Some 2,500 years ago, an Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, sat quietly in a place known as Deer Park at Sarnath and began to offer simple teachings, based on his own experience. These teachings, referred to as the dharma, meaning simply truth, were practical instructions on how to free oneself from suffering by relating to the everyday experience of life and mind.

Because his realization was profound, he became known as the Buddha, which means the awakened one. The teachings he offered came to be known as the buddhadharma, and these form the core of Buddhism still today. The Buddhist teachings proclaim the possibility of awakening wisdom and compassion within every human being, and they provide a practical method for doing so. This practical method, passed down from generation to generation, consists of meditation that develops mindfulness and awareness.

Buddhism is a living tradition, passed from teacher to student, as a set of pragmatic instructions and techniques for cultivating sanity and brilliance in ourselves and our world. Its ancient wisdom is as relevant and useful today as over the centuries of its long history.

After several years studying with many spiritual teachers, Siddhartha realized that neither worldly pleasures nor strict asceticism could bring him fulfillment. He chose the middle way, accepting rice milk from a girl named Sujata in order to strengthen his body and mind. He then sat under a tree in what is now Bodh Gaya and vowed not to rise until he had discovered the truth about life and death. Through examining the nature of his body and mind, he attained enlightenmentcomplete awakening.

The Buddhas discovery cannot adequately be described as a religion, a philosophy, or a psychology. It is better described as a journey or way of life. This journey entails seeing things as they are, beyond the fixation of our ego and the agitation of negative emotions. Chgyam Trungpa called the Buddhist path a journey without goal, because waking up to the way things are occurs in the present moment, at any time, in any place, right now.

The Buddha taught several approaches to liberation from suffering at different times and places during his long teaching career. It is traditionally explained that he taught different topics to different groups depending on their inclinations and level of spiritual advancement. These developed into distinctive branches of Buddhism:

While it is said that the Buddha taught each of these approaches during his lifetime, historically Buddhist scriptures appeared over a period of centuries in India, allowing for new developments in philosophy and meditation techniques. Buddhism thrived in India until the twelfth century, when it was wiped out in military incursions by subsequent waves of Turko-Afgani invaders.

Over the centuries, Buddhism spread throughout most of Asia. The Theravada spread to Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand), the Mahayana to East Asia (China, Japan, Korea), and the Vajrayana northward to Nepal and across Himalaya to Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism is unique in its synthesis of all three approaches or vehicles as progressive stages on a comprehensive path of practice and study.

Buddhism came to Tibet in two waves. The first occurred in the 7th to 9th centuries during the height of its empire, when Tibet dominated vast tracts of central Asia. The Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo commissioned a script to be devised based on Sanskrit (the ancient language of India), and his successor Trisong Detsun presided over a massive translation effort to render the corpus of Buddhas teaching into Tibetan. After the collapse of empire, there was a dark period of political and cultural fragmentation.

There are now four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma (or old school) trace their origin to the first wave of Buddhisms propagation in Tibet and the Sarma (or new schools)which consolidated into the Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelukdeveloped out of the second wave. Some lineages, like the Sakya and Geluk, put special emphasis on an intellectual approach to the teachings, training students as scholars and logicians. Others, like the Kagyu and Nyingma, put special emphasis on the practice of meditation; they are often referred to as practice lineages. Within each of these four main schools are distinct teachings transmitted from master to disciple over subsequent generations in an unbroken succession.

The founder of the Shambhala community,Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, was a holder of both Kagyu and Nyingma lineages as the abbot and 11th descendent in the line of Trungpa tulkus (incarnate lama) of Surmang Monastery in eastern Tibet. His eldest son and spiritual heir,Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is the reincarnation of the renowned 19th century Nyingma master, Ju Mipham.

Since the 11th century, the revelation oftermais one way that Tibetans have continued to introduce innovative teachings in every generation, appropriate to the needs of the time. Terma literally means treasure and refers to a set of teachings hidden way until the time is ripe to propagate them.

Mosttertnsor treasure revealers trace their past lives back to the 8th century as direct disciples of the tantric master Padmasambhava. Terma are considered to be teachings originally given by Padmasambhava (or another comparable master) and later hidden away in the Tibetan landscape and in the mindstream of tertns. In eastern Tibet, many tertns also trace their past lives to the time of the legendary king Gesar as one of the generals in his army or ladies in his court.

The process of treasure revelation involves awakening a memory from the tertns past life and decoding arcane symbols that might appear in the landscape, on yellow scrolls, or in the mind of the tertn. It is the task of each tertn along with his or her students and lineage holders to further unravel the meaning of a terma into a coherent cycle of teachings and system that can be used for an individuals regime of meditation and in community practice.

