Buddhist MEME. My Favorite

[Dema]

threw this up on my facebook.

[dharmagoat]

The Buddhist path is not about being a good Buddhist or knowing Buddhist Doctrine. It's about learning how to live my life, and learning about who I am, not as a Buddhist, but as a human being.

I would have added "... as a compassionate human being."

Otherwise the Buddhist path could be understood to encompass the path of the psychopath, which I doubt it does.

[Dema]

lol i was not looking into it that deeply. but for a meme its pretty good.

[Simon E.]

No..actually it is nothing at all to do with Buddhadharma...neither in content nor intention.

[Kim O'Hara]

No..actually it is nothing at all to do with Buddhadharma...neither in content nor intention.

That's a bit harsh, Simon. The Buddhist path certainly is about "learning how to live [one's] life" and does discourage identification of oneself "as a Buddhist" and places more importance on being a good (wise, compassionate, etc) person than on "being a good Buddhist or knowing Buddhist doctrine".
As Dharmagoat said, adding "compassionate" is an improvement but, as Dema said, it's not bad for a meme.
And you've got to start somewhere. Dema is quite new to the path, as well as the forum, and has embarked on a huge learning curve.


Kim

[Wayfarer]

I think Simon makes a point, even if it is maybe a bit too direct.

I would put it this way: If we could all be good people and treat everyone equally and always live in peace, then there would be no need for anything called 'Buddhism'. But in our natural state, we can't do that. So because of our own shortcomings, it is necessary to observe something which makes demands on us, rather than just cruisin' along. So that is why there are teachings and precepts, and why to study and practice. It isn't as easy as just doing what the heart pleases; it it were, as I said, there would be no need for a teaching.

[Dema]

I can take harsh. I have to learn some how it seems.or i just learn to share or what NOT to share here lol!

[dharmagoat]

I can take harsh. I have to learn some how it seems.or i just learn to share or what NOT to share here lol!

It will soon become clear who is in the "tough club" around here. They are a small minority and not worth being influenced by.

I have found most regular posters on Dharma Wheel to be kind and supportive. Kindness breeds kindness.

[yan kong]

I can take harsh. I have to learn some how it seems.or i just learn to share or what NOT to share here lol!

It will soon become clear who is in the "tough club" around here. They are a small minority and not worth being influenced by.

I have found most regular posters on Dharma Wheel to be kind and supportive. Kindness breeds kindness.

Nobodies in the "tough club". As I see it there is simply a concern that the Dharma becomes watered down into feel good slogans that have no impact beyond their face value. The Buddha's words are more important than motivational quotes on a daily calendar.

[dharmagoat]

Nobodies in the "tough club". As I see it there is simply a concern that the Dharma becomes watered down into feel good slogans that have no impact beyond their face value.

Some can be very tough about it.

[yan kong]

Nobodies in the "tough club". As I see it there is simply a concern that the Dharma becomes watered down into feel good slogans that have no impact beyond their face value.

Some can be very tough about it.

And I applaud them for it.

[dzogchungpa]

[Malcolm]

No..actually it is nothing at all to do with Buddhadharma...neither in content nor intention.

That's a bit harsh, Simon. The Buddhist path certainly is about "learning how to live [one's] life" and does discourage identification of oneself "as a Buddhist" and places more importance on being a good (wise, compassionate, etc) person than on "being a good Buddhist or knowing Buddhist doctrine".

The Buddha's path starts with refuge. For example, in the Kalmas sutra:

• As if, venerable sir, a person were to turn face upwards what is upside down, or to uncover the concealed, or to point the way to one who is lost or to carry a lamp in the darkness, thinking, 'Those who have eyes will see visible objects,' so has the Dhamma been set forth in many ways by the Blessed One. We, venerable sir, go to the Blessed One for refuge, to the Dhamma for refuge, and to the Community of Bhikkhus for refuge. Venerable sir, may the Blessed One regard us as lay followers who have gone for refuge for life, from today."

The Buddhist path does not in any sense discourage one from thinking of oneself as a "buddhist".

