Treatment of Dharma books and materials while travelling

[KiwiNFLFan]

Tomorrow I'm leaving behind my life in New Zealand to start a new career in Korea. I'm wondering about travelling with Dharma materials (a mala) and books.

I've heard that in Tibetan Buddhism, one should not take sacred objects into a bathroom. This thing about 'unclean areas' is one of the only things I don't particularly like about Tibetan Buddhism, as it seems like a carry-over from Hinduism and doesn't fit with a religion which is about training the mind rather than placating the whims of a deity/deities. This is one thing that keeps me from (at present) identifying as a Tibetan Buddhist and rather as a Mahayana Buddhist (plus I really like the East Asian form of Avalokiteshvara, as well as Tara!)

So what do you do if you're on a multi-stage flight, you're at the airport with a mala in your pocket and a Dharma book in your backpack and you have to use the bathroom? Take your valuables out of your bag with the Dharma items in it and ask someone to watch it while you carry your valuables into the bathroom? It's really not a good time to be creating bad karma when you're 33,000 feet in the air...

[Tata1]

Treating dharma items with respect is another form of mind training. Its not about the "whims" of yidams

You can leave your things inside your bag

[jmlee369]

Tomorrow I'm leaving behind my life in New Zealand to start a new career in Korea. I'm wondering about travelling with Dharma materials (a mala) and books.

I've heard that in Tibetan Buddhism, one should not take sacred objects into a bathroom. This thing about 'unclean areas' is one of the only things I don't particularly like about Tibetan Buddhism, as it seems like a carry-over from Hinduism and doesn't fit with a religion which is about training the mind rather than placating the whims of a deity/deities. This is one thing that keeps me from (at present) identifying as a Tibetan Buddhist and rather as a Mahayana Buddhist (plus I really like the East Asian form of Avalokiteshvara, as well as Tara!)

So what do you do if you're on a multi-stage flight, you're at the airport with a mala in your pocket and a Dharma book in your backpack and you have to use the bathroom? Take your valuables out of your bag with the Dharma items in it and ask someone to watch it while you carry your valuables into the bathroom? It's really not a good time to be creating bad karma when you're 33,000 feet in the air...

Good luck with your future endeavours, but I think you need to relax a bit, be more practical, and less superstitious. Dharma, above all, is about motivation. Anything motivated by the eight worldly concerns is not pure Dharma/virtue. Every action performed without the eight worldly concerns is pure Dharma/virtue. There are many stories that illustrate this.

When you are travelling, you have to be especially practical. While I would prefer not to have my dharma texts and objects under a plane seat, I'd much rather have them on me for security reasons rather than in checked luggage or in the overhead storage bins. I keep everything in my backpack and take it wherever I go, airport bathrooms included. If your mind feels iffy about it, you can visualise the objects being raised above your crown while reciting the mantra "om vajra vega akrama hum"

As for the whole bathroom thing, you will find it across all traditions of Buddhism in Asia. And all traditions expound an ultimate view that goes beyond ordinary conceptions of cleanliness and dirt. With the exception of Korean Buddhists (owing to the persecution of Buddhism during the Joseon dynasty), showing respect to holy objects by keeping them off the floor, not stepping over them, etc is a pan-Mahayana practice of respect. The Chinese Mahayana temples I have been to have hooks outside their bathrooms for the monastics and laity to take off their ceremonial robes, malas, and any mantra/sutra/image pendants they may have on their bodies before using the toilets. At a Chinese temple, I was corrected by a layman when I took my place at a bowing cushion and left my sutra text on the cushion. While some Chinese temples leave one sutra text for each person on all the bowing cushions when no tables are used, it was considered disrespectful to keep the text on the cushion once I had taken my place there, as sutra texts should be kept above waist level.

Also, it might be worth noting here that any karma created in this life is unlikely to be experienced in the same lifetime, unless you already have some realisations. If you are unable to allay your concerns about your travels (as you mentioned in another thread), may I suggest reciting the Completely Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions Sutra, a method for "protecting oneself from obstacles and all fears particularly when traveling"

[ratna]

If you put this mantra from the Manjushri Root Tantra between the pages of your Dharma book, there will be no fault when the book is stepped over, etc.

yige26.PNG (137.8 KiB) Viewed 2280 times

[amanitamusc]

If you put this mantra from the Manjushri Root Tantra between the pages of your Dharma book, there will be no fault when the book is stepped over, etc.

yige26.PNG

Very nice.I will make many a copy.Thanks.

