There are religions and then there are...

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There are religions and then there are...

Post by Rum » Sat May 12, 2018 5:48 pm

My daughter is over for the weekend and is doing a ceramics project for her MA in Sunderland which is vaguely related to Buddhist notions, so we went to Samye Ling Buddhist centre in deepest Dumfries today for her to take some pictures. The centre is beautiful, complete with a temple, retreats, a stunning walk through some woods and down to a wild river. It is is one of the remotest places south of the Highlands too.

Buddhism has a special place in my heart. As I was getting increasingly skeptical about all religions it made more sense to me than any of the others, though Tibetan Buddhism (which Samye Ling represents) is a rather less assetic and simple version than say Zen. Having said that the sense of peace we both felt after a couple of hours at the centre today was a bit special. All no doubt about the environment and the atmosphere and nothing 'spiritual'. I would say that much of Buddhism's thinking could lead one to categorize more as an active philosophy rather than a religion. Nearly all Buddhist traditions do 'believe' in rebirth of course, but that isn't a requirement.

Here's the temple at Samye Ling, taken today and a link. Lovely place if you ever get the chance..

http://www.samyeling.org/
asmye.jpg

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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Svartalf » Sat May 12, 2018 8:42 pm

wow; just wow, they have a temple like that in Britain? what flavor of buddhism to they cater to? great vehicle? Tibetan buddhism?
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Rum » Sat May 12, 2018 8:49 pm

Svartalf wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 8:42 pm
wow; just wow, they have a temple like that in Britain? what flavor of buddhism to they cater to? great vehicle? Tibetan buddhism?
Well if you read the text :fp: it is Tibetan. They are a bit of a splinter group from the Dali Lama's lot - i.e. they have a different belief in who was reincarnated in the Buddha's lineage - that is/was pretty common though in times gone by. Their cultural and traditional look and feel is very much baroque Tibetan though.

Having said that they seem to be pretty wide ranging and open about the approach people choose to take. Their (very decent) book shop has all sorts of stuff about the different Buddhist traditions.

It is a beautiful place in the middle of very remote and beautiful countryside.

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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Svartalf » Sat May 12, 2018 8:51 pm

actually, I kind of flew over the second paragraph and did not notice you saying it.. that's how bad my concentration ability has become.
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Rum » Sat May 12, 2018 8:55 pm

Svartalf wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 8:51 pm
actually, I kind of flew over the second paragraph and did not notice you saying it.. that's how bad my concentration ability has become.
Perhaps it is time to consider delving into some of the calming benefits of Buddhism then! :hugs:

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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Svartalf » Sat May 12, 2018 9:17 pm

lol, I would make nearly as horrible a buddhist as I would a muslim, I've always sucked at meditation, and I tend to lack empathy.
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Brian Peacock » Sat May 12, 2018 9:44 pm

Meh, pretty building but Buddhism is still a faith-based attempt to avoid having to deal with mortality, imo.
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by JimC » Sat May 12, 2018 11:31 pm

The best of a bad bunch... :tea:
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by pErvinalia » Sun May 13, 2018 1:12 am

Yeah. I've always kind of considered Buddhism more philosophy than religion. But I must admit I don't know all that much about it. Bit disappointed in the mass murdering Buddhists of Myanmar, though.
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by cronus » Sun May 13, 2018 5:01 am

Meditation is much cheaper than the pub. And the social life so much calmer. Know thyself. No hangover, or 'what happened? where's my shoes? when you wake up to yourself the next day. Can recommend it. Got a Buddhist poster. Book by the Dali Lama. A eight inch Tibetan Buddha statue. Went in deep one time. With rising prices after Brexit might be time to go that way again? Someone's gotta pay for the folly of the times and it ain't gonna be me. Nothing to be lost. After-all.
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by JimC » Sun May 13, 2018 6:02 am

Meditation or a bottle of Gin?

Choices, choices...
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Animavore » Sun May 13, 2018 7:31 am

cronus wrote:
Sun May 13, 2018 5:01 am
A eight inch Tibetan Buddha statue. Went in deep one time.
:?
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Animavore » Sun May 13, 2018 7:36 am

I was a Buddhist for two years before I abandoned religion altogether. Was fine until we had a talk from a Tibetan Buddhist one week. One of the Dalai Lama's close guys. The next week after that one of them started speaking about his great aura and the other's just chimed in. I was standing there thinking, He's just a dude.

That was my Emperor's New Clothes moment.
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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by Rum » Sun May 13, 2018 8:21 am

Animavore wrote:
Sun May 13, 2018 7:36 am
I was a Buddhist for two years before I abandoned religion altogether. Was fine until we had a talk from a Tibetan Buddhist one week. One of the Dalai Lama's close guys. The next week after that one of them started speaking about his great aura and the other's just chimed in. I was standing there thinking, He's just a dude.

That was my Emperor's New Clothes moment.

A fair point. I was looking at Samye Ling's web site and no matter how much one would like rationalism to be the prevailing norm, you get this more or less from the start:

"The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje (1985 - ) was born in 1985 to a Nomad family in Tibet. There were many auspicious signs surrounding his birth. During her pregnancy his mother dreamt of three white cranes offering her a bowl of yoghurt. A brilliant gold letter sat atop the bowl and signified her forthcoming son. The cranes told her they were sent by Guru Rinpoche and the golden letter was the recognition letter for her son but that she should keep that information secret until the right time came. The night before his birth his father saw rainbows over the tent and was surprised, as the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains. The baby was born the next day without pain or difficulty. At the same time a cuckoo landed on the Yak hair tent and sang. Two days later, the celestial sound of a conch shell, prophesised by the 16th Karmapa, was heard by all members of the nomadic community. Unknown flowers blossomed in the area and three suns were seen in the heavens, a rainbow arching over the middle one. This last phenomenon was seen widely throughout eastern Tibet".

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Re: There are religions and then there are...

Post by pErvinalia » Sun May 13, 2018 8:51 am


cronus wrote:Meditation is much cheaper than the pub. And the social life so much calmer. Know thyself. No hangover, or 'what happened? where's my shoes? when you wake up to yourself the next day. Can recommend it. Got a Buddhist poster. Book by the Dali Lama. A eight inch Tibetan Buddha statue. Went in deep one time.
You sure you came out again?

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