If someone stops going to a temple because he/she doesn't feel comfortable in that particular temple.
Is this a right thing to do or is this a kind of aversion she/he needs to worry therefore should keep going to that temple?
3 Answers
More info. is needed before making a conclusion. Ex: what is the root cause to that person not feeling comfortable at that temple. Is the teaching at the temple in line with the Buddha's Discourses and Discipline? (see related topic here) Does the abbot break the Bhikkhus' Code of Discipline? Do the forms or methods of practice not quite suitable to the person and as a result s/he doesn't make much progress on the Path? etc. It's important to keep in mind that the real metrics to Dhamma practice is not the frequency of one's visit to a temple but instead, should be ones' own progress on precepts observance, insight into conditioned phenomena, and meditation practice.
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It's a long story. The function of the temple from what I know is more to community support to particular group of people/ethnic. There are no to very few Buddhist activities e.g. Dhamma discussion, Dhamma talk, etc.. Often, someone's background such as where he/she come from and the political relationship between two countries are brought up in front of many people, with one person as the object. Relationship between their own people could be strengthened because of this but it often causes embarrassments on other people part.– B1100Sep 21, 2015 at 0:36
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In above situation, is not going to that particular temple a kind of aversion that will cause unpleasant vipaka or it's not an aversion or perhaps it's a common aversion?– B1100Sep 21, 2015 at 0:41
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In that case, it really depends on the primary purpose of why the individual goes to temple. Some go just to socialize, some to support the community, and some to learn and practice the Dhamma. If the primary objective is to learn and practice the Dhamma, then as you've mentioned, this temple might not be the best place for such activity and therefore one's free to seek other temples that emphasize more on Dhamma cultivation. This is perfectly legit. and will not result in unpleasant vipaka.– santa100Sep 21, 2015 at 14:49
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But even it is not the best place to discuss and practice Dhamma, etc. it's not that very reason someone stops go to that temple but his experience with that temple. So I guess there is avoidance in this situation, is that right?– B1100Sep 23, 2015 at 0:30
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1Ultimately only that individual would know for sure. If s/he's your friend, why not ask him directly instead of speculating? If there's something the temple can improve then they should be notified in order to provide better service to everyone, not just their immediate community. If its' really the individual's aversion, then like all of us who are still not free from all defilements, should put in more effort and work on it.– santa100Sep 23, 2015 at 13:21
Is this aversion?
Yes, of course. "Doesn't feel comfortable" sounds like a kind of aversion. The keyword is "comfortable".
An attitude not rooted in aversion would sound like "I stopped going because I saw it having more harmful effect and little beneficial effect" - see the difference?
As my last teacher explained, any time we feel strong aversion to going somewhere / doing something - we should take a really good look inside to see if the feeling comes from a deep-lying preconception.
Preconception (in this context corresponding to sankhara) is an abstract formula we have adopted based on some previous experience, some sort of wrong overgeneralization we cling to. A complex of preconceptions constitutes person's ego, or image-of-self-and-the-world. Buddha compared ego with banyan tree that grows by shooting down the prop roots (=preconceptions) which become the second-order trunks and so on.
answered Sep 20, 2015 at 23:19
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But would you say everyone has this kind of preconception therefore it's normal (to not go to that temple)?– B1100Sep 22, 2015 at 4:00
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No, I would say it is in your interest to shake off preconceptions.– Andriy Volkov ♦Sep 22, 2015 at 11:30
Maybe.
If you push anything away so as to not accept things as they are, then that is aversion. So if fear, anger or disliking arise and it causes you to react by pushing the temple away then that is not seeing reality as it is. It is a defilement as a result of mental proliferation(being unaware).
When we are mindful of the averse feeling then we will not react to it and we will be taking reality as it is in that instance.
Liking, lust and greed work the same way except we pull the object(in this case the object is the temple) towards us instead of pushing it away. Not being mindful of our desire to pull something we like towards us will result in not seeing things as they are as well.