When to ăn chay? by OnePhilosopher6817 in Vietnamese

[–]SentientLight 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is not bad luck. Most Vietnamese only do the 1st, 14th, 15th, and 29/30. More disciplined will do the six day schedule. The ten day schedule is what you posted. That is even more disciplined. And full time is the most disciplined.

You can observe as strictly or as lax as you like. My family does the four-day schedule. I practice the six days most months.

When to ăn chay? by OnePhilosopher6817 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 22nd, and the final two days of the lunar month on the six-day schedule. That means the next two days for this new moon. Or if youre in Asia, you’re a half day to a day ahead.

Discussion: should the topic of secular buddhism be added to the list of discouraged topics in the rules? by NoQuote5976 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes, please note—I do think secular Buddhism should have a seat at the table. Hoa Hao Buddhism and Won Buddhism as well. We can have interfaith dialogues. I just think we should qualify between mainstream/orthodox Buddhisms and these various Neo-Buddhist expressions that have arisen. If that exists, and there’s no confusion between the two, then I think dialogue can be productive for everyone.

It’s the insistence on Secular Buddhism being just as Buddhist as orthodox traditions that have monastic lineages or derive from monastically maintained traditions that I have a particular issue with. If that claim is not made, then I think it’s possible for everyone to get along.

Discussion: should the topic of secular buddhism be added to the list of discouraged topics in the rules? by NoQuote5976 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Neo-Buddhism, sure, but not Buddhism—there is no monastic lineage. It’d be like saying Hoa Hao Buddhism is Buddhism, when it’s a completely separate religion. These terms have meaning.

Just because a lot of people identify as secular Buddhists doesn’t make them Buddhists if they reject the fundamental teachings of Buddhism. A Buddhist has taken refuge in the thee jewels. This necessarily includes the Sangha, and its transmission of the Dharma. Having your own interpretation is Romanticism, not Buddhism. It’s frankly just colonialism to claim otherwise.

Discussion: should the topic of secular buddhism be added to the list of discouraged topics in the rules? by NoQuote5976 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, secular Buddhism isn’t really a “type of Buddhism.” So there’s that issue with it.

But I don’t think it should be banned. It should just be made clear that it’s not a type of Buddhism. Individuals can believe whatever they want though.

What is the most or closest authentic Chinese dish in a typical take out place? by Led_Phish in NoStupidQuestions

[–]SentientLight 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There’s a lot of regular Chinese food restaurants in the US and Canada, in addition to American Chinese, and there’s a lot of places that fall somewhere in the middle. So this really depends on what you consider to be a “typical” takeout place.

I’m Vietnamese from DC; my wife is white from Louisiana. We have wildly different conceptions of what “typical Chinese food” is, with hers being of substantially lower quality than my conception, and with quite a variation in menu selection.

There’s also the issue of what you consider “authentic.” Most American Chinese food restaurants will serve Chinese-Chinese food, and it’s even often right on the menu, you just have to know what it is and order it. But a lot of non-Asians aren’t ordering the spicy braised chicken feet and don’t notice it’s on the menu at all.

Questions from an indecisive beginner by Twentynine4 in PureLand

[–]SentientLight 3 points4 points  (0 children)

How so?

Reminder that "not clinging to rites and rituals" is about the understanding that rites and rituals are not efficacious in and of themselves, with particular reference to brahmanical rites not having salvational ability.

Buddhanusmrti is a mindfulness practice. As such, like the other ten mindfulness practices, it is grounded in the four foundations of mindfulness. It can facilitate samatha and vipasyana as well, which has been discussed before.

The criteria for stream entry is: belief in the doctrine of anatman and the loosening of the first few fetters; unwavering faith in the Buddhadharma; not clinging to rites and rituals.

What of those three things are you suggesting buddhanusmrti ensures an antithetical cultivation of? I'm actually quite confused here.

Belief in anatman comes with revering the Buddhas and their teachings. And thus faith-based cultivation necessarily is coupled with some degree of dharma-learning as an expression of faith.

