Alright hit this Buddhist with your best shot!

[Buddha Dharma]

I'll answer respectful questions about myself and my Buddhist practice

 

[LuisDantas]

Do you consider the Buddhadharma to have a central idea or concept? If so, what would it be?

 

[Buddha Dharma]

I think the Bodhisattva path and Bodhicitta, which is of course for the salvation of all beings from suffering.

 

[Buddha Dharma]

I think all that undertake this ideal are part of the Buddha's saving work- just to add. I accept the Lotus Sutra, which you probably know emphasizes the meritorious and salvific activities of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas- and teaches everything will be saved at the just right time by the Buddha. I practice largely in this hope, from burning compassion for everything that suffers.

 

[osgart]

If at death all individuality is lost, what's the point in living?

And, does Buddhism regard everything as one? I never believed that about reality, and that would be awful if it were so.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

What's the biggest misconception you commonly see about your particular beliefs?

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Thank you for being yet another unwilling (or maybe just unsuspecting) guinea pig...

So, boxers, briefs, or Depends?

Seriously, though, what is it that led you Buddhism, and your specific flavor?

 

[Brickjectivity]

I'll answer respectful questions about myself and my Buddhist practice

I think it is impossible to be aware without pain, that our sense of time is painful. As human creatures our bodies try to conserve energy, so any thing we do is made painful and costly. We are I think therefore lazy creatures who like neither to work nor to think. There are exceptions, because we can also feel pleasure and stimulation. Some things draw us to act and to think, however usually doing anything is considered an expense by the body. Thought is expensive as is lifting an arm. Therefore we all seek painlessness through laziness, though it is pointless to try and deceptive. Try as we might to rest, we always have to work for some reason; and we don't like it. We benefit more from exerting ourselves to build and create and from taking periods of rest in between efforts; but given the choice we would live like cats, napping constantly and only occasionally leaping.

That is how I see things, but you Buddhists talk about awareness as a goal. That sounds very painful and energetic to me. Why push yourself so far? Why not settle for just enough to be happy and get by and to experience partial awareness? Some of you seem very extreme to me when you give up comforts. Why go live alone or in monasteries and live simply? Why not enjoy alcohol? It seems like you seek not to suffer but suffer in the process. Why?

 

[SalixIncendium]

I'm familiar with what a bodhisattva is, but what is a "lay" bodhisattva?

 

[Buddha Dharma]

If at death all individuality is lost, what's the point in living?

And, does Buddhism regard everything as one? I never believed that about reality, and that would be awful if it were so.

This is gonna be a long reply

I don't think Buddhism teaches we have the thing people often speak of as individuality to lose. That doesn't mean there's nothing, or we have no point to be here. Things are still here, Buddhism just shows us a different way of seeing them. Buddhism does regard everything as one in my school, which is all I can speak for. We hold that Buddha nature is the essential essence of all phenomena. I'm not of the view this is awful if it's true.

 

[Buddha Dharma]

What's the biggest misconception you commonly see about your particular beliefs?

That Buddhism is denialist toward life and nihilistic

 

[Buddha Dharma]

Thank you for being yet another unwilling (or maybe just unsuspecting) guinea pig...

So, boxers, briefs, or Depends?

Seriously, though, what is it that led you Buddhism, and your specific flavor?

Briefs, and...what led me to Buddhism?

I became a Buddhist because it is hands on and devoted to the cause of everything that suffers. I chose Tendai because it is a very layman oriented school for those of us that have faith in the Buddha and his teaching, knowing what our weaknesses and flaws are. The founder of Tendai (Japanese Tiantai) Saicho had a life story I really relate to and am touched by. I guess a third reason is being a man of strong faith. My school historically puts strong emphasis on faith in the Buddha, as well as Bodhisattvas and deities. I admit to needing higher powers.

