Any Buddhist

[ZmercTheDuke]

Anyone else practice buddhist beliefs, or mediate.

.I Was big into psychedelics for about a year or so. doing different psychedelic every day usually DMT, DXM or saliva. Though i be lying if i said I didn’t try other drugs. I stopped after I was diagnose with HPPD, which is un-curable disorder where basically see things that don’t exist, even if i was sober. This caused me to go into a terrible depression and depersonalization. lost many friends due to, had to leave college because I couldn’t stand the thought of even leaving my room. it was hell for about 8 months. I didn’t believe I was alive, everything I want to didn’t help even my seeing on campus therapist didn’t help.

Then I started looking into the beliefs of Buddhism, and how its all about keeping a health mind. After months of trying t mediation finally was able improve myself and outlook. Now a year later, Im back in school, gained new friends a feeling good. Its been a 6months since my last major flash back. My HPPD has de sensitized to point don’t even notice it. Now have all new look out on life. Im more down to earth and just enjoy the little things.


I know my story was mostly of recovery but just wondering if there any other fellow buddhist. Or maybe have similar stories of recovery or self improvement thorugh their spiritual belifes.

 

[hotb0d]

I'm a buddhist

 

[dancub]

I find your story very interesting. Me and my roomate in college were very into psychedelics too. We did peyote, psilocibin mushrooms, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, etc. Recently he joined a Buddhist Kadampa group and he even gave some dharma classes at their center. Unfortunately he was "invited to give up teaching" for being too sarcastic, apparently Kadampa Buddhists are not to fond of that kind of humor. Anyways, many people that I know to have experimented with psychedelics ended up into buddhism. While I don't call myself a Buddhist I find many of the ideas of Buddhism, about suffering, attachment and impermanence, very interesting.

I'm sorry you developed HPPD, I could imagine how seeing all those things could be very overwhelming. But it's great to know that you've gotten better through meditation. Is one of the best ways to improve as a person, I think.

 

[Benvolio]

Do I understand correctly that Buddhists do not believe in a God?

 

[freefall]

Meditation has nothing to do with Buddhism although it's been adopted as an integral part of it. You can learn it and practice it routinely and you don't even have to be a Buddhist.

And yes, I'm a Buddhist. Technically, Buddhism is not a religion, it is more of a philosophy, that everything in the world is dukka (roughly: unhappiness) and in order to release oneself from the eternal cycle of dukka and enter the state of nirvana, one must let go of the world's desires. Thus Buddhists don't believe in an omnipotent eternal figure which is controlling - thus crudely, Buddhists are atheists in some ways.

 

[Benvolio]

Thank you. The next question is: does not the idea of karma require the existence of a superior intelligence administering the system.

 

[zoltanspawn]

Thank you. The next question is: does not the idea of karma require the existence of a superior intelligence administering the system.

Karma may mean a few different things according to which sect or religion is espousing it.

However, in most of the varieties of buddhism I'm familiar with (and that's certainly not all), it doesn't have the nature of 'justice' that I detect in your question. That is, no, karma is not a system requiring administration; rather, karma is a feature of our existence: that willed deeds have a tendency to persist.

I'm sure others could answer more clearly.

 

[marqau]

Hi, I'm a Buddhist too.

 

[marqau]

The question of God or gods in Buddhism is complicated. When we say "God" we are usually thinking about the Judeo-Christian-Islamic ideas of god which are complex and put together a few different ideas.

If you look at most Buddhist traditions there is some notion of supernatural beings but they are in no way essential or that important so you don't need to believe in them if that belief is not useful to you.

Also, they are often symbolic of some subtle aspect of mind or the universe that can't be easily expressed. This is multiplied hugely in Tibetan Buddhism, but even in the Zen tradition, we chant sutras to Kanzeon (Kuan Yin / Avalokiteshvara), the Boddhisattva of Compassion but we recognise that what we really mean is the entirety of our experience that enlightens us, without over intellectualising it, rather than so much a supernatural being.

Although of course, many Buddhists in the world (especially Chinese) will worship and pray to Kuan Yin as a goddess that can grant their wishes, there is still a sometimes surprising understanding of the symbolism.

So the idea of "God" as a supernatural being is neither important or completely rejected in Buddhism. Many Buddhists (especially in the West) do completely reject ideas of supernatural beings and some of the earliest Buddhist sutras considered to be the words of the Buddha himself (around 500 BC) are critical of an over dependance of beliefs in gods.

However, the Christian idea of God includes much more than just the aspect of a supernatural being. It also means things such as, the creator and designer of he universe, the intelligence from which the universe has its purpose, absolute good, absolute power, absolute beauty and the primary cause of everything.

It is funny than the language used by many people claiming to be atheists actually depends on this kind of God existing. In my view, Buddhism implicitly rejects these ideas and therefor in that sense is anti-theistic.

In Buddhism, this moment to moment experience is all that is ultimately real yet ultimately empty. There are no absolutes and no purpose. Indeed the core distinguishing teaching of Buddhism and the realisation of it through practice is that there is no self at all.

The Christian idea of God also includes that which is experienced in Christian mysticism. Mystical experience is translated into the language of the religious tradition of the mystic. The God of Christian mysticism and the Buddha nature, or enlightenment of Buddhists is the same thing.

 

[chrisw87]

regarding karma and an omnipotent being effecting it, as far as I see it karma is just part of nature.

For every action there is a reaction, nature as well seems to have the ability to always head for a state of equilibrium.