Buddhism believes in reincarnation/rebirth right? Just not in the traditional rebirth of soul or ego, but the energies of a being going back to the cycle of samsara?
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#Mastodharma ch2
I've heard this chapter's basic point summarized many times, but it felt touching to actually read this part myself.
There was this one point that especially struck me: that those who "even with distracted minds" have "offered a single flower" are still on the Path... Because that's what it often is like. There's comfort in knowing that the point is to just keep going. Even when the path goes winding around and about, it still always keeps spiraling inward, somehow.
#Mastodharma ch2
I've heard this chapter's basic point summarized many times, but it felt touching to actually read this part myself.
There was this one point that especially struck me: that those who "even with distracted minds" have "offered a single flower" are still on the Path... Because that's what it often is like. There's comfort in knowing that the point is to just keep going. Even when the path goes winding around and about, it still always keeps spiraling inward, somehow.
I ended up going on an adventure with my parents and Bumble today, which took up all the time I would have used for #mastodharma so I'm gonna have to skip posting today
I'll still read it tho and prolly post about it later
ty to everyone who participated this week!! 🪷
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I appreciate #mastodharma because contrary to what people in culturally diverse communities may think, no, not everyone can easily access a Buddhist teacher or temple.
I find community-led discussions a great way for someone to learn about things and see if it's something they truly wish to pursue in a more structured, guided way. If they even find enough to resonate with TO seek out a teacher to guide them to realization.
Where I am, we are extremely privileged to have the highest concentration of temples in Texas (11 in Houston, IIRC, not even accounting for the whole Houston metro area) across several schools of Buddhism... but of the remaining ~63, they are almost all entirely in major metropolitan areas. You're not gonna find that many in the western half of the state, for example. Out there you're lucky if you can find a Hindu temple, let alone Buddhist.
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@summer
So it's kind of comparing someone foolish but willing to listen to the people who left who were ostensibly wise but thought they already knew enough?
I appreciate #mastodharma because contrary to what people in culturally diverse communities may think, no, not everyone can easily access a Buddhist teacher or temple.
I find community-led discussions a great way for someone to learn about things and see if it's something they truly wish to pursue in a more structured, guided way. If they even find enough to resonate with TO seek out a teacher to guide them to realization.
Where I am, we are extremely privileged to have the highest concentration of temples in Texas (11 in Houston, IIRC, not even accounting for the whole Houston metro area) across several schools of Buddhism... but of the remaining ~63, they are almost all entirely in major metropolitan areas. You're not gonna find that many in the western half of the state, for example. Out there you're lucky if you can find a Hindu temple, let alone Buddhist.
#mastodharma
it's significant, per Thay in his book "Opening the Heart of the Cosmos," that Buddha speaks first to Shariputra:
"The chapter begins as Shakyamuni Buddha emerges from his samadhi and says to Shariputra, “The wisdom of the Buddha is profound and incalculable. Shravakas or pratyekabuddhas cannot achieve this wisdom.” This is a very important detail. The Buddha has just come out of a deep state of meditative concentration and is about to begin delivering this most important Mahayana sutra. Whom does he choose to address at this moment? Not one of the great bodhisattvas, such as Manjushri or Maitreya, but his loyal disciple, the bhikshu Shariputra.
In the Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra, Shariputra is held in low regard and made an object of denigration. He represents all the shortcomings of the Hinayana tradition. But now, in the Lotus Sutra, he is the object of the Buddha’s care and love. In this sutra, Shariputra represents the fourfold community of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen to whom the Buddha will transmit the teachings for future generations. Right away we can see how the Lotus Sutra aims to reconcile the two traditions."
which I think is very lovely. Shariputra is somebody understood to be a stand in for Hinayana more broadly, but he is treated as someone who is worth bringing in to the fold rather than as someone foolish and haughty, which is what Thay says is how the Vimalakirti Sutra treats him. the wisdom of the elders and the elders who ensured the transmission of the dharma is given immense respect by the Lotus Sutra.
@summer
So it's kind of comparing someone foolish but willing to listen to the people who left who were ostensibly wise but thought they already knew enough?
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im glad #mastodharma is still going,
fuck the haters
im glad #mastodharma is still going,
fuck the haters
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After all the refusals
After the trembling earth and blinding light.
after five thousand monks walk out because they can’t bear to hear something new
The Buddha speaks
and the ultimate, shocking, revolutionary teaching is-
Inclusion
Not a new, more exclusive secret for the advanced
Not a harder path for an elite few
Inclusion
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@tlariv@mastodon.cloud Right.
In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says:
> In the end,
> A buddha does not save sentient beings
> Through an inferior vehicle.
That's what I was talking about. @Taweret@timeloop.cafe clarified that "inferior vehicles" are ways that meet a person lower than they are. If I could follow a better path, the Buddha isn't going to recommend a worse one to me.
Then I was taking the later part where the Buddha says that even a kid making a stupa out of sand is on the path to attaining enlightenment. You might not be on the best path that you can reasonably follow, but if you're on a path, that's still good.
#Mastodharma
@tlariv@mastodon.cloud Right.
In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says:
> In the end,
> A buddha does not save sentient beings
> Through an inferior vehicle.
That's what I was talking about. @Taweret@timeloop.cafe clarified that "inferior vehicles" are ways that meet a person lower than they are. If I could follow a better path, the Buddha isn't going to recommend a worse one to me.
Then I was taking the later part where the Buddha says that even a kid making a stupa out of sand is on the path to attaining enlightenment. You might not be on the best path that you can reasonably follow, but if you're on a path, that's still good.
#Mastodharma
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Once Buddha decides to start teaching in this chapter, he's saying that there's only one method of spiritual practice. This seems to contradict the wide variety of ways people were seeking enlightenment earlier. I'm guessing they're all unified in some sense?
#Mastodharma
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@neia Years ago a Buddhist monk told me that the core of the Dharma was the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path, and that everything else, the Buddha gave for those who didn't or wouldn't understand.
I thought I knew what he meant, now I wonder if this is what he meant?
The Buddha can't bring himself to teach inferior ways to enlightenment. But I'm getting the impression that these inferior paths are more widely acceptable, and they might still prepare someone for the true dharma? I'm not sure the Buddha would agree with me.
#Mastodharma
@neia Years ago a Buddhist monk told me that the core of the Dharma was the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path, and that everything else, the Buddha gave for those who didn't or wouldn't understand.
I thought I knew what he meant, now I wonder if this is what he meant?
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He's making a point of saying that all degrees of practice are valid. If you're using art as your practice and it comes out like a toddler's crayon drawing, that's still a step on the path! Your current skill level shouldn't dissuade you.
And we should value every effort, no matter how small! Even if someone offers a flower while distracted, that's still a step on the path. I've heard this expressed in the reverse: don't punish the behavior you want to see.
#Mastodharma
He's making a point of saying that all degrees of practice are valid. If you're using art as your practice and it comes out like a toddler's crayon drawing, that's still a step on the path! Your current skill level shouldn't dissuade you.
And we should value every effort, no matter how small! Even if someone offers a flower while distracted, that's still a step on the path. I've heard this expressed in the reverse: don't punish the behavior you want to see.
#Mastodharma
The Buddha can't bring himself to teach inferior ways to enlightenment. But I'm getting the impression that these inferior paths are more widely acceptable, and they might still prepare someone for the true dharma? I'm not sure the Buddha would agree with me.
#Mastodharma
He's making a point of saying that all degrees of practice are valid. If you're using art as your practice and it comes out like a toddler's crayon drawing, that's still a step on the path! Your current skill level shouldn't dissuade you.
And we should value every effort, no matter how small! Even if someone offers a flower while distracted, that's still a step on the path. I've heard this expressed in the reverse: don't punish the behavior you want to see.
#Mastodharma