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Nessus posted:Lotta people don't seem to get this Buddha thing even a little. Pretty much all of the Hindu schools claim Buddha in some way or another. From my (admittedly limited) experience most Hindus are extremely reluctant to reject anyone who has a good message, and I've met several Indians who have included in their lists of great lamas not only historical yogis and teachers but also like, Master Sananda, aka Space Jesus. There is a really weird feedback loop on Indian religion that it entered into with the Theosophical Society that is an absolute blast to look into. Starting with the standardization of the chakras in the yogic systems after C.W. Leadbeater wrote a book about them based on a dubious translation by John Woodroffe of a book that was itself mostly just kind of speculative syncretism but which became the chakras that people know about in the West and which then kind of reverse-transmitted back to Indian yoga, and then just carrying on with a lot of Blavatsky's stuff, it gets v fuckin' weird. I suspect, and this is purely my own speculation, that it's because Indian religion generally values personal experience much higher than dogmatism - there's a long history and tradition of teachers appearing in weird ways and it's all about how you personally relate to the guru and your own personal spiritual path vs. rigid dogmatism (except when rigid dogmatism is your own personal spiritual path), so they tend to go like "oh, Jesus was a guru? Yeah of course. Oh, Jesus is called Sananda when he's an enlightened master? Sure sounds legit." So as a result I've noticed a lot of Hindus actually love to listen to Buddhist teachings, they just take in all the lessons and then at the end go "wow good thing this enlightened master Buddha who is actually [my own deity]'s avatar gave these profound lessons" and they roll with it. And honestly? I'm good with that. One of the best "features" of Buddhism is that if you follow the teachings your life will be happier whether you "become Buddhist" or not. Following the five precepts, staying mindful at all times, and so on all help people regardless of if you accept the Noble Eightfold Path as The Path.
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Aug 22, 2017 15:18
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Paramemetic, can you describe naga puja? Is it like normal offerings, but for nagas?
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Aug 31, 2017 17:55
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cerror posted:Paramemetic, can you describe naga puja? Is it like normal offerings, but for nagas? Sort of. I can describe how it is practiced in my tradition. I received instruction on the Naga Puja from Gyalpo Rinpoche, who restored the practice to our lineage from the Sakya line. I am sure Nyingmapa and so on do it more elaborately or differently. Generally there is an offering made to the nagas, but it's kind of to get their attention and get them to sit around for a while. Meanwhile, the yogi self-generates as the Naga-King Buddha, and then you give a Dharma teaching to the nagas. The reason for this is that nagas are human realm beings, so there's no spiritual benefit to asking them for things. But, the Nagaraja Mucalinda did shelter the Buddha from a storm and swear to protect Buddhists and so on. So we can remind them of those events and also remind them about the four noble truths and so on and this does benefit them. Because nagas are tied closely to the weather and so on, this can sometimes help with crops and rains or floods or so on, but that's not so much the point as just helping the nagas through practice. Also, because nagas are human realm dudes, they can be extremely fickle and so the practice has to be done with particular offerings on particular days, and doing it on the wrong days or with the wrong kinds of incense or food offerings will actually make the nagas upset. The actual practice is similar to most, although the arranged offerings are slightly different, the torma design is its own, and you burn a special incense continually. During the practice at certain point your pour a beverage made from the three whites and three sweets (milk, yogurt, butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and honey) over the tormas while offering them to the various naga kings and their retinue as well as the Sa-Dak and Nyen local spirits. After the long dharma discourse and the conclusion of the practice, the torma, the offerings should be taken to a body of water and tossed in. At my center we try to practice the naga puja at least once in a lunar month as HH Chetsang Rinpoche told us there are lots of nagas present in our area. This is why Gyalpo Rinpoche gave us the teachings and instructions and empowerment and so on.
