Buddhism discussion

Yes you’re right I think I just got taken away by the thought of Ganesh trampling mfers with it’s feet.

Avalokiteshvara (technically not a god, but whatever) could fuck Ganesh up with all the uppercuts he could fill the room with.

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Plus he can see better than Ganesh with all those eyes.
 
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As cool as that sounds and as magical as the cosmos can seem at times I just don’t think there could be some kind of naturally self sustained power recycling the consciousness of dead bags of meat humans. Maybe recycle metaphorically as in ideas or customs or what have you. But to think we’re special enough to get that kind of privilege to just keep going till you get it seems like wishful thinking . One and done. Hi and bye. Into the abyss you go.
Oh there's nothing special about it. There is no magic or no god that created us. The universe we are experiencing is not reality. It's basically an illusion that we've created for ourselves. Enlightenment is the act of waking up from this illusion and becoming aware. I recommend heavy dosages of DMT, it can really wake up your spirituality.
When you die your consciousness doesn't stop existing. Notice how you're in a different universe when you sleep? Your consciousness is in a different place because consciousness is not attached to your body. When you die, you lose your body and your consciousness continues into a new 'reality'. The only way of ending this infinite cycle is by achieving enlightenment. Rebirth is not a good thing. It means you're still stuck in a never-ending cycle of suffering.
 
Oh there's nothing special about it. There is no magic or no god that created us. The universe we are experiencing is not reality. It's basically an illusion that we've created for ourselves. Enlightenment is the act of waking up from this illusion and becoming aware. I recommend heavy dosages of DMT, it can really wake up your spirituality.
When you die your consciousness doesn't stop existing. Notice how you're in a different universe when you sleep? Your consciousness is in a different place because consciousness is not attached to your body. When you die, you lose your body and your consciousness continues into a new 'reality'. The only way of ending this infinite cycle is by achieving enlightenment. Rebirth is not a good thing. It means you're still stuck in a never-ending cycle of suffering.
Having unlimited lives until you win could be considered “special”. I know it’s not a good thing and I’m pretty familiar with their concepts. I just don’t think I’m in a different universe when I sleep nor will I be in another one when I die. I’ll be dead. Just gone. Nothing. You don’t need to reach enlightenment to achieve that. You just have to die.
 
Having unlimited lives until you win could be considered “special”. I know it’s not a good thing and I’m pretty familiar with their concepts. I just don’t think I’m in a different universe when I sleep nor will I be in another one when I die. I’ll be dead. Just gone. Nothing. You don’t need to reach enlightenment to achieve that. You just have to die.
Reincarnation is embracing the fact your previous choices may have contributed to your suffering, and making wiser choices. Then your life begins anew.

Commitment to choosing wisely is the enlightened path. Reincarnation renews every day. ;)
 
Reincarnation is embracing the fact your previous choices may have contributed to your suffering, and making wiser choices. Then your life begins anew.

Commitment to choosing wisely is the enlightened path. Reincarnation renews every day. ;)
Might be wrong but I think karma is embracing your past.
Dharma is making wiser choices.
Reincarnation being the product of these two things.
 
Might be wrong but I think karma is embracing your past.
Dharma is making wiser choices.
Reincarnation being the product of these two things.
You'd think they'd call it reincarna. You know, for the rhyme scheme.

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I love Alan and many more have influenced me as well.

More Vedantist & to a lesser degree Buddhist in my own past practice (years ago) and aspire to re awaken that pursuit in future.

For a modern trans personal approach that emphasizes meditation and the Buddhist approach of de programming from tendencies, (without the religious dogma language or sutras)
I Recommend Tarthang Tulku’s
Time Space Knowledge Practice from his Nyingma Psychology Publications.
It’s rigorous & and it’s a path on its own, but for some may find intriguing and a help in their practice or inquiry.

From Amazon below.
https://www.amazon.com/Dynamics-Tim...3KH6CRPKCH3&psc=1&refRID=0SEJX3VTA3KH6CRPKCH3
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Systems of belief are the tracks that knowledge leaves behind. Questioning and open inquiry offer far more - Tarthang Tulku

Starting with the simple fact of our presence in the world, Sacred Dimensions of Time and Space crafts a “geometry of meaningful existence”. The result is utterly unexpected and deeply liberating- a new architecture of experience. The reader can join in an inquiry that leads to personal transformation. Twenty pages of diagrams present visual metaphors for new ways of thinking about space, time, knowledge, and the arising of experience.

