Question for Buddhists

[aManWhoWonders]

I have never really been a person of any faith, born into orthodoxy but family hardly practices at all (went to church a few times). I am currently looking towards an organized religion to better myself seeing as life always seems to put me down all the time, I want to find some answers.

I am looking towards Christianity(most likely protestant) or Buddhism.

What I wanted to know about Buddhism is what texts or scriptures should I read? or what would the main religious text be? also what are the major differences between the different branches of Buddhism? they all seem fairly similar from what I read.

I have scheduled to meet with a monk and talk to him about a few of these things at the end of the week, but until then I wanted to see what I could dig up.

any and all help is appreciated.

 

[Smoke]

Buddhism is very diverse.

The Dhammapada is probably the most readily available ancient Buddhist text.

I started with Christmas Humphreys' Buddhism and then went on to books by other modern authors. I particularly like Dropping Ashes on the Buddha by Seung Sahn, anything I can find by Ajahn Chah, and Brad Warner's books, but if you lean more toward Vajrayana the Dalai Lama has a number of books out and it's easy to find some.

 

[aManWhoWonders]

Thanks smoke. Ya I will look up the Dhammapada and see if it would help me out.

 

[ericoh2]

I'm not a Buddhist but I have studied several religions and read quite a bit about them. If you are a searcher I highly recommend any book from Osho. The Book of Secrets is excellent, as well as The Book of Understanding and Emotional Wellness. He has countless others which are probably very good as well considering all I've read from him. This may not be authoritative Buddhist text, they do however relate to genuine buhdism and all religions for that matter, but it is some of the best genuine spiritual writings I've come across. I do think you would enjoy them .

 

[aManWhoWonders]

thanks ericho2. will check that one out too, starting to form a list now lol.

 

[Smoke]

I'm not a Buddhist but I have studied several religions and read quite a bit about them. If you are a searcher I highly recommend any book from Osho. The Book of Secrets is excellent, as well as The Book of Understanding and Emotional Wellness. He has countless others which are probably very good as well considering all I've read from him. This may not be authoritative Buddhist text, they do however relate to genuine buhdism and all religions for that matter, but it is some of the best genuine spiritual writings I've come across. I do think you would enjoy them .

Osho had some interesting things to say, but he was not a Buddhist and didn't claim to be. He attempted a synthesis of various traditions; it's debatable how successful he was.

 

[aManWhoWonders]

can anyone break up the denominations? maybe the major differences, not every little thing.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Buddhism is very diverse.

The Dhammapada is probably the most readily available ancient Buddhist text.

I started with Christmas Humphreys' Buddhism and then went on to books by other modern authors. I particularly like Dropping Ashes on the Buddha by Seung Sahn, anything I can find by Ajahn Chah, and Brad Warner's books, but if you lean more toward Vajrayana the Dalai Lama has a number of books out and it's easy to find some.

I began my journey in studying the sutras by reading The Hearts of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh. It was only because a fellow student of mine when I was in New York 15 years ago suggested I look into Buddhism after a yoga class. I went into the neighborhood Barnes and Noble, walked to the (then) tiny section of Buddhism, and picked up the first book that I saw that looked reputable - which was the aforementioned book.

I still think it's one of the best introductions to the Buddha Dharma out there. It's commentary, like most books on Buddhism available, but I think it's outstanding.

However, the Dhammapada, like Smoke stated, can be found at the same Barnes and Noble these days I'm sure. It's short and to the point and therefore not intimidating as an introduction to the Dharma.

But Buddhism is more about the practice than about study, IMO. If one is going to talk to a monk, I'd be surprised if he didn't suggest that the first thing one ought to do is to put down that book, sit comfortably and breathe easy, and then start paying attention to your mind.

 

[Ozzie]

I have never really been a person of any faith, born into orthodoxy but family hardly practices at all (went to church a few times). I am currently looking towards an organized religion to better myself seeing as life always seems to put me down all the time, I want to find some answers.

