Buddhism!

[sinbad5]

Thank you Richard Gere....

 

Since the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1957 and the brutal armed supression that immediately followed, the Tibetan Buddhists at least have accepted reality.

 

Meanwhile in the comfortable decadent west.......

 

It's the Muslims who are under existential threat in Burma, not the Buddhists. Muslims don't have a monopoly on fanaticism, and just wearing a red (or orange, or white) robe doesn't make someone beyond reproach.

[MunterHunter]

Today i was at introduction on Buddhist meditation. I found it very interesting and enjoyed it.

 

I have a 6 week/1 night a week course on meditation starting next week. 

[Para]

Today i was at introduction on Buddhist meditation. I found it very interesting and enjoyed it.

 

I have a 6 week/1 night a week course on meditation starting next week. 

 

Hey MH I will email you my mobile as the initial road of meditation can be a bit daunting.

 

Meditation offers the chance to have a very settled and very calm life. It is so worth exploring.

[brainhack]

Tibetan Buddhism when scrutinized is not at all what you might expect,  Just looking at the state of Buddhism before the Chinese occupation for instance and even looking at the disputes and practices of today's various sects in Tibet will take the shine off of it's artificial luster of peaceful enlightenment.

 

The Dalai Lama heads the Gelug sect (or school if you prefer) there are 3 other schools (I think, maybe more?)  that have come to blows before now and do not really get along, The Dalai Lama also practices the tradition of consulting Nechung during the New Year festivals (and whenever else he feels like) to "get advice" usually about changing a Buddhist ethic or principle. It has always looked to me as if the Dalai Lama wants to return Tibet to a strict Theocracy, which it was before the Chinese moved in, a very strict, caste ridden, feudal theocracy, very corrupt and not as enlightened as portrayed by the Hollywood adherents, although not as bad as revisionist Chinese would have you believe, probably somewhere in the middle.

 

This is somewhat misunderstood...

 

Yes, the four main sects (Gelug, Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya) have had a story of infighting and spilts - but the Dalai Lama and also the heads of the others are the ones really putting pressure on the rest of the hierarchy in order to end strife.

 

Returning Tibet to a strict teocracy? Need a theos for that, but in a way I can see your point - there is tremendous focus on the person and perceived abilities of the Dalai Lama as the head of all tibetans.

 

But does he himself purport to be what the outer world sometimes perceive as a deity that rules all tibetans? I don't really think so, it is more the need of his people that makes for this pressure...

 

Anyway, tibetan buddhism is really byzantine - it is not easy to navigate at all! Most of my knowledge is 20 years old, but with a tradition that is thousands of years thats more like a blink of an eye ;-)

[brainhack]

If I had to choose a religion.....! I think that Buddhism is great in it's introspectiveness, it can really give us an insight into the way our minds work, the root of all unhappiness and things like that. I love the way it spills over into everyday attitudes in Thailand, I've seen relatively uneducated bar girls come out with things so deep and profound and I'm sure that it has come from Buddhism.

 

I think of the forest monks meditating for weeks on their own in the jungle seeking enlightenment however fleeting it may be...but then I read somewhere that there are two paths to enlightenment, self discovery and action and it definitely strikes me as being more biased towards the self discovery side of things. I think society would probably collapse if everybody became enlightened via that path.

 

I've seen Buddhism abused by those that claim to practise it, just like every other religion. The Thai criminals who think that they can buy their respect in the community back with a token spell at the monastery. I'll never forget on trip to my favourite place in Thailand, a mountain temple near to Bung Kaan in the North East called Wat Phu Thawk (You can see it here). I once went there with a Thai girl who was too scared of heights to climb it, she waited for me by the car. When I returned she was talking to one of the monks. I chatted to him for a couple of minutes before we left, as soon as we'd left she told me that he had asked her how big my dick was! Like all religions it is based upon great premises but the people who maintain it are human.

 

Hehehe... This is the kind of stuff that really draws me towards spending more time in Thailand!

 

Having met tibetan buddhism 20+ years ago, and having felt at home in buddhism even before that, at some level I really crave these "spill-overs"...

 

Not having the depth and insight here in the west really makes me depressed, detached and exhausted. Everything in Thailand is real in a way, not a western way as being concrete and devoid of soul, but more like real as in a dream - which is the view buddhism has of reality :-)

[Captain Courageous]

It's the Muslims who are under existential threat in Burma, not the Buddhists. Muslims don't have a monopoly on fanaticism, and just wearing a red (or orange, or white) robe doesn't make someone beyond reproach.

 

Oom...chanti....chanti ....

