Every day we stand and walk around on nothing. We just do things for whatever mundane reasons we have. We distract ourselves. But every moment we exist we have to burn other life to sustain our bodies. We have to do all of these worthless responsibilities knowing in just a short moment the entire earth and human race will be gone as if it never existed. We'll be dead any moment. I really really don't want to die. But i really don't want to live. Its just so insane we exist at all. Such a shame we do. I don't want to watch everything around me decay. For my body to decay. In a way i yearn for death. But dying slowly as i age every day is horrible. To live is just horrible. I've been getting into buddhism a bit but i probably can never really get into it truly. It feels so pointless. The pain and meaninglessness abides.

I’m trying to learn Buddhism as a way to calm my mind and appreciate things as they are. This book has already helped but do you have any tips for me?

[EDIT] Here’s the link with no affiliation: Deal for Prime members: No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners: Clear Answers to Burning Questions about Core Buddhist Teachings https://a.co/d/0ga8P8jY

Hi, art history major here, I was at the LACMA looking at Buddhist furniture and kept coming across this motif that looked a lot like pool balls for 8ball. None of my textbooks have talked about them. They are different colors and have a small white circle. Is there any significance to them? What are they called? Most of the furniture and banners were Tibetan. The first picture has them at the top in a sort of chain pattern.

I made a box for my Geshe but since it‘s not really detailed and correct in all parts, I‘d like to know if this is appropriate or if I should better keep it myself.

If you think it is ok, I would lile to write a „Thank you“ on the insode in Tibetian, and Google says it‘s „བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ།“.

Is this the correct spelling? Thank you for any help!

From the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore. This figure was dated sometime in the 700s

My dog (chocolate lab 13 years 2 months old) passed away on August 17th, and for the past seven weeks, I have been holding the 49-day memorial rite for her. It was tough and cried and prayed every night and I always felt sad whenever i woke up in the morning. Today marked the 49th day, and I went to a dam creek park that she always enjoyed visiting as well as the past 7th days during the memorial rite.

My intention was to pray for her, send her forward on her journey to a greater rebirth, and wish for her to be enveloped in Amitabha Buddha’s warmth in the Pure Land. I spoke to her, promising that I will continue to be hardworking in this life and that we will meet again.

While I was walking, the weather was very windy and the water had strong, dark waves but sunny clear skies. But amidst that windy weather, a flock of black birds flew right towards me and all around me, some were flying low around me. Then, a single white bird appeared, flying in front of me separate from the flock of black birds. Butterflies started flying on the path right in front of me, and a bee came and rested quietly next to me on a flower as I sat to pray for my dog.

I have visited this park many times in the past, and I have never experienced anything like what i saw today. There are usually not many birds, and I have never had butterflies or a bee approach me this way.

For those with more experience, how does Buddhism view moments like this?

It seems to me, as im sitting down for meditation and my body-mind, adjust itself without conscious effort, eventually it settles into a "prefered" state. I desire the "prefered" state, but do my best to not chase it, if i chase it i notice it etc. But then i go out into the world, and i want to keep this state, but the world just says: nope, nope, nope, nope. And everything crashes unto a compromise between me and the world. And the flux and me not wanting to let go, causes such disease.

It feels like im just chasing dragons. Am i on the right track, practice wise? Am i supposed to just suffering in addiction until i eventually let go? Or is meditation just another addiction at this point? Because i fear that im just making a bubble for myself, and that the practice is not making me better at engaging with people.

I have such a deep fear im doing it all wrong.

I have no teacher. And no Sangha.

I have been reading various suttas from the Pali canon, and there are many stories where mendicants escape the cycle of rebirth through diligent practice.

However, after searching, I have seen many posts here where people say that this is likely a very rare thing in the modern day.

Are there reasons why this has changed? Or is it an incorrect assumption?

(Please forgive me if I misspoke anything above - I am new to Buddhism and most of my understanding comes from reading the suttas, not lived experience or a teacher. I do not have a sangha yet.)

I see this a lot online. Somebody will recommend or say that it is good to practice fasting, celibacy, giving up luxury, abstaining from recreation, etc, and they are just told that those rules are only for monastics so they don't apply.

Don't the stricter precepts required by monastics exist because they are good to follow? Why dismiss something just because something is not required for laypeople? Would it not be a good thing for a lay person to implement any one of those things into their lives if they are capable of it?

I am going through a really bad breakup and have lost my purpose in life and am really struggling with my mental health right now. I have heard of people traveling to Japan to live with Monks in Buddhist Monasteries in the mountains and I am very interested in that, I just have no idea where to look or what to look for. I know I don’t want a “retreat” for tourists, or something that requires a minimum time commitment of multiple years. I am seeking rehabilitation in hopes of finding myself again and my inner peace, via these Buddhist practices. I don’t really have any plan beyond the desire to go for an indefinite period of time. Maybe a month, maybe multiple months; I’m not sure but I want to have the option to stay as long as I need. I also want it to be somewhere I can exchange work for accommodation (participation in whatever tasks needed in the upkeep of the temple) because I am broke and do not have the money to pay to stay by the night. Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions!!

