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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Religions & Faiths > Buddhism

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  #21  
Old 20-08-2019, 09:39 PM
sentient sentient is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigJohn
I have experienced foreigners in Buddhist countries that like Buddhism but can not stand the animism part.
Why do you think this is so???

Quote:
As for me, I really enjoy the animism aspect.
You are a Westerner – no? ........ So a 'foreigner' also in those countries.
What makes you think/experience things differently then?

Could you please expand a bit on Animism in Theravada Buddhism?
Your personal experiences?

This is really interesting.

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  #22  
Old 22-08-2019, 05:56 AM
Gem Gem is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sentient
What about when you lived in PNG? Any small magical moments?


I think nondual experiences could also be described as 'souls overlapping':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5HcLFyPkYs

*




In new guinea there is a general belief that everything has a spirit, but it's not particularly individualised, more like there is a spirit of a species, and the geological features like mountains, rivers, lakes etc are associated with a human-like totem. Hence when they say the 'devil of the shark', for example, it can mean the spirit of a shark or it can mean the spirit of that species. Otherwise, when they say 'the man of the river' or the 'man of the lake' it's like a spirit that is happy when you treat the geological feature with respect, or becomes angry if you don't. Based on this, there are traditional protocols involved in activities like hunting, fishing that have spiritual overtones, but also contain all the knowledge relevant to the undertaking which are purely pragmatic. In this way human knowledge is placed in the landscape and it is said that the land contains the knowledge, and this is revived in rituals, dances and songs etc. Along with the performance of these is a connection with ancestors and the human-like spirits of the land. In hunting rituals a connection can be made with the amimal spirit, not the individual one but the overarching spirit of that species. Not all cultures have these systems. There are many different cultures in New Guinea, but this is a reasonable overview in a very general sense.
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  #23  
Old 22-08-2019, 06:04 AM
Gem Gem is online now
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In the Buddhist tradition I studied in, there are spiritual beings but there is no ritual associated with them. There are purification rituals used to 'cleanse' the meditation hall, for example, but not many people know about these and it's not taught to everyone like meditation.


When in metta we say 'may all beings be happy', spiritual beings are included in such a wish, but if a person does not believe in such beings, doesn't matter, it only matters if they have metta rising through them, and if they extend it with a wish for universal happiness.
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  #24  
Old 22-08-2019, 10:08 PM
sentient sentient is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gem
In new guinea there is a general belief that everything has a spirit, but it's not particularly individualised, more like there is a spirit of a species, and the geological features like mountains, rivers, lakes etc are associated with a human-like totem. Hence when they say the 'devil of the shark', for example, it can mean the spirit of a shark or it can mean the spirit of that species. Otherwise, when they say 'the man of the river' or the 'man of the lake' it's like a spirit that is happy when you treat the geological feature with respect, or becomes angry if you don't. Based on this, there are traditional protocols involved in activities like hunting, fishing that have spiritual overtones, but also contain all the knowledge relevant to the undertaking which are purely pragmatic. In this way human knowledge is placed in the landscape and it is said that the land contains the knowledge, and this is revived in rituals, dances and songs etc. Along with the performance of these is a connection with ancestors and the human-like spirits of the land. In hunting rituals a connection can be made with the amimal spirit, not the individual one but the overarching spirit of that species. Not all cultures have these systems. There are many different cultures in New Guinea, but this is a reasonable overview in a very general sense.
Interesting Gem – thank you.

Even though I do come from an animist culture and there is the overlap of similarities with other cultures, there are differences too.
Though, I must say, I can’t really learn about anything in depth by reading about it. I have to experience it. Connect with it.

*

Since I haven’t been to PNG (I have only been a visitor in their houses in OZ), - all I can say, what has naturally happened, is that we either have had the same dream or one of us have had an astral visitor or sleep paralysis thing happening involving each other.
So there is an openness towards one another on 'another level’.

*

And this one PNG woman, who at the markets sat next to me on a bench scrutinizing me with the corner of her eye first and then turning around and said:
“When I look at you, I see a white person – but you are not. Not r-e-a-l-l-y.”
(Referring to my 'reverse coconut' identity, so of course I knew what she meant and how she ‘saw’ it by ‘reading’ my energy field – because I’ve done it myself.)

A few Aborigines have done the same – of which I have been very grateful about.
You don’t know how frustrating it is to be ‘invisible’ – to live in the world that only sees appearances – and not the real you, or the real beyond physical senses.

*
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  #25  
Old 25-08-2019, 01:07 AM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sentient
Why do you think this is so???


You are a Westerner – no? ........ So a 'foreigner' also in those countries.
What makes you think/experience things differently then?

Could you please expand a bit on Animism in Theravada Buddhism?
Your personal experiences?

This is really interesting.

*

One aspect of Animism I found interesting involves the Goddess Shrines.
To foreigners, they look like Phallic Temples.
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  #26  
Old 30-08-2019, 03:20 AM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sentient
Could you please expand a bit on Animism in Theravada Buddhism?
Your personal experiences?

This is really interesting.
One Animistic aspect you will find in South East Asia is the Spirit Houses.
Virtually every home has at least one Spirit House.
And then there is the room dedicated to the ancestors................

I am surprised the drunken no-goods do not drink the whiskey,
smoke the cigarettes and eat the food left at the Spirit Houses.
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        Happiness is the result of an enlightened mind whereas suffering is caused by a distorted mind.
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  #27  
Old 30-08-2019, 03:40 AM
Shaunc Shaunc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigJohn
One Animistic aspect you will find in South East Asia is the Spirit Houses.
Virtually every home has at least one Spirit House.
And then there is the room dedicated to the ancestors................

I am surprised the drunken no-goods do not drink the whiskey,
smoke the cigarettes and eat the food left at the Spirit Houses.

It's funny that you mention this. My wife is from a small fishing village in the Philippines and is Catholic but she also leaves cigarettes, rum and food on the alter for departed relatives.
Maybe it's not so much a Buddhist thing but more a south East Asian thing.
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  #28  
Old 30-08-2019, 04:23 AM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaunc
It's funny that you mention this. My wife is from a small fishing village in the Philippines and is Catholic but she also leaves cigarettes, rum and food on the alter for departed relatives.
Maybe it's not so much a Buddhist thing but more a south East Asian thing.

Not a Buddhist thing........
but an Animism thing.

Small world.
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        Happiness is the result of an enlightened mind whereas suffering is caused by a distorted mind.
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