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Becoming a Buddhist
I've been considering for a long time converting to Buddhism and I've decided to take that first step in converting. I've bought a book of the Dhammapada and I've begun to read them and try to incorporate their wisdom into my everyday life.
I suppose this may seem like a "duh" question, but what does being a Buddhist really do? What makes someone a Buddhist?
I suppose I'm looking for a good starting point to learn more about Buddhism and really start my journey, as well as insight to the life of a Buddhist.
Thank you in advance!
I suppose this may seem like a "duh" question, but what does being a Buddhist really do? What makes someone a Buddhist?
I suppose I'm looking for a good starting point to learn more about Buddhism and really start my journey, as well as insight to the life of a Buddhist.
Thank you in advance!
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Comments
For that, study of the Buddhist teachings and insight meditation are required. 'Being' a Buddhist is about practice; about putting effort into reaching an awakened state that will bring peace to one's mind.
A good resource on Buddhist information for beginners is BuddhaNet at http://www.buddhanet.net.
Namaste
One thing I was wondering is, do you need to have a group to practice with? There aren't any temples in my area.
For a lay Buddhist, who still chooses to live a normal life, it is enough to dedicate time to understanding all of the concepts taught in Buddhism and to follow the precepts. If you're serious about walking the path of enlightenment, then putting forth effort into insight meditation (Vipassana I think it's termed) is an essential for the mind to awaken.
Namaste
Here: http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/
Ajahn Brahm is one of my favourite teachers. A lot of people like his style of teaching because he conveys Buddhist themes in easy to understand language for us Westerners.
With Metta,
Guy
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/budethics.htm
Regarding the Buddhist Ethics. And I feel like I've been reading a lot of gray era of how to be a good Buddhist. For example 1) Respecting all life, with the whole vegetarian/non debate it seems like there's no "right" answer.
How does one remedy these things for being a "Good" Buddhist?
Edit:
It also says,
"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On special holy days, many Buddhists, especially those following the Theravada tradition, would observe three additional precepts with a strengthening of the third precept to be observing strict celibacy."
and then has more precepts... But I can't figure out when these holy days are.
And more questions about meditation...
I read somewhere that said to begin at 15 minutes of meditation a day and work up to 45. How long do people meditate for a day? What's a recommendation for meditation?
[/FONT]
I guess you will see widely varying practices among the 400 million (or so...) practicing Buddhists in this world, but the official version is that Buddhists are striving towards enlightenment and the end of suffering. How do they do that? By following the eightfold path, basically, cultivating ethical conduct, mental development, and wisdom.
Cheers, Thomas
On vegetarian ethics -- Buddhists don't so much talk about absolute 'right' and 'wrong', but rather that your choices have causes, and results. Just search your own conscience about the issue. Maybe try being a vegetarian and see what happens: you can always go back to meat. Or, start with 1 or 2 days a week. Or don't eat only certain types of meat. See how you go.
On festivals -- honestly, don't fret about observing these at this stage. They are very culturally specific and don't necesarily apply to you.
On meditation -- it's more about quality than quantity. It's not a competition. Just start with what you can and see how you go. Even 5 minutes a day is better than nothing. Over time, it will probably naturally increase, but there is no pressure or rush.
Namaste
Yet again, more questions!
This time it's about:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5) To undertake the training to abstain from substances which cause intoxication and heedlessness. This precept is in a special category as it does not infer any intrinsic evil in, say, alcohol itself but indulgence in such a substance could be the cause of breaking the other four precepts
My question about this is, should you avoid it at all costs? Or only if it is something which yields you breaking the other four precepts? In other words, if you get drunk, and don't break the four precepts nor anything else ever, is it still bad?
Not that I'm a lush, but I'm more curious about my understanding thus far.
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thanks for this link. great stuff
Namaste
Every action (or is it just interactions? See Question 1) generates Karma, positive or negative (Suffering and unwholesomeness)
Karma is not some magical force, but more the concept of you reap what you sew.
But I do have some questions about Karma...
1) Is Karma only created from interactions between people? Or can a person create good Karma by doing something by themselves?
2) Does Karma "even out" if you do something bad but then do something good can the bad Karma and even Karma even out? Or is it not like a scale, but many different paths of Karma in one's life?
3) If you have bad Karma for a wrong action or wrong thought, and realized that, were sorry for what you did, reflected and apologized sincerely without intent to ever do it again, does this generate good Karma
2) More like your multiple paths analogy. It's not a simple acounting book of pluses and minuses.
3) Don't be obsessed with keeping score of karma. But obviously regretting and making amends for a previous 'bad' action is a good thing, because it means you are becoming more self-aware, more mindful of the causes and conditions in your life.
Namaste
Assuming I'm understanding things correctly, in Buddhism people have an immortal soul, and that's how you're reincarnated. Is it called the soul?
My question is regarding animals. What do Buddhists believe happen to them? From my understanding, they don't have the ability to reach nirvana. But do they have immortal souls too? Or are they just cute creatures?
Sorry if this is a stupid qustion!
Namaste
So I would say...
Try really hard to understand Dharma, try even harder not to believe Dharma.
