Conversion

avatar

I'm quite interested in becoming a buddhist, and would like any information any og you could provide on how to do so. Thanks....

mickmacdublin

This should be an interesting thread as there are several points of view out there on this.

Some people like to say they are Buddhist if they have read a few books by the Dalai Lama and like the ideas expressed.

For some all to takes to be a Buddhist is to try to follow the teachings. While obviously a Buddhist needs to follow the teachings of the Buddha my belief is that one really needs to do so in a systematic way - by following a specific lineage of the Buddha's teachings.

Primarily - for most Buddhist schools - one becomes a Buddhist when one formally "takes refuge" in the Buddha as teacher, in his teachings - the Dharma , and the Sangha the enlightened teachers who continue the Buddha's teachings.

Taking refuge involves rejecting all other sources of refuge including God or gods, teachings that are not consonant with the Buddhist teachings etc.

My advice is get your self along to a Buddhist centre and start learning meditation. See Yoda's links page for a list of Irish centres.

Mick

Trojan

Yep, there are several points of view.

First of all, I believed that there was no such thing as "conversion" because Buddhism is more a spirituality or way of living than a religion in the formal sense. Hence one can be a Buddhist and a Christian simultaneously. Perhaps I'm wrong.

One can follow the concepts of Buddhism but not call be labelled Buddhist, e.g. if you believe in the ideas of impermanence, reincarnation, responsibility (some of the basic tenets).

I believe in a lot of these ideas, have spent some time in the stupas in Kathmandu, but don't consider myself a Buddhist (maybe one day).

I like to learn about the ideas behind the formality of the teachings. A buddhist friend recommended that I check out "What Buddhists Believe"
by K. Sri Dhammananda (a famous Sri Lankan monk)
published by the Buddhist Missionary Society, Malaysia
ISBN # 967-9920-29-1

I'll report my findings in a couple of months.

Yoda

One simple and sensible book is Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught. On another thread I already mentioned Sogyal Rinpoche's Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and Francesca Fremantle and Chögyam Trungpa's translation of and commentary to The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Dalai Lama's How to Practise: The Way to a Meaningful Life is very accessible. I have not read Elizabeth Harris' What Buddhists Believe but the description looks rather good. The book by Dhammananda Trojan referred to is available used from abebooks.com. John Carter's translation of the Dhammapada is one of the best.

albertw

Hi,

Originally posted by avatar
I'm quite interested in becoming a buddhist, and would like any information any og you could provide on how to do so. Thanks....

You could try dropping down to the Dzogchen Beara center in Castletownberein Cork for a week or so. The run retreats as well, but you can stay at the hostel and chat to some of the folks there and pracice some meditation techniques.

I never got into the buddhist thing that much, (too much emphasis on bells and prayer flags and too little on the noble truths!), but every year or so I'll drop down to the hostel. Its a nice quiet place to spend a few days if nothing else! http://rigpa.ie/ has details.

The book list Yoda suggested is a very good list. `What the buddha taught` is one of the best books on buddhism I've read, simple, clear, sensible, gets the ideas across and crucially, is accessable to everyone. The only book I would add is the Dali Lamas little book on `The four noble truths`.

You mentioned `conversion` as the subject line. Just thought I'd mention that Buddhism isnt necessarily something that you have to convert to to get value from. I still consider myself a Catholic, and I've taken on board a fair bit from Buddhism. (And Taoism!)

Cheers,
~Al

Yoda

Some books mentioned on this thread are now available with synopses and reviews and links to Amazon.co.uk on the charter page.