Interesting Words
I really like this:
Buddhism is not a religion or philosophy; it is not a psychology or a science. It is example. It is a method of liberation.
-- Jusan Frankie Parker
Thursday, May 24, 2007
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5 comments:
I would agree...
...then I would say that the value of any religion is the extent to which it reveals our liberation.
:^)
"One does not have to call him/herself a Buddhist in order to practice the Dharma and receive benefit from it. Interestingly, in Tibetan, there is no word, "Buddhism". This is noteworthy, for sometimes we get so caught up in the names of religions that we forget their meaning, and busy ourselves defending our religion and criticizing others'. This is a useless venture. In fact the term, "Dharma" includes any teaching that, if practiced correctly, leads people to temporal or ultimate happiness. It doesn't exclude teachings given by other religious leaders, provided that these teachings lead us to the attainment of temporal or ultimate happiness."
-- Venerable Thubten Chodron
^_-
From Ngak'chang Rinpoche, lineage holder of the Arogter lineage:
"We were all raised in a Judeo-Christian culture: this is what exists here. And I think that because of that we tend to approach religion as truth. Now that is really tricky when it comes to Buddhism, because Buddhism is in excess of 90% method. It doesn't really deal with the truth, in terms of what is really taught. ...The truth is not actually taught, but a method of realising truth. So the methods of realising truth can be very different.....
One thing you will find as you hear a variety of Buddhist teachings is that they contradict each other. And people often find this a problem....the fact that teachings contradict each other is only a problem if you deal with teachings as truth. If you deal with teachings as method, the fact they contradict each other is not a problem. Like a spade does not contradict a toothpick, a sword does not contradict a hammer. these things are different; they have different purposes, therefore they are different.
So a vehicle has a base, a path and a fruit. The base is where we are, how we are as individuals and what we understand. The path is what we do from that basis. The fruit is where we arrive. These three should always exist in connection with each other. This idea is not only connected with Buddhism, but could be applied to almost anything...One could look at any religion from this point of view and say "What is the base, path and fruit here?" If you have that perspective, then actually you never need have a problem with any religion, with any philosophy. Because one can see what its benefit might be to a person who's approaching it from a particular angle.......So it's important to understand this idea of method, and that method differs, but the truth that method gets at is the same."
First off, my humble thanks for linking to my blog!
Coincidentally, a former Zen teacher of mine here in New Jersey, Rev. Kobutsu Kevin Malone, was a witness at Jusan Frankie Parker's execution. I know the experience moved him very deeply.
Micheal - Happy to have added the link. I do enjoy your blog! Actually, I learned of Jusan Frankie Parker by reading a really wonderful article by the Venerable Kobutsu about Jusan's journey.
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