Greetings from germany :^)

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JG1997
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Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 9:12 am

Greetings from germany :^)

Post by JG1997 »

Hello everyone,

my name is Joshua and im very interrested in buddhism.
I get a deep feeling of relaxation when I'm meditating.
A week ago I bought a book translated into german called:
"The Wisdom Teachings of Bhudda - Dhammapada" (Die Weisheitslehren des Bhudda - Dhammapada)
It's fascinating how the very concept of our modern problems have been known 2500 years ago.
I wish to gain more knowledge on dharma (or is it the dharma?). :buddha1:
Any recommendation on what I could read or listen to? :)

Best regards,
Josh
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laic
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Re: Greetings from germany :^)

Post by laic »

JG1997 wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 9:37 am Hello everyone,

my name is Joshua and im very interrested in buddhism.
I get a deep feeling of relaxation when I'm meditating.
A week ago I bought a book translated into german called:
"The Wisdom Teachings of Bhudda - Dhammapada" (Die Weisheitslehren des Bhudda - Dhammapada)
It's fascinating how the very concept of our modern problems have been known 2500 years ago.
I wish to gain more knowledge on dharma (or is it the dharma?). :buddha1:
Any recommendation on what I could read or listen to? :)

Best regards,
Josh
Hi Josh, I'm new here as well, from the UK. Glad to hear that you are meditating.

You must have an edition of the Dhammapada (Dhamma/truth......pada/way) which though drawn from the Theravada Tradition has become a text that crosses all boundaries.

Dhamma = the Pali language, associated with Theravada. Dharma = Sanskrit, associated with Mahayana.

But both interchangeable.

Maybe others can suggest reading. I tend to get uncomfortable offering suggestions.

Anyway, welcome.
Protecting oneself one protects others
Protecting others one protects oneself
zerwe
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Location: North Carolina

Re: Greetings from germany :^)

Post by zerwe »

Hi Joshua,

Welcome to Dharma Wheel. I think everyone one has a first text or experience that resonates and is special to them.
Personally, HHDL's book "How to Practice" really had an impact on me early on in my practice.

Shaun :namaste:
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It'sYa1UPBoy
Posts: 91
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Re: Greetings from germany :^)

Post by It'sYa1UPBoy »

JG1997 wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 9:37 am Hello everyone,

my name is Joshua and im very interrested in buddhism.
I get a deep feeling of relaxation when I'm meditating.
A week ago I bought a book translated into german called:
"The Wisdom Teachings of Bhudda - Dhammapada" (Die Weisheitslehren des Bhudda - Dhammapada)
It's fascinating how the very concept of our modern problems have been known 2500 years ago.
I wish to gain more knowledge on dharma (or is it the dharma?). :buddha1:
Any recommendation on what I could read or listen to? :)

Best regards,
Josh
Hallo, Josh! The Dhammapada is indeed a font of wisdom; the Buddha was a very wise man.
And "dharma" is indeed a noun that takes "the." (z.B. "Ich wünsche, mehr über die Lehre des Buddhas zu lernen." in dem "die Lehre des Buddhas=das Dharma")

As for what you should read/listen to, in this forum you will probably receive recommendations a bit different from the Dhammapada. While the Dhammapada is used in all Buddhist traditions, it comes from some texts that are very heavily used in Theravada--- the kind of Buddhism followed widely in Thailand, Burma, etc. Mahayana and Vajrayana (think of Zenbuddhismus or tibetanischer Buddhismus if you know them) follow the Theravada texts, but they also use their own texts that Theravada does not, and sometimes these extra books can sound very different from the Dhammapada and from each other.
This is not to speak badly of the Mahayana texts; if I viewed them poorly, then I would not be here. I simply wanted to say that, depending on who answers your question, you can get some very different answers. I would also recommend posting your question on Dhamma Wheel (the link is at the bottom of the page) if you have not already, if you are interesting in reading books that sound more like the Dhammapada in their style; Dhamma Wheel is the Theravada version of this forum.

But, to recommend some Mahayana books, I think that Thich Nhat Hanh has some very nice books; in fact, I do believe he has published some in German as well. Many people have been introduced to Buddhism through his books, myself included. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Zen monk/Thien monk, who fled communist Vietnam because of religious persecution, and founded monasteries in France and the USA. He did a lot of work to bring Zen/Thien to the English-speaking and French-speaking world in particular, and he was a very kind man. (I wish I could've met him before he died, but alas, sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to.)
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DNS
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Re: Greetings from germany :^)

Post by DNS »

Welcome to DW!

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Ayu
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Re: Greetings from germany :^)

Post by Ayu »

Welcome to Dharmawheel. :hi:

As a beginner I liked:
"Mitgefühl und Liebe - Meditationstechniken und buddhistische Sichtweise" by Jeffrey Hopkins who was long time a translator for HH Dalai Lama XIV.

You can read more about it here: https://www.buecher.de/shop/buecher/mit ... /10279850/
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Hazel
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Re: Greetings from germany :^)

Post by Hazel »

Welcome!
Happy Pride month to my queer dharma siblings!

What do you see when you turn out the lights?
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