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Buddhism help

confused_becca

Too confused
I'm Agnostic, formally a "Hungarian Protestant Christian ". However I've been learning more about Buddhist philosophy, and it's a philosophy I think i can Jive with. Are there any Buddhists on here that can point me in a direction of some good resources? We have a Buddhist temple, but I'm not up for practicing around other people
 
I suggest books by Thich Nhat Hahn. He is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk that became a monk during the Vietnam war.
His books are really a must read and are clearly written and in a modern style western readers can understand.
There is a wide selection available on Amazon but you can find his books world wide. You might even find some in thrift shops.
 
I suggest books by Thich Nhat Hahn. He is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk that became a monk during the Vietnam war.
His books are really a must read and are clearly written and in a modern style western readers can understand.
There is a wide selection available on Amazon but you can find his books world wide. You might even find some in thrift shops.
Awesome! Thank you! Looking it up now!
 
The Dalai Lama wrote several great books, "the meaning of life" is a favorite. He has done lots of lectures too. There are I think several different sects, but I dunno the difference.

Go see the temple if it's safe to go there, it will be fun. Unless the govt or culture there where you live makes it dangerous, to go there, it should be a safe and happy place. Bhuddist monks are a delight
 
My third therapist was a practicing Buddhist. He taught me how to meditate. I forget the term he used, but one time after we meditated I felt a feeling of calm unlike anything I have ever felt in my life. Every drug I'd tried in my early 20's paled in comparison to the feeling of bliss I had that lasted several hours.

To this day I've never experienced the same feeling after meditating. It left me a little perplexed. I also craved and chased the feeling for quite a while, which sort of hampered meditation for a while.

Still, I'm grateful I got to experience whatever that sensation was. I think it's why that scene in The Tudors moved me so much, when Henry Howard shares his poem "The Quiet Mind". In the TV show it's an edited version of the original. But for those few hours after that therapy/meditation session my mind was quiet and calm.

Ed
 
My third therapist was a practicing Buddhist. He taught me how to meditate. I forget the term he used, but one time after we meditated I felt a feeling of calm unlike anything I have ever felt in my life. Every drug I'd tried in my early 20's paled in comparison to the feeling of bliss I had that lasted several hours.

To this day I've never experienced the same feeling after meditating. It left me a little perplexed. I also craved and chased the feeling for quite a while, which sort of hampered meditation for a while.

Still, I'm grateful I got to experience whatever that sensation was. I think it's why that scene in The Tudors moved me so much, when Henry Howard shares his poem "The Quiet Mind". In the TV show it's an edited version of the original. But for those few hours after that therapy/meditation session my mind was quiet and calm.

Ed
Meditation is really great, something I need more practice in
 
There's lot's of guided meditations online that are good to try. Plus they vary in length depending on how much free time you have etc.

I also like setting aside music specific to meditation when I go through all the digital music I bulk buy. Certain genres are really good for meditation - such as Ambient, Lo Fi and Drone.

Ed
 
While you're looking up books, check out anything by Pema Chodron. She's a Buddhist nun who specializes in bringing meditation practices to the Western masses. Great books! She also has a couple of talks with meditations posted on YouTube. I also loved "Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk". I generally follow Shambhala and Humanistic Buddhist philosophies, and my current therapist is also Buddhist. MUCH prefer it to the Christianity I grew up with!!
 
While you're looking up books, check out anything by Pema Chodron. She's a Buddhist nun who specializes in bringing meditation practices to the Western masses. Great books! She also has a couple of talks with meditations posted on YouTube. I also loved "Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk". I generally follow Shambhala and Humanistic Buddhist philosophies, and my current therapist is also Buddhist. MUCH prefer it to the Christianity I grew up with!!
Adding to my reading list, ty!
 
Are you interested in Buddhism as a "religion". . .
or are you interested in Buddhism as a "philosophy and active practice of clarity"?

Are you interested in Buddhism fragmented and stripped of it's cultural dynamic, or Buddhism in a comprehensive context?
And, to benefit what aspects of living, etc?

By pondering these types of questions. . . and answer and direction that works "for you" might be found.

j
 
Are you interested in Buddhism as a "religion". . .
or are you interested in Buddhism as a "philosophy and active practice of clarity"?

Are you interested in Buddhism fragmented and stripped of it's cultural dynamic, or Buddhism in a comprehensive context?
And, to benefit what aspects of living, etc?

