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Originally Posted by dead_head94
What exactly is it? Is it a religion or a set of philosophies? Does it have "gods" and rules like other religions or is it simply a philosophy of how to gain ineer peace?
This all interests me but I'm kind of turned away by the religions....Any answers would be nice
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Read about it.
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Dalai Lama or Pema Chodron or Prof. Robert Thurman
D.T. Suzuki
Alan Watts
etc.
There are a LOT of schools of Buddhism and they all have some essential things in common but differences in practice.
One thing they all have in common is a basic idea of renunciation ... that is -- renouncing (litterally or metaphorically) the material world. Sex, money, drinking, drugs, being a greedy or angry person ... don't fly in Buddhist practice. Stealing, killing, lying, sexual misconduct and use of intoxicants is very frowned on. Basically, nothing in extremes -- which is why westerners are always asking about Buddhism and get this watered down version ... everyone wants to be all cool and Eastern but doesn't want to give up the nice car and house and the shitty job and beer and cable TV and yadda yadda.
NO matter how it is expressed, Buddhism is about taking responsibilty for your actions. Recognizing that the world is essentially indifferent and you can't control it but you can learn to not add to the basic problems and that learning process usually takes a long time because you have to give up a lot of ideas that tether you to samsara (cyclic existence, unsatisfying existence). The most basic idea that has to be tossed is that there is any real or substantial "you". There is no impermenant soul or seat of the true self in Buddhism. We are all farts in the wind. Between birth and death, being tossed around by our attachments and wishes and desires and stubborness.
So .. it's not a religion for the light hearted.
When you are ready to go on a month long silent retreat to meditate and study and pray ... give me a shout. No drinking, no smoking, no jerking off, no talking, nothing cool about it -- it is boot camp for the mind. At the end you are either sick of Buddhism or you are starting to get a hint of curiosity -- then maybe you might want to devote a few years to the beginning practice. Three million recitations of a mantra. Three million prostrations. Three million circumambulations of a holy place. Living at or near a monestary and washing dishes and being ignored by the teacher who basically thinks you are just another lazy westerner since they almost all drop out.
Then, after the preliminaries you start your teaching. You can take ordination or not -- it is up to you. You might as well since you won't have a life outside your studies. So that means shaving your head and taking a series of oathes. No sex, no eating after noon, no talking back to a senior monk, the teacher's word is final and absolute, a lot of study, a lot of memorization, hours of devotional practice, hours of meditation, no video games or computers or television or distractions (well, once in a while for giggles).
Then, when you are old and grey you can say, "Oh! I get it! It's not about ME!"
THen maybe you are ready to die and reincanate as a better student and do it all over again.
After a few million lifetimes you can reach nirvana.
But, a true Buddhist will renounce nirvana and return to teach the world which is defiled and pained by ignorance, greed, avarice and all the base human emotions.
Or you can move to Boulder and get some guy in a robe to give you an Asian sounding name and declare you "enlightened" for a price.
