Is a shrine important

Pictures of revered teachers, places, rupas, temples, shrine rooms etc. that bring inspiration to our members. Pilgrimage advice etc.
Malcolm
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by Malcolm »

Queequeg wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:07 pm The insistence on formality and weighing the karma, etc. etc. that's all well and good, but also can have the effect of snuffing all the joy and spontaneity from the practice.
That's the main purpose of dharmawheel.
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

This stupa conflict illustrates why DW is not a substitute for a teacher that one trusts with these kinds of questions.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:21 pm
Queequeg wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:19 pm
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:16 pm Right well, it is no more a part of you than it is of a "convert".
What would be the acceptable terminology to identify the distinction?
I don't care how you say stuff, I'm just not accepting an argument based on the idea that an individuals Karmic disposition towards Dharma makes Asian people somehow "more capable" Dharma-wise.

There is more than enough of that kind of attitude in some circles, and I think it's the last thing people should be advocating for..that's why I piped up. I mean, you do you, but I'm not buying a claim like that.
Yeah, otherwise everybody in Afghanistan would still be Buddhists.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Is a shrine important

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Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:25 pm This stupa conflict illustrates why DW is not a substitute for a teacher that one trusts with these kinds of questions.
...which is why I said to consult with a teacher, and why I shared things taught by my teacher.
And that is the opposite of “oh don’t be so elitist with all your rules and stuff”.
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:27 pm
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:25 pm This stupa conflict illustrates why DW is not a substitute for a teacher that one trusts with these kinds of questions.
...which is why I said to consult with a teacher, and why I shared things taught by my teacher.
So did I. My teachers talk about this kind of stuff in the seeming opposite way as yours do. That's the trouble with trying to get "official" answers for Buddhism from a forum.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:29 pm
PadmaVonSamba wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:27 pm
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:25 pm This stupa conflict illustrates why DW is not a substitute for a teacher that one trusts with these kinds of questions.
...which is why I said to consult with a teacher, and why I shared things taught by my teacher.
So did I. My teachers talk about this kind of stuff in the seeming opposite way as yours do. That's the trouble with trying to get "official" answers for Buddhism from a forum.
True!
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Queequeg
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by Queequeg »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:21 pm
Queequeg wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:19 pm
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 5:16 pm Right well, it is no more a part of you than it is of a "convert".
What would be the acceptable terminology to identify the distinction?
I don't care how you say stuff, I'm just not accepting an argument based on the idea that an individuals Karmic disposition towards Dharma makes Asian people somehow "more capable" Dharma-wise.
I didn't say that. How many ways can I say this?

I have friends who are 100% non-Asian, who have grown up in a Buddhist community. There's a palpable difference when a person grows up trying to reconcile the world they live in from the beginning with notions like karma, rebirth, Dharma, than when they grow up trying to reconcile it with atoms and photons, or alternatively, God and personal relationships with Jesus.

You guys are the ones who glommed onto a part of a comment and just saw red and apparently can't get off of it. That's your problem, not mine.

I don't need an answer to this, but consider how your life would have been had your parents been devout, practicing Buddhists, as your grandparents, as your aunts and uncles, and your neighbors. If you don't think it would have made a lick of difference in who you are, then we'll just have to leave it at that.
Last edited by Queequeg on Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
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Giovanni
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by Giovanni »

About being born into Buddhist family.. one of my teachers said, more or less..”No one is born Buddhist, and no one is born into a Buddhist family..if our karma is right we meet Dharma. If not we don’t”...something like that.
narhwal90
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Re: Is a shrine important

Post by narhwal90 »

Seems like this thread has run its course, please contact a moderator if there is something on topic to add.
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