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I was curious what people in this thread thought of Ian Stevenson's work. I've seen some people in the Buddhist community point to his work as "proof" of rebirth as a concept, and the little I've read does seem intelligent, but there are likely huge issues with it that I may not be noticing from a surface reading.
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Feb 26, 2020 17:02
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Cuervo Jonestown posted:Iirc the general story was that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women for social reasons and was convinced to do so by Ananda, who explicitly pointed out that women could attain awakening just as well as men. Recent textual scholarship by some people have put forward some strong arguments that this is a later addition and its more likely that women and men were both ordained from more or less the beginning, but unfortunately I don't have the links/pdfs handy atm.
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Mar 11, 2020 06:20
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Yeah, Dōgen definitely had a distinct interpretation of Ch'an philosophy from both his Tendai roots and his dissatisfaction with the larger Buddhist community at the time. Because of this, I wouldn't be surprised if Zen was the most different out-branch of Ch'an, though I'm admittedly less familiar with them.
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Mar 11, 2020 18:15
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I've been wondering, why do you all think Buddhism never developed its own "romantic" tradition? To clarify, I've noticed that most major religions seem to develop traditions around romantic and devotional love between two partners, even when the religion itself is quite anti-erotic. Christianity in it's early days was incredibly anti-sex, with marriage being not just non-ideal, but actively frowned upon. Yet modern Christianity is filled with concepts like soul-mates, marriage sacraments, and "family values". I've seen similar traditions in Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. What is different about Buddhism? Mahayana Buddhism even succeeded over other traditions in China and neighboring countries because it had more of a house-holder role through the bodhisattva path, which allowed it to mesh better with Confucian values. Moreover, there are elements of Buddhism which seem to work well with this kind of thinking. The stories of Shakyamuni and Yasodhara from their past lives are very romantic, and I heard that a major Japanese Pure Land Buddhist, I believe Shinran, talked about how he believed his wife was an emanation of Manjushri because of her guidance. Obviously Buddhism isn't going to ever be an incredibly romantic tradition; it forces individuals to confront the ephemeral nature of everything, even love, but I'm surprised that I haven't found any such tradition in my studies yet.
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Mar 13, 2020 20:25
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I saw a post online recently, and couldn't come up with a good response: why do English speaking Buddhists (generally) chant in the language of their tradition instead of English? Isn't it important to understand what you're chanting, not just in a "someone told me it means X" way, but through your own language?
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Apr 17, 2020 02:55
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Another thing that may help you, if I can chip in. Others in the thread talked to you about how you are a composite of your experiences with others, and they are a composite of you. All those experiences are diminishing, being added to, or being forgotten. This applies to a lot of things: your perspective changes with time, as does your body. This raises a question: if everything that you're composed of, thoughts, memories, organs, emotions, they're all changing constantly, what are "you"? What is the "you" that you feel is worthless? The Buddhist answer is that it doesn't exist. Every moment everyone is changing so dramatically that it isn't helpful, from a place of self reflection, to consider yourself the same person you were ten or twenty years ago. There's some disagreement on what this means, as some Buddhists assert that this means the "soul" of a person just isn't found within these traits (called the five aggregates). Most, however, assert that all individuals are nothing more than shifting and occasionally overlapping states. I don't know if this will help you at all, but for me, I found it profoundly freeing. The person who did that embarrassing thing? They died years ago! I am a completely different person. Yes, there is a "momentum" that carries us forward, which makes sudden and drastic change difficult. But if you aren't satisfied with the person you are right now, know that not only are you capable of changing, but changing into someone else is an inevitably. And you are the person with the most control over that. Don't expect immediate results, but you can change if you decide you need to.
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Apr 30, 2020 03:18
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From what I hear, Soka Gakkai has a perception off being fairly intense and confrontational with other major Buddhist groups, particularly in Japan, and promoting intense devotion that makes the more religiously-skeptical elements of Japanese culture suspicious at best. How much that reflects the truth, both in Japan and abroad, is up for debate. I haven't had many interactions with the group, but I imagine that, like almost every Buddhist community in the Western world, a more ecumenical approach is going to be necessary just to survive, which would likely sand down some of the edges there, so to speak. Take from that what you will.
