buddhism was an early and prominent missionary religion, although its methods of propagation may have differed from those of other missionary religions. monks (supported by rulers at times) carried the teachings to most of asia. the interactions of the rulers of non-buddhist kingdoms with representatives of buddhism (monks and merchants, as examples) or with buddhist kingdoms would have also contributed to its spread. the dharma would spread to a region, and once established there, would spread to neighboring regions. once links of communication were established between these regions, additional texts would be transmitted from india, translated, and perhaps re-transmitted. this wasn't an easy process and required great exertion on the part of individual monks. buddhism spread to and became well established in large parts of the indian subcontinent, afghanistan, parts of central asia, much of south-east asia, and east asia. it often syncretized or co-existed with pre-existing religious traditions in the regions to which it was spread. in south-east asia, hindu-buddhist-animist syncretism was common.
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The manner of conversion is that when Buddhist monks and/or nuns arrived, they would typically encounter the local religious practices, consisting of sacrificial cults to local deities. They would “convert” the local deities and their followers by getting them to give up cruel sacrifices of humans and animals. The deities were not cast out into the wilderness, though; they were forgiven for their past ill deeds and given new and loving homes in shrines in Buddhist temples, where the locals would continue to give them harmless offerings of rice.
////////////////////Loppön Malcolm has discussed the four means of "converting" beings. Proselytizing is not included:
/////////////////Its probably because modern Western Buddhists understand that it would be unskillful to actively proselytize the Dharma in the West at this time. Why? Because Westerners are coming to the Dharma on their own, and also they associate active proselytizing with Christianity and so on, so its more skillful to spread the Dharma by less active means. Basically, modern Buddhists are mainly following a 'built it they will come' strategy, which is useful especially when you are just trying to get established in a land dominated by a different religion
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/////////////////////Just for the record, we Jews are not allowed to proselytize at all. It's just not a thing we do. We're a people first, religion second. You can convert, but you have to come to us
//////////////////////Prosyletizing is aggression. It is not a skillful way to help people.
////////////////////The whole of Buddhism is structured around this three-fold training in listening, reflecting and meditating.
////////////////////After all, our delusions are all we've got to work with....until they're not!
///////////////////////ABSOLUTE TRUTH (PARAMARTHASA TYA, DON DAM BDEN PAY In B uddhism Absolute Truth or Absolute Reality means the end point of one's analysis, in other words, the most basic or fundamental element of existence or experience. For example, if one takes a clay pot, a potter might say that in absolute terms it was clay, but a scientist might say it was a collection of atoms. If he were being more precise he might say the atoms themselves consisted of atomic particles moving in space, but even this would be a rough approximation to reality. In absolute terms atomic particles can no longer be defined precisely these days. They cannot be said to be this or that or here or there; they have to be expressed in terms of probability. No doubt scientists will express it differently again in a few years' time. In the same way Absolute Truth presents itself differently to practitioners at the various levels of their practice. Just as this emerges in the experience of an individual practitioner, it occurs historically in the way that the Buddhist Scriptures emerged as a progression of increasingly subtle teachings.
///////////////////////You have good insights. Shamatha meditation is a dualistic meditation — there is a focus or object of meditation, a meditator, and an act of meditating. This allows a wonderful precision. But it also means that the meditation bound by a project — trying to do something.
/////////////////////////Emptiness is by definition not an object, but a property of objects, i.e. the lack of substantiveness or essence in all phenomena
/////////////////////PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF MEDITATION ON EMPTINESS This book "Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness" presents the key stages in the Buddhist experience of the Absolute Truth of Emptiness as five-fold;
1. the Sravaka stage,
2. the Cittamatra stage,
3. the Svatantrika-Madhyamaka stage,
4. the Prasangika-Madhyamaka stage
. 5. the Shentong Madhyamaka stage.
