Any buddists here

[Molvas]

Any other infj interested in Buddhism,when I was younger and a teenager I went to a therpists for adhd and depression.i was a atheist at the time and I told the therapist that and she gave me a book on global philosophy,i remember finding every page in the book so interesting,i read so many interesting religious and philsohical view points,that I developed a thrist for knowledge and finding the truth and trying to be a good person.i read so many philosophy books I eventally reached the conclusion of nihilism,and became very depressed because I was a very lost person and was in the process of absorbing all the knowledge I had gone through and how drastically it had changed my world view.i read about buddism and the four noble truths and the eight fold path as a teenager I felt like I understood very little of it,but I always said to my self the purpose of my life was to obtain nirvania and learn to understand the world and be good to others.
Eventally at the worst part of my life about 18-21 I was struggling daily just to function and lost my way I really honestly cant recall what happened during those years except I went to school and sat in the house a lot.About 21 is when I commited to undergo enormous changes and said this is enough I need to grow up and try to be a better person I need to graduate from college as soon as possible work as many hours as I can improve my social skills,learn to flirt with women and be a more open person and less closed of self absorbed.my depression steadly got better and each time I did something I would be a little bit less miserable,until I achieved most of my goals I bought and paid for a car,im graduating college next semester managed to make friends at work and college joined clubs did voulnteeer work,started reading more,got used to talking with girls getting there numbers and setting up dates stopped watching tv,started going on day trips bymyself .i reached the point where i fixed all the problems i had from high school and then reached a stage where i was obessed with personal growth and started going to life coachs reading books on self improvement etc.i was still got very upset that i was single and not in a serious relationship and don't have a mortage yet.i would feel very lifeless every time i came home and felt so miserable anytime i was alone bymyself and left with my thoughts,eventally it got to the point where i became extremely suicidal and was seriously contemplating ending my life.

i eventally said to myself this has to change you have a lot to live for even though you suffer you have to help other people and not let down your family,you don't desereve to die.i stumbled again on buddism and was reading about what the budda taught and i started medating every day for 20 mins doing visspassa medations just focusing on my breath and observing my thoughts,my mental health has gotten so much better since medating and know in my freetime instead of being miserable i read about buddism and try to follow the eight fold path and the middle way.i also practice strict vegatarism and try to find ways in my life to eliminate suffer to other beings.i have reach very blissful mental states from mediating.i have been listing to alan watts about zen buddism and im considering joining a temple once im done with college and have more freetime,so how did other buddists discover the budda and his teachings.

 

[sprinkles]

Zen is one of the things I try to practice but I think I'm too random and too much of a slacker to try and say I'm a Buddhist.

 

[Lerxst]

I worked in IT... it drove me to Buddhism. The constant materialistic, egotistical, "keeping up with the Jones-es" mentality I was surrounded by every day grew too much for me to tolerate eventually. I started to question what religion I really was around that point and realized it wasn't Christian (born Roman Catholic). Did a lot of research and reading and one thing that annoys me with most religions is the constant gravitation towards violence, despite what they all claim to teach. Even though there have been a few uprisings, Buddhists have never declared war or committed genocide "in the name of Buddha" (just saying that sounds funny), that was an instant + mark for me!

Then I read up on the Zen tradition and gained a profound respect for a lot of it's teachers, especially Thich Nhat Hanh. That was 9 years ago. I'm not exactly monk material, but I try what I can, where I can; vegan diet, working with animals and non-profits, meditating, etc. and I'm much more content than I ever was when I was trying to please a "God" or any type... or feed my own ego.

 

[Kgal]

My therapist suggested vipassana meditation and Jack Kornfield.

When I read about the Four Noble Truths and the 8 Fold path I thought I had finally found Home.

Congratulations on taking charge of your life and giving it purpose and meaning.

