Sell me Buddhism :-)

hmmm..Budda eh?

Hi to all on this forum.
I have a couple of questions for those in the know;Is Buddhism for me?....don't answer that one,of course you will answer "...of course it is"

There are two things that that I more than believe,I understand,and they are that everything we do,either words,thoughts or actions have an effect on the people they are directed at,ourselves included.(I try to keep these in mind in my everyday actions)

And also,if I was to put it simply,doing good is better than doing bad which in turn ties in what I said in the the above paragraph.

I've reason recently to take a really hard look at myself,and I believe what is at my core and what drives me is compassion.
I know that compassion is a major part of Buddhism,but what about a Deity/Higher Being?

I don't believe in any God,but do believe that we are all in some way connected(check out Billy Connolly's explanation of us and the Universe,I'm thinking the same as him),how does this,if at all,tie in with Buddhism?

Also,if possible,can someone briefly explain the concept of rebirth?,I'm not too sure on that one If I'm to be honest.

And recommended online reading that I can dip into would also be appreciated.

Cheers,
from possible Buddhist Dude

18AD

Sorry, Buddhism is not for sale.

As far as I know, you don't have to believe in any of the things you've mentioned to be a Buddhist. The various schools are so varied that no brief summary would do it justice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

I've enjoyed the work of D.T. Suzuki very much and Alan Watts was a big inspiration in my earlier years.

conor.hogan.2

You are in a forum about it so I see you are interested in it, that will likely continue the deeper you look.

We know nothing of Deities so it is all hearsay so I don't dwell on it that said in Buddhism the deities are viewed to be of a higher realm and not truely Godly in the western sense.

Re-incarnation is not a central belief in many forms of Buddhism, from what I know.

18AD wrote: »

Alan Watts was a big inspiration in my earlier years.

Agreed Alan Watts explains things well, very well. Jack Kornfield and Adyashanti are also great speakers/writers.

dead one

It is very complicated to purchase

hmmm..Budda eh?

conor.hogan.2 wrote: »

Re-incarnation is not a central belief in many forms of Buddhism, from what I know.

Just shows my ignorance then,I always thought re-incarnation was a key part of Buddhism.
I have briefly looked through this forum alright,definitely I will be reading up more on it though

Vinny-Chase

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Just shows my ignorance then,I always thought re-incarnation was a key part of Buddhism.
I have briefly looked through this forum alright,definitely I will be reading up more on it though

Rebirth does play a large part in some Buddhist traditions and is related to Karma. Karma being translated as "action". Generally actions in Buddhim aren't considered good or bad. They're usually referred to as skillful or unskillful. Bad karma in your life can result in being reborn as an animal or some other creature or a life of suffering as a human. Human is the best opportunity to attain enlightenment, so ideally being reborn as a human presents a the best opportunity to become as the Buddha and thus escape from the "wheel of life".

The Dalai Lama is the 14th, he is the rebirth of of the 13 previous Lama's and is said to be the reincarnated Bodhisattva of Compassion. One of the ways in which he is chosen is by picking a number of items which belonged to the previous Lama.

conor.hogan.2

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Just shows my ignorance then,I always thought re-incarnation was a key part of Buddhism.
I have briefly looked through this forum alright,definitely I will be reading up more on it though

Not ignorance. It is a vert widely held belief by some Buddhists and pretty much everyone thinks it is a central tenet of Buddhism.

As others have said it is common enough among some Buddhists.

bou

Yes, Buddhism is for you... if you want it.

Seeing is believing. That is, if you see clearly the way things are, you naturally have complete confidence in knowing that is how things are.

Buddhism teaches that we are clouded and obscured from seeing clearly by mis-understanding. Moment to moment, we don't see how everything is impermanent and interdependent. We go on to make things into what they are not: solid, permanent, independently existing things - both the things around us and ourselves as well.

This mis-understanding is continued by habit, part of the cycle of cause and effect. Things appear the way they appear because of causes and conditions. Habits are part of the cause.

This individual 'I' as well as the other individuals are seen in Buddhism as not being so solid and independent as we normally perceive. It's not so much that we are all connected but that the separateness we perceive is due to mis-understanding the true way things are - that they are impermanent and interdependent. There is not a thing called I or a thing called other.

All things that are made up of parts are impermanent and continually change. They are not separate to other things but interdependently appearing. Everything that appears will disappear when the causes and conditions for its appearance go away. Everything that is born dies, including this body, perceptions, feelings, concepts and ordinary consciousness. It all changes moment by moment too. What is not born does not die. What that is that is not born and does not die is beyond my ability to see. It seems to be said that a stream of consciousness or being continues and there is the karma that goes with that from one life to the next. What this is that continues is perhaps something only a buddha or highly realised being can see. The various tradition vary in their philosophy so you won't get very consistent answers.

