Possible to ask Buddha or Bodhisattva for money
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This link is for Earthling82 (since he asked to know more about Padmasambhava) and others who are interested..
The Lotus-Born - a biography -
Like that ah, then what's Buddha's teachings for if when we all could just simply do nothing and ask for blessing and good luck. We could all be well rich and lucky then.Originally posted by mancha:It is quiet normal for ppl to pray and ask for favours. It is routinely done with other faiths. The Soka Gakkai chant and believe that their aspirations will materialise.
Making aspiration is different from asking a favour. When you make an aspiration, you are going to work hard to make it materialise. But making aspiration is not equivalent to ask Buddha or Bodhisattva for 4D number. -
Hi, this forum does not recognise Soka Gakkai.Originally posted by mancha:It is quiet normal for ppl to pray and ask for favours. It is routinely done with other faiths. The Soka Gakkai chant and believe that their aspirations will materialise.
I suggest that you view this discussion thread:
Nichiren Buddhism
Look at comments by this forumer 'supa_naga', see if it's true about the 'Three treasures'. With all due respect - As far as I'm concerned, any school of thought that do not recognise Sakyamuni Buddha, His Dharma, and His Realised Sangha as the Triple Gems isn't Buddhism.
Here's what a notable monk commented on Soka Gakkai. One may want to read the books that he suggested below as well. He's in Singapore, so he's open to discussion.
http://www.bdms.org.sg/Questions.html
Question : Dear Bhante,
A lady I work with has given me some books on Soka Gakkai. She told me that it is true Buddhism. What does she mean and what is Soka Gakkai?
From Denny
Dear Denny
Thank you for your question. Soka Gakkai is a cult that began in Japan in the 1930Â’s. Exactly what Soka Gakkai is is a matter of opinion. However, we do know what Buddhism is. It is to honor, revere and respect the Buddha and to follow his teachings.
The centre of those teachings is the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Amongst the most important values the Buddha mentioned are kindness, tolerance, contentment, renunciation, friendliness to all, etc. I have read a lot of Soka Gakkai literature and I have very rarely ever seen any of these concepts and values mentioned. The only references I saw to the Buddha was to say that he had been superseded by a man called Nichiren. Soka Gakkai teachings seem to focus a great deal on achieving worldly success i.e. making lots of money. They claim that only their approach to religion is correct and will not join any Buddhist umbrella organizations nor will they participate in Vesak celebrations – which Buddhists all over the world celebrate. Whether these beliefs and practices are good or not, each individual must decide for themselves. Either way, it is clear that they differ greatly from what the Buddha taught and asked us to do. If you would like to know more about Soka Gakkai, and it has a very controversial past, you might like to read Japan’s New Buddhism-An Objective Account of Soka Gakkai by K Murita and The Soka Gakkai and Mass Society by James White. In particular read what White says about the Soka Gakkai practice called shakubuku meaning ‘break and subdue’
Anyways, I'm happy to receive your msg. What's important to me is putting the teachings to practice. Chant and practice day and night, as long as we have one more breath left, let it not be wasted! happy CNY.
Yours in Dharma -
imagine Buddha, bodhisattvas are like teachers, principal of a school, and you are a student of the school. they would only grant you material like dharma reading material to help you pass the "exam" of your learning toward the realisation of Dharma teaching.
money, i'm afraid, you have to apply the dharma of cause and effect by yourself.
Remember, Buddha, bodhisattva only taught to gain wisdom is when you give wisdom.
to gain longevity, you give fearlessness to others.
and to gain wealth, you'll have to give wealth(san1cai2) .
chinese expression "she3 de2"(generosity). when you know to "she3"(give) or generate generosity, you will be able to "de2"(recieve).
u might think it's difficult to renouce, but it's the way the law of nature works.
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My intention is not to discuss Nichiren Buddhism, but to point out that all religions offers hope.
It is this hope that sustain many human in times of tribuation. This is the essence of any religion.
I was therefore surprise to learn that Buddhism only teaches to venerate The Buddha and honour his teachings. -
well ,that a misconception ..Originally posted by mancha:My intention is not to discuss Nichiren Buddhism, but to point out that all religions offers hope.
It is this hope that sustain many human in times of tribuation. This is the essence of any religion.
I was therefore surprise to learn that Buddhism only teaches to venerate The Buddha and honour his teachings.
should u feel not represented in your opinion,by all means set up your SOKA forum bah
nobody stopping you
Since you are in our Buddhism forum , its just like as a guest in a friends house , you observed our rules
fair and square
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In Buddhism, it is ok to wish for reasonable improvements to our lives as I mentioned before, but to cling to anything at all, even hope, can mean sufferings. To cling to hope, desire and craving will ultimately lead to disappointment, and whatever one is attached to will eventually pass away, whether is money, or people, or whatever.. because of its impermanent nature. The nature of samsara is dukkha, it is full of suffering. We can never find true bliss and contentment in Samsara and our endless seeking within it.. we can only find Bliss in Clarity and Liberation through practising the Dharma. Everyone in the world is hoping for something. Big money, good relationship, good life, etc. This seeking is neverending and suffering is also neverending. And our desire is never satisfied... after you get one thing, you desire something better than what you have... there is never contentment. The Buddha taught: Contentment is the greatest wealth.Originally posted by mancha:My intention is not to discuss Nichiren Buddhism, but to point out that all religions offers hope.
