What exactly is Buddhist practice?
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
So it occurred to me, what exactly is Buddhist practice, and what is its effect? For a non-Buddhist observer, the practice appears to be the outward form — a long row of Tibetan monks chanting, a solitary person sitting in meditation, someone doing many prostrations in front of a Buddha statue.
For the person doing the practice, the outward is a representation of the inward, and it is the inward that is more important. The chanting monks may be reminding themselves of the compassion of Chenrezig, the solitary meditator may be deepening his sense of emptiness, the person doing prostrations may be trying to reduce their stubbornness.
The outward can be a way into the inward, following the hints of one’s sincerity. But after a while, one can carry the inward along with onesself, and the outward becomes no more than an occasional reminder.
Comments
Today I think that......
Buddhist practice is a journeying along a path towards suffering's cessation in accord with the 4NT, the 8FP, anicca & anatta.
Nutshell answer...."Kindness"
Longer version...(minus all the bells & whistles...)
To become familiar with the workings of the mind and this familiarity breeds compassion & contentment...
In other words...
One changes the way one looks at things and the things one looks at change..
and through this ongoing awareness, neuropathways rearrange...
That is how I understand things @Kerome. ✅🙏🏽💗
However what if the outward is a broken priceless bonsai or a homeless beggar? Could we sense the shine amidst the dust and broken branches? In that reflection that unearths we find our distortion, reality and perfecting. 👤
Long live the Three Jewels:
Diamonds, Pearls ... and Friends of The Diamond Buddha ...
Yes but... what about Buddha Amitābha? Wouldn’t he want you to practice on your own?
What about her? Fo is the Chinese word for Buddha. So Fo Amita Baa is the Buddha Lamb.
... eh wait ...
Nobody is alone. Even in their own head, practice puréeland or ... oh wait we are all alone. Always.
Tee hee. Proximity is not assimulation/merger.
Namo Amitābha
Amitoufo (pronounced Arm-ee-toe-fo)
Where is the train to the Pure Land? Oh wait...
I see Buddhism as a process of ever greater awareness and its application in the art of transforming suffering to grateful understanding or simply joy.
My practice is the cultivation of skillful means through meditation and trial and error. It entails the mixing of the outer and inner worlds and is not complete without social engagement at one end and solitary meditation on the other.
I see the eight spokes of the wheel as "skillful" or "harmonious" rather than "right".
Buddhism is about developing self-awareness, and from that starting to clearly see how we operate and how we are/not. This gradually produces inner change so that wof can understand that there is only this moment, it is constantly changing .. and rather than grabbing onto desires or running from aversions, we gradually learn to accept and relax into change .. and instead of focusing on ourselves, we develop compassion and focus on others.
These are the two ways out of suffering: wisdom and compassion. And apparently it takes countless lifetimes to change this way, but at least the smallest of steps makes noticeable differences within us.
This is my understanding, as I have been taught, have read, and have experienced. However, I do not cling to it too tightly because once every 5 to 10 years some new insight worms in and I realize that what I THOUGHT I understood was so incomplete that it has to change, sometimes significantly. And when we think we are becoming wise, all we have to do is look at what we thought we knew some years ago, and realize that we were ignorant .. and probably still are!
And that is what I love about Buddhism .. it is constant new learning and that is exciting in itself.
Everything evolves will come to mean nothing is true
~Friedrich Nietzsche~
I would suggest tentatively that all Buddhist practises are aimed at reaching one pointedness of mind which is the access to insights beyond verbalisation and concepts. The aim of mantra or vipassana or shi-nay is that one pointedness which in turn gives rise to what was always there beneath all pairs of opposites.
The practice of awakening.
AKA: Depends upon which Buddhist you ask.
Peace to all
Is there online buddhist practice now ?
http://eiskjelonen.simplesite.com/ A good read,. To all the ignorants who live in ok situations, and love Buddhism, by watching videos, but do not notice the follower guru of this religion of peace spends $25000 an hour on premium level covert body guards and event security team, trying to defend this by saying that the death of the current Dalai Lama causes instability in Tibet.
People there live in poverty not because of China, but because of the beliefs that makes those people live like primitives and believe in a dysfunctional religion.
Its a large, diverse world, thinking you can make everyone be just like yourself is a recipe for misery. I had hoped we had all learned that lesson during the last century, I'm hoping we don't need to learn it again.
For whom?
Looks like we will never know. Or in my case not bothering to read ...
The Troll in you lives on to suffer in ever decreasing cycles. On ya bike!
Did I do good?
Yes that was one who got through the vigilant screening of new entrants. He does seem to have had a pretty singleminded purpose... but hey, gone now. Banished back to the nether realms.
I actually took a look at the site he was promoting, it was not a good read (he lied). Just more of the same anti-Dalai Lama-ism.
There is!
You can find it on secondlife as an example ...
https://secularbuddhism.org/supportive-virtual-buddhist-communities/
or ... start a thread with this question ...
Happiness ...
I'm reminded of what a friend in Europe's Dharma teacher once said to his Sangha, when a question was asked in regards to happiness and Dharma practice....
"Beware of the unhappy Buddhist...They are not really practicing....just being intellectual"
Hence why
"When the intellect ventures into where it does not belong, it becomes lost in it's own confusion !"
~One of Christmas Humphry's books on Zen~
I like that but I feel this understanding is a natural result of digesting the dharma in a specific way. To have that as the "goal" could be problematic if it is reached.
What is next?
Some meditative experiences whisper that while
one pointedness of mind is still perception bound it's simply another step among many on the journey towards suffering's cessation.
Going, going, always going on, always becoming!
What mastication's over a future potential step does not divert ones attention away from fully attending to ones present step.
Aye...one pointedness isn’t an end in itself. It’s a necessary way to re-collect ourselves.
Or that’s what I’ve heard.
A great question I always ask ...
In alchemy this is coagulate and dissolve.
In Christianity it is Cods Will Be Done
In Buddhism it is the constant returning to Beginners Mind Present @how mentions
In Taoism it is the yin turning to yang
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