It's the Muslims who are under existential threat in Burma, not the Buddhists. Muslims don't have a monopoly on fanaticism, and just wearing a red (or orange, or white) robe doesn't make someone beyond reproach.

 

Anything to be contentious son....anything.  55555

[Captain Courageous]

Today i was at introduction on Buddhist meditation. I found it very interesting and enjoyed it.

 

I have a 6 week/1 night a week course on meditation starting next week. 

 

Is it cheaper than alcoholic binges mate ?

 

Sorry to rob you of the "enlightenment" here mate, just thought I'd ask.....

[Captain Courageous]

Hey MH I will email you my mobile as the initial road of meditation can be a bit daunting.

 

Meditation offers the chance to have a very settled and very calm life. It is so worth exploring.

 

Understand yourself

 

Preserve some hours each day for isolation and silence.

 

Forgive yourself for your own short comings. 

 

Laugh at yourself and accept with grace your own finite mortality.

 

Tolerate all others without being blind to threats. 

 

Treat all with friendship and a possible loving.

 

Believe in the sanctity of all life forms.

 

Accept that the world around you is an imperfect place.

 

Change for the better what you can, accept what you can never change.

 

Wherever possible surround yourself with beautiful things.

 

All of Buddhism is simple really, there's no need to get entangled with false mysticism. 

[Captain Courageous]

Hehehe... This is the kind of stuff that really draws me towards spending more time in Thailand!

 

Having met tibetan buddhism 20+ years ago, and having felt at home in buddhism even before that, at some level I really crave these "spill-overs"...

 

Not having the depth and insight here in the west really makes me depressed, detached and exhausted. Everything in Thailand is real in a way, not a western way as being concrete and devoid of soul, but more like real as in a dream - which is the view buddhism has of reality :-)

 

"Everything in Thailand is real......."......5555555

[Captain Courageous]

It's the Muslims who are under existential threat in Burma, not the Buddhists. Muslims don't have a monopoly on fanaticism, and just wearing a red (or orange, or white) robe doesn't make someone beyond reproach.

 

Seriously, who can blame the Burmese considering what's been happening in Europe of late. 

[oldtrees]

That doesn't sound very Buddhist Cap'n.

[Captain Courageous]

That doesn't sound very Buddhist Cap'n.

 

Admittedly I'm a poor Buddhist, although I've never claimed to be one.

 

Where does Buddhism extol the virtues of being a doormat ? 

 

IMHO Buddhism is a philosophy not a religion, but as is usually the case people have complicated it all. 

 

One of the fundamental flaws in human beings is their over-complication of everything they consider worthy of conscious thought.

[riccy]

there is another strange 'religion' in thailand 'contaminating' bhuddism..  imo

the worship of money ..  example :  in parental home of gf was a vase with bamboo sticks with 20, 50, 100 baht bills (like flags)

they took empty sticks and added more bills 'for buddha' .. then they held a stick in front of me.. expecting me to attach 100 baht

to it..i guess..   but i shook my head, and said..  'buddha don't need money'..  ooops..  that was a bad move on my part..

i already dented my popularity in front of whole family..  lol ..  but true :   buddha gazed meditating at a lotus for days.. money didn't

mean shit to him ..  also the necklace of baht bills around the neck of a birthday jubilee..    displayed sin sod at marriage .. etc..

in our western culture, we keep money in sealed envelopes..   don't need to 'show it off'  ..

[MunterHunter]

Is it cheaper than alcoholic binges mate ?

 

Sorry to rob you of the "enlightenment" here mate, just thought I'd ask.....

 

Cant remember now tbh. Think it was 70 quid for the 6 evening. Still got two left.

 

Im really enjoying it but so busy with work i hardly have any spare time!

[Para]

IMHO Buddhism is a philosophy not a religion, but as is usually the case people have complicated it all. 

 

One of the fundamental flaws in human beings is their over-complication of everything they consider worthy of conscious thought.

 

Yep. Just about sums up Western life and the 4 Nobel Truths mate.

 

Acceptance and clear seeing allows you to strip away all the BS we are socially demanded to comply with back to the absolute truth.

 

'It is what it is' nothing more nothing less.

 

With metta

 

Para

[Para]

Understand  accept yourself and others around you.

 

Preserve some hours each day for isolation and silence.

 

Forgive yourself for your own short comings. 

 

Laugh at yourself and accept with grace your own finite mortality.

 

Tolerate all others without being blind to threats. 

 

Treat all with friendship and a possible loving.

 

Believe in the sanctity of all life forms.

 

Accept that the world around you is an imperfect place.

 

Change for the better what you can, accept what you can never change.

 

Wherever possible surround yourself with beautiful things.

 

All of Buddhism is simple really, there's no need to get entangled with false mysticism. 

