Buddhist Druid

[DJ Droood]

"Thank you animal..I am really grateful for my Mcchicken sandwich and am mindful of your torture...you are lucky I am a Buddhist Druid so I can really appreciate what you have given up for Me. " (I mean, if it feels/tastes good, do it..am I right?)

[Garan Gwyn]

Wow...that was kind of...ugly.

One can also be choosy about what organizations and practices one chooses to support. The fact that I might eat chicken doesn't mean I eat at McDonald's.

GG

[DJ Droood]

One can also be choosy about what organizations and practices one chooses to support. The fact that I might eat chicken doesn't mean I eat at McDonald's.

ah yes...the "ethical meat" that everyone over in the vegetarianism thread eats....honestly though, I would be surprised if there wasn't a "Buddhist Druid" out there who subsists on an Atkins diet of nothing but bacon. There must be a Buddhist sect out there that supports that and can be hyphenated for our Western sensibilities and tastes.

[Garan Gwyn]

Well Drood, I'm not a Buddhist, so I can't respond to that. Nor am I a huge carnivore (I simply am not a steak and potatoes kind of gal any more -- although I'll take the potatoes...lol)

So tell me...what is your take on all this? Does "unethical" meat bother you, or do you not concern yourself with that? As a druid, does the way an animal is slaughtered (if you have any way of knowing) make any difference to you?

[DJ Droood]

So tell me...what is your take on all this? Does "unethical" meat bother you, or do you not concern yourself with that? As a druid, does the way an animal is slaughtered (if you have any way of knowing) make any difference to you?

The link above goes to the vegetarian thread where I mumbled my opinions into the void for several pages....after threads like that and this one, my opinion on "Buddhist Druids" is simply to wonder why we keep trying to shoehorn ourselves into belief systems that obviously don't fit our "lifestlyes", or easier still, change their definitions to suit us?...why don't we simply call ourselves "Cowboy-Pirates" and do/eat whatever we feel like and not worry about culturally and spiritually inappropriate labels?

[Garan Gwyn]

Hmmm, I don't see it that way at all (haven't checked out your other mumblings...maybe later). I'd have to go back through this thread to see what it was all about at the beginning...but for me, it was a place to ask a question about Buddhism from druids who do embrace Buddhist teaching, since I am NOT a Buddhist and do not claim to be one.

I do, however, find some Buddhist teachings resonate with me and enhance my druid path. In particular was a recent experience on a spiritual level that had to do with the way of the bodhisattva, and how to integrate that into my druid experience.

The topic of food was not really of concern to me, and I don't think it was really the focus of this thread either. Just some side comments.

But it clearly is an issue for you!

[Frog]

why don't we simply call ourselves "Cowboy-Pirates" and do/eat whatever we feel like and not worry about culturally and spiritually inappropriate labels?

An interesting concept DJ - I wonder if that should be applied to almost all religous and belief systems though? It is something which goes beyond how we treat animals - ethically or not. For those who decided not to eat meat - even if you were to buy Organic vegetables, the seeds that were planted have been through years of treatment to protect them against fungus and disease - so even if they are not sprayed with fertiliser there is some treatment in there.

I do wonder in this modern life how much we have chosen to sacrifice (in regard to our faith beliefs) especially when our own society is (in the main) at least partially separated from the whole earth cycle?

From this Taoist-pirate.

[DJ Droood]

why don't we simply call ourselves "Cowboy-Pirates" and do/eat whatever we feel like and not worry about culturally and spiritually inappropriate labels?

An interesting concept DJ -

I don't own a ship, don't speake Pirate, don't own a parrot, have all my limbs and feel we have moved past theft and violence as a way of life, but I see no reason not to consider myself a pirate....perhaps a buddhist-pirate...I will have compassion for all forms of sentient life, save for those that are tasty and already dead and cooked anyway. If anyone tells me I am not a buddhist-pirate, I will tell them to go flog themselves. yar.

[Garan Gwyn]

Avast, ye blaggard! (That's all the pirate I know...)

GG

[DJ Droood]

:fence: Avast, ye blaggard! (That's all the pirate I know...)

That is probably enough....you should declare yourself "Cap'n" and start a (geocities) webpage and round up a few "crew" members for your "ship"....then make some angry blog posts about how the other "neo-pirates" are "fluffy parrots" because they wear their eye-patch on the left side instead of the right, as it is correctly documented in "The Adventures of Captain Kidd". Sell memberships for $25 a year.

[Garan Gwyn]

That is probably enough....you should declare yourself "Cap'n" and start a (geocities) webpage and round up a few "crew" members for your "ship"....then make some angry blog posts about how the other "neo-pirates" are "fluffy parrots" because they wear their eye-patch on the left side instead of the right, as it is correctly documented in "The Adventures of Captain Kidd". Sell memberships for $25 a year.