//////////////////////////////
Notes on The Gradual Path to Enlightenment, the “Lamrim” “Not to do any evil To cultivate good To purify one's own mind: This is the teaching of the Buddhas.” -- Shakyamuni Buddha: “Dharmapada” Contents I. Relying on a Dharma mentor, the foundation of the path 1) Dharma mentor II. Initial scope 2) Precious human rebirth 3) Death and Impermanence 4) Sufferings of lower realms 5) Refuge 6) Karma, the action III. Intermediate scope 7) General sufferings and sufferings of higher realms 8) Delusions 9) Path to liberation IV. Great scope 10) Developing and maintaining Bodhicitta 11) Practice of Bodhisattva 12) Training the mind in tranquil stabilization 13) Training the mind in superior seeing 14) Phases of the path 15) Levels of the path 16) Vajrayana path 17) Perfect enlightenment Resources
////////////////////// Roaring Silence: Discovering the Mind of Dzogchen by Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen. It teaches shi-ne meditation, which is said to allow the practitioner to experience emptiness directly as the absence of thought.
//////////////////////////// Sunyata is non-self, it is the sound of one hand clapping
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///////////////////////We all act as if we had lasting, separate, independent selves that it is our constant pre-occupation to protect and foster. It is an unthinking habit that most of us would normally be most unlikely to question or explain. However, all our suffering is associated with this pre-occupation. All loss and gain, pleasure and pain arise because we identify so closely with this vague feeling of selfness that we have. We are so emotionally involved with and attached to this 'self that we take it for granted.
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The manner of conversion is that when Buddhist monks and/or nuns arrived, they would typically encounter the local religious practices, consisting of sacrificial cults to local deities. They would “convert” the local deities and their followers by getting them to give up cruel sacrifices of humans and animals. The deities were not cast out into the wilderness, though; they were forgiven for their past ill deeds and given new and loving homes in shrines in Buddhist temples, where the locals would continue to give them harmless offerings of rice.
////////////////////Loppön Malcolm has discussed the four means of "converting" beings. Proselytizing is not included:
The four means of converting beings to the Dharma are generosity (which itself as four aspects: giving material gifts, conferring fearlessness, loving kindness and teaching Dharma), pleasant speech, conduct and setting an example.
/////////////////Its probably because modern Western Buddhists understand that it would be unskillful to actively proselytize the Dharma in the West at this time. Why? Because Westerners are coming to the Dharma on their own, and also they associate active proselytizing with Christianity and so on, so its more skillful to spread the Dharma by less active means. Basically, modern Buddhists are mainly following a 'built it they will come' strategy, which is useful especially when you are just trying to get established in a land dominated by a different religion
///////////////////
Buddhism is not a religion based on belief. My teacher taught that, to take refuge, is to become a refugee. It is a process of giving up fixed views, rather than creating new fixed views. My teacher on occasion would refuse to be a preceptor for a refuge ceremony — or he would tell students to wait, if he felt that they had a wrong view.
In addition, Buddhism views samsara as confusion. But some types of confusion are worse than others. For example, if a person has a genuine connection with Christianity and is working to live a moral life that includes acts of charity for others, they may not need a Buddhist path.
But a lot can and is being done to make Buddhist teachings available in the West. We are in a transition period when materialism is transcendent and traditional Western religions are in decline. There is a spiritual vacuum in modern Western culture. We all feel it. And Buddhism offers an alternative. There are many practitioners who are making genuine progress on the path. Increasingly, these practitioners are in a position to convey the the essence of Buddhist practice beyond an intellectual understanding. As these practitioners gain confidence and begin to teach, Buddhism will grow. But it is not a numbers game. It is important that genuine Buddhadharma is transmitted that fully carries forward the various Buddhist lineages./////////////////////Just for the record, we Jews are not allowed to proselytize at all. It's just not a thing we do. We're a people first, religion second. You can convert, but you have to come to us
//////////////////////Prosyletizing is aggression. It is not a skillful way to help people.
////////////////////The whole of Buddhism is structured around this three-fold training in listening, reflecting and meditating.
////////////////////After all, our delusions are all we've got to work with....until they're not!