Shambhala is a union of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism with the Shambhala teachings introduced by Chgyam Trungpa in the 1970s, based on the warrior tradition of Tibets legendary king Gesar.

TheWay of Shambhala curriculumis comprised of a series of workshops (Shambhala Training Levels I-V) and courses providing an experiential overview of meditation practices, wisdom teachings, contemplative arts, and physical disciplines rooted in the ancient traditions of Shambhala and Tibetan vajrayana Buddhism.

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Buddhism - Shambhala

"Society" is a creation of the minds of those who inhabit it; it always has been and always will be. Thus, we have always been and will always be empowered to change society for the better.

"Even Tibetan masters are beginning to realize, if you want real devotion and focus, you have to look to the nuns," Tenzin Palmo says.

Many scholars, marked by the schism between Christianity and postmodernity, respond by exploring other spiritualities. Would it not be easier to simply return to Christian spirituality? This is, after all, the spirituality that shaped the West. All westerners still carry it inside, even if in a hibernated version.

Paolo Gambi

Scrittore, mental coach, giornalista. Presidente di Agape Coaching

At first thought, money seems like a simple concept. But what is its role in different faith traditions?

This morning the chapter I was reading is called "Nonagression and the Four Maras." It talks about the night in which Buddha was to attain enlightenment and he sat under a tree.

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Buddhism: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

The True Buddha School (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhn F Zng; Peh-e-j: Chin-hut-chong) is a modern Vajrayana Buddhist sect based in Taiwan and parts of East Asia with influence from Sutrayana and Taoism.

Founded in the late 1980s, the founder of this sect is Lu Sheng-yen (), often referred to by his followers as a tulku, a Tibetan term for a reincarnated teacher or deity. He is called the Root Guru by his disciples. Lu claims to be a fully enlightened buddha, known by his disciples as "Living Buddha Lian-sheng" (). He is a writer who has written approximately 232 books to date.[citation needed] As of Feb of 2013, the organization claims over 5,000,000 became Buddhists through Lu.

Members of the True Buddha School emphasize the necessity to cultivate diligently for the benefit of spiritual advancement, as is practiced in general Vajrayana Buddhism. This is done through empowerment directly from the Root Guru, who himself proclaims to be an emanated being from the Pure Lands shed directly from Vairocana Buddha, then later achieving enlightenment in the human realm through his own rigorous practice and after being given several empowerments from other buddhas and bodhisattvas. A Tantric Buddhist practitioner cannot rely solely on listening or reading spiritual doctrines, or simply worshiping and paying respect to buddhas and bodhisattvas as the method to achieve the goal of spiritual liberation. All students are expected to follow the fourteen Root Tantric Vows (known as Vajrayana samaya) along with the Five Precepts that all Buddhists should follow, and to respect the Root Guru.

There is a structured curriculum to guide the student's practice, and at each level, a specific yoga is practiced. To advance to the next level, the student must achieve yogic response from the yoga being practiced in the current level and receive empowerment for the yoga of the next level.

As a beginner, there are specific yogas that are practiced to establish a strong foundation. The yoga practiced in the first stage is Vajrasattva yoga, a great repentance yoga to purify bad karma. The next level is Guru Yoga, followed by Personal Deity yoga and then the inner body practices of energy yoga.

True Buddha School has chapters across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, though the size of each local chapter varies. The main temple is located in Redmond, Washington, it also served as the main residence where Lu resided while he was living in United States. He lived in Tahiti with his wife Lian Hsiang in solitude for six years before re-emerging in the US in 2006, returning to his home in Redmond.

The majority of the followers of the True Buddha School are located in Asia, and many devotees are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Across North America, Australia, and Europe, the majority of the students are immigrants of Asian descent.

True Buddha School's funding relies heavily on donations. This is supplemented with the income from the publication of Lu's books and videos of his sermons. The money is used to publish its teaching materials and for charity work such as the South Asian Tsunami relief effort. True Buddha School disseminates Buddhist teachings through Lu's sermons, books and articles. These materials are supplemented with sermons and articles by other acharyas (other gurus) certified by the grand master. Lu's books are mainly published in Chinese, with a limited number currently being translated into English. However, more translations are slowly being made to reach a wider audience. Many of the major True Buddha School sadhanas (liturgies) and practices are available in English.

