General questions

 

Question : (Unedited)

How does your religion differ from others and similar to other religion (example, Christianity)
Do you believe in reincarnation?
Do Buddhists have a set of rules that they must follow?
Can you tell me types of meditation and if you believe in Buddhism, does every one have to do meditation?  ( do you guys pray or is meditation is like praying?)


My comment :

Hi S,

 How does your religion differ from others and similar to other religion (example, Christianity)
General similarities are around universal truths which have no boundary, such as love, unselfishness, goodwill and compassion.  The main differences are that Buddhism does not subscribe to the existence of "eternal and unchanging soul", "a place called heaven where people live in eternal peace and happiness", and "an all-powerful God".


Do you believe in reincarnation?

Reincarnation and rebirth are different concepts.  The Buddha spoke about rebirth.  This means the continuous flow of birth and death involving "consciousness" but not "an unchanging and permanent soul".  The latter is reincarnation.  Life is like a lighted candle.  The flame you see is not the exactly the same for two moments, yet the light seems to be the same.  The Buddha referred this rebirth as a phenomenon that was neither exactly the same nor totally different.

Do Buddhists have a set of rules that they must follow?
Nothing in Buddhism is a MUST.  There is no compulsion.  People are free to decide whether the Buddha's teachings are true and beneficial.  The Buddha gave complete freedom to humans to use their common sense and human intelligence to analyze his teachings.

Can you tell me types of meditation and if you believe in Buddhism, does every one have to do meditation?  ( do you guys pray or is meditation is like praying?)
We do not like to impose our belief on others.  As Buddhists, we know that only through proper meditation that we can train our mind to obey us in order to live a peaceful, wholesome and noble life.  It will take a lengthy explaination to explain Buddhist meditation; but very briefly, there are two main types, namely tranquility meditation and insight meditation.  The former is to achieve a calm and controlled mind.  The latter is to realize the true nature of existence and to attain ultimate liberation from birth and death.  However both are complementary.

As for prayer; in the Christian context, Buddhists do not "pray" because they do not subscribe to a higher power controlling them.  However, they do "communicate" with higher beings existing in different planes of existence, through radiating good thoughts to them.  These higher beings have some worldly powers over humans and can assist them in time of needs.

Protesting monks in Myanmar

 

Question : (Unedited)

I've been watching the news lately and I paid special attention to the broadcast that reported the situation of Myanmar. This was of interest because it had Buddhist monks protesting and getting involved in society. I had always thought that the monks and the Buddhists people in general were discouraged from taking action in society. Does the Buddha really encourage or discourage  taking action in society?

My comment:

Hi D,

Thank you for asking me.

In normal circumstances, your question will be answered based on the purpose of becoming a monk.  A monk's life is supposed to be detached from worldly affairs.  However, in critical situations like the one in Myanmar, I would reason that certain amount of common sense and wisdom have to take into consideration.  The sangha (community of monks) depends on the goodwill of the devotees for their sustenance.  I don't think that the monks should be so heartless not to do anything knowing that the hands that feed them are deliberately tied up.  The cruel regime controls the masses with an iron fist.  It plunders the nation's wealth without a care for their citizens.  Prices are sky rocketing and the masses are threatened with hunger.  If nothing else, I would say the monks have the moral duty to stand up and be counted.  Such is the real nature of this existence.  It is very difficult to live in peace because of the prevalence of evil.  This is the Buddha's warning.

Smile from justinchoo :-)

Prayer for healing

 

Question : (Unedited)

do you have a healing prayer?  A friend just found out she has cancer throughout her body. She is Buddhist and I would like to send her some encouraging message that pertains to her faith.    Thank you. 
 

My comment: 

Hi B,

There is no healing prayer in Buddhism.  Otherwise all will be healed by just chanting the "healing prayer".  A lot of Asians claim to be "Buddhists" but just in name only, for they do not even know who the Buddha was.  I take it that your friend is a "practising" Buddhist.  Then you got to find out which tradition she practises.  Different traditions have different "prayers" for the sick.  

My opinion is that a simple message to this effect will suffice:  
"May the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha give you strength to face all adversity, and may you regain your health in due course."

Hope this helps.