Resources? (Buddhism, choices, choice, experience, verse)

[MaddLlama]

Can you recommend any good books, websites or other good media learning sources? I've been reading some things, visited some websites and am working my way through a book or two, and I am having a terribly hard time understanding what I'm reading.

Also, do any of you wonderful Buddhist types mind if I pester you with basic questions? I think I may need someone to actually explain certain things to me.

[Sunstone]

What questions do you have, O Wondrous Llama? I'm not a Buddhist, but I might be able to satisfactorily answer one or two of the simpler questions.

BTW, are you reading the Dharmapada yet? That seems to be a good intro to Buddhism.

[Comet]

What is it you are reading or trying to learn? Otherwise I couldn't reccommend anything that may pertain to what it is you seek...

[Comet]

If you seek answers about Buddhism, just search "questions about buddhism" etc...

You'll get some good websites with basic info, like"

http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/qna.html

Maybe that came through... I am horrible at posting links.....

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

Can you recommend any good books, websites or other good media learning sources? I've been reading some things, visited some websites and am working my way through a book or two, and I am having a terribly hard time understanding what I'm reading.

Also, do any of you wonderful Buddhist types mind if I pester you with basic questions? I think I may need someone to actually explain certain things to me.

Hi MaddLlama, namaste.

In terms of intro books, I really like "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula. It's very accessible.

I personally found that Buddhism has been hard to understand because of the difficulties of language. But once I finally understood a concept it makes total sense... if that makes sense. It's like a light switch going on.

Anyway, we have some amazingly knowledgeable and helpful Buddhists on RF. And I will try to help as well, if I can. Since I approach Buddhism from the perspective of an interested outsider, it sometimes allows me to explain things more easily to other outsiders, because I've struggled with similar questions.

[MaddLlama]

I haven't actually picked it up yet, but it's one my list. =)

So far, I have two questions. I would think that these are pretty basic, but they are confusing the heck out of me:

First, if everything is impermanent, then what makes life, or anything we experience worth experiencing? It seems like a pessimistic way of looking at things, but I've never found Buddhists to have a pessimistic outlook. Or, is the idea of impermanence just supposed to teach people that the present is more important than the future or the past?

My other question is somewhat similar. What does it mean to say that "the self" doesn't exist? Does it not exist on a physical level, or is it some undefined idea of "the self"? If it doesn't exist, doesn't that detach us from having, or wanting to have any sort of experience? What benefit is there in "destroying the concept of the self"?

I'm really just scratching the surface in learning, but from what I've read so far, I just don't get how a regular person can actually live a "normal" life (have a job, a family, etc) and be a Buddhist. It seems like to really follow the path one would have to follow a monastic path. Obviously that can't be right, but I'm just so damn confused.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

First, if everything is impermanent, then what makes life, or anything we experience worth experiencing? It seems like a pessimistic way of looking at things, but I've never found Buddhists to have a pessimistic outlook. Or, is the idea of impermanence just supposed to teach people that the present is more important than the future or the past?

Impermanence is just a fact of life. It is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. It is the recognition that things change. Everything changes. But once one understands impermanence, it can be freeing. Our attachment to the concept of permanence leads us to grasp at how we think things should be instead of experiencing life as it is. I know that for me, learning to recognize and live with impermanence has made me a much calmer, happier person that I was before.

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

My other question is somewhat similar. What does it mean to say that "the self" doesn't exist? Does it not exist on a physical level, or is it some undefined idea of "the self"? If it doesn't exist, doesn't that detach us from having, or wanting to have any sort of experience? What benefit is there in "destroying the concept of the self"?

It is a very similar question, because we are still talking about impermanence. You as a person do exist. To say otherwise goes against your direct, personal experience. But you as an unchanging, permanent self do not exist. You are not the same you that you were ten years ago, or even a year ago, or even a day ago. There are many similarities between the you from yesterday and the you of this moment - many continuities, but not identical. As you interact with the world and are affected by it, you change. That is one way in which there is no permanent self.

Another way to look at it is spatial instead of temporal. What are you, anyway? You are your body, which is continually exchanging matter with the rest of the universe. You maintain a shape but the actual molecules of your body are being exchanged with the molecules in your environment. You body is just a temporary aggregate of these molecules that holds a particular shape. You are also your personality, which is the product of genetics, experiences, choices... These are also temporary aggregates of information. You are also the roles and relationships that you play in society, which are completely dependant upon other people and things. So for example you as a mother cannot really exist without your child. You are mutually dependant. In this way, it's hard to see where one ends and the other begins. That is another way in which there is no self.

The benefit to recognizing the truth of no-self is again to get rid of the grasping, and to free us to experience life as it really is instead of filtered through our attachments. This is the short term benefit anyway. A lot of people who practice the Buddhist path stop at this point, where the only goal is to live a more mindful present. But for some, the ultimate goal is nirvana. And recognition of impermanence is a necessary first step to nirvana.

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

I'm really just scratching the surface in learning, but from what I've read so far, I just don't get how a regular person can actually live a "normal" life (have a job, a family, etc) and be a Buddhist. It seems like to really follow the path one would have to follow a monastic path. Obviously that can't be right, but I'm just so damn confused.

Well...the Buddha originally intended for the ideal Buddhists to all be monks. So maybe you're not as confused as you thought.

[Comet]

[quote=MaddLlama]

First, if everything is impermanent, then what makes life, or anything we experience worth experiencing? It seems like a pessimistic way of looking at things, but I've never found Buddhists to have a pessimistic outlook. Or, is the idea of impermanence just supposed to teach people that the present is more important than the future or the past?

On a different subject that may explain this: try "The Universe That Discovered Itself".... I think it is by Michu Kaku or Michael Greene.... it would be in the Science section in the Astrophysics or Mathematics section.

You must understand that time does not exist... It is a matter of an individual path to enlightenment. Enlightenment is the key.

My other question is somewhat similar. What does it mean to say that "the self" doesn't exist? Does it not exist on a physical level, or is it some undefined idea of "the self"? If it doesn't exist, doesn't that detach us from having, or wanting to have any sort of experience? What benefit is there in "destroying the concept of the self"?

What is it that exists within your mind? We create ourselves and when one can deconstruct themselves, they will find that which is the whole of all things.... including that which was the self. It is about the greater truth of things....