Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. If you haven't seen my original post about this it's still up on my account if you'd like background information. So today my mom and her twin sister asked me to join a Zoom call that the grand master would be hosting to help people go to the pureland. So I started texting my aunt about their teacher (She is more open than my mother about this buddhist group). For reference her "master" that she mentions here is their teacher who teaches about dharma, he is supposed to be a bodhisattva. Then there is the "Grand master" who claims to be a buddha who is the "master's" boss I guess? I wanted know more about this "master" but I don't speak mandrin and this guy lives in China. I know some Arabic and I'm fluent in English so l wanted to see if I can meet him over zoom and chat, l believe that if he really is a bodhisattva this shouldn't be an issue. I've prayed to Green Tara in both languages before and felt a connection. This was her response, she insists on using a translator and disregarded the comments I made. I feel like she's in denial. I am no an expert in Buddhism at all so I can't really say this is a bunch of red flags but it is according my knowledge. What do you guys think?

As for my mother... As l've mentioned in my previous post, I think my mom is joining a buddhist cult. I can't really confirm this since she's been more secretive about what she's been doing and has been lying to me more. She has told me on multiple occasions that she does not send this so called living buddha money but my aunt, her sister, has told me otherwise and she knows more about this since she used to be more involved with my mom's group. I also wanted to add that my mother is not in direct contact with the "living buddha", according to her the living buddha is too busy to be able to meet with her and talk to her. Instead she has (along with other people in her group) been meeting with someone who is "under him" and who claims to be a bodhisattva. He says he can do buddhist lessons with them and answer questions if they need help but that the living buddha has too much to do to be able to meet with them over zoom like he does. I also think that her friend, who was the person who originally brought her into this group, bought a couple of ipads and phones to take to china to give this buddhist teacher/monk/bodhisattva. I went with them to help them purchase since her friend has poor English, when I asked my mom why she was buying so much and so rushed she said it was because she's going to give them to her family and she's traveling to china in a couple of days. However (although my chinese language is limited) they kept speaking to each other in mandarin and saying "Shifu" which I know is what they refer to their masters.

Anyway, recently she has mentioned possibly buying a property more up north since we live in the very south of USA. She was interested in a house on a mountain, we have a had a house near the area she was looking at when I was younger. It was a vacation home, so l assumed this one would be as well. She also painted the picture to seem like it would be a vacation home. I was very excited. They found a property and bought it almost immediately despite not even seeing it in person yet. After that my mother told me that this house will not be a vacation house and that it is not ours alone (even though we bought it?) and that her group members will be going there whenever they want too. She also mentioned that her bodhisattva master might live there from time to time as he pleases? She did not mention this to me or my dad at all, not until after we bought it. She says that her masters told her she needs to be higher (we're in the south of the USA, very flat) so she got a house near the mountains so she can reach enlightenment faster. And she wants to use this like a haven for other buddhist people in her group to visit so they can meditate. When my dad and I got confused and annoyed about giving out keys to strangers she got very upset and called us "greedy" for not wanting to share. I'm confused and worried about her, idk what to do anymore and it's become harder to communicate with her since everything she does is buddhist related and in mandrin. She starts her day by playing with rocks at the break of dawn (for buddhist teaching reasons, that she has never explained) and spends all day praying and translating buddhist scripture that the "Grand master" provided her. It's a lot for her to do, I get worried about her mental and physical health. everything feels very obsessive. Please help! I need advice from people who know buddhism better v me and can provide better insight • Thank you!

I’ve seen that there are multiple variants which makes me wonder if maybe there is some controversy around the “default” one? Just interested in hearing what Buddhists think of it firsthand.

Probably a title nobody has ever written before but here I go.

I'm currently a muslim but thinking about buddhism.

Unfortunately I think I'm buddha whenever I read about buddhism. I'm not buddha.

Any advice?

Since I was a child I’ve lived a great life of suffering that went well into adulthood and is still continuing for me. But for the last 12 years I’ve felt this great desire to become a Buddhist. It feels like a subconscious body response to take refuge. Recently I’ve been going through very difficult times and poor health but I had a dream that Guanyin was reaching her hand out to me and I held her hand. I want to take my body’s desire to become a Buddhist seriously. I feel like right now is the right time in my life and I’m ready. How can I start my journey? Thank you 😊

Given the importance of Sangha it can be hard finding a support group, and even if you do find one it will likely cost money and possibly be out of the way. Even yoga is pretty expensive.

people debate whether rebirth is literal or metaphorical, and i think perhaps the answer is yes. if one doesn’t see it as literal, it is because they are clinging to the self. everything is in a constant cycle of rebirth. the self and the clinging to it is what makes people misunderstand that rebirth is a fact not of the self but of the whole universe.

So few days ago i was invited at a friends house for dinner. They were very devoted pure land practioners. After dinner we started having chit chats and one point we started having convresations about buddhism as i was new in it. They were very excited and was kind of like preaching to me about Amitabha buddha and his pure land like in a Christianity or Islam way, which really strikes me. And i kinda noticed that in many pure land people. Now after researching about many things im a bit confused and i just dont get it so correct me if im wrong with all due respect and im not here to attack anyone just im not quite understanding it. So my question to pure land people or anyone in general that if they say "Just chant Amitabha’s name and you’ll be reborn!" then Did the Buddha ever teach that reciting a name erases karma? If so, why did he teach the Eightfold Path? If Amitabha saves everyone, why are we still here? Now some may say i lack "faith". But the Kalama Sutra says to test teachings, not blindly believe. Does chanting alone lead to wisdom? Then doesnt it become like theistic religions type? Now some may also say Pure Land is for the Dharma-Ending Age (Mappo)! But the Buddha never said ‘the Dharma will end, so replace it with chanting.’ He said ‘be your own lamp. So again with all respect explain a bit someone im eager to learn and grow in wisdom.

don't you think that it's an eternal task to stay in samsara till you help rescuing all living beings? don't you think that you're just going to be suffering with them all till you just decide to depart to nirvana, abandoning some of them here? but the pity you feel for others anchors you to suffer it with them, you feel you can't leave till everybody is free, and isn't it itself a desire? you feel compassion and you're attached to the idea to leave with others and it itself doesn't allow you to be free

Hi friends, I’m a long time reader first time poster! I have been learning about Buddhism for about a year, reading all of your posts here, books, texts, videos, etc. I have been slowly trying to turn my life to align more with the things Buddhism teaches. I have found so much peace in the readings and the idea of a bigger picture than just the suffering in this life. One thing I have been trying so hard to navigate is my arachnophobia. I have always had a very deep rooted fear of spiders. It had always been my first reaction to kill them. I last did this about a month ago, and have truly felt so horrible about it. I’ve tried to push myself toward being able to just relocate them to outside by doing that with other insects, and I thought it was helping. Today there is a massive spider in my house. And I am frozen! Any advice or resources about learning how to overcome this phobia and not harm these creatures would be so greatly appreciated.

To add: this feels so silly and minuscule as I’m rereading what I’ve typed. I don’t know why I can’t just get the strength to overcome this on my own. Please be gentle with thoughts as I am incredibly new to Buddhism, and living in the USA where it is not very common and I haven’t found many like minded people around me. Thank you for taking the time to read/reply.

It's not always easy to feel compassion for someone who engages in specious forms of delusional belief, especially if they use their money and power to draw or force others into it. This extends from powerful mega-church leaders to parents hammering the crap preached by these people into their children who have little choice. One can extend this to any religion and even views not connected to a religion. One way I try to accomplish this is to view my own delusion as basically the same as theirs. I'm not perfect by any means but this is mildly effective.

If we "are not our thoughts", what are some ways to view a socially-cohesive set of thoughts as crap and still have compassion for those severely attached to them?

As the title says, I'm new to Buddhism. After learning about tonnes of religions growing up I have always respected the approach to personal agency within Buddhism, and following some semi-recent difficult situations and attempting to take my own life I realised I wanted to find purpose and have started to learn the dharma, and would like to find refuge in the three jewels.

I don't know much yet but have collected as much literature as I could, including picking up some books on a recent holiday to Malaysia at Kek Lok Si; however I don't know where to go from here. There is a local Buddhist centre in the closest city (Nottingham, UK) but it is only open during the working day (3 hours total a week). Looking for any advice from the community! Thank you in advance.

