Buddhists are you out there?

Question

Hi to all buddhists who are reading this.
I have been a buddhist practicioner for just over 2yrs
But have never joined a group or school and although I don't know any buddhists personally I'm self taught from books,dvds etc.
I geniunely wish to invite any genuine buddhists as friends as to learn from real people and forge genuine friendships.

Best wishes.

Answer 1

As you may already be aware that there are different schools of Buddhist thinking, yet they all follow the basic principles of what Gautama Siddhartha taught 2500 years ago.
They only differ in how they practise meditation, and whether a person can find enlightenment in one life time or many life times.
Although I follow all Buddhist principles, I personally find Zen Buddhism more open to western thought such as Psychoanalyse.
Why not get in touch with the Buddhist society and see where your nearest Buddhist group reside.
At first it does not matter what form of Buddhist group it is as you will be feeling your way, in time you may prefer one discipline over another.
The basis of all Buddhism but especially Zen is Meditation.
You can Meditate on your own or amongst a sangha, whatever makes your Meditation more successful.
The Sangha of course can give you friendly support and can make you feel that you have a spiritual family so to speak.
Have you thought of going on Yahoo 360 blog site, there are some genuine Buddhist who are very helpful and can point you in the right direction if need be.
All in all I wish you all the success in your spiritual quest .

Answer 2

I have been a practicing Buddhist for many years and I have to say that I admire the amount of effort that you put into this, as well as the intelligent answers you have placed here. Normally when my faith is criticized, it is by uneducated people who just want to attack for the purpose of attacking so I appreciate your approach. In addition to that, I can say that I agree with a lot of your points - however, this does not rattle my faith at all. I could write for hours on how I agree with your points and add my own faith into that but I will try to keep it simple for the purpose of this posting. Although, I would certainly not disagree to a future conversation about this if you are interested. Buddha said: "Believe nothing, whether you hear it from Me or anyone else unless you know it to be true." My perception of this statement is what keeps my faith in spite of all the difficulties and human error that have encircled the faith. I know that a lot of things contradict each other and the reason is obvious - If you take a faith and spread it around to different cultures it will develop into something that closely resembles the culture that has taken it. Even I am guilty of this but I feel that it is necessary for my basic understanding. You can't change what we are and what we are is human. Human's seem to have an innate need for a "god" figure and even though it is against the Buddha's ideals, he has become a "god" in a sense. Still, I refute this belief as an educated person does the best they can to do what is right and that is the basic principal of faith in general. If we split straws on what people have done, the good in Buddha's words may never inspire people. Inspiration is the key but still human error has warped a lot of things. This is true in every faith, Judaism, Taoism, Hindu, Christianity and Islam. I think the great Messiah's, Profits, and "gods" are more interested in making our hearts pure and being good but I understand the difficulties of blind faith and thoughts of Nihilism. So, I will end my debate with a quote from the Dali Lama, he said that the faith is good but it is not for everyone. You should be true to you and if that means being other than Buddhism, please do that because the point is to find your happiness.

Answer 3

Hi Zenlife. Rather like Joe, I used to call myself a Buddhist but I took the advice to 'cross the bridge and build no houses upon it' and moved on.

At the time I found the writings of the 'Teacher at Plum Village' very helpful. I also used to attend meetings of the Order of Interbeing.

Another person whose writings I found inspiring is Charlotte Joko Beck.

But in the end I 'rediscovered' the links between Daoism and Chán. While I did find practicing with others good at the time, I don't do this now. I try (unsuccessfully, of course) to just live the life.

I do accept emails if it interests you to contact me. But either way, here is a bow for you and best wishes for your journey.
.

