Many who start meditating try to meditate too long too soon. They start off trying to meditation for an hour. Soon they find they are not meditating at all.
I would like to recommend consistency of practice over length of time. In my own practice I have found that if I try for long meditation times, I fail to be consistent in meditating. But if I do shorter meditation times it is easier to be consistent.
Some people seem to think that an hour of meditation is better than a week of five minute a day meditations. But I disagree. I think it is far better to meditate daily and train the mind to be mindful every day. It reminds us to be mindful throughout the day.
I suggest starting with five or ten minutes a day of vipassana meditation. Don't increase your time too soon or by too much. Then try to bring yourself back to mindfulness as you go through the day. The point is to live a life of mindfulness. As Thich Nhat Hanh says in The Miracle of Mindfulness, "Every day and every hour, one should practice mindfulness."
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Buddhism and Magic
The Buddha's view of magic is explained by Huston Smith in his book The World's Religions, "Buddha preached a religion devoid of the supernatural. He condemned all forms of divination, soothsaying, and forecasting as low arts, and, though he concluded from his own experience that the human mind was capable of powers now referred to as paranormal, he refused to allow his monks to play around with those powers. 'By this you shall know that a man is not my disciple - that he tries to work a miracle.'"[97]
In fact, in one of the Sutras, they are called hindrances. This is because they distract a person from the path to enlightenment. You cannot not walk the path of power and the path of wisdom. As a Buddhist I choose the path of wisdom. It is the only path to Nirvana.
In fact, in one of the Sutras, they are called hindrances. This is because they distract a person from the path to enlightenment. You cannot not walk the path of power and the path of wisdom. As a Buddhist I choose the path of wisdom. It is the only path to Nirvana.
Loving-kindness Wish
May you be happy
May you be safe and protected from all danger and harm
May you be healthy in body and mind
May you live with ease and well-being
May you be free
May you be safe and protected from all danger and harm
May you be healthy in body and mind
May you live with ease and well-being
May you be free
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
My First Buddhist Christmas
So we are weeks away from Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ. Yet I am no longer a Christian. How does a Buddhist celebrate Christmas? Enjoy the spirit of giving, the spirit of love, without worshiping the man. Buddhists can respect the ideals exemplified in Jesus Christ. There are elements of true wisdom in Christianity. I speak of the teachings of love and humility. Buddhists aren't against Christ. He is a teacher of much wisdom, especially from the Gnostic viewpoint. But the teaching doesn't go far enough. It never teaches the path to Nirvana, the path of insight meditation.
So as a Buddhist we approach Christmas from a secular point of view. We don't worship, though we respect the good that Christianity has done. We don't hate Christianity, we transcend it. We go beyond it into the pure experience of no-mind, Nirvana. Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and gift giving are all part of the secular society we live in. And they are fine. You could even say Buddhist go further than secular society. We respect the ideals found in the best representatives of Christianity. Love, compassion, wisdom, and non-violence. These we respect and seek, but on the Buddhist path.
So on my first non-Christian Christmas I humbly respect my past heritage for the good that is in it. I respect the holiday as a time of remembering what's good in Christianity. At the same time there is a distance. I will not be in church this year. I will not be singing Christmas carols of worship to the new born king. Yes I will listen to the music, but I will do so from a distance.
So as a Buddhist we approach Christmas from a secular point of view. We don't worship, though we respect the good that Christianity has done. We don't hate Christianity, we transcend it. We go beyond it into the pure experience of no-mind, Nirvana. Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and gift giving are all part of the secular society we live in. And they are fine. You could even say Buddhist go further than secular society. We respect the ideals found in the best representatives of Christianity. Love, compassion, wisdom, and non-violence. These we respect and seek, but on the Buddhist path.
So on my first non-Christian Christmas I humbly respect my past heritage for the good that is in it. I respect the holiday as a time of remembering what's good in Christianity. At the same time there is a distance. I will not be in church this year. I will not be singing Christmas carols of worship to the new born king. Yes I will listen to the music, but I will do so from a distance.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Common Mistakes Christians Make About Buddhism
The first mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that Buddha is a god. He is not a god, he is not a Son of God, he is not a Savior, he is not a prophet or seer. Buddha is a man, an awakened man. That is all, and that is everything.
