What Buddhist sect does your beliefs/practices tend to agree with the most?

Well just to understand the members around here and what kind of text we can expect them to be familiar with, I thought it would be interesting to see where we stand. Keep in mind that you can answer this even if you are not Buddhist.

Personally I'd say the school closest to my beliefs would be the Madhyamika of the Mahayana tradition. Generally I consider it to have a much stronger backbone than the practical Mahayana schools, and the explanations are more detailed and have less holes than the Avamtasaka and Tien Tai. Yogacara is in many respects similar to the Madhyamika as they both originate from Nalanada in one level or another but it lacked organizers such as Nagarjuna and Shantideva.

(maybe I will give a more meaningful explanation later)

 

Dzogchen - Atiyoga teachings of Longchenpa

 

For me, I would rather say that Tientai's or Chi-i explanation, which is the cornerstone of Nichiren Buddhism, expounded more fully and comprehensive than Madhyamika school.

“All existence is suffering and change.” This is the first of Shakyamuni’s “four noble truths.” The second is, “Suffering is caused by craving.” But why do we selfishly crave? Why are we so foolish? The answer given by Buddhism is that our minds are filled with illusion, fictions that we embrace as true. The aim of Buddhist practice, therefore, is to enable us to see through these illusions, to arrive at a correct understanding of the way things are and free ourselves from selfish craving and, hence, from suffering.

Nagarjuna developed the concept of “non-substantiality” in connection with those of dependent origination and the nonexistence of self-nature. Because phenomena arise only by virtue of their relationship with other phenomena, they have no distinct nature or existence of their own; and there is no independent entity that exists alone, apart from other phenomena. Nagarjuna described a Middle Way that regards the categories of existence and nonexistence as extremes and aims to transcend them. The practical purpose behind the teaching of non-substantiality lies in eliminating attachments to transient phenomena and to the ego, or the perception of self as an independent and fixed identity.

Tientai or Chih-i asserted that the Buddha nature was possessed by both sentient and non-sentient beings. Thus every individual fully possesses the ultimate truth of the Buddha nature and is interconnected with all of existence. Furthermore, anyone has the potential to discover this reality at any time.

The continuity of this thought is evident in Nichiren’s explication of the Middle Way. Working within the framework established by Nagarjuna and reprised by Chih-i as the doctrine of the “three truths,” Nichiren stated that: “Life is indeed an elusive reality that transcends both the words and concepts of existence and nonexistence. It is neither existence nor nonexistence, yet exhibits the qualities of both. It is the mystic entity of the Middle Way that is the ultimate reality.” In describing the Middle Way in this fashion, Nichiren emphatically affirms that the Buddha nature is the fundamental reality of our lives and of the world in which we live.

It is not necessary to flee from the everyday world or eliminate all desires in order to perceive this reality and attain enlightenment. For many, Buddhism is associated with asceticism, and indeed there are many schools and traditions which stress the need to eliminate desire and sever all attachments. In place of the very complex and primarily linguistic and philosophical formulations that had developed over the centuries and effectively excluded the general populace from enlightenment—either because they focused on a monastic vocation or simply because they offered no accessible means to achieve this end— Nichiren offered a strikingly new method of self-awakening. Indeed, he sought to demonstrate that all people—female or male, upper class or lower, intellectual or not—can attain enlightenment in this life as they are.

This is possible, according to Nichiren, because a correct understanding of the Middle Way reveals that although a person’s life manifests both impermanence and non-substantiality, it equally manifests the unchanging reality of all existence. Thus it is the fundamental reality of all human existence and in no way the exclusive possession of a select few.

I am going to attempt a brief summary of the Nichiren's self-understanding of Buddha Dharma, a brief synopses of Lotus school of what Nichiren Buddhism is all about, the school which placed supreme value and honored on the Lotus sutra.

It begins with Shakaymuni Buddha who taught around the 5th century BCE and then his teachings were passed down orally until they were written down beginning in the first century BCE. The T'ien-t'ai school in China, basing itself on apocryphal sutras, believes that there was a lineage of 24 patriarchs in India beginning with Shakyamuni Buddha passing to Mahakashyapa and then Ananda and including Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu and ending with Aryasimha (Zen later added four more in order to bridge the gap between Aryasimha and the coming of Bodhidharma to China).

Nagarjuna provided a major impetus to the Mahayana school in the 2nd-3rd century CE with his Verses on the Middle Way and his commentaries on the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. He is considered the founder of the Madhyamika school and his influence on all forms of Mahayana can not be overestimated.

Buddhism entered China in the first century CE and in the early part of the 5th century CE the renowned Madhyamika scholar and translator from Central Asia, Kumarajiva, came to China and began to translate the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and other important Mahayana sutras. He also probably wrote the huge Treatise on the Large Perfection of Wisdoom Sutras(Prajnaparamita sutras) which he attributed to Nagarjuna.

