From: Khoo Hock Aun (khoohockaun@gmail.com)
Date: Sat Jul 16 2005 - 15:40:07 BST
Hi Sam & everyone,
I would like to intercede on this thread while Scott and Ant ponder
their answers.
The Eastern comsmological view is that we are all beings each in our
respective phases of development, some having limited capacity to
understand the reality of the universe as it were, others, far far
developed through lifetimes of experience and karmic momentum.
You dont get to remember each lifetime when you arrive at this plane
and think that this is all there is. It is easy to fall for the idea
that you must have been created anew and after this there is only an
eternity, either in heaven or in hell.
The Eastern cosmology is one of continuous progression, and
interrelatedness among all lives, as we all impact on each other, by
all our thoughts, deeds and actions.
Buddhism is only a label for this understanding of how this universe
is; and it may be called by any name, Quality, the Metaphysics of
Quality if need be.
To each of us so called individuals living out our lives as selves,
Buddhism will be appreciated differently.
When I was a samanera ( a novice monk - sort of a very temporary
experience of the sangha - in theravada buddhism - this is encouraged
for young individuals to find out more) a senior monk told me that
intellect was not the route to enlightenment.
In fact for enlightenment ( for which I will regard as full and final
understanding of reality ), the individual should have come prepared
into this lifetime, after countless ones developing and progressing on
the 31 planes (different permutations of mind and matter) of
existence. In fact, humans, having the right combination of mind and
matter is the only plane where enlightenment and realisation as a
buddha is possible.
Three requirements are essential for enlightenment and they are
wisdom, morality and devotion. Wisdom itself without morality and
devotion is also not enough.
My mother, for instance, is not wise enough yet to appreciate the
insights of buddhism that can be yielded by the practice of
meditation. But she can be very moral. Morality - right thought, right
action etc - minimises the karmic baggage from lifetime to lifetime
until one arrives at a level ready to develop wisdom.
And for the moment, what propels her forward positively is her
devotion to buddhism, even if she worships an idol that for all
intents and purposes cannot in itself do anything for her.
She will readily go to the Buddhist temple and request for blessings.
And there are several of these blessings as chants as they were, which
soothe the suffering of many whose karmic actions have been negative
and reinforce the merits of those who have done good deeds.
In this sense, compassion is a central tenet of buddhism, where we are
all fellow travellers on the same motorcycle ride, some needing better
directions than others, some needing more advice on motorcycle
maintenance, some just need a lift !
So Sam, if you have seen different varieties of buddhism, there are
just as many varieties of this perception of reality and understanding
of what Quality is. Just as there are as many religions and
denominations within the religions. Just as there are many on this
list with their own ideas of the MOQ.
The underlying reality, unnamed, undescribed, uninterpreted, remains the same.
Rgds
Khoo Hock Aun
On 7/16/05, Sam Norton <elizaphanian@kohath.wanadoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi people, especially Scott and Ant, to whom I address a specific question
> at the end,
>
> Much to my chagrin, I couldn't make the conference with RMP, but I had the
> small compensation of two weeks holiday in China and Mongolia to distract
> me. Amongst many fascinating things were trips to several Buddhist temples,
> in Beijing and Chengde, which were eye opening in many senses. There were
> several ways in which the practice of religious observance in the temples
> was social level. The most striking, for me, was when we were told by a
> guide that it was common practice (as a 'minimum observance') to come to the
> monastery once a year and ask a monk to pray on your behalf. Hardly the
> 'intellectual level' that I thought was the essence of Buddhism!
>
> What really struck me was the way in which the impression of Buddhism that I
> had formed (largely as a result of various conversations on this site) was
> of something very austere and intellectual. That impression didn't long
> survive a direct acquaintance with the actual practice. It seems to me now
> that there is a distinct strain of idealisation involved in many of the
> descriptions of Buddhism relied on here (and also a reverse strain of
> denigration towards Christianity). It's as if Christianity were to be
> assessed only by considering the Eckharts of the tradition, whilst all the
> Lourdes type stuff were quietly ignored.
>
> The specific question to Ant and Scott: the temples/lamaseries I saw were
> all part of Tibetan Buddhism; to what extent is the MoQ tied in only with
> Zen buddhism (and therefore incompatible with the Tibetan variety)? It would
> seem - to this beginning student - that Zen is much further removed from
> these social level practices than the Tibetan sort, with their 30 foot high
> wooden buddhas used as a focus for worship.
>
> Cheers
> Sam
> http://elizaphanian.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
>
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