As I understand it, right speech generally prohibits lying and swearing.

I fully understand why it’s hurtful to swear at someone in anger. However, I don’t see the problem in using swearing to say kind things to people who are comfortable with swear words. (e.g. “Holy sht, that’s cool!”, “Fck, I’m sorry that happened to you)

Likewise, I understand why fraud and deception are wrong. But I don’t see the problem in doing the usual social niceties, like saying I’m “doing great!” when I’m not feeling so hot.

I’m sure there’s no single consensus on this, so I’m interested in hearing different viewpoints. May all beings be happy :)

I used to watch a Buddhism documentary over a decade ago and all I remember is the opening has the Dalai Lama talking about the Buddha, saying "symbol of peace".

I lost my copy of this documentary long ago and have been wanting to find another copy.

Hello. I'm looking for guests who would be open to discuss their religious views in a podcast setting. I think the world could stand to know more viewpoints from all worldviews This is not a debate. I just want to know what you believe and why. This applies to traditional and non-traditional religious and secular beliefs. Simulation theory, darwinism, creationism, materialism, new age, ect. This will take place on Microsoft Teams as the audio will be recorded. No video portion at this time. If you want to share your view with the world please message me

Hi! Very sorry if this is a common or annoying question but I just thought I'd ask it to get opinions. I enjoy weed and I use it rather regularly. I can go without it, and often I do, but I just enjoy smoking it. I used to be very addicted to many substances and now I've been mostly sober, or at least more so sober than I was, for nearing 5 months now(Sober from Cocaine, Ketamine, MDMA, Codiene) and alcohol especially (at my peak I was drinking half a bottle of vodka every day or two) and I use weed so as to satiate my inclination for harder substances. I use psychedelics just to manage depression, anxiety, and autism (Due to the fact I find that for a while after the experiences I experience greater empathy or more so I'm able to access that empathy more so than usual) but at the end of the day I do understand that these are intoxicants and I'm probably just rationalizing my usage. Whilst I haven't delved too deeply into Buddhist literature I've purchased the dhammapada recently and started meditating daily, and if I have to give up these things then I will. Thank you (:

Hello! I am a secular mindfulness teacher & have taken refuge with Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.

When I teach my secular students (based on vipassana), I am often asked about beginner buddhism books. The books I read as a beginner and the few I have read since are a bit older (yet, still relavent). The majority of the ones I've read are specific to whatever tradition the author belongs to. Therefore, offering a book written by a Tibetan Rinpoche might is not really ideal for someone interested in Zen.

I love "In the Buddha's Words" but I don't think its a very good recommendation for a complete beginner. It's a bit heavy and not exactly a page turner for most people. I have also realized tbat many of the Tibetan books contain many stories of mysticism that can sometimes turn westerners off. (Despite my emphasizing there is no dogma)

I have recommended "An Introduction to Buddhism" by HH Dalai Lama

"The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings" by Thich Nhat Hahn

"Zen Mind, Beginners Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki

"Dharma Paths" by Khenpo Karthar

Specific books based on their current needs. For instance, any number of Pema Chödrön's books if they are coming to Buddhism from a place of grief or sorrow.

I am wondering if anyone has other recommendations for beginners to add to my list? I love having a variety of options to offer to my students.

TL;DR: What are your book recommendations for beginners or those interested in learning about Buddhism? A more general approach rather than tradition/school specific would be appreciated!

just like the title said, is it possible to gain religious trauma & have a religious psychosis that stems from Buddhism? (to note: this is not to paint Buddhism in a bad light, i believe Buddhist teachings are amazing and that everyone just has different experiences so i wanna talk about mine i mean 0 disrespect or offense to anyone's beliefs. i hope thats okay, i dont know how to word stuff properly because i left Buddhism last year and recently converted to being an atheist again but is still interested in Buddhism so i do hope im not saying anything offensive 😭! scroll down for tldr)

i was raised in an overly religious household. all of my family are Buddhists so of course i was raised as a buddhist, i went to many temples when i was younger but i didnt understand the teachings of Buddhism. i never really understood it and i just felt very guilty on how every time we went to temples to go pray, i didn't know why we were praying i just felt like a sinner (thats the best way i can put it) for not being like the rest of the family since i didnt know why we were praying i didnt know why i had to have the same beliefs since im just a child. i didnt know anything that was going on, thats when i grew older. this was in my teens when i was 13 is when my mother & dad got wayy more religious, buying all sorts of things for the huge altar in the house (i dont know how to describe the altar its just very big?). during those stages of my life i had extreme guilt and low self-esteem from how my mind didnt work like other Buddhists i just felt so frustrated on why i couldnt pray and have the same beliefs as my family.

