@axelx666: what is with and after the "other suffers for other gains happiness ? I mean from that, is Buddhist/Buddha pro that idea or not... or what they conclude from that thing realized... ? The thing interests me is how Buddha/buddhist behave in life with that "other suffers for other gains happiness.

Written by axelx666 on 02.07.2012 at 04:12

I have a book (that i read) called SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP.
this book details a punk rocker (brad warner) who became buddhist and in it he talks about buddhism (duh!)

now i for one am "pro-buddhist" to me buddhism is a mix of athiesm (they don't believe in a god) and hinduism (reincarnation) IN MY OPINION
i would love to be a buddhist monk to be honest, it think it's so cool. (other people say you would get bored after a while)

Hey, someone else who knows those books! "Sit Down & Shut Up" has really meant a lot for me. He really has some strong points. A very nice read. Also for the awesome humor, haha.

I do want to point out that Buddhism doesn't share the belief of reincarnation with Hinduism. I don't remember exactly if Brad also talks about it in "Sit Down & Shut Up", but he does in "Hardcore Zen". It's a misunderstanding in the western world that Buddhists believe in reincarnation.

Buddhists believe something along the lines that every moment in time is already there. So when everything is already there, one can impossibly die and reincarnate.

I'm not sure if I'd like to be a Buddhist monk one day. I do practice Zazen every day for some time already. And that helps a lot. But I don't think I'm that much interested in really everything of their ideology. For example, I'm too fascinated with psychedelics to just stop with those things all together. But maybe later, who knows. The idea that balance is what it's all about does intrigue me, I think that's the key.

Quote:

Written by Twilight on 11.07.2012 at 11:17

Hey, someone else who knows those books! "Sit Down & Shut Up" has really meant a lot for me. He really has some strong points. A very nice read. Also for the awesome humor, haha.

I do want to point out that Buddhism doesn't share the belief of reincarnation with Hinduism. I don't remember exactly if Brad also talks about it in "Sit Down & Shut Up", but he does in "Hardcore Zen". It's a misunderstanding in the western world that Buddhists believe in reincarnation.

Buddhists believe something along the lines that every moment in time is already there. So when everything is already there, one can impossibly die and reincarnate.

I'm not sure if I'd like to be a Buddhist monk one day. I do practice Zazen every day for some time already. And that helps a lot. But I don't think I'm that much interested in really everything of their ideology. For example, I'm too fascinated with psychedelics to just stop with those things all together. But maybe later, who knows. The idea that balance is what it's all about does intrigue me, I think that's the key.

i'd love to read his other books too, but the nearest book store is a city away sadly, i laughed my ass off when i read the section about japanese book stores.lol
i'll have to see about getting a copy of hardcore zen and see what he says about reincarnation (and while im at it, his 4 other books.)

Sit down shut up sounds very interesting, does it preach Buddhism though? i'm into meditation but i don't get into all the buddhism religion stuff...........yeah i know i'm hard pressed to get an answer as the last post was two years ago

What Brad Warner does in his books ("Sit down & Shut up", "Hardcore Zen", etc) is explain Zen Buddhism in a way that makes sense. In "Sit down & Shut up" he explains parts of a very old book called 'Shobogenzo'. This is about Zen Buddhism and how to incorporate these ways in your life. He has read the whole thing and quotes important passages and then explains them in detail in a very down-to-earth way. I really appreciate that. It becomes so much easier to grasp and it all seems so logical all of a sudden. No new-age-y stuff anywhere.

It is written by someone who thinks critically about everything and questions everything. Even himself.

Written by Twilight on 13.05.2014 at 14:37


It is written by someone who thinks critically about everything and questions everything. Even himself.

ha yeah that's why it sounds so appealing because it sounds a bit like me.
Which book is better ?

I'd suggest to start with his first one: Hardcore Zen. It is more of an overall description of what Zen Buddhism is about for him. After that maybe Sit Down & Shut Up, in which he goes a bit deeper into the written texts that formed the basis of what Zen Buddhism is today.

I posted it a long time ago in this thread, but here is again a short text by Brad Warner which is also very nice, interesting and hilarious at the same time: http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/15468/zen-is-boring-brad-warner. It is a nice starter to get into his style.

