The Rev

I already am one, pretty much, anyway. By joining a sangha, I can share my spiritual path with others. I have found a couple of groups in my area that I am going to meet with and get to know. I want to feel things out before deciding on a particular flavor of Buddhism.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Namaste



The Rev

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Mercury

white guys + buddhism =

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Geeno

Alright Jim I fully support you and the wheel, and I'ma let you finish, but Silent Bob or Trolldad was the perfect avatar for you of all time.

edit: And as far as my feelings on what I've read about buddhism and the sects/flavors/whatever... It's not like I got down with this path to have someone premap routes for me.

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Kompressor

Are brown christians equally ridiculous?

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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought. -H. Bergson

kamikazi89

for your consideration:
Buddhist anarchism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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katie west is the best

The Rev

That's really cool. Thanks, Kami.



The Rev

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my_scatterheart

I don't think you can be a creepy pervis if you wanna be a buddhist.

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Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

The Rev

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

This quote is attributed to the Buddha himself.



The Rev

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Geeno

Aye, I just take some good notions and run with them.

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The Rev

Still lulz.



The Rev

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Jewish Pork

The Rev

The Rev

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SageTree

Welcome and The best of journeys to you dude.

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SageTree

Does this mean we'll actually have some posts in SS and I'll have someone to banter with about the Dharma again?

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SageTree

A Buddhist walks up to a veggie dog vendor and says 'make me one with everything.'

They smile because they've heard this one before.

'That will be $2.50'

The Buddhist hands him a $10 and takes the dog.

After standing there for a while he asks 'what about my change?'

'Change comes from with in', says the vendor.



BWAhahahahahah!!!!!


Yea yea... you've heard that one too eh?


Sorry couldn't resists this generalization.... but it makes a fine joke.

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The Rev

I went to a Dharma talk tonight at the Riverside Ch'an Meditation Group, and I really enjoyed the whole experience. The subject of the talk was suffering, which is a key subject of Buddhism (in fact, the First Noble Truth is that suffering exists), and it was laid back and interesting. We didn't have time to meditate, because the talk went long, but I did get a chance to talk to a number of the people there and I really like the group.

It's really cool to be able to share my spiritual path with others. I was pretty lonely before, in that area, so it means a lot.



The Rev

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Terry

Cool Rev!

Remember to avoid self immolation, nothing is worth getting yourself all hot over!

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There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them.

-Sylvia Plath

The Rev

That guy was Theravada. This group is Ch'an. No worries.



The Rev

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Mescalito

Good luck Rev.. but what is it.. or is there anything in particular that makes you want to be an 'official' Buddhist?

M

SageTree

Thich Quang Duc was of the Mahayana Buddhist from anything I've ever read.

And since he died paying homage to a celestial Buddha, Amitabha Buddha (The Buddha of Infinite Light), I'd tend to say he was Mahayana for sure.

Not sure how wide spread Pure Land Buddhism is in Vietnam, which Amitabha Buddha is the principle Buddha, as this Buddha is also recognized and revered in other Mahayana and Vajrayana schools.

All that said, I highly doubt that a Theravada monk would engage in homage to a Buddha that is only mentioned in the Mahayana canon of sutras.

Not sure if he was Thien (Zen/Chan) though either.
Vietnamese Buddhism was highly influenced by the Chinese, where Pure Land and Chan both exist.


$.02





In other news:

Did anything explanation in the Dharma talk grab your ear?

A teacher I had joked that there are basically only a handful of talks/topics, and they are just mixed, mingled and retold, which I think it a good thing. Often the most simple things are the hardest to 'get', so hearing them over and over in different ways and manners helps a lot.
Another good thing is, that is you're doing readings on your own, whatever the teacher talks about is bound to over lap with what you're reading.
Buddhist teachings all seem to encapsulate the 'whole' or reflect light into Indra's net, where one light beam illuminates all the rest.


(If you click on the monk in my signature there is a whole site of Dharma talks, if you have some time on your hands)

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