Winnie's questions about Buddhism
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Hi I'm creating this thread for Winnie because I think it'll be better to start a thread and leave Metta Lounge for pure chatting... for his original posts see http://buddhism.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=196831&page=17
He askedbut how do we know our true nature?
among other things like rebirth and karma which you can see in the previous thread...
i am blur liao... it's ok... actually i wan to learn how to be a better person first... all these teachings u mentioned is too tough for me to understand...
i do read books about all these and i dun understd at all...
As I wrote previously in another thread:What "circle" or "cycle of life and death" means in Buddhism, is that sentient beings are constantly being reborn in Samsara - the world of sufferings. They are always reborn again in the 6 realms of existence in samsara, according to their karma. Samsara is full of pain and sufferings, even in the Human Existence we have to go through Birth, Ageing, Sickness and Death, and the eight distresses. But even if you are born in a royal family, or even in the celestial/heaven realms, samsaric pleasures are still disatisfactory because of its transiency/impermanence... and by attaching to these transient pleasures thinking they are real and truly existent, permanent, we create even more sufferings. We suffer as we do not know that all compounded phenomena are empty of inherent, permanent, separate existence... and that all arises out of conditions and are always transient. Therefore the Buddha taught that suffering and disatisfactoriness is a fundamental truth in life (i.e first noble truth), however he also teaches the cause of suffering and the solution (second, third, fourth noble truth), the path leading to the liberation from these sufferings.
Awakening is to directly realise our primordially pure Buddha Nature... or pristine awareness. As _wanderer_ nicely wrote regarding anger..
Ultimately, through dharma practise one will realise and experience/get in touch with one's primordial state of pure awareness, or one's Buddha Nature, which is like a clear bright mirror reflecting everything we experience in the world. This is just an analogy (and not a very good one since ultimately even the mirror is not a separate entity from its reflection, but rather it is a form of moment-to-moment 'participatory' awareness). It is also an all pervading presence of 'yourself' connected with the universe, so in this state of pure awareness there is actually no seperation between you and me or the universe, and everything is just spontaneous arising of this pure awareness, and we and all Buddhas are all one in a sense. Sentient beings cannot become liberated from samsara because they are tied down by the bondage of their ignorance and karmic propensities... due to an illusion of duality (means subject-object separation) or a false sense of self, sentient beings are constantly grasping on things and craving for samsaric pleasures and existence, thus undergoing never ending suffering. The 'self' is merely an illusion, based on identification with the 5 skhandas, which is why the Buddha taught about no self. If we were to investigate, we will not find 'self' in the 5 skhandas (five aggregates), or our sensory experiences, or even in our thoughts, and therefore it would be meaningless to grasp on this fictitious idea, which is the root of all ignorance, afflictive emotions and sufferings. Through dharma practise one can also transcend this attachment through insights and awakening. Not only are we being reborn lifetime are lifetime, we are constantly reborn moment after moment even in this very life. This is because of our illusion and attachment to our 'self' and our sentient thoughts (our identification and attachment to thoughts and things caused by ignorance), and the process of identification with a 'self' is continued without an ending until we attain insights and enlightenment. To gain these insights we have to practise the eightfold path in our lives.
So therefore in Buddhism, Buddha showed us the path leading to the complete ending of all sufferings, finding the abiding purity and bliss of Nirvana, to become liberated from the cycle of rebirth in Samsara. Buddha taught that the Buddhas of past and future all teach Buddhism as "avoid all evil, doing all good, and purifying the mind". Most religions only teach "avoid all evil and doing all good", but only Buddhism teaches about liberation and the purification of the mind. The problem with just "avoiding all evil and doing all good" is that as a result we accumulate a lot of good karma and avoid creating bad karma, meaning we can be reborn in the higher realms or even the celestial realms like the heavens, however we still cannot attain nirvana, we cannot be liberated from the cycle of samsara.. and our enjoyment in these higher realms are also limited and transient. Similarly as described just now even if our lives are very good, there is still bound to be unsatisfactoriness and sufferings.. if we cannot be liberated moment to moment. Therefore when we practise Buddhism, also we practise purification of the mind... through mindfulness we become aware of and disidentify from all our sentient thoughts, our habitual tendencies of the mind, the afflictive emotions or the three poisons of Greed, Hatred, Ignorance and so on due to identification with a false sense of self, and the identification is also known as the false 'ego'. Our Buddha Nature is like a clear mirror, our pure awareness, which unfortunately is obscured from us because of a layer of dust, or mental defilements. Through Buddhism we clean the mirror of its defilements to reveal the clear bright mirror underneath. Therefore through practising Buddhism we gain insights into the nature of reality, the nature of our minds, our Buddha Nature, and through awakening from our delusions we find the nirvanic bliss of clarity and liberation from all sufferings in our lives.
...(3) Know that your true nature has never ever been stained by such temporary defilements. Therefore such defilements are removable.
You have to recognize that at that moment you are angry, but you are NOT anger.
Knowing that you are NOT anger is important, because then anger is removable.
Just like when there is a stain on your window, you know that the stain is not part of your window, that is why you will clean away the stain. If you don't believe that the stain is removable, if you thought that the stain were part of the window, then you wouldn't even attempt to clean it away.
Likewise, when your anger arises, recognize the fact that you want to and you can actually remove anger is because it was never part of your true nature. Know that the stain is clean-able. The anger and all other defilements are removable. Your original nature (often referred to as Buddha Nature, or Tathagatha-garbha, or kham) is primordially pure and unstained...
...(6) Aspire that one day you will be able to enjoy defilements.
Right now we're still trying to clean the window. Therefore we have methods such as "letting go of the anger", "generating compassion" etc - these are all the practice of "cleaning the stains away". When we practice long enough, we will gradually see the "appearance of a clean window" - i.e. our minds become kinder, softer, etc...
But actually there is no such thing as the "appearance of a clean window", because the window has never been dirtied before. Remember? The stain was never part of the window. Therefore, while clearing away the stain allows the "clean" window to appear, after your cleaning, the window is not any cleaner, nor is it any less dirty.
Therefore, the stains (defilements) were never a problem at all. Our primordially pure Buddha nature had never been stained, and has never been moved. Thus the Heart Sutra says "no arising, no cessation; no increase, no decrease".
At that time, defilements are not an issue anymore....
For now, it's pretty much beyond us. So the best is just to aspire that one day we will 'realize' that.
Though we arent enlightened, the point is that it isnt beyond us, many ordinary practitioners became enlightened too.. including some in this forum. -
er... actually how much does winnie knows about buddhism?.. i think might be too chim for her and might lead to more confusion.. steps by step from basic might be better like the four noble truth or helping her to clarify her prior misconception about buddhism or perhaps something that he or she can relate to easily..
With metta (loving-kindness)
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My 2 cents of thought. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Though we arent enlightened, the point is that it isnt beyond us, many ordinary practitioners became enlightened too.. including some in this forum.
really...
no hard feeling hor
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You're right... TS and other forummers pls do say if you find anything I said confusing so I can further post to clarify and things like that...Originally posted by Isis:er... actually how much does winnie knows about buddhism?.. i think might be too chim for her and might lead to more confusion.. steps by step from basic might be better like the four noble truth or helping her to clarify her prior misconception about buddhism or perhaps something that he or she can relate to easily..
With metta (loving-kindness)
/\
My 2 cents of thought.
Regarding the Four Noble Truths, please do some reading up in
All About Buddhism ~ For Non-Buddhists and Buddhists... not only have I posted Four Noble Truths, I've posted Eight Fold Path and other fundamental Buddhist teachings like karma, rebirth, conditionality, many many things... For a more indepth understanding of how 4 noble truths and no-self/non-duality are related, please see second page. -
You're askingOriginally posted by Owl^:
really...
no hard feeling hor
1) Are we not enlightened?
or
2) Is it really NOT beyond us
or
3) Many ordinary practitioners became enlightened
or
4) Some in this forum are enlightened -
i think the most exciting part is... not about the theory but to able to related to it and improve one's life, not only to yourself but the people around u.
2 cent of view from someone whom isn't enlightened
Kalama sutra:
"Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching. Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience.Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and
elders.But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
- The Buddha -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:You're asking
1) Are we not enlightened?
or
2) Is it really NOT beyond us
or
3) Many ordinary practitioners became enlightened
or
4) Some in this forum are enlightened
tks...
May i know who are those " Awaken one?"...
love to know some in this forum are enlightened...
tks again... -
Ah, I see.Originally posted by Owl^: tks...