I am looking towards Christianity(most likely protestant) or Buddhism.

What I wanted to know about Buddhism is what texts or scriptures should I read? or what would the main religious text be? also what are the major differences between the different branches of Buddhism? they all seem fairly similar from what I read.

I have scheduled to meet with a monk and talk to him about a few of these things at the end of the week, but until then I wanted to see what I could dig up.

any and all help is appreciated.

My impression from this post is that you would like to organise your own religion. From a Buddhist perspective I would suggest trying any meditation technique in company and seeing what it brings you, just like visiting your local church on Sunday would do.

 

[Master Vigil]

I would suggest some Zen Buddhist literature as well. My favorite is The Gateless Gate. I would also look at Zen Lessons (Shambhala publishes a good version).

 

[zenzero]

Friend aManWhoWonders,

Welcome to RF!
Best Wishes.

Rgds buddhism - reading is good but most important part of buddhism is practice of the eightfold path in life and continuous meditation even in sleep.

Love & rgds

 

[aManWhoWonders]

thank you for all your posts, i appreciate it! After I talk with the monk I will post back and give you all updates

 

[Twilight Hue]

I second reading the Gateless Gate if Zen seems appros to check out for you. Not to mention The Blue Cliff records in which there is an edition where both works are included in one book titled Two Zen Classics translated by Katsuki Sekida published by Shambhala. There is another book titled Moon in a Dewdrop which are writings by Master Dogen edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi. Any writings by Shunryu Suzuki, Phillip Kapleau, or if you want a "wild" intro seek out works by Brad Warner.

I like ZZ's suggestion as well to simply abide with the eightfold path with meditation. A very good place to start along with learning the three Dharma seals and four noble truths. There is a lot to be said in books and reading, but after an introduction to whatever tradition you decide upon I would suggest setting down the reading materials for a bit and just experience first hand what you read and learned.

 

[ericoh2]

Osho had some interesting things to say, but he was not a Buddhist and didn't claim to be. He attempted a synthesis of various traditions; it's debatable how successful he was.

You're right, he did not claim to be a Buddhist by any means. Though he did speak about the essence of religion in general which does include Buddhism. I just had the feeling that the poster was a seeker of religion in general, in which case I have found Osho very helpful. Just wanted to throw that out there if he was interested.

 

[ericoh2]

Again this is not official Buddhist text but Alan Watts has written much about the subject in bringing Zen to the West. I have enjoyed his work as well. DT Suzuki is also said to have had a profound understanding of Buddhism but I have not read his work so I cannot give a personal opininon. Just a few more authors you may enjoy checking out.

 

[Master Vigil]

I also suggest Alan Watts. He had an incredible amount of interesting things to say. You can find some great videos of him on youtube!

 

[Mind_Zenith]

Well, I can't talk for any of the other Schools (a.k.a. Branches) of Buddhism, but I can for mine: Nichiren Buddhism.

For us, we believe a 'reformer' so to speak, called Nichiren, came to spread a type of Buddhism based solely on the Lotus Sutra. That's our main scripture. Along with this, the writings of Nichiren, called the "Gosho" (and sometimes the orally transmitted work, "Ongi Kuden"), are also used for guidance and doctrinal matters.

I guess the main difference for us, is that the main practice to enlightenment in our branch is the chanting of "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" in front of a Gohonzon, originally transcribed by Nichiren as the object of worship for his disciples.

Let me know if you want a bit more info.

 

[Morning Star Dhamma]

I have scheduled to meet with a monk and talk to him about a few of these things at the end of the week ...

How did it go?

 

[Vangelis]

If you want some free on-line books, you can't go past those on www dot buddhanet dot net. Also, if you are after translations of the suttas, you can get a vast amount of the Pali suttas on www dot accesstoinsight dot org. Hope I wasn't too late with the suggestions...

 

[zenzero]

Friend Vangelis,

Thanks for your suggesstions; its never too late!
Welcome to RF!
Best Wishes.

Love & rgds