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No, not really.
You're missing the whole point, it's not to achieve anything.
Exactly the point.
It's not about the destination, but about the journey.
I believe many, many people have reached Nibbana (Nirvana) ... we just don't know who they are. It's not like they are reported on the 6 o'clock evening news.
I am not officially a Buddhist, but I am very interested in it.
First, years ago for fun, I did the BeliefoMatic survey and I have repeated it every few months since, now I know it is mostly for fun but I always come up 100% mahayana Buddhist and Theradeva is always a close second but sometimes tied at 100% as well....interesting.
Simnce I have moved to a new city, looking for things to do and ways to meet people I have been starting to explore some of the local Buddhist gatherings.
I am a non-theist (some say atheist) SO Buddhism fits in to my philosophy as it does not require (Force) belief in a creator.
I have understood for years the power of the healing aspect of meditation, and I cannot stress enough how much I an others have benefited from this.
In contemporary therapy, there are many schools of thought which borrow heavily from zen concepts. So much that I wonder at times if Zen would not be the panacea for all mankind's somatic ailments? I have encouraged clients to try it and the few that were open to it report good results in their lives. So why not?
Which is what I say about Buddhism.....why not?
Ex-Theraveda Buddhist heavily influenced at the time by the Advaita Vedanta Hinduism of Shankaracharya. Developed meditation practice without the mumbo jumbo of any of the schools. Achieved my major breakthrough through disciplined development of bio-feedback to reach deeper mental states while under conscious control. My epiphany occurred after 18+ years of practice and it completely changed my atheistic perspective. I am now an unconventional Christian.
I would be a Buddhist if it wasn't that the first of the Four Noble Truths in this religion is a blatant lie.
To those who do know about the Four Noble Truths, the First Noble Truth is DUKKHA.
Dukkha - that life is unsatisfactory, imperfect, not totally or completely comfortable. Some have mistranslated Dukkha as "suffering" but that English word is not a good explanation of what it means. Dukkha implies 'wishing' or 'craving' or 'yearning'. The Third Noble Truth states that we have it in our power to overcome Dukkha.
Hmmmmm. Why have I not seen this forum before in Religion and Philosophy?...and here I thought I was aging with some grace.
In any case, responding to the OP of years ago: I have been seriously interested in Buddhism since the late 1980's. It was when I read Wapola Rahula's book that I felt - "Yes, this makes sense. This is it." At that time there were Vajrayana centers in the East Village (talking NYC) and a Korean Zen center nearer me. I did have a friend who was very involved with Tibetan Buddhism and I attended some meetings with him and visited a monastery a couple of times. However, I felt no resonance with the tradition, and I began attending the Zen center for its convenience to where I lived. After belonging to it for perhaps a couple of years, I came to the recognition that the simpler Theravadan/Nikaya orientation that had attracted me in the first place was where I belonged.
Where I live now there is only one English-speaking Buddhist, an English accupuncturist who studied in China for many years, and I occasionally see a notice for retreats in Portuguese.
My practice, i.e. speaking only in the sense of ritual or routine, is simple. I get up at 6 a.m. meditate for half an hour or forty minutes, and recite some short excerpts from the Nikayas....perhaps most import, the Five Remembrances. I usually meditate for a shorter period around 6 p.m. and recite the Metta Sutta and a couple of other short recitations.
As I am seventy-three and retired in a foreign country, nature and the course of living have made Dhamma easier to see in daily life and reflect on than when I was younger.
Before I go to bed I do a somewhat (culturally) contradictory thing. I pay back a "debt" I feel to Shinshu (Pure Land Buddhism) with a few very short recitations of Ippen and Kuya and reciting the nembutsu with a mala. Though I have no belief in the historicity of Dharmakara or Amida Buddha, I did use the namu-amida-buddha recitation and the mala as a desperate stabilizing measure during a very, very stressful time - simply because they were simple and would occupy my mind and body quickly at the same time and in any place. I came out of the tunnel eventually, and feel I owe a very great debt to that practice. Thus, regardless of my level of belief/non-belief in the Shinshu tradition, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for this part of their practice, and this is my way of giving it back.
Sad that he treats nature better than people.
Cause he screams at me.
He just looses his composure around me.
But he is lonely...
Maybe you should try saying, "Thank you, son, for that good karma," when he screams at you.
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