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Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 10/19/2009
Question
I have looked into the teachings and principals of Buddhism and I'm not sure what type is best for me; Tibetan, Zen, Thai, etc. Also I have no idea if there is a spiritual community out there to help with these questions, thats where you come in, if you have any thoughts on this please reply, I would appreciate the help...
Answer
Hello again Fox,
Thanks for writing back. I will do my best to give you a jumping off point to your search for what spiritual practice might be the best for you.
First off, I am glad you are looking into Buddhism. I would say one thing to remember when one is looking for a spiritual practice is to keep an open mind and be very honest about what one is really searching for. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama suggests not to forsake your old religion to become Buddhist unless your old religion simply is not working for you.
Tibetan, Zen, and Thai Buddhism are only three of the many types of Buddhism that exist in the world today.
So I will start with giving you an overview of the three main branches of Buddhism; Theravadan, Mahayana and Vajrayana. (And even these overlap a bit) And it might be helpful to know the basic differences. In a nutshell, the Therevadan tradition believes in reaching Nirvana or individual liberation; the Mahayana tradition believes in reaching Enlightenment and becoming a Buddha for the purpose of liberating all sentient beings; and from what I know so far, Vajrayana is a subset of Mahayana. It uses the tantric or quick path to reach Enlightenment also in order to benefit of all sentient beings. But it is not recommended for beginners. It is a more advanced practice.
I practice Mahayana Tibetan Gelugpa Buddhism. It is the same kind practiced by His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, except that I practice in the West and the Tibetan practices that have come to the west some twenty years ago, are now morphing to assimilate into our western culture so now Western Buddhism is sort of a subset of all Buddhisms.
As far as the best place to look for information on which practice to choose, that’s a tough question. One can speak with practitioners of each group. I would be happy to talk about Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism with you.
I found a website that was pretty cool for discussing Buddhism. It is called http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism. That may help you talk with practitioners of other traditions.
Then of course there are books to read that might help you make a decision.
Here are some that work for me. The Mahayana teachers I suggest you read which for me were pretty easy to understand are any books by the great Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tibetan teachers such as, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, "The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living" , Lama Thubten Yeshe, "The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism" and Robert Thurman, "Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness." or Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo's "Stabilizing the Mind". Although she has not written a book, Venerable Robina Courtin has many of her teachings on tape online and is also wonderful. You may want to visit their websites in order to see if any of these seem to feel right to you.
For Theravaden or Vipassana teachers, I suggest you check out Jack Kornfield, "A Path With Heart", Sylvia Boorstein, "It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness" or any talks online by Ajahn Amaro. These teachers for me were easy to understand and insightful.
There is no lack of spiritual communities out there for you to join. Again, I would suggest you do some reading and see which of the spiritual masters I have listed above speak to you. Once you do, then you can find a website for that tradition and see if there is a local center where you can go and take some teachings live and continue to see if it is working for you.
The one good thing about becoming Buddhist, at least from my side is that when you get into Buddhism you are not required to accept all the dogma at one time. You can accept only the dogma that resonates with you. For example, I know long time pratitioners that still do not completely embrace the concept of reincarnation for example. So take it slowly and enjoy the process of discovery.
If you have any further questions about what I wrote or if after looking over the information on the website, you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Namaste, Fox
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