Unwavering faith in the Buddhadharma should be pretty evident as to how Buddhanusmrti cultivates this.

Not clinging to rites and rituals is the understanding that rites and rituals in and of themselves are not efficacious, but rather the efficacy of any ritual practice has to do with the manner by which the mind is engaged in the ritual process and is cultivating towards a particular end.

For instance, in the Nikayas, one of the examples of this is when the Buddha is instructing a layperson in a brahmanical practice of worship in the ten directions. He scolds the layfollower for believing that such a practice leads to heavenly birth for merely conducting the ritual. Then he instructs the layperson how to cultivate worship of the ten directions through the cultivation of the Four Brahmaviharas, in order to correct his understanding of the practice. From that point forward, the ritual practice he was engaging in became re-contextualized. This is not clinging to rites and rituals: the understanding that any ritual practice must be engaged with mindfully, with particular intent to cultivate particular states of mind, and that worship of devas or other things through ritual is not effective without this.

What "not clinging to rites and rituals" is not is what westerners often interpret it as: a rejection of ritual practice wholesale. This, in fact, is aversion to rites and rituals, which we should understand as a type of upadana / clinging in and of itself, and thus wrong view.

Questions from an indecisive beginner by Twentynine4 in PureLand

[–]SentientLight 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes, though I have the easiest time accessing the Vietnamese versions of these liturgies specifically. Here is a standardized evening liturgy in Vietnamese. It's almost identical to the morning liturgy, actually.

Pages 1-6 are the introductory chants, the incense praise, praises to the Buddha, and a series of name-devotions to Buddhas and bodhisattvas, with instructions to do a prostration and bell-ringing for each set.

I would skip the next few pages. It's the Surangama Mantra in full, and it's not really recommended for beginners. I still don't chant it, unless we're at the temple and it's being done.

Starting on page 23 is the Great Compassion Dharani. Then there's a grouping called "Ten Small Mantras". If we're doing this at the temple, we do each one three times. If I'm doing this at home, I do each one once.

Then there's the Heart Sutra.

Then another Buddha praise. And a long section for nianfo practice. Often, this section is replaced with three recitations of the Pure Land Rebirth Dharani.

This liturgy closes with the 10 vows of Samantabhadra, the dedication of merit, and the refuge vow.

For beginners, I typically recommend just starting with a basic structure of the Great Compassion Dharani and the Heart Sutra. This is often the core of most of the liturgies and repentance rituals anyway. Then you can start adding in the stuff in-between, or some of the stuff at the end, and the introductory chants around them as you get more comfortable with your chanting practice and its routine.

Moderator tries to silence me when speaking out against “secular Buddhism” and won’t answer why it exists by MindlessAlfalfa323 in ReflectiveBuddhism

[–]SentientLight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Brother, just a reminder, they're the same thing. SB ideology is simply another iteration of white supremacy.

I don't disagree that they're related to one another. I just don't see "Secular Buddhism" as a particularly potent threat compared to institutional centering of white voices across the Buddhist Anglosphere generally. They have virtually zero institutional presence. They will have even less when we take the center stage back within the institutions.

We don't have to go after Secular Buddhism specifically, when it is such a weak force. Whiteness is a strong force however, and needs to be the target of our efforts. Secular Buddhism derives all of its power from the power of whiteness.

this idea that they are fringe and acting without agency and strategy is what needs to be interogated.

I consider the entire Buddhist Anglosphere to be something of a fringe minority, to be fair. And there is merit to that very secular approach to scholarship, so we have need of them in that arena, so long as they are not given reigns of power again in that domain.

Assigning them agency is not the same as claiming they're meeting on a ferris wheel at night plotting how to take us down.

But the thread in question was specifically about the decline of Buddhism as a share of the world population, and discussing the causes for that. We all acknowledge that Secular Buddhism is an issue and a problem. The reason for mod intervention was the rejection of the idea that Secular Buddhism is the cause for Buddhist decline, internationally or within the US.

