Byaggha's Buddhism: A Primer

[Cranium Squirrel]

16 - Lexicon of Words. Redundancy is Fun.

I've decided not to do this until I get asked for specific definitions of Buddhist terminology/Pali or Sanskrit words you may not get. I wasn't sure where to start with it, so I guess it's better left to the people who will be using this post rather than myself. 3nodding  

[Cranium Squirrel]

17 - Q&A: Anything That You Need Clarified?

Rajani Kali

Do you know anything about "taking the precepts" and receiving a precept burn, and what that implies? The sunim (Korean nun) that I've been working with these past two years hasn't been very forthcoming on the specifics, but then, she's not always sure how to best translate things.

Precept burn isn't something I've heard of before, to be honest. I'm not familiar with the term at all, though it does bring to mind that one scene from the Kung Fu: The Legend Continues opening credits, where the initiate gets branded on the wrists. I'm hoping it's not that; it sounds painful and rather distracting!

After a little work on the internet, looking for specifics, I did find an actual burn being used by Korean temples - it's apparently a small, round brand applied as a reminder of sorts by three sticks of burning incense. Here is the photojournal of a man who took refuges outside Seoul, including a shot of his burn itself. It doesn't look too bad, to be honest. 3nodding

As for taking the precepts themselves, that's fairly easy and usually goes alongside taking refuge in the three jewels, as I mentioned earlier. My husband did that at a Theravadan temple a few years back; he said it just amounted to him making an agreement with the monks and himself to abide by the five precepts of lay followers in order to further his practice. Myself, I've done both in private, due mainly to lack of local clergy. I'd really like to do a proper ceremony for both some day though.

What exactly is said during these ceremonies may differ from temple to temple, but this page on Buddhanet has a few useful bits from an Australian Buddhist society, alongside a recording of what it sounds like in Pali, and says in English, down near the bottom. Also, you can (and should!) hit Access to Insight on this one - their page on this is great. Many times, since this is a person's formal entry into the Buddhist sangha, the ceremony will include the giving of a dharma name by the presiding monk or nun. From what I gather, this is sort of an ideal you should try to live up to throughout your life - for instance, if they give you a name that means great friend, you should strive to be one both to yourself and others.

I hope that helps!

Taliah

I'm not sure if I've ever had this explained before or not, but it was nice to have it all in one place instead of fighting google for it. ^^ Thank you.

I suppose my question is whether or not this is limited to people of Asian descent, since I haven't really heard of many Westerner's adopting it.

Or is it more popular and growing faster than I think?

Not a problem at all, and I'm glad you find it useful. 3nodding Just, please keep in mind, some of the views in this are mine and mine alone - not all Buddhists will be seeing things quite the same as I do. This is just what I get out of reading scripture and discussions with other Buddhists. smile

I don't think it's possible to limit Buddhism to people of Asian descent, to be honest - once a good teacher gets out to the world, everyone willing can and will be taught. Birthplace isn't a thing that stops learning, nor is birth station - the Buddha himself took in people of all social strata. 3nodding Besides, if it were limited only to Asian people, I wouldn't be Buddhist. Nor would my husband. Nor would a number of monks and nuns in modern day - there's quite a few in various traditions who are European or American in origin. After awhile in a monastic community, you sort of lose dividing lines like 'black' 'white' and 'asian' - everyone is just people. 3nodding

I don't know that it's hugely popular outside Asia -numbers are in the single-digits for percentage of people who claim Buddhism as their religion in census in the US, 2% claimed it in 2004 - but there are quite a few centers and temples in North America and Europe. I know the land down under has a good community, too. You just have to look for it. 3nodding

a n n i v i

Besides meditating, do you do anything else for Buddhism daily?

For Buddhism? Well, I'm not really sure it's for it, but I try to maintain loving kindness for people, stop myself from having nasty thoughts and dispositions towards others (and myself), and I don't tend to eat meat much. I read sutras pretty frequently, and I like to engage other Buddhists in discussions to see if what I think I know stacks up to what they do.

It really is more a learning process than anything for me.

a n n i v i

The Buddha statue that I've seen, is that supposed to represent the first Buddha?

That would depend on the statue you're talking about. There's several statues that could be called Buddhas, and many of them are of completely different people. You'd have to tell me which one you're thinking of for me to confirm or deny. 3nodding

a n n i v i

I'm going to assume yes, but it's not wrong for me to still "celebrate" Christmas with my Christian family, right?

