Hi Everybody,
Nice damp cool rainy day outside. It's always so much easier to sit down at the computer to write when it's raining, than when it's bright and sunny. So we're in the middle of this interesting issue of how we deal with the idea of Shakyamuni's enlightenment, which is the well-spring if you like from which Buddhism has flowed out into the world. A key point for me in coming to terms with this is that whatever elements of the enlighenment story we find difficult to grasp or to understand, perhaps...we do well to remember...simply because of the limitations of our own experience or our own imagination; whatever the precise nature of the truths that Shakyamuni came to perceive, the key thing to hang onto I would argue, is that what resulted from his experience is clear enough for all to see. The immense power of the experience that he went through changed him forever. He became truly a different man. In many ways it seems similar to the experience that Saul went through on the road to Damascus that transformed him from a fierce persecutor of the Christians into Paul, the great teacher and primary architect of the Christian Church. But in the case of both Paul and Shakyamuni the experience they went through was like walking through fire, and it lit a fire in them that was so strong that it was never extinguished.
Shakyamuni was never able again to separate his existence as a human being from his desire to teach the truths about the life we all lead, that he had come to understand. And his desire to improve the well-being of all of humankind. He set out if you like to reveal a new understanding of reality, which is what enlightenment ultimately means. And central to that new understanding is the seemingly simple, and yet truly revolutionary idea, that life is not a rehearsal for some sort afterlife. It is the real thing, and it makes sense therefore to learn how to build the best life for ourselves today, in the here and now.
Enough for today.
Back in the middle of the week.
Best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon in paperback and as a download on Kindle.
Friday, 19 August 2016
Saturday, 13 August 2016
my buddhist blog number 143
Hi Everybody,
Find it hard to believe that I've been posting this blog since 2013!! Amazing how time flies when...you're seeking to create value. During that time the book has been published in English and Spanish, and seems to be very popular, particularly in the USA., for which I'm deeply grateful. OK so we're in the midst of this discussion about faith, what can it possibly mean in a religion that has no gods to have faith in? One hurdle we have to leap over before we get to that is the subject of Shakyamuni's enlightenment. What's that all about? Enlightenment is ina sense a technical term in Buddhism and I think it really helps to see it in that light. Indeed the word Buddha itself essentially means the enlightened one, it comes from a Sanskrit verb that means to be awakened. or to be aware of or to know deeply. And the key thing to note is that those are quite human-scale activities aren't they? Nothingn divine about them. We can all wake up, or be aware or know deeply.
So how should we deal with the fact of Shakyamuni's enlightenment? In many ways the concept of a state of being, or a state of mind labelled enlightenment is strange to us, not to say alien. It's a word we're not likely to use often, if at all. In an essentially intellectual and materialist age we are much more attuned to, and likely to be much more comfortable with down-to-earth explanations and scientific patterns of proof. But of course as we all know, there is much more to our humanity, particularly our humanity when it is lived at the highest level,than can be observed and measured in a laboratory. So we have to accept I think that in using an unusual word like enlightenment, we are reaching out in an attempt to describe something that may be very difficult to actually pin down, but which nevertheless remains a wholly valid part of human experience. Put simply we might say that enlightenment involves a completely different view of reality. One analogy that comes to mind is the sort of phase change as it's called in physics that takes place when water turns to ice for example. It is exactly the same stuff so to speak, precisely the same molecular substacne, nothing has been added or taken away, but it is also a complete transformation.
Is that similar to what happens to ordinary people when they achieve a measure of enlightenment? They are exactly the same people. But they are also transformed.
Enough for one swallow.
Hope it makes sense.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available in paperback on Amazon and a download on Kindle.
Find it hard to believe that I've been posting this blog since 2013!! Amazing how time flies when...you're seeking to create value. During that time the book has been published in English and Spanish, and seems to be very popular, particularly in the USA., for which I'm deeply grateful. OK so we're in the midst of this discussion about faith, what can it possibly mean in a religion that has no gods to have faith in? One hurdle we have to leap over before we get to that is the subject of Shakyamuni's enlightenment. What's that all about? Enlightenment is ina sense a technical term in Buddhism and I think it really helps to see it in that light. Indeed the word Buddha itself essentially means the enlightened one, it comes from a Sanskrit verb that means to be awakened. or to be aware of or to know deeply. And the key thing to note is that those are quite human-scale activities aren't they? Nothingn divine about them. We can all wake up, or be aware or know deeply.
