Blessing or Teaching ? which hold u more to Buddhism

bohiruci SG

Just a fresh question , which i would want to see many different kinds of reply ....

Is the Blessings in BUddhism or the deep teaching holds u to Buddhism .

After u feel Buddhism is a logical religion

for me blessing and teachings must go hand in hand .On one hand ,one can be deep in knowledge and practice

on the other it is necessary to sow the seeds of kindness to help oneself and others on the path ....

any fresh input Smile

maggot SG

Buddhism is teachings from Buddha.

To me it is not a religion Cool

chanmalichan SG

It the Fundamental and universal truth teaching.

sinweiy SG

i recall the elephant and Arhat analogy:

blessings
One who cultivates blessings and not wisdom
Is like an elephant wearing a necklace;
One who cultivates wisdom and no blessings
Is like a Arhat with an empty bowl.
(DFS 1080)
"How does one accumulate blessings? It is from a number of actions, not just one. There is a saying, 'Don't skip doing a good deed just because it is small, and don't do a bad deed just because you think it is insignificant'. . . . For example, you should not think that a little lie is of no major importance. If you tell a lot of little lies, they become a big lie. In the same way, you should not think that killing an ant is a small and unimportant matter, because if one day you kill a person, it will have begun with your killing the ant. You should pay attention to little things and not follow your whims and wishes. To cultivate diligently the accumulation of blessings involves being very careful to do the deeds that should be done, even if they accumulate only a small amount of merit and virtue. Gradually they cause an accumulation of great merit and virtue. Mount Tai [a sacred mountain in China] is made up of individual motes of dust, but even though motes of dust are small, many of them gathered together make up a mountain. So too is the creating of blessings." (UW 77)

The Buddha, said, 'When you see someone practicing the Way of giving, aid him joyously, and you will obtain vast and great blessings.'

A Shramana asked, 'Is there an end to those blessings?'

The Buddha said, 'Consider the flame of a single lamp. Though a hundred thousand people come and light their own lamps from it so that they can cook their food and ward off the darkness, the first lamp remains the same as before. Blessings are like this, too.' (S42 23)

Sometimes a distinction is made between worldly 'blessings' or good karma and world-transcending merit and virtue.

Blessings attached to marks reap the
result of the heavens.
But just as an arrow shot into space
Falls as its velocity wanes,
So too, what you get in the life after that will make you unhappy. (FAS Ch24 44)

Building temples and giving sanction to the Sangha, practicing giving and arranging vegetarian feasts is called 'seeking blessings'. Do not mistake blessings for merit and virtue. Merit and virtue are in the Dharma body, not in the cultivation of blessings.

(PS 133)

A confused person will foster blessings,
but not cultivate the Way,
And say, 'To practice for the blessings
is practice of the Way.'

While giving and making offerings
brings blessings without limit,
It is in the mind that the three evils
have their origin.

By seeking blessings you may wish
to obliterate offenses,
But in the future, though you are blessed,
offenses still remain.

You ought simply to strike the evil
conditions from your mind
By true repentance and reform
within your own self-nature.
(PS 194-195)

1) Ch. fu , fu bao , 2) Skt. punya[-phala], 3) Pali punna,
4) Alternate Translations:

See also: merit, karma. http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/Buddhism/BuddhistDict/BDB.html

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laurence82 SG

Except for stories of Buddha and other devas for example which are localised, there wasnt much to suggest its a 'local religion', like for example that Indians are chosen people, or that Buddha's teachings only bring up Indian people

A lot of the teachings i see u guys mentioned have not even mentioned name or place

So how to be localised?

bohiruci SG

issit ?

okie ,
from the mahayana buddhism there is the famous late hong choon venerable who started kong meng san pks temple

and venerable yan pei who started Buddhist welfare service

actually ,localisation is not a easy word to
in singapore we only celebrate vesak on the 15th of lunar month of may ,but infact alot of us do not know that it is a sri lanka monk that proposed to the
British during the colonial rule , or else we wont have vesak day

and the date of the vesak day correspond to the Sri lanka may lunar month not the chinese lunar calendar

in taiwan , japan they celebrate vesak day on the chinese calendar

thats why u will not see vesak day celebration in other countries same as singapore

the local culture (singapore) is much different than the Buddhist dominant countries like japan , vietnam and taiwan , becos the social issue is basically different

well, i think localisation isnt a issue here , as Buddhism not the dominant religion in singapore , People here does not seek actively involved in Buddhist activities ,from the attendance of Dharma lesson in temple , one can see this trend

but ....

Localisation usually takes place when the religion is abt 200or 300 yrs old in this place ,much like the Scottish culture becomes inherited from the Saxon in the time of King Richard
which produces the Scottish highland flavour
so localisation of religion culture only takes place at a later part of Nation's development

laurence , and i wish to said there is no such word as the chosen people in Buddha Laughing

In the eyes of Buddha ,all are equal ..... and have potential to become Buddha

laurence82 SG

meaning the faith doesnt keep harping to stories of one place, actually that what i mean by localised