In the 6th century CE, the Chinese monk named Chih-i began teaching and established a teaching center on Mt. T'ien-t'ai. He was later known as the Great Master T'ien-t'ai, the founder of the school of the same name. Chih-i was a great scholar and meditator who wanted to systematize all the seemingly contradictory teachings which had been translated into Chinese. He also wanted to express the Madhyamika teachings in a way that would preserve both their dynamism and their liberating potential. Finally he wanted to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive system of meditation which would lead to enlightenment.

Chih-i's teachings, along with those of the 8th century reformer of the T'ien-t'a school known as Miao-lo, would later become the cornerstone of Nichiren Buddhism. Here are some of the major teachings of Chih-i:

The Three Truths - whereas Madhyamika stressed the two truths of the provisional (samvirti) and the ultimate (paramartha), Tientai or Chih-i believed that three truths actually needed to be held in balance so that the ultimate would not be reified and the conventional denigrated. The Three Truths are:

The Empty - the non-substantial nature of things
The Provisional -the contingent nature of things as they arise and cease
The Middle Way - the total inseperability of emptiness and contingent phenomena

Chih-i taught that each of these truths could be approached seperately but that ultimately they were united and should be viewed in their unity.

The Eight Teachings - Chih-i taught that the Buddha's teachings can be categorized into four teachings by content and four by method depending on how the Three Truths and their ultimate unity are presented.

The Four Teachings by Content:

The Tripitika Teaching - this corresponds to pre-Mahayana teachings and is directed at the shravakas (hearers) who strive to become arhats (those who escape from the world of birth and death and do not return). It emphasizes emptiness and approaches it through analysis of the aggregates and the links of dependent origination.

The Common Teaching - this corresponds to the Prajnaparamita Sutras and is directed to the more advanced shravakas and the beginner bodhisattvas. Because these teachings are directed at both shravakas and bodhisattvas it is called the teaching they hold in common. This level of discourse approaches emptiness more immediately because it does not involve analysis. Rather, one learns not to impute substance or a fixed nature onto things in the first place. It is also more thoroughgoing in its application of emptiness in that it applies it not just to the self but to all dharmas (phenomena).

The Specific Teaching - this corresponds to the Flower Garland Sutra(avatamsaka) which is directed specifically to the bodhisattvas. At this point, one needs to see that emptiness is not a dead-end but just the beginning. From the perspective of emptiness, the bodhisattvas can begin to compassionately apply their insight to specific situations for the sake of all sentient beings. This requires an appreciation for contingent phenomena and thus the truth of provisionality. All three truths are taught at this level, but they are still not fully integrated

The Perfect Teaching - this corresponds to the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra and it is considered perfect because it presents the Middle Way as the integration of all three truths - the empty, the provisional, and the Middle Way wich integrates them into a seamless whole. The Perfect Teaching also presents the One Vehicle(also known as "Buddha Vehicle") which integrates the vehicles of the shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas and so is more profound than the earlier teachings but also more inclusive. The Perfect Teaching also contains the teaching of the Unborn and Deathless nature of the Buddha's enlightened life and in this way also presents the unity of the three truths as presented in the life, teachings, example, and continued spiritual presence of Shakyamuni Buddha who Chih-i taught united all three bodies of the Buddha (the historical, ideal, and universal bodies), in chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra.

 

cont..

The Four Teachings by Method -

The Sudden Method - the Buddha teaches directly from his own awakening without any preliminaries. This is usually identified with the Flower Garland Sutra.

The Gradual Method - the Buddha begins at a very basic common sense level and then gradually deepens the understanding of his disciples. This is usually identified with the Tripitika, Prajnaparamita, and other Mahayana sutras.

The Indeterminate Method - the Buddha teaches one doctrine but it is understood in different ways by the various people who hear it.

The Secret Method - the Buddha teaches some people who are ready for or else can benefit by a specific teaching but others are not aware of this because they are either not ready or would misunderstand the teaching.

Chih-i then taught that the four types of teaching were combined like ingredients into five different flavors of Dharma. Miao-lo later identified these more rigidly with a chronological scheme of the Buddha's teachings called the five periods.

The Five Flavors/Periods:

The Flower Garland - This lasted for the first few weeks after the Buddha's enlightenment. This period combines the Perfect Teaching with concessions to the Sudden Teaching.

The Deer Park - for the next 12 years beginning with the Deer Park discourse, the Buddha exclusively taught the Tripitika doctrine for the shravakas.

The Extended (Vaipulya) - for the next 8 years the Buddha taught preliminary Mahayana teachings in order to castigate the shravakas for their complacency and to inspire the novice bodhisattvas. The Vimalakirti Sutra, the Pure Land Sutras, and those pertaining to Conciousness Only and later the Esoteric teachings are all lumped into this catch-all category which contains all the four teachings which are taught depending on how they correspond to the needs of the audience at any given time and place.