[Simon E.]

Tomorrow I'm leaving behind my life in New Zealand to start a new career in Korea. I'm wondering about travelling with Dharma materials (a mala) and books.

I've heard that in Tibetan Buddhism, one should not take sacred objects into a bathroom. This thing about 'unclean areas' is one of the only things I don't particularly like about Tibetan Buddhism, as it seems like a carry-over from Hinduism and doesn't fit with a religion which is about training the mind rather than placating the whims of a deity/deities. This is one thing that keeps me from (at present) identifying as a Tibetan Buddhist and rather as a Mahayana Buddhist (plus I really like the East Asian form of Avalokiteshvara, as well as Tara!)

So what do you do if you're on a multi-stage flight, you're at the airport with a mala in your pocket and a Dharma book in your backpack and you have to use the bathroom? Take your valuables out of your bag with the Dharma items in it and ask someone to watch it while you carry your valuables into the bathroom? It's really not a good time to be creating bad karma when you're 33,000 feet in the air...

Good luck with your future endeavours, but I think you need to relax a bit, be more practical, and less superstitious. Dharma, above all, is about motivation. Anything motivated by the eight worldly concerns is not pure Dharma/virtue. Every action performed without the eight worldly concerns is pure Dharma/virtue. There are many stories that illustrate this.

When you are travelling, you have to be especially practical. While I would prefer not to have my dharma texts and objects under a plane seat, I'd much rather have them on me for security reasons rather than in checked luggage or in the overhead storage bins. I keep everything in my backpack and take it wherever I go, airport bathrooms included. If your mind feels iffy about it, you can visualise the objects being raised above your crown while reciting the mantra "om vajra vega akrama hum"

As for the whole bathroom thing, you will find it across all traditions of Buddhism in Asia. And all traditions expound an ultimate view that goes beyond ordinary conceptions of cleanliness and dirt. With the exception of Korean Buddhists (owing to the persecution of Buddhism during the Joseon dynasty), showing respect to holy objects by keeping them off the floor, not stepping over them, etc is a pan-Mahayana practice of respect. The Chinese Mahayana temples I have been to have hooks outside their bathrooms for the monastics and laity to take off their ceremonial robes, malas, and any mantra/sutra/image pendants they may have on their bodies before using the toilets. At a Chinese temple, I was corrected by a layman when I took my place at a bowing cushion and left my sutra text on the cushion. While some Chinese temples leave one sutra text for each person on all the bowing cushions when no tables are used, it was considered disrespectful to keep the text on the cushion once I had taken my place there, as sutra texts should be kept above waist level.

Also, it might be worth noting here that any karma created in this life is unlikely to be experienced in the same lifetime, unless you already have some realisations. If you are unable to allay your concerns about your travels (as you mentioned in another thread), may I suggest reciting the Completely Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions Sutra, a method for "protecting oneself from obstacles and all fears particularly when traveling"

Good post. We are not required to become medieval Tibetans in order to follow the Vajrayana. Motive is all.
Over the centuries and millennia many accretions have stuck to the way that Buddhadharma is perceived.
We need to use our little grey cells to see what is relevant to us and what can be safely put to one side. And that might vary from person to person. If you are naturally inclined to sloppiness and chaos then it might be a good thing to give special consideration to Dharma objects.
If you are a little on the OCD side then sitting lightly to these things might be in order.

Finger and moon as always.

[tobes]

Simon E nails it here.

Hope your journey and new beginnings are auspicious.

[amanitamusc]

Tomorrow I'm leaving behind my life in New Zealand to start a new career in Korea. I'm wondering about travelling with Dharma materials (a mala) and books.

I've heard that in Tibetan Buddhism, one should not take sacred objects into a bathroom. This thing about 'unclean areas' is one of the only things I don't particularly like about Tibetan Buddhism, as it seems like a carry-over from Hinduism and doesn't fit with a religion which is about training the mind rather than placating the whims of a deity/deities. This is one thing that keeps me from (at present) identifying as a Tibetan Buddhist and rather as a Mahayana Buddhist (plus I really like the East Asian form of Avalokiteshvara, as well as Tara!)