thats when it just kind of struck me? i decided to become an atheist one day, i still had some beliefs from when i was a Buddhist since its not easy to leave years of religious beliefs behind but thats also when a few days later my mom found out i was an atheist. she swung a knife at me as if i was some sort of demon inside our home, telling me all the bad things that happened in my life was caused by my lack of faith in Buddhism (even though i really tried to be a Buddhist, i couldnt i didnt have the faith and i didnt want to be a sinner. it just scared me so bad and i didnt want to fake my prayers.) all the abuse, SA, neglect, and just all the shit that happened to me was because of my sins even though my family is the reason for most of these but they just looked at it like "this is your doing because of your lack of faith, so we are just teaching you a lesson so u can pray more and get good karma", i begged her not to kill me and i managed to convince her that i was still a Buddhist because my life was on the line. she left me alone after that, i did more research on Buddhism since i had to fit in as much as possible and stuff in order to not die by the hands of my own family.

i tried my best to convert back but my lack of faith in Buddhism and also towards every religion that isnt Buddhism made it really hard to do so, i really tried but i couldnt. i just felt more guilty and more horrible, i hated how i felt this way and i hated how my family made me feel this way. thats how it kind of kickstarted my religious trauma since i still have overbearing amounts of guilt and horrendous low self-esteem, and at 14 i experienced "religious psychosis" its in quotations because i dont know if its even a religious psychosis or am i just... overreacting? i felt as if Buddha was talking to me, i was disconnected from reality for weeks. i felt like i had ungodly powers and it really affected me because it was just delusion, i still get religious psychosis to this day but i dont know if its real? since every religious psychosis i researched about always said something about Christianity and im not christian, which makes me feel like "oh im just overreacting, its not a big deal" so now im on here because i truly dont know anything that im feeling because like every single Buddhist book, research, article, and basically everything never talks about religious trauma or religious psychosis. it just makes me so upset, i know i have no rights to be upset but it just seems too good to be true. either im overreacting or it does exist and nobody talks about it since its not mainstream.

tldr: i have trauma that was caused by overly religious Buddhists (my family) which made me feel horrendous amounts of guilt and have severe low self-esteem + got a religious psychosis at 14, but i dont know if you can actually have religious trauma or have a religious psychosis caused by Buddhism so thats why im here

(do note that i am interested in Buddhism, despite the things i have experienced associated with the religion but i still need time to figure out my true beliefs since religion has always been a heavy topic for me)

if you read the whole thing, thank you! if u didnt then thank you anyways. i do hope someone can answer my question ^^

What are the possibilities for staying temporary at temples as a buddhist monk for around one month? Europe? Outside Europe? Pros cons with different temples.

With mindfulness, we can recite “Namo Amituofo” up to ten times, gently returning to the count if the mind wanders—cultivating continuous awareness. As we chant, we visualize Amitabha Buddha’s infinite light radiating throughout the ten directions, embracing all realms and beings.

By the power of Amitabha’s boundless compassion and profound vow, a Pure Land has been established—welcoming all sentient beings, regardless of status, intellect, or merit. This is the embodiment of the One Vehicle (Ekayana), the true path of great compassion, offering the most skillful and supportive conditions for enlightenment.

It takes but a single moment of sincere recitation—“Namo Amituofo”—to connect with this vow and sow the causes for birth in the Pure Land, where the path to awakening is swift and assured.

Each moment of this rare and precious human life offers the opportunity to cultivate boundless merit and virtuous karmic conditions simply by reciting “Namo Amituofo” with sincere faith and mindfulness.