Essence Of Buddhist Dharma

[hermespan]

If you had to boil down all Buddhist teachings/practice into twenty-five or so words, what would that be?

Perhaps you care to give your personal version and that of the Buddhist scriptures/masters or the master himself?

In the Hindu tradition for which I was part for many years, the one that impressed me the most was...

"There is not one evil thing"

[fabianfred]

Every one of the Buddhas past and present teach the same dhamma...

Cultivate good, avoid evil, purify the mind.

Cultivate good means performing the ten ways of merit making, creating positive karma.

Avoiding evil means keeping the five basic precepts,or higher, which avoid us creating negative karma.

Purifying the mind means practice of chanting and meditation, the path to Nibbana when built upon the first two.

[sabaijai]

Nothing is worth clinging to.

[rockyysdt]

Every one of the Buddhas past and present teach the same dhamma...

Cultivate good, avoid evil, purify the mind.

Cultivate good means performing the ten ways of merit making, creating positive karma.

Avoiding evil means keeping the five basic precepts,or higher, which avoid us creating negative karma.

Purifying the mind means practice of chanting and meditation, the path to Nibbana when built upon the first two.

Why is chanting so important?

[shimizu]

The essence of Buddhism is meditation, and meditation is brain training.

The Buddha and all famous monks are exclusively pictured while meditating. Meditation is an exercise that,

if done regularly, changes your brain waves, and the blood flow to different parts of your brain. With an

improved brain, you might be able to have experiences and insights that otherwise you would not. This

insights can not be explained verbally, only experienced directly by the practitioner.

All Sutra reading, incense burning, Buddhist chanting, orange dressing, head shaving, will not produce any

insights, only meditation will.

[fabianfred]

Meditation is the thing but chanting can be a preparation for it. Not everyone is able to just start meditating.....but chanting can calm the mind and make it more amenable for the higher practice.

A story from the archives of LP Jaran...

He often recommended people to chant the eight Victory stanzas (Bahum mahanika) after the praises to the Buddha, Dhamma & Sangha, and then repeat the praise to the Buddha (Ittipiso...) the number of times equal to the age plus 1...followed by metta sharing merits chants. This to be repeated daily. It has often brought amazing results to people.

One day a woman came to practice vipassana, but her mindfulness was very bad...she couldn't distinguish between left & right when walking, nor in & out when breathing. LP sent her home and told her to send her son to him. He taught the boy the chants and got him to teach them to her bit-by-bit. Eventually she could remember them all and chanted throughout the day as she worked. She quite naturally on her own started to do the vipassana again and after some time was able to 'see' some events with the dhamma eye, and also put off her death with the help of bees and a snake....(more about that if you request it.)

So, it seems that chanting can be a preparation for some people before going on to meditation.

[beautifulthailand99]

I was once having a chat with the Abott of Wat Buddharam in East London and was waffling on about the conditioned nature of reality and the like and he simply said - you dont need to worry about all that just do good.

Or just send him the link to this video ....

Edited March 19, 2013 by beautifulthailand99

[lungmi]

I meant to say, I don't think I will see Theravada sanctioned Bhikkhuni ordination in Thailand in my lifetime..

A necessary correction, since Theravada Bhikkuni ordinations are already taking place, e.g. in Sri Lanka.

As to whether they will occur in Thailand in your lifetime I suppose it depends on your age and general state of health. I expect to see it within mine.

Nothing is worth clinging to.

Sabbe dhamma anatati