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In a nut shell Buddhism revolves around the 3 trainings:
Living a life of morality so we do no create misery for one self and others
Developing mastery over the mind so we do not react but be proactive so we can be at peace with our selves and other
Developing wisdom of your cognitive process to identify how misery is generated so we can come out of misery
answered Jan 18 '15 at 7:25
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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33
A 4 year old can be told that the Buddha was a man who wanted to understand how to be happy and free and he worked very hard to understand how to be truly happy and free. Then he taught other people what he learned.
For many years the Buddha taught:
Sometimes people feel sad.
Sometimes the thing that makes people sad is not getting something they want or ...
19
My father was an alcoholic, and I suffered a lot of grief from him - so I might as well try and answer this one.
The way my first teacher taught me about this (back when my father was still alive and I still encountered him a lot) the circumstances like this come from our karma, specifically from our attachment to decency and spirituality. The more we are ...
17
Parents are supposed to practice Brahmavihara towards children. Attachment doesn't benefit them in any way. What benefits them are kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity. Attachment or clinging just makes you sad and afraid. Lord Buddha had no attachment. But he still preached the Dhamma, Vinaya and created a system which benefited many beings. ...
16
1) It's hard to summarize Buddhism in brief without resorting to one of sometimes inaccurate or misleading summaries. A summary that starts with the Hindu-style cosmology, imho, misses the point. Also depends on the audience, i.e. do they see other religions as being different kinds of Christianity or essentially Christian heresy or as superstition. The ...
12
Responsibility in Theravada Buddhism falls into two categories - practical and absolute. In an absolute sense, we only have two responsibilities:
“bhante, imasmiṃ sāsane kati dhurānī”ti?
"Bhante, in this religion, how many duties are there?"
“ganthadhuraṃ, vipassanādhuranti dveyeva dhurāni bhikkhū”ti.
"The duty of study and the duty of ...
12
In addition to my comments, I quote Ajahn Brahm from his book "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond"
The Highest Happiness
The Buddha said, “Nibbāna is the highest happiness” (Dhp 203, 204). This is, perhaps, the most helpful
description of enlightenment. Not only is it straightforward and
lacking in gibberish, it is also very appealing. It reveals why ...
11
Selling Points
According to the Buddha's teaching in the Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2), there are a whole host of benefits to the life of a samana (i.e. a monk). In brief:
Freedom from requirement to engage in secular society (social engagements, civic duties, etc.)
Freedom from requirement to engage in secular employment (living as a mendicant means no need ...
10
rebirth is itself a origin of all the Dukhhas.
Not quite. Birth has a requisite condition as well. It's not the case that our birth was the ultimate origin of our suffering.
Doesn't it imply that buddhist laymen who are married should not have children to stop this cycle of rebirth.
Not having children will not stop those beings from being reborn. There ...
9
Love and attachment are only incidentally related. Of course that depends on how you define love.
I would propose that love can be crudely understood as the act of giving. Naturally "investing" yourself in any "thing" particular will cause attachment to that particular "thing". And when we give, we have a tendency to at least subconsciously perceive that ...
8
I have a daughter who is nearly 4 now. I first took her to the local Buddhist Centre when she was about a year old on a family day that we organised. The Buddhist practice involved running around the shrine room and shrieking. Someone said at the time though that bring her at such a young age was auspicious and I'm enought of a romantic to lap this up. I ...
7
Even if your parents abandoned you the day you were born, you still owe them. The only way to repay them fully is to make them understand the Dhamma. If your parents are alcoholic, take them for rehab. If they steal money, don't keep money where they can find. Likewise, address each issue accordingly. Advice them with the Dhamma and show them the right path ...
7
Wholesome intent is important
The Buddha learned archery as a kshatriya, but he didn't lose his compassion - see this story of when his cousin shot down a bird.
Martial arts can connect one deeply with the body, but so can Yoga and Tai Chi.
Buddhism and violence have a long history, not always nice
Meditation was used to numb kamikaze pilots to commit ...
6
From a Therevada perspective, in the Sigalovada Sutta (Pali Canon) the Buddha says to Silaga that parents should be worshiped. He doesn't actually specify monks in this sutra as at this point the Buddhist monastic community wouldn't have taken shape. However he does specify teachers and also ascetics and brahmans so we can maybe take this as the nearest ...
