A Question for Buddhism
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Why Buddhism teaches us not to find faults with others but instead recite Namo Amituofo often to overcome this fault-finding habits?Thank you.
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really? i thought buddhism teach us to not have a life
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What do u mean by recite Namo Amituofo often to overcome this fault-finding habits?
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Originally posted by Daniel88:
What do u mean by recite Namo Amituofo often to overcome this fault-finding habits?
That teaching is the Mahayana (east asian) buddhism teaching, there are lots of different buddhist teaching due to humans different thinking and also wanted to promote their sect and temple business.Namo amituofo is nothing but a gesture, a greeting of something like buddha is with you.
If you will to open the sutras of buddhism and read it, be it the diamond or lotus or 10 world sutras etc etc,...Buddha is in you, what Gutama did (2500 years ago) was to preach to those suffering lower caste indians so as to enable them to find comfort in their soul while they are suffering form poor and hardship life. He is somebody that wanted very much to study humans and way of our life, he is a person, not god, nor saint, nor some holy spirit. I respected him for his contribution to the human kinds, everyone of us is a buddha, it just that we did not show it often, by helping a old man crossing the road or giving a seat to cripple one, you are the buddha of the moment. If i will ask you how you feel after you helped someone, that feeling is buddha, for no amount of money can buy that feeling, and to him that feeling within you at that moment is called heaven.
Thus come the compassionate one
Angel
Er Mei nunnery
Er Mei Shan
Taichong
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Originally posted by Soosiangong:
Why Buddhism teaches us not to find faults with others but instead recite Namo Amituofo often to overcome this fault-finding habits?Thank you.
First of all, welcome 4 of you to join this buddhism forum, really seldom see you all here.
Yes, buddhism teach us not to find faults with others because there is no such need. Even if you can prove that the whole world is at fault, it doesn't make you any happy. If one understand the basics of buddhism like rebirth, cause and effect concept, he should know that whatever suffering one go through is due to his past karma. The real culprit is your bad karma not any tom dick or harry.
Some people recite namo amituofo to overcome the habit of fault finding when situation arise. Some use other method. It's up to each individual. -
Originally posted by angel7030:If you will to open the sutras of buddhism and read it, be it the diamond or lotus or 10 world sutras etc etc,...Buddha is in you, what Gutama did (2500 years ago) was to preach to those suffering lower caste indians so as to enable them to find comfort in their soul while they are suffering form poor and hardship life. He is somebody that wanted very much to study humans and way of our life, he is a person, not god, nor saint, nor some holy spirit. I respected him for his contribution to the human kinds, everyone of us is a buddha, it just that we did not show it often, by helping a old man crossing the road or giving a seat to cripple one, you are the buddha of the moment. If i will ask you how you feel after you helped someone, that feeling is buddha, for no amount of money can buy that feeling, and to him that feeling within you at that moment is called heaven.
Buddha Sakyamuni teaching is for all sentient beings, not just the lower caste indians but all beings in the 6 realms including human realm, god realm, hell, ghost, asyura, animal.
yup, of coz buddha is not god, coz buddha is alreay way beyond that stage. -
Originally posted by youyayu:
really? i thought buddhism teach us to not have a life
If that's what buddhism taught, then i guessed i joined the wrong religion. However sorry to disappoint you, buddhism didnt taught that. Either you heard from rumours or misunderstood it.
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Originally posted by youyayu:
really? i thought buddhism teach us to not have a life
Where did you hear this from?
Buddhism teaches us to live our lives by the Noble Eightfold Path.
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Originally posted by Soosiangong:
Why Buddhism teaches us not to find faults with others but instead recite Namo Amituofo often to overcome this fault-finding habits?Thank you.
He who treads the Path in earnest Sees not the mistakes of the world;
If we find fault with others
We ourselves are also in the wrong.
When other people are in the wrong, we should ignore it,
For it is wrong for us to find fault.
