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Hi Loong, Just a few notes I'd like to add - first, there are also Vajrayana lineages in Japan, although they tend to be lesser known.

Second, most of what the Dalai Lama has taught publicly would fall more under Mahayana than Vajrayana. Tibetan Buddhism really encompasses both. There are lineages within Tibetan Buddhism that don't do much Vajrayana practice, are really straight Mahayana. While academics tend to separate these two very clearly, in reality it's not so clear. So on that point you will find a lot of debate within the academic study of Buddhism. And amongst Tibetan practitioners, many would consider themselves Mahayana, and Vajrayana to be sets of practices within some lineages, as opposed to being a separate branch.

I also would add that although externally Vajrayana seems the most religious, because there are deities, rituals, symbolic objects etc., in fact internally it is the opposite. All of these are symbolic, in fact one essential teaching within Vajrayana is that everything has four levels of meaning - exoteric, esoteric, inner and secret. A practitioner works through each of these levels, as their understanding deepens over time. And as they do, the separation between self and deity, self, and ritual is dissolved. It is only at the first level - the exoteric - that the deities and symbols are processed as external to oneself, i.e. religiously.

So returning to the Dalai Lama, most of what the Dalai Lama teaches publicly is either really universal to all Buddhism (Four Noble Truths, Eightfold path, etc), or to Mahayana (the development of bodhicitta.) Vajrayana is really about practices that are transmitted between students and practitioners, so this is not something a Lama would really speak about in a public speech or book outside of a formal teaching setting.

I hope that clarifies things. I am wondering if the author is a Buddhist academic or a practitioner himself? So far, it sounds like more an academic approach, and if so, there are debates about these things amongst academics, so it's just important to know that. That does not diminish the value of the book, it just provides a framework for understanding.

Re: copyright, my understanding is that it's always fine to quote a paragraph or two as long as it's quoted and attributed, it's just not OK to quote an entire book online.

Dear Lisa,

Thank you for your intervention.
1-Man do we have difficulties understanding each other. I know the dalai-Lama

will not go into deep subjects.I once went to one of his conference and was bored to death.

2-As for Devas ,deities etc, I added that to complete on some way
the text taken from the book.
3- Maybe you do not read all my posts but there is Understanding our Mind,and Dhammapada that are fully cited.
4- Right now working with 2 editors of books regarding copyrights.
5-I have written to the author of the book .Never answered back .I am to write him tonite regarding his comments on other lineages that I find offensive in the way they are written.
6- This thread is dying of it's good death, tonite,
7- From now on only citations from books I acquire and have the copyright agreement,shall be cited.
8-Just bought 4 new books on Mindfulness my (dada) favorite subject in buddhism.
9-One is from Shambala Publishers,2 are from sri-lanka,and the biggest one 490 pages is by the author Joseph Goldstein,working on copyrights to use quotes .
So as you can see I take what I do very seriously.From a sprout a tree grows.
Hope everything to your convenience

loong
simple buddhist without lineage affiliation

Dear Lisa

The author has Taken refuge in a monastary,citing the names of the persons there and his Buddhist name.
However,I do not beleive his conduct of being in line with what Buddhism preaches.

loong

Hi Loong, ok, yes we are still misunderstanding each other, just to clarify:

- There is nothing from this book that you have quoted so far that I consider offensive or incorrect. So I was not advocating that you give up on this book, if you find it helpful. I was just adding more detail on Vajrayana from my own perspective, because you had said that this author was Theraveda.

- I was not saying the Dalai Lama does not cover deep topics, I was clarifying that much of what he discusses would be considered Mahayana. I said that because in your comment you said that Westerners mostly knew about Vajrayana through the Dalai Lama's teachings on Vajrayana, so I wanted to be clear that Tibetan Buddhism is Mahayana and Vajrayana.

