Some questions about Buddhism
-
Just wondering, 1) can a layman buddhist like me go into heaven ? Please
listen to my story.. Even since the age of sixteen before O level, my
grandma pass away.. I began to realise what people cannot ecsape the wheel of life, birth, old, sick and death. Death is the beginning of birth... At
the time, I grew depression, began to wonder why are born as a human being, our mission to reborn as a human being... I read many books related to
Buddhism, Dai lama, zen practice since then, I realised that we are born to
practice Dharma, to fulfil our role or misson here, to do more charitable
deeds, to grow more wisdom through praticing the 10 good deeds and five
precept so that everyone can escape the six realms of rebirth before getting
enlightened one day. Since then I try to practice the simple life of a
monk, saving money through buying excessive clothes, or other expensive watch or accessories Worn till it tear before to buy new one. No smoking and clubbing. Neither do I have a girlfriend as I think a layman should
find one true love so that we do not hurt other people feelings..
Moreover, I do charitable deeds by helping other people if possible, occasionally practice to chant some surta like Bo lie bo luo mi xing jing.. 2) The first time I chant, I got a strange feeling that I got chant before, plus after
chanting sometimes, I can memorise it easily like poetry till now? Why? I began to wondering am a pure Buddhist in my past times plus when I listen to people chaing Da Bei zhou or other chants, my mind is at ease, feeling
peacefulness and my heart is really pure happy...
However, I do admit I eat meat because I believe a true buddhist also eat
meat if there are no other food in the wild except meat.. Some people take
vegetable only 1st and 15th but they scold vulgarity and do not observe the
five percepts.. I believe throughly that we need to cultivate everyday
through our actions, thoughts and beliefs.. This is the true practice of
Buddhism.. Somestime, I am quite jealous of other people success, however I
try to cut down as jealousy is like the three evil roots part of anger, it
will never end once you havethe feeling...
Lastly, I am on my own wihtout a Dharma teacher to grow more wisdom through by reading more books, to enjoy my life fullest by staying happy, to fulil my role as a son, to be patient when negative thoughts arise as a layman and occasionally chanting to cutivatate.. 3) Will I enlighten one day I wonder?
-
without a learned master ... its still far my fren
-
Originally posted by Naruto23:
Anyone can go to heaven as long as you have good karma. Right, as long as you accumulate good karma through the practise of '10 virtuous deeds' and keeping the 5 precepts so as not to commit bad karma. Going to heaven is not difficult. And you mentioned you read many books related to Buddhism, Dalai Lama and Zen practise, I am very interested to know which books have you read..? Do share with us. Thanks.
Just wondering, 1) can a layman buddhist like me go into heaven ? Please
listen to my story.. Even since the age of sixteen before O level, my
grandma pass away.. I began to realise what people cannot ecsape the wheel of life, birth, old, sick and death. Death is the beginning of birth... At
the time, I grew depression, began to wonder why are born as a human being, our mission to reborn as a human being... I read many books related to
Buddhism, Dai lama, zen practice since then, I realised that we are born to
practice Dharma, to fulfil our role or misson here, to do more charitable
deeds, to grow more wisdom through praticing the 10 good deeds and five
precept so that everyone can escape the six realms of rebirth before getting
enlightened one day. Since then I try to practice the simple life of a
monk, saving money through buying excessive clothes, or other expensive watch or accessories Worn till it tear before to buy new one. No smoking and clubbing. Neither do I have a girlfriend as I think a layman should
find one true love so that we do not hurt other people feelings..
Secondly, whether you lead a simple life of a monk is entirely up to you, it is not necessary that you have to lead a life like a monk in order to practise. Many great lay practitioners have a thriving business and enjoys good life, although they would not be too attached to luxury etc and are usually generious in giving what they have. Also as you should have known, the teaching of Middle Way is core in Buddhism. Middle way can apply to alot of situation. It first started when the Buddha realised that neither indulging in sensual pleasures, nor his practise of ascetism, could lead to Enlightenment. He stopped all these and sat under the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment. So the Buddha taught that we should practise the middle way, that is, not become extreme. So in your case, it translate to, not indulging too much in luxuries and sensual enjoyment, but also we have to make a living and have what is necessary. You don't have to live like a hermit.
The habit of smoking and clubbing is also detrimental to our Buddhist cultivation, and all such self-serving habits/'habit energy' must be eliminated through our practise. It is also part of purifying our minds. In fact my shi fu says, the very least a Buddhist practitioner must accomplish is to eliminate our self-serving habits.
5 Precepts and 10 Virtuous deeds, as I mentioned earlier, is only a means of accumulating good karma and also to prevent accumulating any bad karma but it does not lead to enlightenment. It is very important, it is a good practise, but it will not lead you to liberation.
Buddhism is different from any other religion because it emphasizes that we must purify our minds. Our mind is the source of all good, all bad, all thoughts, all afflictions, all sufferings and so on. We must treat the problem at the root. We must eliminate the root of suffering before we can find the unconditional and eternal Bliss of Nirvana in our lives. Buddhism is a culture of bliss, as it is the way of living in perfect bliss in the midst of Life through the cultivation of dharma. The Buddhist practise of mindful awareness allows us to watch our every arising thought, and not become misled by these thoughts into further samsaric cycles. Since you have read many 'Buddhism, Dalai Lama and Zen' books, I think you should have a rough idea of what I am talking about.