The idea that the Buddha placed more importance on being a "good person" than on the three trainings of śīla, samadhi and prajñā, and the three prajñās of hearing, reflection and meditation is really a very strange and misleading idea. Being a good person will not free one from samsara, which after all is the point of the Buddha's teachings, i.e., to become from from samsara.

M

[Simon E.]

this...

Neither is pointing out something basic , indeed axiomatic, being ' tough.'
In fact its an act of kindness.

Buddhadharma is not self actualisation or the stuff of humanistic encounter groups.

[Jesse]

Actually Buddhadharma is about self actualization. To know the self is to forget the self.

In so doing we learn who we really are.

The end result of wisdom, concentration and ethics does lead to being a good human being and also liberation. If the Buddha was not concernedconcerned with kindness why bother creating the path of the bodhisattva in the first place. Otherwise we'd all be thervadans.

Edit: just thought I'd attribute this quote to the author.

To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

Dōgen

[Malcolm]

The end result of wisdom, concentration and ethics does lead to being a good human being and also liberation.

The end result of Buddhadharma is to transcend distinctions like good and evil and so on. "Being a good person" has never been the point of Buddhadharma and never will be. If all you want is to be a "good person" it is better to follow Confucius or Jesus.

[Kim O'Hara]

The end result of wisdom, concentration and ethics does lead to being a good human being and also liberation.

The end result of Buddhadharma is to transcend distinctions like good and evil and so on. "Being a good person" has never been the point of Buddhadharma and never will be. If all you want is to be a "good person" it is better to follow Confucius or Jesus.

Hi, Malcolm,
You seem to be forgetting that sila is the foundation of samadhi and prajñā, and sila is, in essence, 'being a good person.'
More importantly, you are ignoring the fact that everyone has to start somewhere and that (often) the starting point is "I like what I know of this path." Without this preliminary orientation - far earlier than going for refuge, which you claimed was the beginning - the individual will not get far enough along the path to even know what taking refuge means. It is unfair and counterproductive to be too rigorous about any over-simplified teaching in those very early stages. Newcomers needs accurate advice, sure, but most of all they need support and encouragement.


Kim

[dharmagoat]

In the introduction to his translation of Dakpo Tashi Namgyal's classic text "Mahāmudrā: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation", Lobsang P. Lhalungpa states:

Meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is regarded as an all-encompassing self-realization process. It is a way of true insight into reality and of developing the enlightenment qualities such as serenity, collectedness, fearlessness, sensitivity, compassion, and wisdom.

[Jesse]

The end result of wisdom, concentration and ethics does lead to being a good human being and also liberation.

The end result of Buddhadharma is to transcend distinctions like good and evil and so on. "Being a good person" has never been the point of Buddhadharma and never will be. If all you want is to be a "good person" it is better to follow Confucius or Jesus.

If Buddhadharma isn't equivalent to "good" why shouldn't we use our realization and understanding of the mind to cause suffering. Why choose to defeat suffering rather than cause it in others just for kicks? It'd be easy enough even with minimal realization. While ourselves remaining more or less unaffected.

Essentially why be a Bodhisattva rather than a demon asura or god. Because once good, evil and conceptualization and selfh-ood is transcended, you choose to be reborn as a bodhisattva. Because you made a vow too, but with good, evil and morality transcended there is no reason to do anything, or you could just choose to do anything you want.

[dzogchungpa]

The end result of wisdom, concentration and ethics does lead to being a good human being and also liberation.

The end result of Buddhadharma is to transcend distinctions like good and evil and so on. "Being a good person" has never been the point of Buddhadharma and never will be. If all you want is to be a "good person" it is better to follow Confucius or Jesus.

Hi, Malcolm,
You seem to be forgetting that sila is the foundation of samadhi and prajñā, and sila is, in essence, 'being a good person.'
More importantly, you are ignoring the fact that everyone has to start somewhere and that (often) the starting point is "I like what I know of this path." Without this preliminary orientation - far earlier than going for refuge, which you claimed was the beginning - the individual will not get far enough along the path to even know what taking refuge means. It is unfair and counterproductive to be too rigorous about any over-simplified teaching in those very early stages. Newcomers needs accurate advice, sure, but most of all they need support and encouragement.


Kim

Malcolm's upāya is indeed inconceivable.