 

[Radiantshadow]

When I was a 13, I took to reading about the world's belief systems as an expansive case study in human motivation. When I got to "The Noble Eightfold Path" and "In the Buddha's Words" by Bikkhu Bodhi, I was thrilled because I finally found a philosophical framework that made sense to me. I picked up more books on the various schools of Buddhism and their practices, studied their long histories and differences in perspective, and, once I got to college, rifled through all of the empirical evidence on the forms of meditation. Dogen, Suzuki, Thad Nhat Hanh, and I have had some good times together =)

Although I frequently meditate, I've yet to actually embrace Buddhist thought completely, as I'm on the fence about some of the claims made and am unsure whether to interpret parts of the teachings literally or as metaphor. I have a firm grounding in the sciences and am skeptical of mysticism. At the moment, I see Buddhism as more of a life philosophy, a way of living, than a religion. So I guess that makes me more of a casual flirt than a serious Buddhist.

 

[Eventhorizon]

Intj so not sure my input is relevant.
Its important that I say right off the bat that I do not subscribe to any religion. I think many of them contain great insight formulated by humans and then unfortunately attribute that insight to something nonhuman.

Haiving said that out of all major established religions the one I align with to geater extent than any other would be buddism.

I like to think though that others keep an open mind while they search. Taking information and thougt from as many areas as possible and coming to their own conclusions rather than subscribing to any group mentality just to "belong" for the sake of belonging or loneliness.

Looking back at my childhood I now realize that while my upbringing was more relaxed than many I was still bombarded by some family, school and society in general as being told I must decide what I believe when it came to religion. What was absolutely shunned and looked down on was to be an atheist. Atheists were these crazy people that no one wanted to hear about or be around. They could kill you and not even care abouf it etc...

 

[Molvas]

When I was a 13, I took to reading about the world's belief systems as an expansive case study in human motivation. When I got to "The Noble Eightfold Path" and "In the Buddha's Words" by Bikkhu Bodhi, I was thrilled because I finally found a philosophical framework that made sense to me. I picked up more books on the various schools of Buddhism and their practices, studied their long histories and differences in perspective, and, once I got to college, rifled through all of the empirical evidence on the forms of meditation. Dogen, Suzuki, Thad Nhat Hanh, and I have had some good times together =)

Although I frequently meditate, I've yet to actually embrace Buddhist thought completely, as I'm on the fence about some of the claims made and am unsure whether to interpret parts of the teachings literally or as metaphor. I have a firm grounding in the sciences and am skeptical of mysticism. At the moment, I see Buddhism as more of a life philosophy, a way of living, than a religion. So I guess that makes me more of a casual flirt than a serious Buddhist.

That is how I view buddism as a life philosophy,more then a religion,I am 100% atheist by the way and im extermley skeptical of the supernatural.i don't belive there are any gods or first causes,they don't make logical sense to me,the only thing I don't understand in buddism is rebirth,if there is no soul how are you reborn,i guess it makes sense because the self is a creation of the mind and the enviorment so the self is none existence and we our all part of existance so we are in a constant state of rebirth because karma is in constant motion,thru each living being,so our being is like a endless wind blowing infinitely and formlessly,we attach names and limits on the forms in our minds because the mind naturally sees patterns,but all the patterns are illusions.

 

[Radiantshadow]

. . . the only thing I don't understand in buddism is rebirth,if there is no soul how are you reborn,i guess it makes sense because the self is a creation of the mind and the enviorment so the self is none existence and we our all part of existance so we are in a constant state of rebirth because karma is in constant motion,thru each living being,so our being is like a endless wind blowing infinitely and formlessly,we attach names and limits on the forms in our minds because the mind naturally sees patterns,but all the patterns are illusions.

It's more like the mind is fluid instead of crystalline, not that it's an illusion. Its dimensions simply change across situations and as we acquire more insight.

 

[Eventhorizon]

Though the post is not directed at me I wanted to say that even someone based firmly in science can allow for the possibility of something after your life ends. Now its possible my own mind is grasping at straws trying desperately to come up with some excuse that allows for this but then again I have accumulated a fairly vast amount of information combined with a great deal of thought that for me at least allows for some form of life after death without a god.
In other words I am in fact an atheist but what I like to call a spiritual atheist. There is no reason our consciousness existing on its own without need for a creator isnt more plausible than needing an outside force to make it possible.

