What to do?

I've been trying to learn about buddhism here and there - when I have time - and I'm quite interested. But there's only so far the internet (and dalai lama books =D ) can take me. I know there's a sticky on centres here, but are there any that anyone here could recommend to go to in particular? I'm around dublin and kells. At least, I figure the next step I should be taking in learning about it is to go to one of those centres and ask them stuff... a lot of them look very iffy though. And I can't make a lot of the session thingys they run because I'm busy most evenings.
If anyone can make sense of what I'm asking here, please help

Chopper

What are you looking for

- A spiritual teacher ?
- A lesson in meditation ?
- A groups to join ?
- ?

Can I even find those seperately? o.O

I suppose I can start with the teacher.

Chopper

When I was starting out on the path I found the Irish branch of the Soka Gakkai to be very welcoming and helpful...

www.sgi.org

But in a way I didn't find them, they found me. As the old saying goes;
"when the student is ready, the teacher will appear"

If you keep looking into Buddhism as you are naturally doing then someone or something will come along to show you the way - you just need to be ready to accept whatever coincidences come up for you...

Alright... thanks

god's toy

I wish you well on your path, may you find much joy and peace.



with metta,

Sumedha

AnonymousBloke

bluewolf wrote:

I've been trying to learn about buddhism here and there - when I have time - and I'm quite interested. But there's only so far the internet (and dalai lama books =D ) can take me. I know there's a sticky on centres here, but are there any that anyone here could recommend to go to in particular? I'm around dublin and kells. At least, I figure the next step I should be taking in learning about it is to go to one of those centres and ask them stuff... a lot of them look very iffy though. And I can't make a lot of the session thingys they run because I'm busy most evenings.
If anyone can make sense of what I'm asking here, please help

If you live near Kells there's a centre in Cavan that might be of interest- Jampa Ling

In Dublin only places I've visited are Samye Dzong in Kilmainham and the Rigpa centre (associated with Sogyal Rinpoche) on Wicklow Street. These are all in the Tibetan tradition, just seems to be where I landed when I started looking.

Before you go further with any centre or practise, be sure to ask around, on here, do some Googling, etc. Most places I know of are legit but there are a few places with dubious reputations.

Good luck.

Asiaprod

bluewolf wrote:

I'm quite interested.

Can you be more specific in what aspects of Buddhism are you interested. As has been mentioned, there are many forms, or schools, of Buddhism

Asiaprod

Chopper wrote:

When I was starting out on the path I found the Irish branch of the Soka Gakkai to be very welcoming and helpful...

Thats my group, I know lots of the Irish members and I can recommend it as a great place to start your journey. I am a leader of this school over here in Japan (Originally from North Dublin, 7)

Chopper

Hi Asiaprod, How popular is the SGi in Japan ?

Asiaprod

Chopper wrote:

Hi Asiaprod, How popular is the SGi in Japan ?

HArd question to answer. The are may members, there is a representative party of theirs in the government. They are very active, but they are fighting media opinion which attempts to paint them as a cult. But hey, all organizations are subject to this kind of crap.
From the Buddhist perspective, they are great people who are very active in their life and community. The sutra followed is the Lotus Sutra, for those who would like to know. As anybodies point of contact to Buddhism, I would highly recommend them. On thing to be aware of is that unlike the more ritualized schools, this branch of Buddhism is people oriented.
If anyone would like to know more, I will be happy to post it.
NHRK:)

AnonymousBloke

AnonymousBloke wrote:

In Dublin only places I've visited are Samye Dzong in Kilmainham and the Rigpa centre (associated with Sogyal Rinpoche) on Wicklow Street. These are all in the Tibetan tradition, just seems to be where I landed when I started looking.

Those are actually what I was looking at, what are they like? My problem with the kilmainhaim one at least is that the sessions they run are on when I have other stuff on that I can't miss. Would it be worth contacting them and heading down at some point I'm free or should I just leave it...

Before you go further with any centre or practise, be sure to ask around, on here, do some Googling, etc. Most places I know of are legit but there are a few places with dubious reputations.

Good luck.

Yep, have been doing that. My general conclusion is that I'll have to stick to the www.lioncity.net place and books to keep learning about it... and thanks

Can you be more specific in what aspects of Buddhism are you interested. As has been mentioned, there are many forms, or schools, of Buddhism

I'm still just floundering around, basically, learning about the thing as a whole before trying to figure out the different schools. I'm pretty sure I'm not interested in the pure land school anyway

AnonymousBloke

Hi

Both the Kilmainham centre and Rigpa centre are well established and respected. If you can get down to Kilmainham I'd give it a go, they tend to have things on most nights and quite a few visiting teachers. Rigpa do introductory courses that run cyclically.

To be honest, it's a very personal thing- I had to visit quite a few different places and try to listen to my head, heart and gut. It evolved over time for me until I found a place/practise I felt comfortable with. Floundering about is a good place to be while you're trying to see if anything will be a fit for you

From my experience, I'd recommend trying to keep an open mind while also retaining your critical faculties. Sometimes I've had negative reactions to places/people only to find that after a while I felt a connection to them. The mind is funny that way. As long as you feel somewhere is a legitimate and reputable centre/group, try it out a few times and see what happens.

A book I found very helpful was Jack Kornfield's 'A Path with Heart'

Also maybe worth a look are: 'Awakening the Buddha within' by Lama Surya Das

and

'Buddhism plain and simple' by Steve Hagen

Asiaprod

AnonymousBloke wrote:

Sometimes I've had negative reactions to places/people only to find that after a while I felt a connection to them. The mind is funny that way.

That is covered in Buddhism, its called changing "poison into medicine." It is one of the central tenants. What it implies is that one has grown beyond the personal to perceive the inherent beauty that surrounds us.

AnonymousBloke

Asiaprod wrote:

That is covered in Buddhism, its called changing "poison into medicine." It is one of the central tenants. What it implies is that one has grown beyond the personal to perceive the inherent beauty that surrounds us.

I agree, although sometimes discernment will show us that what seems like medicine is indeed poison I've encountered some odd places on my travels that I was initially attracted to but had reservations about, and which were ultimately borne out.

AB, I only just saw your last post, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for the books.

I recently found a book called "buddhist scriptures", a penguin classics book - it seems quite good. Anyone else read it?