So how should we deal with the fact of Shakyamuni's enlightenment? In many ways the concept of a state of being, or a state of mind labelled enlightenment is strange to us, not to say alien. It's a word we're not likely to use often, if at all. In an essentially intellectual and materialist age we are much more attuned to, and likely to be much more comfortable with down-to-earth explanations and scientific patterns of proof. But of course as we all know, there is much more to our humanity, particularly our humanity when it is lived at the highest level,than can be observed and measured in a laboratory. So we have to accept I think that in using an unusual word like enlightenment, we are reaching out in an attempt to describe something that may be very difficult to actually pin down, but which nevertheless remains a wholly valid part of human experience. Put simply we might say that enlightenment involves a completely different view of reality. One analogy that comes to mind is the sort of phase change as it's called in physics that takes place when water turns to ice for example. It is exactly the same stuff so to speak, precisely the same molecular substacne, nothing has been added or taken away, but it is also a complete transformation.
Is that similar to what happens to ordinary people when they achieve a measure of enlightenment? They are exactly the same people. But they are also transformed.
Enough for one swallow.
Hope it makes sense.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available in paperback on Amazon and a download on Kindle.
Sunday, 7 August 2016
my buddhist blog number 142
Hi Everybody,
Sitting here at my desk with the evening sun streaming through the windows after a beautiful midsummer's day. The grass in Richmond Park is bleached golden with the sunshine and Gatsby just disappears when he runs into it. OK so today's episode runs on from the last sentecne of the last one, ' The point is that we are undoubtedly spiritual animals, however much we may try to convince ourselves that we're not!
Madonna once told us most persuasively that this is a material world and that she is very much a material girl. That may indeed be so, but ther'es a powerful line from Bruce Springsteen that brings us a completely different message and one that reflects perhapsa growing change in social sentiment.
' It's time to start saving up ' he tells us...' for the things that money can't buy...'
The things that money can't buy...what can he possibly mean other than a deeper and more meaningful spiritual life beyond the bounds of mere materialism? What is remarkable I think is just how close that sentiment comes to something that a great and influential Buddhist teacher called Nichiren Daishonin wrote to his followers all those years ago.
' More valuable than the treasures in any storehouse..he wrote... that is to say more material stuff..' are the treasures of the body'... that is to say good health...' and the treasures of the heart... that is to say an active and meaningful spiritual life...are most valuable of all. '
And in our deepest selves we know that to be true don't we?
That's it. short and I hope sweet!
See you next time.
Keep reading
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
Sitting here at my desk with the evening sun streaming through the windows after a beautiful midsummer's day. The grass in Richmond Park is bleached golden with the sunshine and Gatsby just disappears when he runs into it. OK so today's episode runs on from the last sentecne of the last one, ' The point is that we are undoubtedly spiritual animals, however much we may try to convince ourselves that we're not!
Madonna once told us most persuasively that this is a material world and that she is very much a material girl. That may indeed be so, but ther'es a powerful line from Bruce Springsteen that brings us a completely different message and one that reflects perhapsa growing change in social sentiment.
' It's time to start saving up ' he tells us...' for the things that money can't buy...'
The things that money can't buy...what can he possibly mean other than a deeper and more meaningful spiritual life beyond the bounds of mere materialism? What is remarkable I think is just how close that sentiment comes to something that a great and influential Buddhist teacher called Nichiren Daishonin wrote to his followers all those years ago.
' More valuable than the treasures in any storehouse..he wrote... that is to say more material stuff..' are the treasures of the body'... that is to say good health...' and the treasures of the heart... that is to say an active and meaningful spiritual life...are most valuable of all. '
And in our deepest selves we know that to be true don't we?
That's it. short and I hope sweet!
See you next time.
Keep reading
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
Monday, 1 August 2016
my bvbuddhist blog number 141
Hi Everybody,
This passage follows on almost directly from the last line of the last episode........never before have so many people in the West turned to Buddhism to find answers to their questions about life, the universe and everything.
What makes it all this more remarkable is that this global movement is taking place not on the backs of missionaries or itinerant preachers as you might expect, or anything resembling them, but slowly steadily, almost imperceptibly, in a truly modern way, as a result simply of people talking other people, largely on a one to one basis. ' This is my experience. You might find it useful in your life.'
The very basis in a sense on which this book, this blog, is being written.
