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Thread: Namaste

  1. #1

    Namaste

    Namaste all,

    Satay extended a warm invitation to join the forum and here i am

    perhaps, at this point, it would behoove me to explain my view and practice.

    as you may or may not know, within the overall Buddha Dharma, there are what we call Three Vehicles, which correspond to the Hinyana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. within the Three Vehicles, there are Nine Yanas that a being can be practicing, typically, we practice some of each one.

    i am a Vajrayana Buddhist, should one desire to use such lables, of the Nyingma school of Tibet which was started by Padmasambhava when he brought the Buddha Dharma to Tibet in roughly 700 C.E.

    an aside to the forum owners... though, in truth, we are all practicing to Awaken to our Buddhanature, we are not all Buddhas just quite yet

    metta,

    ~v

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vajradhara
    Namaste all,

    as you may or may not know, within the overall Buddha Dharma, there are what we call Three Vehicles, which correspond to the Hinyana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. within the Three Vehicles, there are Nine Yanas that a being can be practicing, typically, we practice some of each one.
    namaste,
    I am just curious. How did the three vehicles come to be? Did Gautma talk about these three vehicles or were they derived later from his original teachings?

    an aside to the forum owners... though, in truth, we are all practicing to Awaken to our Buddhanature, we are not all Buddhas just quite yet
    shhhh...

    satay

  3. #3
    Namaste Satay,

    thank you for the post.

    Quote Originally Posted by satay
    namaste,
    I am just curious. How did the three vehicles come to be? Did Gautma talk about these three vehicles or were they derived later from his original teachings?
    that is a *great* question!

    you and i have dialoged in the past so you know, basically, my style of posting and the manner in which i try to explain things. however, as i'm new to the forum, i should, perhaps, explain just a bit about how i go about this.

    i practice a particular, shall we say, style of Buddha Dharma. when i answer questions regarding the Buddha Dharma i endeavor to do so from a non-sectarian view. as such, my answers for general questions tends to be done from that view point.

    when questions are specific enough, i will usually answer them from my schools point of view. naturally, other Buddhists may disagree with my understanding and explanation of such things.

    so... now that the preamble is out of the way... let me answer the question


    generally speaking, most of the Sutta/Sutras in the canon are teachings given to the monastic community of monks and nuns. that being said, there are teachings which are given specifically to lay persons.

    the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma corresponds to the Hinyana, the Individual Vehicle. this first public teaching was given in Varanasi, Deer Park shortly after Buddha Shakyamuni Awoke. the main feature of this turning is the exposition of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

    the Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma corresponds to the Mahayana, the Greater Vehicle. this second public teaching was given in Ragjir on Vulture Peak near Nalanda, and it expounds on the concept of Shunyata, or lack of self nature. the main feature of this turning is the concept of shunyata, lack of self nature and corresponds to the Prajanparamita Sutras.

    the Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma corresponds to the Vajaryana, the Diamond Thunderbolt Vehicle. this third public teaching was given in several locations and isn't fixed to a specific locus, though Vaishali is one of the more frequent locations. the defining feature of this teaching is the teaching of the Tathagatagarbha, the inherent Buddhanature of sentient beings.

    now, we come to a point where there is sharp disagreement. in the view of the Vajrayana, there was another turning of the Wheel of Dharma which is where Buddha Shakaymuni expounded the Tantras. generally speaking, this view is not supported by the Hinyana and several of the Mahayana schools.

    a point of clarification, if i may.

    the term "hinyana" has taken on some negative connotations throughout history. this is, in my view, a mistake. historically, the Hinyana Vehicle contained 17 disctinct schools, as such, when we use the term "hinyana" we are meaning to indicate all these previously existing schools. that being said, today, there is only one extant school of Hinyana practice, the Theraveda.

    as such, most modern commentators simply call the Hinyana "Theraveda Buddhism" since there is not other school within the same frame

    Buddha Dharma is uses the Wheel as its symbol. in this sort of visualization, the Hinyana teachings are the hub of the wheel, since these are the foundational teachings. the Mahayana is like the spokes of the wheel reaching outward from the hub and the Vajrayana is like the rim of the wheel, rolling over and picking up anything in its path.

    does that help?

    metta,

    ~v

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vajradhara
    Namaste Satay,


    does that help?

    metta,

    ~v
    namaste vj,

    Thanks for the nice reply. I don't think I understood though the answer I was looking for...were these different teachings then taught by Gautama originally?

    I also have heard that there have been 'several' Buddhas...is this correct? Is Gautama the 'first' buddha in this sense or have there been some before him?

    just curious as usual...
    satay

  5. #5
    Namaste Satay,

    thank you for the post.

    Quote Originally Posted by satay
    namaste vj,

    Thanks for the nice reply. I don't think I understood though the answer I was looking for...were these different teachings then taught by Gautama originally?
    yes, all of these teachings were givin by Buddha Shakyamuni in various locations and to varied groups of beings.

    I also have heard that there have been 'several' Buddhas...is this correct?
    yes, that is correct. Buddha Shakyamuni is the most recent to arise in this Fortunate Eon. a Fortunate Eon, in Buddhism, is an Eon where more than one Buddha will arise. this particular Eon, in our tradition, is said to give rise to many Buddhas, with the next one to arise being Buddha Maitreya.

    Buddha Vipassi (the first Buddha to arise in our world system)

    Buddha Sikhi

    Buddha Vessabu

    Buddha Kakusandha

    Buddha Konagamana

    Buddha Dipankara

    Buddha Kassapa

    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon...dn-32-pt0.html

    Is Gautama the 'first' buddha in this sense or have there been some before him?

    just curious as usual...
    satay
    no worries, this is an oft asked question

    the first Buddha to arise in our world system was Buddha Vipassi.

    metta,

    ~v
    Meditation brings Wisdom, lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back.

    ~Buddha Shakyamuni

    *******************************

    I have gained this from philosophy:

    That i do, without being commanded, what others do only through fear of Law.

    ~Aristotle

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    That is very interesting, Vajradhara.

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    Vajradhara, in your listing of buddhas where does siddhartha stand ? you didnt say his position in the list. is he vipassa ? if he is not the first how did people come to know about previous buddhas.

  8. #8
    Namaste Namo Narayana,

    thank you for the post.

    Quote Originally Posted by Namo Narayana
    Vajradhara, in your listing of buddhas where does siddhartha stand ? you didnt say his position in the list. is he vipassa ? if he is not the first how did people come to know about previous buddhas.
    Buddha Shakyamuni would be after Buddha Kassapa in this list, i.e. he would be the "current" Buddha of this world system.

    we know about the existence of the previous Buddhas from the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni where he goes through the various rebirths that are recalled and the Buddhas which taught him.

    metta,

    ~v
    Meditation brings Wisdom, lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back.

    ~Buddha Shakyamuni

    *******************************

    I have gained this from philosophy:

    That i do, without being commanded, what others do only through fear of Law.

    ~Aristotle

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    vajradhara, thanks for your post. how does gautama buddha came to know about the previous buddhas. is there any timeline for the earliest buddha. how come this world never knew about the previous buddha.

    can we assume that siddhartha's enlightenement and his understanding of dharma matched with different muni's who lived before him. hence he considered those munis as earlier buddhas ?

    did buddha not agree with Vedhas ? I read somewhere that he disagreed

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    Quote Originally Posted by Namo Narayana

    did buddha not agree with Vedhas ? I read somewhere that he disagreed
    Sorry to interrupt your conversation with Vj but Gautama rejected the Vedas in the sense that in his day men were mainly concentrating on the rituals and not the deeper meanings. Gautama rejected the Vedas but not Veda.

    satay

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