Whose Buddhism is Truest?

[Kokuu]

Hi all

Apologies if this has already been posted but I found it very interesting. Tangled vines!

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/whose-buddhism-truest


Gassho
Kokuu
#sattoday (for the first time in months even if only 10 minutes)

[Jundo]

Hi Kokuu,

That article is from a few years ago. There are so many flavors of Buddhism. Some believe that the South Asian "Theravadan" tradition is closest to "the Buddha's original teachings", but most of their scriptures were can only be traced to about 1500 years ago ... sometimes even later than Mahayana Sutras! Also, that tradition has changed so much, and what is being taught in the West as "mindfulness/Theravada" is really a 19th century invention!

https://meaningness.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/theravada-reinvents-meditation/

https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=44558

And, of course, Mahayana Buddhist Sutras are largely the work of the religious imaginations of inspired individuals long after the time of the historical Buddha ... Zen/Chan is an amalgamation of Indian Buddhism, Chinese culture and Daoism through a Japanese lens ... and now all has come West!

I feel it is like cooking or medicine ... many delicious ways to cook a potato, many different medicines suited to varied patients. Many good ways, many not so good ways ... but not only one sole right way.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Kokuu]

I feel it is like cooking or medicine ... many delicious ways to cook a potato, many different medicines suited to varied patients. Many good ways, many not so good ways ... but not only one sole right way.

[Kaishin]

Thank you for sharing. Lots of good comments on that page from people pointing out that the Buddhadharma isn't a revelatory religion like Christianity or Islam. It doesn't depend on the veracity of texts, but points only to the true self. It's the action that matters. One posted this from the Xin Xin Ming, which seems appropriate:

The more you talk and think about it,
the further astray you wander from the truth.
Stop talking and thinking,
and there is nothing you will not be able to know.
To return to the root is to find the meaning,
but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.
At the moment of inner enlightenment
there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.
The changes that appear to occur in the empty world
we call real only because of our ignorance.
Do not search for the truth;
only cease to cherish opinions.
----from the Xin Xin Ming

-satToday

[Cumminjd]

Hey all,

My belief on this is, there are many ways to get to the same destination, you can walk, drive, swim, boat, or fly. But eventually you end up in the same destination

Gassho
James
SatToday


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[Mp]

Thank you Kokuu,

Many paths up the one mountain. Some take the more challenging route, some the more leisure one - either way we all make it to the same summit. =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Doshin]

Hey all,

My belief on this is, there are many ways to get to the same destination, you can walk, drive, swim, boat, or fly. But eventually you end up in the same destination

Gassho
James
SatToday


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James,

Your observation brought back a conversation I had awhile back with a Buddhist monk who said something similar to me. To paraphrase him; ' Find a path and stick to it'.

Zen always seemed to fit my nature more than other paths so I stayed the course. Not sure where I am going, just trying to enjoy the journey more and live lightly as Jundo keeps reminding us.

My wife is Greek Orthodox and her path is not radically different than mine (they even use incense ) she often says things and I say was that a Buddha quote? We just interpret the beginning and end a little differently, but I really don't know and have not thought much about that part for the last half century.

Gassho

Randy
Sattoday

[Tb]

Hi.

Its all good practice.

Incidently, in the Sangha here, multibranched as it is, we might be reading this book next in our bookclub...
Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions

Which is all about the sameness and interconnectedness of the different branches of the Bodhitree...

Mtfbwy
Fugen

#Sat2day

[Myosha]

Hello,

Thank you for the link.


Gassho
Myosha sat today

[JimH]

This reminds me of something that Joseph Campbell once said. To paraphrase, "ALL religions are true, if you look at their core." All religions are true, all Buddhism is true, all Zen is true. All paths are the "right" path, if that is the one that a practitioner chooses and follows to the best of their ability.

Growing up, I was often confused about Christianity. We moved around a lot, and I experienced many different forms of Christianity: some with call and response, others with choirs, others without choirs, some with sermons, others without....and all had the undertone that "this version is the RIGHT version". In my childish simplicity, I always figured that unless God said otherwise directly, any one of them would do....as long as I did my best to be a good Christian.

I think it's the same with Buddhism and Zen. Truth is relatively relative. If I choose a path, it is correct....until it is not. Then, it is the next path that is correct.

[Getchi]

Thankyou, interesting article.

Geoff.
SatToday.