The above quote, taken from the Mahaparinibbana Sutra, makes it clear that we should not blindly believe what we hear, read or are told. We must test the words. If we are unable to find them in the Buddha’s discourses or in his set of rules, they more than likely have been added by someone […]
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Buddhism Guide
Hello and welcome to my blog! This blog will be about Buddhism. ‘Oh! not another one,’ I hear you say. Well, yes but………. There are many great blogs on Buddhism as a religion and even more on Buddhism as a philosophy. I want to write about Buddhism as a way of life, which means there will be no Buddhist jargon or dogma. It will not be based in the metaphysical world, but will have its feet planted firmly on this planet. I want it to be easy to follow and practical. I will use the Buddha’s early teachings as the blogs foundation, and I will explain them in a way that is relevant to your life today. You will find some of what I am going to write about in my book, ‘The Best Way To Catch A Snake.’ You may also follow Buddhism Guide Facebook and Twitter. I hope you enjoy the blog.
There is a 12-year-old boy in the village where I live and he spends the day begging. It isn’t his fault because he, along with his mentally ill mother, have been thrown out of their home by the father. I am extremely concerned about this little guy, and one day last week I was discussing […]
It doesn’t matter if you have taken refuge in the Buddha, meditate regularly, have a spiritual guide or do some elaborate ritual practice, if you do not follow the five precepts you cannot, in all honesty, call yourself a Buddhist. I understand this statement will ruffle some feathers, but I strongly believe it to be […]
People, for centuries, have been indulging in superstitions, lucky charms, omens, divinations and fortune-telling. They have used these things to help them make decisions and keep them from taking responsibility for their own actions. In some cultures they are still placing a lot of importance on such things. However, if you look carefully you can […]
Traditionally, what is talked about in Right Meditation is being able to concentrate single-mindedly on an object of meditation. However, I feel that before we can get to that point, we need to learn about single-minded concentration on our actions of body, speech and mind – our daily actions, in other words. How do we do this? We study Buddhist […]
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people. Click here to see […]
What do we need to be mindful of ? Everything. We have to be mindful of our actions and the impact they have on ourselves and others. These actions will shape our lives now and in the future, and it is very important to be constantly mindful. We have to be aware of our speech, of […]
The Buddha has shown us a path; it is up to us to follow it. Our minds have a tendency to hop and jump around like a drunk frog. We need to stay firmly focused on the job at hand. Without effort or focus, it is so easy to get distracted or drawn back into habits or activities […]
Working to help, not harm A right livelihood is one that does not bring harm to anyone or anything. Buddha listed five professions that constitute wrong livelihoods. They are dealing in weapons, dealing in humans, dealing in meat production, dealing in intoxicants and dealing in poisons. Traditionally these professions are dismissed out of […]
The next part of the eightfold path is right action. This is talking about actions of the body. We have to ensure that our actions do not bring harm to ourselves and others. One way of doing this is by refraining from the ten unwholesome ways to act. They are as follows: Refrain from taking […]