Moreover it's taking place in an age, as I've said, that is far more notable for its rampant materialism and its widespread cynicism than for its religious commitment, and despite the fact that a Buddhist practice is genuinely demanding. It calls for application and effort and commitment, because we are learning a new set of life skills, fundamentally new ways of thinking about ourselves and our relationships, and how to tackle the tough and challenging stuff that is inherent in all our lives.
Clearly it is fulfilling some perceived need for a stronger and more meaningful spiritual life for many people; a searching for something more to life, a reaction perhaps against these powerful influences of cynicism and materialism at work in society. There is so much more available to be 'done' these days, and so much more to ' hunger' after in shopping malls and supermarkets and on the web, that we can find our lives almost entirely taken up with ' stuff.' With the doing and the arranging and the acquiring and the moving on from one event, one party, one club to the next.
But is that enough? Is that what we really want? The point is that we are undoubtedly spiritual animals, however much we try to convince ourselves that aren't.'
Nuff said.
Thanks for readingn thus far.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and on Kindle in English and Spanish.
This passage follows on almost directly from the last line of the last episode........never before have so many people in the West turned to Buddhism to find answers to their questions about life, the universe and everything.
What makes it all this more remarkable is that this global movement is taking place not on the backs of missionaries or itinerant preachers as you might expect, or anything resembling them, but slowly steadily, almost imperceptibly, in a truly modern way, as a result simply of people talking other people, largely on a one to one basis. ' This is my experience. You might find it useful in your life.'
The very basis in a sense on which this book, this blog, is being written.
Moreover it's taking place in an age, as I've said, that is far more notable for its rampant materialism and its widespread cynicism than for its religious commitment, and despite the fact that a Buddhist practice is genuinely demanding. It calls for application and effort and commitment, because we are learning a new set of life skills, fundamentally new ways of thinking about ourselves and our relationships, and how to tackle the tough and challenging stuff that is inherent in all our lives.
Clearly it is fulfilling some perceived need for a stronger and more meaningful spiritual life for many people; a searching for something more to life, a reaction perhaps against these powerful influences of cynicism and materialism at work in society. There is so much more available to be 'done' these days, and so much more to ' hunger' after in shopping malls and supermarkets and on the web, that we can find our lives almost entirely taken up with ' stuff.' With the doing and the arranging and the acquiring and the moving on from one event, one party, one club to the next.
But is that enough? Is that what we really want? The point is that we are undoubtedly spiritual animals, however much we try to convince ourselves that aren't.'
Nuff said.
Thanks for readingn thus far.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and on Kindle in English and Spanish.
Saturday, 30 July 2016
my buddhist blog number 140
Hi Everybody,
It's been a really productive week with the new book, which is called by the way A Personal Journey, because its very much about my own personal interests and my journey into a Buddhist practice. But back to today's blog with a little piece on Buddhism's modern relevance.
' These distinctive elements of Buddhism, its essential humanism, its dynamic humanism, as it's sometimes called because its purpose is to change and move our whole life towards the positive end of the spectrum, and its unbounded inclusiveness, are perhaps the key qualities that give Buddhism its universal relevance and its astounding everlasting modernity. It may have begun in the deer park in the little town of Sarnath in Northern India all those years ago when Shakyamuni first sat down to talk to a small group of people about his newly-won ideas, but in no sense is it ancient, in no sense is it stuck in time or backwards looking. It continues to be powerfully about the here and now of our daily lives.
Witness to this is the fact that over the past 40 or 50 years many tens of thousands of people in Europe and the Americas for example, and elsewhere, have chosen to place a Buddhist practice at the very centre of their lives. For the very first time in its history, during what might well be described as the most materialistic and possibly the least spiritual of all the ages of man, Buddhism is flowing strongly westwards out of Japan and Asia, and into the western-way-of-life parts of the world. Indeed never before in its history has Buddhism spread so rapidly or so widely in terms of its geographical area, and never before have so many people in the West turned to Buddhism to find answers to their questions about life, the universe and everything.'
That'll do for today. Off now to spen some time in a care hom,e form people with dementia to see if I can create some value.
With all my best wishes,
William. have a great weekend.
The Case for Buddhism is available as a paperback on Amazon and as a download on Kindle in English and Spanish
It's been a really productive week with the new book, which is called by the way A Personal Journey, because its very much about my own personal interests and my journey into a Buddhist practice. But back to today's blog with a little piece on Buddhism's modern relevance.