Why would it be wrong? So long as you're not doing anything that falls outside the five precepts, I fail to see why it would be. I spend Christmas with my family still, and engage in the face-stuffing and present giving. I use it as a time to reflect on my love for my family and their love for me rather than the whole God deal. No one minds. I don't think any of them have even noticed a difference, to be honest, aside from the fact I don't go to church anymore for Christmas mass.

a n n i v i

And this has nothing to do with Buddhism, but you said you live in upstate New York; do you know where Watertown is? I live about 25 minutes south from there.

Since people are asking, yep! I am in upstate NY, about 40 or so miles north of Watertown. 3nodding  

[Cranium Squirrel]

18 - These Links are Relevant to my Interests.

Figured I should do a library of sorts. It contains links to the Amazon pages of hard copy I own and find helpful to my practice, and the few Buddhist webpages I tend to frequent for information. Enjoy.

Most of the books will be specific to my personal practice; heavy on Zen and Mahayana leaning with a few basics to round it all out. Please keep that in mind while looking them over - the list is biased to my preferences.

Also, yes, I am aware I'm heavy on Thich Nhat Hanh. This is because he was the Buddhist writer who resonated with me the most. This may not be the case with you, if you do read these - my husband, for instance, finds him a bit flowery and prefers Bhante G. 3nodding

This list might be added to at any time; I'm a notorious book buyer and tend to accumulate things faster than I can read them. biggrin

Books

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh
Two Treasures by Thich Nhat Hanh
Old Path, White Clouds by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Heart of Understanding by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion by Thich Nhat Hanh
Buddha by Karen Armstrong
The Three Pillars of Zen by Roshi Philip Kapleau
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana (aka Bhante G)
The Dhammapada translation by Ananda Maitreya
First Buddhist Women by Susan Murcott
Zen Shorts by Jon Muth
In the Buddha's Words Edited by Bikkhu Bodhi
Sit Down and Shut Up by Brad Warner

Webpages

BuddhaNet - All purpose jump point.
Access to Insight - Pali Canon site extraordinare.
Killing the Buddha - a Sam Harris article about leaving Buddhism out of Buddhism.
Loving Kindness: A Buddhism Guild - My Gaian Sangha. 3nodding  

[Cranium Squirrel]

See above post. You never know.  

[Cranium Squirrel]

Ah hah, I meant see below post. For these are reserved in case of future need. ninja  

[Cranium Squirrel]

And just for wackiness' sake, one more post.

Final Fantasy:The Spirits Within - Thriller  

[Cranium Squirrel]

Okay, I think I'm open for business. Feel free to post questions and comments now. 3nodding  

[TeaDidikai]

This is a wonderful overview of Buddhism, and it has inspired me to take up my Eastern Studies again.

Thank you!

In a slightly unrelated note- my "Vally Girl" sounds like this: "Fac me cocleario vomere!"  

[Cranium Squirrel]

*giggles*

Thanks Tea. And thanks for the suggestion on making the thread in the first place. It has been very helpful to me, being forced to hash all this out. 3nodding  

[Ainwyn]

Do you know anything about "taking the precepts" and receiving a precept burn, and what that implies? The sunim (Korean nun) that I've been working with these past two years hasn't been very forthcoming on the specifics, but then, she's not always sure how to best translate things.  

[Cranium Squirrel]

Precept burn isn't something I've heard of before, to be honest. I'm not familiar with the term at all, though it does bring to mind that one scene from the Kung Fu: The Legend Continues opening credits, where the initiate gets branded on the wrists. I'm hoping it's not that; it sounds painful and rather distracting!

After a little work on the internet, looking for specifics, I did find an actual burn being used by Korean temples - it's apparently a small, round brand applied as a reminder of sorts by three sticks of burning incense. Here is the photojournal of a man who took refuges outside Seoul, including a shot of his burn itself. It doesn't look too bad, to be honest. 3nodding

As for taking the precepts themselves, that's fairly easy and usually goes alongside taking refuge in the three jewels, as I mentioned earlier. My husband did that at a Theravadan temple a few years back; he said it just amounted to him making an agreement with the monks and himself to abide by the five precepts of lay followers in order to further his practice. Myself, I've done both in private, due mainly to lack of local clergy. I'd really like to do a proper ceremony for both some day though.

