Buddhism

Lesson 15

1. Buddhism needs all levels of committed people, from monks all the way to laypeople. Each person serves the Dharma in his or her own way, and based on their level of commitment. One of these levels could be removed, and the Three Jewels would still exist, but I think that the way that the message is shown to others would be hindered.

2. The advantages of a pilgrimage are that a person will be able to make offerings and meditate or pray at the same locations that the Buddha did, or even at locations where other great Buddhist teachers were. I could see how just being able to stand or sit in the same spot as Buddha could have a profound effect on ones practice. As humans, there is something within us, that when we can touch something, it helps to generate faith and focus.

3. This is a hard question since I have not yet traveled to India to see for myself. From an intellectual viewpoint, my answer would be Yes, to both questions. Monks and nuns still depend upon laypeople heavily, and vice versa, although in todays world, I'd assume that laypeople would be able to gain merit it other ways that weren't thought about centuries ago.

Rev. Mark J. Larose

"We are all streams of water

.....flowing into the same river." 

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar