|
Sunday, December 23rd, 2001
onthemoon
|
5:49 am - some thoughts to share, and an introduction...
this is something i wrote earlier this evening and would like to share...
all will change in time, but what is time? time is nothing. time is inescapable. time is everywhere and time in nowhere. we spend our lives in the past, looking toward the future, but we only exist in the now. and change? there is not a man or woman who knows not change. yet there are many a million who will do all they can to run and hide from change. change is the innevitable. change lays waste to all and gives birth to everything. he who tries to avoid change will succede only in running in circles 'till he falls from his own exhaustion.. do not seek change, for it is all around you. do not live for the change that has yet to come, or live in the change that has already happened. change is constant and must be embraced as it is happening.
me? i am matt. i am relatively new to this community and this my first time posting other than comments. i am here with hopes that i may learn from all of you, as well as simply seeking place where similar thoughts and feelings may exist. hallo.
| (1 comment | comment on this)
caoin
|
3:50 pm - Pali form of a quote
I've had the following quote randomly inserted in the signature of my e-mail for some time, but I have no idea where I found it. Someone has now asked me about its origin, so I've been doing some web research and I've discovered that it comes from Some Sayings of the Buddha by F. L. Woodward (Oxford Press) and that that book is an anthology of translations from the Sutta pitaka. I will pass this info on and will look for the book myself when I get time, but it occurred to me that someone here might have the book and so could tell me whether there was a better pointer to the source rather than just the 10,000 suttas of the Sutta pitaka.
Here's the quote:
Ye must leave righteous ways behind, not to speak of unrighteous ways.
| (5 comments | comment on this)
Friday, December 21st, 2001
bonvogue
|
6:06 pm - Dhammapada
I started to re-read the Dhammapada and found this passage very powerful.
Altho I have to be honest that I am not certain my understanding of it is the right way.
Nevertheless, I wish to share with you...... and may be, if you wish to, please share with me what you think of this passage as well....
I have gone round in vain the cycles of many lives ever
striving to find the builder of the house of life and death.
How Great is the sorrow of life that must die!
But now I have seen thee, housebuilder: never more shalt
thou build this House. The rafters of sin are broken, the
ridgepole of ignorance is destroyed, the fever of craving is
past: for my mortal mind is gone to the joy of the
immortal Nirvana,
| (2 comments | comment on this)
Wednesday, December 19th, 2001
5luckydragons
|
12:35 pm - Hello!
I am a new person :D
I was wondering if there were any other Shingon/Mikkyo school Buddhists in the community?
*Lucky*
| (1 comment | comment on this)
Tuesday, December 18th, 2001
javachick
|
2:50 pm
Hi. I was wondering if anyone knew some good books about buddhism and buddha's teachings and life that they would reccomend to me, or any informative websites. Thank you so much!
| (10 comments | comment on this)
Monday, December 17th, 2001
uzume
|
11:14 am
I wonder how many 'Buddhists' hide behind the temperance of The Middle Path in an attempt to escape emotions they'd rather not feel.
| (13 comments | comment on this)
Sunday, December 16th, 2001
nekomimi
|
9:16 pm - Enlighten me!
Hello, my name is Susi and I'm new to the community. I'm a fledgling Buddhist who understands the basic principles and the four noble truths and the like. I was introduced to Buddhism through SGI (Sokka Gakai International) and I am now wrestling with some of their philosophies. While many of them I like and practice, I am greatly disturbed by Nichiren Daishonen's holier-than-thou teachings, despite the fact that he chastises priests for being corrupt. This is the reason I left Christianity... so now I'm going back to the old sutras and reading them for myself rather than letting SGI and the Gosho spoon feed me what they want about the religion.
Anyone who has any knowledge of SGI, please give your frank and honest opinion about the group, whether it be good or bad. I want to learn about each type of Buddhism and form my own opinion rather than be led by the nose by Nichiren's interpretations of the sutras.
current mood: flustered | (16 comments | comment on this)
anne_jumps
|
8:33 pm
This episode of "The Simpsons" is about Lisa wanting to be a Buddhist, and there are a lot of good lines. One of the best: Reverend Lovejoy: "Santa doesn't leave presents under the Bodhi tree!"
| (7 comments | comment on this)
Wednesday, December 12th, 2001
gmalivuk
|
4:58 pm - Science as Zen
Before Zen meditation, a mountain is a mountain.
During Zen meditation, a mountain is not a mountain.
After Zen meditation, a mountain is a mountain.