Written by Twilight on 14.05.2014 at 00:27

I'd suggest to start with his first one: Hardcore Zen. It is more of an overall description of what Zen Buddhism is about for him. After that maybe Sit Down & Shut Up, in which he goes a bit deeper into the written texts that formed the basis of what Zen Buddhism is today.

I posted it a long time ago in this thread, but here is again a short text by Brad Warner which is also very nice, interesting and hilarious at the same time: http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/15468/zen-is-boring-brad-warner. It is a nice starter to get into his style.

I have been reading a few books about mindfulness from Jon Kabat Zinn and doing the meditations. All credit to him he is good, but his books are starting to get repetitive and he rambles on a bit. I like to read books about this sort of stuff to keep motivated and reminded to keep my mind on track and keep meditating. I think a personality like this and the Buddhism thing could be a refreshing read, thanks.

I'm just going to say that Buddhism isn't necessarily peaceful like the west makes it out to be, there are religious conflicts with Buddhists involved in Southeast Asia, like in Sri Lanka, and some sects of Tantric Buddhism have committed human sacrifices.

Written by Ganondox on 25.06.2014 at 18:49

I'm just going to say that Buddhism isn't necessarily peaceful like the west makes it out to be, there are religious conflicts with Buddhists involved in Southeast Asia, like in Sri Lanka, and some sects of Tantric Buddhism have committed human sacrifices.

really ? wow!

I'm reading hardcore zen at the moment and it definitely seems to be a piece of mind thing. I don't really even take it as a religious thing

Written by deadone on 27.06.2014 at 09:02

Written by Ganondox on 25.06.2014 at 18:49

I'm just going to say that Buddhism isn't necessarily peaceful like the west makes it out to be, there are religious conflicts with Buddhists involved in Southeast Asia, like in Sri Lanka

Are you referring to Sri Lankan civil war? That was mainly an ethnic one between Tamils and Sinhalese. Whilst ones were Buddhist and the other Hindu, they are also distinct cultures with their own languages and ethnic heritage.

Tamils as a race exist in India and Mauritius as well as Sri Lanka.

Indeed the main cause for the split was Sinhalese trying to impose their language as dominant one for business, government etc. This meant Tamils and other groups were excluded from power and were economically disadvantaged.


Mainly Buddhist Thailand has also fought in border wars too against Myanmar and Cambodia and even whooped French butt in 1940-41 (but then everyone was whooping French butt then).


But then these wars weren't being fought in the name of Buddhism but rather in the name of a nation state (Thailand) or an ethnic group (Sri Lanka).



I've never heard of a war being waged in the name of Buddhism, at least in modern times.

Yeah, I am. No, I'm not fulling aware of the tensions going on there, but it this goes to show that Buddahists aren't always what the west makes out to be. After all, many religious wars involving western religion actually have little to do with religion, it's ethnic tensions as well. Also there is still those tantric sects, including some who were in Indonesia, where I currently live. Anyway, nothing against Buddhists, I like them, I met a few Buddhists monks while in Thailand and Cambodia.

So i finished Hardcore Zen a couple of weeks ago. This was a real fun read, it was interesting to hear the Buddhism side of things as to the mindful meditation sciency side in the Jon Kabat Zinn books. In a way the Buddhism's side was more straight forward but then at the same time more metaphorically out there. There is obviously more to learn, but it is basically just saying how to be and how things are and if you meditate and try your best to live like this you will be a happier person. Where the westernized mindfulness thing explains things more technically and how it works on a psychological basis, also bringing in a lot of other factors not concerning Buddhism at all obviously.....
Very similar though as the author basically wrights off any of the things that make it close to being a religion, including all the showy stuff like wearing the robes and shaving your head and all that crap....though it's still considered a religion .
It's cool to hear it from an experienced guy more close to home than some ancient wise zen monk who has lived high in the Himalayas all his life or something. He is funny and like his interest in music (did he really say that gg.allin died in a spectacular suicide though )


Sorry I didn't explain it very well as i suck at explaining things.

Is anyone familiar with Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's "Hinduism and Buddhism" here ?