May i know who are those " Awaken one?"...
love to know some in this forum are enlightened...
tks again... -
tks for ur pirate msg...will keep these name in mindOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:Ah, I see. -
Originally posted by Owl^:tks for ur pirate msg...will keep these name in mind Dont anyhow tell ppl hor... they dont want to be disturbed But if you got sincere dharma questions I'm sure they won't mind...
edit: pirate msg!? 
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Originally posted by An Eternal Now:edit: pirate msg!?
private msg lah....read too much pirate ship stuff liao lah
ok...a confidential privacy
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Originally posted by Owl^:
private msg lah....read too much pirate ship stuff liao lah
ok...a confidential privacy -
I Just wish to say although there is a great idea to learn from enlightened people.Originally posted by Owl^:
private msg lah....read too much pirate ship stuff liao lah
ok...a confidential privacy
Doesnt mean we can look down on unenlightened
As Bodhidharma once said
"You cannot despise those who are shallow in learning .One thought of kindness can also become Buddha"
I dun see the need to differentiate who is enlightened here in the forum and who's not ,becos that will bring about schism in the whole Buddhist community
I dun think I will not Support Ren Ci Hospital just becos I feel Ven Mingyi is not in any way enlightened .That is a mistake and is basically an act of selfishness
and nothing to do with whether he is enlightened
Buddha takes no form .Any form of experience which you can alleviate your
entangled emotions towards enlighten is of TANTAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
and not whether he/she is enlighten
May I wish to tell the Forum owner to refrain from saying who are the enlighten ones , cause will create disharmony among the Sangha community in Wisdom Bliss
We are Dharma Brothers and Sister on the Path ,not Magicians community who
is comparing magic ability and talents
I know people in the forum do not like me to say this ,but its inside the basics of a Buddhist Precept of Refrain from telling lies and
the Basic definition of Sangha
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It is important that our teacher is a profound practitioner, and/or an awakened one, because in this era, there's alot of sanghas teaching the wrong view and wrong interpretation of Buddha's teaching.Originally posted by bohiruci:I Just wish to say although there is a great idea to learn from enlightened people.
Doesnt mean we can look down on unenlightened
As Bodhidharma once said
"You cannot despise those who are shallow in learning .One thought of kindness can also become Buddha"
I dun see the need to differentiate who is enlightened here in the forum and who's not ,becos that will bring about schism in the whole Buddhist community
I dun think I will not Support Ren Ci Hospital just becos I feel Ven Mingyi is not in any way enlightened .That is a mistake and is basically an act of selfishness
and nothing to do with whether he is enlightened
Buddha takes no form .Any form of experience which you can alleviate your
entangled emotions towards enlighten is of TANTAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
and not whether he/she is enlighten
May I wish to tell the Forum owner to refrain from saying who are the enlighten ones , cause will create disharmony among the Sangha community in Wisdom Bliss
We are Dharma Brothers and Sister on the Path ,not Magicians community who
is comparing magic ability and talents
I know people in the forum do not like me to say this ,but its inside the basics of a Buddhist Precept of Refrain from telling lies and
the Basic definition of Sangha
If there's disharmony created among Sangha community through a simple action, then that sangha who sowed the disharmony is definitely not one that we must learn from. In fact, one with right view will be joyous over the accomplishment of others. Remember, one of the precepts taken when they enter a monastic regime is no speaking bad of others. If they can't keep this precept, what more can they teach? -
I dun see the need to say who is enlighten ? so whats the point of learning when everyone just want to learn from enlighten one and non-enlighten one cast asideOriginally posted by coolbluewater:It is important that our teacher is a profound practitioner, and/or an awakened one, because in this era, there's alot of sanghas teaching the wrong view and wrong interpretation of Buddha's teaching.
If there's disharmony created among Sangha community through a simple action, then that sangha who sowed the disharmony is definitely not one that we must learn from. In fact, one with right view will be joyous over the accomplishment of others. Remember, one of the precepts taken when they enter a monastic regime is no speaking bad of others. If they can't keep this precept, what more can they teach?