Thinking about the past 2500 years or so of physics reminded me of this quote from a recent Buddhism lecture. I was thinking specifically about gravity.
Before science, things fall.
The entire process of physics since then has involved trying to explain why things fall, and how fast they fall, and how we might be able to predict how other things will fall in the future. But all we've really discovered is that things fall on other planets, too, and that they all fall in kind of a similar way.
The ultimate goal of science, in my opinion, would be to get back to the basic understanding that things fall.
| (7 comments | comment on this)
Monday, December 10th, 2001
wang1961
|
10:25 am - Death on Saturday
A runner in an ultra-marathon had a heart attack on Saturday on a remote wilderness trail. I was part of a team which went in to evacuate him. Just as I was getting to the site, I saw an ATV which had taken another route coming toward me, the dead body strapped onto a back board, covered with a blanket, the running shoes sticking out from the bottom.
He came with his wife and friends to have a wonderful, memorable day out in the forest, and instead his body ended up in the back of an ATV, duct-taped to a board, face covered and running shoes sticking out.
I walked back alone to the aid station chanting "Ji Jang Bosal" (Korean for Kchitigharba Bodhisattva). I said the Lord's Prayer.
Isn't this a peculiar life we are living ? Where did this man come from ? Where did he go ?
The tree branches arched over the trail, silhouetted against the late afternoon overcast sky. The cold rain fell on my face.
| (4 comments | comment on this)
Sunday, December 9th, 2001
gmalivuk
|
7:43 pm
Was it someone in this community who used to have the penguin userpic? I wanted to link it from a comment to a post about this girl's new penguin mood icons, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Now it's become somewhat of an obsession...
| (comment on this)
Saturday, December 8th, 2001
gmalivuk
|
8:11 pm - Sutra on the Merit of Giving to Those in Need
This is the .pdf file for a sutra that I wrote for my Buddhism class, preceded by a commentary. Note that it is mostly fictional, at least as far as where this particular sutra came from. The reason it's an Adobe Acrobat file is that the sutra itself has many nonstandard characters which wouldn't display correctly unless you had the font on your computer. While I could direct you to where you can download that font, it is easier in the meantime to simply use a .pdf file.
| (6 comments | comment on this)
kataclysm
|
3:17 pm
On the very last day of my Buddhist Psychology class, Professor Eleanor Rosch told us a little anecdote about an ex-student who worked in a restaurant.
One night while working, he happened to look outside and see a car on fire with a man in flames within. He raced outside and stopped at the chainlink fence separating him from the scene. He began shouting at the people standing around to put the man out. Everyone shouted back, "he's going to burn to death anyway, there's no use trying to save him." So he leaped over the fence, and with the help of another man, put out the flames engulfing the victim's body. Later on, everyone called him a hero and looked at him with admiration. But he only grew angry upon hearing this. His answer? "I just did what was natural, what every human being should and must do naturally."
Maybe being a person is being heroic. This is an example of the naturalness of compassion - compassion without effort. Spontaneous action.
| (3 comments | comment on this)
Thursday, December 6th, 2001
oksweetpea
|
12:32 pm
I would like to pose a question to the community. I am relatively new here and my experience with Buddhism, although I believe it is the way, is rather limited. My mother has been practicing for many years, and in fact is away right now at a Zen center, on retreat. She is 61 years old. She and I have spent countless hours deep in discussion about "what it all means" and I draw strength, courage and wisdom from her. I have read many books, listened to many speakers and asked many questions over the years, however, I do not consider myself a practicing buddhist...simply because I do not practice. I see the work that she puts her body through, the discipline she has and the years she has put in and I do not dare to call myself a buddhist.
Having said that, my question is this. Is it possible to be an atheist and still practice buddhism? Or a Christian? Or a Jew? I hear so much reference to buddhism as a religion...but is it not simply a way of life? Is the dogma associated with it not something that "we" have attached over time, perhaps to be seem as separate or to attract more "followers"? Must we forsake, or believe in, Jesus in order to follow Buddha?
Your thoughts?
| (16 comments | comment on this)
wang1961
|
10:28 am - SS on Enlightement - 1982 Winter Kyol Che Retreat Talk, Providence, RI
If you want something, then you have a problem; if you want Enlightenment, then you have a #1 big problem. Then you will have a headache, an energy-up headache. Don't want anything; don't attach to anything. "I want to sit correctly," "I want to be a correct Zen student," "I want correct practicing." If you are attached to any kong-an, then you have a problem. So don't check, don't hold, don't want, don't attach - which means don't make anything. Then your mind is already complete.
