Many christian groups are converting buddhists but not vice versa...so why does buddhist culture do not encourage more conversion to the truth?

 

In Buddhist culture we talk about "Sui Yuan" aka fate.....a person must have faith and understand buddhism, buddha teaching, then it would be beneficial to the person and start cultivating himself...

There is no point in persuaing people to convert to a religion when the person do not have that kind of inspiration faith in the teaching....Sui Yuan is important in cultivating in buddhism...it is a chance open to many people, but how many people would willing take up this chance....if you miss this lifetime, you have to wait for some other lifetime to grab the opportunity again...

IMOP,

Any religion is good, it is said to be no good when the practioneer has made it to be no good.

 

 

ermm.."Sui Yuan" 随缘 is more like "going according to conditions" instead of "fate".

/\

Yes, sui yuan is not fate at all. Fate is a wrong view admonished by the Buddha.

I must admit that I don't quite understand the meaning of 随缘.

Anyway, I think buddhists should always try to share dharma with other people as much as possible. In the first turn of dharma wheel, buddha actually take the initiative to approach the 5 people and spread dharma to them.
I sometimes also talk about dharma with my close friends, unless they are those staunch christians, then no point, because I don't want them to make bad speech karma.

Originally posted by Catknight:

Many christian groups are converting buddhists but not vice versa...so why does buddhist culture do not encourage more conversion to the truth?

Hello all For some information: There are so many versions of Jesus the lost years on net . here are some samples .please enjoy ! :) http://www.reversespins.com/teenageJesus.html http://www.tsl.org/masters/jesus/front.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_years_of_Jesus http://www.otherplane.com/am/amselene.htm http://reluctant-messenger.com/issa.htm http://www.wolflodge.org/sananda/lost-years-of-jesus.htm

 

Pardon my word on fate..i was thinking to use a English word to interprete 随缘..in the office no chinese software...

My Dharma friend just complete an article..it wrote [佛有说:[ 佛有三不渡；第一无缘者难渡]

Where i think it is quite true..如果和佛法有缘，不须要劝他人来听佛法，他们自己就会到来。。如果无缘，就算来了，他的心也不在这道场里。。

 

Originally posted by justdoit77:

I must admit that I don't quite understand the meaning of 随缘.

 :-)
if we can see things as they are, then one can abide in this mentality of 自在随缘, mind of ease and renunciation.

/\

sui yuan ,which i think it means buddha will teach ppl according to who they r and how they r,if he is smart buddha he will teach some higher wisdom to him ,if he is dumb ,buddha will teach him if he continue do like that ,he will go to hell.

buddhism only help ppl who need and ask for help

Originally posted by Bodhi hut:

 

Pardon my word on fate..i was thinking to use a English word to interprete 随缘..in the office no chinese software...

My Dharma friend just complete an article..it wrote [佛有说:[ 佛有三不渡；第一无缘者难渡]

Where i think it is quite true..如果和佛法有缘，不须要劝他人来听佛法，他们自己就会到来。。如果无缘，就算来了，他的心也不在这道场里。。

 

Agree. Fate, belief & destiny plays an important role here.

Originally posted by justdoit77:

I must admit that I don't quite understand the meaning of 随缘.

缘 is not something mysterious or difficult to understand.  It is simply phenomena that is caused by the ripening of conditions.  It is when suitable conditions congregate that the phenomenon can be resulted.  When even one of these conditions fail to exist, then no matter what, that particular phenomenon cannot happen.

It is important to note that 缘 is not the action; it is just the right conditions.  Therefore it is not passive.  We cannot sit around and wait for 缘 to happen. 

For example, if somebody wants to commit suicide, we cannot say that we leave it to his destiny whether he dies or not.  His intention to die is formed because the right factors are there, and so there is 缘, but by executing his intention, he is actually creating the next 缘 to happen, and that 缘 is that he'll go to hell.  If he always does good deeds or practise Dharma, then before he's about to kill himself, there just might be one thought that comes to him, telling him about the illusory nature of all, and that single thought could just be the factor causing the conditons to die to fail.