It is this hope that sustain many human in times of tribuation. This is the essence of any religion.
I was therefore surprise to learn that Buddhism only teaches to venerate The Buddha and honour his teachings.
Therefore in Buddhism we should give too much attention to our hopes for the future... it may sound depressing but it is not. It is being realistic. I'm not saying we must give up all hopes. Neither am I saying we should not plan for our future. We should plan for the future but our attention should be in this very moment, whatever we are doing right now including planning, and not attached to any outcome. This is the wisdom of non-doing. It is not doing something as a means to an end... it means to be present with whatever you are doing right now. Being content with this very moment.
Therefore what I am saying is that we should not pay too much attention to something that is unpredictable, illusive, something that is only imagined in the mind. Rather we should live in the moment because that is what Reality is. Like Eckhart Tolle said the quality of our consciousness affects our future and I think that is very important.
Lastly, true Buddhists do not just venerate the Buddha and honour the teachings. We must PRACTISE the teachings so that we can gain enlightenment ourselves, that that is the most important thing for a Buddhist. We must practise, gain liberation, attain the highest bliss of Nirvana. That is the only true lasting bliss that is NOT conditioned by anything, it is not something that can be lost. It is the bliss of Clarity. -
Originally posted by mancha:
Unlike all religions which offers hope of salvation as some place out of our planet somewhere in the future or after you die, Buddhism is the only realistic teaching that teaches that true salvation is in attaining insights/wisdom and clarity in our very lives... and not some future place. (All 'places' in samsara, under time and space, are conditioned, impermanent, and is of the nature of dukkha/suffering)
It is this hope that sustain many human in times of tribuation. This is the essence of any religion.
It is possible in Buddhism to awaken to our unconditioned reality, clarity and bliss in this very life, through Dharma. If you awaken to this unconditioned reality, you remain unaffected by any sort of tribulations that is happening, even if the whole world is going to be destroyed. You are like the mirror (our Buddha Nature, our pure awareness) that reflects everything without getting engaged nor attached to any appearances. All appearances arise and passes instantaneously (impermanence), leaving no trace in the mirror. The mirror neither rejects unpleasant appearance nor pursues pleasant appearances, nor attaches to any appearances. The mirror just reflects, non-judgementally... The mirror is the reflection itself. Our Buddha Nature is Luminous-Emptiness inseparable. By cultivating awareness we get in touch with our true nature.
The reason why we are suffering is because we are identified with being a separate self, which is an illusion. We think there is a dualistic relation between Self and the world, and therefore we try our best to get what is pleasant (fundamental attraction) and get rid of the unpleasant (fundamental aversion). We are constantly trying to fulfill the sense of self... so we keep perpetuating the sense of a seperate self and split.. and we become so attached and do not know how to let go. We did not realise our true nature as the non-dual mirror mind, that there is only Oneness and the whole universe is of the same all-pervading essence which is luminous-emptiness... we do not realise there is no duality, no inner and outer, no subject-object separation. If we awaken to the truth, there will be no suffering, there will be no constant striving nor aversion and the mind will be still and blissful.
Like I said.. the bliss of Nirvana is undescribable and is not conditioned by anything, Nirvana is beyond time and space.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Therefore, lasting contention can only come from insights into the truth/reality of no-self, non-duality which stops us from giving rise to more fundamental dualistic (assuming subject-object separation) attraction and aversion to phenomena.
The Buddha taught: Contentment is the greatest wealth.
Also read: All About Buddhism ~ For Non-Buddhists and Buddhists, the part on THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS by Dharma Dan.
p.s. are you from any religions or are you a free-thinker? -
I don't think mancha has ill intentions here and neither did he said anything against the rules... so there is no need to be too defensive. However it does seem he is still much ignorant of the Buddhist teachings... which is fine because everyone has a beginning of starting to know more about Buddhism and it is good that he is posting here.Originally posted by bohiruci:well ,that a misconception ..
should u feel not represented in your opinion,by all means set up your SOKA forum bah
nobody stopping you
Since you are in our Buddhism forum , its just like as a guest in a friends house , you observed our rules
fair and square -
hahaha .boss here ,he makes the decisionOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:I don't think mancha has ill intentions here and neither did he said anything against the rules... so there is no need to be too defensive. However it does seem he is still much ignorant of the Buddhist teachings... which is fine because everyone has a beginning of starting to know more about Buddhism and it is good that he is posting here. -
hope is no lan use if it cannot be realisedOriginally posted by mancha:My intention is not to discuss Nichiren Buddhism, but to point out that all religions offers hope.
It is this hope that sustain many human in times of tribuation. This is the essence of any religion.
I was therefore surprise to learn that Buddhism only teaches to venerate The Buddha and honour his teachings. -
Yes. Buddhism does not offer those kinds of hope. Buddhism ask you to use your wisdom to accept reality, face reality and then do something about it (this doing is not attached doing, but arises out of Prajna).Originally posted by Xprobe:hope is no lan use if it cannot be realised
Let's take death for an example. Everyone knows death is inevitable. If by fearing or hoping we can avoid death, then everyone of us should spend our energy and time hoping and fearing. But it doesn't work like that.
Therefore we should spend our precious human life to practise the dharma, this is the path that leads to the Deathless.