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Sep 4, 2020 02:15
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I've kind of talked about this in this thread, but with COVID I don't have a good place to talk to anyone about this, and I kind of need to vent. I'm someone who was raised in a very religious context, but has always been somewhat skeptical of religious thinking. I've also had a deep abiding fear of Oblivion as a concept. The idea that my consciousness is solely a product of my physical body is terrifying, particularly because of the finality of it. That fear and skepticism have kind of combined such that any attempt to understand rebirth, heaven, hell, or any afterlife is tinged with a cynical belief that I'm just trying to deny science or make myself feel better. I do believe there are rational reasons to believe in rebirth, and I find some evidence quite convincing, but my questioning side always claws away at me. I feel like this affects my progress as a Buddhist, because it means I don't have a solid foundation or relationship with it. I always want a security that I fundamentally have difficulty accepting. Anyone have experience with this?
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Nov 23, 2020 20:30
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echinopsis posted:I’m not sure where I got this from but so far it makes sense to me but, rebirth is something that occurs very often. While I 100% agree with that, I would say that the leap from gradual, incremental transition like you're talking about to a rapid change via not properly understood metaphysical methods as discussed in rebirth is large. I can accept easily that my body and mind are constantly in flux. Whether that flux inherently means that there will be some transition beyond them is the issue. And I don't mean in the "my actions will reflect across everyone via interdependence" sort of non-answer, I mean a further continuation of my mind-stream, even if I'm not consciously aware of my previous lives.
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Nov 24, 2020 05:17
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That's getting into Andy Weir's The Egg territory. I don't think I've ever heard anything about non-linear time progression within rebirth, but I know many traditions have a codified understanding of how long and where someone will be reborn which would directly contradict that as a possibility. That said, certain Mahayana groups seem to find Buddhas to be extra-temporal, so to speak. They're beyond the cycle of rebirth, and I believe that would put them outside the progression of time as we understand it. Someone with more experience or expertise may be about to clarify or expand.
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May 10, 2021 13:30
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The real question is if Aqua from Konosuba is a Deva, Bodhisattva, or a Dakini.
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May 10, 2021 21:59
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Laocius posted:It does seem that Louis Pasteur already disproved the Buddhist understanding of how maggots and such are born, although I don’t think most Buddhists would consider that a particularly fundamental doctrine. While something like this is totally true, I am curious how other Buddhists respond to this alongside the belief that the Buddha is capable of knowing, seeing, and understanding everything. Doesn't the Buddha being wrong about one thing call other things into question, even if it doesn't directly apply to the fundamental teachings of Buddhism?
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Aug 6, 2021 05:26
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Maybe not the best transition, but does anyone here have any Buddhist discords they recommend? Looking to find a group I can chat with.
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Aug 26, 2021 21:09
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Outside of here, does anyone recommend any Buddhist communities online? Edit: I mainly ask because the Buddhist community in the city I'm at is fairly small, and I wanted to be able to talk to people about Buddhism outside of this small thread. Y'all are great, but I'd not call this a sangha. Hiro Protagonist fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Oct 4, 2021 |
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Oct 4, 2021 13:33
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corn haver posted:Yeah. The religious/intellectual environment of ancient India was pretty astounding, not just with Buddhist texts. Like this from brahmanism:
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Jan 26, 2022 20:31
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Does anyone have any recommendations for YouTube channels, documentaries, or podcasts to listen to regarding Buddhist practice? My girlfriend has been interested in Buddhism, and I wanted to find something easy to digest when it comes to initial principles. She works in academia, so books generally aren't the best, because she just wants time away from reading after work usually.
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Mar 6, 2022 19:20
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I had a question about mindstreams. If we say that most everything ends (body, personality, memories) when someone dies, but they are reborn none the less, is it still understood that there's a continuity of, not consciousness but let's say view path, or first person perspective, in the same way that the mindstream "behind my eyes" continues even after I sleep? Or is that not definitive in Buddhist scripture? Also, if all those things end when you die, how do people remember things from past lives? Do Buddhists have a methodology for those memories to be transferred?
