Dukkha is more than suffering.

[dukkha]

A cursory internet review appears to indicate that "Deepak Chopra" is a self-styled new age guru and marketer of alternative medicine therapies. Apparently many conventional doctors consider him a quack.

This is exactly the kind of person that give Eastern religion in the west a bad name in my opinion. That new age quackery isn't a good image, and does nothing to enhance credibility.

Deepak Chopra is not a trained theologian, religious scholar, monk, priest, or professor of comparative religion.

His opinion carries accordingly little weight with me.

I am getting my information from scholarly theologians and professors of religion.

good Lord/great Buddha. I realize he is a marketer..It doesn't mean he isn't a good author.
There are a zillion books on Siddhartha.
I recommended this one as it is a very interesting read, and does get all the facts right about Buddha's birth being foretold by a soothsayer "he will be a leader of men" His father the king thought that meant he would be a military man, but we see now he became a leader of a new religion -reform of Hindu, etc,

I do not endorse Chopra's practices -but the book is a very interesting read. and accurate.

[dukkha]

Its fine if conventional westerners want to dabble in some Buddhist or Hindu practices. The eight noble truths are something that could benefit anyone, as a simple lifestyle choice.

I am just telling you my opinion that most of these westerners are not genuine Buddhists, and are not imbued with the Asian life experience that Buddhism developed around. It took Indian Buddhism hundreds of years to integrate with Chinese traditions and cultural norms, to create a distinctly Chinese type of Buddhism. I do not think genuine Buddhism is transferrable to Topeka Kansas on a whim, or on anything other than a cursory level.
While I would not call these western fans of Eastern religions to be poseurs or insincere, I think of a lot of these Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and New Age types attempting to practice Eastern religion put out of whiff of feigned affectation.

You do not have to accept my opinion. It is just my two cents.

You don't have to be Asian to be a "genuine Buddhist" I get your point about cultures influencing practicing;
I am fond of Tibetan Buddhism.. I dig the kinetic prayer flags and wheels .Spinning the wheel is the same as saying they prayer/mantra.

But this dichotomy you are trying to set up between eastern and western Buddhism just doesn't exist.
There are many sects, just like Islam, but they are all Buddhists,and more importantly the core beliefs are universal to mankind no matter what the culture they are steeped in.

It's why Buddhism is a alive and well 2500 years later; it's based on immutable principles.

[dukkha]

What kind of Buddhist is Richard Gere?
He met the 14th Dalai Lama in India and became a practicing Tibetan Buddhist of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama. Gere regularly visits Dharamshala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Gere is also an advocate for human rights in Tibet.

Richard Gere: My Journey as a Buddhist (interview)
https://www.lionsroar.com/richard-ge...as-a-buddhist/

I suppose it’s a sign of our current cynicism that we find it hard to believe celebrities can also be serious people. The recent prominence of “celebrity Buddhists” has brought some snide comments in the press, and even among Buddhists, but personally I am very appreciative of the actors, directors, musicians and other public figures who have brought greater awareness to the cause of Tibetan freedom and the value of Buddhist practice. These are fine artists and thoughtful people, some Buddhists, some not, among them Martin Scorsese, Leonard Cohen, Adam Yauch, Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, and of course, Richard Gere. I met Gere at his office in New York recently, and we talked about his many years of Buddhist practice, his devotion to his teacher the Dalai Lama, and his work on behalf of the dharma and the cause of the Tibetan people. —Melvin McLeod

[dukkha]

by the ancient Vedic traditions of meditation and yoga, each Chopra Center retreat is designed to educate, inspire, and transform. Each retreat location was chosen for its physical beauty and healing power, and each theme created as a separate path toward greater consciousness.

My intention is that every person who attends will return home feeling lighter, connected, and more themselves.

