For Budding Buddhists...not to shove it down your throat!

[newbgrow]

I'll have to disagree with you BOG. Truth is not just truth. In fact, there is no truth. "Truth" encompasses false as well as the true. It's everything we imagine it to be, and at the same time its not. Sounds pretentious doesnt it? But can anyone actual tell me what this philosophical "truth" you speak of actually is?

The way I see it, everyone already sees the light. There is no light besides that - the switch is already on. But if you look too hard at the light you'll go blind, and find darkness instead. For example:

Everyone who has ever questioned the existence of god will run in many circles. However, does ANY religion ever tell you to question the existence of god? No, whether you're a christian, jew muslim, or buddhist, God is god (gods are gods) and you just believe in him, no questions. It's in the text, along with nam myoho renge kyo. Isn't it a contradiction, believing so vehemently in nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but questioning a different part of the religion, or questioning "god"?

This is part of the realization in "enlightenment", I Believe, that you, and I, already know the truth - and it's as simple as "it doesnt exist". Not the answer you're looking for surely, but thats the truth, it's there, you're staring at it, and in fact you've known it your whole life, but thats it! No deeper meaning behind it! That's life, there is no "meaning of life" besides itself. Just like 1+1 = 2, for no other reason than it is.

Anyway thanks for reading my rant. Just my 2 cents. I believe that as long as someone is digging as hard as he can for the "truth" he probably wont realize "enlightenment" or the meaning of nam-ryoho-renge-kyo anytime soon...

Edit: I dont really believe in Karma. To me, Karma is just a vehicle to get you to do good things and not regret it, should there be a unwelcome outcome. But thats not to say "karma" isnt a bad thing! It is an unsaid fact, that if you continue to think positive and do good things, you will be happier in the end - and that has nothing to do with karma or "people returning favors". It just puts you in different mood or "light" regardless of what the outcome. If you read any self-help books, they tell you to think positive and take responsibility for your actions. This is what karma, IMO, helps you achieve, although with a rather pretentious reasoning behind it.

Karma is like God, or Truth, believing it will help you, but it doesnt necessarily mean it exists.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

OUTSTANDING POST BABBABUD! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THAT!

 

[BushyOldGrower]

Well Said Babba.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is the truth. BOG

 

[resinryder]

Very well put Babba. Even my simple mind can wrap around that explaination.lol

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo!! Like the roar of the lion

 

[Guest]

Well said indeed Babba... A mantra is a vibration, very profound thought when one considers the universe from the Physicist perspective, in particular super string theory... String theorists' model of the universe is one composed entirely of subatomic strings, whose manifestation depends on its particular vibration....

 

[guineapig]

its difficult to think of yourself as both a particle and a wave simultaneously.....
just like its difficult to think of humans as a single species and an evolutionary wave of primates simultaneously.....
but sometimes contradictions have to be unified somehow.....the light and the dark....

hey there's an article on Buddhism in the new "National Geographic" (not to be confused with our favorite magazine "International Cannagraphic"....hehehhehe)

anyway the NG piece mentions a sect called the "Jodo Shu Pure Land Sect" and the saving grace of something called "Amida".....i had never heard of any of this stuff so i wonder if y'all chanting growers might help out an inquiring mind.....even if that mind is trapped in the body of a guineapig......

should we like this thread back to the "Chanting Growers Thread" somehow? -gp out

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Pure Land school

[浄土門・浄土教・浄土宗] (Jpn Jodo-mon, Jodokyo, or Jodo-shu): Also, Pure Land (Chin Ching-t'u; Jpn Jodo) teachings. A general term for the Buddhist denominations of the Pure Land teachings in China and Japan. The Pure Land school teaches the attainment of rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha by means of devotion to Amida Buddha, especially, the recitation of Amida's name. The Buddha Infinite Life Sutra, the Meditation on the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra, and the Amida Sutra are known as the three Pure Land sutras.

(a) China: The Pai-lien-she (White Lotus Society), a religious group dedicated to Amida worship, was founded in 402 by Hui-yüan. This is said to have been the origin of Pure Land practices in China. In the early sixth century, T'an-luan received the Meditation on the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra from Bodhiruchi and thereafter propagated faith in Amida Buddha, asserting that one could be reborn in the Pure Land through Amida's grace. During the seventh century, T'an-luan's teaching was systematized by Tao-ch'o and his disciple Shan-tao.