And I find it very strange that you do not have any girlfriend... because you want to find true love? Care to explain that a little? Because as far as I know, although I do not claim to have lots of experience, you can only find true love if you date someone and your relationship becomes deepened as a result. -
(continued from the previous post, post segmented to prevent expiry)
[quote]Lastly, I am on my own wihtout a Dharma teacher to grow more wisdom through by reading more books, to enjoy my life fullest by staying happy, to fulil my role as a son, to be patient when negative thoughts arise as a layman and occasionally chanting to cutivatate.. 3) Will I enlighten one day I wonder?Moreover, I do charitable deeds by helping other people if possible, occasionally practice to chant some surta like Bo lie bo luo mi xing jing.. 2) The first time I chant, I got a strange feeling that I got chant before, plus after
chanting sometimes, I can memorise it easily like poetry till now? Why? I began to wondering am a pure Buddhist in my past times plus when I listen to people chaing Da Bei zhou or other chants, my mind is at ease, feeling
peacefulness and my heart is really pure happy...[/quote]
It could be that you have a karmic affinity with that sutra. For me, I do believe I have karmic affinity with Heart Sutra because I had a sudden understanding of that passage when I was quite young which was quite shocking for me. My mother for instance could memorise Da Bei Zhou only listening a few times and also has an affinity with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, so we believe that she may have recited it in a previous lifetime. And yes.. when we listen to chanting, it will have a calming effect on us.However, I do admit I eat meat because I believe a true buddhist also eat
There are fruits, etc. Anyway I also eat meat because lay disciples are not banned from eating meat, although it is recommended that one takes up vegetarianism in Mahayana Buddhism. In Theravada Buddhism, there is no tradition of vegetarianism. Monks accept whatever the lay has to offer unless it's not suitable for eating (i.e rotten, or some other kinds of animals that are not usually eaten)
meat if there are no other food in the wild except meat..
In general, when a Buddhist eats meat, he should make sure that he eats meat according to the '5 pure meat' principle:
See entire article here:
Five Clean Sources of Meat
(1) That he did not slaughter the animal personally
(2) That he did not instruct others to slaughter
(3) That the slaughter was not committed for his sake
(4) That he did not witness the slaughter
(5) That he did not hear the cries associated with the slaughterSome people take
That is indeed not living up the purpose of taking up vegetarianism, which is to practise great compassion.
vegetable only 1st and 15th but they scold vulgarity and do not observe the
five percepts..I believe throughly that we need to cultivate everyday
Very true.
through our actions, thoughts and beliefs.. This is the true practice of
Buddhism.. Somestime, I am quite jealous of other people success, however I
try to cut down as jealousy is like the three evil roots part of anger, it
will never end once you havethe feeling...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Desire is a chain, shackled to the world, and it is a difficult one to
break. But once that is done, there is no more grief and no more longing;
the stream has been cut off and there are no more chains.
- Sutta Nipata 948 [/b]I do agree with Bohiruci that a Buddhist teacher is very important on our spiritual path to guide us and direct us to greater achievements in our cultivation. And also to join a sangha that will encourage and motivate each other to learn and cultivate the dharma. We may be unknowingly misled if we just depend on ourselves, and no one to ask if we have any wrong concepts. In fact following a realised Buddhist teacher is important.
Also regarding chanting, my shi fu says - "Chanting sutra is not as good as understanding sutra, understanding sutra is not as walking/cultivating according to the sutra, and cultivating according to sutra is not as good as truly realising the essence (zheng4) of that sutra"
Will you become enlightened one day? Of course. Every single sentient being in the world will become enlightened. This is because in everyone of us, our Buddha Nature is already perfect. It always is perfect, however, due to our ignorance we covered it up, just like dust covered a bright mirror and we couldnt see it. If we practise the purification of our mind, if we practise mindfulness in our everyday lives, then gradually the bright mirror will be revealed and the dust will be removed.
There is no lack of enlightened people in the world in history, and in the present. In fact there are some highly realised people even in our forum (I am not included, I am only a learner) whose achievements and cultivation is great. They too, are lay Buddhists like you and me, and are married. -
And I find it very strange that you do not have any girlfriend... because you want to find true love? Care to explain that a little?
No, I havnt really find a girlfriend yet as I seldom go out with lady.. An averge looking person. How to find? Anyway, I am still young and thanks for the prompt advice, and some more questions again, how to get a teacher to truly teach you as I think not anyhow anywhere can find a master who want to teach you and is there some library to borrow more Buddhism related books beside our national library and some classes to attend to learn the meaning of sutra? Thanks a lot in advance once again! Amitabha!
-
Yes . u cannot learn the meaning of a sutra just by readingOriginally posted by Naruto23:
for pureland teachings u have to go to temple who have dharma talks on pureland
and anyway ... you need to go back to have a solid foundation
i will recommend PKS Dharma Class for you
or Dharma class held in Buddhist library ,english and chinese
or at Sagaramudra Buddhist Institute in Geylang road -
Hi Naruto23,Originally posted by Naruto23:
There are many centres that have good collection of dharma books, like Buddhist Lodge, Buddhist Library at The Buddhist Library at No. 2, Lorong 24A Geylang Road, Singapore 398526. They also hold regular classes and talks for the public. There will also be events posted on this forum on classes and talks, which you could refer too.
For the lady part, you don't have to worry, there will be someone somewhere for you. Worse come worse, join SDS or SDU lor.