Answer 4

Yes, there are some Buddhists on this site.
It is very helpful to have friends. Even more so to have a teacher.
I would very strongly reccommend that you visit a monastery and talk to the monks there about your practice.
Do you live in the UK?
If you do, I personally know of two places you might like to contact.
There is a Theravada centre at Chithurst in Sussex
www.forestsangha.org
And a Zen community in Northumberland
www.throssel.org
Pursuing a solitary path is just about possible but it's much easier with a community and a teacher behind you.
In Gassho.
Jon C

Answer 5

Good to hear from you. I pursue simplicity in everything. Even my beliefs. I don't label things with names in addition to what they are already. Everything has an essential nature that does not need language hung on it as well. Nothing else is a tree. Like that. I know a young woman who is a Buddhist and she elected to guard and care for an elderly person and has gone out of her way to assure that his life in his later years will be as good as possible under the circumstances. She has chosen to do this because she told me it is in line with her beliefs as a Buddhist. I was so pleased she chose to keep an eye on him. His life has become better because of it. I send you good energies and thank you for posting your question. Although I am not a Buddhist, in Buddhist simplicity I return your best wishes from South Portland, Maine, U.S.A. and hope you have a valuable life. It is my good pleasure to have been able to speak with you. Best to you always, from Chris.

Answer 6

Hi, I practiced Zen ,buddhism too,I have heard they have a lot of church in china town San Francisco Ca. They have also in Reno.NV people meet twice a month for meditations,mostly americans. Peace..

Answer 7

I used to practice Zen buddhism way back in the 70s, now i tend to embrace parts of different religions and feel it works on my path.

Answer 8

But Buddhists aren't supposed to want, therefor you are breaking one of the rules of your sacred Eightfold Path... yeah right you are a Buddhist... And if you are, why would you be on a computer?

Answer 9

The real buddhists drink Bud

Answer 10

When the Buddha announced his impending exit from the sphere of mortality, his dear disciple Ananda burst into tears. “Lord, you have been the polestar of our spiritual path so far. Whom should we contact for guidance and higher instructions when you will not be there in the land of the living?” he asked.

The Buddha replied: Atmadeepo bhava - Be light unto yourself.

Your wavering, questioning self must be silenced at the still point of concentrated consciousness. Amidst the darkness of worldly delusion only the emanation of radiance from within - like the full moon - can bring enlightenment. Guru Purnima symbolises emanation of inner illumination, the awakening of the sleeping Buddha within.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advised his dear disciple Arjuna: “Lift yourself up with the help of your self ”. You are your best friend, philosopher and guide, at the same time you can be your worst enemy as well. Arjuna was never advised to seek refuge in a guru. Rather, he was advised to rise above all religious rituals and seek refuge in Him, the embodiment of eternal Being, the pure Consciousness, and real Self behind the apparent ripples of delusion.

The concept of seeking the light within is perfectly in tune with scientific spirituality. Whenever we sincerely seek intuitive guidance from within we create a magnetic pool to attract the requisite energy vibrations of infinite potentiality hidden within us. Each soul is potentially divine and we need to awaken this divinity through concentrated efforts and continuous aspiration. This is spirituality. No one else can make us gain the same; we need to source it from inside.

In the Mahabharata, when Dronacharya refused to accept Eklavya as his disciple, the boy made an image of Dronacharya and started practising archery in front of the image. Consequently, he mastered the art of archery as good as Arjuna who was the best direct disciple of Dronacharya, through assiduous practice and intuitive skills. The secret lies in intense aspiration leading to requisite release of the potential hidden within through the psychology of faith in a guru despite the physical absence of the guru in the learning process.

Aurobindo had an experience in cosmic consciousness due to his intense aspiration and soul searching. He never had a guru. Although he received instructions on yoga from Bhaskar Lele, he never accepted him as his guru and his teachings did not lead him to self-realisation.

A true guru can be instrumental in transformation of our ego into divine self and release of divine consciousness through the mechanism of faith. But the dogmatic claim of the essentiality of a guru in the spiritual path falls apart on closer scrutiny. The life of the Buddha, Christ, Ramakrishna, Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi and others bear ample testimony to the fact. Guru Purnima, therefore, is an occasion for awakening of our inner illumination in full beam for manifestation of the divinity already within us.