Calling all Buddhist

[FarmerJoe]

I know a good percentage of ICMag must follow the noble path =]

For me it just kind of all fit together one day, I went to find out what Buddhism was and found that my personal beliefs shared a lot with the teachings of the Enlightened One. Through further study and research, I really gained a better grasp of the true nature of our being, not that I have it all figured out, just what I have figured out is solid as stone =P

So please, share your story, your beliefs, your words.

I started this thread to listen to others, I've already said enough about me

 

[Guest]

I too found a number of years ago that Buddhism had many similarities to my personal beliefs. Buddhist teachings have influenced my life heavily, just as every experience I've had in my life up until this moment in time. I highly suggest people read up on it, and other religons, if for nothing else but to have a glimpse into the minds of others so it may add to theirs.

Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo

 

[lc00p4]

i feel like i'm more of a mahayana buddhist. the dalai lama is such a great person and his collaborations with scientists have made the world a better place. even psychologists find that buddhism deals a lot of psychology and the whole consciousness thing. i'm not sure that i could ever become enlightened because i like weed too much . reincarnation has been something i'm not sure about, but i understand it a little more. i've heard an analogy describing consciousness as a continuously flowing river and it keeps being added to/taken at all times. pretty deep stuff.

 

[Pirate138]

i lean slightly more towards Zen, though they are intertwined. any other Alan Watt fans?

 

[Sammet]

the dalai lama is such a great person and his collaborations with scientists have made the world a better place. even psychologists find that buddhism deals a lot of psychology and the whole consciousness thing

Totally agree. I'm not a buddhist but I have started learning more about it and the whole philosphy really fascinates me. I currently practise vipassana and find it of great help.

 

[marx2k]

I try to live a modest Buddhist lifestyle. The philosophy keeps me grounded and the religion keeps me on the righteous path. I take from both Mahayana and Zen Buddhism . It would seem that the former is the religious aspect of it and the latter is the philosophical. I need to get into meditation though.

 

[Babbabud]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Hello buddhist friends. Just thought I would let you know that their is a buddhist thread in the Growers Forum. Our buddhist thread is the study of Nichiren Buddhism and all that would like to join in the discussion are welcome.
"The Chanting Growers Thread" is perhaps the longest running thread on ICmag and one of the largest. We would enjoy your participation and hope that many of you will stop by and read what we have been discussing here for the last 4 years. Hope to see you soon
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Like the Roar of the Lion !!

 

[FarmerJoe]

Marx, I do need to start practicing more meditation as well, I lean more towards Zen, but I really need to open my spiritual side up.

Babba, thanks for the heads, I will most certainly check it out.

May we all stay focused on what is true =]

 

[fr33th3w33d]

any other Alan Watt fans

i read "buddhism, the religion of no religion" and i liked it alot. personally i don't believe in religion, and alot of the mysticism and superstitions that go with them like confession and praying. even buddhism has alot of fluff in it, as would anything after 1500 years, but its core concepts are what drew me in. i like the concept of indra's net. but either way i consider buddhism to be more philosophical than anything.

 

[lc00p4]

the thing i like most about buddhism is that there is no black and white. the thing that turns me off about christianity is that there is so much negativity around it. when was the last time there was an all out buddhist war? what about christian priests preying on little children and having their ways with them through the church? i'm not trying to say christianity is evil because it teaches a lot of life lessons and morals. also imo, most christians do not adhere to their morals and guidelines because they can sin all they want and be forgiven the following day.

 

[Guest]

most christians do not adhere to their morals and guidelines because they can sin all they want and be forgiven the following day.

seriously, most people that consider themselves christian or catholic are a joke to me. Most of them do all kinds of shit that they know is a sin and they don't give a ****. If i truly believed in the bible i sure as hell would be a goody two-shoes, never sin or do anything wrong, you know, basically i's act like one of those crazy born-agains. so as annoying and often stupid as they are, i think they deserve a lot more respect than the hypocritical people that call themselves christians but don't seem to follow the bible at all

i think religion is dumb though

 

[NOKUY]

im fairly fam. w/ buddhism.

i dont agree w/ most religions, and the problem i have w/ buddhism is reincarnation (i dont ever wanna come back to this shithole)

tho somehow buddhism make the most sense to me.

