The Mormon Buddhist

This is only the first week of reading "The Center Within" and this was a great chapter. I loved how simple it all was to understand. I am a big believer that the middle path is something that should be so simple to understand that people think it's anti-climatic. "Simple" should be an overstatement. The first thing that was talked about was awareness, but I prefer to use the word "understanding". Its the first part of the 8-fold path. Some say that its the most important one, because if we don't understand things, we can't move forward and learn from any of the others. We must become aware of what is happening around us. What are we feeling? Why? Is it connected to another feeling or event? Everything is interdependent, its just a matter of finding the connection. Some other crucial aspects of understanding include impermanence, acceptance, and appreciation. Enlightenment cannot be understood conceptually, it must be understood experient

Freedom is the basic desire of man. Whether it be in politics, religion, or love, people want the joy that comes with freedom. We lose freedom when we refuse to accept the reality of the situation that we're in. Real freedom is living life as it is, not as how you are attached to how you want it to be. That's not to say that you can't want things, just don't be attached to them. If you're unhappy with a situation, put in the effect and action to change it. Our happiness is our own responsibility. Others can assist in making us happy, but ultimately it's up to us to get the ball rolling. One thing that I've come to learn is what happiness actually is. Many see money as the ultimate sign of happiness. Granted, it brings a level of comfort, but it in no way guarantees happiness, and in many cases it does the opposite. True happiness is doing what you love because you love doing it. If you love being a McDonald's worker and find unparalleled enjoyment in

This week I started reading "Everyday Suchness" by Rev. Gyomay M. Kubose . Gyomay Kubose is the founder of Bright Dawn, the organization I'm taking my ministry course through. His goal was to help create a distinctly American Buddhism. He wanted Americans to hear Buddhism in a way that resonates with us. This goal is very much accomplished from what I've read so far. I know several classic Buddhist analogies, and can see how he's taken those concepts and modernized them. Its a breath of fresh air but still retains a classic Buddhist feel, which is something I feel Stephen Bachelor failed to do. The concept of happiness being highlighted by sadness is something I've loved for years. I first encountered it when reading the Book of Mormon. In 2nd Nephi 2:11 it says: For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor m

This week's reading was incredibly short since we just read the "Buddhism: The Path of Enlightenment" booklet and the "Buddhist Symbols" pamphlet. I very much enjoyed the booklet. It put things in such simple terms and I loved them. I especially liked the part where it says Buddhism emphasizes: TRUTH rather than GOD MEDITATION rather than PRAYER ENLIGHTENMENT rather than SALVATION UNIVERSAL LIFE rather than INDIVIDUAL SOUL I also love the Lotus analogy, and it has a more personal meaning for my family. My wife was hospitalized 2 times last year for mental health. The hospital's job isn't to help teach you coping skills, its simply to get you stabilized so you can get those coping skills in therapy and medication. After the first time, she thought medication would take care of it all. When the euphoric stage of getting on medication was over, she still didn't have those skills, which resulted in her needing to go back into the hospital. The 2nd tim

This week we read all of Gyomay Kubose's " American Buddhism: A New Direction ". It was touched on that it is essential for Buddhism to adapt to the culture that it is in. People have different perspectives, and instead of forcing them to change to their perspective, Buddhism morphs to fit theirs. Its almost like the jar and golf ball story . Buddhism fills in the empty spaces. Another thing that really struck me was the idea that Buddhism can help with mental health. Buddhism offers a way to learn how to deal with the harsh realities of life instead of ignore them. The 4 Noble Truths are commonly referred to a medical diagnosis. They looks at symptoms (there is suffering), find the causes (craving), proscribe a remedy, and give the medicine (8-Fold Path). This is something that has helped me enormously. I suffer from depression, and when I finally decided to start getting help, I felt like there were an infinite number of problems in my life, and I decided to list th

The CTR shield is a symbol for most Mormons growing up. I definitely agree with it's message to "Choose The Right". The 8-fold Path suggests what we should choose the right in. Many Mormons jokingly take it in a more literal sense when they need to randomly choose something, and pick whichever one is at the most right. I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit and make a "CTM" shield, with CTM standing for "Choose The Middle". Buddha's life is a good example of avoiding extremes. he was born in a life of extreme luxury, and then lived a life of extreme asceticism. He eventually came to realize that enlightenment is found in the middle between these 2 great extremes. He would go on to often call his teachings "The Middle Way".

Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism Without Beliefs" was like trying to take a drink from a fire hose for me. There were SO many concepts that were being given left and right in such eloquent ways I could barely keep up, let alone think of something to write. I wish we had spent more time reading this book so we could examine what we were learning more thoroughly. I'll try my best to explain what I've gleaned though! The concept of thinking of the 4 Noble Truths as a task list rather than a belief is something that has always come natural to me. I frequently refer to my flowchart that I made, and think about how it applies to my situation. How  am I suffering? What  am I craving? By simply asking these question I've already declawed the suffering I have. Its not a formless monster; it has boundaries and limitations and it is defined and recognized. By doing this, you start to let go of the problem. It almost certainly wasn't as big of a deal as you believed it