The Prajnaparamita Sutras - for the next 22 years the Buddha taught the Prajnaparamita Sutras which included all but the Tripitika teachings. This period emphasized emptiness and was the Buddha's way of clearing the decks and introducing non-duality which would be needed to properly understand the final period of the teaching.

The Lotus and Nirvana Sutras - this period was taught in the last 8 years of the Buddha's life and contained only the unadulterated Pure teaching. This was the period which not only comes full circle back to the Buddha's own point of view, but brings along all those who were prepared by the last three stages and who did not understand or felt left out of the teachings of the Flower Garland period.

Another way that Chih-i had of expressing the ultimate import of the Perfect Teaching of the Lotus Sutra and the unity of the Three Truths was through the teaching of the http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/SokaGakkai/Study/Elementary/Text3.htm[/size]]Three Thousand Realms in a Single Thought Moment{click explanation} This deserves a whole thread of its own, but essentially it teaches that there are ten factors of causality which are operative in the ten worlds of sentient experience from hell to buddhahood and that each of the ten worlds contains the others due to their common causality and that these worlds all express themselves in the three realms of the individual, all sentient beings, and the environment. This teaching also became the basis of the claim put forward by Miao-lo that even grasses and trees can manifest buddhahood.Chih-i taught four basic categories of meditation as a way of attaining enlightenment:

Constant Sitting - which is tranquility and insight meditation (samatha vipassana)

Constant Walking - which is chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha while circumambulating a statue of that Buddha.

Half-Walking and Half-Sitting - which involves repentence ceremonies that involve silent sitting, chanting, vows, long repentence prayers, and visualizations before elaborate altars.

Neither Walking Nor Sitting - This is an open awareness of all phenomena at all times in everything that one is doing. It is tranquility and insight which carries over into all activities.

In the early 9th century CE the Japanese monk Saicho (later known as Dengyo) brought the T'ien-t'ai teachings to Japan where they became known as Tendai. He established a monastery on Mt. Hiei and began two tracks of practice - one for meditation and the other for esoteric practices which had become popular in China and Japan in the 8th century. Saicho also proposed that a new precept platform should be established on Mt. Hiei where the bodhisattvas precepts could be conferred. This new Mahayana precept platform would make the precepts conform to the Mahayana teachings and practices already taught there and it would supercede the three government sponsored precept platforms already in Japan where the Hinayana monastic precepts (i.e. the Vinaya) were conferred. Permission was granted after his death and from that time on the traditional vinaya was no longer followed in Japan for better or for worse.

After Saicho, the Tendai school was eclipsed by the more popular Shingon esoteric school established on Mt. Koya by Chih-i's one-time friend and then rival Kukai (later known as Kobo Daishi). In an attempt to put themsleves on a more equal footing in terms of government patronage, the successors of Saicho travelled to China and brought back more esoteric teachings and transmissions, eventually transforming the Japanese Tendai school into an esoteric school. Pure Land devotionalism also became popular due to the efforts of Tendai monks who made it popular among the nobility, the samura, and occasionally the peasants. This culminated in the mass movements of Honen and Shinran in the beginning of the 13th century which were at first strenuously resisted by the Tendai establishment which enlisted the support of the Shogunate to suppress them. By the mid-13th century however, the Tendai and Shingon schools had given in and both catered to the popularity o the Pure Land movement to the detriment of their own teachings and practices in some cases. Dissatisfied Tendai monks like Eisai and Dogen also brought in the teachings of Rinzai and Soto Zen respectively and they too met resistance at first. By the mid-13th century however, the Shogunate was actively patronizing Zen monks who were refugees from the Mongol conquest of Sung China. At the same time, some Shingon monks decided to revivify their school with a revival of the Vinaya wedded to Shingon esotericism. In the midst of all this, Nichiren, a poor fisherman's son from the boondocks of Japan, attempted to discover what Buddhism was really about and to figure out why there was so much suffering under the Shogunate rule in spite of the presence of so much Dharma.

Nichiren lived from 1222 - 1282 and he grew up in a small country temple where the head priest was technicaly a member of Tendai but in practice a Pure Land Buddhist. Nichiren himself practice Nembutsu and esoteric contemplations centering on the mantra of Space Womb Bodhisattva. Eventually he went to Kamakura, the Shogunate's capital, and Mt. Hiei to study Tendai teachings more deeply as well as to more thoroughly investigate Pure Land and Zen. Upon returning to his home temple in 1253 Nichiren had been disillusioned by the mass movements, by the corruption and elitism in the Tendai-Shingon establishment, and by what he saw as the pernicious influence of Shingon esotericism which he believed had caused neglect for the core teachings of Chih-i and Miao-lo which Saicho had been trying to establish in Japan. Nichiren started a back to the Lotus Sutra movement and his rallying cry and main practice was to simpy recite devotion to the sacred title (Odaimoku) which in Japanese is Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. He believed that this practice would not only point back to the core teachings of the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i, Miao-lo, and Saicho, but would also be accessible to all people of all spiritual capacities.

