Buddhism: I wish to learn more

[BDBoop]

Yoo-hoo!

For instance, you said generosity is the first of six, and the easiest to learn. What are the rest?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Generosity, ethics, patience, enthusiastic perserverance, concentration and wisdom.

These are life long practices.

 

[BDBoop]

And they are linear? i.e., you have to go from generosity to ethics, to patience, etc.

Obviously, I already flunked patience.

 

[Sky Dancer]

And they are linear? i.e., you have to go from generosity to ethics, to patience, etc.

Obviously, I already flunked patience.

They are linear in one way, in terms of easiest to most challenging.

You probably have a good handle on the first three. Generosity, ethics and patience. I've noticed you practice all three as a poster.

You are generous with praise and reps, you are ethical in your dealings with others and most of the time, VERY patient. I've seen you exercise the ignore feature and take frequent breaks to make sure you're not being too hot headed.

That's really great practice IMO.

I flunk patience every day. So every day, I make a new beginning.

 

[BDBoop]

And they are linear? i.e., you have to go from generosity to ethics, to patience, etc.

Obviously, I already flunked patience.

They are linear in one way, in terms of easiest to most challenging.

You probably have a good handle on the first three. Generosity, ethics and patience. I've noticed you practice all three as a poster.

You are generous with praise and reps, you are ethical in your dealings with others and most of the time, VERY patient. I've seen you exercise the ignore feature and take frequent breaks to make sure you're not being too hot headed.

That's really great practice IMO.

I flunk patience every day. So every day, I make a new beginning.

/hugs

I think we ALL do the 'every day' thing. *even if we don't know that's what we're doing, it fits in many spiritual teachings*

 

[BDBoop]

Generosity, ethics, patience, enthusiastic perserverance, concentration and wisdom.

These are life long practices.

Perseverance!

Procrastination is one of my biggest issues.

 

[Trajan]

Yoo-hoo!

For instance, you said generosity is the first of six, and the easiest to learn. What are the rest?

here;

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Beginners-Thubten-Chodron/dp/1559391537/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1339807517&sr=8-5&keywords=buddhism]Amazon.com: Buddhism for Beginners (9781559391535): Thubten Chodron: Books[/ame]



its a Book....you know...."A set of written, printed pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers."

 

[Oddball]

Generosity, ethics, patience, enthusiastic perserverance, concentration and wisdom.

These are life long practices.

Perseverance!

Procrastination is one of my biggest issues.

Just put it off.

 

[Ancient lion]

The principal teachings of Gautama Buddha can be summarised in what the Buddhists call the 'Four Noble Truths':

First - There is suffering and misery in life.

Second- The cause of this suffering and misery is desire.

Third - Suffering and misery can be removed by removing desire.

Fourth - Desire can be removed by following the Eight Fold Path.

ABSENCE OF THE CONCEPT OF GOD IN BUDDHISM

Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God. Buddhism provided Dhamma or the 'impersonal law' in place of God. Many scholars consider the evolution of the concept of Buddha as a god or as an object of worship within Buddhism as an effect of Hinduism.

Read more @
Islam And Buddhism

 

[Sky Dancer]

And they are linear? i.e., you have to go from generosity to ethics, to patience, etc.

Obviously, I already flunked patience.

They are linear in one way, in terms of easiest to most challenging.

You probably have a good handle on the first three. Generosity, ethics and patience. I've noticed you practice all three as a poster.

You are generous with praise and reps, you are ethical in your dealings with others and most of the time, VERY patient. I've seen you exercise the ignore feature and take frequent breaks to make sure you're not being too hot headed.

That's really great practice IMO.

I flunk patience every day. So every day, I make a new beginning.

/hugs

I think we ALL do the 'every day' thing. *even if we don't know that's what we're doing, it fits in many spiritual teachings*

Yes, we all do the make a new beginning every day. The book that teaches the Six Perfections in detail is called The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva. Pema Chodron has a CD out called Don't Bite the Hook.

The Way of the Bodhisattva is divided into the topic of the Six Perfection. Short stanza to memorize, contemplate and then meditate on.

Here is an example from the Patience chapter:

"Pain, humiliation, insults or rebukes,
We do not want them
Either for ourselves or those we love,
For those we do not like, it's quite the opposite!"

 

[BDBoop]

So how did you become aware of Buddhism? What path were you on before that?

 

[Sky Dancer]

So how did you become aware of Buddhism? What path were you on before that?

I left Catholicism as a senior in college, close to the time I came out as a lesbian. Around the time that my father died, I was actively searching for a spiritual path. I was going to the Theosophical Library and reading about Hinduism, and Western Mysticism. I discovered a writer named Murdo MacDonald Bayne, who was a Christian minister who traveled to Tibet and studied with Buddhist masters.

He wrote a book that I am fond of called, I Am The Life. It held the deeper meanings of Christianity, and it seemed to answer questions I'd had my whole life. For awhile, I just read everything I could find by that author and contemplated it. I didn't know how to meditate so I read books and I'd find a meditation and read it into a tape and listen to it.

Then I started to meet Buddhist teachers. My father committed suicide, and the Catholic Church was a zero for helping him or me. I went to my first ten day silent Vipassana retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon in 1982, a year after his death. While I was there, two staff members were killed in a car accident. The instructors, Joseph Goldstein and Munindra-Ji told us to watch our breaths because you never know when you're going to be having your last.

The retreat went very deep for me. I started to stay awake all through the night and I dreamed of Anandamayi Ma. She came to my dream and told me her name and the meaning of her name, "Mother of Great Bliss". I wrote the dream down but didn't know she really existed. She had just died that year, I learned many years later.

That's how it all began. The First Noble Truths were the first Buddhist teaching I heard, and it made a deep impression on me. "Life is suffering". That was true for me at the time.

 

[BDBoop]

So how did you become aware of Buddhism? What path were you on before that?

I left Catholicism as a senior in college, close to the time I came out as a lesbian. Around the time that my father died, I was actively searching for a spiritual path. I was going to the Theosophical Library and reading about Hinduism, and Western Mysticism. I discovered a writer named Murdo MacDonald Bayne, who was a Christian minister who traveled to Tibet and studied with Buddhist masters.

He wrote a book that I am fond of called, I Am The Life. It held the deeper meanings of Christianity, and it seemed to answer questions I'd had my whole life. For awhile, I just read everything I could find by that author and contemplated it. I didn't know how to meditate so I read books and I'd find a meditation and read it into a tape and listen to it.

Then I started to meet Buddhist teachers. My father committed suicide, and the Catholic Church was a zero for helping him or me. I went to my first ten day silent Vipassana retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon in 1982, a year after his death. While I was there, two staff members were killed in a car accident. The instructors, Joseph Goldstein and Munindra-Ji told us to watch our breaths because you never know when you're going to be having your last.

The retreat went very deep for me. I started to stay awake all through the night and I dreamed of Anandamayi Ma. She came to my dream and told me her name and the meaning of her name, "Mother of Great Bliss". I wrote the dream down but didn't know she really existed. She had just died that year, I learned many years later.

That's how it all began. The First Noble Truths were the first Buddhist teaching I heard, and it made a deep impression on me. "Life is suffering". That was true for me at the time.

What happened to your dad's partner? Is he still in your life?

 

[Sky Dancer]

So how did you become aware of Buddhism? What path were you on before that?

I left Catholicism as a senior in college, close to the time I came out as a lesbian. Around the time that my father died, I was actively searching for a spiritual path. I was going to the Theosophical Library and reading about Hinduism, and Western Mysticism. I discovered a writer named Murdo MacDonald Bayne, who was a Christian minister who traveled to Tibet and studied with Buddhist masters.

He wrote a book that I am fond of called, I Am The Life. It held the deeper meanings of Christianity, and it seemed to answer questions I'd had my whole life. For awhile, I just read everything I could find by that author and contemplated it. I didn't know how to meditate so I read books and I'd find a meditation and read it into a tape and listen to it.

Then I started to meet Buddhist teachers. My father committed suicide, and the Catholic Church was a zero for helping him or me. I went to my first ten day silent Vipassana retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon in 1982, a year after his death. While I was there, two staff members were killed in a car accident. The instructors, Joseph Goldstein and Munindra-Ji told us to watch our breaths because you never know when you're going to be having your last.

The retreat went very deep for me. I started to stay awake all through the night and I dreamed of Anandamayi Ma. She came to my dream and told me her name and the meaning of her name, "Mother of Great Bliss". I wrote the dream down but didn't know she really existed. She had just died that year, I learned many years later.

That's how it all began. The First Noble Truths were the first Buddhist teaching I heard, and it made a deep impression on me. "Life is suffering". That was true for me at the time.

What happened to your dad's partner? Is he still in your life?

He was devastated by my father's death. It was so sad. He had lived a lie his whole life. He covered his homosexuality by dating women. I came home to be with him and no one knew that my father had died of suicide, or that Johnny was his partner. I had to fake meet and greet people who thought my dad had died of a stroke, because that was what Johnny told them.

Johnny is inconsolable, and he's there with his girlfriend and his son, and it was just horrible for me.

We had phone contact for years, and then something happened that I'd rather not share openly, and we parted ways. He has since died too. Johnny never met my wife.

 

[BDBoop]

I left Catholicism as a senior in college, close to the time I came out as a lesbian. Around the time that my father died, I was actively searching for a spiritual path. I was going to the Theosophical Library and reading about Hinduism, and Western Mysticism. I discovered a writer named Murdo MacDonald Bayne, who was a Christian minister who traveled to Tibet and studied with Buddhist masters.

He wrote a book that I am fond of called, I Am The Life. It held the deeper meanings of Christianity, and it seemed to answer questions I'd had my whole life. For awhile, I just read everything I could find by that author and contemplated it. I didn't know how to meditate so I read books and I'd find a meditation and read it into a tape and listen to it.

Then I started to meet Buddhist teachers. My father committed suicide, and the Catholic Church was a zero for helping him or me. I went to my first ten day silent Vipassana retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon in 1982, a year after his death. While I was there, two staff members were killed in a car accident. The instructors, Joseph Goldstein and Munindra-Ji told us to watch our breaths because you never know when you're going to be having your last.

The retreat went very deep for me. I started to stay awake all through the night and I dreamed of Anandamayi Ma. She came to my dream and told me her name and the meaning of her name, "Mother of Great Bliss". I wrote the dream down but didn't know she really existed. She had just died that year, I learned many years later.

That's how it all began. The First Noble Truths were the first Buddhist teaching I heard, and it made a deep impression on me. "Life is suffering". That was true for me at the time.

What happened to your dad's partner? Is he still in your life?

He was devastated by my father's death. It was so sad. He had lived a lie his whole life. He covered his homosexuality by dating women. I came home to be with him and no one knew that my father had died of suicide, or that Johnny was his partner. I had to fake meet and greet people who thought my dad had died of a stroke, because that was what Johnny told them.

Johnny is inconsolable, and he's there with his girlfriend and his son, and it was just horrible for me.

We had phone contact for years, and then something happened that I'd rather not share openly, and we parted ways. He has since died too. Johnny never met my wife.

I'm so sorry.

No worries on the not sharing openly, you just spoke so highly of him and I wondered where he fit.

 

[Sky Dancer]

What happened to your dad's partner? Is he still in your life?

He was devastated by my father's death. It was so sad. He had lived a lie his whole life. He covered his homosexuality by dating women. I came home to be with him and no one knew that my father had died of suicide, or that Johnny was his partner. I had to fake meet and greet people who thought my dad had died of a stroke, because that was what Johnny told them.

Johnny is inconsolable, and he's there with his girlfriend and his son, and it was just horrible for me.

We had phone contact for years, and then something happened that I'd rather not share openly, and we parted ways. He has since died too. Johnny never met my wife.

I'm so sorry.

No worries on the not sharing openly, you just spoke so highly of him and I wondered where he fit.

I'd share that with you privately.

He kind of lost it. It was very sad.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Buddhism is a vast topic. The Buddha taught 84,000 meditation methods. When you go to a teaching on the "Bodhisattva's Way of Life" the khenpo will take one entire day just to translate word for word, the title.

We often never complete one topic.

What the teachers tell us, is to question everything, and to try things out and see if they are true, they fit or are helpful.

It's kind of like the answer to the joke, "How do you eat an elephant?"

The answer is one bite at a time. It's the same with Buddhism. You take it one bite at a time.

For many years I struggled with the concept of karma and rebirth. Now it makes sense to me.

For years, I just didn't deal with that topic at all.

 

[BDBoop]

Buddhism is a vast topic. The Buddha taught 84,000 meditation methods. When you go to a teaching on the "Bodhisattva's Way of Life" the khenpo will take one entire day just to translate word for word, the title.

We often never complete one topic.

What the teachers tell us, is to question everything, and to try things out and see if they are true, they fit or are helpful.

It's kind of like the answer to the joke, "How do you eat an elephant?"

The answer is one bite at a time. It's the same with Buddhism. You take it one bite at a time.

For many years I struggled with the concept of karma and rebirth. Now it makes sense to me.

For years, I just didn't deal with that topic at all.

Exactly. I'd get overwhelmed by the big picture, and walk away.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Buddhism is a vast topic. The Buddha taught 84,000 meditation methods. When you go to a teaching on the "Bodhisattva's Way of Life" the khenpo will take one entire day just to translate word for word, the title.

We often never complete one topic.

What the teachers tell us, is to question everything, and to try things out and see if they are true, they fit or are helpful.

It's kind of like the answer to the joke, "How do you eat an elephant?"

The answer is one bite at a time. It's the same with Buddhism. You take it one bite at a time.

For many years I struggled with the concept of karma and rebirth. Now it makes sense to me.

For years, I just didn't deal with that topic at all.

Exactly. I'd get overwhelmed by the big picture, and walk away.

It's funny though, how once you make a committment to one path, you hear the truth in others.

I can hear a Christian teaching and it will sound like Buddhism to me.

 

[BDBoop]

Buddhism is a vast topic. The Buddha taught 84,000 meditation methods. When you go to a teaching on the "Bodhisattva's Way of Life" the khenpo will take one entire day just to translate word for word, the title.

We often never complete one topic.

What the teachers tell us, is to question everything, and to try things out and see if they are true, they fit or are helpful.

It's kind of like the answer to the joke, "How do you eat an elephant?"

The answer is one bite at a time. It's the same with Buddhism. You take it one bite at a time.

For many years I struggled with the concept of karma and rebirth. Now it makes sense to me.

For years, I just didn't deal with that topic at all.

Exactly. I'd get overwhelmed by the big picture, and walk away.

It's funny though, how once you make a committment to one path, you hear the truth in others.

I can hear a Christian teaching and it will sound like Buddhism to me.

What I think is senseless is only hearing the one. The wise are found everywhere, in all walks of life. Why shut out their voices for being on a different path?