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Sep 5, 2017 12:54
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Senju Kannon posted:man, and i only know of two shinran shonin anime movies. jodo shinshu gotta step it up if they want to be taken seriously as the largest religion in japan. can't rest on their laurels like that Can't wait for the upcoming Buddhist version of Saving Christmas!
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Sep 11, 2017 11:49
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I'm back in India, but this time, I'm a place where I have Internet. It's proven fairly reliable and I have a GB per day free which I have not yet used up. I'm currently staying at Songtsen Library in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, assisting my teacher as we make preparations for the 800th Commemoration of the Mahaparinirvana of the Incomparable Lord Drikungpa Jigten Sumgon. I'm largely serving as my Lama's personal assistant, but also as a translator for letters, English editor, and a general administrative assistant. So, Buddhism thread: I'm staying at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery until November, AMA.
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Sep 21, 2017 10:51
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How's the view?
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Sep 21, 2017 10:56
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Paramemetic posted:So, Buddhism thread: I'm staying at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery until November, AMA. What kind of schedule do the monks keep? What kinds of daily prayers and, for want of a better term, liturgies do the monks participate in? Are you allowed to join in any activities? What's the diet like?
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Sep 21, 2017 11:09
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Decent. Uttarakhand isn't really the Himalayas yet, it's the border area, so it's not nearly as beautiful as the last monastery I stayed at (Phyang Gonpa in Ladakh).   This is the library, I will be visiting it proper when I get some (other) downtime, I have a few texts I need to track down copies of.   Here's a little ways away from the campus, I took this on a morning walk a few days ago. I was walking with my teacher who was hustling so forgive the poor framing and less than artistic shots.  Here's a bus I just got off after lunch.
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Sep 21, 2017 11:17
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Thirteen Orphans posted:What kind of schedule do the monks keep? What kinds of daily prayers and, for want of a better term, liturgies do the monks participate in? Are you allowed to join in any activities? What's the diet like? There are certain practices that have to happen every day for the monastery itself, and there are particular monks who are responsible for those (one year term, two monks, they swap days). Those practices include the Dharma protectors and wrathful practices and so on. I haven't been on the main monastic campus here yet, but from Ladakh I can also say that there is a practice called Lama Chodpa every morning. My understanding is attendance is not compulsory but it's normal. Because this is a monastic college, there are a lot of training monks here who keep their own schedule. At the monastic college, Lama Chodpa is done at 6AM, with breakfast served at 7AM, lunch at 1PM, and dinner at 7PM. Meals are assembly line style, they put out a bunch of buckets of food and everyone filters through. Each monk will have their own practices that they do on their own time. Generally monks are kept busy with their studies and practices (it is, after all, their full time work) but they can come and go and have some freedom to set their own schedules, but of course they are under the supervision of senior monks. I participated in all the activities when I stayed at Phyang, and it only took a few days for the young monks to get over it and quit snickering. I went to a "exposition, debate, and composition" demonstration two or three nights ago for monks and nuns that were finishing the Summer Retreat, during which they do not leave the monastic grounds, kept getting side-eyed by one of the young monks who was confused as heck that I was there. Mostly right now I am busy with a very small group that is responsible for this event, so I am not as integrated into the monastic life as I was last time. Diet's good. Water has to be boiled here. Breakfast at the library has been banging every morning, lunch I've been eating at the monastery and so it is basically the same thing I'm used to from Phyang. I don't know the names of any of it lmao, but it's basically rice and a couple curry type things and daal and you slop it all on a plate and eat it. I'll grab a photo tomorrow (it's 4PM here now). My main concern here is mosquitoes. There haven't been tons but I ain't really trying to get dengue or malaria while I'm here. Miss me with that poo poo.
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Sep 21, 2017 11:31
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Paramemetic posted:wrathful practices and so on. Thank you for your response! Monasticism is an interest of mine so I hope other folks ask questions, too. If you don't mind, can you explain to me what wrathful practices actually are and when they showed up in Buddhist history?
