Hi! I am a Chinese Buddhist.

[God-Like]

Originally Posted by icy_su

I never think about this question, and I won't either. People sometimes think too much, which does not either solve any problem, or even makes one feel any better.

Why do we need to think of this question?

Some individuals are devoted to ‘someone’ be it Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha without an awareness that much of that devotion could be spent attending to and looking at self . The question could prompt a reflection of such a thought or it could fall on deaf ears .

Sometimes one needs lifetimes had in service and in devotion to someone else to realize what has happened through such devotedness . At a point everything is relevant .

Self enquiry prompts a thousand questions that relate to self .. Whom Am I that relates to everything that is self opens many doors .. As one door opens .. another is there, and another .. buddha is behind one door, Jesus behind another and for as long as one looks on in devotion towards anothers face there will be doors that represent them .

Originally Posted by icy_su

Many people seek for a general guidance for life, and I had been one of them. I had sought hard, and eventually found religion, and then Buddhism.

My mom is a devout Buddhist. I saw her practicing Buddhism since I was young. But she didn't force me to accept her religion. What she said most was to always do good to others. I also had access to other religion resources, such as Taoism and Christianity. Eventually I found Buddhism fit me best.

I watched my mum when I was young practicing yoga and meditation .. It was a way of life for her . I witnessed how devotion and how such union transforms and brings forth the realization of what you are . There was a time in my own life as there can be for all when you are drawn into your self in some way . I ‘went’ the same way as my mum .

It seems as if you was drawn in a similar fashion to your mum also . In a way there is an influence present even if it is silent in nature but at a point we all find our own way even if the paths are similar .


x dazzle x

Originally Posted by God-Like

Some individuals are devoted to ‘someone’ be it Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha without an awareness that much of that devotion could be spent attending to and looking at self . The question could prompt a reflection of such a thought or it could fall on deaf ears .

Sometimes one needs lifetimes had in service and in devotion to someone else to realize what has happened through such devotedness . At a point everything is relevant .

Self enquiry prompts a thousand questions that relate to self .. Whom Am I that relates to everything that is self opens many doors .. As one door opens .. another is there, and another .. buddha is behind one door, Jesus behind another and for as long as one looks on in devotion towards anothers face there will be doors that represent them .



I watched my mum when I was young practicing yoga and meditation .. It was a way of life for her . I witnessed how devotion and how such union transforms and brings forth the realization of what you are . There was a time in my own life as there can be for all when you are drawn into your self in some way . I ‘went’ the same way as my mum .

It seems as if you was drawn in a similar fashion to your mum also . In a way there is an influence present even if it is silent in nature but at a point we all find our own way even if the paths are similar .


x dazzle x

Sorry God-Like, I am afraid that I am not interested in the "self awareness" thing. Maybe someone else can discuss this topic with you.

Kind regards,
Icy

[God-Like]

Originally Posted by icy_su

Sorry God-Like, I am afraid that I am not interested in the "self awareness" thing. Maybe someone else can discuss this topic with you.

Kind regards,
Icy

No probs Ice .

Perhaps one last question if I may ask you ..

After 3 years of meditation are you not in someway more aware of yourself .


x daz x

Buddhism starts with the honesty to ourselves -- we were born human, and we take roles in this society. Hence the first and foremost thing is to be a good person.

Chop wood, carry water, do everything that seems right at this moment. No one can become a saint if he cannot even be a good ordinary person.

Hence actually in Buddhism, we spend a great deal of time to review ourselves, to confess and to improve. We try to do all good things possible to people and to the environment. This doesn't mean that Buddhists are perfectly moral. No one can be perfectly moral if he simply wishes so. But we continuously make efforts toward this end.

No killing, no anger, no alchohol, no cheating, no robbery, etc. etc... actually it's just "all things right".

There are two things coming to my mind concerning this conversation right now.

One is that I was once trying to practice walking meditation using some technique I had read about in Tai Chi. I walked extremely slowly, trying to be very aware of my bodily movements and also of my thoughts. What I realized was that there were certain emotional causes for the different thought trains. This was a big realization for me - I have never repeated that meditation, but I did learn to recognize that I could tell if a thought train was going to bring me more happiness and enjoyment and freedom, or if it would cause me and others greater unhappiness, so I learned to just drop the thought trains that would cause the unhappiness.

Before the second thing this reminds me of, I want to say that the Buddha taught the 4 Noble Truths.