I hope you’ll join me.
Deepak Chopra
Master of Personal Development and Spiritual Awakening
https://retreats.chopra.com/?utm_sou...20Events201956
FEATURED SPEAKERS:

DEEPAK CHOPRA + GABRIELLE BERNSTEIN

PRICES STARTING AT $3,875

[Cypress]

What kind of Buddhist is Richard Gere?
He met the 14th Dalai Lama in India and became a practicing Tibetan Buddhist of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama. Gere regularly visits Dharamshala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Gere is also an advocate for human rights in Tibet.

Richard Gere: My Journey as a Buddhist (interview)
https://www.lionsroar.com/richard-ge...as-a-buddhist/

I suppose it’s a sign of our current cynicism that we find it hard to believe celebrities can also be serious people. The recent prominence of “celebrity Buddhists” has brought some snide comments in the press, and even among Buddhists, but personally I am very appreciative of the actors, directors, musicians and other public figures who have brought greater awareness to the cause of Tibetan freedom and the value of Buddhist practice. These are fine artists and thoughtful people, some Buddhists, some not, among them Martin Scorsese, Leonard Cohen, Adam Yauch, Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, and of course, Richard Gere. I met Gere at his office in New York recently, and we talked about his many years of Buddhist practice, his devotion to his teacher the Dalai Lama, and his work on behalf of the dharma and the cause of the Tibetan people. —Melvin McLeod

Richard Gere, Keaunu Reeves, Bill Gates, George Harrison, the Beatles, and some self styled new age guru who markets books and herbal medicines are not exactly the ambassadors for credibility I personally would look for in establishing how genuine and authentic a religious tradition is in the west.

I have no doubt that some Americans have some affinity for Buddhist philosophy and principles in a cursory way. The noble eightfold path to nirvana and enlightenment is a perfectly admirable way to conduct one's life, and to practice spiritual health as an aspirational principle.

What I question is how genuine the style of Buddhism practiced in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Greenwich Village, and Lower Manhattan is when they are compared to the ancient Buddhist traditions of Tibet, China, Japan, and southeast Asia.

My Mother at one point dabbled in Buddhism. We talked about it. She ultimately concluded that she was kidding herself in trying to adopt an ancient and complex set of philosophies and rituals that evolved two thousand years ago to address the history, culture, and social norms of east and south Asian society. Her position was that she wasn't being true to herself, wasn't being genuine, and was not recognizing that her life force was imbued with western civilization and western culture, whose residue could not be washed away by burning some incense, doing some chants, and ringing some bells. And on that, I ultimately agreed with her.

Just my two cents.
To each their own.

[dukkha]

^ all due respect to your mothers convictions. For some Buddhists Sangha refers only to monks and nuns i suppose
The sangha is where ever the dharma is kept is what Buddha taught - we are all bodhi.

Sangha Day
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religi...s/sangha.shtml

[bhaktajan]

set of philosophies and rituals that evolved two thousand years ago to address the history, culture, and social norms of east

Do you mean that the westerner's who are religious are following on a superficial level? They're doing just the most basic observations.

And the easterner is expected to pray & study scripture 24/7?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Zen or not to Zen ---that's all there is to it.

Zazen [Japanese word for meditation literally "seated meditation]

Classical Silent Mantra Meditation

Classic old-time 20 min Silent Meditation:

1 - Sit alone quietly, eyes closed, wait a moment . . . then

2 - Silently repeat a short mantra(mono-syllabic is Okay) or prayer-mantra.

3 - Repeat step #2 for 20 minutes*.

4 - At finish, direct attention to any points of discomfort in the body. End.


*During step #2-3, the mind will wander away from the task of the mantra repeatition. When that happens, simple return to repeating the mantra.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

A Mantra is meant for repetition during sitting-silent meditation [if recited aloud, there is no difference except that the environs can benefit too].

The mantra is a tool for focusing the minds wandering tendency.
The practice of mantra usage is aprt and parcel of 'devotionals' ---not attempts at magic.

If the meaning of each word of each mantra were known as well as one's native tongue, then it would be clear WHY to repeat a mantra.

