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Buddhists/A few questions

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Expert: - 2/23/2008


Question
Hello!
My name is Emily and I'm a high schooler from Massachusetts, USA. I'm currently taking a course titled "Eastern and Western thought" As part of this course we were asked to find a person to ask a few questions about Buddhism. I have researched some of the basics of Buddhism but I am very interested in learning some more. When I was reading these questions popped into my head. If you could answer one or all that would be very helpful Thank you so much!



Were you born into Buddhism? If not what made you decide that you wanted to start practicing?

Buddhism seems to be a very personal religion that focuses on the worshipper. Are there any daily rituals that you practice?

From what I have read about there is some debate on whether Buddhism is a religion or a set of philosophical beliefs. What is you opinion?

How is Tibetan Buddhism different from other forms of Buddhism?


Thanks again!
Emily

Answer
Hi Emily,
I hope these answers might help you a bit:

Were you born into Buddhism? If not what made you decide that you wanted to start practicing?
No, I was born into a family that was "nominally" Christian, but I was not sent to Sunday school, church or anything like that. I was always a big reader, and came to Buddhism really through poking around in the library. Eventually I started going to a Buddhist Centre and learning how to practice.

Buddhism seems to be a very personal religion that focuses on the worshipper. Are there any daily rituals that you practice?
Yes, I spend anything between one and two hours each day reciting texts, doing visualizations and that kind of thing. These are things that you get involved with bit by bit if you practice for a long time.

From what I have read about there is some debate on whether Buddhism is a religion or a set of philosophical beliefs. What is you opinion?
My opinion is that it depends very much on how the terms are defined. It has many features that are religious, like the practices I just mentioned. But it does not have a personal creator god with any power to make us, destroy us, save us or damn us.


How is Tibetan Buddhism different from other forms of Buddhism?
Tibetan Buddhism is very rich in practices involving visualization, mantras and so on, in addition to the more "conventional" kinds of meditation, study and ethics.

Is that any use? I hope so!
All the best
Alex Wilding

Buddhists

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Alex Wilding

Expertise

I have practiced and studied Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions since the early 1970s, and have a good knowledge of theory, history and of the struggles of trying to practice the teachings, including meditation, while leading a normal, modern life. I am also available to provide background information for journalists.

Experience

I have been a practitioner since the early 1970s; have run a small Buddhist centre in the English Midlands and was vice-president of Kagyu Benchen Ling e.V. in Germany, for whom I managed three large Buddhist summer-camps. More importantly, I maintain a habit of personal practice. I am the "owner" of the Kagyu list at Yahoo.

Education/Credentials
My first degree was an M.A. from Oxford. I later obtained a Master of Philosophy degree for a research thesis in "Initiation in Tibetan Buddhism" from Leicester University. I also have engineering and educational qualifications.

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