HG Wells wrote in his “History of the World” book that Lord Buddha asked his followers to refrain from the elaborate religious sermons the hindu priests practiced. He said that that is not the way to get in touch with the divine. He asked his followers to just practice the “four Aryan truths” in real life to reach the ultimate realization.

 

But if today Lord Buddha is to see the most ostentatious and elaborate religious ceremonies performed for him in Lhasa, how do you think he would feel?

Buddhism during Buddha is way ancient compared to the Tantric Buddha practised in Tibet,only started around 6th century. Tibetan Buddhism is way off from real Buddhism, it had to incorporate many of the local shaministic belief like of BON and many other. Eventually it has become its own form. So to compare them together means you've no knowledge of the history of Buddhism

hahaha This Krishna dude just cracked my intestines with his bountiful display of ignorance.  hahaha  Hey listen dude, pure Buddhism is not followed anywhere today as it morphed with other cults/religions to form the various types of Buddhism being practiced today.  Same as the Christian church which was manipulated by the kings of the ancient time (e.g: Charlemagne, Henry VIII, etc.) to portray what they felt would be more suitable to benefit their stay in power and thus many of the teachings were changed accordingly. 

What we have today (for all religions) is a far cry from what the original principles of the religion (as per the founders) was supposed to be .

That's exactly my point! Buddhism has been so "morphed" into the local culture and custom that true meaning is "lost in translation". It is so ironic that this religion is walking the same line Buddha wanted to avoid. After seeing Brahmins in Hinduism becoming too powerful and acting as a go-between between God and the followers, Buddha came up with methods to avoid the "middlemen" and approach the God directly. But now buddhism itself has "maha Brahmins" in the form of Rimpoches and High Lamas.

Dude,

What would Shiva think if he sees his holiest temple, Pashupati, engaged in corruption under the name of Pashupati Bikash. And he has to smell the shit flowing in Bagmati.

What would Muhammad think if he sees the women in Burkha, when he himself was marreid to a powerful widow.

What would Jesus think if he hears the Catholic priest involved in one of the biggest paedophile in the history of mankind.

So WTF is your point? Things change with time. Nobody's stoping you from being a 100% Buddhist. Go ahead

 

 

For outsider like Krishnam Darlami and many alike, this is not surprising to see comments like this. If you drive around in Kathmandu, you will see monastries popping up everywhere. One will questions why we do need all these monastries? Monastries are becoming more and more elegant and show off. I used to ask the same questions. But I feel proud of those Rimpoche and Tulkus who go to great length and build these monastries. I have seen ordinary monks become learned and build the institution. My deep respect to them and hope I can contribute more financially so that they can make more. Here is why.

1. They are leader. They walk a path of Boddhisattva and others follow them with deep respect. With donations they receive, they build the monastry. They are not stealing money. They earned it.

2. Of course you will find 5-10-20-50 or more monks in the monastry depending upon their size. Those who entert monastry are not rich kids. 90 percent of them are from poor family. Parents who cannot feed and educate their children usually send them to monastry. Monastry does not discriminate who becomes monk. If you can learn dharma and walk path of Buddha, he/she is welcome to join. Even Dalits are welcome in Buddhist monastry.

3. Most of the teachers travel overseas and get donations from their follower to build monastry and to expand their Dharma activities.So they bring $$$ to back home and introduce Nepal as a Land of Buddha. If you go to Purutotwa Vibag in Maitighar, you will see 90% of export items related to Buddhism. Statues like Tara, Buddha, Padmasambhava and many thankas gets stamped before exporting overseas.

4. Finally, it contributed alot to local economy.....from construction, to purchasing daily foods and employing locals in managing Gompas.

I would rather see young and helpless kids join monastry and learn words of Buddha than become street kids and later on joining gundas like YCL and some other associations.