So infact ,you and I shouldnt share on Buddhadharma as we are not qualified to do so .then Buddhism will be the same as other worldly religion
to PM someone who isnt a Buddhist about enlighten one isnt a correct action
remember ,WHAT we all do is bounded by karma , whether we like it or not
coolbluewater ,can you please read thru the WHOLE posting and understand whats going on before u reply
thank you . -
Intention is one thing in our action
we may not knowingly said things that will create obstacle in our path of bodhi
that is why Buddha saw in India that many people are "cut by their ignorant views"
engaging in idle speech , careless words ,gossips and lewd language
If Practitioner like to compare , we might as well call this "Magic :the gathering Forum "and not "Buddhism Wisdom Bliss " Forum
Where is our Original Nature ?
What is the purpose of Buddhist Forum ?
What do we wish to achieve in Posting or pm to others ?
Why are we still in Samsara ?
Things to ponder about when we read all this posting ?
If one is able to answer all this ,there isnt any need to argue who is right and who is wrong -
I think we shouldn't "openly" say which venearble is good or no good, enlighten or not enlighten... we are not in a position to critizise the sangha. The sangha is Triple Gem. As like our school teachers, they need our respect.
Of cos if any member of the sangha violated their duties or roles and seriously broken their precepts, they must be reported and they will be dealt with accordingly; not by us. We can expose them to the Buddhist Association and the sangha community has clear procedures to place jugement and punishment. We are not the ones.
Buddhist ourselves shouldn't be the ones that create disharmony within the Buddhist circle. Every Venerable has their own followers and among these followers, some may find their way of learning enghtenment. Different Venerable may use different types of methods to inspire or lead his followers unto the path of Buddhism; so we shouldn't placed our own judgment or preconceptions on others too readily, esp to the sangha, the Tripe Gem.
If we find certain venerable not to our "liking", if we find this and this Venerable are not " wise" enough for me, then just don't be near them. Period.
We don't hv to go around criticising them. Some may say that such criticism among the Buddhist circle is all right, but such "idle chatter" or even unfounded statements may grow out of control and get passed around outside the Buddhist circle. This may give a bad example and hindered people who are interested in learning the Buddhadharma. Then as Buddhist, we become very un-enlighten. In fact, seriously speaking, we may hv destroy someone's path to enlinghtenment.
Remember we 're all still learning and practising, we're all still at the foot of the mountain; so we shouldn't comment on how the scene looks like at the top of the mountain yet. Frankly speaking, it may takes another aeons of yrs before we can even reach the middle of the moutain. -
I agree that we shouldn't discriminate venerables... but even in Sanghas, if you have a serious dharma question that needs the depth of insight of someone, they will still direct you to someone they know who has that level of insight or enlightenment.Originally posted by cycle:I think we shouldn't "openly" say which venearble is good or no good, enlighten or not enlighten... we are not in a position to critizise the sangha. The sangha is Triple Gem. As like our school teachers, they need our respect.
Of cos if any member of the sangha violated their duties or roles and seriously broken their precepts, they must be reported and they will be dealt with accordingly; not by us. We can expose them to the Buddhist Association and the sangha community has clear procedures to place jugement and punishment. We are not the ones.
Buddhist ourselves shouldn't be the ones that create disharmony within the Buddhist circle. Every Venerable has their own followers and among these followers, some may find their way of learning enghtenment. Different Venerable may use different types of methods to inspire or lead his followers unto the path of Buddhism; so we shouldn't placed our own judgment or preconceptions on others too readily, esp to the sangha, the Tripe Gem.
If we find certain venerable not to our "liking", if we find this and this Venerable are not " wise" enough for me, then just don't be near them. Period.
We don't hv to go around criticising them. Some may say that such criticism among the Buddhist circle is all right, but such "idle chatter" or even unfounded statements may grow out of control and get passed around outside the Buddhist circle. This may give a bad example and hindered people who are interested in learning the Buddhadharma. Then as Buddhist, we become very un-enlighten. In fact, seriously speaking, we may hv destroy someone's path to enlinghtenment.
Remember we 're all still learning and practising, we're all still at the foot of the mountain; so we shouldn't comment on how the scene looks like at the top of the mountain yet. Frankly speaking, it may takes another aeons of yrs before we can even reach the middle of the moutain.
