How to survive Buddhism ? Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha
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I see one aspect of your question is practice of rites and rituals much like other religions. This is also important for Buddhism to be socially and culturally integrated, but this does not give you liberation.
Secular Buddhists strip Buddhism of some of the aspects which cannot be conventionally seen (e,g, other realms, life after death) and perhaps some of the aspects not in line with western culture (e.g. respect to the Triple Gem). Accepting and dismissing things beyond your comprehension is a mistake, so would be accepting things which you cannot empirically verify. Until you know something at an experiential level it is best to set them aside.
There were many Buddhist sites in India which perhaps became sites for other religions.
Upvote:3
If you have found the true heart of Buddhism, you should practise it for your own liberation from the sufferings of this world.
The Buddha never taught all people would or could follow his teachings.
I surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As I did so, I saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace & danger in the other world.
When once asked: "Would he lead all people to liberation?", the Buddha remained silent.
Master Gotama, when having directly known it, you teach the Dhamma to your disciples for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method & for the realization of Nibbana, will all the world be led [to liberation] or a half of it or a third?"
When this was said, the Blessed One was silent.
Upvote:3
It is sad to see what has become of Ambedkar Buddhism in contemporary India today. For those who do not know Dr. Babasahab Ambedkar, he is the father of the Indian Constitution – a public figure who is far greater and more famous within India than Mathathma Gandhi. If one could ever call someone a Bodhisatva, it is Dr. Ambedkar. After his own conversion as a disciple of the Supreme Buddha, Babasaheb converted all the rest of his half a million people, by Trisaran, Panchasila and 22 vows. This was a historical event in more ways than one. Never in history half a million were converted to any religion at one time and never had conversion been effected by a lay Buddhist and never ever the Hindu Gods and goddesses were denounced by 22 vows which became the inseparable part of rite of conversion to Buddhism in India, and never before it was declared that all and every Buddhist lay person was authorised to convert other willing person. There used to be rite of Upasampada for conversion as a Bhikku, but for lay Buddhist there was traditionally no rite. Ambedkar started this, as he believed one of the reasons of disappearance of Buddhism from India was absence of such a rite.
My only criticism of Dr. Ambedkar’s declaration of the famous 22 vows (in 1935 at Yeola in Nashik district in Maharashtra) is the mention of Paramitas. In the number 12 of the 22 vows, he said, “I shall follow the Paramitas prescribed by the Buddha.” The TRUE teachings of the Supreme Buddha do not have any mention of the pāramitās and thus ‘Paramita’ is not Dhamma. The pāramitās are only for the Buddhas. The ‘Buddha Vishaya’ and ‘Loka Vishaya’ is not for the disciples. The entire vast infinite universe is Supreme Buddha's “Vishaya Kshetra”. Our lives are too precious and short to waste time on these unwanted topics. Paramita is one such.
Today India has lost the Order of the Gautama Buddha. Those who call themselves as Buddhists have political/social goals as their central component. Furthermore, they have made the Triple Gem impure by worshiping Hindu “Demigods”, by believing in horoscopes, following auspicious times, and even in having a higher regard to being vegetarians [like Devadattha (Buddha’s cousin) & his teacher, Nighanta-Naatha-Puthra] than the Five Precepts.
Thus for those few remaining disciples of the Supreme Buddha it is very difficult in the present day to meet in person a 'Kalyana-Mitta' / ‘Noble (or good) Friend’ in Dhamma. For them I would recommend the Buddhagyan Ashram, as there you can find the Kalyana-Mitta that you seek. Many in and around this Ashram in India were able to develop confidence in the Triple Gem because the monks there practice the Dhamma truely. Whenever an Indian friend in Dhamma ask for my advice, always my advice to them is to go to the Buddhagyan Ashram even for a week or two as it would be a life-changing experience for him or her.
It is very sad that Dr. Ambedkar passed away too soon before showing the people of India that the Dhamma-Vinaya is our Teacher. Today to help one in the Dhamma path, the Mahamevnawa Buddhagyan Ashram is there. Address : RATTI BIGHA, BODHGAYA-824231, GAYA, BIHAR, INDIA. Phone: 00919006029637
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