Expert: Justin Choo - 5/18/2009

Question
Justin,

I hope you are doing well, I am writing in regards to gaining some advice I hope you might be able to assist me in. I have recently renounced Christianity for personal reasons and have had my sights set on Buddhism for some time, I am currently living in Japan and have been exposed to the various temples here most of which belong to Pure Land Buddhism. I am familiar with the Buddha making mention of 34,000 (or something like that) Dharma doors, however I am not sure which to pursue. Jodo Shu Buddhism has caught my eyes however I feel it is too closely related to Christianity, and focuses more on Nembutsu rather than the actual teachings the Buddha laid out. Then after reading more about Theravada Buddhism I read it is more closely related to the "original" Buddhism created by its founder. However my question is I have no clue where to start in Theravada Buddhism, what does a Theravada lay Buddhist do in their normal everyday life? What are daily practices? What about chanting, sutras, meditation, etc. Also I will most likely be a solitary because of the location I will be living once I return to the US, so with that in mind do you have any advice on practice. Thank you for you time and I look forward to your response.


Answer
Hi Chris,

Thank you for asking me.

Welcome to the path of inner peace and happiness. To become a Buddhist means to practise the teachings of the Buddha. If you practise the teachings of the Buddha, then you are a Buddhist. Just that simple. The big question is which tradition?

The best place is to start with the Buddhist sites in the internet. Please take your time to surf through the sites below, which are mainly Theravada. The "mother" of all Buddhist sites is www.buddhanet.net which gives you all the worldwide links on different traditions and the locations. Having done that you can identify the temples nearest you. Visit them and feel which one appeals to you and go from there. I would recommend that you spend serious time studying the various traditions to know their differences and similarities.

The journey will be a long but rewarding one. As we travel along the path, we learn to experience happiness and inner peace through the three processes of learning, practising, and experiencing the positive results. With this experiencing, it further encourages us to put more effort to continue learning and practising. The destination may be unreachable but the journey itself is a lesson in life. Have a pleasant journey, and if you need more info please come back.


Take care.
Justin Choo

These are the Buddhist sites:

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/whatbelieve.pdf
"What Buddhist Believe" by Ven. K Sri Dhammananda. This book explains the Buddhist perspective on life's general questions.
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda was my revered teacher. His writings have benefitted countless people throughout the world. He had recently passed away (18 Mar 1919 -- 31 Aug 2006)

http://youtube.com/user/dhammatube
Short Buddhist talks.

http://www.justbegood.net/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/wave_books/index.html
You can obtain excellent publications from them.

http://www.buddhanet.net (The “mother” of all Buddhist web sites)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
http://www.dharmanet.org
http://www.buddhism.about.com
http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/index.htm
http://www.nibbana.com
http://www.triplegem.net
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv
http://www.bswa.org
This site is in Western Australia where Ajahn Brahmawamso resides. He is an English monk and is a very popular speaker. You can listen to his talk through this site.

http://www.foresthermitage.org.uk/
http://www.amaravati.org/abmnew/index.php/about_us/getting_here/
Ajahn Sumedho is the most senior Western monk, trained under the Thai forest monk tradition. He is an American and is resident in England.

(Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Brahmawamso are disciples of the well-known Thai forest monk Ajahn Chah)



http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/
E-Sangha Forum
This is a very active and highly authoritative forum.


http://dharmaavenue.com/home.htm
http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org
http://www.budsas.org/index.htm
www.fundamental-buddhism.com
http://www.maithri.com/index.asp
http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/
http://www.abhayagiri.org/
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, the first monastery in the United States to be established by followers of Ajahn Chah, was founded in 1996 in the mountainous forests north of Ukiah, California.
http://www.watnongpahpong.org/indexe.php
www.dhammasukha.org


[You are invited to visit my blogs:]
http://lifeislikethat999.blogspot.com/

[And this blog by Rev. Dhammika:]
http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/
http://www.buddhismatoz.com/