Buddhist couple live in close proximity

[Ixion]

Forgive me, but I am very ignorant of buddhist philosophy. I was alerted to a NY Times article today of a buddhist couple living in my great state of Arizona that never stray more than 15 feet apart (5 m give or take) from each other. Here is the article Making Their Own Limits in a Spiritual Partnership.

With traditional buddhist practices, they have also adopted a vow of celibacy. Now if it were me, I would not enjoy being 15 feet from my wife at all times, but adding the vow of celibacy is too much. Takes the fun out of relationships.

Like I said, I am ignorant of the practices. I know I will never be a buddhist monk.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

He should have stopped being a monastic when he decided to start a relationship. His tradition is clear.

Their particular practice is rather odd. If it helps them understand Buddhist principles, then I guess it is fine. But he shouldn't teach it as Buddhist.

And I don't really see how it opens Buddhism up to feminism and Western society.

 

[TX50]

How do they stay 15 feet apart? Do they use a Buddha line (gratuitous
SCUBA diving joke there)?

 

[six7s]

Like I said, I am ignorant of the practices. I know I will never be a buddhist monk.

<?php
define("WOO", 'Inexplicable, Irrational, Illogical, Unsound,  Absurd, Preposterous, Ridiculous');
$buddhism = WOO;

echo $buddhism;
?>

 

[Ryokan]

I see they're Tibetan Buddhists, which explains a lot.

The variations between the different denominations of Buddhism is vast, even compared to Christianity - and few are as wooish as Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism also seems to attract the Western woos in droves.

 

[six7s]

But their practice — which even they admit is radical by the standards of the religious community whose ideas they aim to further — has sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community as far as the Dalai Lama himself, whose office indicated its disapproval of the living arrangement by rebuffing Mr. Roach’s attempt to teach at Dharamsala, India, in 2006. (In a letter, the office said his “unconventional behavior does not accord with His Holiness’s teachings and practices.”)

Translation (with thanks to the INSOLITOLOGY Woo-Woo Dictionary):
"Hey punk! Don't even try to out-woo me!"

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

I see they're Tibetan Buddhists, which explains a lot.

The variations between the different denominations of Buddhism is vast, even compared to Christianity - and few are as wooish as Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism also seems to attract the Western woos in droves.

Heh, that's been my experience as well. I posted a quote from the Lama Surya Das quoted in this article about the afterlife. It was pretty bad. And I still can't get over how they choose the Dalai Lama.

 

[six7s]

...I still can't get over how they choose the Dalai Lama.

Please do enlighten me...

1. Who are 'they'?
   
2. How do they choose the Dalai Lama?
   
3. Why do so many people listen to what 'they' say?

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Please do enlighten me...

1. Who are 'they'?
   
2. How do they choose the Dalai Lama?
   
3. Why do so many people listen to what 'they' say?

From what I read, "they" are a couple of monk who knew the previous Dalai Lama. They go around Tibet and interview children. They have three sets of prayer beads, fives staffs, etc. and one of the objects in each of the sets belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. Apparently this Dalai Lama chose the right objects and when he grabbed the one of them he said, "This is mine," or something along those lines.

The people believe then believe that this proves that the child is a rebirth of the previous Dalai Lama, who the incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

(This is all IIRC)

Which, to me, a Math major, seems rather unimpressive, and statistically inevitable.

 

[six7s]

Thanks for the reply

Which, to me, a Math major, seems rather
unimpressive, and statistically inevitable.

To me - a maths () minor - it simply confirms my bias that monks (and priests, bookies, entrepreneurs, snake-oil sellers et al) all - for the price of a ticket aboard the gravy train - sell their souls to live by the mantra of 'every second of every minute of every hour yada yada there's a sucker born somewhere within reach of my wallet'

<derail @TB>

I'm intrigued...
Although I have known very few, I have (through my travels) 'rubbed shoulders with' countless Buddhists and, for me, you alone stand out as being very articulate, equally bright, inclined towards critical thought and a Buddhist... a combination that is - in my experience to date - unique

One Q (assuming you are all of the above):

• WHY are you a Buddhist?

</derail @TB>

 

[kmortis]

From what I read, "they" are a couple of monk who knew the previous Dalai Lama. They go around Tibet and interview children. They have three sets of prayer beads, fives staffs, etc. and one of the objects in each of the sets belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. Apparently this Dalai Lama chose the right objects and when he grabbed the one of them he said, "This is mine," or something along those lines.

The people believe then believe that this proves that the child is a rebirth of the previous Dalai Lama, who the incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

(This is all IIRC)

Which, to me, a Math major, seems rather unimpressive, and statistically inevitable.

Never to be one to venture off the main path, but didn't the most recent Dalai Lama say that then next incarnation was going to be female?