This is the fourth volume in the Time, Space, and Knowledge series but can be read independently.

About the Author

images

Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche is a traditionally trained teacher and author in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in 1935 in eastern Tibet, Rinpoche studied with many of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century. After leaving Tibet, Tarthang Tulku taught from 1962 to 1968 at Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India, where he also established one of the first printing presses to print sacred Tibetan texts. The first lama of the Nyingma lineage to establish residence in the United States, Rinpoche established a mandala of organizations to actualize his long-range vision of preserving the ancient teachings of the Buddha and transmitting them to the modern world. He is the author of over two dozen books, including Gesture of Balance; Time, Space, and Knowledge-a New Vision of Reality; Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga; Skillful Means, Revelations of Mind, and Caring.
 
I love Alan and many more have influenced me as well.

More Vedantist & to a lesser degree Buddhist in my own past practice (years ago) and aspire to re awaken that pursuit in future.

For a modern trans personal approach that emphasizes meditation and the Buddhist approach of de programming from tendencies, (without the religious dogma language or sutras)
I Recommend Tarthang Tulku’s
Time Space Knowledge Practice from his Nyingma Psychology Publications.
It’s rigorous & and it’s a path on its own, but for some may find intriguing and a help in their practice or inquiry.

From Amazon below.
https://www.amazon.com/Dynamics-Tim...3KH6CRPKCH3&psc=1&refRID=0SEJX3VTA3KH6CRPKCH3
////—-
images


Systems of belief are the tracks that knowledge leaves behind. Questioning and open inquiry offer far more - Tarthang Tulku

Starting with the simple fact of our presence in the world, Sacred Dimensions of Time and Space crafts a “geometry of meaningful existence”. The result is utterly unexpected and deeply liberating- a new architecture of experience. The reader can join in an inquiry that leads to personal transformation. Twenty pages of diagrams present visual metaphors for new ways of thinking about space, time, knowledge, and the arising of experience.

This is the fourth volume in the Time, Space, and Knowledge series but can be read independently.

About the Author

images

Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche is a traditionally trained teacher and author in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in 1935 in eastern Tibet, Rinpoche studied with many of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century. After leaving Tibet, Tarthang Tulku taught from 1962 to 1968 at Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India, where he also established one of the first printing presses to print sacred Tibetan texts. The first lama of the Nyingma lineage to establish residence in the United States, Rinpoche established a mandala of organizations to actualize his long-range vision of preserving the ancient teachings of the Buddha and transmitting them to the modern world. He is the author of over two dozen books, including Gesture of Balance; Time, Space, and Knowledge-a New Vision of Reality; Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga; Skillful Means, Revelations of Mind, and Caring.
I just bought the first one in the series. Maybe if everyone on sherdog reads it we can just communicate telepathically in our own sherdogged dimension
 
Having unlimited lives until you win could be considered “special”. I know it’s not a good thing and I’m pretty familiar with their concepts. I just don’t think I’m in a different universe when I sleep nor will I be in another one when I die. I’ll be dead. Just gone. Nothing. You don’t need to reach enlightenment to achieve that. You just have to die.
There is no guarantee you will ever win. You could be stuck in an endless cycle of death and rebirth forever. I can understand it not seeming a believable concept, I used to think that way myself, when you die you just don't exist anymore. Now I can say with absolute certainty that Buddhism or at least a lot of the concepts are absolutely real. I can see how someone would think this is as silly a concept as believing in god to someone skeptical of it. But it's 100% real. Don't expect science and rationality to ever be able to explain reality or the "meaning" of life. Science is a human construct so it can never explain something that requires complete ego death to achieve.
 
Just like with any other religion, there are many different sects of buddhism, each with different beliefs, practices and so on. It seems like many posters in this thread are discussing it as if there was one form of buddhism, which isn't the case.

