The American idea of Buddhism

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   mischeviousmeposted 13 years ago

   The common mistake made when an outsider views Buddhism, is that a Buddhist must be devoid of emotion. This is not true. Buddhism is about acceptance. Acceptance of pain, acceptance of sorrow, acceptance anger, acceptance of wisdom. A Buddhist is human and is realy only on a path to enlightenment and it is a moment to moment thing. A true Buddhist, must forget that they have ever reached any understanding of enlightenment and move along. True enlightenment is accepting that there is no such thing as enlightenment, only stages of awareness.
   
   True enlightenment is only metaphore for acceptance and not knowing. A wise Buddhist will still get angry, they will still feel pain and they will still suffer. Buddhism is about not fearing these aspects of life and being in the moment of it. The aspects of life that will rarely change, must be accepted as they are, for everyone is Buddha. Everyone is aware, there is no pedestal. It is about humility and mastering the one true self that is "I am". It is about accepting that the one is all, the one is everything.

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      Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I got talking to my Daughter about Taoism , she replied ,,,,wait. wait a minute you are going way too deep for me Daddy

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         mischeviousmeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Tell her it's about the flow of nature and one must move with that nature, not against it. That is the Tao.

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            Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I did , it was all the other details that was too much. My Daughter is smarter than me at her age, it just a few people have the focus and attention span to adventure into these many spiritual or wisdom unknowns.

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               recommend1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               You are absolutely right - and nobody commenting in these threads these days seems to understand these things.

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               mischeviousmeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Study all things and and study as best you can with true acceptance, then you will be able to explain it without hesitation. She may not understand, but you did the best you can.

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            paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I think almost every truthful religion says to follow nature which is a creation of the Creator God.

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      Good Guyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "A wise Buddhist will still get angry, they will still feel pain and they will still suffer. "
      
      If he is wise, he will not get angry.  However if he realized his mistake of getting angry, then he is wise to that extent.  When I get angry, I am giving in to foolishness in that moment of unmindfulness.  This happened to me throughout my life.  As age gets into me, I can now admit how foolish I was when I got angry.  I am just that wise to this extent.

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         mischeviousmeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Buddhism is not about religion, it is about not clinging. I can get angry, but if I cling to the feeling, I cannot move forward.

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         paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I appreciate your post.

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      paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Please quote from Buddha for the above expression.

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      paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      What is "one" in the above exression?

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   5. 59

      couturepopcafeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "True enlightenment is only metaphore for acceptance and not knowing".
      
      Don't think it's a metaphor for anything, it just is what it is unto itself. Acceptance may be part of the path to enlightenment but they're not one and the same. Not knowing is it's own thing, also.
      
      Patanjali believed that once we reach full enlightenment, there is no association with awareness at all and we become pure consciousness.

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   Cara.Rposted 13 years ago

   A Buddhist Monk from Tibet told me most important thing for me to remember was to ease the suffering of others.

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      paarsurreyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Every truthful religion says to help others.

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   Cara.Rposted 13 years ago

   So the "outsiders" ideas on Buddhism are the Americans?
   
   How do you know what Americans think?  Your point of view would have made a better impacted if didn't refer to another group of people that you have never met.  Singling out a large group of people as if you knew them all but you don't. 
   In a statistical way,I can not say were you live; that all people are an 'outsider' on any topic.
   I think it distracts from the point you are trying to make.

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      mischeviousmeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Even though America has adopted Buddhism, there still lingers ideas as to what it truly is. The Americans that don't know what Buddhism is, still refer to it as a religion. It's not... That was the idea of the thread.

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         Eaglekiwiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         P.S
         
         I am not American and I have always thought if it has to be put under any title it would be Religion. No biggy, or does it offend a Buddhist perhaps?

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4. 68

   Cara.Rposted 13 years ago

   We can all believe what we want. Some people believe it is a religion and some a philosophy or both. And it is not just Americans

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      couturepopcafeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You nailed it, Cara. Religion is a philosphy, a way of life and philosophy, if truly held, is held religiously or it is not truly held. They are one in the same, IMO. Many think there must be some sort of figure worship to make a philosophy a religion. It's all semantics.

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      mischeviousmeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'm American and I was raised all sorts of ways. I had the idea that Buddhism was about escaping suffering and being eternaly happy. Now that I've been a Buddhist for a while, I have had the realization that it truly isn't. It's about being a gentleperson and gentle person. I learned that it was about self saccrifice and being one with that, that I see all around me, not just the people I want to be part of or the memories I want to be part of, but part of everything. To put it lightly, the oranism that is the universe.

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   Eaglekiwiposted 13 years ago

   Labels
   
   Sometimes irritating sometimes helpful all the same.
   
   And if you have ever put salt in your coffee ,instead of sugar you'll know what I mean

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      couturepopcafeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I laughed when I read this and laughed harder when I really thought about it.

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         Eaglekiwiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         

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