For the most part, central to Nichiren's writings/teachings are filled with passages from the Lotus Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra, other Mahayana sutras which he felt were reflective of current conditions in Japan, and the writings of Chih-i, Miao-lo, and Saicho. All of the teachings which I outlined above, esp. the Three Thousand Worlds in a Single Thought-Moment (ichinen sanzen in Japanese) were upheld by Nichiren. Nichiren did add that in teaching Buddhism one must account for the times, the variety of teachings and their relative profundity, the capacities of the hearers, the characteristics of the country, and the proper sequence of the teachings. Nichiren believed (based on the exegises of Chih-i and Miao-lo) that the core of the Lotus Sutra could be found in chapter 16 and that the practical significance or impact of this could be experienced in and through the Odaimoku. Nichiren eventually taught the Three Great Hidden Dharmas based upon the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra:

 

The Gohonzon (which means "focus of devotion") which Nichiren identified at times as the Eternal Buddha[The Buddha of Nam Myoho Renge kyo] and at other times as the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Teaching. The Nichiren understands that the unity of the person and the Dharma means that the Buddha and the Dharma are inseperable and so there is no contradiction here. In order to depict the Gohonzon, Nichiren created a calligraphic mandala which shows Shakyamuni Buddha and the rest of the assembly in the Lotus Sutra all iluminated by the Odaimoku(Nam Myoho renge Kyo]. The calligraphic mandala also contains esoteric and Shinto deities and also a mini-lineage chart at the bottom listing Nagarjuna, Chih-i, Miao-lo, and Saicho. Nichiren's writings also indicate other legitimate ways of depicting the Gohonzon - the Odaimoku by itself, , a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha flanked by the Four Bodhisattvas of the Earth who appear in the sutra, and a statue arrangement of the Ceremony in the Air which is what the calligraphic mandala also depicts.

Utilizing the tools of formal debate which was used regularly at Mt. Hiei, Nichiren criticized the Pure Land schools and the Zen schools for neglecting the sutras(Buddha's teachings), specifically the Lotus Sutra. He criticized the Vinaya revival because he believed the problems current in Japan revolved around the lack of faith in people buddhanature and the truth that this world is the pure land of the Eternal Buddha. He did not believe the problem stemmed from the failure to follow 5th century BCE Indian monastic precepts. He later criticized the Shingon school and what he saw as the esoteric take over of the Tendai school as the root problem which led to all the others. He saw esotericism as a set of methods which should never have been made more important than the universal promise of buddhahood contained in the Lotus Sutra and the even more important promise of the Buddha's continued presence in this world due to the mutual containment of buddhahood and the other ten worlds. He saw esotericism as something very narrow and elitist which did not address these core issues of who can be enlightenened and how does the Buddha's enlightenment impact us now.

Nichiren did write memorials to the government stating that if they did not withdraw their patronage from these misleading schools and instead patronize only the true teachings of the Lotus Sutra then the nation would face worse and worse disasters. Three important things need to be kept in mind about this: (1) Submitting such memorials was routine in medieval Japanese Buddhism and probably owes something to the example of Confucisu. Eisai and Dogen submitted similar memorials advocating Zen. (2) Nichiren was not asking for the government to interfere with religion because the government had run religion in Japan from the very beginning. Nichiren was simply asking the government to be more discerning and responsible in what they patronized, condoned, and advocated. (3) Nichiren was not asking the government to persecute his rivals. He was simply asking them to withdraw their patronage and subsidies from those movements which leading to neglect of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren referred to himself as a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra and identified himself as a bodhisattva at the initial stage of first hearing the Dharma. He spoke of himself humbly but in the Mahayana tradition he made grandiose vows for the sake of the people of Japan. He never called himself a buddha or even hinted that he was a buddha, though he certainly felt that he had been enlightened to the extent that he realized the import of upholding the Lotus Sutra and planting the seed of buddhahood in himself and others. Towards the end of his life after a failed execution attempt and his exile to Sado Island (where he nearly died of exposure) he began to hint that he was Bodhisattva Superior Practice, or at least one who was doing the work of that bodhisattva. In the Lotus Sutra, this is one of the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who appear in chapter 15 as the Original Disciples of the Original Buddha (The Eternal Thus Come One of Nam Myoho renge Kyo, i.e manifested in the Life of Shakyamuni) in order to uphold the Lotus Sutra after the Buddha's passing. They are given a specific transfer of the Buddha Dharma in chapter 21. Even then, Nichiren continued practice to see himself as a humble monk without any precepts but only faith in the Wonderful Dharma.