Practice yoga & meditation ... and naturally one will have a mantra to recite as part of the "meditation" discipline.

By recitation of a mantra:
1 - The mind stops "jumping from thought-to-thought" [this takes repeated practice]---and thus, the mind becomes 'mind-full' while being 'without any particular though-in-mind' ---when the above yogic practice is near-perfected, this state becomes a state of conscious awareness without focusing on any thoughts: non-thought-filled awarness [aka, being in the zone]. The sense of being an individual conscious soul is all that is left whenever the mantra stops being repeated . . . then the mind's thoghts & the body's stimulai kick back in ---and one returns to the hustle & bustle state of regular walking/talking/work life. The empty state of no-thoughts while being fully aware and thus, temporarily without desires [ergo, thoughts] is a blissfull state. Why? Because it is without anxiety regarding loss and distress or gain or impositions of any kind.

This state that is attained through practiced sitting meditation is a means to know Brahman-Realisation. The Soul is made of Brahman (consciousness) and when the Mind stops pre-occuping itself with thinking about desires and plans et al ---it can sense itself.

2 - After "Brahman"-Realisation is steady in it's understanding and ramifications (ie: A sample of Brahman selected from any place and time and distance is NO different from any other sampling; IOW Brahman is absolute in all regards.) So, since the soul is a part and parcel of brahman ---each soul in You & I & all Creatures is the same brahman ---except that each point of light (an individual soul) is indivisable and each soul is its own insoluble POV. Each soul is an individual entities all onto its own; each soul is part and parcel of Param-atma, the Supreme Soul. God the personage is the Supreme Soul with a name fame form personality paraphenalia entourage and pastimes in a place Eternal transcendental (no influence of passing time, ie: Creation/maintainance/dissolution) to the material manifest cosmos the we souls in this material world see and enjoy during each life time as time goes by.

3 - After the above is understood 'as absolute' and that all lessons are learnt by disciplic chain of succession, we engage in the lessons taught by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. That even in the most ghastly circumstances, perform your duty and seek no reward beyond your lot in life as a means of transcending the mundane world ---as a devotional penence to The Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whom all personality arises to engage the souls in pastimes ... either in timeless heaven or in the temporal material world of repeated births and death.

the maha-mantra:

hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Mantras are not a 'requisition forms',
Mantras are not incantations ---Mantras are not for fullfilling base desires or whimsical wonder-lusts ---Mantras are prayers to focus the attention away from external stimulai and thus meant to bring the meditator in union with the soul ['soul' rather than the gross-level body & material elements].

"one that is popular in jewish meditation is "Ribbono shel 'olam" - "Master of the universe"."

The data I'm posting here as "Classical Silent Mantra Meditation" was culled first hand over the years and succinctly presented ... culled from seizen sitting meditation and Hindu sitting meditation as classically performed. Nothing added here by me.


The Lord's Prayer is a Mantra. IMO elongated mantras are better to focus the mind's attention.

The orthodox Sanskrit mantra [esp mono-syllabic words] is 99% of the time a "Name of the Lord" ---but multi-word mantras are 100% traditional [usl these are invocations to the Lord]

Aside from the religious ties ---a mantra meditation session is akin to any type of "ZEN" like exercise. In meditation it is the mind that directly is doing the exercise to get into a ZEN-Zone ---devoid of any 'particular thinking [concentrated focus of attention]'.

Strict clear Attention on nothing specific ---just "Attention" standing on its own ... attending ---to bring "awareness" to it pure-awareness denuded of outside stimuli, so the aware self came be realised.

DYK that the mantra "OM" is said to be the sound of the Universe's hum?

[dukkha]

The Lord's Prayer is a Mantra. IMO elongated mantras are better to focus the mind's attention.

it is even said with a cadence

The mantra is a tool for focusing the minds wandering tendency.
The practice of mantra usage is a part and parcel of 'devotionals' ---not attempts at magic.

Turn off your mind relax and float down stream
It is not dying, it is not dying

Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void,
It is shining, it is shining.

