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Self-help and Buddhism
NamelessRiver
Veteran
I was talking to a person the other day and she said something to the effect that practicing Buddhism by oneself doesn't go much further than reading self-help material, and that it was ok but I wouldn't go very far without an actual sangha.
What do you guys think about that? Is self-studying so...hum...I don't have a word for it...bordering on useless?
Are some of the books on Buddhism self-help with an eastern package? (I mean that sort of book like "depression and mindfulness", "if the Buddha got married" and things like that).
What is your opinion on self-help books?
Is using Buddhism as a way to get away from suffering a form of self-help too?
What do you guys think about that? Is self-studying so...hum...I don't have a word for it...bordering on useless?
Are some of the books on Buddhism self-help with an eastern package? (I mean that sort of book like "depression and mindfulness", "if the Buddha got married" and things like that).
What is your opinion on self-help books?
Is using Buddhism as a way to get away from suffering a form of self-help too?
0
Comments
Even then, sometimes it's hard to access what you have.
I'm having a particularly rough time of that today for some reason.
What do you mean?
I kind of agree.
At least for me it was.
For me, i could have never imagined the depth of Buddhism if i didn't go to a 10 days retreat.
Things got real to me, things that i believed before were images, figure of speech, turned out to be real in a unimaginable way to me... things that i would have never imagine exist.
But i believe also that my "self help" practice prepared me to this giant step forward, and that there are more steps forward awaiting me...
The Sangha was the vehicle which the Buddha put into place to preserve his teaching upon his death. It's a mechanism by which his teaching could be remembered, spread and practiced at a time when written records were rare and oral communication from teacher to student was the norm. Nowadays, we have access to the Buddha's words even if we do not have access to a branch of the Sangha (I see all Sanghas as branches descending from the Sangha that the Buddha created before he died). I don't think you necessarily need to join a Sangha group to be a Buddhist. One can concievably practice the Eightfold Path in solitude with Dhamma one gets from reading materials in books or online. However, the Sangha provides a place for the teaching to come together in human form. It provides a means by which Buddhism establishes a presence in the larger community.
That, I think, is just as important, but is becoming less of an imperative now that people are living more and more of their lives in cyber-reality. Online Sangha's like this one I think are a way in which the Buddha's teaching will spread into this next century and beyond.
The Heart of the Buddha's teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh
Dropping Ashes on the Buddha by Zen Master Seung-Sahn
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Really though regardless of a Sangha, books, eventually you're going to be in situations where you're suffering and you're alone. Buddha teaches one to be light to him or herself and use life as a teacher. Spiritual teachers have given me good pointers and tips in my 'path' but at the end of the day it's all about practice; moment to moment.
Also Buddha didn't teach anyone to 'get away' from suffering, instead he teaches you to look into it and figure out what it is and it's root cause. He'll tell you it's all mind wrought but until you've experienced suffering and understood the clever tricks the mind plays the lessons will all be in vain. Be mindful of all sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts. This is a simple practice is it not? What do you need a Sangha for? What do you need anything for once you've tapped into the infinite potential of what is and has always been within you. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself. Question everything and you'll realize that your mind really never knew anything to begin with.
you won't let those robots defeat you! (pink superduper robots)
If self-help books are so useless, why would a Pema Chodron be writing them? Why would Jack Kornfield bother publishing books? Is Thich Nhat Hanh peddling snake oil on paper? Why publish Ajahn Chah's thoughts? Sharon Salzberg is another one. Or Tarah Brach. Then there are writers who don't have a Sangha yet teach mindfulness and awareness. Byron Katie, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Daniel Siegal and Eckart Tolle teach some of these principles as well. Is it all a waste? It sounds like an ego trip and self-righteousness to my way of thinking.
In the end it's all "self"-help. No one can apply the effort for you, they can only help you know how to go about doing it. If it is helpful for you to become a monk (and the Buddha knew this would make it easier), then do so; however, even a lay Buddhist may attain full enlightenment. It is entirely up to you and how well you are able to understand the teachings and to apply them.