 

[Buddha Dharma]

I think it is impossible to be aware without pain, that our sense of time is painful. As human creatures our bodies try to conserve energy, so any thing we do is made painful and costly. We are I think therefore lazy creatures who like neither to work nor to think. There are exceptions, because we can also feel pleasure and stimulation. Some things draw us to act and to think, however usually doing anything is considered an expense by the body. Thought is expensive as is lifting an arm. Therefore we all seek painlessness through laziness, though it is pointless to try and deceptive. Try as we might to rest, we always have to work for some reason; and we don't like it. We benefit more from exerting ourselves to build and create and from taking periods of rest in between efforts; but given the choice we would live like cats, napping constantly and only occasionally leaping.

That is how I see things, but you Buddhists talk about awareness as a goal. That sounds very painful and energetic to me. Why push yourself so far? Why not settle for just enough to be happy and get by and to experience partial awareness? Some of you seem very extreme to me when you give up comforts. Why go live alone or in monasteries and live simply? Why not enjoy alcohol? It seems like you seek not to suffer but suffer in the process. Why?

The Buddha taught suffering is inevitable in the cycle of Samsara. That is because everything here is in ignorance. You asked a few good questions that I will try my best to do justice.

We don't suffer because of alcohol etc, but because of clinging and relying on that as a crutch.

As for monasticism, it is a choice, but I have a very interesting view about it. I'm not sure a monk is superior to a layman, and all the rules might be because some individuals need them. The Vinaya Pataka, which is the monastic rules, were dictated by the Buddha because some of the monks had real problematic devious impulses like sleeping with animals. This is what we are told.

To be brief, a monk may not be of the best disposition through rebirth and they need such a rigorous discipline to follow. I think a layman can have a superior disposition to some monks.

I hope I did okay answering

 

[Buddha Dharma]

I'm familiar with what a bodhisattva is, but what is a "lay" bodhisattva?

I use it to mean a layman aspiring to the Bodhisattva way while remaining a householder like Vimalakirti.

 

[sayak83]

I'll answer respectful questions about myself and my Buddhist practice

In your specific Buddhist school, what do they say reality is ultimately made of? Most of Buddhism considers reality to be a conditionally dependent Flux. But Flux of what?

 

[Buddha Dharma]

In your specific Buddhist school, what do they say reality is ultimately made of? Most of Buddhism considers reality to be a conditionally dependent Flux. But Flux of what?

I am a layman, so I may not have as informative an answer as a teacher. In my school, Buddha nature is believed to be the essential nature of everything, as in most Mahayana schools. I've seen this described as a play of Amida Buddha in a preface to his Mantra, and I'm sure there are other explanations. My school believes Samsara is generated because of several thousand realities, seemingly seperate, converging at any given moment. It also teaches that seeming individuality and unity are both in a degree true. That we shouldn't necessarily deny the feeling of being something- just the feeling.

 

[Milton Platt]

I'll answer respectful questions about myself and my Buddhist practice

Do you have any empirical evidence to support your beliefs?

 

[Buddha Dharma]

Do you have any empirical evidence to support your beliefs?

For the mind aspects I think yes, depending on how strictly you mean emperical. Buddhism is skeptical of materialism, however. We don't aim to have our views emperically validated historically speaking because we hold that this insistence is materialist in origin, and materialism itself is an incomplete picture. It relies on treating our faculties as more trustworthy than they are. I won't lie to you that traditional Buddhism has faith aspects. We put faith in the Buddha and trust that he had the awakened dharma eye of full enlightenment. That he knew things only the enlightened know.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

I'll answer respectful questions about myself and my Buddhist practice

Did the Samurai in Feudal Japan practice Tendai Buddhism?

 

[Buddha Dharma]

Did the Samurai in Feudal Japan practice Tendai Buddhism?

I don't know enough about the Samurai history to say yes or no, but I do know they lived by a code called Bushido based largely on Japanese cultural notions of honor. Possibly, they belonged to Tendai, Shingon, Nicherin, or any of the Zen schools like Soto.