By pondering these types of questions. . . and answer and direction that works "for you" might be found.

j
I would encourage you to explain the difference in greater detail, what you wrote is sort of confusing to me. You talk of two(?) Types, then describe things without names. Which one is what you do?
 
I would encourage you to explain the difference in greater detail, what you wrote is sort of confusing to me. You talk of two(?) Types, then describe things without names. Which one is what you do?
There are various "schools" of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, etc.
There can be seemingly large differences in the practice and so forth of various "schools". IE: Tibetan Buddhism vs Zen (Japanese), etc. So, to say Buddhism in itself as a word is very vague.
Buddhism is, traditionally, inseparable from its cultural base and that adds to the essence of practice and path. IE: Chan Buddhism in China is the "grandfather" of Zen in Japan. The former integrated with Daoism, etc, the later integrated with Shinto, Budo, etc.
Finally, Buddhism does not "worship a God or deity" nor is it monotheistic or other. Simplistically, it is a "discipline" or "self discipline" that is proactive and individually participatory, as a path to clarity realization of "self", in essense, meaning understanding at one's core the plethora of artificial constructs that make up our sense of identity, structure, discontent, et al.
By, an active "discipline", in a sense, perhaps a clumsy metaphor, it is much more than 1 hour on Sunday Morning's.
Dis laimer: as there are so many levels or degrees of understanding, both academically and experientially, it is easy to disagree what "Buddhism" "Is" much like the ancient Hindu/Indian Alegory of the "7 blind men defining an Elephant on their lst encounter". Except in this case, as there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet, it would be the same case with 8 billion blind persons trying to define an elephant at lst encounter. Futile.

The essential ideas/precepts are:
1. Suffering in life is unavoidable.
IE: loss of loved one's, internal conflict, etc.
IE: suffering comes from attachments, etc, etc.
2. What is the solution(s) to #1.
3. And so forth.


As for myself: 12 years minoring in philosophy, etc. Decades as a lay monk with various mentors and locations domestic and foreign, practicing and teaching.
 
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There are various "schools" of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, etc.
There can be seemingly large differences in the practice and so forth of various "schools". IE: Tibetan Buddhism vs Zen (Japanese), etc. So, to say Buddhism in itself as a word is very vague.
Buddhism is, traditionally, inseparable from its cultural base and that adds to the essence of practice and path. IE: Chan Buddhism in China is the "grandfather" of Zen in Japan. The former integrated with Daoism, etc, the later integrated with Shinto, Budo, etc.
Finally, Buddhism does not "worship a God or deity" nor is it monotheistic or other. Simplistically, it is a "discipline" or "self discipline" that is proactive and individually participatory, as a path to clarity realization of "self", in essense, meaning understanding at one's core the plethora of artificial constructs that make up our sense of identity, structure, discontent, et al.
By, an active "discipline", in a sense, perhaps a clumsy metaphor, it is much more than 1 hour on Sunday Morning's.
Dis laimer: as there are so many levels or degrees of understanding, both academically and experientially, it is easy to disagree what "Buddhism" "Is" much like the ancient Hindu/Indian Alegory of the "7 blind men defining an Elephant on their lst encounter". Except in this case, as there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet, it would be the same case with 8 billion blind persons trying to define an elephant at lst encounter. Futile.

The essential ideas/precepts are:
1. Suffering in life is unavoidable.
IE: loss of loved one's, internal conflict, etc.
IE: suffering comes from attachments, etc, etc.
2. What is the solution(s) to #1.
3. And so forth.


As for myself: 12 years minoring in philosophy, etc. Decades as a lay monk with various mentors and locations domestic and foreign, practicing and teaching.
Thank you for the greater detail. Suffering and attachment are concepts I have heard of before. My own path is much different than what you walk. To return to the OP, are there writings or talks readily available to provide introduction, that you might reccomend to a seeker, such as she seems to be. Most of the rest of us have neither the time nor talent to pursue a lifetime of study.
 
My third therapist was a practicing Buddhist. He taught me how to meditate. I forget the term he used, but one time after we meditated I felt a feeling of calm unlike anything I have ever felt in my life. Every drug I'd tried in my early 20's paled in comparison to the feeling of bliss I had that lasted several hours.

To this day I've never experienced the same feeling after meditating. It left me a little perplexed. I also craved and chased the feeling for quite a while, which sort of hampered meditation for a while.

Still, I'm grateful I got to experience whatever that sensation was. I think it's why that scene in The Tudors moved me so much, when Henry Howard shares his poem "The Quiet Mind". In the TV show it's an edited version of the original. But for those few hours after that therapy/meditation session my mind was quiet and calm.

