Buddhism-help!?

Question

i have recently discovered some buddhist principles that have got me curious and hungry for more info. i am finding this would be something i'd love to study. the problem is, i dont have time to be takin a college class on the generals of religion. i have gotten a few books on buddhism and meditation and yoga but would love an actual teacher. is there such a thing for the common student? also any books people have found personally helpful would be great! there are so many books written on this and topics like it, it gets a little overwhelming. any help or advice anybody can give would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

There certainly are teachers for people like you, but for specific help obviously we would need to know where you live. If you happen to be in NE Ohio, I may be able to help. In general, look for meditation center, Buddhist temple, or check local universities to see what classes are offered, then contact the professor. They can get you started on local options. I happen to be taking a graduate class in Eastern Philosophy this semester, so if you take a look at my Yahoo Answers over the past month you will see that I have been addressing assorted questions on Buddhism and Daoism. You are welcome to contact me by email, if you want.

Here are just a few general things to keep in mind. Buddhism has evolved into many different forms as it has spread to various parts of the world. Yoga is mostly an Indian tradition dating back to before Buddhism (although most aspects of Yoga can be found in most Buddhist traditions). One of the required books for my class is "Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das. The author studied many form of Buddhism, but is mostly grounded in the Indian/Tibetan traditions. It gives a good overview and offers practical meditation exercises, etc.

When the Chinese adopted Buddhism, they dropped a lot of the traditional Indian/Hindu-like metaphysics. And then the Japanese developed Zen Buddhism. But of course all versions of Buddhism have several core elements in common. One of the keys is to understand that Buddhism's core elements are compatible with almost any religion because the Buddha purposefully avoided religious metaphysics and avoid answering questions about the existence or nature of god. It is perfectly possible to be a Christian Buddhist or a Jewish Buddhist, etc. (Even a strict fundamentalist Christian could be a Buddhist, but by the very nature of fundamentalism they won't even seriously contemplate Buddhist teachings, so for practical purposes I suspect you will never find a fundamentalist Christian Buddhist..)

The main idea is that Buddha wanted to develop a practical guide to self understanding (actually, his goal was to eliminate suffering, and he believed that self-understanding was the key to this). But the irony of self-understanding is that once you really understand your self, you find that you don't have a self (at least not in any traditional sense that we normally think of). I wont' try to explain all of this here (I've addressed some of this in other answers), but I do want to emphasize one point that I think most people don't realize about Buddhism. If you are familiar with Christianity, you know that Jesus loved humanity so much that he died on the cross for our sins. He was completely selfless (which is to say, his love was not selfish or judgmental). He loved everyone equally, no matter how sinful they might be. The central point of Buddhism is that by discovering our true nature, we become selfless in this same way. In effect, the core of Buddhism is all about realizing, within our own earthly lives, what Christians refer to as "the love of Christ" or "God's love". Buddhist enlightenment is all about realizing that we, too, are "selfless" like Jesus in our true nature.

Now of course since Buddha lived 500 years before Jesus, he did not have Christ in mind when he developed his teachings, but the essential notion of selfless love is very similar. The main difference is that for Buddha, the idea of "selflessness" took on a very literal kind of meaning: "no self". The true nature of all things is emptiness, and this include the true nature of human beings. But people tend to wildly misunderstand what "emptiness" is. (It is also called "nothingness", "the Void", etc.) It is NOT a simple, absolute, nihilistic nothingness. The nothingness of Buddhism is more like the "empty space" of modern physics. In quantum theory, the "void" of empty space is actually a sea of "virtual particles" which are not quite "real" particles, but are not simply "nothing" in the traditional sense either. This is why you can find so many books written about the links between modern physics and Eastern traditions like Buddhism and Daoism. The authors of these books basically think that these similarities between ancient beliefs and modern physics are not purely coincidental. They argue that spiritual enlightenment and modern physical theory are merging on a common truth. In any case, my point is that most people radically misunderstand the notion of the Buddhist "void", so when the Buddha says we are all "empty" inside, he is not saying we are lonely, or whatever.

The Buddhists notion of "emptiness" is more like "pure potential" – "that out of which all determinate realties arise" – if you can figure out what that means. The Buddhist emptiness and "no-self" are thus very full, pregnant sorts of emptiness. This is how discovering our empty nature releases compassion – our natural capacity for selfless love. We realize in a full, immediate way that we are actually "One" with all beings even though each "individual being" is a unique, unrepeatable process. Even though I have never met you and I don't know anything about the specific details of your life, we nevertheless share a common root of Being. We are distinct bodily processes, but we are not distinct souls. We are One Being on a vast journey through ever-changing experiences. Once you truly understand this in the sense of enlightenment, you cannot help but love all beings selflessly. And this, according to Buddhism, is the end of suffering.

