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What to do with the dogma
nenkohai
Veteran
My (young) dharma-practice centers around the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path. That is all. I realize there are other of the Buddha's teachings, but these seem core. After Buddha's death, it seems much commentary was added that gave rise to the religion itself. Add-ons. Schools arose: "do it this way." And I feel that Buddhism has fallen into religion's trap: that of "thinking" for its adherents. Buddhist orthodoxy.
In a purely practical sense, I am not interested in learning Indian, sanscrit, or Hindi vocabulary (said with respects, however); I am not interested in religious Buddhist ritual.
I AM interested in the Buddha's kernal-truths. I am interested in a personal and consistent dharma practice.
I am not sure what to do with rest of it... "the stuff."
In a purely practical sense, I am not interested in learning Indian, sanscrit, or Hindi vocabulary (said with respects, however); I am not interested in religious Buddhist ritual.
I AM interested in the Buddha's kernal-truths. I am interested in a personal and consistent dharma practice.
I am not sure what to do with rest of it... "the stuff."
0
Comments
So ... relax. Try not to worry too much about what others embrace. Worry, rather, about what you embrace. Keep on practicing. See what happens. As Gautama is alleged to have said, "It is not what others do and do not do that is my concern. It is what I do and do not do -- that is my concern."
Best wishes.
If no later Buddhas then why practice the dharma at all?
That was three years ago. Over time (and, at first, with reluctance and perhaps even trepidation), I thought to myself, well, a meditation space would function as a pragmatic reminder to myself and I would have a place reserved for sitting. Then a statue. The candles and incense. Then bowing. Then short recitations, and on an on. Now I find myself chanting, doing mantras and even prostrations! I could not have imagined myself doing this before, but now it makes perfectly good sense to me, and really it has a pragmatic function as well. It is all ultimately mental training for mindfulness. Every action is geared toward that in different ways. What I too originally thought of as 'add ons' was actually just an expression of the Buddha's most basic teachings. Just like a seed that contains all the genetic data to grow into a massive tree.
But it takes some time to recognise the mutual support that all these rituals have, and that recognition probably doesn't come all at once to people new to Buddhism. And when you first do something new (any activity, whether a new job, learning to play the piano, you name it) it will feel a bit strange at first. That's normal.
In the meantime, I would suggest, if anything, to remain open to the possibility that these other doctrines and rituals have more to offer in a way to deepen your practice. You may not need those things just yet, but you may find them to be very helpful in the future. Don't think you need to get involved with all that now, but at the same time don't write it off. Just give yourself time to grow and mature into the practice.
One more floral analogy: When you first get a tiny plant, it is best to have it in a small pot. But there comes a time when, in order for the plant to flourish, it needs to be re-potted into a larger pot. I think Buddhist practice is like that too.
One time in his sessions someone (I think it was me) referred to the bowing and chanting and such being as useless as layers of paint slapped onto a Buddha statue. He told me it was more like icing on a cake. The cake is what's important but you don't go around objecting to a bit of icing to decorate and flavor the cake, do you? Nor do you sit around arguing that there's only one flavor or color of decoration that must cover the cake. You just bite in and enjoy a big mouthful of it, icing and cake mixing into one complete experience.
And now I'm hungry for cake. I gotta learn to save these metaphors until after supper.
I like the fact that Buddhism has different techniques and schools, because we are all different, and what works great for one person won't necessarily for another -- it means more people can have to opportunity to connect with the dharma.
There were things I saw others do a year ago that lead me to think "Oooh boy, these are some wacky new agers and I sure would feel foolish doing any of those things." Then in November there I was doing prostrations when I took my refuge vows. Your practice might evolve to include these things. It might not. Either is just fine. When you die you won't be judged on whether you did so many prostrations, what kind incense you had on your altar, how big your Buddha statue was, or which mantras spoke to you. The only thing that really matters in the big picture is how well you strive to practice the core teachings, how you live today, right now. If you don't need the other stuff, you're certainly not obligated to use it.