What did you learn about Buddhism from this reading
Buddhist Readings Discussion Board – Discussion Group 1
From 2020SU-RELG-120-5396
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Hi Everyone,
This week you read two short passages by two very famous Buddhists – Thich Nhat Hanh and The Dalai Lama. For your discussion board, I would like you to choose one these readings and discuss your thoughts and reaction to it. In your response you can respond to any of the following questions:
why did you choose this particular reading? what interested you about it?
did you find the reading beautiful? or disturbing?
what did you learn about Buddhism from this reading?
is there something about the reading that confused you or that you would like to know more about?
Was there an idea or opinion in the reading that you strongly agreed or disagreed with? Why do you agree/disagree with it?
Your response must be at least 250 words and include two direct quotations from the reading (along with the page numbers for the quotes). Your initial response is due Thursday, July 9 by midnight. You must also respond to at least two classmates by Saturday, July 11 by midnight (these responses must each be at least 100 words long)
Hi prof.
LOGINS (It is under discussions titled Buddhist readings…)
Ali.bashala
1965asAS
Week 3.
I chose Thich Nhat Hanh’s reading because his words about being detached and not caught in one idea and considering it the ultimate and only truth really interested me.
I believed that the reading was very beautiful and has a lot of value not to Buddhists only, but also to people who are non-religious or from other religions. I particularly liked the example he mentions about a father not willing to open a door to his actual son because he thought his son has died and was caught in this idea. I also really liked this quote: “The Buddha said that if you get caught in one idea and consider it to be “the truth”, then you miss the chance to know the truth. Even if the truth comes in person and knocks at your door, you will refuse to open your mind” (page 9). I believe that this is a very unhealthy habit that people can have and it can cause a lot of damage to their personal and spiritual life. In my opinion, being able to analyze ideas objectively, question the ideas we get caught in, and keeping an open mind is an important factor for happiness in life.
I learnt that Buddhism does not preach spreading through fighting, as Thich Nhat Hanh mentions: “Buddhist teachings are guiding means to help us learn to look deeply and to develop our understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kills or die for” (page 10). This quote gives me the impression that Buddhism teachings have a lot to do with how people look at their own life, and forbids Buddhists from forcing non-Buddhists to look at life the same way they do. This reading taught me that Buddhism really values freedom and that is a very positive thing in my opinion.
The way this reading was written was also very clear and easy to understand. The examples Thich Nhat Hanh mentions to provide analogies also did a great job at clarifying his message. Therefore, nothing about this reading confused me.
For this week’s readings, I prefer the Dalai Lama’s text. I like it because of the way he tries to make you understand the cause and effect of reality and the dependent origination of it. In our lives, we always try to plan for different events, and when it doesn’t go as expected, it leaves us a little or a lot unhappy. In reality, we always need to understand that not everything will work out perfectly. But what is reality?
As the Dalai Lama states, “But when we consider reality itself, we quickly become aware of its infinite complexity, and we realize that our habitual preconception of it is often inadequate. If this were not so, the concept of deception would be meaningless. If things and events always unfolded as we expected, we would have no notion of illusion or misconception.” (pg. 36) Yes, if things always worked out as we expect them to, then we would not understand what would happen if it didn’t. Take cause and effect. In everything, there is cause and effect. If we didn’t do this, then that would happen. Some will lead to happiness and others will cause distress. So, everyone should do what makes them happy and not pain.
In life, we will find that all things are interrelated or dependently originated. There is no yesterday, without today, and no tomorrow without today. They are both dependent on today. The same thing with time, both past and future depend on the present. The Dali Lama puts it as in time, by the time we say now, it is already the past and the future becomes now. Things do not exist on their own but are dependently originated.
Even the idea of self is relative. The Dali Lama writes, “If the self had an intrinsic identity, it would be possible to speak in terms of self-interest in isolation from that of others. But because this is not so, because self and others can only be understood in terms of relationship, we see that self-interest and others’ interest are closely interrelated.” (pg.47) Individually, we cannot exist without being connected to others. We are daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many more. We are all interrelated or dependently originated and that is reality.
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