Buddhism - where do I start.

Hey, cut me some slack, I haven't been enlightened yet.

In that case, I'll send you one and you can simply reply.

I can't reply either!

Nick is studying buddhism? cough, cough...

Tell me where you live and I'll tell you who you can contact! I have been practicing Buddhism for 25 years!

I've really liked the thought of Buddhism.

It says to eliminate all desire, but would that mean desires such as love, affection, friends? If so, no Buddhism for me.

Bawb, There are as many buddhist sects as there are christian ones. Don't get discouraged about buddhism; it's the only religion that teaches to improve yourself - unlike christianity that tries to impose their religion on everybody else.

True Buddhism does not suggest we eliminate desire at all! Even the desire for enlightenment is a desire! Buddhism suggests more that we don't let desires control us but we control our desires. It's about developing the "life condition" to overcome any suffering. It's about realizing your true potential as a human being. This means having concern not only for yourself but for the suffering of others. It means developing your true humanity.

True happiness actually means having the ability to fulfill your dreams and not being swayed by negative influences in your life. It means having the power to overcome influences, whether they be internal or external, which try to being us down. When happiness develops from within it manifests itself from without.

I could write a 300 page dissertation but I hope this helps.

This helps SO MUCH. Thank you

It also has some instructions such as not to speak badly of other people, and not to hurt living things. It's directed at the self for improving your humility and humanity. If I had to pick any religion out of the mix that are available, buddhism would certainly be my choice. I personally live by a simple personal code; treat all living things with respect and dignity.

Do I fail? Yes, ofcoarse. I also understand most humans have weaknesses. The important thing is we strive to better ourselves to reflect ourselves in the best way we possibly can. I can only fail myself.

course not coarse

Buddhism suggests we take responsibility for our lives. Before I started practicing Buddhism I had a tendency to blame other people, my childhood, my boss or anyone else but myself. According to Buddhism, the laws of karma dictate that we are even responsible for our own childhoods. When I began to take responsibility and practiced my chanting sincerely I developed a sense of strength, hope, courage and confidence. I realize that my life and the lives of others are not two separate things. When I started taking responsibility I developed the means to actually change my life for the better and overcome any obstacle. When we blame others we lose the power to change our circumstances. However, when we say "I am responsible, therefore, I can change this", life takes on a new meaning.

I could go on much longer but that's all for now folks!

I consider myself a buddhist.
I do not chant, and I'm not a member of any buddhistic community.

What NickFun writes is very important to me. I see it as not only my duty, but as my right to assume responsibility for everything that happens to me.
Even though everyone around me would say that something wasn't my fault, I still feel that in order to recieve the lesson of any experience I must take responsibility. To think otherwise inevitably leads to the bitter feeling of being a helpless victim to circumstances.

Still, I do not ignore it when people say I am without blame. Instead I take it to mean that my misfortune is accepted among those I care about. It is a reminder that I am never less just because I fail or suffer misfortune.

Chanting is important to the Nichern and Soka Gy-Kai Sects, but of only minor importance to most Buddhist Sects and Schools. Nichern has been popular with the Northern Chinese and Japanese for hundreds of years. Soka Gy-Kai is a very modern modern form mostly practiced in Japan and the Western World.

If you want to understand Buddhism, start with the Theravata Texts translated from the Pali. These are the oldest Buddhist texts known, with some of them going back 2500 years. From Theravada was born the Mahayana a little more than 2000 years ago. Most Buddhists today are in the Mahayana tradition. There are three basic Mahayana Schools: Tantric, which is an amalgamation of early Mahayana thought with the native religion (Bo-pa) of Tibet and the high Himalayan Mountains; the various Buddhist Sects that developed over a thousand years ago in Northern China after coming into contact with with Grecian culture, and; the Buddhist forms of Southern China strongly influenced by Bhodi-Darma around the same time ... and the ancestor of Chan or Zen Buddhism. The Dali Lama is out of the Tantric School, but is almost universally revered by Buddhists of all Schools and Sects as a spokesman for Buddhism. Each of these three Mahayana Schools is further divided into numerous Sects. I've been a Soto Sect Zen Buddhist for over 40 years, and I believe JLNobody has been a Rinzai Sect Zen Buddhist for a similar amount of time. Generally Buddhist Schools and Sects get along pretty well with one another, but not always.