The Lotus Sutra emphasizes "a single moment of belief and understanding." In the "Distinctions in Benefits" (seventeenth) chapter, we find: "If there are living beings who, on hearing that the life span of the Buddha is of such long duration, are able to believe and understand it even for a moment, the benefits they gain thereby will be without limit or measure" (LS17, 237). The sutra continues, "If after the Thus Come One has entered extinction there are those who hear this sutra and do not slander or speak ill of it but feel joy in their hearts, you should know that this is a sign that they have already shown deep faith and understanding" (LS17, 240).

Those who rejoice when they hear the Mystic Law(Wonderful Dharma) do so because they have already attained deep belief and understanding, according to the sutra. We can interpret this to mean that the essence of Buddhahood lies in belief and understanding. As the Nagarjuna's "Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom"(Daichido Ron), explains, "It is faith through which one enters the sea of Buddhism, and wisdom by which one crosses it." Buddhist practice starts from faith. That leads to the acquisition of wisdom, and the power of wisdom carries us across the great sea of Buddhism--that is, to supreme enlightenment. This is the general outlook of Buddhism.

The Lotus Sutra--expounding the very essence of the Law--is the king of sutras. A king does not negate the existence of others; his role is to bring out the full potential of all. As Nichiren Daishonin writes:

Ultimately, all phenomena are contained within one's life, down to the last particle of dust. The nine mountains and the eight seas are encompassed by one's body; the sun, moon, and myriad stars are contained within one's mind. However, [common mortals do not perceive this,] just as the blind do not see images reflected in a mirror or as an infant fears neither flood nor fire. The non-Buddhist teachings set forth in the outer writings and the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana teachings of the inner scriptures all teach no more than fragments of the Law inherent in one's life. They do not expound it in its entirety as the Lotus Sutra does. (MW-5-181)

All philosophies other than the Lotus Sutra are nothing more than fragments, parts of the great law of life. Basing(practicing) ourselves on such fragments(provisional sutras), even though they may contain partial truths, will not enable us to realize a thorough-going revitalization of all aspects of our lives. Indeed, philosophies that expound only partial truths end up distorting our lives. The Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, teaches the one, fundamental Law that unifies all these fragmentary teachings, gives them proper perspective, and allows each to shine and fulfill its function within the whole. This is the "wisdom of the Lotus Sutra.

The full text of the Lotus Sutra usually includes the Lotus Sutra, the Sutra of Innumerable meanings and the Meditation Sutra. These other sutras that are usually included with the lotus Sutra, were probably composed later than it was, but they are necessary to understanding the Lotus Sutra. No one familiar with Mahayana Buddhism focuses on literal authenticity, but instead looks at authenticity in terms of "authentic doctrines" and as verified by the history of the various schools and their teachers.

Main Body of Lotus Sutra

Lotus sutra

Meditation Sutra and Nirvana Sutra

Usually considered a "postscript" to the Lotus Sutra The Meditation Sutra has references to the Lotus Sutra in it's text. It also expands on some of the themes covered by the Lotus Sutra

The Mahayana Nirvana Sutra follows the Lotus Sutra in it's timeline of place and follows up on themes in the Lotus Sutra. It is generally considered a work that "smiles" on the Lotus Sutra

Inside the Lotus sutra

 

Mahasattva,
That is a lot of text and as I'm familiar with Daishonin, I don't know if I should read it, really. Don't have THAT much time I will look through it though and then make some points about Pure Land in general.

 

Well, I guess Im not very specific, but I have studied Tibetan Buddhism for about 8 months. So I guess this is my main school....
I havent really studied any other traditions of buddhism. I guess the tradition finds you and not the other way around.

 

wow such a small question has so much pages of answer.....theres a teaching in there somewhere!!

i have been studying and practicing mahayana buddhism from the age of 15 and have taken refuge in the kagyu liniage. i don't thjink it really matter which forn you practice as the Buddha himself taught that there is different ways for different people, some will react better to a certain method other won't. what matters is that you are a compassionate person whether christian buddhist or jew!

namaste

x x x

 

Perhaps, that Great Teaching, the supreme Buddhist principle, is none other than the exposition of the teaching as stated above{click-->}: Three Thousand Realms in a Single Thought Moment (ICHINEN SANZEN)which explained deeper understanding of the Buddhist comprehensive view of life(dharma) by Great Teacher Tientai, the basis in which Nichiren gave concrete and practical expression to the Buddhist philosophy of life that Shakyamuni taught and T'ien-t'ai illuminated in expounding/revealing the Three Great Secret Laws.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

For me it has been Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, I have been studying both. Recently some good books I have read have been Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind and The Art of Happiness.