In Zen, there is no discussion of god or gods, the afterlife, or anything like that. One of my favorite books on the subject, The Empty Mirror, tells a story of a student asking a Zen master about reincarnation. The master tells him, if you would like, I can give you directions to the university in Kyoto. There, you will find plenty of teachers who are happy to answer all the questions you have about reincarnation. But, if you examine their answers, you will find they simply lead to more questions. What I'm trying to teach you here is how to find within yourself answers that are no longer questions.
 
Awareness? Strange word to use. Just because the one creator god isn’t what the Buddha saw, doesn’t mean that it “isn’t that far off from atheism”, far from it. If you read the sutras, actually much more detail is given on cosmology and the beings in it than the 3 abrahamic religions.

It is just acknowledged that there is no “creator” god that made everything in existence. He is just one of many gods, just as you are one of many humans. He’s more like the mailman, or a counselor.
do you also dig the idea of their never really being a creation? as in their never is a zero that started anything there always was something. the idea that there is a zero and the idea that a force needed to kick start it is a false narritive we tie to it.
 
My problem with Buddhism is how rigid it is. If you are a true follower of Buddha then you are expected to comply to the following:

Eating only between noon and sundown
No sex (or masturbation)
No drugs or alcohol
No lying
No dancing
No music
No jewelery

Those are just a few of the rules. No music? Seriously? There are some nice ideas in Buddhism such as no lying, no stealing and no killing of any creature but to me these are just common sense.

A rational minded person shouldn't need a rule book to live their lives. Take from every religion and philosophy what applies to your life and moral creed.
Those are the trainee monk rules not for just a normal person.

Basics are avoid killing, lying, stealing, sexual misconduct (you can still have sex) and intoxicating drugs.
This is 5 precepts or guidelines not commandments.

It is a high level to aim at but we should have a focus if we want to improve ourselves

As a philosophy, Buddhism really resonates with me. A little while back, I was looking in to incorporating the teachings in to my life. I'm a Christian, but I think the two actually compliment each other in a lot of ways. Jesus and Buddha are not so different outside of name. I need to look back in to it, I don't know why I didn't keep up with it.

I think there is alot of overlap, especially if you want to include Gospel of Thomas.

I've always been drawn to Buddhism, but have also always eschewed "joining" an organized religion in favor of self morality/spiritualism. About 2 months ago I started practicing meditation. I didn't start to seek any kind of enlightenment, rather to help ease anxiety and depression. However, it has lead me to a renewed interest in Buddhism while looking into different forms and practices for meditation.

Without getting too long winded, the more I've looked into it the more drawn to the basic principles I feel. The Four Noble Truths, at least for me right now, are on point. The Eightfold Path describes many of the things I try to live by, and others I would aspire to. The Five Hindrances are exactly what got me into a state of stress and depression in the first place, and also what I struggle to overcome in meditation practice. Last night I got into reading about the steps to Calm Abiding and could actually pinpoint right where I was at (stage 2).

Links for the curious:

The concept of hitting bottom, or experiencing suffering before being able to start on the path also hits home. Unlike many other religions, Buddhism stresses that the light is within you (is in fact your natural state) rather than an omniscient external god. The idea of oneness with nature, the concept of what "mind" is, the principle that helping others is beneficial to yourself, these are all things that I agree with and came to secularly.

So to the point(tl/dr):
Are there any practicing Buddhist in here?
If so how did you get there?
Is Buddhism an actual "religion" or more of a guide for living well?
Am I actually a Buddhist if I'm not necessarily interested in becoming a Buddha or Bodhisattva (teacher), but do embrace the concepts?

I have many more questions and principles in mind, but will stop there so as not to overload the OP and give some others a chance to chime in. I'm also aware I'm lumping together different forms of Buddhism here, but for a start it's the general concepts I wanted to mention.


Here's an American monk of the early school which I believe is close to the original version or sect.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/mp3_index.html

There is also strong Buddhism - martial arts connection in most Asian martial arts.
 
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you weren’t clear on what you were talking about. Be like the Buddha and you will be unbuggable.


if you were a bug the Buddha would swat you!



i was not clear enough though. that is true and i admit it with the deepest humility. look how enlightened i am!

<Moves>
 

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