Does it have to be complicated?

Originally Posted by zeke zenna & mook

However i have noticed there are many different forms of Buddhism i don't know which appeals. I have read many posts on here but to be honest i find them totally confusing and difficult to understand, almost riddle like.

There are basically 3 'versions' of Buddhism and you should chose the one which appeals to you most.
If you intellectual chose Theravada, if you want something with heart chose Mahayana, and if you want some magic then chose Vajrayana.
They all have the same foundations and the same goals, but work in different ways.

[Samana]

Originally Posted by pre-dawn

There are basically 3 'versions' of Buddhism and you should chose the one which appeals to you most.
If you intellectual chose Theravada, if you want something with heart chose Mahayana, and if you want some magic then chose Vajrayana.
They all have the same foundations and the same goals, but work in different ways.

Sorry pre-dawn but that just isn't true. Having been an offline Vajrayana practitioner for many years I can definately say you won't find anyone teaching "magic " if you go to offline centres.

Having changed tradition from Vajarayana to Theravada, I can also say that Theravada can't be described as "intellectual" either. The teachings of the Theravada Thai Forest tradition in particular have simplicity, purity and also 'heart'.

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zeke zenna & mook, I've found that there are as many versions of Buddhism as there are Buddhists..... ......which is not to be cynical, nor to criticise, only to give full due to the Buddha's injunction to test all things by your own experience and accept nothing purely on trust.

When you know in yourselves that these things are wholesome, blameless, commended by the wise, and being adopted and put into effect they lead to welfare and happiness, then you should practice and abide in them.

(kalamasutta)

Easier said than done perhaps, but that's the idea.

Maybe its all as complex as we wish to make it. The Buddha actually claimed to teach "one thing and one thing only, suffering and the ending of suffering", and one bhikkhu has said that at the moment of emancipation effort falls away, having reached the end of its scope. My own path has been one of seeking to gain true insight into what that bhikkhu referred to as the "scope of effort." This in turn has led me to consider how "grace" in infinite ways is entwined within all the world faiths. Just what "effort" is required to accept a free gift? Its quite an adventure........

I really have no advice to give, except to walk on........

One of my favorite books is "The World's Religions”, by Huston Smith. Smith was the head of the philosophy department at MIT, and was good friends with the Dalai Lama, dropped acid with Tim Leary, and is about the most interesting person I have read about in a while. He is, in my view, a truly spiritual person. Anyway, he writes a very good understandable section on Buddhism along with other world religions, and is a great read for anyone who is searching. Peace