The second mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that Buddhist pray to Buddha. We do not pray to Buddha, nor do we pray to gods. Prayer in Buddhism is more like a confession than a prayer. It is simply an expression of thankfulness and compassion. We say it not for the sake of gods, but for the sake of humans - for ourselves and those listening.
The third mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that it is just another belief system like Christianity. Although Buddhism does have teachings, the teachings are secondary at best. The important think in Buddhism is meditation. You could say that Christianity makes believers, but Buddhism makes practiononers. It is all about experiencing reality yourself. Faith is secondary.
The fourth mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that the Scritures, which are called Sutras, as viewed the same way a Christian views the Bible. The Buddhist Sutras are the collection of books written in the early years of Buddhist that give us an interpretation of the Buddha's teaching, which is called the Dharma. These writings are not inspired, they are not infallible, and they are not authoritative in the way the Bible is. Rather they are treated as doorways to the practice of Buddhism; the practice itself is the place where you find Buddism's authority - it is your own personal experience. Nothing is authoritative except what experience shows you.
The fifth mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that Buddhist want to convert you. We do not. Buddhist don't believe that it is the only right religion, only that it is the right path for them. Christianity didn't work for me, Buddhism does. If Christianity works for you, stay with it. If it makes you a more loving and compassionate person, great. For me it just maked me a judgmental ass, thinking I was the only one who was right. Ask my ex-wives if you dought me.
And the list could go on, but I will stop with five. Its a beginning. But I must confess that some of these misunderstandings are caused by us Buddhist. Many of the older translations refer to Buddha as Lord Buddha, but simply mean Master not God. The statutes of Buddha confuse Christians, they think we worship them. We don't anymore than Christians worship pictures of Jesus or the cross they wear around their neck. But they can get the wrong impression.
The second mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that Buddhist pray to Buddha. We do not pray to Buddha, nor do we pray to gods. Prayer in Buddhism is more like a confession than a prayer. It is simply an expression of thankfulness and compassion. We say it not for the sake of gods, but for the sake of humans - for ourselves and those listening.
The third mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that it is just another belief system like Christianity. Although Buddhism does have teachings, the teachings are secondary at best. The important think in Buddhism is meditation. You could say that Christianity makes believers, but Buddhism makes practiononers. It is all about experiencing reality yourself. Faith is secondary.
The fourth mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that the Scritures, which are called Sutras, as viewed the same way a Christian views the Bible. The Buddhist Sutras are the collection of books written in the early years of Buddhist that give us an interpretation of the Buddha's teaching, which is called the Dharma. These writings are not inspired, they are not infallible, and they are not authoritative in the way the Bible is. Rather they are treated as doorways to the practice of Buddhism; the practice itself is the place where you find Buddism's authority - it is your own personal experience. Nothing is authoritative except what experience shows you.
The fifth mistake Christians make about Buddhism is thinking that Buddhist want to convert you. We do not. Buddhist don't believe that it is the only right religion, only that it is the right path for them. Christianity didn't work for me, Buddhism does. If Christianity works for you, stay with it. If it makes you a more loving and compassionate person, great. For me it just maked me a judgmental ass, thinking I was the only one who was right. Ask my ex-wives if you dought me.
And the list could go on, but I will stop with five. Its a beginning. But I must confess that some of these misunderstandings are caused by us Buddhist. Many of the older translations refer to Buddha as Lord Buddha, but simply mean Master not God. The statutes of Buddha confuse Christians, they think we worship them. We don't anymore than Christians worship pictures of Jesus or the cross they wear around their neck. But they can get the wrong impression.
Five Results of Mindfulness
"Practitioners, the four Foundations of Mindfulness is the one and only way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destroying of pain and grief, for reaching the right path, for the realization of Nirvana" (Satipatthana Sutra).
Satipatthana is the four objects of mindfulness. Mindfulness is attentiveness directed to the present moment. It includes bare attention and clear comprehension.