Yet you may see the meaning of within
It is being, it is being

[dukkha]

Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels or Triple Gem (also known as the "Three Refuges").
The Three Jewels are:
the Buddha, the fully enlightened one. the Sangha, the monastic order of Buddhism that practice the Dharma.
~~

https://livingdharma.org/index.php/b...g-of-eitaikyo/
The Buddha taught that three qualities characterize the world: dissatisfaction, impermanence, and lack of enduring self. As I see it, lack of self is just a special case of impermanence, and dissatisfaction is simply the experience of impermanence.
It all comes down to impermanence, and impermanence is most terrible when it is our loved ones we find to be impermanent. Death is the darkness at the margin of life. Like the blindness that lies beyond our field of vision, it is always there, though we cannot or try not to see it. Death is the most terrible form of impermanence.

Yet we must remember that what makes death terrible is love. Without love there would be no pain in the loss of anything, even our family. We only grieve for what we love, then lose. We can easily free ourselves from this grief: we simply have to stop loving. We know this, yet would you give up love to free yourself from loss?
I would not do that, nor, I think, would you. That would be to lose everything; to lose love even before we have it. Some do choose this way: this is the monastic path.
But we householders do not choose this. We remain in this world of love and loss; we choose it. And, like all the most vital and emotional choices in our lives, we may not understand this choice, we simply live it. We love, we lose, and we grieve. A haiku by Issa, a devout Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, by the way, and perhaps the most beloved haiku poet of all time, expresses this better than I ever could. He writes this haiku just after his little daughter has died.
As a good Buddhist he’s conscious of impermanence in everything, and his first line is a reference to the Diamond Sutra, but he still feels the pain of loss:

Tsuyu no yo wa
tsuyu no yo nagara
sari nagara.

This dewdrop world,
may be a dewdrop world.
So it is, and yet…

[Cypress]

Do you mean that the westerner's who are religious are following on a superficial level? They're doing just the most basic observations.

And the easterner is expected to pray & study scripture 24/7?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Zen or not to Zen ---that's all there is to it.

Zazen [Japanese word for meditation literally "seated meditation]

Classical Silent Mantra Meditation

Classic old-time 20 min Silent Meditation:

1 - Sit alone quietly, eyes closed, wait a moment . . . then

2 - Silently repeat a short mantra(mono-syllabic is Okay) or prayer-mantra.

3 - Repeat step #2 for 20 minutes*.

4 - At finish, direct attention to any points of discomfort in the body. End.


*During step #2-3, the mind will wander away from the task of the mantra repeatition. When that happens, simple return to repeating the mantra.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

A Mantra is meant for repetition during sitting-silent meditation [if recited aloud, there is no difference except that the environs can benefit too].

The mantra is a tool for focusing the minds wandering tendency.
The practice of mantra usage is aprt and parcel of 'devotionals' ---not attempts at magic.

If the meaning of each word of each mantra were known as well as one's native tongue, then it would be clear WHY to repeat a mantra.

Practice yoga & meditation ... and naturally one will have a mantra to recite as part of the "meditation" discipline.

By recitation of a mantra:
1 - The mind stops "jumping from thought-to-thought" [this takes repeated practice]---and thus, the mind becomes 'mind-full' while being 'without any particular though-in-mind' ---when the above yogic practice is near-perfected, this state becomes a state of conscious awareness without focusing on any thoughts: non-thought-filled awarness [aka, being in the zone]. The sense of being an individual conscious soul is all that is left whenever the mantra stops being repeated . . . then the mind's thoghts & the body's stimulai kick back in ---and one returns to the hustle & bustle state of regular walking/talking/work life. The empty state of no-thoughts while being fully aware and thus, temporarily without desires [ergo, thoughts] is a blissfull state. Why? Because it is without anxiety regarding loss and distress or gain or impositions of any kind.

