Buddhism and Druidry/Witchcraft?

[sunsoul]

I think this discussion is slipping off somewhere into a dissection of Buddhism and quite a few very broad sentiments..

Firstly, no proper practitioner would ever get caught up in labels or the shell of the thing. Maybe some do, but they are more the supermarket shoppers I would hazard to guess.

We need to examine why people are interested in Buddhism, and what it actually offers in reality -rather than in your imagination-. In my own case, I connected with the dharma and the meditation was the basis for all else. The teachings made sense and fell easily into my own sense of what life was all about.. So, you have a deep rooted faith (shraddha) that moves with you and is not a mental construction.

In the end, you pick your vehicle and set off. This lifetime is short and life precious. There is no real benefit to criticising valid belief systems.

[Caitlyn Laufey]

What I use or take/borrow from Buddhism most is the elimination of many transient worries and realization that much of our anxiety is transitory. I find that this helps in both my meditation and in my distillation of a true self.

To me Buddhism is much more a philosophy than a religion, i try to gain the enlightenment that Siddhartha attained, perhaps not even the same enlightenment since we all have different "eyes".

Taoism is very powerful and for all of my life I have followed the Tao. The Tao to me is simply a pattern and a force, understanding and embracing both makes me aware that I am a part of it as are all things in the Universe, "we are the stuff of stars".

Originally Posted by sunsoul

Firstly, no proper practitioner would ever get caught up in labels or the shell of the thing. Maybe some do, but they are more the supermarket shoppers I would hazard to guess.

This sounds extremely snobby. Is it meant as such?

We need to examine why people are interested in Buddhism, and what it actually offers in reality -rather than in your imagination-.

Buddhism is nothing without your imagination. Buddhism IS your imagination.

[sunsoul]

If you read my words I think you can understand their import in the context of this thread. I think your imagination sentence is pretty strange but I am not going to debate Buddhist principles on the Pagan forum.

You are quite welcome to start a thread(s) on any of the topics covered on the Buddhism forum. I do understand that the Pagan forum is probably a little more independently minded than most and I respect that.

[Caitlyn Laufey]

I am trying not to read it so as well.

I thought the original post was concerning a hybrid concept in the first place or am I mistaken? I find the reference to supermarket shoppers to be inferentially insulting, similar to me sating fundamentalist or evangelical Buddhist somehow.

Correct me if I am misreading this somehow.

Originally Posted by sunsoul

If you read my words I think you can understand their import in the context of this thread. I think your imagination sentence is pretty strange but I am not going to debate Buddhist principles on the Pagan forum.

You are quite welcome to start a thread(s) on any of the topics covered on the Buddhism forum. I do understand that the Pagan forum is probably a little more independently minded than most and I respect that.

Thank you for answering my question, even if you couldn't afford me the common courtesy of a straight answer So when I guess yes, your answer was intended as snobbery. That's fine, that's your entitlement. And while we're being pedantic, note that this is a buddhist thread and my post is very relavent, as it is clearly intended to encourage further reading before deciding whether or not Buddhism is for the OP.

It is your choice to take a narrow minded stance if you wish, but please don't try to push that on others.

[sunsoul]

Funnily enough, the supermarket analogy came from a visionary dream. I, myself, believe that the special dreams come around quite infrequently but when they do arrive they are important.

In this dream, the mind was busy shopping and taking everything and anything from the shelves. Outside, a mad dog was barking and calling me to attention but I was trying to ignore it from my shopping.

In my own experience, the most important thing is to practice and choose the right methods to actually move on. This isn't easy as we are often distracted through shopping or other activities that waste time. Of course, there is nothing wrong in keeping the mind open and learning from other sources and this should be encouraged. However, mixing and matching can cause confusion and many do get caught up in a myriad of views and methods that are not always compatible.

Again, we are not talking about snobbery but clarifying misconceptions or broad statements. I think it was you, Badger, that stated that you felt Buddhism was anti-life and somehow all about abandonment. These sorts of direct statements would be better debated on the Buddhist forum. If you want to keep it as an interfaith type dialogue then there needs to be some respect, too.

That's much better @Sunsoul. Not snobby at all, just well constructed and respectful post. So, moving on....

I agree with what you say about mixing and matching, IF the person doing the mixing and matching is taking soundbites as literal facts. That would only lead to confusion. This thread is about having buddhist influences but practicing not specifically buddhist practices. In this case I think it is important to understand what exactly buddhism is to the person posing the question. Of all the belief systems I've read of, buddhism is perhaps the most diverse one, as I mentioned, with some flavours having it as a formal religion with deities and commandments, and others being so different its hard to see how they have the same origin, as they are more about earthly matters and such.

If the OP has understanding of only one flavour of buddhism, and I don't know that's the case which is why I posed the question, then this may be adding to OP's confusion. You can't possibly know that something is right or wrong for you without understand what that something is. This is the point I was trying to make. Until we have that clarification, this thread is so vague it can't possibly offer any answers to OP, only push our beliefs, and I'm sure you'll agree that it would not be right to do that.

[Caitlyn Laufey]

As I stated earlier, Buddhism for me works as an excellent augment to continually keep me clear and nudge me back to the steps I am attempting to take.

Thanks for the clarification if nothing else Sunsoul. I agree that without some knowledge and actual depth to a discipline you are cheating yourself. We must be careful I think, to not utilize and take into ourselves "disposable" aspects.

[FindingMyself]

Sorry for disappearing after posing the question. Thanks everyone for the input.

I suppose I'm referring to being Buddhist but also being a Druid/Witch/etc. in a similar way as how in Japan, it is very common for people to practice both Buddhism and Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. From what I've learn, Eastern religions, and Eastern cultures in general, are much less worried about such syncretisms than Western culture seems to be. I'm very new to learning about Buddhism and find myself drawn to what I have learned so far, but in that process I'm also evaluating my prior connections to Druidry and where that fits into who I am today. I'm not really at that point yet to where if someone were to ask me "what religion are you" I would reply "I'm Buddhist", but it's something that I've been considering.