 

 

Wise word my friend with the one small change. I hope you dont mind.

[Captain Courageous]

there is another strange 'religion' in thailand 'contaminating' bhuddism..  imo

the worship of money ..  example :  in parental home of gf was a vase with bamboo sticks with 20, 50, 100 baht bills (like flags)

they took empty sticks and added more bills 'for buddha' .. then they held a stick in front of me.. expecting me to attach 100 baht

to it..i guess..   but i shook my head, and said..  'buddha don't need money'..  ooops..  that was a bad move on my part..

i already dented my popularity in front of whole family..  lol ..  but true :   buddha gazed meditating at a lotus for days.. money didn't

mean shit to him ..  also the necklace of baht bills around the neck of a birthday jubilee..    displayed sin sod at marriage .. etc..

in our western culture, we keep money in sealed envelopes..   don't need to 'show it off'  ..

 

Agreed.   

 

Years ago I read up on the Buddha bloke as widely as I could, the ol Man to his credit abandoned the worldly ways and vices ( well as far we know  5555) and espoused humility and non-godliness.  

 

According to his teachings we're all little else than food for worms, but enjoy your life as you see fit without causing harm to any other living being. 

Now how complicated is that  FFS ?

 

No disrespect to the Thai's intended here, but what have all the really intelligent human creatures done ?

 

The ol Buddha bloke, has been Gelded and Gilded then raised to a God like status, people all over the world pray to him for anything and everything they want in their lives. 

 

But understandable if one thinks about it, any nation that has a need to distract it's people from the reality of corrupt governance and the deceit of deities needs a Jesus Christ, Mohamed or Buddha; lets be honest western nations haven't performed any differently. 

 

WTF was wrong with a simple acceptance of the Two Ronnies ?  555555

[Captain Courageous]

Yep. Just about sums up Western life and the 4 Nobel Truths mate.

 

Acceptance and clear seeing allows you to strip away all the BS we are socially demanded to comply with back to the absolute truth.

 

'It is what it is' nothing more nothing less.

 

With metta

 

Para

 

And all these years 'eres me thinking that the 4 Nobel truths were

Dynamite

Gelignite

TNT  and

Nitro Glycerine......

[Captain Courageous]

Wise word my friend with the one small change. I hope you dont mind.

 

Not at all Para.....Airborne over Chairborne after all !  55555

[jjcampsh]

Not for me

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[badboyz08]

check this monk

http://www.ajahnchah.org/
 

he teach a lot of foreigner

[Grumbler]

Back in 1976 in Aus i did my first Vipassana retreat, i was very disappointed with the teacher when i saw him, a huge man with a GI crew cut and he spoke American and used to work for the CIA in SE Asia as a photographer.

Turns out he was an amazing man.

That first course was the most incredible (and painful) experience I've had in my life, forever grateful to him though he died a few years ago.

Just a note about stuff: you only learn through experience (meditation is a very efficient way), intellectual knowledge really just ties things together after you have experienced the reality of reality.

[Vespa]

I'm interested in learning about Bhuddism, would anyone be able to reccomend me a book at all? I've found Without and Within by Ajahn Jayasaro to download, any other to try maybe?

 

 

Many thanks.

[Grumbler]

Hi vespa, its really difficult to get any idea of what the Dhamma (Teaching) is from a book.

You will read about concepts and their definitions, for example The Four Noble Truths, simple to read but impossible to know what it really is.

Understanding comes through actual  experience, meditation being an efficient tool to enable you to experience.

What i have found in the past is that i had learned many of the ideas/concepts but i did not understand them until i actually experienced something that then made the concept clear. So, in a way the ideas/concepts come last.

But, you gotta start somewhere don't you.

I would recommend The Discourses of the Buddha (Anguttara Nikaya) .

Some modern books here http://www.watkinsmagazine.com/top-10-books-on-theravada-buddhism

If you want to just see how complex it can get there is Visuddhimagga - The Path Of Purification by Buddhaghosa,

https://archive.org/stream/Visuddhimagga-ThePathOfPurification/PathofPurification2011_djvu.txt

My personal favourite is The Manuals Of Buddhism by Ledi Sayadaw (Burmese monk early 20th C), not very available though.

 

Buddhism is a tricky and difficult path to start on, I don't know how far you want to go with it.

In the beginning it can be like there's nothing "happening".

Be wary of anyone who asks for money to teach you.

PM me if you want for any questions you may have.

[jed§]

I'm interested in learning about Bhuddism, would anyone be able to reccomend me a book at all? I've found Without and Within by Ajahn Jayasaro to download, any other to try maybe?

 

'Buddhist Biology' by David Barrash.