So what do you do if you're on a multi-stage flight, you're at the airport with a mala in your pocket and a Dharma book in your backpack and you have to use the bathroom? Take your valuables out of your bag with the Dharma items in it and ask someone to watch it while you carry your valuables into the bathroom? It's really not a good time to be creating bad karma when you're 33,000 feet in the air...

Good luck with your future endeavours, but I think you need to relax a bit, be more practical, and less superstitious. Dharma, above all, is about motivation. Anything motivated by the eight worldly concerns is not pure Dharma/virtue. Every action performed without the eight worldly concerns is pure Dharma/virtue. There are many stories that illustrate this.

When you are travelling, you have to be especially practical. While I would prefer not to have my dharma texts and objects under a plane seat, I'd much rather have them on me for security reasons rather than in checked luggage or in the overhead storage bins. I keep everything in my backpack and take it wherever I go, airport bathrooms included. If your mind feels iffy about it, you can visualise the objects being raised above your crown while reciting the mantra "om vajra vega akrama hum"

As for the whole bathroom thing, you will find it across all traditions of Buddhism in Asia. And all traditions expound an ultimate view that goes beyond ordinary conceptions of cleanliness and dirt. With the exception of Korean Buddhists (owing to the persecution of Buddhism during the Joseon dynasty), showing respect to holy objects by keeping them off the floor, not stepping over them, etc is a pan-Mahayana practice of respect. The Chinese Mahayana temples I have been to have hooks outside their bathrooms for the monastics and laity to take off their ceremonial robes, malas, and any mantra/sutra/image pendants they may have on their bodies before using the toilets. At a Chinese temple, I was corrected by a layman when I took my place at a bowing cushion and left my sutra text on the cushion. While some Chinese temples leave one sutra text for each person on all the bowing cushions when no tables are used, it was considered disrespectful to keep the text on the cushion once I had taken my place there, as sutra texts should be kept above waist level.

Also, it might be worth noting here that any karma created in this life is unlikely to be experienced in the same lifetime, unless you already have some realisations. If you are unable to allay your concerns about your travels (as you mentioned in another thread), may I suggest reciting the Completely Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions Sutra, a method for "protecting oneself from obstacles and all fears particularly when traveling"

Good post. We are not required to become medieval Tibetans in order to follow the Vajrayana. Motive is all.
Over the centuries and millennia many accretions have stuck to the way that Buddhadharma is perceived.
We need to use our little grey cells to see what is relevant to us and what can be safely put to one side. And that might vary from person to person. If you are naturally inclined to sloppiness and chaos then it might be a good thing to give special consideration to Dharma objects.
If you are a little on the OCD side then sitting lightly to these things might be in order.

Finger and moon as always.

Sadly some people have used this to promote the new mindfulness without Buddhism.

[amanitamusc]

Good luck with your future endeavours, but I think you need to relax a bit, be more practical, and less superstitious. Dharma, above all, is about motivation. Anything motivated by the eight worldly concerns is not pure Dharma/virtue. Every action performed without the eight worldly concerns is pure Dharma/virtue. There are many stories that illustrate this.

When you are travelling, you have to be especially practical. While I would prefer not to have my dharma texts and objects under a plane seat, I'd much rather have them on me for security reasons rather than in checked luggage or in the overhead storage bins. I keep everything in my backpack and take it wherever I go, airport bathrooms included. If your mind feels iffy about it, you can visualise the objects being raised above your crown while reciting the mantra "om vajra vega akrama hum"

As for the whole bathroom thing, you will find it across all traditions of Buddhism in Asia. And all traditions expound an ultimate view that goes beyond ordinary conceptions of cleanliness and dirt. With the exception of Korean Buddhists (owing to the persecution of Buddhism during the Joseon dynasty), showing respect to holy objects by keeping them off the floor, not stepping over them, etc is a pan-Mahayana practice of respect. The Chinese Mahayana temples I have been to have hooks outside their bathrooms for the monastics and laity to take off their ceremonial robes, malas, and any mantra/sutra/image pendants they may have on their bodies before using the toilets. At a Chinese temple, I was corrected by a layman when I took my place at a bowing cushion and left my sutra text on the cushion. While some Chinese temples leave one sutra text for each person on all the bowing cushions when no tables are used, it was considered disrespectful to keep the text on the cushion once I had taken my place there, as sutra texts should be kept above waist level.

