Any questions?
 

Do any of our recent members who are newcomers to Buddhism have any questions they'd like to ask the rest of the group in the Beginners forum?

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I have a couple!
I'm the type of person who really like tradition/rituals, it helps me stay grounded. That's the one thing I feel is lacking in Buddhism for me: ritual, but it could very well be that I just haven't read enough :)
So, my questions are 1)What do you do on Uposatha days? and 2)What sort of day to day things should I be doing other than following the basics? (5 precepts, 8 fold path...)

Welcome GrayMorning !

I'm the type of person who really like tradition/rituals, it helps me stay grounded. That's the one thing I feel is lacking in Buddhism for me: ritual, but it could very well be that I just haven't read enough :) Traditions and rituals were created after the Buddha had died rather than being part of his teachings. Different traditions vary enormously in the amount of ritual they use and often it can depend on the cultural backgrounds they evolved in too.

There's some information on Buddhist rituals and observances here which are connected to devotional practices and observances in the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition in the UK:

http://www.amaravati.org/abm/english...bservances.pdf


In anwer to your questions:

1. I light a candle on a simple shrine, repeat the Refuge x3 and choose some chants to repeat in English from this book:

http://www.amaravati.org/abmnew/docu..._Book_2006.pdf


2. Daily meditation is very important and you can find video links and advice for Buddhist meditation in our Study Links section.


With kind wishes,

Aloka-D

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Thank you so much! The link to that book- is really helpful!

Not really questions per se, but I have an observation on something thats been happening to me, I'm getting spontaneous moments when my mind goes very quiet, the monkey chatters away but he's pretty easy to ignore instead the usual chaos of chasing him around and around, its a great experience, mind you. I take it this is going to be a more common occurence, I'm going to my first Samatha class tonight so I can probably discuss it with the teacher.

Also a lot of my old interests have started to appear to me as kind of trivial, I used to be a hardcore video gamer, but since I've been practcing it seems a bit of a waste of time, is this a normal occurence?

Hello again L_T,

Sounds good that you're noticing what's happening. Great to hear that you're going to your first class, I hope it will be the first of many more.

Also a lot of my old interests have started to appear to me as kind of trivial, I used to be a hardcore video gamer, but since I've been practcing it seems a bit of a waste of time, is this a normal occurence? Yes, it is quite normal to feel like that. Over a period of time I found that I gradually lost interest quite naturally in one or two things I was involved with in one way or another. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/grin.gif

Do Buddhists have to marry other Buddhists? My fiance is Catholic/Agnostic (he isn't entirely sure which one he is yet) and I'll marry him regardless but, I am curious.

Hi Samhraidh,

No, I don't think there's any rule about who we have to marry!

There are some guidelines for harmonious relationships in the Pali Canon Suttas, for example AN 4.55 : Samajivina Sutta - Living in Tune

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....055.than.html


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:D Ok, and I'll look at that, I don't believe in divorce so I'll do what I can to make my marriage a good one.

Question from NovaScotia_Buddhist moved to new thread 'Could this be a form of meditation ? '.


Please could newcomers now post new separate topics for their questions here in the Beginners Forum.

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