Sunday Mornings, whilst others might go to church, I was wondering, what I could find online about Buddhism and found this BBC website.
Their description of Buddhism is as follows:
“Buddhism is a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development. Buddhists strive for a deep insight into the true nature of life and do not worship gods or deities.”
Similar to what I mentioned last week. It is not so much of a religion with a god and the whole fuss about it. It is more for you, your personal journey and your life – focusing on everything around you.
The Kadampa Buddhism tradition where Marcelo and I met, giving local access to Buddhist teaching, was founded in the 11th century in Tibet. Vulnerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso founded the “New Kadampa Buddhist Tradition”, there is a blog about NKT I found, offers the following description:
“In his left hand he holds a heart, which symbolises great compassion and spontaneous great bliss… His round yellow hat represents the view of Nagarjuna, and the wisdom sword in his right hand teaches us to sever ignorance… Dorje Shudgen rides a snow lion …and has a jewel-splitting mongoose perched on his left arm, symbolising his power to bestow wealth on those who put their trust in him… His wrathful expression indicated that he destroys ignorance, the real enemy of all living beings, by blessing them with great wisdom.”
The NKT puts a high emphasis on “Buddhism in the modern world”. I remember when I used to attend the weekly teachings in London, that there is always a reference to daily life. Particularly in London. This really makes a difference to my view of any religion on spiritual thoughts as you have the direct connection to your environment.
You can download a comprehensive booklet about NKT on their website.
Also, browsing, I found a website about chanting.
I hope this gives you enough Sunday reading.
Have a peaceful week.
Love and Kindness
Volker
Buddha, Buddhism
buddhism in london, new kapdama tradition, nkt
