Search found 759 matches
- Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:30 pm
- Forum: Dharma Stories
- Topic: How Bhikshu Svagata drinks (too much) alcohol
- Replies: 10
- Views: 7140
Re: How Bhikshu Svagata drinks (too much) alcohol
Generally today it seems the consensus that all forms of mind-altering substances are forbidden in Buddhism. Yet the textd you have quoted seem quite tightly focused around alcohol. I am curious if there is a clear doctrinal basis for extending such prohibitions to encompass every type of substance ...
- Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:58 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: What do they do with the hair???
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1678
Re: What do they do with the hair???
Quite untrue in medieval Japan at least.
- Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:38 am
- Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
- Topic: If there's no self, why does karma matter?
- Replies: 27
- Views: 1565
Re: If there's no self, why does karma matter?
Karma matters because it gives rise to suffering. Since the alleged separation among beings is an illusion to begin with, it is a question based on false premises to ask whether "you" or some other "individual" experiences the suffering. As Mahayanists we are supposed to work for...
- Fri Nov 12, 2021 3:04 am
- Forum: Nichiren
- Topic: Is it OK to pray for your enemies to die?
- Replies: 22
- Views: 10142
Re: Is it OK to pray for your enemies to die?
Pray for them to be free of the karmic tendencies that cause their suffering, which affects you so negatively. If it takes going to the next life for that to happen, well, you can’t help that. everything is impermanent, even enemies and friends but sometimes difficult to see like that when karma ri...
- Fri Nov 12, 2021 12:42 am
- Forum: Nichiren
- Topic: Is it OK to pray for your enemies to die?
- Replies: 22
- Views: 10142
Re: Is it OK to pray for your enemies to die?
In my humble opinion.... absolutely positively what Narhwal said.
"Has it been done before in Buddhist history?"is, however, a question with a very different answer.
"Has it been done before in Buddhist history?"is, however, a question with a very different answer.
- Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:44 pm
- Forum: Nichiren
- Topic: What does sticking with practice tell you?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 6040
Re: What does sticking with practice tell you?
"If it wasn’t for Tendai, it’s quite possible Nichiren would not have something to work from." I second that. I third it. Moreover it's worth recalling that Dogen, Honen, Shinran, and Eisei all began their careers under the Tendai banner too. The core movements of Kamakura Buddhism were a...
- Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:47 am
- Forum: Nichiren
- Topic: What is the oldest Nichiren temple?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 3003
Re: What is the oldest Nichiren temple?
There are 37 different Nichiren sects incorporated in Japan today. Untangling their conflicting claims and purported histories is a herculean (or perhaps Sisyphusian) task. The two sects you mentioned are arguably the most recognizable to most people. Both Nichiren shu and Nichiren Shoshu claim the ...
- Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:42 am
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Mahayana Arhat?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 614
Re: Mahayana Arhat?
Zojoji temple in Tokyo, head temple of one of the branches of the Jodoshu pure land school, is Mahayana of course and they have a gorgeous collection of paintings from the 1800s titled "the 500 Arhats." The set was created over a ten year period by the renowned artist Kano Kazunobu. images...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 11:56 pm
- Forum: Games & Humour
- Topic: Daily Laugh Thread
- Replies: 857
- Views: 265633
Re: Daily Laugh Thread
Kinda snarky but I laughed:
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 7:46 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Practice becomes dull?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1164
Re: Practice becomes dull?
Dullness is a lack of clarity, there are direct ways to address it in seated meditation, such as moving the gaze upward, focusing on light, etc. It helps especially if you have a teacher who knows your condition. IME it’s often connected to an overall dullness in life manifesting in practice. One s...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 7:16 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Practice becomes dull?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1164
Re: Practice becomes dull?
Here is a thread I made once that you might find interesting. It is about what has been called the "most lenient" path involving Bodhisattva Ksitigharba. Maybe it would make for a less stressful "holiday" from more rigorous paths, if permissable given the nature of your main com...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:53 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: What to do with Dharma books and objects after I die
- Replies: 31
- Views: 2104
Re: What to do with Dharma books and objects after I die
Wandering off topic here, but maybe that oscillation can be related to the institution/forest dynamics of the sangha. Interesting observation. Hmm... By the way I believe your main practice is a Nichiren tradition, right? I imagine the treatment of the Gohonzon is taken extremely seriously. Any com...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 3:44 pm
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: On giving advice
- Replies: 6
- Views: 537
Re: On giving advice
Excluding restrictions on esoteric matters, I think we are qualified to share our thoughts on exoteric Mahayana issues to our hearts content. We help each other learn this way. Of course we should remember our stations and qualifications when discussing the Dharma. We shouldn't present ourselves as ...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 3:20 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: What to do with Dharma books and objects after I die
- Replies: 31
- Views: 2104
Re: What to do with Dharma books and objects after I die
There came a time when Gotama gave up all claims to material and social things and wandered into the forest. Its interesting how the path he found came to be adorned with material and social things. I've always reasoned that paths need markers. A Dharma friend once amusingly and wisely put it thus ...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 3:07 pm
- Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
- Topic: Is Sunyata beyond or the same as "neither positive nor negative"
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2877
Re: Is Sunyata beyond or the same as "neither positive nor negative"
As Malcolm noted there are multiple Mahayana positions. The two I personally am most familiar with are the generalized cosmologies of the Pure Land traditions on the one hand, and on the other, the schema set forth in the "Lotus Repository World" chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. The Lotus ...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:28 pm
- Forum: Engaged Buddhism
- Topic: The Myth of Progress
- Replies: 32
- Views: 16463
Re: The Myth of Progress
try reading The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. That bizzare screed has haunted my imagination for decades. To paraphrase one forgotten pundit: "It's either a work of staggering, revolutionary genius, or utter garbage -- nothing in between is possible." Acc...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:22 pm
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Practice becomes dull?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 1164
Re: Practice becomes dull?
These are all good qestions to ask a qualified Teacher.One who you have recieved empowerment from. Well some of us are exoteric Mahayanists who have no empowerments. While I believe a teacher is pretty much necessary for almost all forms of serious practice, there is in my estimation no harm in sha...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 10:55 am
- Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
- Topic: Samsara is dangerous. My story
- Replies: 15
- Views: 4218
Re: Samsara is dangerous. My story
In my opinion, Despair, obsessive sorrow, and self-aggrandizing is just as bad as heedlessness and carelessness. They are two sides of the same coin, the ego's desire to be excused from your challenges in every day life. Words are powerful. Simply saying "Namo Buddhaya, Namo Dharmaya, Namo San...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:30 am
- Forum: Engaged Buddhism
- Topic: The Myth of Progress
- Replies: 32
- Views: 16463
Re: The Myth of Progress
To simplify crudely, cyclical time theory can be said, broadly speaking, to be aligned with fascistic modes of thought, while progressive thought is, well, progressive. The Dharma seems to me to contain both cyclical time (i.e., cosmology) and progressive time (liberation in all forms, whether sudde...
- Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:15 am
- Forum: Engaged Buddhism
- Topic: The Myth of Progress
- Replies: 32
- Views: 16463
Re: The Myth of Progress
That bizzare screed has haunted my imagination for decades. To paraphrase one forgotten pundit: "It's either a work of staggering, revolutionary genius, or utter garbage -- nothing in between is possible."