Buddha's teachings?

[Badrock]

Hi,

I'd just like to put this one out there for discussion. A friend of mine has been an ordained monk for about 10 years now and this is a recent extract from one of our emails:

"Though I can't really pass comment on all religions and practices, the Buddha's teaching was not about interconnectedness or dialogue or healing but about freeing oneself from the cycle of birth and death, which requires one to direct his efforts in a different direction. The other thing is that, being a monk, you tend to become more and more individual; not in the sense of being eccentric, but in becoming more self-reliant (internally) and inclining toward solitude, so I'm sure you can appreciate that global connection is kind of going in the opposite way to our practice (i.e. cultivating attachments to others, developing a sense of identity, etc)."

In your best non-judgemental Buddhist compassionate ways can you comment on the above?

Thanks,

Simon

[George]

Hi Simon,

Am I correct in saying your friend is a Theravada monk?


Best wishes,

[Daniel]

Hi Simon,

freeing oneself from the cycle of birth and death

and also teaching and helping others how to free themselves from the cycle of life and death.
And for me, this is clear in the Theravada texts too.
On the other hand, for some people it´s doubtful that only Theravada Buddhism is representing Buddha´s enlightened teaching that I believe was more rich in depth and scope, including interconnectednes and healing.

[Charles David]

Simon,

As I understand, the Buddha taught different methods for different people, according to their needs and abilities.

If your friend wishes to be a monastic monk, seeking solitude and self-cultivation, I see no problem with that. I do not see a contradiction between his monasticism and inter-connectedness. Even if he were to spend the rest of his life alone in a room, he would still be interconnected to all of humanity.

On the other hand, I know that cultivating "attachments" to other humans dos not preclude great spiritual cultivation.

Respectfully,

Charles

[Kingmonkey]

Hello Simon

Even if he were to spend the rest of his life alone in a room, he would still be interconnected to all of humanity.

Personally I would even say; the more of his own Buddha nature he will be revealing, the more he will become interconnected, with everything...

Pat

[Badrock]

Well spotted George

I don't know very much about Buddhism but I know he is a monk in the Thai forest tradition (of Ajahn Chah). See Wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajahn_Chah

It says that Ajahn Chah was an influential teacher of the Buddhadharma - is that a person or a set of teachings?

[Charles David]

Buddhadharma simply means the Buddha's teaching.

Yours,

Chas.

[Badrock]

On the other hand, for some people it´s doubtful that only Theravada Buddhism is representing Buddha´s enlightened teaching that I believe was more rich in depth and scope, including interconnectednes and healing.

Daniel, are you saying that Theravada Buddhism does not teach interconectedness and healing?

[Badrock]

I suppose I was just a bit concerned, because my friend seems to be very attached to the idea of freeing himself from "the cycle of birth and death". He's had quite a painful life and I get the idea he's fed up and just doesn't want to go through this again.

I find it very difficult to believe that the Buddha's teaching was not in any way about interconnectedness or dialogue or healing. If it was, as others have indicated in this thread, why does my friend who has been studying Buddhism for so long not understand this?

The message from my friend that started this thread has really confused me, because on the surface it seems to oppose what I thought were some common roots of all spiritual systems and religions (including Buddhism):

Interconectedness (as in non-dualism) - as I understand it all phenomena is part of one interconected whole. We are only kept from full realisation of this truth through attachment to our own ego.

Healing - to heal and forgive yourself and others is one of the key factors in achieving the above realisation.

Dialogue - we are in a very special moment in history where the sharing of information through many different forms of dialogue is fuelling an exponential growth in awareness of our true nature.

With regards to this last point, intensive Wahnam Chi Kung classes are a good example of this where emphasis is placed on the sharing of experiences during class. This acts as a catalyst in opening people up to "new" ideas, which can ultimately lead to direct experiences or realisations of our true nature.

Lots to discuss on the above - any comments?

Simon

[Kingmonkey]

Simon

Interconnectedness is still dualism, because there have to be two or more things to be interconnected. If it is one whole, there will be no interconnectedness anymore. I believe, that first you realize your interconnectedness with everything and in a later stage you will realize that there only is one whole, like; first you become 10'000 and then 10'000 become one.
So in some way you could say that Buddhas teaching was not about interconnectedness, but about the one whole.

Healing - to heal and forgive yourself and others is one of the key factors in achieving the above realisation.

Or it may be an effect of it.

As for Dialog I think it may help some and it may disturb others or it may help or disturb one person in different stages.

Just some short statements to your post, may be I'll come back to it later on.

Pat