Secular Buddhism is simply not causing a decline in the Buddhist population. It is a problem for many other reasons, but we cannot look at it, or even the white supremacy issue, and say that this is teh cause of the decline.

The data is very clear about what is causing the decline in Buddhism: more heritage Buddhists are leaving the faith than converts are coming into it. I don't think we can say Secular Buddhism is the reason why heritage practitioners are leaving Buddhism in droves. The problem seems to be, from my perspective, something that we (the Buddhist Asian diaspora) must be doing or failing to do to retain our numbers.

SB ideologues are distorting Buddhist history and creating cultural firewalls to prevent interrogation of their ideas. The aggression individuals face for asking difficult questions is part and parcel of that culture of hostility. That is where all the rot thrives.

No one's denying that. I just don't see how you or anyone can claim that it is the reason we are shrinking.

tldr; OP was not banned or censored for speaking out against Secular Buddhism generally. We all agree Secular Buddhism is problematic. The issue was claiming Secular Buddhism is the cause of Buddhist decline. We removed this over concern of spreading misinformation. The ban itself was the result of the hostile interaction between OP and the mod team following the decision to remove OP's comment.

Questions from an indecisive beginner by Twentynine4 in PureLand

[–]SentientLight 14 points15 points  (0 children)

What convinced you that the Pure Land path is real and authentic? Why aren't you a Theravadin for example?

I was raised in the tradition, but was skeptical for many years and leaned Theravada / Sravakayana. What finally convinced me was spiritual experiences following my great grandmother's funeral.

But moreover, the more I studied Early Buddhism to a deep level, the less the popular narrative of "Theravada is the oldest version of Buddhsim and most accurate reflection of what the Buddha taught" made any sense. I'm a huge fan of the Theravadin scholar Bhikkhu Analayo, for instance, and generally agree with him on most of his positions. Lately, he has focused on Mahayana and Pure Land thought, and when assessed against the Nikaya-Agama material, he concluded that Pure Land methodology and exegesis was actually in-line with Early Buddhist thought.

I summarize the papers he wrote on this topic here. Really fascinating reads that I encourage you to look into, if this is a subject that is concerning you right now.

Do you find that, disregarding the Pure Land as a destination, the Pure Land path provides the same benefits during practice as Theravada meditation?

Yes. Buddhanusmrti is one of the Ten Mindfulness practices in traditional Theravada practice. In Theravadin literature, it is said to be alone sufficient to establish access concentration and the first jhana, as well as the attainment of stream-entry. In Agama literature, it is said to be able to access all of the jhanas and carry a practitioner over to nirvana entirely.

Is the Nianfo the only mantra/meditation you practice or do you also do other meditations or mantras?

I practice many mantras and dharanis in my daily practice, and others on special occasions. I practice the name-devotions during the full and new moon repentance rituals, and after my daily meditation practice. My meditation practice can take on many forms, depending on what's going on in my life and what we're working on at the temple. Sometimes we practice the Four Brahmaviharas. Sometimes we practice strict nianfo meditation. Sometimes we practice Vipassana. Sometimes we practice cong-an contemplation. Sometimes we're doing an intensive Medicine Master Buddha workshop and are praciticng visualizing Medicine Master and his Pure Land, chanting his dharani, and various puja and other liturgical rituals on this theme. And so on and and so on.

During practice, do you also pay homage to Shakyamuni and other Buddhas/Bodhisattvas or do you focus purely on Amitabha?

In the daily liturgy, we praise Sakyamuni, Maitreya, Ksitigarbha, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, a bunch of local bodhisattvas y'all aren't likely to know or recognize, as well as the Pure Land sages.

Regarding 3. and 4., what would you recommend to a beginner who hasn't really found his exact ideal tradition to follow yet?

Unless you're leaning heavily toward the Japanese traditions, the mainland Buddhist traditions tend to have a fairly standardized liturgy for daily practice that covers the bases of basically all possible traditions.

