Great debate with my dad. And I need help.

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MatthewAngby
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Re: Great debate with my dad. And I need help.

Post by MatthewAngby »

practitioner wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2018 4:16 am
MatthewAngby wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:49 am
Cianan wrote: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:48 pm

:good:
Matthew, you should be focused on attending to your own practice and faults. A teacher is absolutely indispensable for this. Lovingly work to benefit others while genuinely establishing yourself in dharma—don't proselytize, inspire.
This will be very off topic but - what if your teacher is somewhere far away, and you only have the resident Lama to talk to. How will you gain the blessings of the teacher ?
How lucky you are to have a resident lama to teach you!
Yes, I will be going to meet him next week I think. But still, what if my root guru is in another country , how can I gain the blessings of the root guru ? ( I do not have a root guru yet ... that’s what I think )
The force is my ally...and a powerful ally it is - Yoda
Soma999
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Re: Great debate with my dad. And I need help.

Post by Soma999 »

It's good to ask questions and reflect. But one moment, you have to practice.

You can spent years asking questions, and what if this, and what if that... it never ends. One moment you have to practice, and i think quiet a good amount of informations have been given to you.

Convincing anyone to become buddhist or anything else is, from my point of view, a complete waste of time and energy.

First : people who try to convince you to convert to this or that are from my point of view completly boring.

And then : you can only inspire. If you are happy, full of joy, full of wisdom, you don't haver to speak. people will come to you because of what you are shining. You can not convert. You can inspire.

And being a buddhist is really not something important.

But being human is quiet an achievement.
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Cianan
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Re: Great debate with my dad. And I need help.

Post by Cianan »

MatthewAngby wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:34 am
practitioner wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2018 4:16 am
MatthewAngby wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:49 am
This will be very off topic but - what if your teacher is somewhere far away, and you only have the resident Lama to talk to. How will you gain the blessings of the teacher ?
How lucky you are to have a resident lama to teach you!
Yes, I will be going to meet him next week I think. But still, what if my root guru is in another country , how can I gain the blessings of the root guru ? ( I do not have a root guru yet ... that’s what I think )
According to the Nyingma and Dzogchen traditions, your root guru is they who brought you to authentic recognition of the nature of mind. Heartfelt devotion will make you a receptive vessel for their blessings. However distant you may be from them, practice guru yoga and single-pointedly pray to your root guru with this heartfelt devotion. Given that your samaya is unbroken and vows are upheld, blessings will surely come.

However, it doesn't sound as though that should be your concern right now. Exert yourself greatly in the four contemplations that turn the mind away from samsara and bodhicitta. Read sutras and essential texts from excellent masters of the past such as the Bodhicaryavatara and The Words of My Perfect Teacher. These aren't formalities or distractions from "the real stuff" in Vajrayana but the actual foundation of genuine dharmic practice.

It is very fortunate indeed to have a resident lama to consult! Rejoice in that opportunity.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Great debate with my dad. And I need help.

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Except for the activities of members of Soka Gakai, I have never heard of Buddhists trying to convert people, meaning proselytizing.
I don't know of any "evangelical Buddhism" In other words, unless specifically asked, no intentional effort is made to try to "hook" people.
That is because of the understanding of karma and interdependence. So, it's like standing on a street corner, holding up a large mirror.
A mirror doesn't try to capture people's reflections. But, if because of conditions and karma, a person is walking by, and they look at the mirror, then they will see their reflection.
So, Buddhists do try to make the teachings available to people. Monks go out into the market and so on. In Buddha's time, monks spread the dharma, and it may have been a lot of preaching on street corners, but mainly, I think, it's more, "here are the teachings, if you want them".
And when situations arise in daily life, and people are troubled by circumstances and events, you can offer a way of looking at things, a buddhist understanding of things that perhaps never occurred to them before.
More often than not, for a lay person whose practice is good, people will just notice your calmness, your kindness, or whatever. Just your being will leave a positive impression on them. You don't have to try to convert anybody.
Then they hear someone say, "oh, did you know? That guy is a buddhist." and then they will either start looking into the dharma, to check it outr and see what it is about, or maybe they will come up to you and ask you about it. Then, ask them what they want to know.Tell them what you understand to be the teachings.

As far as wishing for wealth goes, it's really all about one's motivation. Everybody wants some wealth. At least, everybody wants to have at least enough to provide them with the means to live without financial difficulty -- which is very different than saying they want enough to be happy!

As someone mentioned, "wealth" isn't in itself a bad thing. But attachment to wealth can cause all sorts of problems.
What does a person want wealth for? Is it so when they die, their children will not be poor? That's not a bad thing.
Is it so they can buy a few Aston Martin cars? Is it so they can help people who are needy?"

If a wealthy person makes a huge donation, say, towards building a buddhist temple or supporting a local buddhist meditation center, and they think "I will get a lot of merit from this" and "I hope everybody sees how generous I am" , the merit they get from donating even a million dollars will be less than that of a person who doesn't have much money, and donates maybe a dollar, or even 25 cents with the pure aspiration that may it help to spread the dharma and benefit countless beings.

There is one more thing to mention about praying for or wishing for wealth, praying to Dzambala or whoever, and that is that you may get something more than monetary wealth. Because, wealth is empty. It is a purely relative concept, and a projection of the mind. So, after praying and meditating on wealth, it may be that an opportunity arises where, if you work very hard, you can make a lot of money. But, you may have to neglect other things. It's always a trade-off. Rarely do we win the lottery. But it is also possible that you might soon find yourself facing some disaster or other unfortunate situation (which of course, is always good for dharma practice!) and having overcome that disaster, you suddenly realize how incredibly wealthy you are with things that really matter. Then, Dzambala will say, "See? you got your wish!"
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EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
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Caoimhghín
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Re: Great debate with my dad. And I need help.

Post by Caoimhghín »

MatthewAngby wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:37 pm There is a lama norlha Puja on 10 Feb, so I wanted to introduce this Puja to my Father’s Friend - because apparently I ttjink he wanted some wealth. An idea struck me - “Hooking” him to Buddhism using this Puja - he gets the wealth and subsequently gets guided on the path of the buddhadharma. However you see, my Father , who obviously is very close minded and not really sure of TB ( I think ), says : I never seen anyone who wants to convert beings to Buddhism using wealth! You remind me of the christians who likes to convert people!
Its called the "Prosperity Gospel", what your friend was talking about. A distinctly "New World", a distinctly "capitalist", & a distinctly "American" (read: former British) form of Christianity that has caught on in a big way in many areas of Africa & Asia (its HUGE in South Korea for instance).

The idea is: people who love God are loved by God. If God loves you he will make that known. God makes people he loves successful and wealthy. The successful and wealthy are loved by God.

Its a counterfeit Dharma even in Christianity.

It comes from the "Protestant Work Ethic". Look up Calvinism and prosperity. In order to justify hard determinism in a monotheistic context, Calvin had to argue that the materially successful are the spiritually successful.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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