Bodhisattva Vows

Originally Posted by jonesboy

Sky,
We have discussed this, I have showed the history of Mahayana. How they and what is now known as Theravada lived together at the time.
What you consider as only the Buddhist teachings (Pali Cannon) was just those teachings that were published first by one tradition....

Bodhidharma is the First Patriarch of Zen. He didn't provide any new Sutras, but your comments bring to mind the veracity of the Diamond Sutra:

The Buddha said to him, “Subhuti, those who would now set forth on the bodhisattva path should thus give birth tothis thought:

‘However many beings there are in whatever realms of being might exist, whether they are born from an egg or born from a womb, born from the water or born from the air, whether they have form or no form, whether they have perception or no perception or neither perception nor no perception, in whatever conceivable realm of being one might conceive of beings, in the realm of complete nirvana I shall liberate them all.

And though I thus liberate countless beings, not a single being is liberated.

And why not? Subhuti, a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a being cannot be called a ‘bodhisattva. ’ And why not? Subhuti, no one can be called a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a self or who creates the perception of a being, a life, or a soul.”

Diamond Sutra
The Buddha

There is no need to fight over concepts and you do Buddhism a disservice to cling so heavily to the terminology or differentiations, where they are not important to a practicing Buddhist.

As to Bodhidharma, if you are interested in what he really said, then you are free to read his teachings. This goes for everyone - don't listen to forum folks only - do your own research and read from reputable teachers only.

Teachings of Bodhidharma

Originally Posted by Skull

Returning to the bodhisattva vows text I linked in post #14; here is Master Hua commenting on the title:
Commentary:
An Exhortation to Resolve Upon Bodhi.
This essay is a series of logical reasons
for encouraging us to make a resolve. What
resolve should we make? We should resolve upon Bodhi....

Thanks .....

Originally Posted by sky123

Not to forget that The Buddha never taught any of the above. If your interested you can read what is recognised by Buddhist Scholars to be the earliest Buddha's Teachings.
Buddha did not teach the Bodhisattva path, which emerges only in later documents that started to appear at least a century after His death......

There is no need to become anything, indeed. The Buddhist practices are not designed to form an identity - they are designed to help you let go. In that way, it is important who one listens to.

The Diamond Sutra, which I quoted above for jb, alludes to this same point - or rather, expliclitly calls it out.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by janielee

There is no need to fight over concepts and you do Buddhism a disservice to cling so heavily to the terminology or differentiations, where they are not important to a practicing Buddhist.

As to Bodhidharma, if you are interested in what he really said, then you are free to read his teachings. This goes for everyone - don't listen to forum folks only - do your own research and read from reputable teachers only.

Truly, "there is no need to fight over concepts" but that is what has been happening. If you look on this Forum, you might be surprised how many times some have put Buddhists 'down' because they belong to a different or slightly different version of Buddhism. For me, I resonate with the various versions of Buddhism in the East but have a hard time grasping how some Western Buddhists view Eastern Buddhists. The rift is similar to how Protestants view Catholics.

An example, is my belief in Maitreya and Quan Yin. In the East, these two are common beliefs but in the West, they are hardly ever spoken and if spoken, sometimes not in a good way.

And then there is the different Buddhist scriptures for the various sects of Buddhism which resonates very much like the different scriptures for the Protestants and Catholics.

For Buddhists and for Christians, the best source of information is their own scriptures.

[sky]

Originally Posted by janielee

There is no need to become anything, indeed. The Buddhist practices are not designed to form an identity - they are designed to help you let go. In that way, it is important who one listens to.

The Diamond Sutra, which I quoted above for jb, alludes to this same point - or rather, expliclitly calls it out.

Thanks JL, as always your knowledge of Buddhism is welcomed.

Originally Posted by sky123

Thanks JL, as always your knowledge of Buddhism is welcomed.

You're very welcome

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by janielee

Bodhidharma is the First Patriarch of Zen. He didn't provide any new Sutras, but your comments bring to mind the veracity of the Diamond Sutra:

The Buddha said to him, “Subhuti, those who would now set forth on the bodhisattva path should thus give birth tothis thought: ...

Sutras equal teachings.
I think you will find I have covered a lot of his teachings within this forum.
Search and enjoy
Concepts are those things people have not experienced or realized.
What is considered at first a concept through the practices are then later realized. That is why the Buddha always said to put to test all that he said and the practices he shared.

Billions of people have and found them to be true... i.e.. realized and no longer concepts.. it's how a tradition lasts for centuries. Buddhism is not a belief system like Christianity has become.
As far as the Diamond Sutra. You are confusing advanced teachings and the audience they are meant for compared to someone who has never done any practices. There is a huge difference. Your quote that you are beyond ego... did it help?

[Skull]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

Sutras equal teachings.
I think you will find I have covered a lot of his teachings within this forum.
Search and enjoy Concepts are those things people have not experienced or realized....

Well said!

Originally Posted by janielee

There is no need to become anything,

yes to discover what we are

[Skull]

A new translation of Avatamsaka Sutra chapter 40, the Samantabhadra Ten Vows section is now online & in hardback format:

http://www.cttbusa.org/avatamsaka/avatamsaka40new.html