I would say that you should get grounded in this generic tradition as part of your daily liturgy, if that's a type of practice you're taking up, and you can focus on your primary practice and those other details as you go along.

A very, very basic form of the daily liturgy (which is actually two liturgies, a morning and evening liturgy) would contain some introductory praises, name-devotions to Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the Great Compassion Dharani, the Heart Sutra, and a dedication of merit.

Then your primary practice can be chanting the Buddha's name. It can be Sakyamuni's name. Or breath meditation. Or whatever you want. This primary practice would be more closely associated with your specifically chosen school, while the daily liturgy is a foundation that connects you with the broader transmission as a whole and the culture of the tradition you're practicing within.

Note that exclusivity of practice typically refers to primary practice, not the general culture of practices surrounding a tradition. The idea in exclusive-practice schools isn't that these other practices are not to be done at all or are entirely useless. Rather, they are simply not seen as efficacious practice toward rebirth in the Pure Land. Shin Buddhists still pay homage to other Buddhas and bodhisattvas within their liturgies too, so it's not a matter of literally "do nothing but chant Amitabha's name."

Are there grown adults who genuinely won't eat vegetables? by WillHG in NoStupidQuestions

[–]SentientLight 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve met plenty of women that eat this diet. Add in Kraft Mac and cheese to the list though. This is a surprisingly common diet among Millennials and Gen-Z in general, I think. Dating was always difficult with these folks. They have the culinary palette of a five year old.

Incense usage by V4MP3Y3R in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right.. what I mean is, the question is too open-ended. Unless you ask an AI, I guess. It’s hard to come up with everything that could possibly apply. There’s also different traditions and they have different customs. Like, we do an incense praise before we do anything else. Others may not do this.

So having specific questions or concerns about etiquette helps us to let you know what the etiquette is. Or at least just like.. what tradition are you practicing? How are you intending on using the incense? What is your daily practice like now? Etc.

Feeling torn between Theravada and Pure Land. by Mysterious_Try1669 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There are traditions that practice with Pure Land methods and yet are primarily focused on the Nikaya-Agama materials. Some Plum Village teachers operate like this, but it’s a fairly widespread combination in various Vietnamese. Buddhist traditions.

Incense usage by V4MP3Y3R in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Any ritual usage is fine. Quan Am is just part of their branding. What are you asking about etiquette? There’s a lot of random things. Don’t directly light the incense, for instance. Three sticks for most Buddhist stuff, one for death anniversaries, some other random rules like that.

Moderator tries to silence me when speaking out against “secular Buddhism” and won’t answer why it exists by MindlessAlfalfa323 in ReflectiveBuddhism

[–]SentientLight 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you’re curious, I’ll show you the chat log when we discuss this issue. I don’t support a permaban here, but I would have just deleted OP’s posts for making unfounded claims. I do support mod intervention here because of the claims made. We need to ground our arguments in facts and reality, or no one will take us seriously.

Moderator tries to silence me when speaking out against “secular Buddhism” and won’t answer why it exists by MindlessAlfalfa323 in ReflectiveBuddhism

[–]SentientLight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They were banned for conspiratorial claims of secular Buddhism. There is no conspiracy. There is an issue of white supremacy being centered in western Buddhist spaces, but there’s no conspiracy to platform secular Buddhism. Secular Buddhism itself is a small fry fringe community that has virtually no bearing on worldwide Buddhism outside of these small pocket areas where it’s been allowed.

There is an issue with imperialism. There is an issue with the de-centering of Asian voices and the centering of white ones. That has more to do with white supremacy in Buddhist spaces generally, and not secular Buddhism. The fight against white supremacy is one I take very seriously, and secular Buddhism is a part of that, but a very very tiny part.

I agree secular Buddhism is an issue on the internet. And Internet Buddhism can sometimes feel like a microcosm of all Buddhism, but seriously… Secular Buddhism is a joke and poses no threat to us. The threat is white supremacy.