Being a buddhist from Helambu and living in Connecticut, I had a chance to attend Kalachakra this summer at Palyul retreat in Upstate New York. It is  500 plus acres and the main hall that can accomodate over 1200 people. This is Once in a Life Time opportunity to receive such teaching. Over thousand follower received teaching that has been passed on from the time of Buddha. I was amazed by the vision of Penor Rimpoche. So many people could formed Sangha and listen to dharma all at the same time. If lama had not build such a grandior place, it would have been difficult for Buddhist lay person like me to receive teaching and also meet other Dharma friends. At the end, I prayed that Rimpoche live long life and expand his activities for the sake of humanities. I hope I can do it again next year. You can learn more about this at www.palyul.org.

So my friend Krishna Dalrami, I hope you learned something today. May I recommend the book  "Way of Boddhisattva" by Shantideva. ShantiDeva was one of those Mahasiddhi from India who studied in Nalanda University. You will learn a lot, and perhaps your life will be more enjoyable and see things differently going forward. Here is one quote from the Book," All the joy the world contains comes from wishing Happiness to others...All the misery comes from wanting everyone for onself."

Peace and a great weekend.

Krishnaji:

Buddhism has adapted to many local custom and has not lost it true meaning. That is the beauty of Buddhism and it has adapted amazingly well. Just like great Mahasiddhas of India, Buddhism has also produced amazing leaders when it adapted in Tibet. In fact, we see amazing leaders from time to time like Dalai Lama, Karmapa, Shakya Rimpoche just to name a few. That is the beauty of Buddhism. It gives new meaning. I like the quote from Buddha, "Dharma belongs to no one. It belongs to those who practise it."

Just like you can climb Mt Everest from different direction, but destination is same. Similarly, Buddhism has adapted many form to adjust with local cultures and tradition. But the goal of Enlightenment is same. Proof is Dharma acceptance by majority of people and respect it gets.

Thanks....

 

 

Religion was "created" by enlightened men for the common man. Its main purpose is to give the common man an identity to a particular form of God. I am a Hindu. I am a Buddhist. I am a Christian etc. With such identifications, he feels connected with someone from the same group. Similar to patriotism. But in this case, simple basic principles like Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa have all been dressed up with such elaborate costumes called "rituals". These dressings are a necessary part of one's spiritual evolution. Since all 5 fingers are not the same, every man travels on his own path of evolution. A simple villager would not understand the concept of Shiva and Shakti. He needs an image of Kali Matha depicting terror if you fail to follow Her dictates. So, in order to control the simple villager, the Brahmin priests carry out elaborate rituals to put fear and terror in his heart. But the educated urbanites can't be treated like that. So, they are guided to seek the blessings of more benevolent gods and goddesses like Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Krishna, Rama, Tara, Buddha, Jesus, Allah etc. These gods are portayed as being more loving, understanding, giving and easily approachable. The rituals have more pomp and gaeity because the the urbanite seeks a god who appears to have some standards. Then, those who renounce materialism and live a detached life, live on an even higher plateau. They seek self-realisation through the grace of the indestructible Lord Shiva and his invincible consort Parvati. The union with Shiva and Shakti is the ultimate goal of all yogis and yoginis, sadhus, sages and saints. And that can only be attained through the following methods:- 1. Karma Yoga i.e. the path of activity. 2. Bhakti Yoga i.e. the path of devotion. 3. Gyana Yoga i.e. the path of enquiry. 4. Raja Yoga i.e. the path of introspection. 5. Hatha Yoga i.e. the path of balancing the mental, physical and subtle forces of the body.

In other words, self-realisation can be attained by following any of these Paths. So, it doesn't matter whether a religion is simple or complex with rituals. The bottom line is man seeks god in his own way. What appears right for one man may appear wrong to another. Everything is just appearances i.e. maya or illusion. Hence, let's not worry about the rituals of various religions. Let's set the right example for others to emulate. When you do that, automatically others will follow.

Heartbeat: Well said. Self realisation can be attained in a different ways. Whichever path you choose, you got to take action. Big mouth aint gonna help. Like Buddha said, "Dharma belongs to No One. It Belongs to those who practise it."

Exactly lets appreciate instead of complaining when someone does good things and shows leadership. Lets hope others will follow the same for goodness of humanity and peace.