Ask a Buddhist Anything!

>>2397052
Asuka or Rei?

>>2397061
Never watched Evangelion, desu.

>>2397052
Can you say even one word?

>>2397075
No.

where are my keys

Why are you such a fag?

>>2397077
What is Buddha?

>>2397092
Have you checked your pockets yet?

>>2397096
Some Indian dude.

>>2397095
High levels of estrogen in the womb.

>>2397097
yes

>>2397052
Did your mom FREAK when you came as a zen master? Wow so exotic.

>>2397099
>The arrow has flown past Korea
I would have accepted
>a pile of dog shit
>three pounds of flax
I don't think you're a real buddhist. What's your school?

>>2397052
How's high school treating ya?

>>2397103
Back pockets?

>>2397109
Mahayana.

>>2397104
I mean I bet you really showed her after she made you wake up early on Sunday all those times. You're truly an independent thinker.

>>2397117
The most independent.

>>2397113
Mahakashyapa's boys branched out quite a bit
You told me which vehicle.
Which school?

>>2397122
None, officially. No sangha, I live in rural New England, so.

>>2397120
Wow.

I bet you cook your own vegan food too. Wow. Avoiding those stereotypes society wants to impose you I see.

>>2397128
ah. so you have no fucking idea what you're doing.

What is the Eightfold Path?

Is it walked on purpose or not?

Have you read the Gateless Gate?

>>2397130
Society is a construct, my dude. Communism all the way.

>>2397133
The eight ways to reach enlightenment,
Depends,
No.

>>2397135
>Society is a construct
>Doesn't realize that he's advocating for a construct and literally opened this thread by subsuming his own identity in....


>A CONSTRUCT

wew lad

>>2397142
Its all a construct, my dude. I'm simply above it. I'm a Buddhist, you see, so I'm instantly better and morally above.

>>2397135
A Buddhist, a postmodernist and a communist! So original! *__*

Who would have thought?

>>2397149
A vegan, too. Don't forget. My identity is important to me.

Does showcasing your exotic cool religion in an anime board lead to enlightenment?

>>2397155
Yes.

>>2397140
Ouch.


Ok. Time for a lesson.

First of all, the Eightfold Path is what happens when you're already doing it right. I don't even remember the points, but the really important one is the meditation.

Second, you clearly haven't developed the mental skills you're going to need before you get serious about this shit. The Way is a way like the ways; every path to mastery takes similar bends, similar curves. The pursuit changes as you near the object. So, read the Tao Te Ching (Mair's translation). It will build up your fundamentals so you can understand what the Zen guys are doing.

Third, get into actual Zen/Chan. Read the Blue Cliff Record and the Gateless Gate and the Book of Equanimity (last one is optional). You'll figure out a lot of shit. It will terrify you. And then, fear will be made irrelevant.

>>2397152
Y-you wanna hang out on Starbucks some time senpai?

>>2397160
Thank you. Though most of the stuff I've written in here was humorous, you did actually help me. Thanks for that.

>>2397164
I've never stepped into a Starbucks.

>>2397169
What? You're not cool. Fuck off loser I bet you don't even have a cool beard and a MacBook.

>>2397178
I can't grow facial hair, it's just not in my genes. Sorry to disappoint you, maybe we can meet at a Panera Bread?

>>2397183
No. You're not as enlightened as I thought you were.

>>2397190
Can we quantify enlightenment? Maybe put it to a mathematical scale?

>>2397166
You know what, I'm really bored, so I'll just spoonfeed you fuckers with some of the best passages from the Tao Te Ching and deliver a bit of commentary. Of course, We HAVE to start with the intro.

>The ways that can be walked are not the eternal Way;
>The names that can be named are not the eternal name.
>The nameless is the origin of the myriad creatures;
>The named is the mother of the myriad creatures.
>Therefore,
>Always be without desire in order to observe its wondrous subtleties;
>Always have desire so that you may observe its manifestations.
>Both of these derive from the same source;
>They have different names but the same designation.
>Mystery of mysteries,
>The gate of all wonders!

Laozi's language is elegant and sometimes even beautiful. He (and many other figures worth reading) have a dry, scoffing, ironic wit that makes their work fun as hell to read even just as entertainment.

The pursuit of the absolute lies beneath imagery and language. It also requires the pursuer to constantly live a double life. He lives as the man and the sage at the SAME TIME: the man to drive the sage in certain directions, the sage to drive the man in certain directions.