Answer 2

I have found Buddhism to be the most sensible, compassionate and practical spiritual path I have found.

A great beginning book on meditation is A Gradual Awakening by Stephen Levine. His writing is clear, concise, not too wordy, and rings with the truth of experience.
Another wonderful book to read is The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh. Another wonderful book by Thich is Living Buddha, Living Christ.

You may also want to approach it from a completely different standpoint and check out the books Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg. She uses her writing practice as Buddhist meditation. If you are at all interested in writing, these are definitely the books to read and use.

You may want to check and see if there is a Shambhala Center near you. This is a very practical approach to Zen Buddhist meditation, following the Tibetan tradition. (Tibet = Dalai Lama, etc)

Have fun! Breathe! Smile! Enjoy!

Answer 3

I started Buddhism by reading the Buddhist scripture, look out for parts which I do not agree with or understand and talk to some Monks.

They can explain it better and with great depth and most questions can be answered on the spot, while others can be researched. :D.

For Buddhism .... increase your wisdom by thinking rather then blind following.

(For Kerry K below .... obviously your friend either did not research enough or just trying to find words of Buddhism and insert it based on Christianity context, which explain the lack of link. There are in fact something regarding after death in Buddhism, you may want to research some more and it is not for me to say .....

BTW, I may not be as learned as your friend, but I had completed 3 versions of Bible (King James, New King James, New International Version), 2 versions of Qurans, Some Hinduism and quite a few books in Taoism)

Answer 4

What is a religion? If it is a belief system which includes one or more deities, then Buddhism isn't strictly a religion. Buddha is revered as a God in some branches of Buddhism, but as a teacher in others. The latter are philosophies not religions.

Answer 5

I wish you success in your quest for more information pertaining to the buddhadharma. You can buy any of thousands of books on the subject and they are inevitably going to lead to the need for more books. You could save yourself a lot of time and money by finding a true monk or nun, and develop a relationship with him or her. Until you settle on what you want to get a result, you should stick to Google before you start buying books. Or at least take them out of the library. I know of a highly esteemed and highly realized Tibetan monk and scholar who spent years and years under the watchful eyes of Chineses authorities who had only the prayers and practices he had memorized to sustain him. He has been approached by many people seeking to publish his story and teachings which he has adamently refused to do. He says over and over that there are plenty of books written by much more learned practitioners than himself, besides - what we really need, and what would please him most to see, is that people actually practice what they read in the books they do have. You would do well to check out Snow Lion publishers website. They are authentic and sincere publishers. Also, do not let anyone steer you away from your goal. You have to have a lot of courage to stick with your studies but be confident that the dharma, if approached with sincerity, does cause transformative experiences supportable with facts. I could go on and on but I have laundry to do.

Answer 6

I am Buddhist of the Theravada tradition. I find the following site to be especially helpful, I also find that slow and steady is the best advice. Trying to "take it all in at once" is too overwhelming.

http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/

I hope that this help you...

Peace from a Buddhist....

Answer 7

Have you tried http://www.buddhanet.net/ ?You can find many things in here. If you want to have a teacher(a monk or a lay person) you can also look in the directory and find a Buddhist centre in your local area.

If you want to learn online, you can go to forums and ask whatever questions you want answered or just to discuss. If you want to do this, you can either go to http://bswa.org/ or http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/ .

Hope that helps.

Answer 8

Try Enlightenment 101 by the wanderling on the web.

Answer 9

While it is your choice to follow Buddhism, it leads no where. While there are good points for living life, and for being at peace with your world and life, it leaves open the finality of death. All die, what then? I have a friend who was seeking for a link between Christianity and Buddhism many years ago. He never found one. If you would like to talk to him, for he is very advanced in knowledge of may things, his name is Carl Davis. If you want to contact him to ask him what he discovered, and knows, email me. I'm sure that you'll find his knowledge very insightful.

Answer 10

try this

http://www.11meditation.co.nr

there are all in brief versions of Theravada Buddhist religion in Thailand. They are not in deep detail but I think they are good enough to make you get a big picture of this religion.