When a love one passes away, we should look at it in similar fashion.  The conditions for him to live have simply stopped to exist, so how could he live?  And thus your 缘 with him has ended, as simple as that.  Any breakups in a relationship should also be looked upon as such.  The conditions for him to love you or for you to love him have vanished, maybe because of lack of communications, which causes the right conditions for a beakup.

When spreading the Dharma, when the right conditions (缘) do not exist, no matter how we preached, it'll never go into their ears.  For us, we understand that the right condiitons do not exist and so we should not be too pushy or 執着.  But at least we sow the seeds in their mind so that in their future rebirths, somehow these seeds will ripen and together with the right conditions, they'll practise the Dharma. 

When talking about 缘, we should not forget about the 因.  因 is the action, or thinking, that causes the 缘 to happen.  If we attribute everything to 缘, and we live passively, then what is going to contribute the the future 缘?  And thus we must always be mindful of our present actions and be confident that it'll affect our 缘 in the future.  At the same time, when things do not go our way, we note that the right conditions are not there and we remind ourselves not to be 執着.

I hope I'm not being long-winded here.  Metta.

 

i think we got understand yuan right.因缘，because there is yinyuan to everything ,does not means that we have to wait and see the fate,in fact as AEN said ,there is not such fate ,because life is unpredictable,u don't know what's gonna happen.

because of yinyuan ,every single objest ,is coorelate and dependent to each other.It can be every fragile.

in one hand we should be 无为，in the other hand we should 精进。if u know wuwei appropriately,we will know that these two thing do not contradict to each other

Originally posted by rokkie:

sui yuan ,which i think it means buddha will teach ppl according to who they r and how they r,if he is smart buddha he will teach some higher wisdom to him ,if he is dumb ,buddha will teach him if he continue do like that ,he will go to hell.

Buddha is compassionate...everyone has different level of wisdom and understanding..and buddha has the ability to teach or preech anyone..but it greatly depends on the 因缘...becoz...your 第八识 has not been fruitful yet for him to preech you...if he comes you will also deny his teaching..

 

Originally posted by Rick555:

缘 is not something mysterious or difficult to understand.  It is simply phenomena that is caused by the ripening of conditions.  It is when suitable conditions congregate that the phenomenon can be resulted.  When even one of these conditions fail to exist, then no matter what, that particular phenomenon cannot happen.

It is important to note that 缘 is not the action; it is just the right conditions.  Therefore it is not passive.  We cannot sit around and wait for 缘 to happen. 

For example, if somebody wants to commit suicide, we cannot say that we leave it to his destiny whether he dies or not.  His intention to die is formed because the right factors are there, and so there is 缘, but by executing his intention, he is actually creating the next 缘 to happen, and that 缘 is that he'll go to hell.  If he always does good deeds or practise Dharma, then before he's about to kill himself, there just might be one thought that comes to him, telling him about the illusory nature of all, and that single thought could just be the factor causing the conditons to die to fail.

When a love one passes away, we should look at it in similar fashion.  The conditions for him to live have simply stopped to exist, so how could he live?  And thus your 缘 with him has ended, as simple as that.  Any breakups in a relationship should also be looked upon as such.  The conditions for him to love you or for you to love him have vanished, maybe because of lack of communications, which causes the right conditions for a beakup.

When spreading the Dharma, when the right conditions (缘) do not exist, no matter how we preached, it'll never go into their ears.  For us, we understand that the right condiitons do not exist and so we should not be too pushy or 執着.  But at least we sow the seeds in their mind so that in their future rebirths, somehow these seeds will ripen and together with the right conditions, they'll practise the Dharma. 

When talking about 缘, we should not forget about the 因.  因 is the action, or thinking, that causes the 缘 to happen.  If we attribute everything to 缘, and we live passively, then what is going to contribute the the future 缘?  And thus we must always be mindful of our present actions and be confident that it'll affect our 缘 in the future.  At the same time, when things do not go our way, we note that the right conditions are not there and we remind ourselves not to be 執着.

I hope I'm not being long-winded here.  Metta.

 

 

因缘...we are a participant in it..past present or creating the future..direct or indirectly...

