hi i was becoming buddist, and i wanted some help

(what is needed .ECT) and somewhere i can call in australia for some help

[This message has been edited by ThE JoKeR (edited 11-02-2006).]

Just bow your head and tell Buddha you're sorry for being a sinner and you want him to come into your heart.

You say you want to convert but it seems like you don't know shit about it. What kind of research have you done?

quote:Originally posted by ThE JoKeR:

hi i was concidering converting to buddhism, and i wanted some help

(what is needed .ECT) and somewhere i can call in australia for some help

If you are going to convert you need to understand what the religion is. Do you even know what a koan is?

"Without thinking of good or evil, show me your original face before your mother and father were born."

Thats a koan. Your gunna need to look into that. It is one of the things your religion is based on. Also by being Buddhist you relize your are saying you believe in no god but you instead believe in reincarnation. Kinda weird if you asked me. On the plus side Buddhists never have killed in the name of their religion.

Buddhism is about finding enlightenment, I don't think you need anything other than yourself to do this. There is no membership card, no building to compare clothing in, and no groups of people trying to damage science.

If you feel the need for a religion I suggest this one, but remember to think things through. All in all this is a big choice.

Now I could point out problems with Buddhism, but if your smart and serious about converting, you should notice these on your own.

quote:Originally posted by Elephantitis Man:

Just bow your head and tell Buddha you're sorry for being a sinner and you want him to come into your heart.

+1 I laughed.

Zen Buddhism is really dope. You should look into Tao(is depated whether or not it is a religion). If you're down with both of those you should check out the following books. Hit up wiki or google to find more information on what they really are but eastern philosophy has some of the best ideals that you can come up on.

Tao te ching http://tinyurl.com/y6b7up

Striking Thoughts(really dank) http://tinyurl.com/y5f2yo

IChing http://tinyurl.com/y449o6

Amazon.com was the first website i thought of to look the books up.

quote:Originally posted by Ender:

Zen Buddhism is really dope. You should look into Tao(is depated whether or not it is a religion). If you're down with both of those you should check out the following books. Hit up wiki or google to find more information on what they really are but eastern philosophy has some of the best ideals that you can come up on.

Tao te ching http://tinyurl.com/y6b7up

Striking Thoughts(really dank) http://tinyurl.com/y5f2yo

IChing http://tinyurl.com/y449o6

Amazon.com was the first website i thought of to look the books up.

Library 1st, bookstore 2nd (read it there if you want), internet store 3rd.

quote:Originally posted by Aft3r ImaGe:

Library 1st, bookstore 2nd (read it there if you want), internet store 3rd.



Sounds legit to me. Especially when they don't know shit about what these things really are, no need to buy any books. But it's much easier to convey the book name, subjects, authors, ect. through a link than write it out. Not saying they have to buy it that way.

Why are you converting to Buddhism when you clearly don't even know enough about the religion (which isn't a religion and doesn't require converting, by the way) to even know how to do it?

Cheers,

Lost

quote:Originally posted by LostCause:

Why are you converting to Buddhism when you clearly don't even know enough about the religion (which isn't a religion and doesn't require converting, by the way) to even know how to do it?

Cheers,

Lost

Because it's probably the cool thing to do now at his school.

i diddnt come here to get flamed, and i only used the terminology (convert) becouse i was brought up as a cristian. i started this thread to get help with my research as it has been pointed out that i have done little

i like budism

it is a nice religion, but i am too busy at the moment to learn about it enough to become involved!

quote:Originally posted by ThE JoKeR:

i diddnt come here to get flamed, and i only used the terminology (convert) becouse i was brought up as a cristian. i started this thread to get help with my research as it has been pointed out that i have done little



I understand, but the internet is huge. There are probably hundreds of sites that talk about Buddism. I don't think Totse is the best place to learn about it.

quote:Originally posted by AnAsTaSiO:



I understand, but the internet is huge. There are probably hundreds of sites that talk about Buddism. I don't think Totse is the best place to learn about it.



