Ask MysticSang'ha anything (Buddhism, disciple, doctrine, experience, pray)

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by vandervalley

Correct me if I am wrong; DL is in India now right? From my knowledge India has plenty of fertile soils + pleasant temperature to grow vegies and besides DL got his meals from the kitchen which is situated in the building where he lives; not from people's leftovers on the street.

So why isn't he a vegetarian yet?

She already answered this:

Originally Posted by MysticSang'ha

The DL has also been advised by his doctor to eat meat because of his Hepatitis infection he got some years ago.

And as I said, some Tibetans have a mutation that does not allow them to be vegetarian.

Let us please not get into a debate about vegetarianism in the Buddhism discussion forum, and especially not in Mystic's thread.

[MysticSang'ha]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Namaste Mystic.

Here's a straight-forward question:What are the differences between the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism?

Tashe delek, and Namaste lilithu.

The Nyingma school is by definition the oldest school among Tibetan Buddhists, and it's lineage can be traced back to it's earliest teachings from the Samye institutional monarchies around 900 c.e. Once Tibet became rather decentralized, and the monastics found themselves in varying lineages, the other three schools branched out from this school, also called the "Ancient School."

All lineages trace their beginnings back to Padmasambhava, the dude that penned the Bardos Thodol. But the Nyingma school honors him and recognizes him the most out of all, and calls him Guru Rinpoche. Nyingma also is considered the "Old Translation" school, since it has focused primarily on maintaining the integrity of the Dharma transmissions of the third turning of the wheel of Dharma.

Nyingma also consideres the path to enlightenment broken down into nine yanas instead of the three that we are familiar with today.

We have the two Yanas of "cause": Theravada (Hinayana), and Mahayana

Then we have the Yana of "result": Vajrayana, which is broken down into two Tantras, the Outer Tantras and the Inner Tantras:

Outer Tantras (focus on relationship with a Deity): Kriyayoga-yana, Upayoga-yana, Yoga-yana

Inner Tantras (all phenomena are equal, consorts are visualized in Tantric positions with their partners): Mahayoga-yana, Anuyoga-yana, Atiyoga-yana

These teachings have been held together most authentically by the Nyingma school since it's earliest spreadings. Much like how I personally value the Theravadin perspective, I personally value the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism as kind of the Mother Ship, in a way.

I'll go into more detail of the three schools that are considered the "New Translation" schools, whose hierarchies have been known to travel from more distant lands, and therefore, differing perspectives on the Vajrayana Dharma transmissions.

The three New schools have also been more entwined in political struggles with each other and within their own circles far more than the Nyingma school has.

*rubs eyes*

As you've probably guessed, this is just the tip of the iceberg on the Tibetan history and it's foundations of it's lineages...........and lineages are super-duper important here. But this is about as far as I can personally get without wondering if my head will explode.

As promised, I will address the other three schools in a later post.

I'm so glad you asked this, lilithu.




Peace,
Mystic

[MysticSang'ha]

Originally Posted by vandervalley

Correct me if I am wrong; DL is in India now right? From my knowledge India has plenty of fertile soils + pleasant temperature to grow vegies and besides DL got his meals from the kitchen which is situated in the building where he lives; not from people's leftovers on the street.

So why isn't he a vegetarian yet?

and also why aren't the monks who followed him to India vegetarians now?

Yes, we can say that the DL has moved from his palace in Lhasa to northern India, where he is living in exile, in Dharamsala.

The monastic vows do not specifically state to abstain from meat. They DO have stringent codes of conduct when it comes to sex (they are to be celibate), speech, and action..............but when it comes to animals, all will agree that they are not to kill them.

Refer to my earlier post on the bigger picture. We can't don the legalistic caps here. Another example:

We have a local monastery that had a termite problem a few years ago. It was so bad that if they did not take immediate action and exterminate the darn bugs, their monastery would have to be torn down. This is a centralized place for many Buddhists in our local area to go for retreat. The scenery is beautiful. The monks and nuns there, all Theravadins, are open and welcome of all traditions. We celebrated Vesak day there this past May, and it was absolutely wonderful. It's a great place to teach and uphold the Dharma.

