A Brief Biographical Introduction
May. 6th, 2018 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cattasallaThus have I heard.
Wait, no.
I intend for this to be a place to work out my thoughts on Buddhist theory and practice. I thought I'd make my first blog post a summary of my history with and thoughts on Buddhism, in general.
I first became interested around the age of 16. I was in Confirmation Class for the United Church of Christ, and was curious to learn about non-Christian religions. I remember reading the entry on Buddhism in the World Book Encyclopedia. I was fascinated. The Four Noble Truths just made so much sense. They seemed right. So that's where I began.
I went to the library and checked out books on Zen. I read the descriptions of how to meditate, and started meditating. Later I found Anagarika Govinda's books on Tibetan Buddhism, and those translations by Evans-Wentz. Perhaps most influential was a compendium entitled The Buddhist Bible, collecting a variety of Buddhist texts (and, for some reason, the Tao Te Ching). The first section was translations from the Pali canon, and these are what I spent the most time with.
I gradually got deeper into the Pali canon, reading and re-reading the Majjhima Nikaya. For awhile, I fell in with a sangha that practiced in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen lineage, and took the five precepts therein. I also participated in a Chung Tai monastery as a layperson. Sadly, my practice with a sangha is limited to those experiences. I've just not lived near active sanghas for most of my life, leaving me to practice independently and do as best as I can without a teacher.
I'm most attracted to the Insight Meditation/Vipassana movement. Rooted in the New Burmese Method, with a sprinkling of Thai Forest and Sri Lankan traditions, these teachers are the ones who can speak to me. Part of the appeal of Theravada is that it has a scholastic and technical side. For instance, I find the Abhidhamma endlessly fascinating. The point of stuff like that is, of course, to aid in practice...to provide a technical vocabulary to understand the things that happen as you observe the mind. So I do my best to use it.
I think that's enough, for now.
Wait, no.
I intend for this to be a place to work out my thoughts on Buddhist theory and practice. I thought I'd make my first blog post a summary of my history with and thoughts on Buddhism, in general.
I first became interested around the age of 16. I was in Confirmation Class for the United Church of Christ, and was curious to learn about non-Christian religions. I remember reading the entry on Buddhism in the World Book Encyclopedia. I was fascinated. The Four Noble Truths just made so much sense. They seemed right. So that's where I began.
I went to the library and checked out books on Zen. I read the descriptions of how to meditate, and started meditating. Later I found Anagarika Govinda's books on Tibetan Buddhism, and those translations by Evans-Wentz. Perhaps most influential was a compendium entitled The Buddhist Bible, collecting a variety of Buddhist texts (and, for some reason, the Tao Te Ching). The first section was translations from the Pali canon, and these are what I spent the most time with.
I gradually got deeper into the Pali canon, reading and re-reading the Majjhima Nikaya. For awhile, I fell in with a sangha that practiced in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen lineage, and took the five precepts therein. I also participated in a Chung Tai monastery as a layperson. Sadly, my practice with a sangha is limited to those experiences. I've just not lived near active sanghas for most of my life, leaving me to practice independently and do as best as I can without a teacher.
I'm most attracted to the Insight Meditation/Vipassana movement. Rooted in the New Burmese Method, with a sprinkling of Thai Forest and Sri Lankan traditions, these teachers are the ones who can speak to me. Part of the appeal of Theravada is that it has a scholastic and technical side. For instance, I find the Abhidhamma endlessly fascinating. The point of stuff like that is, of course, to aid in practice...to provide a technical vocabulary to understand the things that happen as you observe the mind. So I do my best to use it.
I think that's enough, for now.