By getting rid of the habit of fault-finding
We cut off a source of defilement.
When neither hatred nor love disturbs our mind
Serenely we sleep.
(Wong Mou-Lam, tr. "The Sutra of Hui Neng," p. 34.in The Diamond Sutra & The Sutra of Hui Neng.) -
many people think that Buddhism is serious and buddhists are taught to abide rules and regulations. That includes putting others above oneself. Many youths and adults want to enjoy life, and only think of themselves. Thus, they cannot see the rationale of being caring to others to a point of sacrificing one's enjoyment and alike. This is the difference. But people are not perfect.. thats why respect for one another is very important.
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Yah, Buddhism teaches us not to continue to suffer in this Matrix that you call life. Wake up and get yourself out of this Matrix of greed, hatred and ignorance.
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To answer the original question. There are different kinds (or capacities) of human beings in this world. Some like meditation, some like reciting amituofo, some like reciting mantras, some like Zen, some like Heart/Diamond Sutra. Buddha is very compassionate, you want apple he gives you apple, you want orange he gives you orange as long as you have faith in Him and practise accordingly.
All of these are skillful means to train your mind that is conditioned by greed, hatred and ignorance (including finding faults at others). Imagine your mind is like a hard disk full of rubbish. Information pops out randomly following some probability. Normally, rubbish information will pop out frequently. Now because you keep reciting amituofo, you constantly store good information (amituofo is pure and good) into your hard disk until it becomes the dominant information. So the probability of good information coming out from your hard disk become higher and higher. Until at a certain stage, when you want to find fault at others, suddenly this amituofo will pop out just in time to stop you.
Of course the story about amituofo (Western PureLand Buddhism) is much more than this ...
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Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
- Bodhi is no tree,
- nor is the mind a standing mirror bright.
- Since all is originally empty,
- where does the dust alight?
Hui Neng
6th Zen Patriarch
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Originally posted by jacqn:
many people think that Buddhism is serious and buddhists are taught to abide rules and regulations. That includes putting others above oneself. Many youths and adults want to enjoy life, and only think of themselves. Thus, they cannot see the rationale of being caring to others to a point of sacrificing one's enjoyment and alike. This is the difference. But people are not perfect.. thats why respect for one another is very important.
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Originally posted by bohiruci:
I wonder how much can a person sacrifice?His/her humanity, beliefs, family and friends , respect for self and others.
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Originally posted by Soosiangong:
Why Buddhism teaches us not to find faults with others but instead recite Namo Amituofo often to overcome this fault-finding habits?Thank you.
you actually already anwser your own question by saying that it's to overcome this fault-finding Habits./\
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Originally posted by sinweiy:
you actually already anwser your own question by saying that it's to overcome this fault-finding Habits./\
The question is asking why should a person chant such a mantra at such a time? There are many other possible actions that can be taken but why chant? -
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
The question is asking why should a person chant such a mantra at such a time? There are many other possible actions that can be taken but why chant?Because it helps to resolve the problem.
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Noble Eightfold Path's
8. Right Meditation
Meditation means the gradual process of training the mind to focus on a single object and to remain fixed upon the object without wavering. The constant practice of meditation helps one to develop a calm and concentrated mind and help to prepare one for the attainment of Wisdom and Enlightenment ultimately.
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/5215/eight.html
single object here can be the Buddha's name or mantra.
mouth chant but mind wandering all around wouldn't work though. preferably a serious, sincere, long term, repetitive, extensive chanting than a normal, gesture, greeting, unserious, short term recitation.
/\
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hide inside temple and chant
not no life then is what?
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Originally posted by youyayu:
really? i thought buddhism teach us to not have a life
then your jesus say love your neighbours?
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Originally posted by wonderamazement:
then your jesus say love your neighbours?actually 90% of the time is hear pastor ask us give $$ thats all but in a bible way
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Originally posted by youyayu:
hide inside temple and chant
not no life then is what?