I leave everyone and everything alone....just how i want to be "left alone"....i dont know where that falls into this buddhist thing , but thats my thoughts.

 

[Pops]

I tend to follow my own religion. I raise a group of tender,young virgins in a brightly lit room. When I think that they are "ripe", I chop them down at the ankles and hang them upside-down in a closet until they are dried out hags. I then chop off their tender buds and sacrifice them on the Alter of Pleasure, with the Flaming Sword of Bic. Works for me! If being Buddhist works for you, more power to you.

 

[Guest]

i am the newest buddhist

i am the newest buddhist

farmer joe - great thread. this is exactly what i am growing through right now. actually because of icmag (thank you icmag!). i kept seeing nam-myoho-renge-kyo on peoples signatures and i had to find out the meaning. so i researched and came up with nichiren buddhism. then i researched some more and was overcome by joy when i learned a lot of my personal beliefs were in sync with nichiren buddism. i realized that nichiren buddhism is exactly what i had been looking for without really knowing that i was looking for it for such a long time. i have ordered the writings of nichiren and a translation of the lotus sutra for study. i am also looking into joining the NBAA and waiting to hear back from them. they really represent the exact type of buddhism that i want to practice which shares alot in common with my previous/prior life philoshophy.

babbabud - yeah the chanting growers thread is great and huge. i started reading and gave up at page 8 and skipped to the end. i am just starting out, so i was trying to get my act toghether before i made an appearence in that thread.

namu-myoho-renge-kyo
namu-myoho-renge-kyo
namu-myoho-renge-kyo
namu-myoho-renge-kyo

tracy

 

[Babbabud]

Heya JMF so happy to hear you are chanting Havent ever really heard of the NBAA before. I assume its the National Buddhist Assosiation of America Chapter ? I checked it. Have you checked out the Soka Gakkai site ?? http://www.sgi-usa.org/
Have any questions feel free to drop by the chanting growers thread and ask. But most of all just keep on chanting
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[marx2k]

im fairly fam. w/ buddhism.

i dont agree w/ most religions, and the problem i have w/ buddhism is reincarnation (i dont ever wanna come back to this shithole)

tho somehow buddhism make the most sense to me.

I leave everyone and everything alone....just how i want to be "left alone"....i dont know where that falls into this buddhist thing , but thats my thoughts.

Thanks to buddhism, this is no longer a shithole since I don't see it as one anymore. Thefore, it ceases to be one

 

[lc00p4]

yukon ~ reincarnation is a tricky subject. think about it like this. the more good karma you have when you die will determine what will happen in your next life. whether you believe it or not, consciousness isn't really something that belongs to us, but it is there. let's say that you die with a lot of bad karma on your hands; you may have to go through many lifetimes worth of suffering such as being at the bottom of the food chain for a while just to be reincarnated as a human again to suffer more. remember the flowing river analogy? makes damn sense don't it? the biggest misconception is that you can become whatever you want or be reincarnated as a human back to back. there are a few out there who recall past lives and historical records verify the people who they said they used to be. the only thing i do not get is how they can remember.

 

[FarmerJoe]

Buddhism, much like psychedelics, allow me to slice through the day to day bullshit, look past the facades we put up, and the lies we tell ourselves just so we can go to sleep at night.

When one is truly at peace with their own body and mind, you can subjectively experience life and realize what matters. I don't try and push it on anyone, but I truly believe Buddhism gets closer to the true nature of mankind and our universe than any religion can.

 

[marx2k]

Thats ine important distinction with Buddhism.. you won't get people trying to push it on you.

Buddhism certainly does allow you to cut right to the heart of the matter, across all the crap thats been put in front of your eyes to mislead and confuse you. Zen buddhism is REALLY good at that and zen meditation is where it's at for letting nonessential stuff fall away.

What I also like is that most books on Buddhism (unless theyre text books) are life anecdotes with a lesson in Buddhism. For a first time I would recommend reading Siddhartha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhartha_(book)

 

[FarmerJoe]

Indeed, I look at like this:

Buddhism is a discipline you must master within yourself , while religion just serves you the answers and tells how things are