Treading ground like this pretty much means I have been on my own so I dont expect agreement. Just throwing the idea out there for contemplation.

 

[SealHammer]

I find that every major world religion is repugnant and also most of the minor ones, too. I count Buddhism out of the category of religion because it isn't really about trivial ritualistic dogma like all religions, and is unlike every single religion because it is about finding a way to live that makes you and the people around you happy.

I kind of wish I could read Sanskrit so that I could read the old source material for modern Buddhist philosophy. Not wild about having things filtered through to me by a translator.

 

[sprinkles]

That is how I view buddism as a life philosophy,more then a religion,I am 100% atheist by the way and im extermley skeptical of the supernatural.i don't belive there are any gods or first causes,they don't make logical sense to me,the only thing I don't understand in buddism is rebirth,if there is no soul how are you reborn,i guess it makes sense because the self is a creation of the mind and the enviorment so the self is none existence and we our all part of existance so we are in a constant state of rebirth because karma is in constant motion,thru each living being,so our being is like a endless wind blowing infinitely and formlessly,we attach names and limits on the forms in our minds because the mind naturally sees patterns,but all the patterns are illusions.

There's not an eternal soul.

Yes, the isolated self is an illusion. Rebirth of a soul sounds like there's a magical 'you' which flies away when your body dies and then somehow floats around for a bit and then inhabits a new body - notice the theme there which is "you you you." It hinges around your separated ego identity which is an illusion. Moreover, if you stay as the same soul then how is rebirth significant to begin with? It'd be more like body swapping.

No. When you die, the self illusion also dies. This doesn't mean there is nothing left to be reborn. What it means is you'll lose the identifying awareness - what you believe yourself to be is only temporary and is not reiterated eternally.

 

[Eventhorizon]

There's not an eternal soul.

Yes, the isolated self is an illusion. Rebirth of a soul sounds like there's a magical 'you' which flies away when your body dies and then somehow floats around for a bit and then inhabits a new body - notice the theme there which is "you you you." It hinges around your separated ego identity which is an illusion. Moreover, if you stay as the same soul then how is rebirth significant to begin with? It'd be more like body swapping.

No. When you die, the self illusion also dies. This doesn't mean there is nothing left to be reborn. What it means is you'll lose the identifying awareness - what you believe yourself to be is only temporary and is not reiterated eternally.

Not that I fully identify with this. Its just a really good and different way of looking at something.

 

[sprinkles]

Not that I fully identify with this. Its just a really good and different way of looking at something.

It's just what Buddha taught. That individuated self is not soul, and is also not body.

People get confused when it is said there's no soul, yet at the same time reincarnation is taught. The problem is that in Buddhism there is a Buddha self which gets reborn, but that which it is is linguistically problematic because we speak through and about self and selfing. What gets reborn defies description which is why Buddha didn't even try to.

So in other words Buddha did believe we're individuated, but that which we are is neither soul nor body, but rather something transcendent and beyond description.

 

[Eventhorizon]

It's just what Buddha taught. That individuated self is not soul, and is also not body.

People get confused when it is said there's no soul, yet at the same time reincarnation is taught. The problem is that in Buddhism there is a Buddha self which gets reborn, but that which it is is linguistically problematic because we speak through and about self and selfing. What gets reborn defies description which is why Buddha didn't even try to.

So in other words Buddha did believe we're individuated, but that which we are is neither soul nor body, but rather something transcendent and beyond description.

I did say I liked your post.

 

[BrokenDaniel]

The Bhavacakra is pretty cool.

I don't really practice anyy form of budhism, my knowledge on the subject is pretty limited.

