I'm currently exploring paganism but I've been a Buddhist for many years, so I'd be happy to respond to any questions you might have, particularly on the practical side. Just be aware that Buddhism is pluralist and diverse, so giving a pan-Buddhist response to particular questions is often not straightforward. :0
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Once a man, like the sea I raged;
Once a woman, like the earth I gave;
And there is in fact more earth than sea.
Genesis lyric
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
I got two questions actually, 1. How did you join Buddhism? What's Buddhism about anyway?
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
I got interested in it quite young and basically looked in the phone book to find out where the nearest Buddhist group was meeting ( phone books were used in the olden days because we didn't have the internetOriginally posted by Bartmanhomer View PostI got two questions actually, 1. How did you join Buddhism? What's Buddhism about anyway?
).
As for what Buddhism is about, I think that essentially it's about liberation from suffering, though that's expressed differently across the various schools.
In recent years my practice has involved meditating regularly and trying to maintain mindfulness throughout the day, paying close attention to experience in order to understand it better. There is a strong focus on self-awareness too.Once a man, like the sea I raged;
Once a woman, like the earth I gave;
And there is in fact more earth than sea.
Genesis lyric
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
I'm aware that Buddhism, in itself, doesn't entail a belief in reincarnation, but would you say that the majority of Buddhists do or do not believe in it? How actively are The Eight Steps generally practiced? How do you generally interpret the idea that worldly desires, essentially speaking, cause suffering?Comment
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Traditionally Buddhist teaching does include a cycle of rebirth but quite a lot of westerners aren't comfortable with that. I wouldn't say that a belief in rebirth is necessary for effective practice though.Originally posted by Herbert View Post
I think most Buddhists practice actively but what they do depends on their culture and the school they belong to. There is a 3-fold version of the 8-fold path, morality, meditation and wisdom, that gives a good feel for it.
Technically it's craving which causes suffering. Craving is tanha, literally "thirst".Once a man, like the sea I raged;
Once a woman, like the earth I gave;
And there is in fact more earth than sea.
Genesis lyric
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Ah, okay. I got the sense that rebirth was generally accepted, but I wasn't certain that it wasn't just a facet of those adjacent to Hindi majorities. Never heard of a three-fold path, but that does sound simpler. You learn a new proper translation every day. (I'm mostly just curious, but I try to incorporate disparate elements into my particular religion, hence why I prefer to know about them.)Comment
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Rebirth and reincarnation are not the same things.
"Rebirth" is the ability to change, and actually is required - #3 of the 4 Noble Truths, is, roughly, "suffering can end."
"Reincarnation" is the transmigration of souls. Worldwide, the majority of Buddhists do believe in reincarnation, but a person can be a Buddhist without believing in reincarnation.Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
What do you think are the biggest differences between Buddhism and Paganism?baah.Comment
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
That's right. Simply put, re-birth is reincarnation without a soul. In any case there are lots of references in the Buddhist suttas to beings "re-appearing" in different realms, according to their actions ( ie karma ).Originally posted by B. de Corbin View Post
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I don't know enough about paganism yet to give an informed response, but one difference I've noticed is that Buddhism tends to be inward looking while paganism tends to be more outward looking. For example when working with the elements in a Buddhist context I would be looking at them primarily as parts of the body, while in paganism the focus seems to be on how the elements inform and define the natural world ( I think! ).What do you think are the biggest differences between Buddhism and Paganism?
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Not really. Some Buddhists talk about moment-to-moment rebirth, the continual rebirth of self-view, though IMO there isn't much support for that interpretation in the suttas.Originally posted by B. de Corbin View PostLast edited by Spiny Norman; 28 Nov 2015, 11:01.Once a man, like the sea I raged;
Once a woman, like the earth I gave;
And there is in fact more earth than sea.
Genesis lyric
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
While I was using somewhat imprecise language, under those definitions, reincarnation would be a form of rebirth. In any case, I generally take a more literal form of the word rebirth than some; namely, being born again (literally, not metaphorically). Using rebirth to refer to something other than being conceived, and then exiting the womb, for the second plus time, is somewhat devaluing the idea of entering the world of the living.Originally posted by B. de Corbin View PostComment
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Birth and death are described in a literal way in the Buddhist suttas. Here for example in SN12.2:Originally posted by Herbert View Post
“And what, bhikkhus, is aging-and-death? The aging of the various beings in the various orders of beings, their growing old, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of vitality, degeneration of the faculties: this is called aging. The passing away of the various beings from the various orders of beings, their perishing, breakup, disappearance, mortality, death, completion of time, the breakup of the aggregates, the laying down of the carcass: this is called death. Thus this aging and this death are together called aging-and-death.
“And what, bhikkhus, is birth? The birth of the various beings into the various orders of beings, their being born, descent into the womb, production, the manifestation of the aggregates, the obtaining of the sense bases. This is called birth."
https://suttacentral.net/en/sn12.2
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Just while I think to ask, do pagans tend to believe in reincarnation of some sort?Once a man, like the sea I raged;
Once a woman, like the earth I gave;
And there is in fact more earth than sea.
Genesis lyric
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Well, one person's devaluation is another person's metaphor.Originally posted by Herbert View Post
Those who believe in reincarnation take them to be the same thing, those who don't take them as separate things. Even Buddhist scholars have disputes about this...
Buddhism is older than Christianity, and has traveled the world in all directions, dieing out in some places only to be recreated long after, it has been reformulated over and over again, leaving a great many varieties smeared across this itsy-bitsy planet - it is more diverse even than is Christianity...
One thing that is generally true (though, Alas!, not always) is that different Buddhist groups respect other Buddhist groups, even when they disagree.Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Yes, generally, though you do some lively debates on Buddhist forums.Originally posted by B. de Corbin View Post
Once a man, like the sea I raged;
Once a woman, like the earth I gave;
And there is in fact more earth than sea.
Genesis lyric
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Do you consider Buddhism to be a theist or atheistic path?Comment
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Re: Ask a Buddhist
Porpoise hasn't responded yet, so I will give you my perspective...Originally posted by habbalah View Post
For me, non-theistic. For others, theistic.
In the writings, when Buddha was questioned about certain things, such as "the gods," he responded by saying that those questions are irrelevant to what he was teaching. For me, Buddha (assuming he existed as something other than a composite character) was a regular human who had something to teach that is accessible to other humans.
To me, it seems that if Buddha was something other than a regular human, or if he had some kind of divine backing, than what he had to teach is not accessible to everybody, only to the special ones.
It would defeat the whole concept of Buddhism (as I see it...).Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.
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