Real buddhist cannot take stress

[form]

I notice many and I am one of them. To non Buddhists this is an unjustifiable weakness, even a character flaw.

[Nicolas]

Is this a joke? (i.e. Buddhists pursue the final end of dukkha and thus "can't take it", as opposed to others who see sukkha in what is dukkha?) Just checking.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

The only way this makes any sense whatsoever, is if it's suggesting that people are attracted to Buddhism in the first place because they want to improve their resilience toward stress, and to that extent there's a kind of 'self selection' involved in who becomes Buddhist.

Metta,
Paul.

[ieee23]

I notice many and I am one of them. To non Buddhists this is an unjustifiable weakness, even a character flaw.

There is a *grain* of truth in that. There are also Christians who do not know shit about love or caring for people. People are a work in a progress.

I think resilience is part training, and part being exposed to unfortunate events.

[form]

Having a predisposition to pain can be an advantage in making progress.

From the Sutta:
Suffering>faith>gladness>.......................................

[SarathW]

Buddha reject both Kamasukllikanuyoga and Atthakilamathanuyoga and advocate Madyamapatipada, (middle path)

[robertk]

Real Buddhists can take stress very well indeed.
Even the Buddhist with a basic understanding of anatta knows that each moment is conditioned, uncontrollable and not self. Very relaxing to know this I would imagine.

[binocular]

Even the Buddhist with a basic understanding of anatta knows that each moment is conditioned, uncontrollable and not self.

Very relaxing to know this I would imagine.

Not at all, as long as the knowledge is merely on the level of a claim one has heard from other people, as opposed to having realized it oneself.

[binocular]

The only way this makes any sense whatsoever, is if it's suggesting that people are attracted to Buddhism in the first place because they want to improve their resilience toward stress, and to that extent there's a kind of 'self selection' involved in who becomes Buddhist.

It makes sense in the way that not just a few people make a point of claiming to be Buddhists, real Buddhists, but then it's as if the Buddhist practice has left no traces on them and they behave like everyone else who is not a Buddhist.

- -

I notice many and I am one of them. To non Buddhists this is an unjustifiable weakness, even a character flaw.

Yes ...

Many a "real Buddhist" appears to be "lopsided and warped, an idiot savant who can thrive in the seclusion of a three-year, three-month, three-day retreat, but can’t handle three hours caught in heavy traffic with three whining children." (In reference to Thanissaro Bhikkhu's The Wisdom of the Ego.)

[Sam Vara]

I notice many and I am one of them. To non Buddhists this is an unjustifiable weakness, even a character flaw.

Like others here, I'm a bit puzzled by what this means. If you mean that a desire to free oneself from stress is a prerequisite for taking up a Buddhist practice, then yes, I completely agree. I have the feeling that I can't take the stress of conditioned existence for much more, and would like to find some kind of escape, if that's possible.

There are some cases in which a person overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, grieves, mourns, laments, beats his breast, & becomes bewildered. Or one overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, comes to search outside, 'Who knows a way or two to stop this pain?' I tell you, monks, that dukkha results either in bewilderment or in search.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

On the other hand, if you mean that Buddhists are less capable than others of dealing with specific instances of stress, then that depends on the individual concerned. Some monastics I know, for example, have an almost unbelievable capacity for putting up with hardship and potential irritations. Most lay practitioners I know would probably say that they are slightly better at dealing with stress than they used to be: slow but discernible progress.

And what is meant by a "real Buddhist"? Are there ersatz or counterfeit ones? Or are some more "hardcore" than others?

[form]

I try to give one example. There are a few I know previously working stable government job. They will rather quit and turn to low stress low pay hourly job.

[chownah]

Yeah, real buddhists can't hold their liquor either.
chownah

[Garrib]

I try to give one example. There are a few I know previously working stable government job. They will rather quit and turn to low stress low pay hourly job.

...and some real Buddhists even abandon paid work altogether, entering into the homeless life (as monastic). At a certain point an individual might determine that the stress of a particular life situation is not worth the purported benefits, especially in the long run.

[FallAway]

I notice many and I am one of them. To non Buddhists this is an unjustifiable weakness, even a character flaw.

Hi Form. I am reading this topic as "Real people cannot take stress". (The word "real" is included only for connective purposes.)

Buddhism is a concept, it is also an identity for some. Stressors are very difficult for some people to cope with, and I agree that some stressors can be very crippling, even for people who have undertaken the Buddhist path. For a non-Buddhist to see this as "unjustifiable" or a character "flaw" in a Buddhist reflects their own expectations of what this path can offer.

This path does indeed offer a way out of the suffering of stressors. It offers a practice. With diligence and right effort many stressors will disappear. It usually doesn't happen overnight. Critical non-Buddhists should periodically "check in" with their targeted examples and see if or when improvement happens before coming to this kind of conclusion.

I wish you much joy in your practice. You'll never experience this joy as a perfected being in quite the same way as an "imperfect" one. Come as you are and with acceptance of where your kamma has led you.

[altar]

I think this is an interesting topic. Are we to endure and investigate stress? Or simply are we allowed to put our attention elsewhere when we are stressed? Is anger about stress to be contemplated or ignored?

Dukkha is to be known and its origin abandoned, but does that mean we engage with stress or simply study its origin and cessation?

And when practicing meditation the first step is laying aside grief and distress for the world