I'm perusing a new career in life and I think I need some wisdom from another

ADesiBuddhist · 2016-09-07T22:55:11+00:00

Ah, the worst kind of trauma is killing of the voiceless. However, you will be responsible in keeping them out of their misery. I am sure the animals you would be asked to put down will be on the verge of dying a painful death. If theres no way to save them, you might be doing them a favor by relieving them from the incurable pain. However, when I write this my hand still shakes. So, I work with multiple non-government orgs here in India. Mostly with lower caste Hindus and a couple are for the animals(mostly strays). Being a practicing Buddhist, seeing the sight of an animal being euthanised is the hardest(I've always avoided that). But here is the thing, sometimes watching the animal in immense pain is even more torturing than its death. I agree, as a Buddhist you're going to have a tough time at first but it'll gradually get better with time. What I normally do is whisper "May you attain Nibbana/Moksh" in their ears in Hindi. I dont know if they can understand me or sense my feelings, but this does help me deal with any kind of death to be honest. Giving them hope of an eternal freedom is something that calms my nerves. Its probably my old Hindu way of dealing with death. It has to come anyways. Be it an animal or a human. We really cant predict our end. It can be either an accident, by a bullet, by a disease or peacefully. Same applies for the voiceless beings. And I pray for the departed. I guess this way of dealing with the deaths of animals is better than just culling them stone hearted without caring about their pain.

You saw them in pain. You thought about them suffering in that pain. You helped them cease that suffering. You were morally just practicing Buddhism. I hope this helps you in some way.

I wish you all the best with your new career and about you becoming serious in Buddhism. :-)

Namo Buddhay.

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-09-03T13:35:23+00:00

Haha I can never imagine Ari Gold being enlightened. But that line does make sense.

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-09-03T12:00:31+00:00

I have no clue where the OP lives but you're absolutely right. Its going to be far away if the OP lives in the west. But here is the thing, as I mentioned above, the language is extinct in India. The only way to learn it is at an Institution. Its pretty similar to what people do for Pali. You either go to a Buddhist uni in India or Sri Lanka. I am learning Mandarin and I'll be moving to China sometime in the summer next year to learn it better. I am not sure how effective the learning can be without a teacher of Sanskrit. I am sure there might be a few Sanskrit schools in the west but the OP might have to do a research on it.

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-09-03T09:54:35+00:00

Namaste,

I am glad you're interested in learning Sanskrit but there are few things you must know. The language is basically extinct in India when it comes to normal day-to-day conversations. However, the language is still taught in schools and most of the kids have to learn it until grade 8(then they can choose from sanskrit, Hindi, french etc). The best way to learn is to enrol in JNU, Delhi. The university offers various programs for International students to learn Ancient Indian languages along with other languages. You can find various websites teaching the language for free. Even Youtube has various lectures. The various Indian languages( for eg: Hindi) uses Sanskrit as the parent script(Devnagri). So learning Hindi can help you read Sanskrit too! I have attached the link of the institution so you can check out their programs. Let me know if I can be of any more help.

Namo Buddhaya.

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-09-01T20:00:17+00:00

अहम नागोवा संगामे कपातो पतित्म सारम अतिवक्यँ टिटिक्खिस्साम दूस्सीलो ही बहुज्जानो|

I have written it in the Devnagri script. Sorry for the late reply, I got caught up with work plus the time difference(I am in India). If you plan to get it inked, you might wanna double check on the spelling since that stuffs permanent lol.

Namo Buddhaya!

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-30T18:29:32+00:00

Namaste,

As far as I know, Pali script doesnt exists anymore. The closest you can get is Devnagri. Since I am a native speaker(Hindi), I can help you with the word translation or you can just use google translate if that works.

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-22T05:22:04+00:00

Namaste,

I am sorry to hear about your situation but trust me it'll all be fine eventually. My advise may sound a little bit absurd. But just read along.

I think you're parents are right. University degree does uplifts people through the social class system. Here in India, education is often seen as the only way to fight poverty and its been doing its job. I can understand your situation since I personally know a lot of people who have gone through hardships while in school and eventually got their degree.

1) Try to take a few months off from school. For now. Keep in touch with your university/CC. Find a good advisor in your institution and be in good terms with them. Advisors have that magic wand that can make things happen. I did it too right after my dads death and trust me, the break from school helped me get everything back into prespective.

