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Finding Buddhists not Centres?

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  • 08-12-2008 3:36pm
    #1
    RossFixxxed
    Registered Users Posts: 2,102 ✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I dont' want to get into the whole NKT argument, but I want to find somewhere with like minded meditators. However, NKT is not for me and I do not like the look of 'Dublin Buddhist Centre' charging huge prices for lessons etc. Is there nothing resembling a Temple.

    Ross


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    #2
    bou
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭bou


    See the sticky thread Charter, Truths, Centres, Books, and Films.

    The list of groups/centres on http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/country.php?country_id=65 looks fairly comprehensive.

    Temples, I don't know. The centre at Kilmainham has a very nice shrine room and seems to be open for meditation practice at various times. I'm not affiliated.

    Maybe in another 10 years time we will have a few temples around. I think it takes a long time for a group to develop and then to acquire the support and funding to setup a temple. Add to that the boom years in Ireland where you would need a couple of million euros to get anything decent built in the city.


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    #3
    RossFixxxed
    Registered Users Posts: 2,102 ✭✭✭RossFixxxed


    Thanks Bou. I seem to have trouble deciding on where to visit, maybe i should just pick one! Some seem a bit cultish to me to be honest, there's a lot of names mentioned that I have never heard of. I'm hoping to 'just sit' and ask a teacher if required!

    R


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    #4
    KamikazeKenny81
    Closed Accounts Posts: 51 ✭✭KamikazeKenny81


    I go to the NKT centre in Dublin. I didnt know there was an NKT argument, but I know exactly what ur talking about. The organisation itself doesnt really sit right with me, but I visit on a Tuesday for the beginners course in meditation and Buddhism and the nun who takes it is very good, I have learnt a lot.

    I may have no intention to sign up to the NKT thing but it has definatly benifited me. I would recommend trying out any of the different centres or temples on that thread, you may not find the perfect place but you may still find somewhere of benefit :D


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    #5
    RossFixxxed
    Registered Users Posts: 2,102 ✭✭✭RossFixxxed


    Can't ask for more, thanks Kamikaze!

    The 'NKT argument' is rife on more dedicated buddhist boards, and they actively pursue legal recourse if something is written about them. There are many suggestions that the are a cult or similiar and not true to buddhsim. But that's only hearsay that I have read. I have NO idea.

    Thanks again!


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    #6
    bou
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭bou


    RossFixxxed wrote: »
    Thanks Bou. I seem to have trouble deciding on where to visit, maybe i should just pick one! Some seem a bit cultish to me to be honest, there's a lot of names mentioned that I have never heard of. I'm hoping to 'just sit' and ask a teacher if required!

    Yes, they often do appear 'cultish'. Quite often, authentic lineage is stressed as being of great importance. The reason for this, according to what I've heard, is that the deepest and most true experiential understanding of what the teachings are saying is supposed to be embodied by the teacher. Words in a book don't constitute a teacher as they can be interpreted incorrectly. A teacher receives his understanding by listening to his teacher(s), putting into practice and arriving at true experiencial understanding. If a teacher hasn't fully understood correctly the true meaning, he will be unable to guide a student correctly. It's said that correct understanding is not arrived at by ones own efforts alone but requires a teacher to point it out.

    So you might see a teacher's name and some biography of how he received the teachings from his teachers. These are his credentials to say that he is authentic. Of course you probably should assess the teacher to see that he behaves in accordance with the teachings and really works to benefit students. It could take a while to be sure as teachers are not so ordinary and can be a little unconventional.


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    #7
    KamikazeKenny81
    Closed Accounts Posts: 51 ✭✭KamikazeKenny81


    Well from my experience I wouldnt go s far as to say cultish. They dont force any way of thinking on u and they dont even go too over the top to encourage you to come back. :p The centre I go to is just welcoming and friendly, which is lovely to be honest :D

    But when it comes to the teachers, I believe u only need to complete a short course which is completely based on ur mans books only, before u can start teaching at a centre. Thats pretty scary! I go when the nun teaches and she is very good, but the other teacher at this particular place leaves a lot to be desired. You get the feelin that she understands little more than the listeners. "The blind leading the blind" as Buddhist love to say :D

    The introduction to NKT booklet you can pick up in the centres also makes for amusing reading! It almost spells out why you should be wary, before trying to defend itself. I got the impression that it was a perhaps a watered down western school of Tibetan Buddhism that wanted to distance itself from the Dalai Lama. Why they would want to do that I dont know?


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