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Apr 4, 2022 17:48
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Nessus posted:For the first one I think the analogy is to if you light Candle 1, use Candle 1 to light Candle 2, use Candle 2 to light Candle 3 and so on and so forth into the future. When you get to candle 650, you know, is it really the same flame? Yet you can trace it back. Fair, but I don't know if that fully gets at what I'm trying to say. The mind stream changes and flows, as all of the 5 aggregates are impermanent. But when I get reborn, does my perception continue/return, just without the 8 aggregates from before? If not, then how is the momentum from my karma related to that new being? Basically, when I die, is there just nothingness and another being out there that will suffer from my karma, or am "I" the other being, without most of the things we associate with "I", because the self is empty? Hiro Protagonist fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Apr 4, 2022 |
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Apr 4, 2022 19:17
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:*responds with noble silence* I am frustrated, unsurprised, and vaguely pleased with this answer.
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Apr 4, 2022 19:37
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I get really figitty and itchy while meditating, and I find myself constantly readjusting my position. I don't know if that's due to lack of practice, overly avoiding unpleasant sensations, or ADHD taking over. It gets pretty annoying.
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May 4, 2022 14:46
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Lately I've been feeling like the part of practice that was somewhat easier for me, empathy, is increasingly hard. I just feel like I'm developing this swirling vertex of pure hatred as I see more and more news. It seems that the GOP has just decided cruelty for cruelty's sake is it's main platform, and these pro-life, pro-gun, anti-vax assholes get more and more power and there's nothing I can do. I'm getting to the point I have a physical reaction of disgust when I hear right-wing party rhetoric. Loving-Kindness Meditation feels like I'm lying, and I can't separate the person from the ignorance anymore. Have other people felt like that? What has helped?
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May 25, 2022 15:58
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Thanks, I think that'll help some. It just feels like it's getting harder to be empathetic and kind in this world. I know other practitioners have lived through much worse with much more empathy, but it sometimes feels impossible. But distancing myself is really all I can do.
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May 25, 2022 17:00
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The avidyā was coming from inside the thread the whole time!
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Jun 6, 2022 20:50
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I'm unreasonably angry that Elon Musk of all people has a Vajra on his side table. There are few people less Buddhist than him. I know the appropriation of Buddhist symbols isn't anything new, but man, HIM?!
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Nov 29, 2022 18:19
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I've been reading the Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh and it's been really intimidating. I feel like I could never apply its teachings unless I ran off and joined a monastery, because it's just so much, and I feel I'm not even close. Has anyone else had that experience reading it?
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Dec 17, 2022 19:14
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So, uh, the Dalai Lama is in the news for something weird: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65229327
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Apr 10, 2023 19:50
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I hope it's something where he's getting old and his mind's going a bit, but man, Tibetan Buddhists don't have a great track record with sex abuse scandals. I'll definitely be more aware and cautious about him now, which is sad. What would that mean for Tibetan Buddhism, even? If he is an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, shouldn't that mean he can't/won't do those things? If he did, does that throw the whole idea of the Dalai Lama and Rinpoches in question?
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Apr 10, 2023 21:08
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Lately I've been feeling divided between two thoughts: "I'm really bad at this whole Buddhist Thing" and "The Western Buddhist Community (particularly online) are a bunch of tryhards". On one hand, I feel like I'm not being as good a person as I could be. I'm trying to eat less meat (it feels so hard to go full vegetarian in the US), I think more about what I do and how it affects others, and I try not to be so attached to things or people, and contemplate that nothing is permanent, so appreciate it while it's here. Really, that doesn't feel like it's too much/enough. I think Gandhi said that religion without sacrifice was one of the great evils of this world, and I feel sometimes that I don't really sacrifice anything. On the other hand, I feel like a lot of Buddhists online present an unrealistic/difficult lifestyle as if it should be the norm. "Oh yeah, being a Buddhist is easy! Just follow the 5 Noble Precepts. And don't eat meat. And don't forget to meditate. Also, you should cut out unsavory entertainment. What's unsavory? Oh, media, art, fiction, most hobbies, basically anything that isn't watching a sunset solemnly." I'm exaggerating a bit, but I see so many people in other Buddhist online communities advocating for people to cut out everything that's a "distraction" (video games, movies, television, etc.) For example, this reddit post. It reminds me of those hardcore Christians that boycott anything sinful, only this time, it's hidden with a "well, you don't HAVE to do this, you just will never achieve enlightenment and will probably be reborn as a preeta or hell-being, but that's up to you if you want to do that!" I like my hobbies. They're how I meet and connect with a lot of people, and while I think it's important to check that they don't become a problem, this mindset I'm seeing online is really bugging me.