6
There is a aspect of Buddhism which actually views difficult people (including parents) as being helpful and we should be grateful to them. Forbearance (kṣānti) is one of the six perfections. To illustrate let me quote from the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Perfection of Forebearance (verse 107)
Therefore, since he helps me on the path to Awakening, I should long
...
6
In simple terms this can be along the lines of:
Do you get sad, angry and low? The Buddha taught the way out of it, and how to be a good person!
answered Jan 18 '15 at 17:04
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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6
Generally you should not do Metta to:
Lingavisabhāga (opposite sex - generally directed at a specific person)
Kālakatapuggala (a dead person)
See page 81 Seeing and Knowing revised edition by Pa Auk Sayadaw (Pa Auk Lineage)
To develop the sublime abiding of loving-kindness (mettà), you need first of all be aware that it should not be developed towards a ...
answered Nov 5 '15 at 13:18
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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6
Apologizing is good Karma that has a mitigating(not delete) effect on the bad Karma you had committed:
ex:
The story of Soreyya.
Devadatta taking refuge of the Buddha just before being swallowed by earth.
The story of Bhaddā Kapilānī Therī
Bad Karma committed against parents are highly potent compared to ordinary beings. Ex: Killing parents makes birth(...
6
For example if i have lied to my parents and can the bad kamma be deleted when i apologize to them?
You can neutralise Karma when the result is felt [Sañcetanika Sutta] or by diluting the result of karma through counteracting [karma Loṇa,phala Sutta].
What is the difference between the bad kamma that are committed to parents and ordinary people?
Karma ...
answered Apr 5 '16 at 9:49
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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6
You don't have to make a show out of your Dharma. You don't need to make it fly in your parents faces. There's no need to convince them of anything. Buddhism is what you practice in your mind. No-one needs to know. In fact, making it a secret practice only makes it more powerful.
When you practice the perfect Buddhism - which is defined as Buddhism without ...
6
So Buddhism says a lot of things.
One is that unhappiness is caused by "craving" i.e. by wanting things to be other than as they are (or by wanting impermanent things to continue)
Another is that unhappiness is caused by various types of "self-view", for example, "I will die" or "I cannot have what I want" etc.
One aspect of "self-view" is "comparison" -- ...
5
From the child standpoint:
A human life is considered very precious in Buddhism as it provides a great opportunity for liberation, the human realm is the best of all realms to practice Dhamma, the Buddha attained enlightment in this realm. Dukkha is found in all realms with different intensities.
From the Buddhist (parents) standpoint, there is a related ...
5
The typical cut off for meditation class at a meditation center is about 4 (just checked google).
Traditional Buddhists said a child could become a monk if he was old enough to scare crows away, which worked out to be about 7. I don't advocate that, ordination so young has lots of problems. And you weren't considering anything like that. But it is a vivid ...
5
I think a brief overview of Buddha's life is an excellent way to explain Buddhism, because the listener can follow the train of observation and reasoning that led Buddha to renounce a life of ease for a difficult life as an ascetic, then wandering teacher.
To me the most salient feature of Buddhism is that there is no central role for a "god". Other salient ...
5
Lord Buddha was no GOD nor Saint but an human being who was born in a wealthy royal family. As prince who gave up his wealth to seek happiness of the mind and body. He understood that being attached to materials only make people suffer from these. the word Buddha means 'the enlighten one'. in summary it means he who found the right path of happiness...
I ...
5
Try the videos under the section of Children on this website.
There are some ebooks for children here.
There's a simplified introduction to Buddhism for kids here.
There are websites on Jataka Tales for children here, here and here.
I think a great way of teaching Buddhist concepts to children is through stories. Stories are entertaining to young ...
5
My own (limited) experience was learning Chen style Tai Chi (and a sword form) from a sifu, who also taught a "kung fu" to small children (a couple of years older than yours perhaps), and other forms (including diverse "weapon" forms) to teenagers.
I found it thoroughly harmless; and beneficial, good physical training. People told me it ...
5
In my opinion and experience, a job of a manager or executive/director is pretty compatible with Buddhism. If you apply all teachings of Buddha to managing people, you can be both very successful and help people under you grow.
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According to my teacher, it is important to reconcile and forgive major issues we had had with our (now deceased) parents. There is a tremendous amount of emotional energy locked in grudges and negative memories. He advised that we imagine our parents standing in front of us, talk to them about our past issues, hug them, say I Understand Why You Did What You ...
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