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Sep 21, 2017 11:37
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Thirteen Orphans posted:If you don't mind, can you explain to me what wrathful practices actually are and when they showed up in Buddhist history? I don't really know much, it's not so much my scene, but from my limited understanding, basically all deities can be categorized as peaceful, wrathful, or semi-wrathful. Generally the expression on the face of the deity in iconography tells us what they are. Those dispositions refer to the mode of dharma activities they engage in. Peaceful deities pacify, whereas wrathful deities subdue via forceful means. Different obstacles to the Dharma have different solutions, and we can't use one thing to solve another. Generally, monasteries are protected by Dharma protectors, who are usually wrathful or at least have wrathful presentations (in fact, these are just ways those enlightened deities present, it's not like they are limited to being just one or the other). The Dharma protectors need some kinds of special practices. That's what I meant about "wrathful practices" in that context. In the broader context, when practicing deity yoga, when we practice wrathful deities, different methods are used. You can tell by the kinds of music that are employed, generally, and by the iconography of the deities, and usually by the contents of the rituals - wrathful practices tend to have lots of blood and skulls and such in their imagery. Of course, all of those images are representative, for example a crown of five skulls represents the five wisdoms and the five Buddha families, and so on. I can't tell you definitively when they entered into Buddhism, but I know that they have come from Indian Tantric masters. I'm not a great scholar to know which one comes first, but all of the tantras I know of at least recognize some wrathful deities and aspects. My understanding, also, is that the historical Buddha appointed Mahakala to be the principle Dharma Protector, but because I am deep in the Tibetan game I can't tell you whether that is a general belief or if it's a Tibetan thing.
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Sep 21, 2017 11:49
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I just watched three monks proofread mistakes in a book being prepared for printing via memorization consensus and it's the most badass old school thing I've ever seen.
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Sep 21, 2017 13:18
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So what's a semi-wrathful deity?
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Sep 21, 2017 14:08
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lifg posted:So what's a semi-wrathful deity? Another mode, iconographically they tend to be in peaceful forms but with some wrathful elements (like bared fangs). Different dudes have different names based on their presentation. So for example Vajrasattva, a peaceful deity, becomes semiwrathful Vajravidharana, wrathful Vajrapani, and very wrathful Vajrakilaya
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Sep 21, 2017 14:27
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Paramemetic posted:I just watched three monks proofread mistakes in a book being prepared for printing via memorization consensus and it's the most badass old school thing I've ever seen. Can you expand on this a bit?
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Sep 22, 2017 00:35
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Are you doing much practices or are you mostly there to work?
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Sep 22, 2017 00:55
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Can you expand on this a bit? They are preparing a lot of texts to be distributed as part of the event and that includes digitizing texts. During the proofread they hit a series of words that seemed off and so three of them all started reciting the text from memory until they hit the phrase, came to a consensus on it from their memorization, and corrected it accordingly. Re: Nessus: work is a practice. I'm mostly here to work but I'm keeping up on my daily practices. I am working on preliminary practices so there's nothing I could coherently add to my daily practice anyhow.
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Sep 22, 2017 01:43
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Paramemetic posted:They are preparing a lot of texts to be distributed as part of the event and that includes digitizing texts. During the proofread they hit a series of words that seemed off and so three of them all started reciting the text from memory until they hit the phrase, came to a consensus on it from their memorization, and corrected it accordingly. Did they start from the very beginning of the text, or do they kind of have it memorized as chapters?
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Sep 22, 2017 05:18
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They popped in about 12 lines ahead, one started by reading then the other two fell in after a verse or two. Tibetan books are all written in like poetic verse so it's pretty easy to take off once you've hit a stride.
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Sep 22, 2017 08:18
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I hope things are going well in Uttarakhand, Paramemetic! Unrelated; is anyone familiar with the Kwan Um school of Zen? Is it relatively reputable?