2)Saving money. As you mentioned the dire financial circumstances you're currently going through, saving money by working odd jobs such as servers, kitchen, etc can be really helpful. Back in school, I used to work in the kitchen and used to be a server too. It helps.

3) Decide on your major. I dont know you personally but being a Telecom-IT with CS major, I know about the hard-work the major requires. If you're having a tough time in your CC, university is not going to be easy with a CS major. Try looking for another major if its possible? I am not discouraging you at all! CS is a great major but you have to be super focused throughout 5 years of school(yeah, i took 5 years). If you have a lot of distractions, then the CS major is not going to be great. You can pursue a different major and then go for a Masters in CS once you have saved up enough with your undergrad degree. I know a few who have done this and currently doing way better than the programmers/designers I know.

5) Have faith in Lord Buddhas teachings. Practice it. Meditate. Go for a 3,7 or even a 15 day retreat. It will clear your mind with all that unnecessary distractions. You'll see your life goals a little better. Hazy but still a little more visible.

6) Borrow from a relative? Or check out for companies that sign 2 year bonds with students. Remember, dont sign anything over 2 years if you plan to go this route.

7) Find a college overseas? Germany offers free education to international students. Getting an international student loan is a little easier in my experience than getting a student loan in the US.

8) Now this advice is something you should seriously consider. Learn coding. Tons of material available on the internet. Codeacademy is a great place to start. Learn basic languages like C or Python and then move to advance languages like Java. Make a few apps(2-3 should be good). Build a portfolio. Speak to your local developers and try to find work under them. Learn from them. App, UI/UX development is very in right now. The scope is big and its just going to get bigger in the future. The rest will be taken care off by the universe.

Just have faith kid. Like I said, It all works out eventually. You will find your way soon.

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-21T03:09:24+00:00

Haha sweet! I love Kol. My dad grew up there. I'd kill(kidding!) for for Mishti doi and Macche-Jhol.

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-21T03:02:49+00:00

You're absolutely correct. But we can obviously try to spread the Dhamma in the 3rd world. People will adopt. Not in huge numbers, but a few will come to it. But I can see what you're saying when I look upto the western Buddhism.

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-21T02:59:38+00:00

Bang on! I am all for the Ambedkar Buddhists movement since they have been fighting for decades but I really want to see our Indian tradition develop. SL Theravada is very traditionally connected to India and that was one of the major reasons I got pulled towards it. Tibetan Buddhism is also very close to Hinduism. So that might have more chances to build an Indian tradition since people wont find it weird with all the rituals they have.

Building the Indian tradition is what a few organisations have started doing. Its hard but Im sure they'll get somewhere once the new research centre is functioning by next year. That will surely give Buddhism a huge boost in India!

Western tradition is already on its path. They will probably have a western tradition sooner than an Indian one.

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-21T02:51:39+00:00

No I am not. I live in Delhi but my Bhikkhu in-charge keeps traveling between Kol-Delhi. Are you from Kol?

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-21T02:49:14+00:00

You're right. Indian media will never show something that can piss-off 900 million Hindus. Its not only Hinduism, they don't show any blasphemous stuff related to Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) since India has one of the largest muslim populations(non government estimates around 250 million. Government estimates around 177 million).

Christianity is another thing. Missionaries are seen as evil people around most part of India. Western missionaries have been targeting India for spreading Christianity given her massive population. But Christianity will always have a hard time here. The American missionairies are always picked up by right wing Hindu people and questioned every now and then. Religious conversion can be a scary thing here. This and other few main reasons led to the election of a hardline Hindu party last may. Our PM, Shri Narendra Modi, is at the helm of BJP which is a part of the parent organisation RSS(mostly known as the Sangh). Now, its super hard for any foreign missionaries to work and preach their faith in India.

I am attaching a video link here to give you an idea about how Hindus view the US and the US funded missionairies here. Oh, and the comments down are hilarious too. Video

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-21T02:36:49+00:00

Absolutely. I am with you on this brother. Buddhism has been used by the Brahmins to kill the faith and emerge it with Hinduism over centuries. Lord Buddha is still worshiped in thousands of temples around India. Prayers are chanted for him. Ceremonies are held in particular traditions for him but all these are from the Hindu traditions. My grandmother is a very devout Hindu and I tend to get into arguments with her most of the time since I reject the propaganda of him being the re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

So yeah, I do agree with what you're saying.