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Apr 16, 2023 13:09
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Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It's always helpful to keep things in perspective, which this thread seems to be really good about.
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Apr 17, 2023 01:15
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I watched this video on this guy who created a cult by claiming to be an enlightened being (cw: sex abuse, manipulation, all the regular stuff you'd expect from a cult): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMxgevzd4c As dark as it is, I kind of love the cult deprogrammer they interviewed, just because he gets so particular about Buddhist stuff. He has a thangka hanging in his office, maybe he's a Buddhist himself? But hearing him say, "they targeted high IQ when it comes to business and computer technology, and low IQ when it comes to comparative religions or anything Buddhism," is very funny to me, because the entire time, in just thinking, "man, building a cult around Zen Buddhism, the 'kill the Buddha if you see him on the road' sect, by claiming to be an enlightened being seems dumb as hell."
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Jun 16, 2023 17:58
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I had to put my cat down today. He had lymphoma in his intestines and when they put him on IV fluids it began to leak into his chest. He was doing okay when it happened because they'd drained the fluids, but it was gonna happen again soon. We'd wanted to give him a bit more time so my SO could return from a conference, but we realized that would only be selfishly prolonging his suffering. That said, I still feel a profound guilt. Guilt that I didn't take him in sooner for fear that he was just being picky with food. Guilt that I didn't give him the chance to say goodbye to my SO, who he loved more than anything. Guilt that I didn't love him enough or contributed to his stress by getting him some siblings who he had a complicated relationship with. I wish I could be sure that there was an afterlife or rebirth waiting for him, but I'm not, and that makes it hard too. He was 14, so I knew it would happen soonish, and I know change is inevitable, but while I was holding him before they came, and he purred for the first time in a couple days, I wished that, just once, a moment could last forever.
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Oct 4, 2023 23:23
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It's such a cliche with grief, but it feels so weird that the world keeps on going even when you feel everything should stop. Part of me feels this reflects poorly on my path as a Buddhist; I know euthanasia isn't viewed very highly, and there's the "Buddhist-convert-from-Christianity" thing where intense attachment feels like a sin. That said, I hope I can take this moment to be more compassionate to others, if only as the tiniest sliver of a silver lining.
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Oct 5, 2023 17:19
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I've been feeling weirdly defeated about my practice lately. I have been struggling to start up consistent meditation practice, I've been feeling like I'm not improving as a person, and perhaps weirdly, I think about how many other, non-human life forms there are in proportion to humans, and it makes me feel like there's no way I'm going to be reborn as a human, (if rebirth works the way we conventionally think), so I feel almost burnt out. I feel like I'm just some average guy, angry and prone to hate and laziness, who's too ADHD to focus on anything, so I can't help but think "why bother?" Part of this may be that my work schedule doesn't allow me to go to the local Sangha at the times they're actually doing things, and maybe this is part of me examining myself and letting go of the self perception that I'm a good person just because I do the bare minimum, but still, it feels demoralizing.
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Dec 4, 2023 15:58
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I'm trying to do 20 minutes after work, lying in bed, because 10 hours in a computer chair makes my back tired. I just have trouble doing it, and I think part of it is not knowing if I should do guided meditation, which meditation to do, and how much leeway I should give myself to be bad at it versus actually doing it and not day dreaming and wasting the time.
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Dec 4, 2023 17:33
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Thank you all, I appreciate the input. It's a long path, and I think I just needed some encouragement.
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Dec 4, 2023 21:30
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I thought this thread would find this video interesting, or at the very least, worth talking about. It's about attention issues and how spoiler: meditation may help. It definitely comes across as dismissive of Buddhism, which is irritating, but it's an interesting perspective. https://youtu.be/vYaNiC4kchg?si=x_zrkr8HJAE5_gYa I'll also say, it's caused me to reflect on my own passive media consumption. As an ADHD person working 10 hours shifts at home, I find I have YouTube, a podcast, or an audio book running constantly in the background. Maybe it does more harm than good? At the same time, I feel like the drastic changes she makes would fall apart nearly instantly for me.
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Apr 1, 2024 13:58
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