Question for Buddhists

[HMS_Irruncible]

So let’s say I’ve been doing some reading up on Buddhism and I decide it sounds like the way for me. Where do I go from there? Read some books? Go to a temple? Are there cultish or corrupt kinds of temples or congregations that should be avoided (USA)?

Also, Buddhists can be total atheists, right?

I apologize if the question seems inane; it’s sincere. I’ve had the idea for a number of years but I’ve only recently felt like I really need to start taking real steps in that direction.

[Anne_Neville]

@Brain Wreck

Also, Buddhists can be total atheists, right?

Yes, they can, although there are also Buddhists who believe in a god or gods. The Buddha thought that the question of whether there is or isn’t a god, and what the nature of a god or gods might be, was irrelevant to what he was teaching:

@The Buddha

"It is as if, Malunkyaputta, a man had been wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his relatives and kinsfolk, were to procure for him a physician or surgeon; and the sick man were to say, ‘I will not have this arrow taken out until I have learned whether the man who wounded me belonged to the warrior caste, or to the Brahmin caste, or to the agricultural caste, or to the menial caste.’…

“That man would die, Malunkyaputta, without ever having learned this.”

"In exactly the same way, Malunkyaputta, any one who should say, ‘I will not lead the religious life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One shall explain to me either that the world is eternal, or that the world is not eternal . . . or that the worthy person neither exists nor does not exist after death’; that person would die, Malunkyaputta, before the Tathagata had ever explained this to him.

"The religious life, Malunkyaputta, does not depend on the dogma that the world is eternal; nor does the religious life, Malunkyaputta, depend on the dogma that the world is not eternal. Whether the dogma obtain, Malunkyaputta, that the world is eternal, or that the world is not eternal, there still remain birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair, for the extinction of which in the present life I am prescribing . . .

That quote comes from this page. Malunkyaputta was one of Buddha’s disciples; Tathagata is one of Buddha’s titles.

[Omega_Glory]

@Brain Wreck

Are there cultish or corrupt kinds of temples or congregations that should be avoided (USA)?

Soka Gakkai Buddhism (sgi) has been called a cult by some. I can’t tell you to avoid it, but you can google it and make your choice about whether you want to get involved with that organization or not.

[CalMeacham]

There are Buddhist congregations in large cities. There’s one about ten minutes up the road rom e. I’m sure they’ll answer your questions.

[charizard]

I’ve found that most of the Buddhist temples around are established by an immigrant community and are mostly set up to serve that community (e.g. most of the classes are in that language, etc.) However, some larger ones will at least have some sort of side-sessions for Westerners (sometimes combined with classes for their own younger generations, who might speak only English.) It’s worth a look around, but it’s a bit catch-as-catch can.

Mainly, I would say the major practice for the rest of us is to set aside a daily time for some reading and some sitting.

From your brief comments, I might recommend as reading:

 *Conquest of Mind* by Eknath Easwaran
 *Buddhism Without Beliefs* by Stephen Batchelor

I think they might fit you well.

And as for cults, there aren’t many around, and I daresay you’ll know one if you run into one. If they start making outrageous claims or using high-pressure tactics, just go somewhere else.