Also, it might be worth noting here that any karma created in this life is unlikely to be experienced in the same lifetime, unless you already have some realisations. If you are unable to allay your concerns about your travels (as you mentioned in another thread), may I suggest reciting the Completely Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions Sutra, a method for "protecting oneself from obstacles and all fears particularly when traveling"

Good post. We are not required to become medieval Tibetans in order to follow the Vajrayana. Motive is all.
Over the centuries and millennia many accretions have stuck to the way that Buddhadharma is perceived.
We need to use our little grey cells to see what is relevant to us and what can be safely put to one side. And that might vary from person to person. If you are naturally inclined to sloppiness and chaos then it might be a good thing to give special consideration to Dharma objects.
If you are a little on the OCD side then sitting lightly to these things might be in order.

Finger and moon as always.

Sadly some people have used this to promote the new mindfulness without Buddhism.

I agree with your post.Its just that some would twist and use it to apply practices that you
could hardly recognize as Buddhist.

[Simon E.]

Good luck with your future endeavours, but I think you need to relax a bit, be more practical, and less superstitious. Dharma, above all, is about motivation. Anything motivated by the eight worldly concerns is not pure Dharma/virtue. Every action performed without the eight worldly concerns is pure Dharma/virtue. There are many stories that illustrate this.

When you are travelling, you have to be especially practical. While I would prefer not to have my dharma texts and objects under a plane seat, I'd much rather have them on me for security reasons rather than in checked luggage or in the overhead storage bins. I keep everything in my backpack and take it wherever I go, airport bathrooms included. If your mind feels iffy about it, you can visualise the objects being raised above your crown while reciting the mantra "om vajra vega akrama hum"

As for the whole bathroom thing, you will find it across all traditions of Buddhism in Asia. And all traditions expound an ultimate view that goes beyond ordinary conceptions of cleanliness and dirt. With the exception of Korean Buddhists (owing to the persecution of Buddhism during the Joseon dynasty), showing respect to holy objects by keeping them off the floor, not stepping over them, etc is a pan-Mahayana practice of respect. The Chinese Mahayana temples I have been to have hooks outside their bathrooms for the monastics and laity to take off their ceremonial robes, malas, and any mantra/sutra/image pendants they may have on their bodies before using the toilets. At a Chinese temple, I was corrected by a layman when I took my place at a bowing cushion and left my sutra text on the cushion. While some Chinese temples leave one sutra text for each person on all the bowing cushions when no tables are used, it was considered disrespectful to keep the text on the cushion once I had taken my place there, as sutra texts should be kept above waist level.

Also, it might be worth noting here that any karma created in this life is unlikely to be experienced in the same lifetime, unless you already have some realisations. If you are unable to allay your concerns about your travels (as you mentioned in another thread), may I suggest reciting the Completely Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions Sutra, a method for "protecting oneself from obstacles and all fears particularly when traveling"

Good post. We are not required to become medieval Tibetans in order to follow the Vajrayana. Motive is all.
Over the centuries and millennia many accretions have stuck to the way that Buddhadharma is perceived.
We need to use our little grey cells to see what is relevant to us and what can be safely put to one side. And that might vary from person to person. If you are naturally inclined to sloppiness and chaos then it might be a good thing to give special consideration to Dharma objects.
If you are a little on the OCD side then sitting lightly to these things might be in order.

Finger and moon as always.

Sadly some people have used this to promote the new mindfulness without Buddhism.

Mindfulness without Buddhadharma is a finger pointing to the sky on a moonless night.

[Fortyeightvows]

If you put this mantra from the Manjushri Root Tantra between the pages of your Dharma book, there will be no fault when the book is stepped over, etc.

yige26.PNG

Wow! So that's what that is!
I see it printed on the last page of alot of books and always wondered why.
Thanks alot!

[Fortyeightvows]

If you put this mantra from the Manjushri Root Tantra between the pages of your Dharma book, there will be no fault when the book is stepped over, etc.

How did you learn that?

[ratna]

How did you learn that?

That's what the text in Tibetan on the bottom says.

[Fortyeightvows]

Great. Now I know why that is printed in so many texts! Thanks alot

[明安 Myoan]

If you put this mantra from the Manjushri Root Tantra between the pages of your Dharma book, there will be no fault when the book is stepped over, etc.

yige26.PNG