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Off-topic posts will be removed at mod discretion. We encourage relevant and thought-provoking submissions.įull explanation of posting rules can be found here and may include additional rules not listed in the sidebar. I was impressed.New to Buddhism? The Sidebar has so much to offer you! :) Read Our Posting Guidelines He was sitting on the grass, very peaceful, Nhat Hanh: The day I saw a picture of the Buddha in a magazine. Is thereĪny wonderful memory of your childhood that you can share? I know that you were born in Vietnam in 1926. Oprah: Because you can't give it to others if you don't have it in And I try to liveĮvery moment like that, to keep the peace in myself. Nhat Hanh: This is my training, this is my practice. Presence, I feel less stressed than when the day started. Oprah: Thank you for the honor of talking to you. Here's a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh (a famous Vietnamese Zen monk): A reason that Zen is famous in the English-speaking world is that it was one of the first forms of Buddhism in the United States.Īll that said, the goal might be similar.

Zen Buddhism doesn't only exist in Japan: also in Vietnam and Korea. Another value seems to be spontaneity - maybe not a goal in itself but a characteristic of an "enlightened" state of mind - which ("spontaneity") is, maybe, not one of the explicit Theravada values? I'm not sure whether to see this as a lack of "attachment" (as might be understood by Theravada), and/or as something with a Taoist influence. I don't know much about Zen, I think that one of its doctrines is to meditate without a goal (which may be similar to "without desire", and is relevant to your question). One of the early (Theravada) doctrines (from the Four Noble Truths) is that suffering is caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases: so you get suttas like this. It continued the tradition of learning from teachers ("lineage"), living in monasteries, and so on. So fas as I know, at some point some Japanese masters decided there was too much scholarship (too much text, perhaps). Some scholars say it was influenced there by Taoism. I think that, later, people discussed the metaphysical nature of nibbana: "does it exist?" etc.īuddhist doctrine migrated via China. Nibbana is one of names for the Goal - it's one of many names. Because these are the Way, these too could be seen as goals. The Way includes abandoning "fetters", also "hindrances" and "outflows" and so on. I'd say that it (at least the suttas) is almost all about the Way, rather than about the Goal. Two other parts of the "Tripiṭaka" are the "Vinaya" (the monastic rules, for monks and nuns, also from the Buddha) and the "Abhidhamma" (which I think is a scholastic analysis or reworking, commentary, on material in the suttas). The "suttas" (which are transcripts of the Buddha's doctrine) are fairly long. The other two parts of the three-fold training are concentration and wisdom: so those might be called goals too. Or maybe the goal is "sukha", maybe a good rebirth. These are maybe not the goal (or maybe they are the goal for laypeople), but a goal. The bit intended for everyone (including laypeople) is morality also known as " sila" (including "the precepts") - of which you get summaries like this or this. Some of the training is seen as being more intended for monks than for laypeople. The "Noble Eightfold Way" can be summarised as the "Threefold Training". or to complete the way, to do what needed to be done etc. The earliest Buddhist Dhamma is maybe the "Four Noble Truths": which are about suffering or unsatisfactoriness (" dukkha"), the cause, and the cessation of suffering - and the "Noble Eight Way", which is the path leading to the end suffering. For more details you can google for words I quoted (for example sila). This answer isn't detailed, but it's how I might structure an answer. I think this question might go unanswered so I'll give it a try.