>>2397197
Are you teaching Buddhism, or Taoism? Because they are different.

>>2397192
Yes, you were just a few items away from reaching 10/10 enlightenment levels.

But then you failed by showing that you're not hip enough. I bet you're white too. Boriiiiing... -1000 points. Wow so not exotic.

>>2397205
The dogmas are different, but the object is at least similar.

Plus, the Tao Te Ching trains reasoning skills that are important for further pursuits in Zen in particular.

The object of the two doctrines is basically the same. The dogmas of both are just bullshit. The pursuit is the same.

>>2397220
I never said I was Zen, but I do like hearing about it.

>>2397052
How do you deal with the fact that Buddhism's ultimate goal is committing metaphysical suicide, i.e. suicide with reincarnation in mind?

>>2397226
I know you didn't, but the other guys are dicking around with philosophy, not the pursuit.

The Vajrayana and Theravada are concerned with their silly hats and cultic dogma faggotry

The Pure Landers at least do the Amoamitofu shit which is helpful if not the right idea

but only the Chan/Zen guys perform the pursuit for real with every fiber

Trust me on this.

>>2397240
In the, I hate to say it, 'spiritual' belief in Buddha, in terms of religion, I think members of any branch really have the capability of reaching Nirvana. Unless, of course, they're more focused on wearing silly hats then, y'know, Nirvana.

amas are for rddit
s*ged

>>2397250
Which is precisely the problem.

Let me give you an example of what makes Chan/Zen different. I'm not an Asian, btw I'm a Westerner who doesn't even consider himself a Buddhist.

Here's a koan (zen mindfuck) from the Blue Cliff Record

>A monk asked Tung Shan, "What is Buddha?"1
Tung Shan said, "Three pounds of hemp."2

NOTES (by the compiler, not me)

>1. Iron brambles; no patchrobed monk on earth can leap clear.
>2. Clearly. Worn out straw sandals. He points to a pagoda tree to scold a willow tree

Got it?

>>2397272
I'd need to meditate on it, but I'll remember the koan. I'm way too tired to think deeply about it.

>Ask a Buddhist Anything!

Are you a tibetan monk who prays, performs rituals, and works for 18 hours a day? Or are you a white hippy atheist.

>>2397272
Why didn't shang tsung just transform himself into sub zero and froze him to death?

>>2397308
What makes a Buddhist?

>>2397294
that's the best part

>you don't have to

koans (at least in my experience) don't work like that. They are best absorbed by reading 40 to 50 at a time. Not even joking.

One thing you can try is putting yourself in an altered state (either by meditating beforehand, doing philosophy really fast, getting buzzed or drinking some coffee) and then reading the Gateless Gate straight through. It's not long; take you an hour, two at the most. Don't think about any one koan for more than 2 minutes. As you read through, the same lessons will return phrased differently or attacked from a different angle.

It's likely that you'll feel physically sick at some point just from reading mind-bending koans. Give yourself a breather and then continue. It gets... different after a while.

Enjoy.

>>2397272
Wait, I think I get it. By the very definition of becoming a Buddhist, nobody can hope to reach Nirvana, since they're putting so much desire and craving into not desiring or craving. I think. I don't think Koans generally have concrete answers.

>>2397310
Since this guy isn't a buddhist, I'll field this one.

The same thing that makes anyone else. He has his head wedged firmly in his own ass.

>>2397309
wut

>>2397313
Thank you, friend. You turned out to be really cool.

>>2397323
He's mocking your gay religion.

>>2397319
Nope.
Discussing what koans actually mean is usually a bad idea because the experience of understanding the answer cements the answer more than just learning it from someone else. This is why people ignore advice but then accept the same lessons later when they discover them for themselves.

What this is really about is breaking the idea of Buddha off a pedestal and breaking the disciples of any preconceived expectations of what the end of the Way looks like. The shock of the unexpected answer is supposed to lead them to that conclusion on their own.

One of the most important (if least used) phrases in Zen is

>it doesn't fucking matter

which is the real answer to the question.

>>2397337
As much as I'd like to use that phrase, and as much as I agree with that phrase, I think it's also important to treat things as if they do matter. For example, one of my first experiences with Buddhism was reading a Koan I found in a book, and thinking about it while I went to bed. If I had simply thought "It doesn't matter.", I wouldn't have learned anything that I didn't already know. I think we need to treat life and adversity as if they DO matter, even if we know they dont.