' These distinctive elements of Buddhism, its essential humanism, its dynamic humanism, as it's sometimes called because its purpose is to change and move our whole life towards the positive end of the spectrum, and its unbounded inclusiveness, are perhaps the key qualities that give Buddhism its universal relevance and its astounding everlasting modernity. It may have begun in the deer park in the little town of Sarnath in Northern India all those years ago when Shakyamuni first sat down to talk to a small group of people about his newly-won ideas, but in no sense is it ancient, in no sense is it stuck in time or backwards looking. It continues to be powerfully about the here and now of our daily lives.
Witness to this is the fact that over the past 40 or 50 years many tens of thousands of people in Europe and the Americas for example, and elsewhere, have chosen to place a Buddhist practice at the very centre of their lives. For the very first time in its history, during what might well be described as the most materialistic and possibly the least spiritual of all the ages of man, Buddhism is flowing strongly westwards out of Japan and Asia, and into the western-way-of-life parts of the world. Indeed never before in its history has Buddhism spread so rapidly or so widely in terms of its geographical area, and never before have so many people in the West turned to Buddhism to find answers to their questions about life, the universe and everything.'
That'll do for today. Off now to spen some time in a care hom,e form people with dementia to see if I can create some value.
With all my best wishes,
William. have a great weekend.
The Case for Buddhism is available as a paperback on Amazon and as a download on Kindle in English and Spanish
Saturday, 23 July 2016
mybuddhistblog number 139
Hi Everybody,
I'm just continuing this process of flicking through The Case for Buddhism and picking up themes and issues that I wasn't able to cover on the first pass. At the moment we're talking about Buddhism and humanism.
There are of course many profound implications that arise from Buddhism's basic humanism. By no means least is that since it isn't about a God of gods, we have to be careful about how we use key words like 'faith ' for example and ' prayer.' They occur all the time in the writings of all religions, including Buddhism. But if there isn't a God to have faith in or to pray to, then clearly these words will mean something very different in Buddhism, from the way we commonly understand them on the basis of our Judaeo-Christian heritage. And it goes without saying doesn't it, that it's crucially important that we have some understanding of what that difference is.
Thus one key implication that is absolutely fundamental to anyone approaching Buddhism for the first time, is that the wisdom and the understanding that has been generated by this process of evolution down the centuries on the nature of human life and motivation and relationships is passed on to all men and women on the basis of equality. Complete equality. That is such an important point, but it's one that is extraordinarily difficult to grasp, even for those who have been practising for many years. Because we are so accustomed in the West, we might even say conditioned, to believing that there is this vast unbridgeable gulf that normally exists between the teacher, the bearer of the wisdom, the Jesus of Mohammed figure, and the rest of humanity, us ordinary human beings. That gulf simply does not exist in Buddhism.
Shakyamuni tells us repeatedly , so that there should be absolutely no doubt, that he is simply one of us. Indeed for him to be deified in any way by his followers would run counter to the central thrust of his teaching. It would deny if you like the central idea that the life state he achieved, filled with hope and optimism and courage and resilience, despite the toughness of his life, is available to all of us. We can learn that is how to achieve it in this lifetime. That learning is indeed what the practice is all about. '
Nuff said for today I think.
Hope it's clear.
See you next time around.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon
I'm just continuing this process of flicking through The Case for Buddhism and picking up themes and issues that I wasn't able to cover on the first pass. At the moment we're talking about Buddhism and humanism.
There are of course many profound implications that arise from Buddhism's basic humanism. By no means least is that since it isn't about a God of gods, we have to be careful about how we use key words like 'faith ' for example and ' prayer.' They occur all the time in the writings of all religions, including Buddhism. But if there isn't a God to have faith in or to pray to, then clearly these words will mean something very different in Buddhism, from the way we commonly understand them on the basis of our Judaeo-Christian heritage. And it goes without saying doesn't it, that it's crucially important that we have some understanding of what that difference is.
Thus one key implication that is absolutely fundamental to anyone approaching Buddhism for the first time, is that the wisdom and the understanding that has been generated by this process of evolution down the centuries on the nature of human life and motivation and relationships is passed on to all men and women on the basis of equality. Complete equality. That is such an important point, but it's one that is extraordinarily difficult to grasp, even for those who have been practising for many years. Because we are so accustomed in the West, we might even say conditioned, to believing that there is this vast unbridgeable gulf that normally exists between the teacher, the bearer of the wisdom, the Jesus of Mohammed figure, and the rest of humanity, us ordinary human beings. That gulf simply does not exist in Buddhism.
