Buddhism for beginners. What should a beginner know?

In the late XX and early XXI centuries. Eastern religions began active expansion into the countries of the West. Such religions as Buddhism and Hinduism have extraordinary, incredible success in them. There are many reasons for this: a culture of consumption that has stuffed it up, imposed on democratic ideologies almost as an ideology, the flawed and one-sidedness of one's own religious traditions, the desire for exotics, and, of course, the desire to understand the hidden knowledge of the East, about which legends go. This article aims to clarify only one aspect of this whole context - the basics of the religious practice of a Buddhist convert.

On the path of a Buddhist

Buddhism unites in itself a large number of different independent schools and traditions. But they all have one common basis: as the three fundamental religious values, all Buddhists recognize the Buddha, the Dharma (that is, the Buddha's teaching) and the Sangha (the spiritual community of Buddhists). These are the so-called three sanctuaries. The meaning of Buddhist practice is the attainment of enlightenment, the realization of Buddha's nature in man. It is in the light of this goal and for her that all rituals are performed, mantras are read, meditations are practiced and so on. However, Buddhism is many-sided, and its various denominations sometimes differ significantly from each other. Therefore, with respect to the initial practice, what is required of the adept of Japanese Zen is very far from the proposed Tibetan Gelugpa to the follower. We will focus mainly on the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, since they are the most widely represented and distributed in our country, being traditional for the three regions.

Self-acceptance of Buddhism

This topic needs to be touched, because very many people, after reading Buddhist literature, suddenly decide to become Buddhists and immediately begin to practice certain meditations or rituals. However, not all so simple. Man, of course, can and must independently believe in the truth of Buddhist teachings. But here to consider yourself a full-fledged Buddhist, that is, a member of the sangha, a simple solution is not enough. In order to enter the spiritual community, it is required to take the so-called three jewels. Otherwise it is called a sanctuary vow. It is he who introduces a person into Buddhism. For beginners, it is very important that for the first time this vow was accepted by one of the authorized lamas. This requires a personal meeting with the lama and the ceremony of taking a vow of sanctuary. Without dedication to this transfer of sanctuary, most of the practices do not make sense.

Pure vision

The main practice of a Buddhist should be aimed at developing a pure vision skill. The latter implies that a person must totally and completely remain in the "here and now", freeing his mind from building spatio-temporal ties. The mind does not have to be somewhere else or think about other places. It should reflect the actual reality - the time and the place where the person is at the moment. When this skill develops, perception changes, it becomes pure. This is the first step towards revealing the nature of the Buddha. The state of "here and now" - this is meditation, its inner content. Thus, a Buddhist, whatever he does - drinking tea, cleaning an apartment or preparing food, should strive to remain in meditation through the development of a sense of "here and now."

Home meditations and mistakes

In Tibetan Buddhism, there are many different meditative techniques, and some of them are extremely complex and even dangerous, and therefore they are secretly transmitted. But the practice of Buddhism for beginners is usually safe and it is almost impossible to make mistakes in them, unless you approach what is called "creatively", that is, changing practice, introducing new elements into it and eliminating the old ones. In addition, in Buddhism it is assumed that the new convert is engaged in practice under the guidance and with the blessing of his mentor, who taught him three shelters (that is, he took into the bosom of Buddhism and a particular Buddhist school), as well as instructions on practice. It is impossible to accept Buddhism on its own without this ceremony.

About the house altar

As for the arrangement of the home sanctuary, I must say that this is considered a very useful thing. However, at the same time, it is not necessary. In its purpose, the altar plays the role of a focus, which should focus the person's attention and organize his housing space in such a way that he remembers that his most important goal is enlightenment. Therefore, altar objects should stimulate constant practice. Therefore, if it is decided to create a sanctuary, then it does not need to be turned into an exposition devoted to Buddhist art. It is usually enough to put an image of Buddha, an image of your guru and a few more important sculptures or icons. But it's better not to go beyond five. In addition, on the altar it is customary to keep the symbols of purity of body, speech and mind. This means that in addition to the icon or statuettes of the Buddha, it is desirable to have extracts from the sacred Buddhist script (as an option - "sutra of the heart" or Lamrim) on the altar and the so-called stupa - a symbol of the purity of the mind of the Buddha.

Updating vows

Entering the path of Tibetan Buddhism, a person becomes attached to the Mahayana, which declares for its followers not only the practice of personal liberation and enlightenment, but also the so-called path of the Bodhisattva. The latter are called enlightened people, who, however, promise that they will go to nirvana only when all other beings are released. And their religious practice is directed not only at themselves, but for the benefit of all living beings. In order to begin the practice, a newly converted Buddhist in the Mahayana tradition brings a Bodhisattva vow. But through various unrighteous actions violates them. Therefore, the Bodhisattva vow periodically needs to be updated. However, Buddhism for beginners is extremely complicated, and its requirements are confusing. For example, monks give vows consisting of several hundred clearly prescribed rules. But for the laity, another approach will be more productive.

Practicing Buddhism for beginners is best not in the context of the code of commandments, but in the context of proper motivation. This means that in his life and the Buddhist should strive to maximize the benefit of as many creatures as possible. In this light, the violation of the vow will be any action, word or thought that will be directed to the detriment of someone. Also, the violation of the vow will be the conscious exclusion of someone (animal, enemy or simply unpleasant person, etc.) from the field of compassion. When the vow is broken, it must be accepted again. However, this vow is regularly updated. For example, in the practice of prostrations, which includes Buddhism. For beginners, this can be at least 1 bow or 3, 7, 21, 108. By the way, in some schools, the full practice includes 108,000 prostrations.

Initial Practices

Initial practices in Buddhism are called nyondro. In all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, they are approximately the same. They consist of four parts (although there are different classifications). They include 100,000 prostrations with take-refuge, 100,000 times the Vajrasattva mantra, 100,000 mandala offerings and 100,000 guru-yoga repetitions. This order, in principle, can be changed, but it is better to follow this pattern. In addition, it should be added that this practice can be carried out also by those who have not received the transfer of the vow of the sanctuary, that is, formally is not a Buddhist. However, according to Buddhist teachers, the benefits of Nyodra in this case will be significantly less.

Buddhism for Beginners - Books

In conclusion, let's talk about what to read to those who take the first step toward Buddhism. To begin with, we mention a book such as "Buddhism for Beginners". Geshe Jampa Tinley - its author, doctor of Buddhist philosophy of the Gelug tradition, is a very respected, honored Dharma teacher in the territory of the CIS. His book is devoted to the basic, basic questions that beginners need to understand in order to have a correct idea of the chosen path. This work describes the history of the origin of the teaching, explains its main aspects, as well as a number of practical instructions for daily practice.

The next work is a book with the same name as the previous one - "Buddhism for Beginners". Tubten Chodron, who wrote her, is a Buddhist nun from America who spent many years studying the Buddhist path in Nepal and India under the leadership of the Dalai Lama and other high teachers. For today in the Western world it is one of the most authoritative experts in its field. In Tubten Chaudron's book "Buddhism for Beginners" in the form of questions and answers, answers are given to the most popular questions about the essence of the doctrine, its applications in various areas of human activity and, in fact, everyday religious practice. In other words, it is a kind of catechism of Tibetan Buddhism.

Other books

In addition to these two books, on the question "where to start studying Buddhism?" We will recommend such works as "Buddhist practice. The road to life full of meaning "of the Dalai Lama XIV and" 8 debut errors "of the already mentioned Geshe Tinley.