>>2397337
The Buddha smokes hashish
A butterfly farts
I can't poo in loo

Wow 2 deep. You can't explain that dude! Now pass me that joint.

>>2397341
That's not what I mean.
Irrelevancy is a big deal in Zen. For example, the classic question
Why did Bodhidharma cross the mountains to bring the Way to the East?
is a philosophical quandary, but totally irrelevant to the pursuit.
Cleverness and wit won't help you, they're just distractions. A pretty turn of phrase is worthless in Buddhism.

Even if you joined up for the whole "eliminate desire" aspect, that shit isn't even hard. You forget about that pretty quickly once you get far enough.

When I said "it doesn't matter" that wasn't to say "nothing matters" it was to say "it doesn't matter in the pursuit, so why are you wasting your time?"

>>2397351
6-5-5
Almost a haiku
I give you 2 grapples anon

>>2397360
I suppose you're right. If I'm understanding you correctly, if I'm trying to figure out how to reach Nirvana, and doing what I can to achieve that end, what does "is a dog of Buddha-Nature?" even matter?

>>2397152
>My identity is important to me
You are a fucking idiot

>>2397371
Right. If a dog has buddha nature it does. If it doesn't it doesn't.

Another big thing is ceasing to be "the man of yes and no". If you think about it, either accepting or negating anything means referencing it and so tying yourself to it. Take the example of the fox spirit.


>Every time Baizhang, Zen Master Dahui, gave a dharma talk, a certain old man would come to listen.
>He usually left after the talk, but one day he remained.
>Baizhang asked, "Who is there?"
>The man said, "I am not actually a human being. I lived and taught on this mountain at the time of Kashyapa Buddha.
>One day a student asked me,
>'Does a person who practices with great devotion still fall into cause and effect?'
>I said to him, 'No, such a person doesn't.'
>Because I said this I was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes.
>Reverend master, please say a turning word for me and free me from this wild fox body."
>Then he asked Baizhang, "Does a person who practices with great devotion still fall into cause and effect?"

>Baizhang said, "Don't ignore cause and effect."

>Immediately the man had great realization. >Bowing, he said, "I am now liberated from the body of a wild fox.
>I will stay in the mountain behind the monastery.
>Master, could you perform the usual services for a deceased monk for me?"

>Baizhang asked the head of the monks' hall to inform the assembly that funeral services for a monk would be held after the midday meal.
>The monks asked one another, "What's going on?
>Everyone is well; there is no one sick in the Nirvana Hall."
>After their meal, Baizhang led the assembly to a large rock behind the monastery and showed them a dead fox at the rock's base. >Following the customary procedure, they cremated the body.

>>2397394
part 2


>That evening during his lecture in the dharma hall Baizhang talked about what had happened that day.
>Huangbo asked him, "A teacher of old gave a wrong answer and became a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes.
>What if he hadn't given a wrong answer?"

>Baizhang said, "Come closer and I will tell you." >Huangbo went closer and slapped Baizhang's face.
>Laughing, Baizhang clapped his hands and said,
>"I thought it was only barbarians who had unusual beards. But you too have an unusual beard!"

Questions?

>>2397068
fucking DROPPED

SOCIETY REALLY SHOUDNT HAVE TRIED TO IMPOSE CHRISTIAN DOGMAS AND RULES ON ME NOW IM AN EDGY BUDDHIST THAT'LL SHOW 'EM!

>>2397052
Do Buddhists pray, and if so, how do they?

>>2397504
not the ones doing it right
the pure land guys pray to Amitaba but they're not really praying; they're just doing a mantra for meditation

>>2397511
And what are some good mantras for meditation? I know im a westerner and cant really get into eastern religions, but im curious.

Which books or sections are more original in Tripiṭaka versus the Pali canon?

>>2397611
Mantra meditation is shit-tier desu

No-mind is a good place to start

categorically deny everything around you including your own existence

Like so:
no voice
no floor
no legs
no ass
no mind
repeat with different shit and remember to repeat no mind a lot
eventually start doing it silently

also there's just breathing focus meditation (which is fine) and metta meditation (loving-kindness meditation-- good for bad days)

for metta you just run through everyone in your life that you know and mentally tell them you love them
>feels good m7

>>2397149
>>2397130
Lets be original and stop drinking water too. That'll fill our edge quota.

>>2397052
Should bodhisattvas ignore or their desires or embrace some of them, like eating ice cream for instance?