THANK YOU, thats probably the best advice ill get outa this fourm. But hopefully someonw will post something to aid me

I'm willing to help. What kind of questions do you want snwered? You have to be more specfic.

Converting to Buddhism? Buddha taught to question all. You shouldn't just jump in and accept it all as truth. You have to study dilligently it and decide if it's the right thing for you. You may agree with some of it and disagree with other aspects of it, such as my. I'm not a Buddhist, but I've certainly learned a lot from it and taken a lot from it.

[This message has been edited by Twitch_67 (edited 11-02-2006).]

yea, thats why im "concidering it" i wasnt going to jump right in untill i reasearch more and find out if its right for me

Check out this study-guide for beginners: http://tinyurl.com/ycfcgo . It was where I first learned about Buddhism and is a pretty good guide.

[This message has been edited by Twitch_67 (edited 11-02-2006).]

I have to wonder why someone would convert to a religion if they don't even know what it's about.

quote:Originally posted by Digital_Savior:

I have to wonder why someone would convert to a religion if they don't even know what it's about.

I agree with you here, however, many people who claim to be a certain religion have no understanding of it either.

If you must interact with others try to find a temple near you and learn all you can before you do anything, but don't get lost in the different religious sects of buddhism. Keep an open mind at all times and decide for yourself what you believe. That is what buddhism is all about, you aren't required to have faith in anything, rather you go by what you experience and feel to know to be right.

Read up about the buddha on wikipedia. Learn about the four noble truths and the five-fold path and the middle way. This is all you really need to know by heart. The rest will come to you as you practice meditation exercises.

The ultimate goal of buddhism is to become englightened... what this means is to awake yourself to the true reality, to cleanse yourself of all bias, hatred, suffering, pain, fear, ego, mind, etc. Heaven is available to you at this present moment not sometime in the future or when you die.

Ok heres my explaination of the principle beliefs of Buddhism. Heres what it is in a nutshell

OK a buddhist's main goal is to achieve a state of being where the spirit is free from the world. The reason why people cannot do so is explained in the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

1)Life inevitably has suffering in the form of BIRTH AGEING SICKNESS and DEATH.

2)Suffering is caused by GREED HATRED and IGNORANCE

3)the state of no suffering is called nirvana.

4)the path leading to nirvana is by following the NOBLE 8FOLD PATH.

THE PATH:

1)Perfect understanding of the concepts of buddhism

2)perfect thought, free from powerful emotions

3)perfect speech, no lies, insults

4)perfect action, no killing, stealing etc

5)perfect livlihood ,an honest job, not butchers, casino dealers etc

6)perfect effort, self explainatory

7)perfect mindfulness, be aware of everything around you

8)perfect meditation, achieving a state of calmness

its late, thats all i can bother to write about at the moment.

PS which city do you live in? If in sydney, there is a pretty good buddhist monastery that has a good relationship with the local council in environmental and social activities. Its the Hwa Tsang Monastery and its located on McKenzie street, flemington. They welcome everyone.

Isn't suffering caused by clinging, craving and aversion (what you called 'hatred') according to the second noble truth?



[This message has been edited by Twitch_67 (edited 11-03-2006).]

quote:Originally posted by Twitch_67:

Isn't suffering caused by clinging, craving and aversion (what you called 'hatred') according to the second noble truth?



they are one and the same, you can interchange them as long as the meaning is the same. But clinging and craving both fall under greed. Ignorance is the one that due to our lack of understanding, we may cause suffering. (eg. giving a fat guy a treadmill for christmas, although with good intention, you will cause suffering because you are ignorant of the situation.)

quote:Originally posted by ThE JoKeR:

hi i was becoming buddist, and i wanted some help

(what is needed .ECT) and somewhere i can call in australia for some help



Murder/suicide,

phsical sins are forgiven

sins against soul (converting to budhism) is not.

In fact just suicide, or convert to christianity mmmkay?

quote:Originally posted by Twitch_67:

Check out this study-guide for beginners: http://tinyurl.com/ycfcgo . It was where I first learned about Buddhism and is a pretty good guide.



