A Buddhist discussion forum on the Dhamma of the Theravada
Quiz
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Quiz
by greggorious » Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:13 pm
Anyone know any quizzes are questionnaires for helping you decide what kind of Buddhist you might be? I've been torn between Zen and Theravada for a long time and it's quite conflicting. I took some silly little quiz which wasn't very good, but it said I was theravada. I wouldn't mind a more in depth analysis.
"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah
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Re: Quiz
by cooran » Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:40 pm
Hello greggorious,
I don't see any conflict between Theravada and Zen. Why not keep both?
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/what-kind- ... e-you-quiz
But why try to put a label on yourself, why try to put yourself in a particular box?
Just follow the Teachings of the Buddha. Your understanding will grow, mature and change over time.
with metta
Chris
I don't see any conflict between Theravada and Zen. Why not keep both?
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/what-kind- ... e-you-quiz
But why try to put a label on yourself, why try to put yourself in a particular box?
Just follow the Teachings of the Buddha. Your understanding will grow, mature and change over time.
with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Re: Quiz
by daverupa » Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:49 pm
greggorious wrote:Anyone know any quizzes are questionnaires for helping you decide what kind of Buddhist you might be? I've been torn between Zen and Theravada for a long time and it's quite conflicting. I took some silly little quiz which wasn't very good, but it said I was theravada. I wouldn't mind a more in depth analysis.
Be the good kind of Buddhist, the one who trains day and night in wholesome states. Rahula was given a way to quiz himself about this in MN 61.
If you're still aching for a label, why not ask yourself which set of texts you'd want to compile and memorize in case of being stranded on a desert island. Are they from the Nikayas? Perhaps you'd prefer the Shobogenzo? Or something else?
(Maybe you're afraid to pick anything other than the 'best' practice, which translates into a hunt for the 'best' Buddhist label?)
- "There is, headman, dhammasamādhi. If you were to obtain cittasamādhi in that, you might abandon this state of perplexity. And what, headman, is dhammasamādhi?
[kammapatha & brahmavihara, & a method of arousing gladness]"
- "Others will misapprehend according to their individual views, hold on to them tenaciously and not easily discard them; we shall not misapprehend according to individual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease — thus effacement can be done."
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Re: Quiz
by greggorious » Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:58 pm
I like Therevada because of Vipassana and because of Ajahn Buddhadassa, I like Zen due to it's pantheistic and altruistic nature. Not into Tibetan at all though.
"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah
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Re: Quiz
by daverupa » Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:44 pm
greggorious wrote:Zen due to it's pantheistic and altruistic nature.
Care to elaborate here? I'm curious, having started with Zen myself.
- "There is, headman, dhammasamādhi. If you were to obtain cittasamādhi in that, you might abandon this state of perplexity. And what, headman, is dhammasamādhi?
[kammapatha & brahmavihara, & a method of arousing gladness]"
- "Others will misapprehend according to their individual views, hold on to them tenaciously and not easily discard them; we shall not misapprehend according to individual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease — thus effacement can be done."
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daverupa - Posts: 2787
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Re: Quiz
by Hanzze » Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:54 am
If you have alturistic tendencies its good to tend to orthodox Theravada, if you are more from a selfish tendency its good if you cut of your horns in any Bodhisattva tradition. For the beginning, at least you will find all the same tendenies in both, and finaly see that normal alturistic as well as selfishness are rooted in the same confusion.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html
BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html
BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze - Posts: 1906
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Re: Quiz
by whynotme » Sat Sep 29, 2012 1:35 am
greggorious wrote:Anyone know any quizzes are questionnaires for helping you decide what kind of Buddhist you might be? I've been torn between Zen and Theravada for a long time and it's quite conflicting. I took some silly little quiz which wasn't very good, but it said I was theravada. I wouldn't mind a more in depth analysis.
Dear greggorious,
I see the main problem of you is not the traditions, but your purpose. You just want label. Even if you are a student of a true arahant, you still can't possess his wisdom and understanding. The core teaching of the Buddha is that you must rely on yourself and dhamma, don't rely on others let alone traditions. Even the teaching of one tradition is true, but if you just know the texts, you know nothing. You just want to worship something. This attitude is not bad but if you take it to the extreme, it is really bad, because it increases arrogance, even when you are worshiping the Buddha.
Let have an opened mind. If zen or therevada says something, examine it, compare it, test it, if it is compatible with truth, benefit, it can't be criticized reasonably by the wises, then follow it. And open this attitude to everything, whatever is said, from scientists, other religions, Christians, Muslims, atheists,..
Regards
Please stop following me
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Re: Quiz
by m0rl0ck » Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:21 am
It just boggles my mind that you could mistake zen for pantheism 
How do you feel they are similar?
How do you feel they are similar?We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to
the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his
children smart.
-- H.L. Mencken, "Minority Report"
the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his
children smart.
-- H.L. Mencken, "Minority Report"
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Re: Quiz
by Hanzze » Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:28 am
Here is a quiz which might be useful: Which rebirth do you deserve?
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html
BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html
BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze - Posts: 1906
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- Location: Cambodia
Re: Quiz
by DAWN » Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:20 am
whynotme wrote:greggorious wrote: You just want label.
Not label, but stability.
Some peoples, most of new practitioners, must to be supported in their practice by an appartenance to group.
It's true, that this appartenance will solidifying the ego, but it's better than nothning. If some one feels that he need some external support to practice, he must make this support, after, if he practice well, he will put this support in the trash.
IMO
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
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