Quiz

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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greggorious
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Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:40 pm

Quiz

Post by greggorious »

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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cooran
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Re: Quiz

Post by cooran »

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" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
daverupa
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Re: Quiz

Post by daverupa »

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?)
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
greggorious
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Re: Quiz

Post by greggorious »

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
daverupa
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Re: Quiz

Post by daverupa »

greggorious wrote:Zen due to it's pantheistic and altruistic nature.
Care to elaborate here? I'm curious, having started with Zen myself.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Hanzze
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Re: Quiz

Post by Hanzze »

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 _()_
whynotme
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Re: Quiz

Post by whynotme »

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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m0rl0ck
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Re: Quiz

Post by m0rl0ck »

It just boggles my mind that you could mistake zen for pantheism :jumping: How do you feel they are similar?
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.” ― Robert M. Pirsig
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Hanzze
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Location: Cambodia

Re: Quiz

Post by Hanzze »

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 _()_
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DAWN
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Re: Quiz

Post by DAWN »

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
whynotme
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Re: Quiz

Post by whynotme »

DAWN wrote:
whynotme wrote:
greggorious wrote: You just want label.
Not label, but stability.
OK, I know, you're maybe right.

Regards
Please stop following me
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