 

[Kgal]

That is how I view buddism as a life philosophy,more then a religion,I am 100% atheist by the way and im extermley skeptical of the supernatural.i don't belive there are any gods or first causes,they don't make logical sense to me,the only thing I don't understand in buddism is rebirth,if there is no soul how are you reborn,i guess it makes sense because the self is a creation of the mind and the enviorment so the self is none existence and we our all part of existance so we are in a constant state of rebirth because karma is in constant motion,thru each living being,so our being is like a endless wind blowing infinitely and formlessly,we attach names and limits on the forms in our minds because the mind naturally sees patterns,but all the patterns are illusions.

I was listening to a Matt Kahn interview where he explains that concept. He stated with each breath we take we are born and on the out breath we die. He maintained the word breath was a combination of "Birth" and "Death" = Breath.

I find it very interesting to see your post this morning and really resonate with your statement "...like an endless wind blowing infiitely and formlessly...". ...for that is how it seems to me.

I'm not sure I agree with the Buddhist perspective of no Soul. From a religious dogma perpsective I agree we do not have a Soul that needs to be saved by believing in and acting by any one religious rule. So perhaps the Buddha was teaching no soul from that perpsective. Utlimately I do exist as a personality imbued with certain characteristics as I choose to express while walking around here on this Earth. My essence is part of the One...of All That Is... Source Energy...and as such I consider it Soul.

 

[Quiet]

The Bhavacakra is pretty cool.

I don't really practice anyy form of budhism, my knowledge on the subject is pretty limited.

Wow those images are fascinating

I know you just said that your knowledge on the subject is limited....but do you know...or have any thoughts or ideas on why those three animals appear in the middle?

Does anyone here know more about this?
Very curious

 

[BrokenDaniel]

Wow those images are fascinating

I know you just said that your knowledge on the subject is limited....but do you know...or have any thoughts or ideas on why those three animals appear in the middle?

Does anyone here know more about this?
Very curious

Oh, no, i would like to know that too if anyone here knows about it. My art teacher showed me some images not so long ago, but mainly for other reasons concerning the painting itself and the style and how much she liked it.

I know it is reffered as the wheel of life, or becoming fwiw. There's also a cosmology sort of thing to it.

 

[sprinkles]

I was listening to a Matt Kahn interview where he explains that concept. He stated with each breath we take we are born and on the out breath we die. He maintained the word breath was a combination of "Birth" and "Death" = Breath.

I find it very interesting to see your post this morning and really resonate with your statement "...like an endless wind blowing infiitely and formlessly...". ...for that is how it seems to me.

I'm not sure I agree with the Buddhist perspective of no Soul. From a religious dogma perpsective I agree we do not have a Soul that needs to be saved by believing in and acting by any one religious rule. So perhaps the Buddha was teaching no soul from that perpsective. Utlimately I do exist as a personality imbued with certain characteristics as I choose to express while walking around here on this Earth. My essence is part of the One...of All That Is... Source Energy...and as such I consider it Soul.

I think Buddha was addressing the problem of what you are vs. what you have vs. what you are made of.

e.g. if you have a soul, what entity has this having? It's like having an apple? You hold the apple, you have it, but what is you? When you have, where is the 'you' that is doing the 'having'? What if you don't have it?

Or in other words, to say that you have something is to say that you're not that thing but rather that you possess it, and that if you can have it, it isn't a necessary condition for your being.

 

[apemon]

It's just what Buddha taught. That individuated self is not soul, and is also not body.

People get confused when it is said there's no soul, yet at the same time reincarnation is taught. The problem is that in Buddhism there is a Buddha self which gets reborn, but that which it is is linguistically problematic because we speak through and about self and selfing. What gets reborn defies description which is why Buddha didn't even try to.

So in other words Buddha did believe we're individuated, but that which we are is neither soul nor body, but rather something transcendent and beyond description.

Ran into a neat metaphor for this maybe - it spoke of what we are being dipped out and manifested here for a time, then returned to the formlessness. Interesting. Strange to be in a place so connected and yet disconnected at the same time.