Read this before doing anything else.

quote:Originally posted by owned:

Originally posted by ThE JoKeR:

hi i was becoming buddist, and i wanted some help

(what is needed .ECT) and somewhere i can call in australia for some help



Murder/suicide,

phsical sins are forgiven

sins against soul (converting to budhism) is not.

In fact just suicide, or convert to christianity mmmkay?



Ignorance.

1) As one person said, "You don't have to convert."

2) Whoever said that you need to study diligently to see if you agree is a little mistaken, albeit well intentioned. What the Buddha asked people to question can be addressed and questions very quickly. The four noble truths are the basic foundation for all the rest of Buddhism. If you find that you agree with them (and belief in the 8-fold path as a result of such) then you are ready to follow the path.

3) Someone mentioned that you need to know koans... They are also mistaken; not all practice paths utilize koans.

I would generally recommend that you find out how to differentiate between the various paths (which can easily be done with a small amount of online reading), pick the one that most aligns with your own paradigm, and then pursue it through literature or by joining a temple.

Learn about the following as general concepts for every path: the triple gem, dependent arising, 4 noble truths, 8 fold path, the 5 skhandas, and the 5 precepts (sometimes strengthened to 8).

Good luck on your journey.

[This message has been edited by Iam (edited 11-11-2006).]

quote:Originally posted by AnAsTaSiO:



I understand, but the internet is huge. There are probably hundreds of sites that talk about Buddism. I don't think Totse is the best place to learn about it.

I just want to remark that it is sentiments like this one and the influx of angsty teens that has resulted in the current environment wherein the community here in My God has become stale and uninformative.

there is this monastary in perth australia i can get info if u need.if u need anything else id be glad to help. reply in this thread.im buddhist btw

quote:Originally posted by Aft3r ImaGe:

On the plus side Buddhists never have killed in the name of their religion.



Wrong. Buddhism arose out of the corpses and ashes of Bon, which was the national religion of Tibet before the buddhists moved in.

But that's ancient history.

I too am interested in learning about Buddhism, and want to do so through totse (learning about a religion through the words of totse is something I've always wanted to experience). Not saying I want to convert, just interested in it is all.

So they're told to question everything, even the foundation of the religion?

"5)perfect livlihood ,an honest job, not butchers, casino dealers etc"

I'm questioning this. ^^ How is being a butcher not an honest job? In times past, many people would have suffered and died had people not eaten meat.

EDIT: Also, does it require you to believe in reincarnation?

[This message has been edited by HandOfZek (edited 11-12-2006).]

quote:Originally posted by One_way_mirror:

Wrong. Buddhism arose out of the corpses and ashes of Bon, which was the national religion of Tibet before the buddhists moved in.

But that's ancient history.



Uhh, this is what I found on that:

In the eighth century, Songtsen Gampo conquered Shang Shung and established a unified Tibet, introducing Buddhism as the chosen religion. As the Bon priests tried to exercise influence in royal and political affairs by claiming supernatural powers, the ruling Tubo family encouraged Buddhism while banning the practice of Bon. It was during the reign of Lang Darma that the followers of Bon endeavoured to eradicate Buddhism but this was to fail following the assassination of Lang Darma. Buddhism rose in popularity while Bon went into decline.

I would like to learn more about when this happened. Please post some sources.

[This message has been edited by Graemy (edited 11-12-2006).]

hand of zek



by being a butcher ure killing animals and you dont have any right to do so because they have the same right to live a peacefull and happy life as u and me.eventhough that u may help ureself or even others by doing it its still wrong to kill animals.

about reincarnation

you dont have to beleve that it exists u dont have to take anything in buddhism for granted as to that matter.u can start reading on the topic if u think its correct beleve it.

read about "edgar cayce" look it up in wikipedia

that would be a good starting point

I see. They don't kill anything, because everything has the right to the life they were given. What if one was placed in a situation where they honestly thought if they didn't kill, they themselves would die?