Speaking of Buddhist literature, does anyone else have any other good books they would recommend? There are so many!


Namaste,

Diana

 

Nagarjunas' Malamadhyamakarika(sp?) translated by Kenneth Inyada is good if you ignore his introduction and go right to the heart of the matter. Budhism, like Christianity, has developed so many sects over the centuries that making sense of it is akin to watching Billy Graham crusade and trying to understand what Jesus might have meant.

 

Haha that is a really long title, and I have no idea how to spell it ; can't find it on google though =/ . I love reading books or texts on Buddhism, and I would love any more suggestions anyone has. I myself have had some trouble reading texts, I admit I didn't have the patience to read the Lotus Sutra because people kept saying the same things over and over in song . Anyway I encourage anyone else to post who has book suggestions.

Namaste,

Diana

 

I practice mainly with Tibetan buddhism, but draw some influences from Zen ectera. Normally I don't claim to follow any 'sect', I am simply Buddhist.

 

I am sensei (third generation Japanese), raised in Hawaii in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition. The Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center has a web site and visitors are always welcome. Reservations for special events is usually required.

 

It's hard to take stands on things like this without implicitly pointing to what we may not like about the teachings of this group or that. I for one lean most strongly to Theravada, and among the local temples feel most at home in the Thai temple. There is a nice Tibetan (Gelug) place and a lovely Japanese Zen place, both of which have good teachers but which for one reason or another are "not for me."

That said, theoretically I'd say the Chan school is quite suitable for me, though I do not prefer going to the Zen place in town. While I do not necessarily see eye-to-eye with all the teachings of it in terms of faith, I'm also intellectually attracted to Pure Land.

 

There is a substantial reading list somewhere in the forum here. I thought I'd give a few recommendations apart from it, though, as it focuses almost entirely on Japanese Zen tradition and various Tibetan traditions, which is really only a small part of the Buddhist faith, and something you already have at least some familiarity with, it seems.

As I said in my last post, in my personal life I tend to favor Theravada. I strongly recommend browsing Access to Insight, which contains just loads and loads of suttas translated by various people, but most especially by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. He is an intelligent and responsible translator and generally does quite well rendering the Pali into English. In addition, most of the Pali suttas (if not all by now) are available from Wisdom Press, mostly translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi. For the type of book they are (massive collections of translated religious texts which aren't in high demand in the market in which they are sold) they are very affordable - ranging from around 35-60USD each, depending on the collection. I have the Majjhima Nikaya and the Digha Nikaya. In the Digha Nikaya I really enjoy the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, which among other things deals with the Buddha's final days and the distribution of his relics.

The bibliography in the forum (here: http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=96438&f=87 ) mentions the Dhammapada. It's extremely good advice to read it. While in "the West" (and increasingly just in contemporary times, including in much of Asia) contemplative/meditative practice is being presented as the quintessential Buddhist practice, for most of the religion's history this has been primarily the pursuit of specialist monastics, and not generally the laity. Even in the Thai temple here (which is not designed to cater to the "Western" community, but to the immigrant community) the Ajahns will say that meditation is very good to pursue, but most important is to keep the basic precepts the best you can. In short: it's more important for the average person to be a good person than it is for them to meditate, even though meditation is very good to pursue. I fin that the Dhammapada is excellent to this end. It is nothing like a meditation manual, but offers generally good and sound advice for living life well.

I am fascinated by hagiography (especially of a Buddhist leaning) and I found Ajahn Maha Boowa's biography of Ajahn Mun to be a really interesting read. It is unusual in that it mingles the teachings of both figures in with the narrative of Ajahn Mun's life, sometimes even switching between voices without alerting the reader to it. Overall, it's a really good read, and Ajahn Mun was very influential (according to this work) in the lay meditation movement in Thailand in the early part of the 20th century, as well as extremely influential in the Forest Tradition. This work is called Venerable Acariya Mun Bhuridatta Thera and while you ccan find used hard copies available on Amazon (that's where I got mine) if you buy one you will see inside the book that, like many others, it is printed with the intention of being distributed free of charge as a gift of Dhamma, and the 20 dollars you paid is just for the seller. Instead, you can get it for free in an electronic version here: http://www.forestdhamma.org/books/english/ along with some other books.