Venerable Hsuan Hua warned his disciples about Lu Sheng-yen's claims, lamenting that many modern people lack wisdom, and dismissing Lu by saying, "I don't know what this person is. I call him a demon runt."[1] Lu was criticized for eating meat, drinking alcohol, and "playing around with women."[2]

Despite being the largest Vajrayana sect in Taiwan, the True Buddha School has been criticized by six Buddhist organizations in Malaysia.[3] Although the founder has attained various Tibetan lineages, questions remained.[clarification needed][4][5]

See the article here:
True Buddha School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By brian@brianschell.com, on December 1st, 2008

Question:

I have heard the phrase If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him! many times. Can you explain this?

Answer:

It actually comes from an old koan attributed to Zen Master Linji, (the founder of the Rinzai sect). Its a simple one:

If you meet the Buddha, kill him. Linji

Im sure you already realize that its not being literal. The road, the killing, and even the Buddha are symbolic.

The road is generally taken to mean the path to Enlightenment; that might be through meditation, study, prayer, or just some aspect of your way of life. Your life is your road. Thats fairly straightforward as far as metaphors go.

But how do you meet the Buddha on this road? Imagine meeting some symbolic Buddha. Would he be a great teacher that you might actually meet and follow in the real world? Could that Buddha be you yourself, having reached Enlightenment? Or maybe you have some idealized image of perfection that equates to your concept of the Buddha or Enlightenment.

Whatever your conception is of the Buddha, its WRONG! Now kill that image and keep practicing. This all has to do with the idea that reality is an impermanent illusion. If you believe that you have a correct image of what it means to be Enlightened, then you need to throw out (kill) that image and keep meditating.

Original post:
If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him Daily Buddhism

In which John relates a condensed history of India, post-Indus Valley Civilization. John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism. He also gets into the reign of Ashoka, the Buddhist emperor who, in spite of Buddhism's structural disapproval of violence, managed to win a bunch of battles.

Resources:

Awesome comic book about Ashoka by Anant Pai: http://dft.ba/-ashoka He did a huge series of comics about Indian history and religion: http://dft.ba/-AnantPai

India: A History by John Keay: http://dft.ba/-IndiaHistory

The Bhagavad Gita: http://dft.ba/-gita

The Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and Rig Veda, all-in-one edition: http://dft.ba/-India

Credits:

Executive Producer: John Green Producer: Stan Muller Writer and historian: Raoul Meyer Script Supervisor: Danica Johnson Music: Jason Weidner

Thought Bubble is a product of the Smart Bubble Society: http://dft.ba/-smartbubble the Smart Bubble Society is: Suzanna Brusikiewicz Jonathon Corbiere Nick Counter Allan Levy James Tuer Adam Winnik

Set Design: Donna Sink Props: Brian McCutcheon

Continued here:
Buddha and Ashoka: Crash Course World History #6 - YouTube

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4r4cgCiZGw

Buddhism For Beginners (Part 1: The Buddha The Three Jewels)
What is up! Thanks to your feedback online, this week we #39;ll be starting a new Mini-Series on one of my favorite most respected world philosophies, Buddhism! I #39;ll be giving you guys a brief...

By: koi fresco

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Buddhism For Beginners (Part 1: The Buddha & The Three Jewels) - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpJ-SY8TzoM

May 03, 2015 Fundamentals of Buddhism (34) by Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Acchariya at TDS Dhamma Class
http://www.tdsusa.org Theravada Dhamma Society, Daly City Bay Area, California, U.S.A. Dhamma Class by Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Acchariya on May 03, 2015. Title: Fundamentals of Buddhism (34) ...

By: Dhammaclass

Originally posted here:
May 03, 2015 Fundamentals of Buddhism (34) by Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Acchariya at TDS Dhamma Class - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0CcoqL7Ajo

Buddhism Movie

By: Zachary Goldstein

See the article here:
Buddhism Movie - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaWjKJuu0cI

Our Western philosophical trajectory: Nietzsche, Buddhism and satori
Philosophical survivalism and influence from a Nietzschean point of view. Bataille, Nietzsche, and what Bataille refers to as "theopathy". Cf. http://unsanesafe.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/the-shamani...

By: Jennifer Armstrong

Continue reading here:
Our Western philosophical trajectory: Nietzsche, Buddhism and satori - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLvNFS1VCNU

Buddhism and alien abductions | by Ajahn Brahm
Buddhism and alien abductions? - What #39;s Ajahn Brahm on about? Listen to the talk to find out. The dharma talks recorded by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia at Dhammaloka Buddhist...

By: BuddhistSocietyWA

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Buddhism and alien abductions | by Ajahn Brahm - Video