>>2397052
Are you born into it or are you an new age faggot?
If your an OG could you give me advice on what to meditate on?
If your new age can you tell me why you chose this over, most likely, christianity?

>>2397052
If Buddhist are pacifist then why are the Burmese genociding like no tommorow

What are your thoughts on Jesus and Muhammad?

What lead you to chose your school over the others

File: 1484868088180.jpg (61KB, 503x502px) Image search: [Google]

61KB, 503x502px

>>2397052
You are forever blind to the material aspect of the world and you are worth only of pity. Which you don't believe in, ofc.

Also buddha statues are always uesd to smuggle shitty drugs that kill hundreds of people. The larger the statue the more blood on your hands you have.

File: 1484925297499.jpg (672KB, 1400x1200px) Image search: [Google]

672KB, 1400x1200px

Remember the time you woke up but didn't really remember what "you" meant? That brief state in which you are totally depersonalized?
Good. Now imagine making that brief feeling the goal of your religion. That's Nirvana. I strongly believe that a pro-virtual reality sect of buddhists will be the first to enter collective consciounceness "machine". They reject the world around them and make anything that can be touched or perceived by senses THE BIG BAD and think that their daydreaming makes them better than the animals that are not budhists.

Taoism is way better and less douchey.

What do you do if you see the Buddha on the road?

>>2398753
Sounds like a docile and ultimately imbecilic populace, fit for domination by malicious people.

>>2397052
What do Buddhist think on Islam (read: Pisslam)?

Can you recommend me a good introductory book on the fundamentals, history, and branches of Buddhism?

do buddhist milfs cheat a lot

>>2398989
Kill him. Obviously.

Look at the top of the thread. This guy is some white kid who just started. He hasn't even read the Gateless Gate.

>>2398753
Taoism is a similar pursuit but the source material is WAAAAAY more surface-level and it's been even more distorted by dogma and bad interpretations by idiots.

>>2397052
How do you stop wanting to stop wanting?

>>2399501
Not OP
by forgetting about it. the not wanting thing is like step 1/1000.
Shakyamuni talks about it because it's easy to understand
but once you figure out how to stop wanting, other, more pressing problems present themselves.

>>2399503
>by forgetting about it
That's an impossible standard.

>>2399505
It's really not.

Subsuming desire isn't about killing it. It's about not putting concious effort towards recognizing it.

When most people want something, they think about wanting it. They choose to bend their will to emphasizing and satisfying something that is purely biological. This first step is about untying the mental from the biological. The biological should be satisfied, because it will become more of an effort to resist it than to satisfy it, but the mental should be reserved to itself.

>>2397052
Tibetan or other?

>>2399514
To do that you would have to want that.

>>2397052
You are selfish.

>>2397052
what do you know that I don't?

>>2399557
As first. But then you would do it cause you're bored. Then you just do it for its own sake.

>>2400040
Like fucking for virginity.

>>2400054
What?

The 100th post is mine

>>2400326
>This fucking guy

File: Lord of light.jpg (25KB, 315x475px) Image search: [Google]

25KB, 315x475px

>>2397052

What do you think of pic related?

>>2397052
Kos or Kosm?

>>2397313
>Tells someone to get buzzed to alter their mental state
>In direct violation of one of the Five Silas
Bro

>>2397052
Yes, can you please explain this:

> http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/monk-charged-raping-nine-boys
> Monk charged with raping nine boys

> https://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/06/what-lies-beneath-the-robes-are-buddhist-monasteries-suitable-places-for-children-adele-wilde-blavatsky/
> What Lies Beneath the Robes: Are Buddhist Monasteries Suitable Places for Children?

> http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-15507304
> Sri Lanka's hidden scourge of religious child abuse

Have you EVER stood up and spoken out for all the children raped by self-professed buddhists?

If not, how can you live with yourself? How can you pretend to be worthy of Heaven?

>>2397052
What do you think of Pure Land buddhism?

File: 1451599933597.jpg (183KB, 1280x1390px) Image search: [Google]

183KB, 1280x1390px

who owns the moon ?

>>2397313

Kōan are supposed to be engaged one at a time, not fifty. Rinzai students will spend weeks on a single kōan. And no, there's nothing substantial about them, if you think so you're deluding yourself.