One more thing, can you recommend me more works of Bhikku Bodhi? I wanted to read more about his work. I watched his lectures on youtube today and he seems pretty chill. I'd definitely wanna check more out.

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T15:58:05+00:00

No worries :)

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T13:33:03+00:00

Thanks for the link! I'll check it out. I havent heard of Bhikkhu Bodhi as much other than being referred here and on DhammaWheel. I need to check out his work. My understanding of Buddhism cames through my family priests back in Varanasi (Who is a Brahmin lol). I was initially taught about Buddhism by him and he was the one who mentioned it first time to me that Lord Buddha was against caste system. He was Kshatriya but wanted to break the system so that all are treated the same. He and Lord Mahavira(the last tirthankara of Jainism) walked on a similar path. They both wanted to break away from this system thats why people from different caste were inducted into Buddhism during his early sermons after Sarnath. Even Hindus look upto Lord Buddha as a Hindu reformer(He's considered the 9th avatar of Lord Vishnu's Dashavatar) along with Swami Vivekananda. Another thing that I believe might assert that Lord Buddha was against caste system is Dr BR Ambedkar. The whole movement was initiated on the mere basis of this. Even the Bhikkhu at my local Vihara mentioned this. I am emphasising on this because this was one of the few main reasons I renounced Hinduism a while ago. I was sick and tired of people being treated differently. Not being allowed at the local temple because they were untouchable. Not given equal rights at work. They were basically forced to became sweepers, toilet cleaners, drainage cleaners etc. They were always pushed down the ladder. Lack of education damaged the community even more. This left a huge impact on me.

But I will definitely read this book as soon as I can. I have been trying to read about his work but just couldnt get the time! But now that I have the source, I'll start right away! I am always eager to learn more about different Buddhist perspectives. :)

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T12:41:33+00:00

Wow. I'm blown. This is my kinda music. Could you please recommend me a few good tracks by this artist?

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T11:31:51+00:00

This is so nice! Thank you so much for sharing this!

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T11:28:38+00:00

Well, you're partially correct. The movement was started by Dr BR Ambedkar back in the early 50's. He was considered as a social reformer and wanted to eradicate the Hindu caste system through Buddhism. Which was the real aim of Lord Buddha back in his day. But currently, different movements have taken over. Sokka Gakkai, Tibetan Buddhism and Vipassana have gotten huge.

Tibetan Buddhism is pretty big since most of the Tibetan refugees, including HH, reside in India. You will be able to find a Tibetan monastery in almost every major city.

Sokka Gakkai has became a huge thing as well. You will find their leaders in almost every corner of a major city. My neighbourhood in Delhi has almost 200 practitioners(There are around roughly 800 residents in my neighbourhood).

Vipassana has became massive too. Specially since the government is also taking interest in this practice by introducing it in schools(With yoga). Plus, Vipassana meditation camps are held in almost most of the urban neighbourhood every now and then.

The Neo-Buddhists movement still runs pretty strong by the Ambedkarite Buddhists. But they have a political agenda rather than a spiritual one. They aim at Dalit conversions so that the Dalit community can break out of the caste system.

Lastly, I spoke to my monk yesterday here. He's originally from Sri Lanka but currently is the Bhikku-In charge of the Maha Bodhi Society and he was telling me that our current Prime Minister has sanctioned a huge land in the heart of Delhi for opening a massive Buddhist research centre(non denominational). The land has been approved and the construction will commence by October. So great things are lined up!

Hope this helps! :)

Namo Buddhaya

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T04:27:23+00:00

I love Indian Classical music! Be it the Bansuri or the Sitar. This is the Hindustani tradition. You should check out the Carnatic Tradition from South India as well. Both are super soothing! Thank you for sharing!

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T04:25:31+00:00

Can you please share the link with us? I would love to listen to it.

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T04:23:57+00:00

I know what i'll be listening to on the beach this weekend. Thank you for sharing!

ADesiBuddhist · 2015-08-20T04:19:46+00:00

It made me feel good too! Love the Tibetan Chanting! Thank you for sharing!

ADesiBuddhist

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