This state that is attained through practiced sitting meditation is a means to know Brahman-Realisation. The Soul is made of Brahman (consciousness) and when the Mind stops pre-occuping itself with thinking about desires and plans et al ---it can sense itself.

2 - After "Brahman"-Realisation is steady in it's understanding and ramifications (ie: A sample of Brahman selected from any place and time and distance is NO different from any other sampling; IOW Brahman is absolute in all regards.) So, since the soul is a part and parcel of brahman ---each soul in You & I & all Creatures is the same brahman ---except that each point of light (an individual soul) is indivisable and each soul is its own insoluble POV. Each soul is an individual entities all onto its own; each soul is part and parcel of Param-atma, the Supreme Soul. God the personage is the Supreme Soul with a name fame form personality paraphenalia entourage and pastimes in a place Eternal transcendental (no influence of passing time, ie: Creation/maintainance/dissolution) to the material manifest cosmos the we souls in this material world see and enjoy during each life time as time goes by.

3 - After the above is understood 'as absolute' and that all lessons are learnt by disciplic chain of succession, we engage in the lessons taught by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. That even in the most ghastly circumstances, perform your duty and seek no reward beyond your lot in life as a means of transcending the mundane world ---as a devotional penence to The Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whom all personality arises to engage the souls in pastimes ... either in timeless heaven or in the temporal material world of repeated births and death.

the maha-mantra:

hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Mantras are not a 'requisition forms',
Mantras are not incantations ---Mantras are not for fullfilling base desires or whimsical wonder-lusts ---Mantras are prayers to focus the attention away from external stimulai and thus meant to bring the meditator in union with the soul ['soul' rather than the gross-level body & material elements].

"one that is popular in jewish meditation is "Ribbono shel 'olam" - "Master of the universe"."

The data I'm posting here as "Classical Silent Mantra Meditation" was culled first hand over the years and succinctly presented ... culled from seizen sitting meditation and Hindu sitting meditation as classically performed. Nothing added here by me.


The Lord's Prayer is a Mantra. IMO elongated mantras are better to focus the mind's attention.

The orthodox Sanskrit mantra [esp mono-syllabic words] is 99% of the time a "Name of the Lord" ---but multi-word mantras are 100% traditional [usl these are invocations to the Lord]

Aside from the religious ties ---a mantra meditation session is akin to any type of "ZEN" like exercise. In meditation it is the mind that directly is doing the exercise to get into a ZEN-Zone ---devoid of any 'particular thinking [concentrated focus of attention]'.

Strict clear Attention on nothing specific ---just "Attention" standing on its own ... attending ---to bring "awareness" to it pure-awareness denuded of outside stimuli, so the aware self came be realised.

DYK that the mantra "OM" is said to be the sound of the Universe's hum?

Sorry, I have no idea what all that word salad means.

I just provided my opinion on the practice of Buddhism in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Upper Manhatten, and whether or not it is authentically genuine compared to the Buddhism that evolved for 2,000 years to meet the needs, cultures, and histories of East Asia.

No point repeating myself.

I salute anyone who feels like they get something out of dabbling in, or practicing Buddhism in a cursory way.
In fact, I myself feel like I try to practice the noble eightfold path of virtuous living - those are practices that just make sense for any virtuous life in any context or culture. I just don't call myself a Buddhist for doing it.

[dukkha]

Sorry, I have no idea what all that word salad means.

I just provided my opinion on the practice of Buddhism in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Upper Manhatten, and whether or not it is authentically genuine compared to the Buddhism that evolved for 2,000 years to meet the needs, cultures, and histories of East Asia.

No point repeating myself.

I salute anyone who feels like they get something out of dabbling in, or practicing Buddhism in a cursory way.
In fact, I myself feel like I try to practice the noble eightfold path of virtuous living - those are practices that just make sense for any virtuous life in any context or culture. I just don't call myself a Buddhist for doing it.

