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Hello , new to the forum also im new to to Buddhism. I have been reading a fair amount lately. I dont belong to any religion was never christened and religion has played no part in my life. Im 41 yrs old happily married with a 6 yr old daughter have my own business and live in a modern European capital city. The trouble is with buddhism i dont want to be a hypocrite about it. From what i have read so far from THE FOURTEEN PRECEPTS OF ENGAGED BUDDHISM, some of it i would find hard to put into practice.Im eager to find some meaning from Buddhism and put it into my life but at the same time do not want to be two faced about it, anyway i will keep reading up and see what i will find..
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Buddhist practice is quite simple really...in principle...in practice though we might find it difficult. If there is difficulty it means there are attachments.
I have not heard of the "14 precepts...", but the precepts most lay Buddhists take are the 5 precepts. These are known as the "harmless precepts". By keeping the 5 precepts you will be giving others a great gift. You give them the gift of fearlessness. You will also be giving yourself a great gift by freeing your own mind from some of the most coarse forms of suffering.
Using the five precepts as a base, your mind is ready to develop Samadhi (stillness) which leads to peace of mind. This kind of peace will bring a lot of happiness, but it is still impermanent and still not yet the goal of Buddhist practice. It is an important step though.
Once the mind achieves some level of peace and inner-happiness (happiness which is not dependent on the 5 senses) you can now focus the mind to the development of wisdom. Wisdom, in Buddhist terminology, means seeing that which is impermanent as impermanent, seeing that which is suffering as suffering and seeing that which is not-self as not-self. Pretty simple, right? In principle, yes, but the practice will show where your attachments lie. If you are like most of us, you will have many to begin with; your body, your mind, your friends and family, your house, your business, your...
But what is really "yours"?
Thich Nhat Hanh taught on the fourteen precepts. Search out plumb village.
What do you find particularly hard? The only real difficult one is engaging in an occupation that is not harmful.
Peace
Mtns
It is only the monks and nuns who are not allowed to use money. Lay Buddhists are encouraged to generate a source of income in a way that is not harmful to others and to use that income to ensure that their family (and themselves) are well taken care of. The Buddha was very practical and down-to-earth about the advice he gave:
"Sigalovada Sutta: The Discourse to Sigala" (DN 31), translated from the Pali by Narada Thera. Access to Insight, June 8, 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.31.0.nara.html
If you earn your money in an unwholesome way, such as killing or stealing, this would not be "Right Livelihood". A barber is Right Livelihood, so you are fine.
I think there's a difference between accumulating wealth and having enough to be comfortable.
I have read about how people got first interested in Buddhism . Some seemed to be disillusioned with life and other forms of religion.With personal problems and what not. As i have never been religious and dont come from that kind of background, also i have to say my life is pretty good . I am wondering now why it is now i have suddenly become very interested in finding out about Buddhism?
That's my theory, anyway. I am sure many would disagree.
I am sure you're the only one who can answer that question. Perhaps you're somewhat inquisitive and you feel like you've got the gist of the other religions and Buddhism remains somewhat confusing or mysterious. Maybe it's not all that confusing and actually makes sense.
Again, only you would know. However the Buddhist approach would be to make the observation and take it for what it is rather than try to find some meaning in it.
As Mountains has already mentioned, you should first familiarise yourself with core teachings such as The Four Noble Truths, otherwise its easy to get confused by all the Buddhism-related information on the internet.
http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble.htm
This might be a good place to start for reading general information :
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/index.htm
Kind wishes,
Dazzle
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Then go with that feeling!
And for me, yes. As soon as I read about the Four Noble Truths, I was like "Holy crap this is amazing" and I felt like my mind had been blown wide open after years of being locked up in militant atheism.
What do you find confusing? Really, the only things you need to know/understand at the beginning are really just the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Everything else will come, and some may argue that the rest is not really necessary.
Like ShiftPlusOne said, only you can answer this question.
For myself, it was that there was a great, deep truth and "naturalness" to Buddhist teaching. It doesn't feel contrived like other religions.
Hmmm ... I see your problem - renunciation is certainly going to be difficult for you.
My friend, I live on a incredibly small pension, well below the so-called poverty line. I found that all that 'good life' you are seeking is an illusion. Sure you may feel good, but eventually you cannot sustain the 'good life' and then you will have to change - and change causes suffering.
The reason I am a Buddhist is that I want to see an end to the world's suffering and the only way I can do that is by helping others to eliminate 'wrong views'. So the second thing you will have to develop is compassion for other sentient beings.
Having engaged renunciation and developed compassion you will be a position to accept that all of that which your are chasing, grasping really, is an illusion because it cannot last. Once you are in the process of dying all that 'good life' will be no help.
I am sorry if I contributed to your confusion in any way shape or form. Talking about anatta (not-self) is potentially confusing to beginners. It was something that kept me awake at night too for a while. Don't worry about things too much, just let it go in one ear and out the other. If what we are saying doesn't help to bring you peace of mind then throw it away.
With Metta,
Guy
I hope you enjoy your classes.