///////////////////////ABSOLUTE TRUTH (PARAMARTHASA TYA, DON DAM BDEN PAY In B uddhism Absolute Truth or Absolute Reality means the end point of one's analysis, in other words, the most basic or fundamental element of existence or experience. For example, if one takes a clay pot, a potter might say that in absolute terms it was clay, but a scientist might say it was a collection of atoms. If he were being more precise he might say the atoms themselves consisted of atomic particles moving in space, but even this would be a rough approximation to reality. In absolute terms atomic particles can no longer be defined precisely these days. They cannot be said to be this or that or here or there; they have to be expressed in terms of probability. No doubt scientists will express it differently again in a few years' time. In the same way Absolute Truth presents itself differently to practitioners at the various levels of their practice. Just as this emerges in the experience of an individual practitioner, it occurs historically in the way that the Buddhist Scriptures emerged as a progression of increasingly subtle teachings.
///////////////////////You have good insights. Shamatha meditation is a dualistic meditation — there is a focus or object of meditation, a meditator, and an act of meditating. This allows a wonderful precision. But it also means that the meditation bound by a project — trying to do something.
At some point, you might find a cool boredom settle in. This can be a positive development that allows relaxation. Relaxation can allow awareness to arise and this is where shamatha meditation can mix with vipashyana.
Shunyata is something that you can keep as an open question. It is not something that can be an object of meditation./////////////////////////Emptiness is by definition not an object, but a property of objects, i.e. the lack of substantiveness or essence in all phenomena
/////////////////////PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF MEDITATION ON EMPTINESS This book "Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness" presents the key stages in the Buddhist experience of the Absolute Truth of Emptiness as five-fold;
1. the Sravaka stage,
2. the Cittamatra stage,
3. the Svatantrika-Madhyamaka stage,
4. the Prasangika-Madhyamaka stage
. 5. the Shentong Madhyamaka stage.
//////////////////////////////
Notes on The Gradual Path to Enlightenment, the “Lamrim” “Not to do any evil To cultivate good To purify one's own mind: This is the teaching of the Buddhas.” -- Shakyamuni Buddha: “Dharmapada” Contents I. Relying on a Dharma mentor, the foundation of the path 1) Dharma mentor II. Initial scope 2) Precious human rebirth 3) Death and Impermanence 4) Sufferings of lower realms 5) Refuge 6) Karma, the action III. Intermediate scope 7) General sufferings and sufferings of higher realms 8) Delusions 9) Path to liberation IV. Great scope 10) Developing and maintaining Bodhicitta 11) Practice of Bodhisattva 12) Training the mind in tranquil stabilization 13) Training the mind in superior seeing 14) Phases of the path 15) Levels of the path 16) Vajrayana path 17) Perfect enlightenment Resources
////////////////////// Roaring Silence: Discovering the Mind of Dzogchen by Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen. It teaches shi-ne meditation, which is said to allow the practitioner to experience emptiness directly as the absence of thought.
//////////////////////////// Sunyata is non-self, it is the sound of one hand clapping
////////////////////////////
///////////////////////We all act as if we had lasting, separate, independent selves that it is our constant pre-occupation to protect and foster. It is an unthinking habit that most of us would normally be most unlikely to question or explain. However, all our suffering is associated with this pre-occupation. All loss and gain, pleasure and pain arise because we identify so closely with this vague feeling of selfness that we have. We are so emotionally involved with and attached to this 'self that we take it for granted.
///////////////////////
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 //////////////////////// Stop Talking So You Can Start Feeling ////////////////////////////////The meditator does not speculate about this 'self. He does not have theories about whether it does or does not exist. Instead he just trains himself to watch dispassionately how his mind clings to the idea of self and 'mine' and how all his sufferings arise from this attachment. At the same time he looks carefully for that self. He tries to isolate it from all his other experiences. Since it is the culprit 20 as far as all his suffering is concerned, he wants to find it and identify it. The irony is that however much he tries, he does not find anything that corresponds to the self. ///////////////////////////////// | |||
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