The reincarnation thing is still bothering me. I know they don't HAVE to believe in reincarnation, but it seems that many of them do. Why do they believe in reincarnation?

Buddha walked rich, tripped, fell, stumbled, and paid attention, and in the end found himself seeing something many others are not aware of.

To follow him, study his words and watch what he did, and understand the connection between what he says about meditation, and what many others are saying (those who really practice). Then it becomes clear it is the experience rather than the religion that is important, and can happen to anyone, buddhist or not.

To know the Buddha's intention and understand directly what he was experiencing, is to know buddhism. You could be a buddhist and still never fully grasp his realization, but he gave the key away.

And Buddha means awakened one. There is not just one Buddha. Some would say Jesus was a Buddha. Osho was a Buddha (I believe) who was here in America and died some years back. If you read his book of secrets, which is transcripts of his speeches, I promise you, he will make it easier to understand, because I believe what he experienced was very much along the lines of what Buddha experienced.

But some could argue with points I've made, and I could care less really. Buddhism is one thing that's hard to talk about http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif) His main focus is meditation, and spreading the word of it to others. The same as Osho, the same as all the Buddhas who have walked the earth.

They simply stumbled upon something that anyone else can....

/thread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism)

hand of zek|:

even in such a situation u must not kill any animal..but yeh most of us will to protect our selves.

about reincarnation. most of the buddhists beleve it because their parents taught them buddhism.and they mustve taught them the theory of reincarnation.

reincarnation is one of the most basic teachings in buddhism. but then again anyone has the right to question wether its truth or false

quote:Originally posted by scrooch:

theory of reincarnation

Please don't call it that, otherwise kids will have to learn it in biology class.

*puts on his Zen Master outfit*

*thumps OP over the head with a stick*



Entheogenic

quote:Originally posted by Digital_Savior:

I have to wonder why someone would convert to a religion if they don't even know what it's about.

Hmmm, reminds me of Christianity almost.

http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif)

Hello to everyone. I kinda hoped the flaming and dumbass comments would have filtered out by now, but what can you do?

Anyways I'll try not to reiterate to much.

quote:Hand of Zek:What if one was placed in a situation where they honestly thought if they didn't kill, they themselves would die?



Unless they were enlightened they would probably act/feel like anyone else. If they were enlightened, or perhaps close to it, they wouldn't be afraid and would act appropriately, which you may interpret to mean not killing.

Why do most of them believe in reincarnation? Because to them it makes sense. There have been 14 Dalai Lamas and all of them have predicted before death where they would be reincarnated, when, and some have described the future parents and homes. I think the Karmapas also do this.(Karmapas are the head of the Kagyu lineage in Tibetan Buddhism.)

There are basically two kinds of Buddhism, Theraveda and Mahayana. But that's over simplifying. There is also Vajrayana(Tibetan Buddhism) which is sometimes classified as a third kind of Buddhism but is actually Mahayana. And in Vajrayana there are four different lineages and different schools of thought. There is also Zen Buddhism which developed in Japan and China and it too is a school of Mahayana. They are the ones who like to use koans.

Of the different schools, Zen and Theravedan are the most simple to understand and Vajrayana is the most complex by far. Even though there are different schools and they place an emphasis on different things, they all carry the same basic foundations.

quote:Iam:Learn about the following as general concepts for every path: the triple gem, dependent arising, 4 noble truths, 8 fold path, the 5 skhandas, and the 5 precepts (sometimes strengthened to 8).

Studying is important because as Buddha said, "question and examine what I am saying to determine if what I say is true." something like that. While study is important, meditation and compassion are of more importance, after all Buddha didn't become enlightened by reading. As a Buddhist what you are after is not just understanding but a direct experience.



Ok, guess that'll do for now.

^^Yes. I only mentioned studying buddhism to make sure he actually wants to join. But once your in the most important single thing you can do is act, reading or thinking about being enlightened in the future are a waste of time. You can be enlightened right at this very moment, and if you have to think about it for more than half a second then your still attached and craving to illusion.