Introduction to Buddhism, 22.01.25
Introduce Suvannavira, Triratna, happy to be here, Buddhism
Introduce yourselves, city, why here, why am I a Buddhist?
Introduction to Buddhism, try meditating, question for reflection and sharing.
What does it mean to be a Buddhist? Taking refuge or Going to Refuge to the Three Jewels.
What are they? Buddha Dharma and Sangha.
1/ Buddha, first to gain Enlightenment.
Under Bodhi Tree, at Bodhgaya, full moon night in month of May, over 2500 years ago.
Enlightenment: common word, specific meaning in Buddhism, beyond words to describe.
Realisation of reality, absolute reality, direct, face to face, all transforming.
Escaping from the round of birth and death, and rebirth.
The Perfection of wisdom and compassion, which are inseperable.
Pinnacle of the evolution of the Individual.
2/ Dharma, the teaching of the Buddha, which leads to Enlightenment.
People often ask why we need Buddhism, we have our own culture.
Dharma also that reality itself, which Buddha realised.
3/ Sangha, spiritual community on the path, practising the Buddha’s teaching.
Many traditions, so many Sanghas.
Importance of real communication, of being totally honest.
Just as jewels are most valuable in material world,
Buddha Dharma and Sangha are most valuable in spiritual world.
To be a Buddhist we Go for Refuge to these Three Jewels, expressed by practising Dharma.
How to practice the Dharma?
One of many teachings is the threefold path of ethics, meditation and wisdom.
1/ Start at the end, wisdom, the development of wisdom.
Buddhism offers us practices for the development of wisdom.
For us this starts with questioning what we really believe.
What really makes us happy, will death be the end or is there a heaven, and many more.
2/ Meditation means being ready to improve our state of mind.
Meditation practices teach us to relate differently to our own mind,
and they invite us to experience higher states of consciousness,
which are by nature more aware states of consciousness.
3/ Buddhist teaching on ethics, where ethics is not the same as our morality,
invites us to relate differently to other people and the world, and ourselves in everyday life,
whether we act with our body, our speech or what we do with our mind.
Practising ethics supports our practice of meditation.
Practising meditation supports our practice of wisdom, of seeing what is true and false,
and living by what is true frees us from suffering.
So the threefold path of ethics, meditation and wisdom.
Now we will try meditating.
Leave the world of ideas for a direct experience of the body, access to deeper energies and emotions.
Watching the body, not doing something, trying really hard to concentrate or falling asleep.
Question for reflection and sharing.
Have you every believed in something, then stopped believing in it?
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