Then see what happens
namaste:)
Thanks for the site SherabDorje... I just downloaded some 442 Dharma Talks and burned them on a Disc (4.7GB) to listen to in the car on the drive to and from work... That's probably about 400 hours + of Dharma listening, so it'll take me quite a long time to hear them all...
If it doesn't distract you from driving, then it's great to have that much material. Does your car play audio files if they're on a DVD? I know mine doesn't....
Namaste
Cool! Just glad I could help. I really get a lot of good out of listening to Gil Fronsdal. And his voice is very relaxing too. Be careful not to get too relaxed while you drive!!
My drive is only 10 minutes, so I'll probably not have enough time to get to absorbed...
hmmm... I haven't got it out in the car yet to try... never thought of it actually.... got my fingers crossed though... If not I have CD's I can burn them on... just not as handy as having them all on 1 disc as I believe the CD's are only 800MB... I'll check tomorrow so I can burn some CD's for Monday if need be...
Thanks for mentioning it...
Tibetans I have known just say om mani peme hung. Once seems to be enough.
Turn out that basically almost nobody know what is the nature of reality and how to live.
Turn out that when you do, when you understand how the mind work and whats the nature of reality, suffering "stress, anxiety, fear, suffering from physical pain etc..." is optional.
And regarding teaching, first learn how to meditate (won't take long). Then learn the 8 fold path
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/8foldpath.htm
While I've always been a compassionate person, and respectful of all life, I've always been a part of the thought of mind that sometimes one must be sacrificed for the greater good of the many. Even if that one is myself.
I've been wondering, is this way of thinking completely not Buddhist? Even though the emphasis is on the greater good and the benefit of the overall life rather than the benefit of the individual?
This is a very strong element in Mahayana and Vajrahana. The relatively well-known prayer by Shantideva goes:
.
May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my striving.
May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil, or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.
May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds,
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored on finding repose.
May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food;
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.
May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy;
May the forlorn find hope,
Constant happiness, and prosperity.
May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests;
May all medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit.
May all who are sick and ill
Quickly be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases there are in the world,
May they never occur again.
May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed;
May the powerless find power,
And may people think of benefiting each other.
For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world.
<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> Shantideva Prayer #3
May I be a guard for all those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road,
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.
For all those ailing in the world,
Until their every sickness has been healed,
May I myself become for them
The doctor, nurse, the medicine itself.
Cheers, Thomas
But, if I'm understanding them correctly they're saying may everyone have the things they need, essentially. Which is important, but the way I see it is how could everyone have everything they need?
Perhaps an extreme example, could be there's a sickness in a town, and one person has something in their blood that can cure the sickness. (Bear with me, this example isn't medically correct I know but it's all I can think of) To cure it though they'd have to drain all the blood from the person, to have enough blood for everyone to be cured. So the options would be, let everyone die, risk no one being cured by not taking enough blood so the one person survives, or killing the one person by draining all their blood so everyone else survives.
I feel like, something always has to come from somewhere else. Everything we have is because something else was given, be it extreme like a life, or mild like fruit we eat. We cannot receive without something first being given. And that, sometimes, sacrifices has to be made in taking those things for the survival and benefit of the whole.
Essentally, is it a very non-Buddhist thought that I'd be willing to sacrifice the one person, in my previous example, to save the many?
But it is quite 'un-Buddhist' to spend too much time pondering hypothetical questions removed from your daily life.
I really need to take this advice!
Thank you.
If you take the word "need" literally then there are enough resources in the world for everyone to have all the food, water and basic medicine they need. There are NOT enough resources for everyone to have the standard of living that most people have in the US.
One in my personal life is I have a boss who isn't a very good person. He lies, and cheats, and asks those below him with little power to do the same for him.
I try not to wish ill on him, nor speak poorly of him, and try to focus on the aspects of the problem that are within my capabilities to change, rather than letting the problems of another trouble me.
But I wonder in trying to follow the path when is something unright speech about someone, and just fact about their character? Is it speaking ill of him if I say what a bad person he is?
Also, is it focusing on problems other than my own if I approached him with concerns about his actions?
Sorry for all the random questions, and thank you all very much. I'm trying to incorporate the wisdom of the Path and the Dhammapada into my life and live it fully. I post something here when it comes up as a problem in my understanding or perceived conflict in my life.
Thank you all
The world is full of dumb, arrogant, ignorant, lying and cheating people. The world is also full of bright, helpful, insightful, truthful and upright people. The problem is that these are not two different sets of people. These are properties that we can find in all people, but they are developed to different degrees, and often intermixed.
When you speak about the unwholesome/bad properties of somebody then you are addressing the negative side of a person which tends to fuel, enhance, and amplify that particular side. It is therefore unskillful. Calling mistakes and weaknesses into mind is only useful for the purpose of correcting behaviour through reflection and analysis.
Cheers, Thomas
Animals are believed to have a 'lower' consciousness than humans, and they are thus considered to exist in a different 'realm'. Depending on an animal's actions, it may eventually be reborn into a higher realm.
Humans are supposedly privileged in being the only creatures capable of acheiving enlightenment in their lifetimes.
Namaste
I predict that there is a 50% chance that someone will cite MN 38 now.
Cheers, Thomas
Smart move.....:D
Namaste
There's no need to even call yourself a Buddhist. Many don't, which really gets the Census Bureau.
Namaste