>>2405083

I was not aware of the extent of such occurrences, but nothing surprises me anymore. As a Zen Buddhist, I often discuss cases of reckless Zen teachers with other practitioners. We don't ignore it, it's a real problem just as when it occurs in other walks of life. people tend to be people no matter where you go, mired in the poisons of greed, anger and ignorance. People in religious institutions are no different. When someone who's supposed to be an authority, or in a more trustworthy position, does not adhere to basic standards of decency, it is even sadder. It's hard to be a good person for all of us. I can't say I take responsibility for their actions. Practicing Buddhism is a highly personal thing and it's better to focus on cultivating your own good nature than to speak out about the wrongdoings of everybody else all the time - there are plenty of people who do that already.

>>2405153
A stray dog.

>>2405115
Pure Land is fine. I've practiced chanting the daimoku, it is a decent way to concentrate. I think there's a lot of exaggerated hubbub about the joriki (self power) of Zen being contrasted to the tariki (other power) of pure land. They're both the same power in the end. People seem to think it's more pure to transform yourself by your own energy and volition than to rely on Amitabha / Amida Buddha. If you think it's your own volition that transforms you, you're full of shit. Who cares in the long run?

File: mdma_tablets.jpg (26KB, 350x343px) Image search: [Google]

26KB, 350x343px

Would the Buddha approve of ecstasy?

It leads to instant and lasting spiritual wisdom.

>>2405789

Drugs are shit. Treat your body with some respect.

>>2405789

makes you into a vegetable that's able to change moods quickly. Of course he would.

threads like this is how you confirm whether or not boards have well and truly gone to shit.
Rip /his/

>>2405789
No, he would not. Look up the five precepts. It explicitly states that mind altering substances should be avoided.

What is suffering? I visited a buddhist temple this week and they couldnt really define it.

>>2410737

It's a bit difficult to understand what is meant by dukkha in every sense the word is used in the old texts. It has multiple levels and is not easily shoehorned into plain english as "suffering" or "stress". It is something we have to continually investigate for ourselves in our meditation practice.

I dislike the translation "suffering", it's difficult to identify with. Few people would say they are suffering in some fundamental sense, but most people would agree there is an element of stress in their lives. The stress of separation, disappointment, disease and aging is something that we all come to know during our lives. We may recognize a continuous element of stress during our daily lives, and our distaste with it is what motivates us into exploring the Buddhist way.

When we practice quieting the mind, we start to recognize patterns of our thoughts and behaviors that directly connect to our sense of stress, of distaste and dis-ease. We see that we initiate that process, it's deeply habitual. It gets easier to stand back because it's liberating to experience a respite from the daily gross mental activity that tires us out. Maybe we see that there's not as much of a satisfaction in chasing after things as we thought, because it never ends.

As we continue on, we start to see more and more subtler shapes of stress and conflict. It becomes a more basic, instinctual knowledge. You start to see dukkha as a component of movement, of contrast, and divisions of the mind. That's when we start to touch upon the actual meaning of dukkha as explained by the Buddha - it is the mind's habit of separating, distinguishing, of moving. It's like a still and clear pond being disturbed by making waves. When we fully stop making those waves, we see, for ourselves, a state without dukkha, not empty-minded or vacant but very clear and lucid. The Buddha's conclusion was that everything outside of that sphere incorporates an aspect of stress, it is not truly fulfilling.

>>2411337
>>2410737

I would add that dukkha is closely related to decay. Whenever the mind is involved with something destined for decay, it is in a state of dukkha, entranced by the illusions of an impermanent world. When the mind is liberated, that is something that does not decay, because it is not bound by temporal ideas and divisions. I'm not sure if that makes any sense. The important thing to carry away is that the Buddha declared a way out of dukkha, and that was really his only concern. He didn't want to start a new philosophical system. He explicitly said "I only teach dukkha and the cessation of dukkha".

>>2397627
I'm very interested in your views, mainly because I operated on this level of denialisim removed from any understanding of zen for a bit. More just out of fear than a want for peace. So how can it be done without it just being out of fear?

Existence has incomprhensable structures to it that are evident by our own being, so how can I deny these things without that denial being a fear shrouded in mysticism? Or am I just not getting it? This is very important, as my ego is what makes me want suicide. I feel myself inflating in individuality and it's false and wrong, but I cant align a personal denial, subjective denial, when it is inconsistent with the incomprehensible structures to the existence my being is within, if that is saying anything.

>>2412342

I don't understand the question. Can you specify what you mean by denial?