On compassion, this is a central theme in Buddhism and developing compassion is seen as an important part of the path to enlightenment. You will get varying views on this topic according to different traditions.

Karma and rebirth are an integral part of most forms of buddhism since they are described in the sutras, the discourses of the Buddha. However, don't get too hung-up on rebirth and other things which you don't directly relate to or cannot verify for yourself. Focus instead on things that you can examine and verify.

Most important is to learn meditation from an authentic teacher and practice it. In that way, come to understand more clearly your own mind and perceptions. This is the process of clearing away the obscurations and mis-understanding which prevent us from seeing clearly how things are. As understanding develops, confidence and certainty can be found. The causes of suffering can be known and can be removed.

On reading matter, look through wikipedia and follow the references to other sources. Don't get too caught up in reading where you might benefit from putting down the books and doing some practice.

coffee_cake

I don't really understand how not believing in rebirth can be a part of buddhism, to be honest. Unless you're just taking it as the philosophy. Which is fine really

As for OP, I don't think anyone is interested in selling it to you
learn about it and ask questions about it if you like, take it or leave it as you prefer

Vinny-Chase

Read this in a book last week and it stuck with me and it goes with what others are saying.

"Buddhism is an experience, not a set of beliefs"

conor.hogan.2

bluewolf wrote: »

I don't really understand how not believing in rebirth can be a part of buddhism, to be honest. Unless you're just taking it as the philosophy. Which is fine really

As for OP, I don't think anyone is interested in selling it to you
learn about it and ask questions about it if you like, take it or leave it as you prefer

A samurai once asked Zen Master Hakuin where he would go after he died. Hakuin answered 'How am I supposed to know?' 'How do you not know? You're a Zen master!' exclaimed the samurai. 'Yes, but not a dead one,' Hakuin answered.

I tend to not dwell on what can not be known, what happens after death is unknown and can not be known and does not affect how I live in the here and now.

Zen is not overly concerned but other forms are as others have pointed out. The Gelug and others are clearly very big into karma and re-incarnation.

I think most would agree to some continuos flow and (re)birth. The Buddha himself only came to have thoughts on this after Enlightenment, so again I try not to dwell on it.

hmmm..Budda eh?

bou wrote: »

don't get too hung-up on rebirth and other things which you don't directly relate to or cannot verify for yourself. Focus instead on things that you can examine and verify.

I like the way you put that

hmmm..Budda eh?

bluewolf wrote: »

As for OP, I don't think anyone is interested in selling it to you
learn about it and ask questions about it if you like, take it or leave it as you prefer

Ok,I think the name of my post is being misinterpreted ....I'm not looking to exchange hard cash for some info on Buddhism,what I meant was for the users on this forum to give me reasons to consider looking more into Buddhism,no offense meant

coffee_cake

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Ok,I think the name of my post is being misinterpreted ....I'm not looking to exchange hard cash for some info on Buddhism,what I meant was for the users on this forum to give me reasons to consider looking more into Buddhism,no offense meant

lol
I wasn't taking it that literally, don't worry
I meant it as an answer to what you've just written
I don't think anyone else can give you a reason to look more into it. If you read up on it and are interested in it we can go from there, but you should be going off and looking into it yourself

coffee_cake

I tend to not dwell on what can not be known, what happens after death is unknown and can not be known and does not affect how I live in the here and now.

Right, which is why I don't generally think about it.
But someone asked a zen person who didn't believe in it - "surely you believe you'll achieve enlightenment on death then?" Kinda struck me

conor.hogan.2

bluewolf wrote: »

Right, which is why I don't generally think about it.
But someone asked a zen person who didn't believe in it - "surely you believe you'll achieve enlightenment on death then?" Kinda struck me

No one knows what happens at death, unless enlightened but then it hardly matters.

It can be a central belief though.

DublinWriter

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Ok,I think the name of my post is being misinterpreted ....I'm not looking to exchange hard cash for some info on Buddhism,what I meant was for the users on this forum to give me reasons to consider looking more into Buddhism,no offense meant

I can only speak from subjective experience, but by nature Buddhism isn't an 'evangelical' belief system; the last thing you'll find is a Buddhist trying to convert you on the street or in a airport, it's a very personal thing.