1 There is hurt and sorrow we experience
2 There are causes for these sufferings
3 It is possible to find and eradicate these causes
4 Walla Walla bing bang - we have become free now.

Buddha taught about how to set our selves free from afflictive emotions.

Now the second thing this reminds me of is this. Once the Buddha had two brothers as followers. One was really quick of mind and could understand the teaching very well on an intellectual basis - his brother could not seem to understand anything at all. The quick minded brother tried to help his brother, but could not succeed. He became so frustrated that he told the Buddha about it in desperation. Buddha smiled, and said "Bring your brother to speak with me." The slow minded brother approached the Buddha quite afraid - but the Buddha's smile made him feel quite good and relieved. Buddha said "You are my brother as well, will you do something kind for me?" The man said he would be happy to do so. Buddha handed the man a soiled cloth (DO NOT MAKE ME TELL you that this refers to the man's thoughts and emotions) and said please go down to the river and wash this clean. This man did this and only this and became a Buddha soon.

Thanks for the follow-up posts guys. I was just unusually free in last few days, and now I am getting busy again. Will come back when it slows down a bit.

Best wishes,
Icy

Originally Posted by Mayflow

Before the second thing this reminds me of, I want to say that the Buddha taught the 4 Noble Truths.

1 There is hurt and sorrow we experience
2 There are causes for these sufferings
3 It is possible to find and eradicate these causes
4 Walla Walla bing bang - we have become free now.

Dear Mayflow,

I am glad to see that there is someone here really chatting about Buddhism. Buddhism is the simplest thing actually -- it came from an ancient prince's compassion to people's sufferings, it goes to the ultimate relief for all living beings.

Mayflow, you are very wise that you realize the negative thoughts and feelings, and can actually control them. It's like eradicating unwanted grass from your garden. You have already done a good job.

I am sure you must have heard of the emptiness concept. Buddha taught us, that the garden does not actually exist. Therefore, where did the grass come from? The garden is like our heart. It's great that you noticed the grass and eradicate them. It would be even better if you can understand the empty nature of garden. If you achieve that, the grass has no where to take root -- there will be no grass at all.

Yet many people pursue Buddhism in a way that they learn a theory from books -- they think hard about the meaning of emptiness. I can assure you that it won't work. The only way to the wisdom is through your each and every effort to eradicate grass, and to practice Buddhism.

The process of eradicating grass is much more than refraining from anger. It's our every effort to do all good in our daily lives. And this is the point where religions converge -- all religions encourage people to eradicate the grass. And that is why in Buddhists eyes, Jesus is a Buddha too, because he teaches people how to eradicate the grass.

When the grass are cleaned up to a certain extent, wisdom will come. Because your heart is no longer bothered by unwanted disturbance, now it can function with full capacity. Hence actually Christianity can open your wisdom too.

So much for today. Hope someone can be inspired~~

Love,
Icy

The reason why I ignored God-Like's question is only because I would prefer avoid offending anyone because of religious discussion, not because I was unhappy about his questions.

[running]

Originally Posted by icy_su

The reason why I ignored God-Like's question is only because I would prefer avoid offending anyone because of religious discussion, not because I was unhappy about his questions.

No need to worry my friend! Perhaps you want to stick to your topic being Buddhism. But the little time I have been here I have noticed people are pretty easy going. I imagine God like is to. My opinion is do what makes you happy with your thread! Even people who are not Buddhist will enjoy reading it. Why not? Have fun!

Originally Posted by running

No need to worry my friend! Perhaps you want to stick to your topic being Buddhism. But the little time I have been here I have noticed people are pretty easy going. I imagine God like is to. My opinion is do what makes you happy with your thread! Even people who are not Buddhist will enjoy reading it. Why not? Have fun!

Thanks for your kind words Running. I am just tring to introduce the true Buddhism. There had been too much misunderstanding. Many people think Buddhism is simply worshipping statues, being strictly self-disciplined so that away from any fun of life, etc.

When I was in NYC, I used to go to the Mahayana temple often. One day I was worshipping Buddha. A tourist approached me with curiosity -- Can you give me a brief introduction of Buddhism? I tried hard, but was really unable to, because of my very limited English. She left with confusion, and I was so sorry. So I prayed to Buddha, that I wish one day I can explain Buddhism in English to others.

Now I am trying to make the wish come true.