What a great idea!!

GG

[Bart]

:fence: Avast, ye blaggard! (That's all the pirate I know...)

That is probably enough....you should declare yourself "Cap'n" and start a (geocities) webpage and round up a few "crew" members for your "ship"....then make some angry blog posts about how the other "neo-pirates" are "fluffy parrots" because they wear their eye-patch on the left side instead of the right, as it is correctly documented in "The Adventures of Captain Kidd". Sell memberships for $25 a year.

The cynical Pirate might be more suitable.

[DaRC]

They're waaaaay ahead of ye
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

[DJ Droood]

They're waaaaay ahead of ye
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

They are neo-pirates. I come from a long line of hereditary pirates going back to Anicetus of Pontus.

I think keel-hauling was just British anti-pirate propaganda.

(I like it when the OP deletes his/her account...gives the thread breathing room)

[Frog]

Deleted the account - or made to walk the Druid-plank?

Being British of course, I wouldn't want to consider myself a Buddhist-pirate - more a neo-faith-privateer; a far more civilised way of plundering the various world belief systems for the good bits and leaving the rest to flounder on the seas of "I don't understand it".

Have at Ye!

[DJ Droood]

Being British of course, I wouldn't want to consider myself a Buddhist-pirate - more a neo-faith-privateer

I hope you have a Letter of Marque.

[Frog]

I have a certificate! (I'd reckon the modern day pirate should be allowed NVQs and other on the job workshops)....

[DJ Droood]

Why don't we use "Druidist"?....it sounds good, could be used by any of us without debate and makes no specific claim to the title "Druid", so doesn't sound pompous...

here is a question...how does the Buddhist virtue of humility (being modest, reverential, even politely submissive, and never being arrogant, contemptuous, rude ) clash and clang with Celtic bravado, braggadocio and out-right drunken yelling and shouting?

[Muddy Fox]

Why don't we use "Druidist"?....it sounds good, could be used by any of us without debate and makes no specific claim to the title "Druid", so doesn't sound pompous...

here is a question...how does the Buddhist virtue of humility (being modest, reverential, even politely submissive, and never being arrogant, contemptuous, rude ) clash and clang with Celtic bravado, braggadocio and out-right drunken yelling and shouting?

I think that is a good idea DJ. Druidist has a good ring to it, probably needs an H in it. Regarding your question as to how compatible the buddhist virtue of humility is to Celtic bravado I say it takes time. It takes time to integrate the two natures. One has to accept the precepts and noble truths and make a concerted effort to apply them to one's life. It does not happen overnight, is not easy, but I believe with determination and self-discipline it can be achieved. Having said that I see that a lot of Druid teaching centres around meditation and self-knowledge, the same principles used by Buddhists, self mastery. So maybe the differences are not so big atwixt the two. Meditation, disciplined regular meditation brings results, but as I said not overnight or even in a few weeks. And when one has become stuck in a rut and used to behaving badly and using intoxicating substances to ease the troubles of life it is an uphill battle. With much backsliding.
I recently read somewhere that someone asked a Buddhist Monk if he thought that Westerners should follow a philosophy that was not their own and he said " All human beings suffer in this world and the root of all suffering is the same for all human beings wherever they originate from. Therefore the way of Buddhism is to alleviate suffering wherever there are human beings. Or words to that effect.
And then I read that the Dalai Lama on a recent visit to Britain or Ireland or both was advising that people strive to act and be the best at whatever religion they belong, ie best Roman Catholic, Muslim etc. Which is fine and dandy if you ever could be bad in a said religion, but when you have embraced one and failed miserably from the outset you have to think well maybe I am in the wrong place. And I was thinking that perhaps a good way forward regarding religions is if we all became something for a year, ie a Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Pagan. Go through all the right practices and strictly adhere to each one's principles, mix in the relevant communities and observe all the right Holy days, and see how we feel. Universalists then we would be. We would have a better understanding of where everybody is coming from.

[Frog]

Why don't we use "Druidist"?....it sounds good, could be used by any of us without debate and makes no specific claim to the title "Druid", so doesn't sound pompous...

here is a question...how does the Buddhist virtue of humility (being modest, reverential, even politely submissive, and never being arrogant, contemptuous, rude ) clash and clang with Celtic bravado, braggadocio and out-right drunken yelling and shouting?

That latter part sounds more Pict and Viking than Celtic... I guess I've always considered (probably through rose quartz crystal lenses) of the quiet, but large blacksmith working in the forge quite Celticy-buddhist; knowing the strength and potential at their hands, but realising not to use it. After all (based on TV and film) you don't want to enter the buddhist monastry...