Enlightenment is not special. Put it all down, everything! Only Don't Know. Then Don't Know will open by itself. In the springtime, all flowers open up by themselves. If you go to a greenhouse in the wintertime, you will find many flowers - only hothouse flowers. That's O.K., but they are not correct, not strong. Outside, spring comes, the grass grows by itself. Flowers are blooming. That is the true way.
So I hope you only go straight, Don't Know, for ninety days, and don't make anything. Then your center will become stronger, stronger, stronger. Then you will be able to control your feeling, your condition, and your situation. Then first, attain the Wisdom of Freedom from Life and Death. Next, attain Freedom from Life and Death. Finally, attain the Correct Function of Freedom from Life and Death.
So I ask you: First, the Wisdom of Freedom from Life and Death; next, the Attainment of Freedom from Life and Death; finally, the Correct Function of Freedom from Life and Death which one is best? If you find which one is best, then the dog is laughing, "Ho. Ho! You are just like me." That is wonderful. If you cannot find the best one, then the Stone Tiger is laughing, "Ha, Ha, Ha! You are stupid." More practicing is necessary! If you want to know which one is best, then go outside and ask the snow, "Why are you white?" Then the snow will give you a good answer.
Soen Sa Nim's penetrating Korean chanting again filled the Dharma Room, and again, after each pair of lines, the Sangha joined him wholeheartedly in chanting, once, strongly, "Namu Amitabul," to the sound of the moktak. During the chanting Soen Sa Nim hit the rostrum three times with his stick, the final time just as the chanting finished. He then descended from the High Stand.
| (7 comments | comment on this)
Wednesday, December 5th, 2001
(1 comment | comment on this)
(1 comment | comment on this)
sulphuroxide
|
12:21 am - reincarnation.
i admit it. i joined this community just now just to post this here. =(
because i'm curious as to what responses i'll get to this:
hinduism has the idea of reincarnation. this literally means: re-in-carne-ation. carne means meat. when you are re-born you are re-meat-ed. there is a sect of hinduism, dont ask me the name (dont remember), or the size, but i think it's a minor one, which states among other things, that time does not matter, that your karma-line of your soul just pops in whenever. it also states that there is only one 'spiritual essence'. a soul, if you like.
everyone is that soul in different stages of karma.
buddhism also has reincarnation as part of its tenants. you can see where this is leading. i dont know if any buddhism which has this one soul idea. but i'd like some info if you do know of one sect that's like this, or if you have any opinions, thoughts on the matter. over the years, most people ive spoken with dont like this idea. many think it's stupid. they feel violated, i guess. so it makes for some laughing at (me) and mocking (also at me=), instead of some intelligent discussion. however, i understand their viewpoint. christianity holds the soul as pretty much the individual, and that defines a person as who they are...
but what do you think?
| (20 comments | comment on this)
gmalivuk
|
12:02 am
 tecknomonk and myself have to write sutras of 3 or 4 pages, along with 3 or 4 pages of commentary, as a final project for our intro to Buddhism class.
If anyone has any suggestions for topics about which to write a sutra, feel free to share them here.
Thanks
| (comment on this)
Tuesday, December 4th, 2001
millie2001
|
12:09 pm - Intro
Hi. I've been watching this list for a while and decided to introduce myself. I'm Millie. I was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. I recently completed 6 months of chemotherapy and am currently undergoing radiation.
I was introduced to the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche, in the process of searching for my spirituality. As a result of this book, I began attending Rigpa classes (the sangha that follows Sogyal Rinpoche's teachings).
The more I study Buddhism the more I'm content with this choice of spirituality for me. It's made me understand religions as seen from a higher viewpoint, and be more accepting of people from other religions who seem dogmatic about their way being the "only way". The process of knowing yourself through meditation, and discovering the buddha nature which is already within you seems to make so much sense to me. I also like that Buddhism speaks for itself. It doesn't claim to be the one answer for everyone, but it does have teachings which everyone could learn from, even people from other religions.
Also, I find the Buddhist treatment of the dying process as being just another event in the cycle of living, dying, and rebirth very comforting. There's so much that coming to terms with our mortality can teach us about living, and accepting other people. After all, we are all "dying". That's not meant as a morbid thought, it's meant as a reason to live life to the fullest and be at peace with ourselves, and with the world.
Anyway, the more I learn about Buddhism, the more I talk about it in my journal, so I thought it was time to introduce myself to the community.
current mood:  cheerful | (6 comments | comment on this)
|
