A View on Buddhism

"Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist;

use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are."

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Are you interested in Buddhism, but perhaps also somewhat confused about it? Buddhism developed in Asia and therefore contains many concepts that are not well known in other parts of the world. Also, over the 2,500 years since its origin, many different traditions have developed within Buddhism that all have slightly different views and practices that may even appear to contradict each other. The main purpose of this personal website is to share some basic information on the philosophy, practice and history of Buddhism that I found useful in giving my life a purpose and direction. My own background lies mainly in the Tibetan tradition, but I have tried to keep the information in these pages as down-to-earth and general as possible to provide an accessible introduction for beginners. Are you new to Buddhism? Then perhaps start at the 'Where to Begin' page, and after that, it may be best to focus on the pages in the sections the Three Jewels, Philosophy, Problematic Emotions, Practice and Meditation on the left. These are set up like a 'What is Buddhism' course. In the beginning, it may be better to avoid clicking on too many links; these are mainly intended to lead to a deeper level of study materials once you become a bit familiar with the basics.



If you have a little bit of experience and interest in (Buddhist) meditation, then the guided meditations in the Practice & Meditation Section, Problematic Emotions and History of Buddhism may be helpful. However, to really learn Buddhist meditation, there is no substitute to visit a center or group where people give guided meditations and explanations in person.

The other pages on the left contain mainly extra information, like a glossary, stories and quotations, symbolism etc. This site is intended to present Buddhist teachings, and they are free for you to enjoy! None of the text on these pages is copyrighted (except where explicitly noted) for non-commercial use, but if you use a text, a link back to this website is much appreciated. You will find some commercial links on this website to cover the main costs of this website. Any extra income is donated to Dharma projects. This website keeps growing 'organically': every now and then there may be an extra page, but usually new bits and pieces are added to pages when I come across quotations or links which may be interesting. Per September 2006, I'm happy to host a number of Polish prayers and commentaries on this site.

And since March 2008, thanks to Melanie Pelka, a considerable part of the site is translated into German.

Many thanks also to Thomas from Slovakia for giving ideas for the latest re-design of 2011! May whoever sees, hears, talks, or even thinks about this website,

Never be born in the lower realms,

Receive only perfect human rebirths,

Meet a perfectly qualified spiritual Guide,

Quickly achieve the fully enlightened state,

And as a Buddha, lead all other beings to enlightenment. Rudy Harderwijk.

Just for fun: The less we know, the longer the explanation.

B.G.



The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.

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