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    #31
    Re: Buddhism

    I would like to share a link I found today. www.hippocampus.org
    They have some online classes for free about religions, they include Buddhism and Spirituality. It looks like they are video courses. I will be checking them out when i have more time.
    sigpic
    "Every human being has a minimum set of ethics from which he operates. When he refuses to compromise these ethics, his career must suffer, when he does compromise them, his conscience does the suffering."-Rod Serling

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      #32
      Re: Buddhism

      I've been looking into Zen Buddhism lately. I still haven't decided if it's right for a person from the West to have a path from the East. I don't even like Asian food! :P


      Mostly art.

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        #33
        Re: Buddhism

        Originally posted by volcaniclastic View Post
        I've been looking into Zen Buddhism lately. I still haven't decided if it's right for a person from the West to have a path from the East. I don't even like Asian food! :P
        Asian Asian, or Asian American food? I've learned there's a world of difference. Not that it specifically applies but... out of curiosity.

        Anyway, it seems a lot of folk seem to think Buddhism and meditation are synonymous? Well, Buddhism is a lot of meditation.. for monks. I don't know that that is as much so for the lay people. Unlike in the Western world, there is a very clear line between lay people and monks/nuns. The two only interact in specific, almost ritualized, settings. And what they do, what their roles are, are very different. You wouldn't find a monk/nun conversing with a lay person after giving a "sermon". In many places, they don't even give "sermons", unlike the role of preists/preistesses. When it comes to meditation, that's something that is only intensely practiced by monks/nuns in the Eastern world, from what I understand. In any situation, a lay person can practice in some ways like a monk/nun, but never to the full extent of one. It just isn't allowed.

        Also, the meditation I learned in association with Buddhism is intensly different than that I found in other sources. Their meditation takes the form of mindfullness, being aware of what you are doing, saying, thinking at any given moment. They start with being aware of their breathing, the feel of it, the motion, sensation of it. Eventually they work their way up to being aware of every motion, sensation, while walking, moving. Also they are aware of their thought patterns, noting to themselves what they are thinking about. So if they are happy, the say to themselves, I am happy. Angry, they say, I am angry. If they are thinking about pigeons, they think to themselves, I am thinking about pigeons.


        I also wanted to share a jitaka story (a story of one of the Buddha's past lives) I learned recently about the Buddha, which allows for violence in some situations. The Buddha was on a ship and he heard a man planning to kill the other merchants on the ship. The Buddha knew that if the man killed to other men, he would create bad karma for himself. If the Buddha told the other merchants, they would kill the man who was planning to kill them and collect bad karma for themselves. Therefore, the Buddha killed that man and took the bad karma onto himself in order to prevent the others for collecting bad karma. So in a way he was doing a good deed, taking the bad karma onto himself. No one can tell me if he actually collected bad karma, or if since his intentions were good he collected good karma but... it does seem to allow for some violence.
        We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

        I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
        It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
        Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
        -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

        Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

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          #34
          Re: Buddhism

          I meant asian american food, most likely. Also, I like that story, though I do believe there is a difference between karma in the eastern world and karma in the western world. I'm not entirely positive that if I kill a man in this life, that I'll suffer in the next. Actually, I'm not even certain there IS a next world, but hey, that's a tangent!

          Karma just means "action" right? so to do something which will cause bad karma, is basically you doing something which is considered a bad action (aka, killing a person)


          Mostly art.

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            #35
            Re: Buddhism

            What karma is depends on where you ask about it. There's a great difference between Indian mentality and Chinese mentality. Even between China and Japan. Often when you're talking about karma as a noun it's seen as merit if it is good. I honestly can't remember if we have a word for bad karma, perhaps its just bad merit. But merit is an actual thing that can promote your status in the next life.

            Also, it's seen more that your karma (or dharma, depending on the beleif) that goes into the next world. At least in Mahayana Buddhism, the kind practiced in China, Japan, etc. They have a beleif that there is no soul and everything is essentially empty. Not non existant but empty and therefore equal. So if there is no soul, that poses the question of what moves on when you die. They explain it as being the karma that moves on.

            One thing about Buddhism, and possibly the Asian mentality, that differs from how we see things is that they don't always ask the same questions that we do. For instance, they generally don't ask where the world came from. They explain in an anecdote about a soldier. If a soldier is shot with a poison arrow, he doesn't stop to ask what it was made of before pulling it out.

            I know in Buddhism this is a very common veiw in religious concepts. They don't ask questions like what is karma made of? How exactly does it work? They take it for granted that karma does exist and getting better karma gets you a better afterlife. For that reason, it's only in a Western enviornment that these questions are really explored and often that can be an inaccurate exploration.

            This is actually progressing much deeper into my studies three years ago than I expected. Luckily, I'm taking another class on it this semester. I will definitely check my accuracy with my intructor and get back to you on it.

            Edited to add: Sorry for the long posts. I'm going on the assumption that those who read this have never formally studied Buddhism so I find myself adding details on that assumption.
            We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

            I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
            It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
            Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
            -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

            Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

            Comment


              #36
              Re: Buddhism

              I was happy to finally get re-logged in, after reapplying again, and see that there is a Buddhist thread going on.

              I do claim to be a Buddhist. I am just a practitioner and have no formal ties to any teachers or temples. I am also however a very active Pagan. I practice Zen Buddhism and Zazen meditation.

              I think the two schools of thought blend nicely and give me a full rich spiritual practice to live my life by. I think many people have misconceptions about Buddhism, from posts I have read, and they should understand there are many sects each with its own rules and beliefs about aspects of Buddhism.

              A good example of this from my studies and point of view is that of non-attachment. It is not meant that one should be actually un-attached like giving up your home, car, family. It is meant to say that you should not see these things as separate from that which is you. You need to become un-attached to the concept that you are an individual separate from the world around you.

              This is just a take an out look on it that I have been pointed toward. I look forward to see more opinions on this.
              The Wyld Goat
              Tokage Monastery

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                #37
                Re: Buddhism

                Originally posted by The Pagan Buddhist View Post
                I think many people have misconceptions about Buddhism, from posts I have read, and they should understand there are many sects each with its own rules and beliefs about aspects of Buddhism.
                I'm glad to see and actual practitioner on here. Though I love the ideology of Buddhism, I don't consider myself a practitioner. And I've only spent about 9 months studying it. From the quote above, I would say this is one of the most difficult things to get across, especially when trying to give a general answer to questions.
                We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

                I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
                It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
                Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
                -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

                Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

                Comment

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