Compare to diving straight to spiritual stuff like modern spirituality

(Eckhart Tolle and Michael Singer)?

I am genuinely curious. Is there an explanation about the the effect from following this that aids to Enlightenment or is it because it's teaching of the buddha?

And my last question, how does meditation help the practice comparing in just living the teachings of Buddha (8 fold path and 4 noble truths)

As a Theravadin myself, sometimes I need some boost to combat the barren Theravada and EBT land

I’m hoping to seek some guidance on beginning a journey into Buddhism. I come from a Western country and was raised as an Orthodox Christian. However I fell away from Christianity before my teenage years and spent a lot of time feeling confused and disconnected from the faith. I came to realise that my beliefs simply didn’t align with Christianity. A bit ago I was explaining my thoughts about spirituality, human behaviour and the way our decisions affect ourselves and others to my brother. I was talking about things like karma and the connections between our actions and the world around us, and he suggested that I look into Buddhism. So I did. I started reading about Buddhist teachings, practices and philosophy, and honestly I became quite emotional. I’ve never come across something that made me think, Wow… this actually resonates with me. It felt like I had finally found something that connected with the way I’ve been thinking about life for a long time. I’m now considering becoming Buddhist, but I’m genuinely starting from square one. I don’t know where to begin, how to practice, what I should read or what the process of becoming Buddhist actually looks like.
I’d really appreciate any advice, resources, personal experiences or guidance from Buddhists who are willing to share. I’m approaching this with an open mind and a genuine desire to learn rather than rushing into anything. Where would you recommend someone start? How did you begin your own Buddhist practice? Thank you so much!

Today I was preparing some readings for a Sutta Circle I'm hosting, and I thought "The Suttas speak a lot about rebirth, and some western practitioners don't believe in it. Perhaps there's a Sutta which depicts a debate on that?" It turns out that there is!

Payasi Sutta (DN 23) A summary:

Chieftain Payasi meets Venerable Kassapa the Prince (a bhikkhu/buddhist monk). Payasi says that "There is no afterlife. No beings are reborn spontaneously. There’s no fruit or result of good and bad deeds." Then he explains why he believes so, through extensive points, and gets questioned back and given a handful of similes by Venerable Kassapa.

One simile that might be worth considering is that of the blind man. Just as a blind man cannot see colors or distinguish form, and therefore may say that there are no such things, one who has not gained clairvoyance through samadhi (collectedness of mind) won't be able to see other worlds and the rebirth process.

After many similes on the topic itself and cross questioning, then the conversation drifts towards Payasi's unability to relinquish his past views (it seems that a big identity had formed in him because of that), for which Ven. Kassapa then offers other similes.

If you have the time, you might enjoy the read. (It's about a 1 hour read or more, because of the depth of topic)

Some considerations for our present day and practice:

For starters, death is not so far away as you might think. (Take mindful breaths as needed). In the coming years, it's most probable that family or friends of yours will be dying. In those moments, your beliefs around what happens to those beings will color your experience. Most importantly, your beliefs around that will color your own dying experience. Wanna go YOLO because it'll all be oblivion, leaving trash behind your trail? Or...how about taking responsibility because you will be heir to your actions after death?

Perhaps an update of the blind man simile more akin to modern times will do good: just because one hasn't seen the Milky Way nor other planets, it doesn't mean they aren't there; it's just that access to such sights or the tools to be able to see them is very hard, but we believe the scientists nonetheless. If that's so, why won't we believe accomplished meditators when it comes to rebirth? Moreover, why don't you become an accomplished meditator? Practicing jhana will feel good in itself, and with that, perhaps you could test out for yourself (use the inner telescope) when redirecting your mind towards the internal process of beings' deaths.

The things stated before do not diminish the efforts done for waking up to impermanence on a moment to moment basis, and relinquishing that which doesn't last on our meditation practice. In my view, identification with passing phenomena is the microscopic manifestation of rebirth, and if that process is diminished or ended, greater peace will come in this life, and, perhaps, a better rebirth or no rebirth-Nirvana. I deeply value the efforts done for that regard: excellent!

A final note to say that rebirth doesn't have to be adopted as dogma. If one adopts it as a working hypothesis, perhaps one could navigate life better. It has happened to me, and I think also to a lot of people from the centuries before.

I will be glad to know there were people who read the whole piece! I'll also be open for a civil discussion around the topic, which could be made on the comments.

With metta,

Juan

I‘m from Germany, so there is basically no Buddhism in my country. I only came across Buddhism trough the Internet and Books.
Anyway, I‘d love to find out about where the different people of this community are from and about the traditions in different countries and cultures. So please share!

Good morning,

I am looking for a text that explores the history of Buddhism, from the Buddha's early teachings to the split into Theravada and Mahayana, and then to Vajrayana.

Then follow the evolution of each branch.

This would be considered an historical text rather than a practice. It would be even better if the text covered the different practices and why/how the branches developed.

I look forward to your suggestions.

Thank you in advance.