Buddhist Monks' Disciple

[SickDevildog]

Quick question is it possibletoask a buddhist monk to accept you as his student?

[CKava]

?!?!? In what context?

[Johnno]

Quick question is it possibletoask a buddhist monk to accept you as his student?Of course. It's possible to ask anything of anyone. How they reply is up to them.

I think you should at least try. Go find a monk right now!

[MadMonk108]

It depends on the context.

Could you tell us more?

I am a disciple of Pohwa-seunim, of a lineage of Korean Sun Buddhism, so I would say it's possible...

You might have to ask him several times. Multiply three times three until you get ten. That will be how many times you must ask him.

[potatodemon]

are you talking as some sort of shoalin fung fu student or as a religious thing

[medi]

It depends on the context.

Could you tell us more?

I am a disciple of Pohwa-seunim, of a lineage of Korean Sun Buddhism, so I would say it's possible...

You might have to ask him several times. Multiply three times three until you get ten. That will be how many times you must ask him.

3 x 3 + 1 = 10

That was easy.

[Satori81]

Go visit some local buddhist temples. They may not be high profile, and may be located in BFE...but they're there.

I personally prefer Thich Nhat Hahn's style of Mahayana Buddhism...though some would argue that he falls under Zen. I've stayed at his Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, and all it took was a phone call.

Just so you know, being a Buddhist Monk does not entail being a Kung Fu Warrior Monk.

[wrydolphin]

Congrats, medi-
You are now a Bhuddist monk. Fortunately, you already have a shaved head, but now you have to give up liquor and women. Good luck! :D

[aplonis]

Would you ask a girl to marry you on the first date? How would she react if you did?

The teacher/student relationship is similar. You don't jump into it. You find a teacher who gives public talks. You attend one. If you like it you go back. You go back often enough he gets to know you. Or you get to know one of his students who invites you to not-so-public talks. And after maybe a few of these he makes your introduction.

On the other hand, you are his student if you hear his instruction then carry it out and put it into regular practice. Short of this you are only an acquaintence of the teacher. If you are looking for "high" teachings, then you must make some effort at less rarified practices first. But in all events it is the carrying out and putting into practice of teachings that makes you any teacher's student...whether you have met him face to face or not.

My first teacher, as I consider him, answered a single question which I humbly put to him at a public talk. I went home and did as he advises assiduously for months. Then I met a second teacher, under whom I took explanations of the same teachings I was also reading from a book...the same book recommended by the first teacher. In my case it was Pabongkha Rinpche's "Enlightenment in the Palm of Your Hand" which is a very basic treatise...and very repetative. Only after doing that for about a year, and some months after teacher "number 2" had returned overseas, did I get opportunity to meet my current teacher, Zasep Tulku Rinpoche, who is to my happiness a resident in the West and whom I can exchange email with and actually see once a year or so.

But don't get caught up in the myth that if you have no "teacher" you cannot be a "real" Buddhist. In Islam a man is moslem if he says he is. In Buddhism you are Buddhist if you "practice" the Dharma. If you think you are Buddhist, and you live by the 8-Fold Path, then you are Buddhist. Nobody has to tell you so for it to be true.

There will be some very specialized meditations you should not do without a guide. But that is the case for the same reason you should not try to fly a plane without instruction. If you don't do it right, then things can go wrong. But you could drive, or walk and get to the same place...if a bit slower. You would be equally a traveller if your destination were the same.

Seek a meditation teacher to learn how to meditate better. But it is the meditating and living by Buddhist motivations that make you Buddhist. No ceremony or taking of special name has any improvement over that.

Gan Uesli Starling
Coord. LTKC
http://vajra.us

[Shotowarrior]

Quick question is it possibletoask a buddhist monk to accept you as his student?

Yes. However you would have to show Him/Her that you are worthy enough to impart the teachings. By showing patience, compassion to all sentient beings and loyalty. Perhaps.

[MadMonk108]

3 x 3 + 1 = 10

That was easy.

You fail.

Come back later.

[aikiMac]

There will be some very specialized meditations you should not do without a guide. But that is the case for the same reason you should not try to fly a plane without instruction. If you don't do it right, then things can go wrong.
What could go wrong?

[MadMonk108]

What could go wrong?

You could become enlightened.

