Tsk. You should ask those who are well versed in the Mantras.. hehe not me.

I would approach like this.

1. Read up on the various traditions on Buddhism. Important to take note of the history.

2. Not everything you read about buddhism is true. There is something called too much faith (saddha) that makes a person believe just everything and anything about what other people tell you. Always remember buddha's advice to investigate all teachings first before you accept it as true.

3. Address your doubt by asking question, preferably a teacher whom you may have confidence and affinity in.


You can start by reading this good good written by the late ven Dhammananda "what buddhists believe" - can google it FOC on the net.

4. Try to apply the teaching into your daily life, for example to reduce anger/hatred which is the most common problem we have in the world today.

5. Try to maintain the 5 precepts as good as possible - you won't go very wrong in this life if you follow the precepts.

6. If you can , learn some basic meditation like Metta (loving-kindness) and some form of vipassana, or anything that suits you that could calm your mind.


hmm... i think that's what I can think of for now.

may you be happy!

Hu hu... you try before?

Actually, that is a very good book to begin with in Buddhism. Would encourage you to read it first, it will give you a very good foundation in buddhism.

I attended a retreat before. It was good. All demons in the closet.... hu hu..

Not like that.

In daily life, of course the 5 precepts are important and it's the duty of all buddhists to keep the 5 precepts as best as possible.

However, there might be people out there, who think they can go further to the 8 precepts (or 10 in noviceship) and to attempt to get some insight into the 4 noble truths.

It's commendable and encouraged for those who are ready, to do so. You never know, that the Neyya class of individuals might just attend some Insight at the retreat, and might just penetrate into the 4 noble truths.

East Malaysia, flew there. Few months ago. My first time. Was a bit tough at the beginning. THe 8 precepts part was ok, but got disturbed by many newbies who weren't serious and kept talking ... zzzzzz

But met some exemplary lay buddhists (male and female), and was very encouraged to cultivate like them.


This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 20 2010, 04:37 PM

don't get involved in temple politics. When it comes to money / committee / power , sure will got some politics.

Our job is to help as we can , go there listen to dhamma lectures, learn some meditation (if got teachers), enough. Not our duty to police the monks (some lay people do that!!)....

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 20 2010, 04:43 PM

good morning.

life is so blissful. zzzzzz

40 objects of Samatha meditation


10 Recollections
10 Kasinas
10 Asubhas
4 Brahma viharas
4 Immaterial states
1 Foulness of food
1 Four Element

ANyone tried any of the above yet??

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 21 2010, 09:47 AM

MEditation got 2 types

1. Samatha - calm meditation. Objective is to attain Calm and tranquility. Got 40 types listed.

2. Vipassana - Insight meditation. Objective is to attain Insight into the nature of existence - Dukkha (suffering), Annata (nonself) and Anica (impermanence).



Most popular Samatha meditation are
1. Anapanasati (mindfulness of in-out breath on nostril) - this is ONE of the 10 types of Recollection

2. Metta (loving-kindness) - one of the 4 Brahma viharas (divine stations of the Brahma).

Confused liau bo?

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 21 2010, 10:20 AM

for samatha meditation yea, got about 40 taught by the Buddha.

Not all of these meditations are suitable for everyone. It depends on your temperaments (past karma, tendencies, affinity, etc).

However, there are universal meditation such as MEtta (loving-kindness). This one is suitable for all types of temperaments, because deep inside all of us, there is a lot of hatred in our subconscious.

The effect of meditation is not something like a one-time fix.. but gradual. It has to be applied in daily life too. Meditation serves as some positive reinforcement into the subconscious - everyday we tell ourselves to be loving-kindness to all being, slowly slowly over years, over decades, you find your level of hatred reduces.....

For example, playing video games like dOta or Wow... They look harmless.. but if the individuals play those games, they got angry when TMNET down , or they got killed in Dota by their friends, they got angry..... on daily basis. slowly, day by day , that person gets angry for about 10 mins everyday.... over the years... he finds himself become a very hostile person in real life... easily get irritated, angry, etc.

I am talking from real experience.

So this mental conditiioning is very gradual... if we want to become a good person , we need to do it daily, slowly... everyday throw away some bad habits.. over time, over years, over decades, we will succeed.

By the time of death, we will be a very happy person and calm person. At that time, our 'habitual kamma' is that of a person with very much reduced hatred/anger.. and this kamma will help to help us avoid those destinies associated with these hatred based kamma --> hells, demons who fight each other, animals.....

so i hope this helps you to get a brief idea on meditation.

No need to look very far or greedy... some people meditate they want to attain Jhanas (their sole intention), but when they cannot attain it (not realizing that practice of dhamma comes altogether with Good morality and dana too).. they got pissed with buddhism and dismiss it as 'false' I met these types of people. Motivated by greed and hatred they approach buddhism.

We shouldn't go that direction.

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 21 2010, 10:44 AM

Depends lo. Some got good karma can encounter good teacher and true dhamma, and the states can arise in him quite fast. Some try entire lifetime cannot see any results, got a few explanation for that actually.

But any effort is not wasted, as there is this Dhamma that will actually lead us to Nibbana. Have confidence we must all in the teaching of the Buddha!

let's hope it won't be that long. Even 1 kappa is so long.

Nice. Looks like every religion in the world berlumba-lumba wants to associate with Buddha.

Such is the virtue of the Buddha, that could be used in recollection.

conversation in red

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 23 2010, 11:22 AM

At the moment we all 'believe' in Kamma.

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 23 2010, 11:25 AM

wise decision. you sound like one of the committee for a temple.

Just to share only, in the Abdhidhamma there are listed different kind of individuals in the world today.

1. Ugghatitannu
2. Vipancitannu
3. Neyya
4. Padaparama

1+2 no longer exist in the world today.

3. Neyya - those who require guidance , and having encounter the True Dhamma with sufficient effort attain the various stages of sainthood.

4. Padaparama - those who practice the dhamma, although putting in sufficient effort and encounter true dhamma, fail to attain any stages of sainthood in this life, but will do so at the immediate next life.

---

Added on August 23, 2010, 1:57 pmSo if a person practices with supreme effort, but fails to attain any stage of sainthood, it could be due to

1. Insufficient paramita (past cultivation)

2. A personal vow in past life (to be a boddisatta, or to attain enlightenment under Matteyya Buddha, or as chief disciples, etc)

3. A sure prediction by a past Buddha (to enlighten at certain time or Aeons from now)

There is another factor which will destroy the ability for enlightenment , which is obstruction by the evil veil of Kamma. in this case, an individual has committed a serious kamma (like killing of parents), even if he has sufficient paramita, he will fail to attain any sainthood stages.

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 23 2010, 01:57 PM

i don't get your question, can you rephrase it?