Shakyamuni tells us repeatedly , so that there should be absolutely no doubt, that he is simply one of us. Indeed for him to be deified in any way by his followers would run counter to the central thrust of his teaching. It would deny if you like the central idea that the life state he achieved, filled with hope and optimism and courage and resilience, despite the toughness of his life, is available to all of us. We can learn that is how to achieve it in this lifetime. That learning is indeed what the practice is all about. '
Nuff said for today I think.
Hope it's clear.
See you next time around.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon
Thursday, 14 July 2016
my buddhist blog number 138
Hi Everybody,
Had a great great time away in the sun. Just back. Picking up the blog trail with a little piece on Buddhism and belief.
' The essential starting point for anyone seeking to understand a little more about Buddhism is that it doesn't have a god at its centre. It is atheistic or humanistic. That is to say it doesn't have at its heart, or anywhere else for that matter, the all-seeing, all-powerful, creator-god figure that sits at the heart of all the other major world religions, particularly those with which we are most familiar in western societies, Christianity and Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.
That is very easy to say and very easy to comprehend on an intellectual level, but in my experience it is much more difficult to grasp on a sort of daily, practical, down-to-earth level, because the implications are so profound and far-reaching.
Thus ther eis no divine hierarchy in Buddhism. It is this characteristic above all that gives Buddhism its wholly distinctive character. Instead of there being a set of dogma and beliefs handed down to mankind in various ways by a divine presence or divine being, Buddhism is firmly rooted from first to last in ordinary humanity. Moreover, since it is not attached to any definition of divinity, Buddhism doesn't have any boundaries. It doesn't have for example the boundaries that have been the source of so much conflict down the centuries that divide the Islamic defintion of divinity from the Judaic, or the Judaic from the Christian or the Christian from the Hindu. It is wholly inclusive. No one and indeed no thing is excluded. It is wholly inclusive.
So it is a colossal humanist vision that reaches out to embrace every man's relationship with himself, man with his fellow human beings, and man with his universal environment. Buddhism in effect draws three concentric circles round our lies. Ourselves at the centre. Then othe rpeople, society as a whole, a truly global society. Then the outer ring of the universal environment. So Buddhism is immensely forward looking, immensely modern you might say, in that it has always argued that all three are intimately connected in every way, and for us to live a truly full and fulfilling life we need to learn how to be creatively connected to all three. '
That's it for today.
Pleased to be back.
Look forward to seeing you again next episode.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available in paperback from Amazon and as a download from Kindle.
Had a great great time away in the sun. Just back. Picking up the blog trail with a little piece on Buddhism and belief.
' The essential starting point for anyone seeking to understand a little more about Buddhism is that it doesn't have a god at its centre. It is atheistic or humanistic. That is to say it doesn't have at its heart, or anywhere else for that matter, the all-seeing, all-powerful, creator-god figure that sits at the heart of all the other major world religions, particularly those with which we are most familiar in western societies, Christianity and Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.
That is very easy to say and very easy to comprehend on an intellectual level, but in my experience it is much more difficult to grasp on a sort of daily, practical, down-to-earth level, because the implications are so profound and far-reaching.
Thus ther eis no divine hierarchy in Buddhism. It is this characteristic above all that gives Buddhism its wholly distinctive character. Instead of there being a set of dogma and beliefs handed down to mankind in various ways by a divine presence or divine being, Buddhism is firmly rooted from first to last in ordinary humanity. Moreover, since it is not attached to any definition of divinity, Buddhism doesn't have any boundaries. It doesn't have for example the boundaries that have been the source of so much conflict down the centuries that divide the Islamic defintion of divinity from the Judaic, or the Judaic from the Christian or the Christian from the Hindu. It is wholly inclusive. No one and indeed no thing is excluded. It is wholly inclusive.
So it is a colossal humanist vision that reaches out to embrace every man's relationship with himself, man with his fellow human beings, and man with his universal environment. Buddhism in effect draws three concentric circles round our lies. Ourselves at the centre. Then othe rpeople, society as a whole, a truly global society. Then the outer ring of the universal environment. So Buddhism is immensely forward looking, immensely modern you might say, in that it has always argued that all three are intimately connected in every way, and for us to live a truly full and fulfilling life we need to learn how to be creatively connected to all three. '
That's it for today.
Pleased to be back.
Look forward to seeing you again next episode.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available in paperback from Amazon and as a download from Kindle.
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