 

[XBoxWarrior]

Never to be one to venture off the main path, but didn't the most recent Dalai Lama say that then next incarnation was going to be female?

female? you say?

I wanna get in now...

buy stock! the pics on the innerwebs will be priceless!h

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

What's the odds that the couple mentioned in the OP follow the same approach to sex as the Breatharians do to food? " Well, we did not exactly say that we do not eat. Only that we do not do so in public"? :snicker:

 

[tsig]

Forgive me, but I am very ignorant of buddhist philosophy. I was alerted to a NY Times article today of a buddhist couple living in my great state of Arizona that never stray more than 15 feet apart (5 m give or take) from each other. Here is the article Making Their Own Limits in a Spiritual Partnership.

With traditional buddhist practices, they have also adopted a vow of celibacy. Now if it were me, I would not enjoy being 15 feet from my wife at all times, but adding the vow of celibacy is too much. Takes the fun out of relationships.

Like I said, I am ignorant of the practices. I know I will never be a buddhist monk.

Divorce is inevitable but it will be called something else.

 

[fishbait]

Tibetan Buddhism also seems to attract the Western woos in droves.

I live just down the road from a large, lavish Tibetan Buddhist Retreat. They have some whacky folks coming and going.

In the interest of neighborhood amity, they are hosting a pot-luck dinner for the few people who live on my country mountain road on Monday. It should be interesting.

 

[fishbait]

I posted a quote from the Lama Surya Das quoted in this article about the afterlife. It was pretty bad.

Hey, I knew Surya Das years ago. His name is Jeff Miller. He's a great baseball player. Plays a mean third base. Likes to party, too. Eats meat, drinks, and has a terrific sense of humor. He's a great guy who doesn't take himself too seriously.

 

[kmortis]

I live just down the road from a large, lavish Tibetan Buddhist Retreat. They have some whacky folks coming and going.

In the interest of neighborhood amity, they are hosting a pot-luck dinner for the few people who live on my country mountain road on Monday. It should be interesting.

Are you sure it's not a Laotian Buddhist retreat? If it is, we're neighbors...

...if it's not, once again, I'm the only JREFer here.

 

[Ixion]

Divorce is inevitable but it will be called something else.

Perhaps "Enlightenment"

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Thanks for the reply



To me - a maths () minor - it simply confirms my bias that monks (and priests, bookies, entrepreneurs, snake-oil sellers et al) all - for the price of a ticket aboard the gravy train - sell their souls to live by the mantra of 'every second of every minute of every hour yada yada there's a sucker born somewhere within reach of my wallet'

<derail @TB>

I'm intrigued...
Although I have known very few, I have (through my travels) 'rubbed shoulders with' countless Buddhists and, for me, you alone stand out as being very articulate, equally bright, inclined towards critical thought and a Buddhist... a combination that is - in my experience to date - unique


One Q (assuming you are all of the above):

• WHY are you a Buddhist?

</derail @TB>

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been trying to think of the best answer.

Well, I should certaintly like to think I am all of those things .

To be quite honest I first read about Buddhism when I was still a bit of a woo, because of the meditation. A while later, when I was more skeptical, I started to study it in earnest because I was told that people in my position needed spiritual guidance, and Buddhism was the least offensive to my skeptical beliefs.

But when I got past the fluff that most people consider to be Buddhism, I found something very appealing. I found the ideas of Buddhism to go quite against the ideas of other philosophies, such as the teaching of anatta. Of course, at first I tended towards Zennism (An armchair Zen philospher who conceptualizes but does not practice), but when I practiced it I found what was said to be true.

Of course, like many in the west I am uncomfortable saying I am a "Buddhist". Most consider this to happen when one takes refuge in the Triple Gem. But in my tradition (The Suzuki lineage of Soto Zen) one usually waits quite a while before taking the Triple Refuge and the five precepts. And even then, people still don't like to call themselves Buddhists.

One reason why I personally think so is because there is more of a focus on practice and realization in the present moment, not so much on metaphysics. Also, in accordance with Nagarjuna's emptiness, the point of practice is to get beyond conceptual frameworks and all "-isms". You study the doctrine keeping in mind that it is to be let go of in the end.

For me, in the words of Dogen, "To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things."

Also, I have met a few priests and people training to be priests and they aren't in it for the money, and many take a vow of poverty. For most of them, they do it because they feel that priesthood is where they can best help people. Or at least, most of the ones I have met and gotten to know, which is probably a small and biased sample . And that is true of both the Buddhist ones and the Catholic ones I have met.

Of course, from them I hear about the less virtuousness of other priests in training.

I hope this helps !

 

[Ixion]

Can anyone explain the differences between, say, Tibetan buddhists and Laotian or Chinese buddhists? I know, that is probably asking too much, but even a brief outline would be helpful for me.