Hello Beverly: Just wanted to welcome you to the group. There is a Career University Studies of comparative religions. There was someone from the USA doing that here at Edinburgh Universty. Saying this in case you may be interested in connection with your post and question you ask. And as for me I'd like to intruce myself to you as Mayka. My background in in zen buddhism in the Thich Nhat Hanh Tradition since 1997. Have to warn you that due to circunstances I have evolved in a very personal way that may differ from what is the TNH tradition. In addition I'd like to let you know that I don't pay much attention to the form of any spiritual tradition. Experience of life has taught me to trust only the heart and since you are a believer of God, let's say I only believe in what connects me with the universal, with the heart of God, with the Chaos. That connection allows me just to flow with the ocean of life, and the chaos too! Warm welcome again. Mayka
--- On Mon, 16/5/11, Beverley Huish <[email protected]> wrote: From: Beverley Huish <[email protected]> Subject: [Zen] Newbie - hello & question To: [email protected] Date: Monday, 16 May, 2011, 16:38 Hi, I'm a newbie in this group, and to Buddhism. I sincerely don't want to upset anyone or start an argument. I want to join in this discussion, and this has cropped up so I'm asking the question. I told a friend today that I feel Buddhism is for me, and I'm looking into Zen. My friend replied that Tibetan Buddhism is a more spiritual type of Buddhism because they believe in God. Having looked into various types of Buddhism, he believes that the Buddha communicated higher information, including the existence of God, to Tibetan Buddhists because they were more spiritually evolved at that point - Tibetan Buddhists claim this is the case and my friend agrees with them, he says. My response was to say that different things appeal to different people and I don't think it's a matter of one being more 'spiritual' or more 'true' than another. (I really don't care what might considered 'higher' or more 'spiritual' - at the moment that is irrelevant to me. However, it did seem a kind of un-Buddhist thing to claim that oneself is better than another person? My friend is not a Buddhist.) What do other people think? Thank you. :-) Beverley.
