What tradition do you follow?

by **Sacha G** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:17 am

Hello
What tradition do you follow?
- Sri lankan?
- Burmese ?
- Thai ?
- Theravada in general?
- Proto-buddhism?
- Mahayana?

I personally follow the Thai Forest tradition, and am open to the others.

Sacha

by **Zom** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:07 am

I don't like thai forest line because of their popular "eternal citta view" :spy:

by **Upasaka** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:12 am

Thai Forest tradition for me.

by **Jhana4** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:31 pm

Empiricism

I will try a technique or way of doing something. If it works for me I will keep doing it. If not I will not.

If I hear of an interesting belief I will check to see if there is evidence for it. If so, I will think about it more. If not, I will forget about it.

by **ground** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:43 pm

I guess its commonly called "buddhism".

Kind regards

by **theravada_guy** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 9:15 pm

I just follow general Theravada. I'm somewhat in contact with a bhikkhu from Sri Lanka, and I'm trying to set up a time to go and see him to take formal Refuge and Precepts, but he's pretty busy. I think they're planning on building a meditation center up where he's at, which is about 45 miles from where I live.

When I meditate, I just concentrate on the breath. I haven't started doing metta meditation yet, but I need too, pretty badly.

by **Prasadachitta** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 3:30 am

TMingyur wrote:I guess its commonly called "buddhism".

Kind regards

me 2

by **santa100** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:03 am

same here, Buddhism or BuddhaDhamma.

by **Tex** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:20 pm

Maybe someday I'll commit to a more specific tradition within Theravada, but for now being a Theravada generalist is working out pretty well.

by **Goofaholix** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:43 pm

None or all.

What's the point of picking one over the others?

Of course some afford more practise opportunities or resonate with me more, I guess that reduces it to half a dozen or so.

by **David N. Snyder** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 7:14 pm

I edited the OP to add a poll. You can choose up to four choices of the tradition(s) that you follow or that best describe your philosophy, since there may be overlaps among traditions.

Classical Theravada is the 'unofficial' name for those who hold the Tipitaka as Buddhavacana (direct words of Buddha) and also hold the Commentaries in high esteem.
Modern Theravada is the 'unofficial' name for those who are primarily Suttanta, focusing more on the earliest teachings of the Buddha in the Suttas.

by **Goofaholix** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 8:58 pm

An obvious omission from the list is "Insight Meditation".

by **David N. Snyder** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:57 am

Goofaholix wrote:An obvious omission from the list is "Insight Meditation".

Vipassana = Insight meditation, so arguably most, if not all of the above choices (other than Mahayana) practice some form of vipassana. If there is no specific tradition of vipassana practiced, one could choose Theravada (in general) or Goenka vipassana.

by **Sacha G** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:17 pm

Thanks David for transforming the thread into a poll.
:anjali:

Let's see what comes out of it.
:coffee:

by **Otsom** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:48 pm

by **Ytrog** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:30 pm

Thai forest tradition for me.

by **Spiny O'Norman** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:04 am

David N. Snyder wrote:IModern Theravada is the 'unofficial' name for those who are primarily Suttanta, focusing more on the earliest teachings of the Buddha in the Suttas.

I do like the suttas. But I like some of the sutras too. :juggling:

Spiny

by **Buckwheat** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:03 pm

Goofaholix wrote:None or all.

What's the point of picking one over the others?

Of course some afford more practise opportunities or resonate with me more, I guess that reduces it to half a dozen or so.

To avoid becoming the "Jack of all trades, master of none." Selecting a lineage is a matter of digging deeply into it's roots to memorize their chants, do their austerities, dedicate to the same ideas. It's a matter of depth. I can't possibly remember the chants for every school of Buddhism, every list of doctrines, every meditation practice. So I focus on Thai Forest. Although I'm still influenced by Koans and Shikantaza, and I have an open mind for all schools, including other Theravada, Zen, Tibetan, Taoism, Hinduism, Chistianity, Judaism. I have to admit that it's sad how little I know about Islam.

Breadth and depth are both important.

by **Spiny O'Norman** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:58 am

Buckwheat wrote:Breadth and depth are both important.

That's how I see it. For me understanding the big picture is important, not least because I know that there are a range of approaches and some suit my temperament better than others.

Spiny

by **Terasi** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 2:46 am

I am too novice to even know where I am :tongue:

My centre is Thai Forest style, and many of the visiting monks are Ajahn Chah's lineage, but I learn mostly from non Thai Forest books. In a few years, if this poll is still up, maybe I will come back to cast a vote.