You are obviously trying to flame buddhism here. But, i wont mess with you because if i want to it'll be heavy. However, for this, i just wanna remind u that all religion do their services in their religious places. If you say hide inside temple and chant, i could have said for other religions too. But i need not say that because i respect other religions. If you dont have respect, it proves who you really are in person.
Next, after reading the above u might find fault with me telling me to get my facts right because you aint insulting religion. But it seemed to obvious to me you are. So its not going hide. Paper cannot over the fire, ever heard of that?
So what is life to you? Party? Fun? Sad to say IMO, life aint that happy at all.
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Originally posted by wilsonhao:
You are obviously trying to flame buddhism here. But, i wont mess with you because if i want to it'll be heavy. However, for this, i just wanna remind u that all religion do their services in their religious places. If you say hide inside temple and chant, i could have said for other religions too. But i need not say that because i respect other religions. If you dont have respect, it proves who you really are in person.
Next, after reading the above u might find fault with me telling me to get my facts right because you aint insulting religion. But it seemed to obvious to me you are. So its not going hide. Paper cannot over the fire, ever heard of that?
So what is life to you? Party? Fun? Sad to say IMO, life aint that happy at all.
okay la. u right la can. happy?
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Originally posted by youyayu:
hide inside temple and chant
not no life then is what?
You don't have to hide in temple and chant. Chanting is one way, and you can practice chanting anywhere, not just in temple but on the bus/train, when you are walking, doing your things. Instead of entertaining discursive thoughts of past, present, future, one simply concentrates his awareness on the chanting and avoid distraction.
What is important is maintaining present moment awareness, whatever you are doing, whatever you are experiencing, you are aware. Including the chanting. Some people don't chant as often, like me, but still they can practice being aware.
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/cultivat.htm
How do we practise Buddhism when we are so busy with our careers and constantly facing a shortage of time?
Cultivating amid our activities
Many of us think that learning and practising Buddhism means utilising Sundays, our rest days or daily, to pray or meditate in temples. This perception is neither right nor wrong. We may be busy with our work and other activities, but, Buddhism is best practised amid these activities. Should one be totally inactive or free, what else is there to practise?
It is common to see people working and singing at the same time; machinists talking while working the machines; housewives working on their chores and exhorting their children at the same time; others work with their minds preoccupied with all sorts of other problems not related to their work. In short, they may be occupied physically, but mentally, their minds are not free or empty. As such, does learning and practising Buddhism really pose a problem to our heavy schedules? This is definitely not so. A verse from the "Seven Buddhas" reads: "Avoid all evils; do all that are good; purify one’s mind. These are the teachings of all Buddhas".
So, we just need to purify our minds. While at work, although our body may be in action, it is actually amid these actions that we cultivate. The mind should not wander and the mouth should not chatter unnecessarily. We should concentrate on the work wholeheartedly, and constantly act on purifying our thoughts. This is practising Buddhism, and in fact it is the right approach. With this in mind,
the busier we are, the more opportunities we have in cultivating. Let us not treat Buddhism as a form of superstition and think that to practise means having to make extraordinary efforts such as going to the forests or temples to meditate or to chant.
A commuter, when travelling in a train for example, may emulate the mental purity of the Buddha, and listen to the rumbling of the wheels and at the same time rythmically chant the name of the Buddha or Bodhisattva so that the mind does not wander. Naturally the mind will become pure and calm. Learning Buddhism means emulating the mental purity of the Buddha. Buddha is one who has already attained perfect enlightenment, sublime wisdom and blessings. On the other hand the commoner has lesser blessings and wisdom. Still, he would have made tremendous advancements if he merely practises Buddhism amid his daily activities to the extent that he attains purity in his bodily actions, speech and thoughts.