Another thing is I'm not talking about venerables here... I'm talking about forummers who are enlightened. Like I said earlier, enlightenment is not restricted to chosen few or masters and venerables, ordinary practitioners can also get enlightened If there is a sincere wish to ask dharma questions, perhaps those that would probably need someone with deep insights to give advise, it's best to direct them to the right persons. In fact, if we were to deny them their chance to speak to someone of greater insights so that they may get the insights themselves, I believe this is creating even worse karma. -
Firstly to say that one can learn from both enlightened and unenlightened is not applicable to all dharma questions. You have to say that inevitably there ARE some questions that you have to ask someone with deep insights directly. I am certainly not saying anything about qualification on sharing the dharma. Anyone can do so. But for the sake of ourselves and others, if someone wishes to ask something from someone with certain levels of direct insight, why not? Not only is it good for them, it's good for us: we may not give satisfactory answers, or we may give an answer that is wrong somewhere and create karma ourselves.Originally posted by bohiruci:I dun see the need to say who is enlighten ? so whats the point of learning when everyone just want to learn from enlighten one and non-enlighten one cast aside
So infact ,you and I shouldnt share on Buddhadharma as we are not qualified to do so .then Buddhism will be the same as other worldly religion
to PM someone who isnt a Buddhist about enlighten one isnt a correct action
remember ,WHAT we all do is bounded by karma , whether we like it or not
Also like I say to deny someone of knowing one with greater wisdom, that, I believe is creating even worse karma. Of course we have to see that person's intentions, but Owl's intention is good and wishes to learn the dharma, so if I deny him that chance to learn from someone of greater wisdom (I have spoken to him privately and he told me he really wants to be liberated and says he will ask some dharma questions to one of them), I believe that is creating bad karma for me. In fact there was indeed a true story of a monk of higher rank within his Sangha, who stopped the novice monks from asking questions from their enlightened venerable.. because he thinks he can answer them all. Because of this, he created a very very bad karma and couldnt meet the Buddhadharma for a very very long time. I can't remember the whole story, but it's something like this.
Time for me to go.... cya guys later -
Originally posted by bohiruci:
I think you're assuming yourself that we're looking down on people. This is definitely not happening as all forummers are happily discussing dharma with each other on the equal level. Also just because lets say, someone wish to talk to someone who is enlightened, that certainly doesn't mean I am looking down on someone else. The ego likes to make such assumption, complicate things and become attached to it.
I Just wish to say although there is a great idea to learn from enlightened people.
Doesnt mean we can look down on unenlightened
As Bodhidharma once said
"You cannot despise those who are shallow in learning .One thought of kindness can also become Buddha"I dun see the need to differentiate who is enlightened here in the forum and who's not ,becos that will bring about schism in the whole Buddhist community
I truly do not think that being truthful about these matters leads any way to schism. A monastic Sangha has many venerables, lamas/rinpoches and shi fus as well as many monks following that sangha. Does differentiating a monk and a venerable/lama/rinpoche in any way make it a schism? Similarly does pointing out who is enlightened in any way make schism in the forum? This simply does not make sense. In fact all the sanghas and monks will usually help to answer your question regarding Buddhism, but if it is related to teachings that requires deep insight, they will most certainly refer to the venerables.
Similarly in an online community, I see nothing wrong at all refering people to other forummers who are enlightened. Why does the mind need to complicate such issues? The purpose of this forum is created so that everyone can receive the benefits from dharma discussions. There are certainly some level that non-enlightened forummers like us can help and share and discuss based on our knowledge and experience, but there are also certain things we must admit that we can't help, and refer to someone else who have the necessary insights. Dharma teachings and advises given by someone liberated and enlightened is definitely different from someone just spewing out from knowledge and limited experiences... and worse of all if we try to answer something with something irrelevant to the conditions of that person or somehow something missing or wrongly stated... then we are creating even worse karma ourselves. So like I said just now:
Also like I say to deny someone of knowing one with greater wisdom, that, I believe is creating even worse karma. Of course we have to see that person's intentions, but Owl's intention is good and wishes to learn the dharma, so if I deny him that chance to learn from someone of greater wisdom (I have spoken to him privately and he told me he really wants to be liberated Smile and says he will ask some dharma questions to one of them), I believe that is creating bad karma for me. In fact there was indeed a true story of a monk of higher rank within his Sangha, who stopped the novice monks from asking questions from their enlightened venerable.. because he thinks he can answer them all. Because of this, he created a very very bad karma and couldnt meet the Buddhadharma for a very very long time. I can't remember the whole story, but it's something like this.