They had to weigh their decision on what would make a bigger karmic impact. Should they maintain their place for Dharma teachings and as a place for meditative refuge for the laity? Or should they kill the bugs?

The fact that I can drive out there today and find the monastery still there shows us what they chose to do.

As lilithu stated, if you would like to debate this issue of meat-eating among Buddhists, you are more than welcome to start a thread in the Debate forums.




Peace,
Mystic

[Don Penguinoini]

Originally Posted by MysticSang'ha

Well, ideally, animal flesh ought not to be a nutritional provision for humans. Because of this compassion for sentient beings (animals), a number of Buddhists take it upon themselves to refrain from eating meat.

However, ideally, insects, worms, critters, or anything else ought not to be harmed or killed in order to till the soil to plant the vegetables that would replace meat food for humans, too.

Also, consider the environment that most Tibetans live in. The climate is soooo not conducive to producing acres of crops, so they mostly rely on the yaks they raise for their sustenance.

I often times play devil's advocate, too, with vegans who are A-OK with human abortion rights............these are people who think that eating eggs are eating a "potential life" of a chicken and consider it a crime, but also will not have the same protective attitude toward a "potential human life."

It's not that one's right and another is wrong. It's just a challenge for all of us to brutal and honest self-examination on how we define our boundaries and our morals. For a lot of people, right vs. wrong results in a whole lot of "arbitrary." And our perpsectives on animals are no different.

So sure, we shouldn't eat animals. We also shouldn't lie, gossip, speak harshly, take what isn't ours, or kill insects, either. But these negative karmic actions are not meant to be evident for us to feel a sense of punishment or not...........we are here to examine our karmic actions and habits that keep us in the cycle of samsara.

It's a very worthy question, penguino. I hope you don't mind that I used your question to address a broader picture.

When it comes to the Dalai Lama, he is by his own definition, a simple monk. Buddhist monks are to eat what is offered to them, so if the laity gives a bhikku or a bhikkuni some meat in their offering bowl, they must eat it.

The DL has also been advised by his doctor to eat meat because of his Hepatitis infection he got some years ago.

I currently eat meat, but my family and I have been discussing recently how to transition to a more compassionate and healthy diet.




Peace,
Mystic

Thanks Mystic, something which i didnt know i learnt today, The Buddha ate meat...

[Willamena]

I have some questions for you, Heather.

You mentioned earlier perceptions that were "absolutely NOT of this gross physical/material world." As I understand the concept of "unity," there is only one world ("form does not differ from emptiness"). Do you consider yourself to be a dualist?

You mentioned earlier 'three cosmological "functions"' of body called Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya, and Dharmakaya. Without demanding too much detail from you, as explanation might get very long, am I correct in concluding that these are three perspectives on humanity? Are they for all conscious beings (life-forms)? Do all things have these three functions of body?

What is samsara? I suspect I know, but really should ask.

What is Sang'ha?

[Engyo]

Willamena -

I will take two of the easy ones, so Heather can get the tough ones.

Sangha has several meanings. The broadest is "community of believers". In narrower form (in certain Buddhist traditions) it may mean those who have taken vows, i.e. monks and nuns.

Samsara is "this world of suffering" or "this world of endurance". It refers to this world where our daily lives play out, especially in relation to heaven or hell realms.

[Willamena]

Originally Posted by Engyo

Samsara is "this world of suffering" or "this world of endurance". It refers to this world where our daily lives play out, especially in relation to heaven or hell realms.

Awesome. That is how I read it.

[lilithu]

Namaste Engyo

Originally Posted by Engyo

Samsara is "this world of suffering" or "this world of endurance". It refers to this world where our daily lives play out, especially in relation to heaven or hell realms.

I thought that samsara was the cycle of death and rebirth in which we are "stuck." Wouldn't a rebirth in either "heaven" or "hell" still be samsara?