Hello, my name is Paul John Lockey and I’m a Buddhist. Not a monk living in a cave or monastery, just a ‘householder’ or ‘family man’ striving to practice what the Buddha taught. My intention in writing this blog is not to preach but to record how I got to this point and where the practice appears to be taking me.
May all readers be inspired to look inwards and discover the truth for themselves.
PJL
Nibbana is the ultimate goal of the Buddha’s teachings. [1] So what is it exactly?
Among Theravadins it’s generally accepted that nibbana is beyond words. For example –
“There’s nothing you can compare it to. No convention can reach it. This is why we say Nirvana has no color. All colors are merely conventions. The state which is beyond the world is beyond the reach of worldly conventions… It is beyond language. You can’t put it into words, you can only talk about ways and means of realizing it.” [2]
The Buddha himself appears reluctant to give a detailed description of nibbana, but he says enough about it for us to Continue reading
When I first learned of the conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma I was most upset, and I said as much. [1] My comments were subsequently misconstrued by at least one resident of Asia as yet another western Buddhist convert expressing disappointment that a Buddhist nation isn’t living up to his ‘utopian’ expectations. And while I don’t think I was being judgmental and condemning anyone without empathy, merely acknowledging my own feelings of aversion and my concerns about how such issues are perceived by non-Buddhists (who are already resistant to the idea of letting go attachments), I do understand that person’s worry. After all, I do speak as a citizen of a former colonial country that is currently engaged in a so-called “war on terror” and has probably been embroiled in more conflicts than any other nation on the planet!
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Previously I wrote about desire from the viewpoint of personal experience. [1] Here I will attempt a more detailed explanation of how and why I train to let go desire.
From a Buddhist’s point of view, something may be considered good or evil according to its impact on one’s state of mind. [2] A desire is neither good nor bad, it’s just a temporary mental phenomena. Attachment to desire – i.e. grasping at it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ gives rise to intention, which leads to action (kamma) that may be skilful (i.e. results in a wholesome mind state for the doer) or unskilful (i.e. results in an unwholesome mind state for the doer). Our habitual failure to recognise this fact is the ‘ignorance’ that Buddha’s teaching of the Four Noble Truths was intended to dispel.
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In the western world especially, from cradle to grave we’re told constantly that happiness is our right and we can all have whatever we want so long as we’re able and willing to legally do whatever it takes to get it. And virtually everything we do in life revolves around satisfying our desire for whatever it is that we believe will make us happy right now or in the future. Following our dream is actively encouraged by parents, teachers, employers, governors and sales people, for example. In actual fact the entire socio-economic structure depends upon us all chasing our desires.
So desire is a good thing, right?
Do we need a new, secularised, non-sectarian version of Buddhism? Recently I listened to the first of a series of talks on this issue. The speaker, Stephen Bachelor, states that in his opinion, “One of the things that somehow keeps Buddhism stuck in antiquity is its ongoing commitment to the cosmological and soteriological views of classical Indian thought.” In other words, the traditional Buddhist ideas of kamma, death and rebirth, devas and otherworldly realms are an unnecessary restriction on the modern-day seeker of enlightenment.[1]
My initial reaction is, divesting the Buddhism of its ‘supernatural’ connotations in order to make it more ‘realistic’ and Continue reading
This blog is now one month old. During the past four weeks I’ve worked to ensure that there’s sufficient content to reward anyone who visits. However, my intention now is to keep to a regular posting schedule, and from today visitors can expect to see a new post from me every two weeks. This should be manageable given my current circumstances, but I may later resort to posting just once a month should it become necessary.
PJL
I used to think that Buddhism was compatible with modern science, but not anymore.
That Buddhism is scientific is not a new idea. As Donald Lopez explains -
Statements about the compatibility of Buddhism and science were being made in the 1860s—in Europe and America during the Victorian period, as Buddhism became fashionable in intellectual circles, and at the same time in Asia, as Buddhist thinkers were defending themselves against the attacks of Christian missionaries… Some even went so far as to declare that Buddhism was not a religion at all, but was itself a science, a science of the mind. [1]
Blogging Buddhist Ben O’Hare recently posted his thoughts on self-proclaimed atheist, Richard Dawkins[1], and why he matters –
Dawkins describes himself as an aggressive atheist whose aim is ‘not just to provide atheists with ammunition to support their cause, but to help convert people to atheism.’ Dawkins himself is an evolutionary biologist, an Oxford University Professor, vice president of the British Humanist Association, and a supporter of the Brights movement. He is an accomplished author and public speaker who often talks at length about the evils of religion. He matters, in Continue reading
“Buddhist Nationalism in Burma: Institutionalized racism against the Rohingya Muslims led Burma to genocide” is the title of an article by Maung Zarni that I read today in the latest issue of Tricycle. Here’s a taster for anyone who isn’t a subscriber –
“For those outside Burma, the broadcast images of the Theravada monks of the “Saffron Revolution” of 2007 are still fresh. Backed by the devout Buddhist population, these monks were seen chanting metta and the Lovingkindness Sutta on the streets of Rangoon, Mandalay, and Pakhoke-ku, calling for an improvement in public well-being in the face of the growing economic hardships afflicting Burma’s Buddhists. The barefooted Continue reading