I salute anyone who feels like they get something out of dabbling in, or practicing Buddhism in a cursory way.

the problem is you always write from a sanctimonious p.o.v. I don't follow all the 5 Precepts-
but I understand the reasoning behind them..Just because I modify it for what works for me
( and others the same) does not diminish our practice to "cursory"

In fact, I myself feel like I try to practice the noble eightfold path of virtuous living - those are practices that just make sense for any virtuous life in any context or culture. I just don't call myself a Buddhist for doing it.

many aren't into all the dharma, but use such as a virtuous path - all good like yourself.
But many use it to stay on the path, along with meditation and the 5 Precepts as practicing Buddhists -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_precepts

[bhaktajan]

Sorry, I have no idea what all that word salad means.

the practice of Buddhism in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Upper Manhatten

Classic old-time Meditation:

Sit alone quietly, eyes closed...

1 - Silently repeat a short mantra(mono-syllabic is Okay) or prayer-mantra.

2 - Repeat step 2 for 20 minutes*.

when finished, direct attention to any points of discomfort in the body. End.


*When the mind will wanders away
from the mantra repetition...simple return to repeating the mantra.

[bhaktajan]

In ancient Japan, Zen had a major impact on Samurai warriors,
and it and was widely adopted as their official religion.
The Samurai achieved perfection in martial arts such as kenjutsu,
kyujutsu, and jujutsu through the practice of zen meditation.

The practice of Zen was ideal for the Samurai way of life as it put emphasis on
self-composure, vigilance, and tranquility in the face of death. Because of this,
Zazen is called the religion of the Samurai. Even the great swordsman
Musashi Miyamoto and some of the 47 Ronin were Zen adepts.
Zen Buddhism also taught the Samurai to have an intimate awareness of
death, and it stressed the importance of detachment from material possessions.
Thus, Zen concepts became the heart and soul of the Bushido.

Many people in the Western world practice martial arts as a sport,
without the spirit of Zen or the Bushido as their foundation.
Without a foundation in Zen, one can hardly understand the full
extent of the philosophy of the practice of martial arts. Without Zen,
the practice of martial arts is a meaningless practice, and it becomes
simply a sport like hockey or baseball. Of course, there is nothing
wrong with sports, but they are only games that function as a form
of amusement. However, the tradition of Budo, or Japanese martial arts,
is of a higher dimension and is certainly more than a game.

https://www.zen-buddhism.net/martial...tial-arts.html

[Cypress]

the problem is you always write from a sanctimonious p.o.v. I don't follow all the 5 Precepts-
but I understand the reasoning behind them..Just because I modify it for what works for me
( and others the same) does not diminish our practice to "cursory"

many aren't into all the dharma, but use such as a virtuous path - all good like yourself.
But many use it to stay on the path, along with meditation and the 5 Precepts as practicing Buddhists -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_precepts

I think you should practice the tenets of Buddhism in anyway that enriches your life.

I also think you need to accept the fact that I believe the type of Buddhism generally practiced in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and other elite white communities gives off a faint whiff of feigned affectation.

To me, wearing one's religion on one's sleeve is almost always a dead-give away of someone who is not authentically and devoutly religious. I have run across many fake Christians on message boards who put their religion in everyone else's face, but they are the first to holler "cunt!" at female posters, or to slander, libel, and bear false witness against fellow posters.

[dukkha]

I think you should practice the tenets of Buddhism in anyway that enriches your life.

I also think you need to accept the fact that I believe the type of Buddhism generally practiced in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and other elite white communities gives off a faint whiff of feigned affectation.

To me, wearing one's religion on one's sleeve is almost always a dead-give away of someone who is not authentically and devoutly religious.

I accept you beliefs, I disagree with your conclusions.
People like Gere do not "wear their religion on their sleeve" like some kind of fundamentalist evangelical.

Gere is an advanced practicing Buddhist. He has visited Dharmasala, and met with his Holiness more then once-
it's an integral part of whom he is -i see no reason to disparage anything about him..

There are lots of gurus out there -i pay them no mind then anyone else -i do pay attention to true devotees however