(b) Japan: The Pure Land teachings including the Nembutsu, or meditation on Amida Buddha, were first adopted by the Tendai school when in 848 Jikaku, who was later the third chief priest of Enryaku-ji, the school's head temple, established a hall for constant active meditation (a form of walking meditation) on Mount Hiei and there practiced meditation on Amida Buddha. Ryogen (912-985), the eighteenth chief priest of Enryaku-ji, was probably the first to try systematizing the Pure Land doctrines. His disciple Genshin wrote The Essentials of Rebirth in the Pure Land, in which he systematized the teachings of meditation on Amida Buddha within the framework of Tendai doctrines. Later Yokan (1033-1111) of the Three Treatises (Sanron) school practiced the recitation of Amida's name. Honen (1133-1212), who was inspired by the works of Shan-tao of China and the Tendai priest Genshin of Japan, established the Pure Land school. He wrote The Nembutsu Chosen above All, in which he defined the sole cause of rebirth in the Pure Land to be the practice of calling upon the name of Amida Buddha. After his death, the school split into five schools: Chinzei, Seizan, Choraku-ji, Kuhon-ji, and a group centering around Honen's disciple Kosai. In addition to these schools, Shinran (1173-1262), who was a disciple of Honen, founded the True Pure Land (Jodo Shin) school. Ippen (1239-1289), who studied under Shotatsu, Honen's second-generation disciple, founded a school of the Pure Land teachings known as the Time (Ji) school. Besides these schools, there exists the Interfusing Nembutsu (YuzuNembutsu) school founded on the teachings of Ryonin (1073-1132), which saw a revival during the Edo period (1600-1867). In Japan, the Pure Land school is also known as the Nembutsu school. "Nembutsu" refers to the invocation of Amida's name-the words Namu Amida Butsu ("Homage to Amida Buddha")- chanted by the school's adherents.

[浄土宗] (Jpn Jodo-shu): The Japanese Buddhist school established by Honen (1133-1212). Its head temple is Chion-in in Kyoto. The school's principal doctrine is that its followers revere Amida Buddha, believe in his original vow, and invoke Amida Buddha's name in order to be reborn in his Pure Land. In 1198 Honen wrote The Nembutsu Chosen above All, in which he defined the sole cause for attaining rebirth in Amida Buddha's Pure Land to be the practice of invoking that Buddha's name. Honen revered the patriarchs of the Chinese Pure Land school- T'an-luan, Tao-ch'o, and Shan-tao-and followed their example in dividing Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings into two categories, the Pure Land teachings (the three Pure Land sutras-the Buddha Infinite Life, Meditation on the Buddha Infinite Life, and Amida sutras) and the Sacred Way teachings (all other sutras). The Pure Land teachings are defined as the easy-to-practice way, or salvation through Amida's power, and the Sacred Way teachings as the difficult-to-practice way, or attaining enlightenment through personal power. The Pure Land school holds that the easy-to-practice way is the one way appropriate for the people of the Latter Day of the Law who are inferior in their capacity to understand Buddhism. Again, the practice of the Pure Land teachings is regarded as the correct practice, and that of the other teachings as sundry practices. Honen identified as the principal texts of his school the above three sutras and The Treatise on the Pure Land (also known as The Treatise on Rebirth in the Pure Land) by Vasubandhu. Honen's teaching quickly spread throughout Japan, but was banned in 1207 when the influential Enryakuji temple on Mount Hiei and Kofuku-ji temple in Nara protested strongly, and Honen was exiled to Tosa. His disciple, Shinran, later established the True Pure Land (Jodo Shin) school.

