What's the best part about being a buddhist?

Answer 1

Heck, you read my mind or something, Kallan?

I was about to post a similar question like "Why should we remain as Buddhists" or something... heheh...

Anyway, to answer you...

Being Buddhist, we are taught to thread on the middle path, to avoid the two extremes and comprehend the teachings of the Buddha in order to practice it, rather than believing in it blindly. Introspection is a must and all questions have an answer, according to different perspective as we understand that the Truth belongs to all and not being monopolized by any kind of entity or religious organizations.

Its all about being present and seeing reality the way it is, the way it should be. Just as Hindus who call this teachings 'Sanatan Dharma', it reflects on the ultimate reality, the timeless truth...

The best part of our understanding is that, we do not have any kinds of concept of eternal damnation or rewards as all things are impermanent, not self and not created. Each and every person is responsible for their own actions and deserve their chance to change for the better or worse (in accordance to their understanding).

Buddhists also understand that there's not only one heaven and hell, but over 4 levels of hells and 27 levels of heaven (pick your choice!)...

Of course, the ultimate goal of each and every Buddhists who thread the path is individual enlightenment (Arahatapala) or Buddhahood as everyone possess the capability to cultivate these qualities.

The core teachings are also easy to comprehend:
Do Good/Wholesome deeds/thoughts and speech
Avoid Evil/Unwholesome deeds/thoughts and speech
Purify the mind/through deeds/thoughts and speech

Buddhism allows freedom :-)

Answer 2

hope and inspiration. Being a Buddhist means your ultimate objective (preached by Buddha himself and supported by every Buddhism scriptures) is to become a Buddha yourself. Unlike Christianity or Islam in which the best you can do is to follow God's will and hope that in the end, you are gonna be accepted into the heaven to live in God's land. In Buddhism, you are encouraged to be your own Buddha, in fact, according to Buddha himself, the only way for you to completely leave all the uncertainty, misery and sorrow associated with life and death behind is to discover and understand the real "truth", thus becoming the master of your own and a Buddha yourself.

Answer 3

The best part of following the dharma is the love and compassion it can bring to ones life. It is a lot easier to let go to things rather than getting hung up on them. If thought keeps coming back-say an argument with your boss, it is easier to let it go. You can sit down and meditate and get the mind focused on something else.

But for the most part, I find I don't react negatively to negative situations as much as before. This is not to say I have reached enlightenment and never react or don't react, but it is easier to not react in the moment which means not creating the bad karma that keeps the mind focused on the negative situation.

I also find that I can accept the way life is more easily. Life, death, disease, war are a part of the human experience so learning not to fight it helps one not react to it. This means it is easier to come up with positive reactions instead of negative one. Live is better when we are reacting out of love and compassion and wisdom rather than ignorance, hate and greed.

Answer 4

Many people think that praying to Buddha will bring good luck and protection, I was too. But now I found it only a little correct. Buddha is trying to teach us to a path of finding a balance in our life. Living a quality life is more than anything. Even you have everything in your life, it doesn't means you are living a quality life.

We should learn forgiveness and seeking a balance in every thing happened in our life. We mustn't live our life by following the mood, like angry, sad... We must live through it.

We always think that many things in our life is in the opposite site, not the way you want and negatively. But this is a process of growing up and get the wisdom. If we never been through these sadness and unhappiness things, we won't able to think and get the wisdom hiding inside.

Practicing meditation is good for us. But until now I haven't know the right way of meditation. Just like others said, our mind is like lake with the wave, we can't see what's in the bottom of the lake. By meditation, we stops the wave and you can see clearly what lies inside the lake. By meditation, you can know what are you thinking in your mind and what you want. Love and compassion is what I learn from Buddha too.

I prayed Buddha since small because the elders in the family said by praying you can get protection from Buddha in your life. But start from last year, I changed my view of Buddha. Now I pray and learn to seek for a balance life.

Since my English not so good, can't express what I wanna say, so I just stop. Can I write in Chinese?? Hehe....

Answer 5

The release from feeling bound by good & bad, sin & virtue. Behaviors and events are mixtures of helpful and harmful, and people show greater or lesser skill in life. The judgment is gone.

A close second is the element of the interconnectedness of all things. It is paradoxical, but it is up to the individual to ascertain that there is no individual, but only an interlinking of persons, things, energy, and events.

- {♂♂} - {♂♀} - {♀♀} -

Answer 6

Just being able to live on a daily basis with positivity & understanding. Couldn't ask for more.


Except a sixer of Fat Tire.

Answer 7

You get your beliefs based on how you feel and experience life.
Not by what your parents teach you or what you read in a book.

Answer 8

To know your inner self and to discard the social ego!

Answer 9

Love
Wisdom
Compassion
Equanimity
Enlightenment

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Buddhism :-)

Answer 10

Learning to be able to let go. Detachment, as hard as it is, is a good thing.