- To quote books, you do not need copyright permission. You do not need to write the authors or the publishers. You just have to stick to 1-2 paragraphs at a time with attribution and quotes. And you have been doing that. There is no problem with any of your quotes. From your note above, it seems like you thought I was saying you could not quote this or other books. I just meant to say you can't do it in entirety - you can't quote an entire book here. So you are ok, there is no problem with the quoting you have been doing, and you do not need copyright permission for it.

The Joseph Goldstein book on Mindfulness is excellent. Although it is not solely Buddhist. He is one of the main teachers that has helped develop mindfulness-based-stress-reduction (MBSR) the main form of mindfulness meditation taught in the west for health and stress management benefits. So although his own background is Buddhist, he chose to develop this method for people who wanted to practice mindfulness but were not interested in Buddhism. So this book also shares about mindfulness from that perspective. But if it is the one I am thinking of, it probes the main sutra on mindfulness in depth.

Dear Lisa,

The reason ,you did not find anything offensive regarding the book Questions Q&R ,it's because I had removed parts I thought offensice to a Mahayana Buddhist.

Loong

Yes, that is what I figured from what you had said. But if you find other parts are helpful, then of course it is no problem to quote them here, that is up to you. I only asked his background in order to understand the perspective he was coming from - you had said Theraveda but I wasn't sure if he was also a Buddhist historian and was coming at it from that perspective, or as a personal practitioner, or as a teacher etc. But it's all good...

Dear Lisa,

I wrote to the author .You do know me.I too beleive that the book contains some other good words etc.
However ,If I start again this thread ,all his texts will be scrutinized and not liking the word but censored.Is it o.k. with you.

loong
simple buddhist.

To all or none,
We will use this tool of Learning after perusal,analysis and if necessary ,censured.

The book is called "Bouddhisme questions et Reponses," author Edouard finn.

In the last post used wher we spoke of Vajrayana,the author speaks of other medieum size lineages.

The first one is PURE LAND " Pure land has its roots in China and Japan ,however its main object is to serve Buddha Amithaba
The Buddha of infinite light. .The members hope within a lifetime attain enlightenment and live in the Pure Land".

The other Is Nichiren Buddhism whom is worldwide.founded by a XIII century by a japanese monk.In 1930 a professor called MAKIGUSHI TSUNESABURO and many sub courants again flourished.
One the groups beleive that if thet recite acertain mantra they
will attain enlightenment.

lisa should know more about these sub courants.

To finish off his q&a the author states that in Korea this form of buddhism inspired by Zen ,took the name of WON .The monks are allowed to marry and to give lots of theit time to curutative organizations.

OUF! and imagine there are more than 120 lineages or school.

The next question will be regarding The Triple Jewel.

Try to unravel this.But never forget that if you are a Thera your main goal is to attain Enlightenment,not to be an encyclopedia

Loong
simple no lineage Buddhist

I really can't go back (though would love to) the initiative of the "Q & A" of Buddhism.

However, saying this I recognize the duality of the plane in which we live.

Personally? I have a saying or two. One...

We're each a little bit right and A LOT a bit wrong and have SO much more to learn. The other usually rotates around there's 3 sides to every story - one, the other and somewhere in the middle...well, the Truth.

However we're here. IF we're physically here, we each have something to learn. None of which should be turned against one another unless it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a positive zipcode

Until we get we're actually connected - if you have to have something in mind...just think WATER! If we're 80% that or so, we're pretty much the same family

to all or none,

From the book "Bouddhisme Questions et reponses " by Edouard Finn.

The third question from this book is " What is the Triple Jewel:?"

It is the treesome most known ib Buddhism.First THE BUDDHA (the awakened),Dharma/Dhamma,the Buddha's teachings,the third THE SANGHA
Residence of the monks but also all the Buddhists around the world.:

The author also mentions that these words are repeated 3 times in a Taking Refuge ceremony ,where one becomes a buddhist.He sais that is the Thera way,however my vows were Thera and were more complex than mentionned.I also took the Monk,s vows in the Thera way.

loong
a simple buddhist