Practicing Buddhists...What is your favorite teaching in Buddhism?

Question

What's with the long hospital answer?

Answer 1

Nothing is lost in the universe

The first truth is that nothing is lost in the universe. Matter turns into energy, energy turns into matter. A dead leaf turns into soil. A seed sprouts and becomes a new plant. Old solar systems disintegrate and turn into cosmic rays. We are born of our parents, our children are born of us.

We are the same as plants, as trees, as other people, as the rain that falls. We consist of that which is around us, we are the same as everything. If we destroy something around us, we destroy ourselves. If we cheat another, we cheat ourselves. Understanding this truth, the Buddha and his disciples never killed any animal.

2. Everything Changes

The second universal truth of the Buddha is that everything is continuously changing. Life is like a river flowing on and on, ever-changing. Sometimes it flows slowly and sometimes swiftly. It is smooth and gentle in some places, but later on snags and rocks crop up out of nowhere. As soon as we think we are safe, something unexpected happens.

Once dinosaurs, mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers roamed this earth. They all died out, yet this was not the end of life. Other life forms like smaller mammals appeared, and eventually humans, too. Now we can even see the Earth from space and understand the changes that have taken place on this planet. Our ideas about life also change. People once believed that the world was flat, but now we know that it is round.

3. Law of Cause and Effect

The third universal truth explained by the Buddha is that there is continuous changes due to the law of cause and effect. This is the same law of cause and effect found in every modern science textbook. In this way, science and Buddhism are alike.

The law of cause and effect is known as karma. Nothing ever happens to us unless we deserves it. We receive exactly what we earn, whether it is good or bad. We are the way we are now due to the things we have done in the past. Our thoughts and actions determine the kind of life we can have. If we do good things, in the future good things will happen to us. If we do bad things, in the future bad things will happen to us. Every moment we create new karma by what we say, do, and think. If we understand this, we do not need to fear karma. It becomes our friend. It teaches us to create a bright future.
The Buddha said,

"The kind of seed sown
will produce that kind of fruit.
Those who do good will reap good results.
Those who do evil will reap evil results.
If you carefully plant a good seed,
You will joyfully gather good fruit."
Dhammapada

Answer 2

The ancients often taught of the way to reach attainment through a vase analogy. A conceited cultivator is like a vase filled to the rim with stagnant water, unable to receive a drop of the true teachings. A cultivator who still holds his own stubborn viewpoints is like an unwashed vase, any true teachings given to him would instantly be defiled. A cultivator who accepts teachings but doesnt put them into practice is like a vase with a hole in the bottom, everything it receives just leaks right back out again. We should accept the teachings with a pure and humble heart and truly put it into practice. Only through this way are we really worth the teachings we hold.
Our hearts must be still like water in a pond, only then can we reflect the teachings properly. The Buddha is constantly teaching, we cannot hear it because our mind is not still. We should soothe our mind by clearing it of scattered thoughts.
Love can turn into hate. You may dislike something you liked yesterday. We should see things with eyes of equality and not let emotions control our lives.

Answer 3

you should have all started 4 years in the past :) in case you ought to coach yet another man or woman only a short verse from Sutra, it is already considered education Buddhism. you do not might want to restriction the idea of education to a customary instructor as against mass scholars definition. each Buddhists must be a lamp himself, and eliminate darkness from the lamp(s) of others, by using only education them only a short verse in accordance to superb Buddhism education. the international may be "brighter" with the spread of Buddhism expertise.

Answer 4

As far as specific texts, my favorite is the Verses on the Faith Mind, written by the 3rd Zen Ancestor

Answer 5

Can you believe your first answer!!!! What is all that! Anyway, my favourite is not to kill any living creature, which I try not to do, and compassion for all living beings.There is so much cruelty, and the only thing that makes any sense, is what goes around, comes around. Lets hope so.

Answer 6

I am not, but I like the teaching that says all sorrows are due to over ambition(avarice)..

Answer 7

less...less...less