Korean Monasteries have been known to violently fight one another, Japanese Monks occasionally took the field in support of their feudal lords, and there are a few instances of fighting in Southeast Asia. The largest and most renown historical Buddhist Kingdom was that of Ashoka in India. Ashoka was a warrior, conquered the whole of India after more than a decade of bloody and brutal warfare. Ashoka had a conscience, and converted to Buddhism (think Constantine). India was pretty much forced to convert from Hinduism to Buddhism. Buddhist India was in a Golden Age of peace and prosperity, unfortunately Buddhism as the State religion only lasted as long as Ashoka lived. Today most of the Buddhists in India are refugees from Tibet and follow the Tantric doctrines/forms and rituals. Theravada is pretty much confined to parts of Southeast Asia, and Southern Chinese forms tend to predominate in Japan. I suspect that Confucism, Taoism and Buddhism remain a hidden part of life inside the PRC, but who can say for sure.

Buddhism first spread to the West in the 18th century, and many of the earliest scholars and translators were strangely enough German. Buddhism never became popular in Germany, though we can see traces of it in German philosophy and literature. Herman Hesse's Siddartha and Steppenwolf have very Buddhist content. One of the favorite books of the SS was Steppenwolf, so it is easy to see that Buddhism, just like the Abrahamic Faithes, can be twisted to support very bad non-Buddhist movements.

Buddhism in English translation increased during the 19th century, and small groups of Buddhists began to form in Britain. American Buddhism came at the end of the 19th century along with various Yoga Schools, and has been increasing in popularity since. In the late 1940's Buddhism was a one aspect of the Beat Movement, but became more widely popular with the novels of Jack Kerouac ( On the Road, Dharma Bums, etc.). About the same time Allan Watts began writing on Buddhism and has remained an influential American Buddhist writer long after his death.

The Mahayana tradition actually is as old as the Thervada. The Mahayana is based on the later teachings of the traditional Buddha Siddhartha. The philosophy of Buddhism is extremely deep and profound. However. the power of Buddhist practice is something that can only be experienced. (Asherman -- the correct name is Soka Gakkai) During my 25 years of practice I have overcome indescribable suffering and achieved impossible goals. Buddhism should not be regarded solely as an intellectual pursuit.

Nick, Amen!

Sorry to leave you waiting Nick - been busy.

Can you give me your email adress pretty please so that I can contact you?

I will send it to you in a PM. I don't like to give out my email in a public forum.

Asherman, thanks for entering this fray. A small biographical correction: I began my zen studies in 1961 with two Rinzai masters (Shinichi Seida and Sasaki Joshu), both of the Myoshinji center in Kyoto. But from 1978 to the present my meditation practice has been that of the Soto zen school--shikantaza (just sitting). I have no attraction to the more fundamentalist branches of Buddism such as the Soka Gakkai school.

If I have learned anything of the externals of buddhism it is that it is ATTACHMENT to desires that is troublesome, not desires themselves. It is our nature to desire but not to fixate on them.

I've been trying my hand at a Soto zen meditation group for a couple of months now, it's been very interesting so far. One of the things that jumps out at me I think is the difference in state of mind between one meditation and another. A couple of weeks back I arrived with plenty of time to spare, we all said hello and entered the meditation room, they lit the incense sticks (got to get myself some of those!) and it was, wow, just really peaceful, to say anymore than that would be beside the point I guess.

However, another week, I was feeling a little rushed that day, I think my general workload was higher and I remember needing to jog round to the centre instead. Anyway, the meditation was just more restless, more fidgity, thoughts flying everywhere at times etc. Rather than hope for the former and avoid the latter I'm trying to take something from every meditation, rather than dismissing a lack of being in the moment, just maybe gaining a first hand sense of the ease of fluctuations between highs and lows. Fluctuations which are probably apparent on many, many levels I suppose.