Buddhism for Beginners

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This topic has 24 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by jock.

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October 26, 2015 at 10:06 am #86118

Anonymous
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Hi everyone,

Can someone share simple resources to learn more about Buddhism in general – the beginnings, the different schools and basic teachings for a beginner? Some youtube resources or articles would be much appreciated.

I recently visited Dharamshala for 2 days and loved the place in general 😀 (food, culture, music, scenery and spirituality etc)

Bdw, this is a resource i came across – am sharing it in case anyone is interested –

Regards,
Moon

October 26, 2015 at 1:33 pm #86126

jock
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October 26, 2015 at 1:37 pm #86127

jock
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Moon
This woman was a Buddhist nun for 3 years. She is one of the best Buddhist speakers I’ve seen on youtube, in my opinion.
Her other videos are good too.
I’ve watched that Richard Gere one. I liked it a lot. There was a problem with the last 6 chapters of the series being broadcast which is a shame.

October 26, 2015 at 10:32 pm #86169

Anonymous
Inactive

Hey Jack,

Thanks a lot! I will give this a try soon 🙂

Lately, I have been observing certain tendencies in me – like for example, my tendency to be negative about others – for example, if a friend doesnt react the way i would normally expect, it would bother me and then all over-thinking would spiral me down – i would think things like its my fault, think about the past, etc. If someone is rude to me, I would feel bad and this spiral of bad thoughts – now atleast i can notice them, earlier it felt more like a black cloud descending on me. Then other things would be regarding the future or the quality of my day or worries about something or the other – I realize now i worry and ruminate a hell lot actually – way too concerned with my supposed problems – the occurrence of which may last for some minutes in a day but seem to have the potential to mess up the hours. I wonder why the mind tends to attach so strongly to the negatives? I am not looking at Buddhism to provide answers for this really but i do feel i am getting more comfortable with the idea of meditating now. I hope I dont fall asleep though like the previous times i tried!

What do you think about this tendency to ruminate?

Regards,
Moon

October 26, 2015 at 11:27 pm #86170
jock
Participant
I wonder why the mind tends to attach so strongly to the negatives?

Ok Moon,I’ll have a go at answering this one.
1) negatives are more interesting? Think of the news report on TV. How much positive news is there?
2) the mind likes to focus on problem-solving, well not solving, more problem ruminating. It likes to feel busy.
3) The monkey mind doesn’t like sitting still doing “boring” stuff like watching the breath
4) our personality. If we are more perfectionist, we like to have zero problems. Zero tolerance for problems 🙂
5) our education. especially at higher grades we are taught to think critically. This encourages a restless, sceptical mind, that won’t accept things at face value.

One of the Buddhist speakers on youtube compared thoughts to children. You (the observer of the mind)have to ignore the attention seeking trouble-makers and give more attention to the well-behaved ones.
- This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by jock.
- This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by jock.
October 26, 2015 at 11:45 pm #86173

jock
Participant

What do you think about this tendency to ruminate?

Well, it is a big one for me Moon, as I imagine it is for a lot of people. I still think about events that happened 20 years ago in a negative light. And I do have a tendency to demonise other people in the story I tell myself. The story usually has me as the heroic victim 🙂 But at least these days, I am aware of when I am doing it. I catch myself before I start getting caught in the web, the vortex which drags me down. One negative thought leads to another. It’s like a vicious cycle. Thats why when we are in a positive frame of mind, we create a positive aura, which attracts lots of positives.
Meditation definitely helps. I am now more aware during the day of a potential negative “spiral” as you say.In meditation, that continual “back to the breath” “back to the breath”, trains the mind into good habits of not spending too much time worrying about anything, just focussing, and refocussing on the breath.

October 27, 2015 at 1:11 am #86178

Anonymous
Inactive

Dear Jack,

I really liked this video – its a lesson thats being driven to me time and again. She made a number of valid points which made sense in my situation. Lately I have been subject to some people’s personal attacks repeatedly and it has been a challenge to stay strong. Sometimes I still get nervous when my friends suddenly get distant and appear aloof – however, that is their inner issue, not me. I trust our friendship enough to know that if there is something about me that upsets them, they will tell me. Last night for example, i was talking to 2 close friends who suddenly went off the radar. Usually this would make me feel like it was my fault in some way and i made a conscious effort to tell myself that it isnt necessarily true – today i found out that indeed something else was going on with them actually.

