Dharma Wheel

"conditioned existence" is not reducible to 'suffering', despite what some buddhist traditions may say. I think that once you see conditioned existence for what it is, namely limitless potential, the suffering it causes disappears. One thing always give rise to the next thing. Nothing tha...

"conditioned existence" is not reducible to 'suffering', despite what some buddhist traditions may say. I think that once you see conditioned existence for what it is, namely limitless potential, the suffering it causes disappears. One thing always give rise to the next thing. Nothing tha...

I agree with the OP, for me personally qualifying life as a whole as suffering is a bit overly dramatic, like Buddha was the world's first goth kid. Life is full of great stuff, although not for everyone, and certainly not always. I am mostly with Epicurus on suffering, every form of suffering can b...

Ultimately all Buddhas are the single dharmakaya body, right?

I've never been very convinced of the use of the trikaya, seems a bit too much like needlessly chopping Buddha in 3 parts.

I do recitations of the Nembutsu usually three times a day, mostly a few minutes but sometimes longer. I also "mix it up" with silent meditation.

To some extent, all traditions can be practised through reading books. Some people will tell you you need a teacher, but listening to teachers talking just cuts into my book reading time.

A teacher can be good though. When it's a good teacher.

My view may be unorthodox, but for me Amida's tool of salvation is purely in the refuge taking. That is what the nembutsu is to me. Once refuge is truly taken, completely and sincerely, in Amida Buddha, you are irreversibly on the path to the Pure Land and Buddhahood. There is no magical transferenc...

Reading it back, my previous post seems a bit too negative about Buddhism maybe - that wasn't my intention. I guess my main point is just to remember Buddhism is practised by human beings and human beings are fallible. I am sure Buddhism can be a hugely positive influence, but when some part of it, ...

Is the history of Buddhism free of violence, murder, greed, fraud, manipulation, falsehood, corruption, manipulators, egomaniacs, and tyrants? Probably not. Just as there were some (or many) popes who were guilty of the worst of crimes, I think the same is probably true for Dalai Lamas and Karmapas ...

Pauline, I am not sure what country you are in, but normally your doctor (your regular GP) has enough knowledge to recognize psychiatric emergencies. Just go to your doctor, tell him or her about this, and he'll be able to help or send you to a psychologist/psychiatrist who is able to help.

I think everything we are and perceive and experience is real, however those real phenomena are impossible for us to grasp in their true being. For instance, I think I am holding a teacup and drinking from it, but in truth there is just the compound mass of matter and circumstances to which I assig...

I think everything we are and perceive and experience is real, however those real phenomena are impossible for us to grasp in their true being. For instance, I think I am holding a teacup and drinking from it, but in truth there is just the compound mass of matter and circumstances to which I assign...

Doesn't Tendai Buddhism have certain teachings that assert things like trees, rocks etc. have Buddha nature? I seem to remember reading or hearing something like that. It's a difficult point, but worth discussing. Please don't be too hard on that garuda chap, he is speculating and forming his own th...

For me personally, the practice of tonglen itself is not what helps the target of the practice...if I meditate on taking the suffering of others and giving them happiness in exchange, that does not directly benefit them. But it puts the practitioner in a state of having compassion. That compassion c...

There is an enormous number of works to choose from, but it depends very much on what direction within Mahayana Buddhism you're most interested in. For "general Mahayana" probably the works of Nagarjuna...personally I've enjoyed the Batchelor translation of "Verses from the Center&quo...

Thanks, you've given me a lot to think about. I think I'll start with visiting the Gelug and Sakya centers to have a chat with the people there, maybe send them an e-mail first with some questions.

Lately I've been feeling myself drawn towards Tibetan Buddhism for a number of factors. I've been interested in Buddhism for a long time, I've mostly read about it but also did an introduction weekend at the Throssel Hole Soto Zen monastery in England. Now I feel the need to take the next step in my...

Tonglen could be good.

On the inbreath take in ISIL's afflictions and the suffering of the victims, on the outbreath send them all compassion.

Yeah it should be voluntary, ideally; the teachings should be free I think. But I do understand that isn't always possible, sometimes a moderate fee should be OK. It depends what the money is spent on, of course a functioning monastery has costs they need to cover, but I don't think people coming fo...

Subjective truths are "mere" opinions, and there are many of those. Objective truth is unknowable, or at least unverifiable. Then it's irrelevant. However, there is nothing subjective in a rock falling to the ground, subjectivity and objectivity actually mean something. Of course we can a...