Secondly, again subjectively, for me it made a lot of sense in terms of describing the nature of the universe in terms of Karma and the basic 'nothingness' of perceived physical reality as proved by the empirical sub-atomic physicists of the twentieth century.

Thirdly, it's probably the only belief system to incorporate a sense of humour as a part of healthy well being.

hmmm..Budda eh?

Back again:D

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

Generally actions in Buddhim aren't considered good or bad. They're usually referred to as skillful or unskillful.

this point is sticking in the back of my mind for some reason,could you elaborate on it?

conor.hogan.2

I see Buddhism as being extremely difficult to explain. In fact I think it is fairly central to Buddhism that it has "nothing to say" and it can only be "shown" by chipping away like a sculptor does a sculpture.

At least this is what I have read and have found. There is literally nothing you could point to even in small ways that would convey any real meaning even if this sort of "preaching" wasn't kind of counter to buddhisms ways in a sense also.

I have be particularly prone to false satori (at least I think they are fake… defintely fake if you take Satori to mean enlightenment but I take it to mean "understanding") Buddhism can be very very confusing at the best of times.

hmmm..Budda eh?

conor.hogan.2 wrote: »

even if this sort of "preaching" wasn't kind of counter to buddhisms ways in a sense also.

Do you mean preaching/converting others is in a way against Buddhist beliefs?

conor.hogan.2

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Do you mean preaching/converting others is in a way against Buddhist beliefs?

No. As there is no set beliefs (that I am aware of anyway)

It is just not really what is done. As I said "it has nothing to say". Confusing I know but stick with it.

18AD

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Do you mean preaching/converting others is in a way against Buddhist beliefs?

To become enlightened is all up to you. Of course you can get pointed in the right direction and there are people who know more about it than you but there is nothing you will gain from seeking salvation (for want of a better word) through them. You must do the work for yourself.

Not even buddha himself can save you!

"If you meet the Buddha, kill him." —Linji.

conor.hogan.2

If you understand the above, kill it.

Vinny-Chase

hmmm..Budda eh? wrote: »

Back again:D



this point is sticking in the back of my mind for some reason,could you elaborate on it?

I think this says it better than I could:

The terms “skillful” and “unskillful” are actually far more useful than “good” or “bad.” They suggest that happiness is the goal of life, and actions are judged as being helpful or unhelpful in attaining that goal. When we wish to attain a goal and are able to do this easily, then we show skill, while aiming for a goal but repeatedly missing it suggests a lack of skill. So in life we want to be happy but instead we end up miserable a lot of the time; we lack skill. The things we do that cause us unhappiness are called “unskillful” actions. Those things we do that lead to happiness (not mere pleasure or elation, but a sense of wellbeing) are skillful actions.

You’ll notice there’s no moral judgment here about actions being right or wrong, good or bad. In fact the Buddha said that if actions based on greed, hatred, and delusion actually did lead to happiness then he’d tell us to go out and do them! That’s an amazing statement when you think about it. It’s only because greed, hatred, and delusion cause unhappiness that the Buddha recommends we give them up, and it’s only because mindfulness and compassion lead to happiness that he advocates cultivating those qualities.

The words good and bad are inevitably misleading, because rather than simply looking at our actions and seeing whether they lead to happiness or unhappiness, we look at our actions and judge them. Then we judge ourselves as being good or bad depending on which kinds of actions we’ve performed.

bou

18AD wrote: »

"If you meet the Buddha, kill him." —Linji.

I don't particularly like this quote used lightly in a general context. The meaning of it is about letting go of solid fixed notions of the Buddha or clinging to experiences you have in your practice.

If you meet the Buddha, rejoice. You may have met the Buddha in the past, in which case, what good fortune!

bou

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

"Buddhism is an experience, not a set of beliefs"

"Buddhism is beyond all experiences and beliefs" would be one I'd go along with.

From the Heart Sutra:

gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā,
Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, awakened, so be it!

hmmm..Budda eh?

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

I think this says it better than I could:

You know what?....I reckon ye Buddhists are alright:D

I'm liking what I'm reading so far,so I think I have been sold Buddhism:rolleyes::):):)

Where did you get that quote above from Vinny-Chase?

Vinny-Chase

Ah Buddhists...a great bunch of lads!

Think I got it off the Wild Mind website for you.

[-0-]

The guy that runs that site lives within an hour of me. Awesome.

.same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slAwulYPSjg

wylo

OP, if you pick the right teachings and practices ,and make sure you stay away from any form of dogma as much as you possibly can, then buddhism can completely change how you view your experience of reality, and the funny part, what will be revealed to you is something that was always the case.
In another words you are smashing the crap out of your assumptions.