Regarding the nature of the mind, another thing i learned after a year of living alone is coming to terms with being with myself – I dunno how to explain that – its this change that happens when we spend long hours in solitude for many days – the silence is frightening because we become more aware of the noise in our head – there are no distractions or people to drown it out anymore. The depression and anxiety amplifies and small things become so big suddenly. Over time though, by forcing ourselves to adapt and making conscious efforts, we become habituated and there is this strange ease that begins to come over us – sure the ups and downs are still there but they dont hit us as bad as they used to.

Regarding your thoughts on attaching to negativity, it is oddly powerful and interesting – perhaps it is how we have been trained – to solve problems and we crave excitement, stimulation. The mind enjoys staying busy in the what-ifs, omgs and we keep scaring ourselves. I suppose rumination is something we all do and I totally understand the whole demonize “them” bit – I do it as well. Hopefully meditation will be of some help in bringing greater focus and clarity in my head.

I will surely check out the rest of the videos. I do like the way she talks in simple terms. I recently came across this book called “The mind and the way” by Ajahn Sumedho. I will start reading it soon.

October 27, 2015 at 1:21 am #86179

Anonymous
Inactive

I do wonder though – isnt some desire necessary for progress? Isnt some attachment important in life? If i am not attached to the idea of staying alive, I would stop taking actions to sustain myself, wouldnt I? I have always been confused about this bit.

October 27, 2015 at 9:19 am #86211

jock
Participant

moon, that is a FAQ for those starting Buddhism which I’m not going to answer because I’m not exactly sure myself. Some of my issues with Buddhism include:
-reincarnation, come on, do I really come back as a orangutan?
-no relationship with a higher power. To me this is the advantage of Christianity. In times of trouble you can turn to a higher power for help. That is why I’d couldn’t fully commit to Buddhism. But that doesn’t mean I don’t respect most of its tenets. I love the idea of the eightfold path.

October 27, 2015 at 9:25 am #86214

jock
Participant

I think I’ve seen some ajahn sumedho videos which were good.

October 27, 2015 at 10:28 am #86223

Anonymous
Inactive

like your list up there Jack. well broken down

I’m curious about Buddhism – I am curious to see if it fits in more with my core beliefs than Christianity – not that I am religious but have faith – wondering if the word I call God is more suited to another faith. I’m a-gonna have a look.

October 27, 2015 at 11:40 am #86236

Anonymous
Inactive

@kornfield: hey Jack, i did get some answers about the desire thing based on that book and some other resources- desire is akin to a fire, a fire that is important to keep a room warm. however, if we grasp the fire and hold on to it, it will burn us and cause suffering. so what i understood was that it isnt the absence of desire, rather it is the whole idea of holding on to it and ever expanding desire that causes the problem. perhaps i need to understand more but this made some sense to me at the moment.

Regarding the reincarnation thing, I do have some confusion on that front given certain experiences some years ago but anywho, was wondering what exactly do you mean by a higher power here? Actually I have very limited knowledge about religion in general, so i am not sure what that means.

October 27, 2015 at 2:37 pm #86255

jock
Participant

was wondering what exactly do you mean by a higher power here?

God.
12 step drug/alcohol rehab programs use the term “higher power” to cover the term “god” more broadly. For me it is Jesus Christ, as it is for other Christians.
Buddhism has Buddha but Buddhists don’t pray to him. They study his teaching to learn how to be happy but they don’t worship him.
If you follow the “enthusiastic Buddha” series on youtube, a lot of this is covered. But the learning is all fun in my opinion.

October 27, 2015 at 10:25 pm #86285

Anonymous
Inactive

Hey Jack,

I guess in my birth religion, that would mean a deity in particular then – like Krishna, Shiva, Kali etc. Thanks for clearing that up and patiently taking the time to answer so many of my questions. I do agree, the learning is fun – rather I am learning this again after a long time of being apathetic towards things 🙂

Regards,
Moon

October 27, 2015 at 11:44 pm #86287
jock
Participant
On a minor note, some hardcore Buddhists won’t kill any living thing and that includes cockroaches or mosquitos. I feel for those Buddhist monks meditating in Thailand, and not being able to swat insects that are biting them. 🙂
- This reply was modified 9 years ago by jock.
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