope to find god or hope become happy, or hope to find some new idea about what its all about.
In always wanting the good things and always pushing away the bad things, we develop a screwed up idea of whats going on. First we believe that if we could only somehow get the good stuff and never get the bad stuff we would be happy, and this warps our perspective and motivation and expectations. Second we see what we want to see and stop seeing what we don't. We erect barriers that block the painful feelings and we engage in behaviors that distract us from our discomfort.
I think to begin looking honestly, to stop warping everything from this dualistic good/bad perspective, we find there is much more discomfort going on than we would hope, and this discomfort is not easy to sit with. In a way it would be much easier to ignore it, to turn on the TV or read a book or go for a bike ride or even join a monastery in the hopes that it would be some kind of mystical escape.
While I can't read minds and may be wrong and I'm a beginner, I feel I've met a bunch of people who are stuck. Maybe they've loosened up a little, become a bit less attached to their egos but are still operating from the same basic dualistic perspective that creates suffering, and they seem to be much more engaged with the book readings or the social aspect or this or that, rather then committing themselves to looking at what is right in front of their faces.
Perhaps someone else could comment on what I wrote.