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 Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:08 pm
Excuse my ignorance, there are a couple of elements in Buddhism that, after thinking about them seriously, seem to be contradictory.
Vows: If the path to enlightenment is to let go of our attachments, then why do monks make vows? If a drinker vowed to rid himself of alcohol, something that may be an attachment to an alcoholic, isn't the promise itself an attachment? Wouldn't he only find disappointment and suffering in not meeting the requirement of his vow? Isn't a vow, a blunt and immediate promise to abstain from something completely, not following the middle way?
Dalai Lama: I know even less of this, because I study Buddism as a practice and not an organized religion
The Dalai Lama is a spiritual leader who supposedly is the reincarnation of Siddartha Gautama... but didn't he attain nirvana? Didn't he end the cycle of rebirth? I don't understand this one.
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:34 pm
I can answer the Dalai Lama one right now: He's not Gautama. He's one of several current eminations (not quite a rebirth, not quite a reincarnation...something of an avatar on sterroids, I think. I could be wrong, I never got the swing of that bit when I was still studying Tibetan Buddhism. Might want to run it past one of our local Tibetan Buddhists to make sure) of Chenrezig, aka Kwan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Kwan's not one well gone, as they say, but rather "one who's promised to hang about with us 'til we're ALL ready for enlightenment"...needless to say, that one's gonna keep coming back for quite some time at this rate.
I was going to add a smiley face, but I'm not really sure I should. I originally though it was kind of cute, but now it makes me a bit sad that we're not all ready to go.
As for the other side of it, I can see where you're coming from, but I think there will come a point when - after you've been studying as a monk for a long time - when you realise you'd need to walk away from it all anyway, and it's easier to just not form the attachment to begin with. So making the vows just makes it easier later.
Believe me, walking the really middle way - the Householder's life - is a LOT harder than the monastic life because of the things we're still attached to.
I'm not sure that makes as much sense down in the forum as it did in my head.
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:31 pm
It made sense to me Byaggha, thank you.
I didn't know that about the Dalai Lama, I still don't know very much about the Dalai Lama, other than what he believes.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:46 pm
Tha Dalai Lama is the Reincarnation of Buddha of Compassion.. He has chosen to come back again and again, life after life to help us attain enlightenment.. His only duty is to help us in our journey to reach the truth.
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