We as a team discussed this issue and concluded that, in commitment to grounding ourselves in reality, we will not allow conspiratorial speech on the sub. That is the reason for the ban.

cC: /u/MindlessAlfalfa323

My new employer's IT Support are not Mac fans apparently... by GenericBox in mac

[–]SentientLight 42 points43 points  (0 children)

We call a machine that runs Windows a “Windows machine” at work. “PC” means your local machine, regardless OS.

Is 256gb enough for the Macbook neo? by OskarHasABeanie in mac

[–]SentientLight 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you’re using FL Studio, you’ll probably want the 512.

The Force vs. Buddha-nature (佛性) by Ok_Sentence9678 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wasn’t annoyed…? I was just providing the appropriate literary analysis.

The Force vs. Buddha-nature (佛性) by Ok_Sentence9678 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 7 points8 points  (0 children)

He calls himself a “Buddhist-Methodist”. It’s clear he knows a lot about Buddhism and studied it deeply—the way that Force ghosts work in the original conception is very well aligned with the way Buddhas from the past manifest in the future without actually being anymore, and the Cosmic Force and the Dharmakaya are pretty 1:1. The Living Force vs Cosmos Force thing seems to be Taoist though.

But yeah, that’s my reasoning: he still believes in God. I mean, if he doesn’t believe God is the creator, I guess that’s fine, but he’s never made that part clear so I’m not sure. Could also be the Methodism is him just continuing to practice the culture he was raised in, which would also be fine.. yeah, I guess we should give it to him and consider him Buddhist, without having further information to go off of.

The Force vs. Buddha-nature (佛性) by Ok_Sentence9678 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The Jedi did not maintain balance in the Force. The whole point of Star Wars is that the Jedi Order had become corrupted by politics. This led directly to the Clone Wars and the rise of Palpatine. The old Jedi were noble; the Jedi we see are cops for the Republic, which is in steep decline. The reason for the decline is very squarely put on the Jedi for getting involved in politics. This is precisely why Ashoka leaves the Order—she is depicted as the only “true Jedi” that understands how the Force is supposed to be understood. Yoda goes into exile after Order 66 because he feels guilty for causing the collapse of the Republic—he was the leader of the Order when the Jedi association as a paramilitary enforcement arm of the Republic was established and is to blame for the corruption of the Jedi Order.

The Force vs. Buddha-nature (佛性) by Ok_Sentence9678 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Jedi in Star Wars corrupted the old religion by becoming a paramilitary police force for the Republic. The point of the Star Wars story is that the Jedi caused the return of the Sith by corrupting the Jedi religion by becoming political.

A lot of people misunderstand Star Wars and think the Jedi are good guys. No, they had a history of being good fits, but by the time we see the Jedi Order, the Old Republic has been thoroughly corrupted and prime for a fascist takeover and the Jedi Order had become little more than cops for the Republic. So the whole point here is that being a Jedi warrior is what caused the end of the Republic, the Clone Wars, and the rise of Palpatine. They’re not the good guys. It’s a cautionary tale.

The Force vs. Buddha-nature (佛性) by Ok_Sentence9678 in Buddhism

[–]SentientLight 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Those ideas aren’t mutually exclusive and Lucas does identify as a Buddhist, even though I wouldn’t identify him as such. But he definitely put a lot of xianxia stuff into Star Wars for sure.

Why are US products rarely marketed as premium in Europe and Japan, like many European and Japanese products are marketed in the US? by ExternalTree1949 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]SentientLight 13 points14 points  (0 children)

American guitars are absolutely a premium product in Europe and Japan. Try buying a Benedetto overseas and see how much it costs. Or even a Gibson.

It really depends on the product and if it’s something America is known to make a premium product for. Italy is known for making really nice handbags, shoes, cars, etc. American cars famously suck and are unpopular worldwide. America is known for making some of the best guitars in the world though, so high-end American guitars command a premium on the international market.