The first two largest religious groups are Christianity (2 billion) and Islam (1.8 billion) though it appears that Islam is growing more rapidly than Christianity.
The unaffiliated make up the third largest "religious" group world wide. 1.2 billion people identify themselves “no religious affiliation.” The unaffiliated moniker is given to individuals who identify themselves as secular, agnostic, non-religious, or atheists. About 50 percent of this group are theists but not religious. Humanists are in this category as well along with millions of younger women and men who self-define themselves as SBNR (Spiritual but not religious). With the easy access to information, the unaffiliated group will continue to grow as people look more closely at traditional religious teachings.
The first two largest religious groups are Christianity (2 billion) and Islam (1.8 billion) though it appears that Islam is growing more rapidly than Christianity. Whatever meditation practice you commit to, your study should support that, so that in your practice you know what you are doing and you have a reference for your experiences. Your study guides your practice, and your practice validates your study. - Tenzin Wangyal
"No" Buddhists don't "pray" in the sense of the Western Religions. Buddhism is non-theistic. There is not God "out there" to grant us our wishes.
However, various Buddhist lineages utilize recitations which read and sound like traditional Western prayers. In fact, Tibetan Buddhism is heavily invested in these and have published A Book of Common Tibetan Prayers. Use of the word ‘prayer’ confuses some who know that Buddhism is non-theistic and does not acknowledge any deity who can grant wishes or desires. The issue results from the Tibetan mon lam which is translated as ‘prayer’. Translators, who are usually Western and influenced deeply by the Christian tradition, employ Christian language when translating Eastern concepts. While the term prayer is the simplest and quickest way to translate mon lam it does not convey fully nor accurately what mon lam contains. Mon lam rejects any sense of hopelessness, desperation and desire which is usually connected with prayer. It also rejects the idea of wishful expressions directed toward a wish granting divinity. For Tibetans, monlam is an articulation of one’s purpose and can be understood as a personal mission statement. In the introduction to A Book of Common Tibetan Prayers this understanding of mon lam is offered: “For practicing Buddhists, a mon lam harness and directs the natural power of our own minds, and invokes the power of the reality or truth of interdependence to yield actual results or benefits from that effort, dedication and process...In the Buddhist view, everything good that we do, everything we can accomplish, begins as an aspiration. Mon lams both crystalize our intentions, and help us realize them; they help us resolve our goals, and lead us toward them. We recite mon lams to chart the course of our own spiritual practice and progress.” Furthermore, every mon lam is carefully worded to help an aspirant make the transition from where one lives in one moment but seek to be in another. A mon lam is a tool for developing skillful means reinforcing one’s aspirations. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” is such a curious catchphrase; the only logical response is: “I don’t like anyone when they are angry.” - Zoe Williams
Like any stimulant, anger has addictive properties: you become habituated to it and start to rove around looking for things to make you angry. - Zoe Williams
Be like the sun and always rise.
Be like the grasses, always growing. Be like a stream, gently flowing forward. - Victor M. Parachin As part of it's re-vamped in-flight entertainment package, Qantas Airlines have released a preview of its new 10-minute meditation video series, which features aerial footage of some of Australia’s most stunning landscapes. A total of 12 videos are available to watch, each with a new landscape, with everything from the Pinnacles in Western Australia to Sydney Harbor. The videos are narrated by a soothing female voice. One flyer described the meditations as absolutely relaxing, and ones which will definitely help a passenger unwind or fall asleep on a long flight.
Yet another sign of growing interest and influence of Buddhism in North America is the production of an academic journal called Buddhism, Law and Society. The editor explains the journal's focus this way: "Buddhism, Law & Society is the first interdisciplinary academic journal to focus on the relationship between Buddhism, law, and society. Buddhism and its many social and legal manifestations are a central area of interest for the journal, as are the state's legal relations to Buddhist actors, institutions, and texts."
The journal editor Dr. Rebecca French who received her B.A. from the University of Michigan, her J.D. from the University of Washington and her LL.M. and Ph.D. in legal anthropology from Yale University. Her work is situated at the intersections of law, anthropology, legal theory, religious studies and Buddhist legal systems. Her four years of field research in Tibet and India resulted in the first study of the Dalai Lama’s pre-1960 legal system. She has worked with Tibetans and Indonesians on immigration and cultural issues and has delivered public lectures for Amnesty International, the Tibetan Conference, the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Tibet House and others. Dr. French says the "premise of this journal is that Buddhism affected the political and legal structures of the countries where it was practiced over the past 2,500 years and the countries where it is currently practiced. At the same time, the political and legal systems of those Asian countries also regulated and exerted control over Buddhist sanctuaries and Buddhist practitioners within their jurisdictions and often still do." We have a seed of anger in us. We have a seed of compassion in us. The practice is to help the seed of compassion to grow and the seed of anger to shrink. When you express your anger you think that you are getting anger out of your system, but that’s not true. When you express your anger, either verbally or with physical violence, you are feeding the seed of anger, and it becomes stronger in you. It’s a dangerous practice. - Thich Nhat Hanh
The Buddha encouraged us to think of the good things done for us by our parents, by our teachers, friends, whomever; and to do that intentionally, to cultivate it, rather than just letting it happen accidentally. - Ajahn Sumedho
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Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
July 2024
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