If you enter a monastery with the sincere wish to learn the deep insights and wisdom of someone liberated and wish to speak to the venerable abbot, but instead the monk tell you "no, everyone is treated equally here, you cannot meet the abbot just because he's enlightened, you have to ask your question to the the five hundred monks in our sangha first" what would you feelI dun think I will not Support Ren Ci Hospital just becos I feel Ven Mingyi is not in any way enlightened .That is a mistake and is basically an act of selfishness
As I wrote in previous thread: Secondly of course I will support Ven Shi Ming Yi... even if he's Pastor Shi Ming Yi or Priest Shi Ming Yi from other religions, I'll still support. Charity is universal.
and nothing to do with whether he is enlightened
Secondly I think we shouldn't make assumption that Ven Shi Ming Yi is not enlightened
Anyway this is off-topic because the case of charity is different from the case of teaching Buddhism. Otherwise why is pure lineages and enlightened masters (ming2 shi1) important?Buddha takes no form .Any form of experience which you can alleviate your
Enlightenment and direct insight is perhaps much more important than you think and therefore the point of talking to these people is to learn the dharma from them, so that one can advance more quickly on the path.. Without these direct insights, we cannot break our fundamental illusion of duality. Though foundational practises like cultivating virtues and getting beyond our emotions and so on are important, that may not necessarily mean having attained the essential insights into the nature of reality.. or Jian4 Xing4. As Thusness said, practise before and after realisation is different. One can have many experiences of dealing with emotions, which are important, but did not comprehend the 3 dharma seals, Emptiness, etc. These people live a more carefree life but that is different from transcending birth and death/attaining nirvana.
entangled emotions towards enlighten is of TANTAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
and not whether he/she is enlightenMay I wish to tell the Forum owner to refrain from saying who are the enlighten ones , cause will create disharmony among the Sangha community in Wisdom Bliss
As far as I know apart from you raising this concern, there is no 'disharmony' or any problems happening related to this issue.We are Dharma Brothers and Sister on the Path ,not Magicians community who
As far as I know, there is no one comparing supernatural powers and talents here.
is comparing magic ability and talents
I know people in the forum do not like me to say this ,but its inside the basics of a Buddhist Precept of Refrain from telling lies and
the Basic definition of Sangha -
double post
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edited again due to unstable 'weather!'
edited: for MODERN gnostic practitioners too if they wana to learn the path of wisdom!
May they be well n happy..Be confident on the path of wisdom
May they liberate from darkness ignorance!
Rem... seed of karma is greatest than any psychic forces -
Originally posted by bohiruci:
Sorry, I'm just sharing my view on certain issue, as this, whether an enlightened should be identified. I certainly not qualified to share about Buddhadharma, and neither did I even try to do it.
[b]
I dun see the need to say who is enlighten ? so whats the point of learning when everyone just want to learn from enlighten one and non-enlighten one cast aside
So infact ,you and I shouldnt share on Buddhadharma as we are not qualified to do so .then Buddhism will be the same as other worldly religion
to PM someone who isnt a Buddhist about enlighten one isnt a correct action
remember ,WHAT we all do is bounded by karma , whether we like it or not
coolbluewater ,can you please read thru the WHOLE posting and understand whats going on before u reply
thank you .
My point is, its better go guide someone to the right teacher rather than the one that is known provide wrong views right? Of course, who am I to judge who is right or wrong.
Nevertheless, I'll probably stop here and now to avoid creating more negative karma with my very immature thoughts.
*aen: removed quoting error -
"actually i wan to learn how to be a better person first"
there is no destination of a "better person" until you fully realise your buddhahood, anything short of that, when do you say "ok, thats enuff, i a better person now, lets do something else" - it never happens
bettering yourself is a continuous process, until you attained buddhahood, by then it comes so natural that you dont even show a "bettering" effort
so winnie, you have a misconception that being a better person is a different OR lesser path than aspiring to attain buddhahood, it is the same thing and the only difference is that you are selling yourself short -
chim is because we make it chim, we should reflect on our inabilities or just pure laziness to simplify it for others, what is the true spirit of mahayana?Originally posted by Isis:er... actually how much does winnie knows about buddhism?.. i think might be too chim for her and might lead to more confusion.. steps by step from basic might be better like the four noble truth or helping her to clarify her prior misconception about buddhism or perhaps something that he or she can relate to easily..
With metta (loving-kindness)
/\
My 2 cents of thought.