Questions & Answers on Buddhism

Over the years, I have answered many questions about Buddhism on the net. I am not wise enough to give perfect answers, but I try to provide the best information to the best of my abilities. Some people told me they have benefited from the answers I provided. I hereby humbly share a selection of what little I know with you.

I hope you will find the information here useful. Give me a mail some time at cmtan@serve.com. I would appreciate the opportunity to learn from you.

• How does one "live the Dharma"? How do we develop Mindfulness?

• Who is our best Dharma teacher?

• Is "Equanimity" a form of escapism and self-suppression?

• What is Buddhism in a nutshell? What are the Four Noble Truths?

• What is your own practice of the Dharma like? What do you mean "like daily life"?

• What was the Buddha's main contribution?

• Is the ability to perform miracles a sign of Enlightenment?

• What is Jhana?

• How does one deal with pain? Can there be pain without sufferings?

• Can Enlightenment be achieved through Mindfulness?

• Can Buddhist practice be used as an aid to depression??

• How should Buddhists share the Dharma with their friends?

• What is Karma?

• How is sufferings caused by cravings?

• What are the differences btwn Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism?

• What is Zen anyway? (written by David Oller, stored by Rob Young)

• How does one practice Zazen? (written by John Neatrour)

Other Questions and Answers sites

• Venerable S Dhammika is a popular Australian monk and a highly skilled writer who has written many good books. Among his publications is a little booklet on Q&A in Buddhism titled, "Good Question, Good Answer". This booklet became highly popular and at last count, there are at least 3 websites carrying this booklet. They are:

  • http://140.92.56.102/buddha/goodans.htm

  • http://www2.hawkesbury.uws.edu.au/BuddhaNet/qanda.htm

  • http://www2.ntu.ac.sg:8000/~Buddhist/GQGA/GQGA.HTM

• Venerable Thubten Chodron is an American Nun trained in the Vajrayana tradition. In this website, http://www.singnet.com.sg/~fpmtsing/question.html, the Venerable answers some common questions on Buddhism.

• Hogen Roshi is a Zen teacher who was trained in both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. I prefer to think of him simply as a nice, learned yet humble old man. Among Hogen's many publications is a Q&A book, "Buddhism 101". You can find an excerpt of this book in his website at http://www.seanet.com/~kuri/budd101.html.

• John Kahila maintains a pretty good talk.religion.buddhism FAQ. You can get the FAQ by FTP at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/talk.religion.buddhism.

• Ven Dr K Sri Dhammananda is a respected monk and scholar. You can find an excerpt of his book, "What Buddhists Believe?" at http://www2.ntu.ac.sg:8000/~Buddhist/Book/Believe.htm

Kalama Sutta

[ NOTE: The above quote was re-rendered and simplified from the original quote for the purporse of readability. For the exact quote, see the original scripture ].