[CKava]

Oh dear God... aiki from my own experience meditation is an activity best begun under guidance for the following reasons:

A) You get taught correct posture.
B) A formal enviroment were someone else controls the time keeping is more conducive to practice.
C) People unaccustomed to meditating or observing their thoughts for any length of time can have 'episodes'.
D) Guidance is good, someone who has meditated ALOT generally can help you understand things that otherwise would take a long time to get through without any guidance.

Despite all of the above I really find it unlikely unguided meditation would be dangerous... Anyway this thread is clearly going to end up being a discussion about the fantasy martial monks smashing bricks over the head on the tops of mountains so I think I'll bow out before I get too frustrated.

[MadMonk108]

Anyway this thread is clearly going to end up being a discussion about the fantasy martial monks smashing bricks over the head on the tops of mountains so I think I'll bow out before I get too frustrated.

Not if I can help it.

Besides, that's my reality.

[aikiMac]

C) People unaccustomed to meditating or observing their thoughts for any length of time can have 'episodes'.

Would you clarify this point? (Like, what's an "episode"?)

[CKava]

Certainly, for instance at a meditation retreat I witnessed a girl unaccustomed to meditating who had basically went because of her friend break down and cry after an hour of meditation. When she was explaining what was wrong she said she never realised what a horrible person she was... which she was basing on the fact that when she sat down and tried to meditate most of the thoughts that kept flowing through her head were apparently about judging and complaining about people she knew. She said it was ok for a while but as time went on she just got more and more frustrated and horrified. She was quite worked up about this (as I imagine you would have to be to cry in front of a group of strangers) but she also thought it was worthwhile because she never realised how judgemental she was. I do not mean to suggest that meditation would lead to pyschotic episodes but just that being aware of what your thinking for any length of time can be a bit of an eyeopener that some people aren't prepared for plus in my experience it can also cause people who are trying to block out painful memories to notice them again.

[Thelistmaker]

I have seen this happen on a smaller scale. A friend of mine got a little depressed about certain he they had done in the past. Several more experienced practitioner really helped him get over it. If he didn’t have their guidance I think he would have given up practicing. Proper guidance for a beginner is usually quite important.

But be careful the organization you choose is reputable, as there are a few lunatics out there claming to be high tulkus and such. But it’s usually pretty easy to spot the lunatics from the real deal.

[Johnno]

Would you clarify this point? (Like, what's an "episode"?)I once worked with a bloke who had become a Buddhist and who went on a weekend 'retreat' of meditating and stuff.

On the way back he drove his car off a bridge because he thought he could fly. He thought he was indestructible. He was very lucky to survive at all, but the funny thing is that he was completely uninjured. So although he was wrong about the flying part, he may have had a point about being indestructible. Er, maybe.

[CKava]

This might sound harsh but the bloke you work with sounds like a complete idiot...

[Johnno]

This might sound harsh but the bloke you work with sounds like a complete idiot...He was a nice bloke, but I think he had a few personal issues. Didn't seem very... stable. Which I suppose isn't the right frame of mind for meditating, right?

[Moosey]

Congrats, medi-
You are now a Bhuddist monk. Fortunately, you already have a shaved head, but now you have to give up liquor and women.
...and dogging...

:cry:


:D

[jroe52]

are you sure he was a buddhist and not a meth addict? hahaha

[Taff]

You could become enlightened.

Is that bad?

Besides, hasn't only one person in the history of humanity become enlightened? How do you know if you have become enlightened?

[CKava]

Taff I think he was being ironic or flippant or something like that. Enlightenment in Buddhism is unanimously regarded as a good thing. Also in nearly every form of Buddhism hundreds of thousands of beings are recognised as having reached enlightenment. Less are recognised as entering parinirvana (which is what Shakyamuni Buddha aka Siddhartha Gautama did) however considering that the historical Buddha Shakyamuni is considered to be just one in a long line of Buddha's again he's not the only one to have achieved this.

As for how you know your enlightened the standard response to this has been 'when your enlightened you'll know...' describing enlightenment has been likened to trying to explain color to a blind person. Doesn't mean other people haven't compiled lists of attributes for enlightened people though some of them are fairly amusing but yeah anyway hope that clears that up.

[jroe52]

being reborn
can allow people
to see again=)

[Atharel]

Multiply three times three until you get ten. That will be how many times you must ask him.

3^2.09590327428938460429656?