Leaving Theravada for a little bit, there is a type of Buddhism much of "the West" is unaware of. Pure Land Buddhism is of great interest to me intellectually. It takes three sutras to be it's fundamental teachings, and they can be found online fairly easily, such as this work which contains all three and some other stuff: http://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/bdk/digitaldl/dBET_ThreePureLandSutras_2003.pdf If you know about Pure Land already, then I don't mean to patronize you, but many do not. So if you don't, it is a form of Buddhism which takes as it's central practice the devotional act of chanting the name of Amitabha/Amitayus (two names for the same Buddha, but they're usually said in the vernacular anyway, which is Amida Butsu in Japanese, Amituofo (阿弥陀佛) in Chinese, and I forget the Vietnamese and never knew the Korean. The practice is carried out to accrue merit and, ideally, to be reborn in Sukhavati, the purified realm in "the west" whose name means "the Land of Bliss." In this land you live an immeasurably long time, have no suffering at all, and receive teaching directly from Amitabha/Amitayus. As such, while it is extremely long and pleasant, in theory it does perhaps at some point end in at least some sense, and it is guaranteed to be one's last life as all beings born there achieve perfect enlightenment in that lifetime. Sukhavati's also a pretty rocking place with trees made out of jewels and such. Pure Land traditions have been among the most influential in East Asia, though they've made relatively little impact on Anglo communities in the big picture. They have undergone even further development in Japan, where particular schools developed which stressed SOLELY practicing nembutsu (nianfo in Chinese, the recitation of the name of this Buddha) and totally excluding anything related to "self-power" such as meditation, relying strictly on faith and the salvific efficacy of the vows of Amida. In this case, it looks rather like Christianity, and is a bit separate from other Buddhist teachings in which, even if sometimes not stressed too much, meditation is considered valuable. The most prominent nembutsu-only schools is Shinshu, centered at the Honganji temple in Japan. Taitetsuo Unno is a scholar of religion (Professor Emeritus at Smith) and a devout advocate of this school, and his book River of Fire, River of Water should offer some good insight into this school's teachings. The Jodo Shinshu school considers Shinran Shonin to be its founder. While I don't personally agree with his conclusions, the man was a brilliant thinker and theologian, and if I were working from the same starting point as him, I think his teachings would just have to be accepted as truth. There is some good here, and even if I don't consider myself strongly inclined towards Pure Land thought, I do think there is value to it. I'd recommend reading some of Shinran's works, but what I've read of his can at times be very, very, very dry. Check it out, though, if you're interested.

One interesting genre of Buddhist literature is the jataka. Jataka tales are fables, often reportedly first told by Sakyamuni Buddha himself, of the Buddha's previous lives before his final human birth. The stories are usually fairly short, often rather simply constructed, and usually have a clear cut moral message to them. They're charming and entertaining to read, and due to these qualities are even often the basis of children's picture books. I recommend Once the Buddha Was A Monkey being a translation of Arya Sura's Jatakamala, translated by Peter Khoroche and published by the University of Chicago Press. This is not a picture book, but has a collection of classics which are worth reading, if for no other reason than it's entertaining. If I'm not mistaken, Arya Sura was a master of Sanskrit poetry, and I've heard some of this read in Sanskrit and there are all sorts of poetic devices and techniques used which are just beautiful to hear, but sadly I know no Sanskrit. Something of the beauty of his work is lost in translation, but it's still a nice volume and I recommend it.

Moving away from dhamma proper and more towards the academic environment, I would highly recommend Making Pilgrimages by Ian Reader. This book focuses on the Shikoku pilgrimage circuit in Japan, which is associated with devotion to Kukai, a monk about as influential to Japanese religiosity as Shinran, though associated with the Shingon sect. It's a fascinating read on many levels, and I found it wonderful in virtually every detail.

A Bull of A Man by John Powers is provocative, well researched, and definitely interesting. While the Buddha is often depicted (verbally, visually, and so on) in a gentle, some may say even at times feminine, manner, Powers seeks to expand this picture to show the hypermasculinity sometimes accorded to the Buddha. The book focuses on sex and masculinity, and is decidedly written from an academic rather than sectarian perspective, so some people may find it distasteful, but his work draws extensively upon primary sources to back up his claims. He does run the risk of overemphasizing the points he's making, but he acknowledges that this is simply a side effect of writing a book about such details. To read this book, one might be interested in the idea that perhaps the sutras/suttas were not necessarily preserved perfectly just as the Buddha taught them, but indeed just like any other scripture had some changes creep in over time: in other words, some voices were saying he was super manly and, among other things, hung like a horse (forgive the expression), while others were more tempered in their depictions of him. Like or dislike Powers' claims, it's an interesting read.

There's a book that I've been meaning to get to this summer but haven't yet. It's pretty new, an it's by Ian Harris. Its title is Buddhism In A Dark Age: Cambodian Monks Under Pol Pot. Harris is a scholar of good repute, so this should be good, but as I said I haven't read much of it yet so I can't go too into detail about its contents. You can expect, given the title, that there are some unsavory bits of history within, though. It should be fascinating but, at times, hard to read.