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Sep 29, 2017 15:39
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CountFosco posted:Can't wait for the upcoming Buddhist version of Saving Christmas!  Buddhist Easter: 
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Oct 9, 2017 20:18
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Young Shakyamuni looks swag as hell. Was that one of the many signs of a superior being, swag?
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Oct 9, 2017 21:07
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Senior Scarybagels posted:Buddhist Christmas (made by an asian studio featuring fairies singing to a sleeping buddha): Which holiday is that anime where he's roommates with Jesus
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Oct 17, 2017 20:25
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Hey Senju Kannon, I'm writing a paper on Pure Land ethics and I was wondering if you could point me to any good sources. Specifically, I'm researching how Pure Land thinkers have answered the question of "Why should I act morally if I'm going to be reborn in the Pure Land either way?" Sources related to any branch of Pure Land Buddhism would be fine, but I would think Jodo Shinshu thinkers would have some of the most interesting ideas. Thanks in advance!
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Oct 26, 2017 17:04
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there’s a few books i can think of, engaged pure land buddhism, ugo dessi edited a book on this subject but i can’t remember what it was called, ethics and society in contemporary shin buddhism that’s it. you should also look into takagi kenmyo. there’s more but i’m at a bus stop about to go to work so this is the best i can do
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Oct 26, 2017 18:33
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Thanks! That should be more than enough for my purposes. My professor also recommended me a book on humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan, which should be help round out my sources.
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Oct 27, 2017 00:23
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Laocius posted:Hey Senju Kannon, I'm writing a paper on Pure Land ethics and I was wondering if you could point me to any good sources. Specifically, I'm researching how Pure Land thinkers have answered the question of "Why should I act morally if I'm going to be reborn in the Pure Land either way?" Sources related to any branch of Pure Land Buddhism would be fine, but I would think Jodo Shinshu thinkers would have some of the most interesting ideas. Thanks in advance!  http://www.bdkamerica.org/book/pdf-commentary-text-tannisho-strategies-modern-living - this has commentaries on the Tannisho also, which address some of the issues you discuss in passing. (I guess I got one of the last paper copies!)
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Oct 27, 2017 00:44
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i mean, it is a similar vein tbh. i’m not up on calvinist history or the theology of american evangelicals but there are some superficial similarities between the two, though there isn’t double predestination in jodo shinshu
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Oct 27, 2017 05:06
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Senju Kannon posted:i mean, it is a similar vein tbh. i’m not up on calvinist history or the theology of american evangelicals but there are some superficial similarities between the two, though there isn’t double predestination in jodo shinshu Isn't there a very limited form of pre-destination floating around? Like the bodhisattvas and Maitreya, who presumably is at press time extant somewhere. At the same time I suppose these were ultimately things the persons in question decided to do long ago.
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Oct 27, 2017 07:13
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i forget who exactly it was but my buddhism professor from back in undergrad said that there was a protestant theologian who was trying to argue that because calvinism was uniquely "faith alone" or something along those lines then it was special out of all the world's religions, until he found out about jodo shinshu and had to re-evaluate his theology
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Oct 27, 2017 08:05
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Oh hey, I never realized there was a buddhist thread? I'm taking remedial religion 101, I may have some dumb questions about buddhism come exam time. I'm a practicing norse pagan reconstructionist, but I have a great deal of respect for buddhism because of the focus on self-improvement and compassion!
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Oct 29, 2017 16:15
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Tias posted:Oh hey, I never realized there was a buddhist thread? I'm taking remedial religion 101, I may have some dumb questions about buddhism come exam time. Sounds good. I know you from the Lit Christian thread, welcome to our tinier slice of samsara.
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Oct 29, 2017 17:38
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Tias posted:I'm a practicing norse pagan reconstructionist is there a thread about this? because if not you should start one. it’s actually a pretty interesting topic
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Oct 29, 2017 20:34
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Tias posted:Oh hey, I never realized there was a buddhist thread? I'm taking remedial religion 101, I may have some dumb questions about buddhism come exam time. The boundaries may be more porous than you'd think.
