Hi Daniel, Thank you for your welcome. :-) I am happy to join in with / read lighthearted argument - although a lot of the stuff on here is going over my head at the moment. It's just like learning anything new, I suppose, after you've been doing it for a while it's just second nature to know about it.
One good thing is that I haven't read anything yet about Buddhism that I feel uncomfortable about. Taking refuge in a system of beliefs and practices that helps me feel happier and more focused in my life can only be good - and, it seems, I can chuck out or ignore any ideas I find that don't work for me. :-) Beverley. ________________________________ From: empty0grace <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, 16 May, 2011 19:28:23 Subject: Re: [Zen] Newbie - hello & question Hi Beverly, I just wanted to say hello and welcome. I am also new to this board. They seem like a kind group of people, and not too easy to tick off. We shall see, eh? So I have never heard of any school of Buddhism that explicitly believes in God, even the Tibetans who seem pretty "out there" to me. In general the Mahayana and Vajrayana view of reality as being at once intelligent, conscious and unitive in nature can be seen as a kind of deity belief, or at least compatible to it. I believe in God and my own practice has been largely Theravada (very stodgy, conservative and atheistic). No one has tarred and feathered me yet :-) As far as Budhists being non-judgmental, well we can be argumentative at times, but hopefully with a sense of humor about it. If words were stones, there would be a lot of dead Buddhists! So we will be sure not to judge you, unless of course you are being judgmental, or believe in non-judgment as a doctrine ;-) A warm welcome to you, Daniel --- In [email protected], Beverley Huish <beverley.huish@...> wrote: > > Thank you, JM, :-) > > One of the things that appeals to me about Buddhism is that it > is non-judgemental. > > I'm also glad to have you say that knowledge isn't Buddhism's emphasis - > there > seems to be an awful lot of it about different types of Buddhism. (I already > decided that I'm not going to make any effort to pick up what I don't need to > know, or when I don't feel I can take anything else new on - unfortunately, > being a newbie Buddhist, I don't know what I really need to know to be a > Buddhist. I'm just focussing on mindfulness at the moment and hoping / >trusting > > that other information will come to me as I'm ready to receive it.) > > :-) > > Beverley. > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <chan.jmjm@...> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, 16 May, 2011 17:47:27 > Subject: Re: [Zen] Newbie - hello & question > > > Hello Beverly, > > Having your non-comparing mindset is the essence of Chan. Comparing is > always > relative and reincarnates itself into endless hell. > > Also for your information... > > Long Shu Bodhisatva (龍樹） brought Chan to Tibet way back then. In China, Chan >is > > nick named The Grand "Secret Lineage"/Vajrayana/Mizong (大密宗）, while Tibetan > practice is just Secret Lineage（密宗）. > > Some knowledge for your non-Buddhist friend, though knowledge is never our > emphasis. > > FYI, > JM > > > Learn to de-stress, energize and awaken http://www.chan-meditation.com Learn > to > > live with Health, Happiness and Harmony http://www.chanliving.org Learn to >reach > > enlightenment http://www.heartchan.org To save the world > http://www.universal-oneness.org > > On 5/16/2011 8:38 AM, Beverley Huish wrote: > > >Hi, > > > >I'm a newbie in this group, and to Buddhism. I sincerely don't want to > >upset > >anyone or start an argument. I want to join in this discussion, and this > >has > >cropped up so I'm asking the question. > > > >I told a friend today that I feel Buddhism is for me, and I'm looking into >Zen. > > >My friend replied that Tibetan Buddhism is a more spiritual type of Buddhism > >because they believe in God. Having looked into various types of > >Buddhism, he believes that the Buddha communicated higher information, >including > > >the existence of God, to Tibetan Buddhists because they were more > >spiritually > >evolved at that point - Tibetan Buddhists claim this is the case and my > >friend > > >agrees with them, he says. My response was to say that different things >appeal > > >to different people and I don't think it's a matter of one being more > >'spiritual' or more 'true' than another. (I really don't care what > >might considered 'higher' or more 'spiritual' - at the moment that is >irrelevant > > >to me. However, it did seem a kind of un-Buddhist thing to claim that > >oneself > > >is better than another person? My friend is not a Buddhist.) > > > >What do other people think? > > > >Thank you. :-) > > > >Beverley. >