Amida (Jpn)
[阿弥陀] (Skt.: Amitayus or Amitabha)

The Buddha of the Pure Land of Perfect Bliss in the west. Amida is the Japanese transliteration of the first half of both Amitayus and Amitabha, names referring to the same Buddha that appear in Sanskrit texts and are rendered in Chinese as the Buddha Infinite Life (or the Buddha of Infinite Life) and the Buddha Infinite Light (or the Buddha of Infinite Light) respectively. The Sanskrit word amita means infinite. Amitayus is a compound of this word with ayus, which means life, and Amitabha with abha, which means light. According to the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra, immeasurable kalpas ago, a certain king, delighted with the preaching of a Buddha named World Freedom King (Skt Lokeshvararaja), renounced the throne to follow him. He took the name Dharma Treasury (Dharmakara) and began to practice bodhisattva austerities under the guidance of the Buddha. After examining an infinite number of Buddha lands and pondering for five kalpas, the bodhisattva Dharma Treasury made forty-eight vows in which he pledged to create his own Buddha land upon attaining enlightenment, a land that would combine the most outstanding features of all those he had examined. In the eighteenth vow, he pledged to bring all sentient beings who placed their hopes of salvation with him (Shan-tao, a patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land school, interpreted this to mean calling upon the name of Amida Buddha) to this Buddha land, which he named Perfect Bliss (Sukhavati), except those who had committed the five cardinal sins and those who had slandered the correct teaching. Dharma Treasury completed his practice and became the Buddha Amida. His pure land was established in a part of the universe located "a hundred thousand million Buddha lands to the west" of this saha world. Belief in Amida Buddha spread from India to China. After its introduction to Japan, Honen (1133-1212) was responsible for popularizing it there and establishing the Pure Land (Jodo) school.

Nembutsu (Jpn)
[念仏]

To meditate on a Buddha. Later interpreted as invoking or reciting a Buddha's name, especially that of the Buddha Amida. Contemplation on Shakyamuni Buddha was an important practice in early Buddhism. Later Mahayana sutras came to describe various Buddhas, and people's desire to see them led to the development of meditation aimed at envisioning these Buddhas. The idea also developed that meditation on a specific Buddha would enable one to be reborn in that Buddha's land. Eventually the Buddha Amida came to be the most popular object of such meditation. The Meditation on the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra states that even an evil person can attain rebirth in Amida Buddha's Pure Land by reciting the Buddha's name on his or her deathbed. Thus, Nembutsu primarily concerns Amida Buddha. The practice of the Nembutsu is believed by its practitioners to lead to rebirth in Amida Buddha's land, or the Pure Land of Perfect Bliss. While it initially meant meditation on Amida, it later came to mean the recitation of Amida's name. In China, from the time of Shan-tao in the seventh century, the latter usage became more prevalent, for he equated meditation on Amida with the recitation of his name. In Japan, Honen (1133-1212) followed the example of Shan-tao and went further to establish the practice of reciting the name of Amida Buddha as the only means for attaining rebirth in the Pure Land of Perfect Bliss.

The Nembutsu school, another name of the Pure Land school in general. A Pure Land believer is also called a Nembutsu believer.

See also: Pure Land school; Nembutsu school
From source: The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism

 

[PassTheDoobie]

as a matter of clarity, pertaining to gp's question:

as a matter of clarity, pertaining to gp's question:

No link necessary. Just to make it clear, the Nembutsu/Pure Land school is completely at odds with the Buddhsim of Nichiren Daishonin. The Chanting Growers thread just finished the Daishonin's gosho, "The Opening of the Eyes" which specifically addresses the errors of the teachings of the Nembutsu/Pure Land school as well as the Zen school and other schools of Esoteric Buddhsim. For clarity: THEY ARE NOT IN ANY WAY THE SAME.

 

[OXOSSI]

Vibration...people r slowy getting it The whole world resonates, so do our brains. Alpha, beta, gamma waves. When we r nervous, beta waves predominate; REM sleep-alpha, deep sleep/meditation-I think gamma (the slowest). Depending on the wavelengths our bodies produce appropriate hormones-stress or beneficial. Chanting/praying brings about spiritual energies. This is true for almost every culture in the world. Africans summon their gods thru rhytm and song. Every energy has a particular one.
If the drums are good, some saints cannot resist "coming down" to dance a bit. Chanting "Oooohm" activates your highest chakra, while "Raaam" acts on a lower one. Chanting words in a specific order (mantra) brings about a certain energy/feeling and karma.
Experiments were done where brainwaves were compared in normal people and budhist monks. The latter, besides other things, had more synchronized oscillation of both hemisferes.