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Oct 30, 2017 06:40
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Annual Prophet posted:is there a thread about this? because if not you should start one. it’s actually a pretty interesting topic You're the second post to ask in as many days, and well.. The knowledge and interest is there, but the prior threads about it have been heckled into oblivion by lovely posters. I may do it after my exams. Thanks! Nessus posted:https://www.lionsroar.com/the-buddha-statue-found-in-an-ancient-viking-hoard/ Exceedingly so. Also, as you may know, a viking noble grave was uncovered recently with the kufi script for Allah written into some items of the hoard. Iron age scandinavians were a spiritually pragmatic people, and did not think of foreign religions as false as much as convenient divine power-ups 
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Oct 30, 2017 07:04
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It seems like it would be a difficult path to walk, between the relative paucity of original materials, the super new age types on the left, and  on the right. I also enjoyed your postings in the liturgical thread. I imagine a lot of our crossover is because of the phenomenon my priest friend I mentioned a while back described: He may not think I'm on the right path, but like, he doesn't have to half-apologize for being a clergyman to me. Nessus fucked around with this message at 09:07 on Oct 31, 2017 |
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Oct 30, 2017 07:18
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Tias posted:You're the second post to ask in as many days, and well.. The knowledge and interest is there, but the prior threads about it have been heckled into oblivion by lovely posters. I may do it after my exams. If you do it, I got your back. Everyone thinks they're a comedian.
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Oct 30, 2017 08:40
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Same. There are interesting academic issues in any pagan reconstructivism and Nordic reconstructivism is particularly problematic because of the complicating issues of very bad records and lots of special interests in the problem. Kemetic reconstructivism is poor but has much less political pressure in either direction, Greek and Roman reconstructivism have decent records (except for the mysteries) but pretty good records, but Celtic and Nordic reconstructivism have a lot of political issues tied up in it as well as very poor historical records which leads to a really interesting mess. Keeping it focused on the academic side rather than the personal practice aspect (or at least, keeping it focused on their intersection) will work well. The other threads often become clownshows but they also often take the devotional focus angles which goons are quick to jump on while lacking the benefit of being an established mainstream religion like Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism; though even those get their own poo poo in a lot of ways.
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Oct 30, 2017 16:43
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Paramemetic posted:The other threads often become clownshows but they also often take the devotional focus angles which goons are quick to jump on while lacking the benefit of being an established mainstream religion like Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism; though even those get their own poo poo in a lot of ways. The first thread of that nature was by a person who had been practicing for one week, and had hung up a hammer on his mantle. It was short lived.
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Oct 30, 2017 18:01
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His shrine to Thor was pretty endearing, though  But seriously, as Paramemetic says, focusing on an academic angle is going to be.. problematic, to say the least. Our last priests taught by other priests died a thousand years ago, and the only written sources were curated by christians who may have had an agenda interpreting them or misunderstood the significance. While some of our gods -probably- came from the east and mediterranean, immediately likening them to a greek god with some of the same portfolios seem premature. So how then do we practice? Mostly by the textual sources, of course, but a lot of it is self-taught. We are separated by the new age kitten crystal-waves not because they make poo poo up and we don't, but that we have formed new norse communities, based on a common interpretation of history, that attempt to work out together how to be faithful to the aesir and vanir today. Legitimate norse heathen organizations have many things in common, the pantheon and the ritual of the blót to take obvious examples. Many, many other things are specific to the organization, and has led to some friction between groups to put it mildly. The single largest problem being theological arguments for racism, with the national US organization being made up of crazy neo-nazis who came up with racist positions that clearly run counter to the commandments of Odin in the hávamál and the elder edda, and european organizations adopting them without reflection.
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Nov 1, 2017 07:09
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