Would you say I'm a poseur Buddhist?

Ja. You sound like my Buddhist grandma.So I guess you are a poseur Buddhist in a way :P

Wait, no you sound more like a real Buddhist :D

you are totally normal

What do you say?

I don’t see the point of people practicing a religion if they’re going to do it half way, it just shows the fallacy that is organized religion. So in my opinion, yes, you’re a poser, just like christians that discriminate against gays. Though being a poser is not a bad thing, there’s just no point in you being a buddhist.

All in all you are normal. heck I don’t think anyone can keep the precepts except for my grandma…she’s a strong believer in the religion…

Practicing doesn’t mean being perfect. If you were perfect you wouldn’t be a Buddhist, you would be a Buddha. Whether or not you are a poseur only you can say.

Do you have a bald head and a big belly?

We all massacre the precepts. Every month, all of the Buddha’s disciples used to gather and repent their transgressions of the precepts. The precepts aren’t there to define who is and who isn’t a Buddhist.

In orthodox terms, you’re a Buddhist from the time you “take the precepts”, which means that you make an effort to apply them in your life, and try to bring some awareness of how your conduct measures up to their standard. They’re the description of the natural behavior of a fully enlightened being. That’s a high standard. A fully enlightened one would not even have to try to live by the precepts; it would just come naturally. Until then, we just do our best.

You’re a “poseur” only when you simply stop caring about the precepts.

When one is enlightened he will by nature:
refrain from harming living creatures
refrain from intoxicants
refrain from telling untruths
refrain from sexual misconduct
not take what is not his.

Meanwhile we call it a practice.

I seem to be an accidental Buddhist, according to your five precepts. I do vacuum up living cluster flies in the house and let Milo eat one occasionally, but that’s it, for now. I am trying to give away much of what is already mine; I can’t imagine coveting someone else’s stuff. All that dusting…

If anyone wants to take stuff that does not belong to him, please check with me first.

@Snarp
Well technically he is a Buddha as are you.

If someone gave me a list like that and told me I’d have to do those things in order to be considered a “good person”, I’d think they were nucking futs. I wouldn’t worry about anything on that list. Just be true to yourself. I like the advice that your Sensei says, “Enjoy your life.” Actions like the ones mentioned in that list should not be practiced because someone says to. They might occur authentically within, and not as instructions from an outside source. If they don’t occur, then that is okay too. Just be authentic and [try to] follow the golden rule of doing unto others what you would have done to you, and you’ll be just fine.

If someone gave me a list like that and told me I’d have to do those things in order to be considered a “good person”

Buddhism doesn’t exactly work that way.

Buddhist is as Buddhist does?

@Ria777 no, just some good guide lines. I’m getting the impression that I’m to think critically for myself which sometimes leads to a rift between printed and spoken words to daily living. I’m suppossed to accept death rather than beat another, but in my heart I know, albeit in extreme immidiate circumstanes I’d murder to protect innoscence. There is a hierarchy of replies sometimes illustrated in Aikikai (I’m not Aikidoka but I know enough to get me into trouble. 1. talk yourself out of it 2. neutralize the threat 3. disable the threat 4. eliminate the threat in no uncertain terms. So in so many aspects of my life I take what is given and apply it practically to my temperment, disposition, and nature. Thank you for reassuring words

@gailcalled, put me down for a Persian carpet. A smallish one will be fine. Thanks.

@Jeruba:My pleasure. Sadly, Milo has removed the fringe off of most of them and clawed a few small (very small -barely noticeable to any but the claims adjuster) holes in others.

My maternal grandfather left me $500 in his will in the late 60’s, a huge amount for him. In 1972, I waded through hundreds of Navajo hand-woven rugs in dozens of Santa Fé shops. I finally found a small one of the tree of life that I loved. Milo has opened up a 3 foot rift along the woof. (Or should that be “meow”?)

@Gail: what a good way to invest your nice inheritance. The receiving, the appreciation, the conversion into something beautiful, the choosing, the actual using of, the sharing with Milo, the offer to share with Jeruba. I think you are a true living Buddha. “Enjoy your life” indeed.

@susanc: Is it petty of me to complain about the snow and the coming single digits tonight? That means that everything that thawed yesterday will freeze tomorrow. Although it is funny to see Milo splatter himself on the glaze of ice before he realizes he didn’t mean to go outside.

he he! my sense of humor allows me that, however I can’t but feel I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. best to all.

I would be a buddhist then except for the wine and a beer or two in the summer. I’m assuming sexual misconduct but why on earth would you want to steal?

^ Perfect example of how following precepts neither makes one a Buddhist anymore than going to the garage and walking on the road makes you a car.

further thoughts: self-recrimination tends to hinder spiritual progress rather than aid it. a good buddhist teacher won’t give you the ammunition to disable your own

@SeventhSense
Buddhist is as Buddhist doesn’t do?

@lloydbird
Yes at times
Buddhist is as Buddhist does.
Buddhist is as Buddhist doesn’t do,
Buddhist is and Buddhist is not.
No Buddha
No self
One

No, I don’t even know what a poseur Buddhist is. Is that anything like a jack Mormon? Maybe you’re really an agnostic, or is it Atheist and you just don’t know it.

@gailcalled: does a true Buddhist complain about cold weather?
I refer you to @SeventhSense‘s Rule:
Buddhist is as Buddhist does.
Buddhist is as Buddhist doesn’t do,
Buddhist is and Buddhist is not.
No Buddha
No self
One

Being One with the snow, complaint is only jocular. Laughing at poor skidding Milo, not so sure you get merit for that.

@susanc
watching falling snow
laughing at skidding milo
karma melts away

I could never get Haiku right! @SeventhSense @susanc @gailcalled I do not see why not, of course we ignore the flys and the pain of seiza in meditation. We are human, not mindless animals. Everyone has different tolerances, experiences, boundaries. Of course it can be considered training for when/if we transcend the world. But remember, we are HERE AND NOW i don’t think that should be ignored. I have seen many pained faces/ I’d drop traditions/practice if I start to ignore that.
May all beings be well happy and peaceful, free from enmity and danger, whatever merits we have done let them be shared by all. sadu
What is the life span of mankind now? 100 or plus years for the very lucky. Whether we laugh, cry, accidentally step on a bug and wipe the residue off on the cement. Is that going to be relevant in 1,000 years? think not. Oh there is karma, absolutely and Karma is fickle, I’ve read/heard little of karma giving promises. LOL, sorry just felt like it. Ha! I’m just a little loosey goosey for problems to get in my way. Just because I don’t care, does not mean I don’t care.

My friends and sanga, walk the line, the middle ground.

Haikus are Zen-like.
Milo says, “Keep your day job,”
Or use Japanese.

Bravo, SeventhSense!
And brava, you too, GailCalled.
Both hands are clapping.

Haikuba to Jeruba

“You need two more hands,”
says Milo, and he should know.
He’s the poet here.

@12_func_multi_tool
No certainty that is sure.