Educating others...trying not to despair

Discuss the application of the Dharma to situations of social, political, environmental and economic suffering and injustice.
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Redfaery
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Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Redfaery »

I hope this is the right place.

Ever since I've decided to commit to Buddhism, I've taken on the correction of faulty assumptions about Buddhism and challenging slanders against religion and people of faith as....something of a mission. I've already had to correct a remark that "Buddha was deified" and I continue to vocally protest the cultural assumption that religion = Christianity and that belief in a god = Judeo-Christian/Islamic monotheism.

And today I challenged a poster on another forum when zie (preferred pronoun) claimed that "Buddhism was not a religion." Zie claimed that because Buddhism was so diverse and so full of different beliefs, that on the whole it should not be considered a religion. Hir mother, by the way, raised hir with Buddhist practices and claimed to be Buddhist, but did not see Buddhism as a "religion." So this person basically believed that because a lot of Westerners do Buddhist things and call themselves Buddhist, but don't want to apply the r-word to their beliefs, that somehow has more weight in what Buddhism actually is than the opinions of the Sangha, and believers in countries where Buddhism is culturally and societally normative. Zie actually said that I was "erasing people's experiences." Yet zie seems blind to the fact that zie is hirself being ethnocentric.

So I am upset....not angry. Upset. Disappointed. This person is intelligent and sensitive, and I expected better from hir. I know I need to let go of these feelings, but I also don't want to give into despair.
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
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Ayu
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Re: Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Ayu »

You don't need to do that.

Let the people be and think as they like. Buddhism doesn't need anybody who is fighting for it. The real and serious fight is against ones own passions: hatred, desire and ignorance. But this can be fought with much love and patience. Slowly. :smile:
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Karma Dorje
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Re: Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Karma Dorje »

Redfaery wrote:I hope this is the right place.

Ever since I've decided to commit to Buddhism, I've taken on the correction of faulty assumptions about Buddhism and challenging slanders against religion and people of faith as....something of a mission. I've already had to correct a remark that "Buddha was deified" and I continue to vocally protest the cultural assumption that religion = Christianity and that belief in a god = Judeo-Christian/Islamic monotheism.
...
So I am upset....not angry. Upset. Disappointed. This person is intelligent and sensitive, and I expected better from hir. I know I need to let go of these feelings, but I also don't want to give into despair.
What Ayu says is very true. Buddhism doesn't need to be defended, it is there to help *you*. When you are new to any teaching, it's really better to just learn as much as you can about it and not get into disputes. It's a medicine to heal confusion. Simply take the medicine and be happy! Quietness and openness are really freeing.

I understand that your friend's opinion pains you, but we each find the Dharma in our own time. There is no point trying to force anything. The practice is to be as open-hearted and compassionate as you can. It's hard to do this when you are trying to bash someone's head in with an idea, no matter how good your intention or how true your claim is. ;-) View all beings as your own children or as your own parents. They may not think the same way as you, but you will still love them all the same.
"Although my view is higher than the sky, My respect for the cause and effect of actions is as fine as grains of flour."
-Padmasambhava
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Karma Dorje
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Re: Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Karma Dorje »

Also, the best thing to do is be a good example. When people notice that there is a sea change in your kindness, happiness and wisdom they will want to know what you are doing. It may take years, but when they do come around then they have confidence based on the results you have obtained. You can't understate how important this is.
"Although my view is higher than the sky, My respect for the cause and effect of actions is as fine as grains of flour."
-Padmasambhava
Jesse
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Re: Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Jesse »

Redfaery wrote:I hope this is the right place.

Ever since I've decided to commit to Buddhism, I've taken on the correction of faulty assumptions about Buddhism and challenging slanders against religion and people of faith as....something of a mission. I've already had to correct a remark that "Buddha was deified" and I continue to vocally protest the cultural assumption that religion = Christianity and that belief in a god = Judeo-Christian/Islamic monotheism.

And today I challenged a poster on another forum when zie (preferred pronoun) claimed that "Buddhism was not a religion." Zie claimed that because Buddhism was so diverse and so full of different beliefs, that on the whole it should not be considered a religion. Hir mother, by the way, raised hir with Buddhist practices and claimed to be Buddhist, but did not see Buddhism as a "religion." So this person basically believed that because a lot of Westerners do Buddhist things and call themselves Buddhist, but don't want to apply the r-word to their beliefs, that somehow has more weight in what Buddhism actually is than the opinions of the Sangha, and believers in countries where Buddhism is culturally and societally normative. Zie actually said that I was "erasing people's experiences." Yet zie seems blind to the fact that zie is hirself being ethnocentric.

So I am upset....not angry. Upset. Disappointed. This person is intelligent and sensitive, and I expected better from hir. I know I need to let go of these feelings, but I also don't want to give into despair.
Like the other posters mentioned, Buddhism doesn't really need defending. Buddhism isn't any one thing per-say, it has some very basic teachings which are common to all.. but the form of buddhism changes to suit the minds/cultures of the people who practice it.

In this way Buddhism is like a raft, one that takes on any form necessary to get people to the 'other side of the shore', some peoples rafts look like a religion(Pure-Land), others like a philosophy(Zen), some dont look like rafts at all(Dzogchen). At the end of the day, what matters is how effective it is. Not what it looks like.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

You can't take someone elses medicine for them...goes for all of us.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
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Redfaery
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Re: Educating others...trying not to despair

Post by Redfaery »

Thank you everyone. I have been so stressed out lately, you are all probably right. I don't need any more stress in my life.
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
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