There are five results of mindfulness clearly expressed in this Sutra. They are:
1. The Purification of Beings,
2. The Overcoming of Sorrow and Lamentation,
3. The Destroying of Pain and Grief,
4. Reaching the Right Path,
5. The Realization of Nirvana.
Satipatthana is the four objects of mindfulness. Mindfulness is attentiveness directed to the present moment. It includes bare attention and clear comprehension.
There are five results of mindfulness clearly expressed in this Sutra. They are:
1. The Purification of Beings,
2. The Overcoming of Sorrow and Lamentation,
3. The Destroying of Pain and Grief,
4. Reaching the Right Path,
5. The Realization of Nirvana.
The Only Way for the Realization of Nirvana
There is a sacred book in the Buddhist canon called the Satipatthana Sutra. Satipatthana is usually translated as Foundations of Mindfulness. There is actually two versions of it in the Buddhist Scriptures, a longer and a shorter version. The longer version includes the Four Noble Truths.
Here is the paragraph that stood out to me, "This is the sole way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destroying of pain and grief, for reaching the right path, for the realization of Nibbana [Nirvana], namely the four Foundations of Mindfulness." (Thw Heart of Buddhist Meditation, p. 117.
Maurice Walshe translates the longer version this way, "There is, monks, this one way...". Ven. Soma renders it: "This is the only way, O bhikkhus...". And although Nanamoli and Bodhi translate the shorter version as "this is the direct path...", they readily admit that "virtually all translators understand this as a statement upholding satipatthana as an exclusive path." In other words it is the one and only path to Nirvana.
Just think of the implications of what this means. If the only way to Nirvana is through the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, then any other path is missing the boat. You can name a hundred other Buddhist activities, but none of those are said to be the means to Nirvana. Mindfulness is the one way to the realization of Nirvana. Let that sink in.
And the practice of mindfulness combines samatha or tranquility meditation and vipassana or insight meditation. The two are joined together in satipatthana.
Nyanaponika Thera has written the book The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. He writes, "The teachings of the Buddha offer a great variety of methods of mental training and subjects of meditation, suited to the various individual needs, temperaments and capacities. Yet all these methods ultimately converge in the 'Way of Mindfulness' called by the Master himself 'the Only Way'... The Way of Minfulness may therefore rightly be called 'the heart of Buddhist meditation' or even 'the heart of the entire doctrine'...."
Where do you start? Start with the book The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. Then I would recommend Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Heneploa Gunaratana. And finally, stop reading and start meditating. These two books will give you the why and the how, only you can do the activity of meditation. And it is ultimately all about doing the stuff that matters.
Here is the paragraph that stood out to me, "This is the sole way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destroying of pain and grief, for reaching the right path, for the realization of Nibbana [Nirvana], namely the four Foundations of Mindfulness." (Thw Heart of Buddhist Meditation, p. 117.
Maurice Walshe translates the longer version this way, "There is, monks, this one way...". Ven. Soma renders it: "This is the only way, O bhikkhus...". And although Nanamoli and Bodhi translate the shorter version as "this is the direct path...", they readily admit that "virtually all translators understand this as a statement upholding satipatthana as an exclusive path." In other words it is the one and only path to Nirvana.
Just think of the implications of what this means. If the only way to Nirvana is through the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, then any other path is missing the boat. You can name a hundred other Buddhist activities, but none of those are said to be the means to Nirvana. Mindfulness is the one way to the realization of Nirvana. Let that sink in.
And the practice of mindfulness combines samatha or tranquility meditation and vipassana or insight meditation. The two are joined together in satipatthana.
Nyanaponika Thera has written the book The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. He writes, "The teachings of the Buddha offer a great variety of methods of mental training and subjects of meditation, suited to the various individual needs, temperaments and capacities. Yet all these methods ultimately converge in the 'Way of Mindfulness' called by the Master himself 'the Only Way'... The Way of Minfulness may therefore rightly be called 'the heart of Buddhist meditation' or even 'the heart of the entire doctrine'...."
Where do you start? Start with the book The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. Then I would recommend Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Heneploa Gunaratana. And finally, stop reading and start meditating. These two books will give you the why and the how, only you can do the activity of meditation. And it is ultimately all about doing the stuff that matters.
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