Ed

Very cool. In my experience having ADHD and a mind that jumps randomly from thought to non-linear thought at near light speed, meditation has eluded me.
 
Thank you for the greater detail. Suffering and attachment are concepts I have heard of before. My own path is much different than what you walk. To return to the OP, are there writings or talks readily available to provide introduction, that you might reccomend to a seeker, such as she seems to be. Most of the rest of us have neither the time nor talent to pursue a lifetime of study.
It is like a 3 legged stool: Mind/thinking, emotion/feeling, and training or habituating through physical action IE: experiential learning, conditioning by doing, learning by doing. In the west, it is common to take things apart to understand or learn things. But, it doesn't work here and is, in fact, a destructive approach.
Most people, especially nowadays, pursue solutions through "thinking" and "more thinking", and sitting and reading and watching a video, etc, and "more thinking". Works temporarily at best.
Others, go to seminars, group meditation and other short forays, and "feel good" because of that effort an environment. Like temporarily escaping the dirty swimming pool of daily life and stepping into a cleansing place but having to back to the pool where "life happens" all over again.
So, there has to be a comprehensive effort and pursued self discipline of "doing" that integrates thinking and feeling as well. But, that seems like hard work and sitting and feeling good or sitting and thinking is much easier. Far easier than engaging the entirety of; mind, body, spirit.
For example: one learns Tai Chi without engaging the inner Dao and learning and thinking and the self discipline to learn to integrate the "dao" and "chi" from meditation into the movements. So, it becomes public park group exercise taken out of context. But, that is another matter.
A good lst step is to only lightly read about the basics of Buddhism, just what the Buddha taught or spoke about without heavy interpretation by "experts". Think of it as a philosophy of clarity and skip the theology and dogma and institutionalization part. It should fit on 1 page.
A good second step is to do both still (seated or other) and active meditation as taught by a traditional teacher in a cultural context. (not westernized) (not intellectualized) (not New Age feel good.....awkward phrase here). So, Zen meditation, or Chan.
A good third step is to apply #1 and #2 to something that has movement. Tai Chi, Chi Kung, etc. in a traditional setting as taught traditionally in a cultural context. (not westernized. Not intellectualized. No reinterpreted).
The goal is to take the same mental, emotional, and "self" clarity, (taken out of one's artifical ego and identity construct) from sitting still in a safe and still place (IE: zen temple, dojo, etc) to motion of the body (walking meditation (Thich Nhat Hanh addresses this as "mindfullness". but it is more than that).
Then, the next goal is to apply that to a mental and emotional and "spiritual (awkward)" state while living in daily life, while swimming in the cloudy dirty swiming pool consciousness of daily living.
Metaphorically: the ancient term "chop wood, carry water" happens here.

books by the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh
It's tough to translate all of this in a simple way without misinterpretation. I hope it is helpful.
 
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It certainly is helpful, thank you for being so forthcoming. I dont think it's possible for a western man to be free of cultural bias, it is pervasive here. City people and country folk are much different in sensibilities, chosen recreation, lifestyle, modes of dress and so forth. The typical western mind you speak of is decidedly urban. I'm curious, what part of the world are you from?
 
Very cool. In my experience having ADHD and a mind that jumps randomly from thought to non-linear thought at near light speed, meditation has eluded me.

From my pursuit of study of trauma-sensitive meditation, learning to sit with the jumping mind, notice it and let it do its thing WITHOUT judgment, trying to control the jumps, or negative self-talk is a huge part of meditation practice, and one of the best ways to start!
 
It certainly is helpful, thank you for being so forthcoming. I dont think it's possible for a western man to be free of cultural bias, it is pervasive here. City people and country folk are much different in sensibilities, chosen recreation, lifestyle, modes of dress and so forth. The typical western mind you speak of is decidedly urban. I'm curious, what part of the world are you from?
Hawaii
Asia
USA
 
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From my pursuit of study of trauma-sensitive meditation, learning to sit with the jumping mind, notice it and let it do its thing WITHOUT judgment, trying to control the jumps, or negative self-talk is a huge part of meditation practice, and one of the best ways to start!
Yes
Very true

Seated Zen Meditation in a vast empty antique temple.. . . .
A lizard "click" "click" "clicking" high above in the rafters somewhere. . . . .
Light misty rains falling on the gardens outside, "clacking" on the leaves of early spring. . .
No longer feeling one's feet because they have gone to sleep. . .
There's nothing more to think about. . . .
 

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