The Holy Land Reborn is a good work detailing historical relationship Tibet has had to India, and particularly in terms of pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is a subject of some interest to me. This book is by Toni Huber, and I recommend it quite a lot, but ultimately I preferred Ian Reader's work on Shikoku. Part of it is the subject matter (I'm more interested in East Asia and Southeast Asia than Tibet), but part of it is the approach: Huber is more of a historian, Reader is more of a sociologist. Their methods differ a bit. Still, Huber has some good content, and I was especially interested in his discussion of the Maha Bodhi Society and their involvement in modern Indian-Tibetan relations and impact on the site of Bodh Gaya.

While particularly modern-minded Buddhists, especially in "the West," really stress the rationality of Buddhism and even occasionally claim that it isn't even a religion, the fact remains that some substantial amount of supernatural this-es and thats have always been present, and Buddhism has always claimed to teach only what was relevant to the goal of the cessation of suffering - NOT a comprehensive picture of how the world works in its entirety. As such, Buddhism has coexisted with more localized religious traditions, and some manner of magic has also often (virtually always) played a role throughout history. If the synthesis between local traditions and the universal teachings of the Buddha are of interest to you, I recommend taking a look at The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Amulets by Stanley J. Tambiah. Among other things, as the title suggests, it goes into detailed discussion of Thai amulets associated with various Buddhist teachers. These amulets can often cost the equivalent of thousands of dollars if they are thought to be especially effective, and they can do everything from offer good fortune and protection, peace of mind and so on, to making one more successful in pursuits of a quite worldly nature (luck in gambling, luck in sexual pursuits, so on).

If you're interested at all in art, Denise Leidy wrote a very nice account of the development of Buddhist art historically called The Art of Buddhism: An Introduction to Its History and Meaning, published by Shambala. Lots of nice pictures, good information, and while art books are generally very expensive this is quite affordable.

There are loads more resources, but these are some of the ones that I've enjoyed that should be available to anyone. Furthermore, there are a number of journal articles I could name for you, but this requires having ready access to academic journal databases. If you happen to be a student or faculty member of a university which offers access to such things, or if your local library has access to such things, let me know and I can dig up some really good pieces.

In the meantime, there are a number of organizations that distribute dharma materials for free. Some of them have websites and will even mail materials to you free of charge. Of course, it's good form to make a donation! There is a big one in Taiwan from which I ordered, but because it's free (and in Taiwan!) they sent it by sea mail and it took a few months to get to me. There's also one in the Chicago area, a Pure Land temple but they distribute lots of materials from various traditions. http://www.amitabhalibrary.org/ It can be tough to navigate their site, but the request form is easy to find, and the list of available materials may be found under "library collections." Also, if you are interested in somewhat more academic stuff as well, one journal is published for free, though its articles do frequently focus on Pure Land, and specifically on Jodo Shinshu. It is Pacific World Journal, and can be accessed here: http://www.shin-ibs.edu/academics/_pwj/ . The scholarship can be a mixed bag at times, but it's got some interesting material to be sure.

I think I've rambled long enough. Hopefully there was something interesting in here for whoever reads it.

For what it's worth, as I mentioned some of the resources I named are written from an academic angle rather than a sectarian one, and some use terminology which may seem jarring if your connotations do not match mine (words like cult, for instance, which despite how it's used in the popular press is actually not pejorative). I am a student in the field of Religious Studies, focusing on Buddhism. This is why many of my resources are not from the popular press. Regrettably, some of these types of things can be really expensive - the Tambiah book, for instance, is over fifty dollars. If you're interested in any of them, you can often get better prices at ABEbooks.com than at amazon, if you can't get them through a library.

Oh, yeah, and I forgot to mention The Making of Buddhist Modernism by David L. McMahan. A really good work detailing changes in Buddhist views and perspectives both in Asia and outside of Asia in modernity. It's important to note, if you read this, that he -never- claims that these views are incorrect or inauthentically Buddhist, just that they represent a change in the religious views espoused by people who identify themselves as Buddhist, and Buddhism, like all things, is subject to some degree of impermanence and change

 

Last night there was a book I meant to include in the above post but forgot. The Zen Monastic Experience by Robert Buswell is an interesting read, giving a glimpse into the daily goings on of a Korean monastery of the Seon (related to Chan or Zen) school. Buswell ordained and lived for a time within that tradition. This is not a book that teaches one how to be Buddhist, but one which gives an idea of what Buddhism means and is like as an intimate part of life for some of it's most dedicated adherents in Korea, not through discussion of doctrine or meditation (which of course is not rigorously pursued by all monks), but through discussion of all of the aspects of daily life within a monastery, from meal time to bedtime to "vacations" to group work and so on. It describes all the important monastic and lay positions within the hierarchy of a monastery, how monasteries interact with each other, practices both endorsed and frown upon (yet existent) and so on.

 

No problem. Re-reading my post, it appears that I wasn't totally clear about the first item, Access to Insight. If anyone doesn't know it already, it is a website, not a book or series of books.

The URL is http://www.accesstoinsight.org/