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.
We Are One
ajani_mgo
Veteran
Is there something in Buddhism to represent us as one? Other than the Eightfold Path wheel... I mean something that you see on the streets and you know - Yes, that's a Buddhist.
Example, Christians have their crosses... Sikhs turbans... And stuff like that... Anything for us? Not that it really matters.
Example, Christians have their crosses... Sikhs turbans... And stuff like that... Anything for us? Not that it really matters.
0
Comments
Admittedly, when I am using my mala and wind it round my wrist, people ask me if I'm Buddhist.
I wear my mala at work sometimes, which usually sparks interesting discussions with my Asian students.
Bill Hicks (the comedian) did an excellent piece on the natire of wearing a cross in Christianity:
"Do you think when Jesus comes back he wants to see another f***ing cross?! It's like going up to Jackie ONassis wearing a rifle pendant. - ' Hey jackie just thinkin' of John!'"
The one that I have on my desk now was given to me by my wife, and I just put in a two week notice at my current job. Guess I'd better go buy one this weekend. Giving that one away could get me in serious trouble!
There was a huge international movement organised to restore and prevent the Leaning Tower of Pisa from finally actually toppling over.... but one day, either by accident or by design, the Collisseum in Rome, the Parthenon in Athens, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Tower of London and many other countless wonderful monuments all over the world, will shatter and be reduced to dust..... Unthinkable? But true....!
Whenever I see compassion I see the Buddha.
Whenever I see true happiness I see the Buddha.
Whenever I see true sadness I see the Buddha.
So, in answer to your question whenever I see somthing in the streets I know it is the Buddha.
Exactly.
The cross he wore was a burden and clashed with everything he had on.
-bf
.....If the Non-Self was carrying the crucifx, would it be 'naughts and crosses'? :crazy: :hiding:
Well actually what'd the Buddha be freaked out at?
Ajani, I really have no wish to be unfair however it would be no surprise to me if Buddha would dread see you, simply because he would be reminded his work was just about to start all over again.
That was a pretty mean spirited comment in a thread about how "we are one" :shakehead
Yes, I fully agree. The Awakened one see all sentient beings as Buddha. The YOU that I see, is the ME that I be.
Everthing is ONE in the state of Enlightenment. No notion of space and distance (here and there are ONE), size(big and small are ONE), good are bad is ONE, past present and future are also ONE, You and I are ONE. All Buddhas have the same state of mind and share the same Dharma body. Everything is ONE.
cheers,
Kin Lee
I was thinking the other day about the buddha and other sagacious persons of hte past reincarnating in the world as it is. CAn you imagine? Shakyamuni and Jesus would be put in jail as vagrants. Everyone would be too busy rushing around to hear their message. The persons in the biz district would be stepping over them, unseeing because they were afraid that they might be panhandlers.
anyhoo, Why do we find the need to 'idolize' something anyway? is it a human requirement ?
I don't think it's a requirement as such. It seems for many to be a necessity. There is an inherent need to worship something, outside of ones' self, in order to feel part of a community or fraternity. As you say in your profile that you're Christian, you might be better placed to answer this than a Buddhist....!
Welcome by the way!
On my profile I was asked to provide a little history, and as I was raised in the England its very difficult to escape from the Christian theological doctrine that is our society.
My own research has led me to consider that 'Jesus' even if he only exsisted as a metaphor, was an interesting chap. I think it was Pavlov who considered religion to be a social conscience - 'a way to be part of the community' .
I am trusting I wont need a little jade buddha on my bedside table in order to be reminded of my path. But as I still rely heavily on my senses , how can I trust myself anyway ?
I am sure that our senses are among the least accurate instruments available on which to rely, Spike. Reality, or what Buddhists call "suchness", is too filtered by the sense organs to be grasped directly.
Is the pursuit of buddhist individual perfection a failure of your requirement to aid society?
Thank you, Spike, for raising important points. And this one goes right to the heart of the Dharma for me.
As a Brit myself, I acknowledge the role of English Christianity in my background, and am grateful for it. I used to spend hours at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park listening to Lord Soper (the Arch-Community Songster, as my father called him). His Christianity was typically Methodist: based on the Letter of James: faith without good works is crap! I have often argued that the Labour Party (before the abolition of Clause 4 and the coronation of Emperor Blair) was founded more on the theology of the Non-conformists than on the politico-historical theories of Marx. The result has been that my spiritual practice and my action in the world have informed each other.
I doubt whether I would have incorporated so much Buddhist thought and practice into my life had it not been for the Deep Ecology movement. And I would not have encountered that had it not been for my work as a volunteer counsellor and AIDS buddy. Elsewhere, I have mentioned my incredulity on the first occasion I came across the expression "engaged" Buddhism. I had the common view of Buddhists as being detached and uninvolved with social or ecological problems. All phenomena being empty, they seemed to say, it is unskillful to engage with the world and its apparent problems. I had not realised that, whilst it is possible to read some sutras in that way, this is not the only (or, perhaps, the most skillful) way of understanding the Dharma.
Within the wide range of different Buddhisms, there are all sorts of readings of the sutras and all sorts of interpretations of the Dharma. It's quite as bad as Christianity from that point of view. Where they differ is that there is a more general 'ecumenism' among Buddhists than among Christians. Which is not to pretend that there aren't deep antagonisms between some schools!
One of the West's most significant teachers has been Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh whose emphasis on the interconnectedness of all (what he calls "interbeing") has informed much Engaged Buddhist thought and action. When we come to some realisation of our interdependence, on each other and on the world around us, inaction is no longer an option. Even passivity becomes a choice.
Thus, my politics, my Christianity and the Buddhism of engagement came together, like a nest of Celtic snakes. None of the three is worth a fig if they do not bear fruit and useful fruit at that!
Hope that ramble makes some sense. Head still a bit muzzy from 'flu jab!
Alas your conversation is stimulating and informative ! As always when the time is right a way will be found. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. My journey (or a name for my journey ) is starting, please forgive my ignorance and very basic understanding .
I look forward to talking with you in the future.
Sorry to disappoint, Spike LOL
Been there. Been bored by it. Don't think it's worth wasting bandwidth on!
If you are saying put a statue on the table I'd say that's for me to remind myself... Just as you'd put a picture of your loved one in your wallet but not worship it...