Thus, no matter what we do, where we are or how busy we may be, we can still practise Buddhism. As long as we put this into practise, our wisdom will develop and our blessings will gradually grow. For this reason, Jen Chen Buddhism advocates practising amid the activities of our daily lives; practising without attaching to the notion of practice; maintaining awareness without attaching to the notion of awareness; and attaining without attaching to the notion of attainment. When we understand this principle and have no more confusions, we can be considered great practitioners of Buddhism.In cultivation, at what state of the mind does one awaken? What is the state of awakening like?
First of all we need to understand what is cultivation. Some people think that cultivation means not having an occupation but to be engaged in the daily activities of prayers to the Buddha, meditation or chanting the sutras. The actual purpose of cultivation is to eradicate our undesirable conduct and to maintain our good conduct. In other words, to follow the Bodhisattva path in emulating the practices of the Bodhisattvas. When we know the meaning of cultivation, then we understand its purpose, which is to eradicate our self serving and evil habits and thus reduce our negative karma. However, many people do not understand this principle and they misinterpret its meaning. Actually, not only those who have renounced to be Buddhist monks or nuns need to cultivate, lay-Buddhists also need to cultivate, if not more diligently. Even those who do not subscribe to any religion need to cultivate. Cultivation is not only a matter for monks or nuns alone. What is cultivation? Where do we practise cultivation? Let me tell you a story: More than twenty years ago, I took four years to cultivate as I travelled across the country. Step by step, I covered Taiwan by walking. Once when I was in Hua-Lian, an elderly Buddhist asked me, "Master! A monk should reside in the temple to meditate, pray and chant sutras, but when you travel about what are you cultivating? I replied, "That’s right! I am cultivating. Sakyamuni Buddha teaches us to cultivate our conduct. He does not encourage us to cultivate sitting down! In the past few years I had been practising sitting meditation, now I wish to travel about. While walking and also amidst all my other activities, I do not commit evil deeds, I chant the names of the Buddhas, I praise and commend others, I tell people about the Dharma, I avoid the places of vice, this is the way I cultivate."
Thus, to cultivate means cultivating in the midst of our activities. This is a point that many people do not understand. They think that cultivation will result in a society that is pessimistic and low-spirited. This is a mistake. Jen Chen Buddhism advocates cultivating in the midst of our daily activities. Many retired old folks have no need to attend to household chores anymore, thus they can afford to spend their time to chant the names of the Buddhas and to cultivate in the midst of their leisure. However, there are many housewives who need to tend to their children, household chores and many other matters. How do you expect them to cultivate in their leisure? Thus, the need to cultivate in the midst of their activities; while cooking they could chant the names of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. No matter what activities they are engaged in, it is always possible to cultivate. Instead of gossipping about our neighbours and friends or engaging in other frivolous talks, why not refrain from all these. This is cultivation. Therefore, only when we cultivate in the midst of our activities do we understand the meaning of cultivation. To cultivate in our leisure may cause others a lot of frustrations. For example, a husband may be upset because his wife neglects the household by spending too much time chanting or running from temple to temple. For her to introduce Buddhism to her husband, thus, would not be an easy task. If she understands the principle of cultivating in the midst of her activities, it would be acceptable to the husband. Should he be invited to places of vice, he would know how to turn them down because his wife is a diligent cultivator. Both husband and wife are then cultivating at the same time.
There will be progress in our society when we understand the principle of cultivation. Otherwise, society will backslide. Over the last few decades, I have come to realize that we need to cultivate wherever we are. When we possess the correct concept of cultivation, any time is an appropriate time for cultivation, any place can be the place for us to seek enlightenment. If each and everyone of us conduct ourselves in this way, then the world will become a pure land. If we think that we can only cultivate in the temples, or that we cannot cultivate when we are working, then it is very possible that we commit evils deeds without even knowing. When we are with Buddha every moment, and cultivate constantly, then we are truly practitioners of Buddhism.
As to when in the cultivation process does one awaken and what it is like to be awakened, only when you follow the guidance of the Dharma and put it into practice, will you know you have awakened: when you drink the water, only you know how warm or cold it is.
