500 B.C in
India writing was Sanskrit, and few people were capable of reading much less writing. It is logical to conclude that
all the Buddhist scriptures and texts and ceremonies were written long after
the Buddha’s death. Many were passed down
by oral history and eventually written and then revised possibly hundreds of
times, with each writer adding his own interpretation.
Steve Hagen (Buddhism Plain and Simple) –is my favorite Buddhist writer.
“Buddhism is not about beliefs and practices…
it is not a religion. It is about the
teachings of awakening – about examining the world clearly.”
Steve Hagen
In his book How The World Can Be The Way It IS, Steve
describes his time studying at a monastery in Japan where his mentor would beat
him with a bamboo pole while he meditated to urge him into a deeper meditative
state. What kind of bullshit Buddhism
is that?
The basic
Buddhist story goes that after searching for the meaning of life and being
exhausted and near death, the Buddha became enlightened when he was given a bowl
of rice and a refreshing drink of water by a beautiful young girl. To me that is the essence of Buddhism, and
all the other bells and whistles and trappings and rituals are bullshit.
John Lennon
said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
Close your
eyes and taste that cup of tea. Feel the
texture of the chair you are sitting on.
Study the faces of the people you love. That is Buddhism plain and simple.
the
Ol’Buzzard
Perfection.
ReplyDeleteAll religions have an ounce of profound spiritual truth and then ten tons of bullshit built up around it that serves only the self-interests of the organized religion that purports to be the guardian of the ounce of truth.
ReplyDeleteThe context of Buddhism that you suggest is indeed powerful, especially in the modern world where we have so many extraneous stimuli that it is often very difficult to focus on the sense of self and our surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI think I had often used my pipe and pipe tobaccos in a sort of Buddhist fashion without realizing it. Besides of course the enjoyment of the stimuli of my brains nicotinic receptors, I found the pipe guided me in a more "present" focus. I have noticed since I have stopped smoking a pipe, it has been challenging to figure out how to readily find the "presence" and sometimes that is a call for me to go back to my pipes. But, thus far I am trying to hold syron in my resolve to refrain.
Oops... "syron" was meant to be "strong". Damn autocorrect.
ReplyDeleteI asked a friend of mine, who happened to be Mongolian, once you reach the inner circle of life (Nirvana??) what do you become. He said "Mongolian". Seemed right to me.
ReplyDelete