What exactly is said during these ceremonies may differ from temple to temple, but this page on Buddhanet has a few useful bits from an Australian Buddhist society, alongside a recording of what it sounds like in Pali, and says in English, down near the bottom. Also, you can (and should!) hit Access to Insight on this one - their page on this is great. Many times, since this is a person's formal entry into the Buddhist sangha, the ceremony will include the giving of a dharma name by the presiding monk or nun. From what I gather, this is sort of an ideal you should try to live up to throughout your life - for instance, if they give you a name that means great friend, you should strive to be one both to yourself and others.

I hope that helps!  

[Ainwyn]

Thanks, that did help a lot! I pretty much just needed to know if I'd gotten myself into an oathbreaking issue. I've been studying Seon Buddhism in Korea these past few summers, and last year I took the precepts and received a precept burn. I was still on the verge of concidering myself Buddhist at that point, and while I still try to follow the five precepts to the best of my ability - as I feel they're a very good basic moral path to follow, and haven't found them to interfere with aspects of the path I'm going down now - I no longer feel that Seon Buddhism is what I was looking for in my life.

Last year, it was a private ceremony, in English, but fairly basic, and I understood everything that was being asked of me. However, this year, I went back to the temple to help with their English Dharma school again and worked with the kids at their Dharma camp. At the end of it was the precept ceremony, which was now very elaborate and in Korean. I tried to stay in the back of the room, but at the end, they asked me to receive the burn again with everyone else and I felt it would be impolite to refuse. I wasn't sure about everything that was chanted this time though, so I was a bit weary about what I'd gotten myself into, but the links you provided didn't give any information I wasn't aware of the first time.

And just so you know, in Seon, the precept burn is just a lit incense stick touched to the skin of your arm (right below the inside of your elbow) for a fraction of a second.  

[Cranium Squirrel]

I'm glad to hear you picked something of worth up in your time with the Buddhists none the less, even if you're moving on. Always a good thing to know. There's something to learn from everyone, even if it's not your place in the end. Or so I've always believed. 3nodding

I honestly don't think there's an oathbreaking thing going on here; I doubt the ceremony has changed that much in meaning despite the length change, and it's the meaning that counts. Besides, nothing is permanent. I doubt they really expect everyone to stick with them forever, and the ceremonies are more often for the practitioner than anything else. If the precepts help you, and you are still using them, then by all means, take the burn. 3nodding

Sorry I couldn't dig up anything more in-depth for you, but I'm not really sure there is anything more in-depth to dig. I did spend quite some time googling around and poking different corners of the web to see if there was more, but the basics do seem to be pretty much the whole thing. And thanks for clarifying the incense burn - the guy in the pictures seems to have had his done with three sticks rather than one, but I guess there's temple to temple variants on it. smile  

[Taliah]

I'm not sure if I've ever had this explained before or not, but it was nice to have it all in one place instead of fighting google for it. ^^ Thank you.

I suppose my question is whether or not this is limited to people of Asian descent, since I haven't really heard of many Westerner's adopting it.

Or is it more popular and growing faster than I think?  

[Cranium Squirrel]

Not a problem at all, and I'm glad you find it useful. 3nodding Just, please keep in mind, some of the views in this are mine and mine alone - not all Buddhists will be seeing things quite the same as I do. This is just what I get out of reading scripture and discussions with other Buddhists. smile

I don't think it's possible to limit Buddhism to people of Asian descent, to be honest - once a good teacher gets out to the world, everyone willing can and will be taught. Birthplace isn't a thing that stops learning, nor is birth station - the Buddha himself took in people of all social strata. 3nodding Besides, if it were limited only to Asian people, I wouldn't be Buddhist. Nor would my husband. Nor would a number of monks and nuns in modern day - there's quite a few in various traditions who are European or American in origin. After awhile in a monastic community, you sort of lose dividing lines like 'black' 'white' and 'asian' - everyone is just people. 3nodding

I don't know that it's hugely popular outside Asia -numbers are in the single-digits for percentage of people who claim Buddhism as their religion in census in the US, 2% claimed it in 2004 - but there are quite a few centers and temples in North America and Europe. I know the land down under has a good community, too. You just have to look for it. 3nodding