How to purify the human mind?
Observe the mind to purify it
We are all human beings and we all have a mind. We are frequently ‘deceived’ by our minds. For an entire lifetime we are ‘deceived’ and ‘misled’ by our minds without ever realizing it! If the mind is good, then of course, it is all very well. Such a mind creates a good person; one can ascend to the heavens or one can perform a lot of virtuous deeds. What happens if the mind is evil and becomes defiled? It can drag us to become animals, ghosts and deities, or descend to hell. This is because our mind is not pure, and therefore the world becomes a sea of suffering. This suffering world of ours is called the "Saha World". It means having to endure and is also called the "World of enduring sufferings". If we all purify our minds, then the world becomes a heaven. Everybody is very happy and there is no suffering. In learning and practising Buddhism, the most important thing is to purify our minds. When we can purify our minds, then naturally there will be happiness in our world.
To do that we have to observe the non-arising of the mind. This is called ‘contemplation of the mind’. When the mind is polluted, then we cleanse it with the dew of the Buddha. And when our minds have been purified, then they are the same as those of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In this way, we will progress very quickly in our cultivation.
Observing the mind is very simple. It is like watching out for the mouse. Everybody dislike mice because they steal our food or they damage our clothings. An idiom describes this sentiment with the phrase, ‘When the mouse crosses the street everybody goes after it.’ Obviously mice are not welcomed and they have to be dealt with. One method of dealing with it, is the cat. At the sight of a mouse, the cat puts his paws firmly on the ground and fixes its steely eyes on the mouse. On seeing the cat, the mouse trembles with fear, not daring to make even the slightest movement. Treat your mind as if it were a mouse and your awareness as the cat. At every moment observe your mind, in the same way as the cat watching the mouse. The mouse wants to live and hardly has time to think of its own safety, let alone of stealing food. If we can observe our minds, then we will hardly have time enough to treasure our wisdom life, let alone think of committing evil deeds.
Therefore when we are learning and practising Buddhism, we need to learn to "contemplate the mind". In this way, we will very quickly be able to avoid all evils and do all that are good.
"Avoid all evils; do all that are good; purify one’s mind. These are the teachings of all Buddhas". Besides avoiding all evils and doing all that are good, we need to purify our thoughts. When our thoughts have been purified, then the mind is pure. The purpose of learning and practising Buddhism is to purify the human mind. If the minds of everyone in the family is pure, then our home is pure; if the minds of everyone in this society is pure, then our society is pure; if the minds of everyone in the country is pure, then our land is pure; if the entire human race in the world is pure, then our world is as happy as the Western Pure Land.
Our mind is like the stealthy mouse, ever watchful of a chance to creep out to commit evil deeds, and we are not even aware of that. I hope all of us will keep a cat to watch our minds, so that we can become Buddha quickly.
Why do we need to purify our thoughts?
When the thoughts are pure all Karma are pure
There are numerous types of karma, but generally they can be classified under three main types, namely, action of the body, speech and thought. However, our actions and speeches originate from our thoughts, that is, the thought preceeds the action or speech. Therefore, the first step to cultivation is to purify the thoughts. When our thoughts are pure, all our actions and speeches will be pure. When our actions, speeches and thoughts are pure, then all our karma are pure. Therefore, when we are learning and practising Buddhism, we should always be pure in our actions, speeches and thoughts.
How do we follow the Bodhisattva path?
Bodhisattva Path is Enlightenment Path
The Bodhisattva Path is the Enlightenment Path. To follow the Bodhisattva Path, one first has to aspire for enlightenment for oneself and for all sentient beings. 
Having this apiration, one needs to cultivate and attain enlightenment. It is only when one is enlightened that all his thoughts and actions are considered to be on the Bodhisattva Path. If one has spent his entire life practising Buddhism without attaining enlightenment, his actions cannot be considered to be on the Bodhisattva Path. It can only be said that he is performing virtuous deeds.