Written by ylside on 27.09.2015 at 00:42

Is anyone familiar with Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's "Hinduism and Buddhism" here ?

no, what about it?

I think Buddhism is the most compatible with science, if any religion has that capacity which is arguably not the case. Take for example the idea of time being merely an experience of moving from one pre-existing moment to the next. That's a multiverse theory. And some of the Tibetan philosophies have strong relativistic qualities. If one decided to become a Buddhist there is really nothing about it that seems to demand that we suspend (or ignore?) certain aspects of scientific reasoning, as in Christianity for example.

Science is technically agnostic as on any question for which the scientific method has not or cannot be applied is essentially, "no comment." As far as I know with Buddhism that is also the case. It's a tight little package, whereas other religions touch upon issues (the afterlife, for example) that make it a bit like a house of cards. Salvation requires that there be a Heaven and a Hell, and that requires that there is some mechanism (Judgment) which determines where we go, and there must be energy to make the whole thing run, etc., etc. With Buddhism it's basically saying, "The world is not quite what as it appears." The role of enlightenment is simply to realize what it actual is, how it actually works. Is that not what science is doing also?

Written by Enteroctopus on 25.07.2016 at 22:19

I think Buddhism is the most compatible with science, if any religion has that capacity which is arguably not the case. Take for example the idea of time being merely an experience of moving from one pre-existing moment to the next. That's a multiverse theory. And some of the Tibetan philosophies have strong relativistic qualities. If one decided to become a Buddhist there is really nothing about it that seems to demand that we suspend (or ignore?) certain aspects of scientific reasoning, as in Christianity for example.

Science is technically agnostic as on any question for which the scientific method has not or cannot be applied is essentially, "no comment." As far as I know with Buddhism that is also the case. It's a tight little package, whereas other religions touch upon issues (the afterlife, for example) that make it a bit like a house of cards. Salvation requires that there be a Heaven and a Hell, and that requires that there is some mechanism (Judgment) which determines where we go, and there must be energy to make the whole thing run, etc., etc. With Buddhism it's basically saying, "The world is not quite what as it appears." The role of enlightenment is simply to realize what it actual is, how it actually works. Is that not what science is doing also?

I guess it's just going with the motion of it and not trying to decipher it.

I guess I would say there is commonality between practically any different things; a bee and a lollipop. I guess the idea of starting off with an admission of ignorance is what attracted me to Buddhism, or intrigued me about it coming from a science-based, atheist household (my Dad is atheist, my Mom is probably Unitarian, technically). Other religions say, "We have answers! We will tell you how the world was created, where you go when you die, give you a list of no-no's, etc." Buddhism is more like, "You don't know shit, so chill."

Totally butchering the whole concept of the religion right there, I realize, but this is all in fun anyway, right? I'm also not a devotee by any stretch. I'm admittedly a "cafeteria" type, picking and choosing what works, or what I like in different areas and moving along. Some of the basic end goals are the same, I guess, with all the different religions, like being a more compassionate, humble (better behaved) person, but it's like Buddhists go about it in the opposite direction. Christianity is top-down, right? First there was God, then God created the heavens and the Earth, Adam and Eve and so on, and here you are, "You terrible sinner, you!" and you have to accept Jesus. Okay, whatever. I guess you could look at Jesus as this model human and try to be like him - well, let's face it, folks, Jesus did some weird shit! Guy was probably mentally ill or tripping or something, I digress.

"No, shut up, he was the Son of God!"

Lol

Buddhism is more like, "Here, sit and breathe." When you are done sitting and breathing for a while you realize, "Whoa! Everybody is completely wacked out about all kinds of stupid things! Everyone should just chill the fuck up and enjoy life."



Again, completely murdering the actual religion with my ignorant Westernized pop-culture ideas about it, but like I said I don't really care. At least I'm willing to admit that I don't know shit, but I get that meditation is helpful - it's scientifically proven to help the brain. Buddhist monks even regularly volunteer for neurological and psychological research!

The Dalai Lama is very much into neurophysiology and the study of the brain in general. It's helped out universities quite a bit in understanding what happens during meditation, and plenty of other stuff I'm not even aware of. How cool!

So as an ignorant American I dig Buddhism, at least as far as I (don't) understand it.