Contemplating Buddhism

[Arklenao2]

messages are 1 1/2 years old

[smoke it]

athiesm isnt a belief that there is no god, athiesm is a lack of belief itself

[mrdevious]

WHOA, I read my old posts in this thread and judging by my understanding of the subject at the time, this thread must be 2 years old!

Well, to anybody who is considering buddhism, just remember that the buddha didn't want mindless drones and unquestioning obedience (not that theists are mindless drones, but some churches inevitably want that). Learn from the Buddha's teachings, and question them constantly so as to understand them fully. If they truly are correct (which I have found in my experience), there's nothing to fear from questioning them.

I really hope I can get back into it seriously again. It seems with a life of constant studying in college, constant pain raging through every muscle in my body, and of course all lifes other surprises that inevitably come up, it's much too easy to distract your attention with useless things. But I'm working at that again.

All I can advise on for everybody here, is to consider not devoting yourself strictly to buddhist practice. Buddhism is a staple in my life, the main perspective and philosophy that guides me, but there's incredible wisdom to be found elsewhere as well. No one faith/belief/philosophy has every answer, just the answer's it's offering.

[ericwt]

Just a little thought fort those contemplating Buddhism.

You will need 2 joints (it is a long movie).

Now go rent, buy, or steal a DVD of Little Buddha.

Start smoking a minute before you start the movie.

Great movie. Plenty of stoner moments.

Will give you the goods without the dogma.

In essence Buddha is more than the Buddhist religious traditions. There are many sects of Buddhism. Some very regimented, others are very loose.

I lived in a monastery for about a year. Smoked some fine weed there.

Find the idea of Buddha not the dogma.

[Cheery Cherry]

I lived in a monastery for about a year.

That's interesting, Eric. I would love to hear the experience and your thoughts on that .


For the past several weeks, I've been looking into Buddhism and Hinduism. I'd like to find a book (or two) to read more about the lifestyle.

[Cheery Cherry]

'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' by Sogyal Rinpoche

If not, you should - I'm not Buddhist but some of the passages in that book were like light bulbs going off in my head.
Best of luck with whatever you chose.

Okay, how did I miss this post???? Thank you, Lulu.

[Coelho]

Ive read it too I consider it a must read for everyone, now you want to read the Tibetan book of the dead that will really blow your mind. If you put it into your search bar you can read it on line. Happy reading Garry D.

There is an interesting book which makes a good link between psychedelic experiences and the writings of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Basically, it says some things the book describes are the same things felt when you're in a heavy trip (LSD-like)... here is the link:

Erowid Online Books : "The Psychedelic Experience" by Leary, Metzner, & Alpert

By the way, KronicKing, that story of the spider is beautiful! And very enlightening too! :thumbsup:

[ericwt]

That's interesting, Eric. I would love to hear the experience and your thoughts on that .


For the past several weeks, I've been looking into Buddhism and Hinduism. I'd like to find a book (or two) to read more about the lifestyle.

Wow. That is a lot of writing. Do you want the whole story of my year at the monastery? Or my whole Buddha consciousness philosophy?

If you give me some guidance on what you are interested in knowing about.

Please remember there are multiple sects, of the Buddhas philosophy. Just like there are a lot of types of Christians.

I really encourage you to rent "Little Buddha" on DVD. It gives a great overview and it is an extremely enjoyable movie.

I looked into Hinduism myself. The problem with that one is my lifestyle did not mesh with the Hindu system of living. Nothing against it. Just not for me.

What I ended up with is a combination of Buddhism, Taoism and a few other ways combined with an assertive attitude.

Yes you can be assertive in a loving, compassionate, and detached way.

What can I share with you, Cheery Cherry?

[micko]

I lived in Asia for around 10 years, and I agree with Eric, there are numerous sects of Buddhism in each country, and each is as individual as the different versions of Christianity (think of how different Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Born-again Fundamentalists are, and that's only the US). It's not easy to encompass it all in one category. Obviously Buddhism is a lot more introspective than most forms of Christianity.

Some of my favorite memories are of visiting temples in Thailand and Laos. They are really ornate and quiet. Maybe someone else can speak to this as well, but for me, I felt very much at peace there.

The worst I have seen have to be a few in Korea where rival sects were rioting and assaulting each other because of a dispute over the temple's use.

I'm not religious, mostly because it involves deifying someone (Buddah, Jesus, Allah and so forth) so let me just mention this: If you like the basic precepts of Buddhism, you might also like existentialism. I found this philosophy very good in helping me deal with a series of bad things that happened over the course of one year a while back.

micko

[Cheery Cherry]

Hi Eric. Well, these past few months, I've been really looking at all religions so I can better understand certain things about my life and why I handle or look at things the way I do. I am interested in how you started learning about Buddhism and how you met people who practice Buddhism and I have tons of questions on meditation too.

If you'd like to e-mail me, please do: Cheery.Cherry at hotmail dot com . Thank you.