Carrie

I'm a former fundy Christian and now I'm an Atheist. I've always thought meditation might be kinda cool, so I'm thinking of going to check out a local Zen meeting. But I have no idea what to expect or it it's even worth it.

I'm picturing a bunch of middle aged hippies sitting in a circle meditating and saying "Om" and that sounds really silly to me.
Does anyone think this sort of thing would be cool? Or would it be lame? I mean, can I just get a book and learn to meditate? Is it something you even have to learn or can you just start doing it yourself by sitting alone and clearing your head?

Also, I'm guessing that Buddhists believe a lot of silly things, like you shouldn't drink, you must deny yourself, etc. to be holy.
And from what I gather from the info posted at the front of our local Yoga / Zen building here in town, they believe in stuff like special healing rocks and herbs for spiritual clarity and crap like that.

So should a skeptical Atheist like me even bother with Buddhism? Do you have to be all committed to it to get anything out of it, or is it the kind of thing where you can take some and leave some? What do you think of it?

Heathen Dawn

Much of what you believe about Buddhism could be stereotypes. That was true in my case. I still have my reasons for not being a Buddhist, but those are not the bad reasons I had before I checked it out (hint: Buddhism just isn’t my style).

I say yes, check it out. It’s not an absurd or evil religion like the Abrahamic ones. Albert Einstein endorsed it with these words:

“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity”

Autonemesis

"What is the sound of one infidel checking me out?" - Buddha

Toto

You probably won't find anyone chanting 'OM' since that's a Sanskrit-Yoga thing.

If you want just the meditation, look up Insight Meditation, or find someone who studied with Jack Kornfeld, or find some of his books or tapes - such as Inner Art of Meditation.

Or try the Dalai Lama's Secular Meditation.

There's a lot of variety among Buddhists - some are very westernized and scientific, some are more into flakey new age stuff.

And you should consider: Buddhism is good for your health.

andy_d

Well you can have a crack by yourself. You've already got all the tools you need to meditate perfectly. However, like all new skills, you'll find it much easier to learn from a person than a book. Still, if you're not ready to walk up and say "hi" then reading might give you bit more insight into the principles for now. I'd say stick to a book like the ones Toto mentioned and stay away from the airy-fairy New Age rubbish. Most of those people have no clue.

By all means, shop around until you find someone you like. Be critical.

If possible, it might help to check all your Abrahamic baggage and concepts about what "religion" should be at the door You won't need any of that shit.

At the very least, they'll probably be up for a cup of tea and a chat.

demoninho

Cool quote, finally an answer to all those fundies who keep quoting Einstein as a believer in the judeo(-christian) god

Opera Nut

There are various forms of meditation. Some people chant mantras, some people silently concentrate on their breath, etc. For more information about mantras do a google search on Thomas Ashley-Ferrand.

There are several major schools of Buddhism. The first one is Theravada[lesser vehicle], the second one is Mahayana [greater vehicle](Chinese), then there is Vajrayana [Diamond Way](Northern India), Zen (Japanese), Tantric and Tibetan. Each of these has divisions as well and some have yoga forms associated with them.

One of the cool things, I think, about Buddhism is that you can be an atheist and be a Buddhist too. You do not have to believe in God. I attended a Chinese Buddhist temple for a while and the people there were very nice and thoughtful. The temple was dedicated to Kwan Yin who is the female Bodhisattva of Compassion. Sort of like Mother Mary.

Buddhism has some of the same concepts as Hinduism, karma [what goes around comes around] and Dharma [truth], but stripped it of its many deities and aspects of God. The Eight Fold Path and the Four Noble Truths are the starting point. Everything we think is real is impermanent and illusory and changing (goes back to the Shiva the Destroyer aspect of Hinduism).

The teachings of the Dalai Lama are those most prominent in the West. There are CDs available of his teachings and books which explain and popularize it. He is a very interesting person.

The movie "Little Buddha" is a very basic explanation of the picking of the next Dalai Lama and the story of Gautama the Buddha. Gautama the Buddha is NOT revered as a God but revered as a person who achieved enlightenment.

There is a wonderful book that nobody has ever heard of called "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yutang. It was a best seller in the 1930s. He was the child of Christian missionaries in China and this is a wonderful treatise on Chinese history and Chinese philosophy. It has chapters on such things as "Why I am a Pagan" and "The Importance of Loafing".

Read it.

Good luck in your explorations.

Vajradhara

Namaste carrie,

thank you for the post.

you can get a very good overview of Hinyana Buddhism from this site:

http://www.buddhanet.net/


Not to nitpick with Opera Nut..

however... Theraveda means "Teachings of the Elders" and it is the main existant school of Hinyana (Lesser Vehicle) Buddhism.

It should be clearly noted that "lesser" is not meant in a derogatory manner.. even though some schools interpet it in that fashion. the term "lesser" here denotes that this school is applicable for a smaller group of individuals than the Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) or Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle) schools.

The Dalai Lama is a practiconer of the Vajrayana school of Buddhism and he practices a particular sect of that school. There are several very well known commentators on Buddhism in the West... namely Thich Nhat Hanh and S. Suzuki... though they both offer their perspective from the Zen traditions which are subsumed under the Mahayana umbrella of teachings.

it is my opinion.. that one gets out of something what one puts into something.

yes, Buddhism does require a commitment to practice. you are learning a skill and, like all skills, it takes practice to become proficient.

naturally, there are activities that we should not engage in as they will impede our progress upon the spiritual path. something to keep in mind... generally speaking, Buddhism is about the Middle Way... to neither extreme... not abstaining or not becoming an alcoholic. if one does not have the will to drink but not become an alcoholic, they should probably not drink, n'est pas?

Paul2

Sidenote: if i recall correctly, the term "buddha" is reserved for whoever brings enlightenment into an unenlightened world, and that is what Gautama did. So yes the Buddha is not worshiped as a god, but he's remembered as a teacher.


Edit: more to the subject, a book i found helpful would be "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula, available in paperback from amazon or your local bookshop.

kalamasutta

carrie,

One of the descriptive words that the Dharma uses when referring to itself............."ehipassiko"........meaning in effect "come and see for oneself"........

The Buddhadharma has "many mansions"!...............from Theravada..............."Buddhas can only point the way, each has to walk the path themselves"................to Shin Buddhism that relies upon "Other Power".............and everything in-between..........84000 dharma gates.........

"The way of the Buddha is to know yourself;
To know yourself is to forget yourself;
To forget yourself is to be awakened by all things" (Dogen)

Perhaps there is no real starting place, yet my first real taste of Buddhism was the book "The Vision of Dharma" by the Theravada Elder Nyanaponika Thera..............this inspired me to begin meditation and truly see Buddhism as a lifechoice.........since then..............but that is MY story........

"Ehipassiko"..................come and see for oneself......