Originally posted by sinweiy:

Originally posted by justdoit77:

I must admit that I don't quite understand the meaning of 随缘.

if we can see things as they are, then one can abide in this mentality of 自在随缘, mind of ease and renunciation.

moreover, if one don't go according to condition随缘(non-self in control), one become 盼缘panyuan, expecting from conditions(ego in control),

随缘 also mean to be contented. so either content or not content, so to speak.

/\

Originally posted by Bodhi hut:

Buddha is compassionate...everyone has different level of wisdom and understanding..and buddha has the ability to teach or preech anyone..but it greatly depends on the 因缘...becoz...your 第八识 has not been fruitful yet for him to preech you...if he comes you will also deny his teaching..

 

yes,one sin of ordinary ppl is deny buddha's teaching

Originally posted by sinweiy:

moreover, if one don't go according to condition随缘(non-self in control), one become 盼缘panyuan, expecting from conditions(ego in control),

随缘 also mean to be contented. so either content or not content, so to speak.

/\

yes ,when u get non-self in control,ur budhi seed planted in u heart will shining

Originally posted by Rick555:

When talking about 缘, we should not forget about the 因.  因 is the action, or thinking, that causes the 缘 to happen.  If we attribute everything to 缘, and we live passively, then what is going to contribute the the future 缘?  And thus we must always be mindful of our present actions and be confident that it'll affect our 缘 in the future.  At the same time, when things do not go our way, we note that the right conditions are not there and we remind ourselves not to be 執着.

I hope I'm not being long-winded here.  Metta.

Dont worry, you are not long winded.
I understand 缘. I think it is like when someone do something, it is a cause (因). When the cause meet the right 缘, the result (果) will appear.
Many people nowadays like to work on 缘, for example search for job or biz opportunities, but overlook the importance to plant the right cause (eg. donation).
I just dont quite understand 随缘.
As what sinweiy has said "随缘 also mean to be contented."
But content about what? Abt the facts that I am suffering or I am in samsara or anything?

 

IMOP

随缘=不要执著，放得下，不要逆转，不要勉强，不要强求，要随意，要正见随心。。

Originally posted by justdoit77:

As what sinweiy has said "随缘 also mean to be contented."
But content about what? Abt the facts that I am suffering or I am in samsara or anything?

quote:-

Contentment refers to the neuro-physiological experience of satisfaction and being at ease in one's situation, bodymind (cf. John Money[1]), body, and/or mind.

In Yoga (Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), movement or positions, breathing practices, and concentration, as well as the yamas and niyamas, can contribute to contentment (santosha).

In a Buddhist sense, it is the freedom from anxiety, want or need. Contentment is the goal behind all goals because once achieved there is nothing to seek until it is lost. A living system cannot maintain contentment for very long as complete balance and harmony of forces means death. Living systems are a complex dance of forces which find a stability far from balance. Any attainment of balance is quickly met by rising pain which ends the momentary experience of satisfaction or contentment achieved. Buddha's task was to find the solution to this never ending descent into dissatisfaction or Dukkha. The buddhist faith is based on the belief that he succeeded. Most religions have some form of eternal bliss or heaven as their apparent goal often contrasted with eternal torment or dissatisfactions.

The source of all mentally created dissatisfactions appears to stem from the ability to compare and contrast experiences and find reality as one is living it to be less than ideal. The solution is to seek out ways to either make experienced reality conform to the ideal or to lower expectations to the level of the experienced. When one can live in the moment with expectations in harmony with experiences one has achieved the greatest mental contentment possible. Variants of this pursuit are found in all religions and manifest in many forms of meditation and prayerful devotions.

 

学会知足, 我们才能快乐. 知足常乐

先秦·李耳《老子》：“祸莫大于不知足，咎莫大于欲得，故知足之足常足矣。”

 

the only 'Sui Yuan' i know of is a good hokkien song and i think it means

"if you are given lemons, make lemonade"

Originally posted by Catknight:

Many christian groups are converting buddhists but not vice versa...so why does buddhist culture do not encourage more conversion to the truth?

Some people can't take in the truth

Some people can't understand the truth.

Long time ago, the earth was believed to be flat. Everyone dismissed the idea when someone proposed that the earth was round.