Author Topic: Beautiful pictures of Nature  (Read 10048 times)

sonamdhargey

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Beautiful pictures of Nature
« on: February 17, 2013, 09:28:04 AM »
Beautiful pictures to share with you all. Enjoy. Please share beautiful pictures of Nature and Buddhism related.


Aurore

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2013, 11:32:28 AM »
Wonderful idea! Here's my share of beautiful images.

buddhalovely

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2013, 01:40:52 PM »
Buddha went into the wilderness and started his fast to know the cause of suffering. He fasted for a long period but when he failed in his meditation to find the cause of suffering, he started giving nutrition to his body. When he was strong he meditated again. This time he persisted and struggled not only with mara*, the entity of negative forces in Buddhism, but also with the natural phenomena of heat, cold and rain. If we look closely at this struggle we may see it was actually the struggle between the positive and negative forces of Nature. His struggle was like the struggle of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Buddha struggled with mara just as Adam and Eve struggled with the serpent. Through this struggle he came out as an enlightened one thathad the capability to control the forces of Nature. Due to the fact that Buddha’s struggle was with the forces of Nature and not with the ills of society, his teachings consisted of the principals that were very close to Nature. Buddha in this way is very different from the founders of other religions, who primarily struggled with the ills of human societies and based most of their teachings on the reforms of those societies.  Emanating from the wilderness, Buddhism from the very beginning stressed not only the sanctity of life of all living beings but also the preservation of Nature for the benefit of all living beings.

bambi

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2013, 02:28:41 PM »
I love pictures of nature! Especially those of Buddha images, monks and nuns! I saw this picture before. It would be wonderful to have the chance to go into retreat in the forest. Surrounded by peaceful and calm environment. Even Buddha did His retreat in the forest. Simple yet comfortable....

Big Uncle

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2013, 02:50:07 PM »
Buddha went into the wilderness and started his fast to know the cause of suffering. He fasted for a long period but when he failed in his meditation to find the cause of suffering, he started giving nutrition to his body. When he was strong he meditated again. This time he persisted and struggled not only with mara*, the entity of negative forces in Buddhism, but also with the natural phenomena of heat, cold and rain. If we look closely at this struggle we may see it was actually the struggle between the positive and negative forces of Nature. His struggle was like the struggle of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Buddha struggled with mara just as Adam and Eve struggled with the serpent. Through this struggle he came out as an enlightened one thathad the capability to control the forces of Nature. Due to the fact that Buddha’s struggle was with the forces of Nature and not with the ills of society, his teachings consisted of the principals that were very close to Nature. Buddha in this way is very different from the founders of other religions, who primarily struggled with the ills of human societies and based most of their teachings on the reforms of those societies.  Emanating from the wilderness, Buddhism from the very beginning stressed not only the sanctity of life of all living beings but also the preservation of Nature for the benefit of all living beings.

That's a very nice explanation buddhalovely. However, unlike the concept of the forces of good and evil, what the Buddha experienced was not an external experience. The battle with Mara is not an external devil with his demon hordes or the forces of nature as you put it... coming to thwart the Buddha from his quest for enlightenment. It is totally an internal battle and Mara is really his ego and his demon hordes are delusions and the negative karma from his countless previous lives. They are really powerful but they are no match for the Buddha's realization at this point and his impending enlightenment.

Also, I do not see any resemblance between Adam, Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden with the Buddha's enlightenment. The story as far as I recalled wast that Adam and Eve sinned against God for eating a fruit from the forbidden tree and was cast out of eden as a punishment. The snake was just a manifestation of a fallen angel tempting Eve to pluck that forbidden fruit. So, I am at a lost of how this is linked to the Buddha's triumph over Mara and attaining enlightenment.

Jessie Fong

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2013, 04:42:08 PM »
I would like to add a few pictures :::








I love the first picture.  It shows how the dunes shaped by the wind, take place and with the foot prints left behind, the scenery changes. The next time the wind blows the sands around, the footprints are gone.

Impermanence.


DSFriend

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2013, 06:27:05 PM »
1) Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Source : http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=buddhist+nature+art&view=detail&id=03ACF8A0C6E78D4E032BFDA24F0FA89AEE46B423&first=241&FORM=IDFRIR



Completed in 1993, the statue is located near the Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature. It is a major centre of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is also a popular tourist attraction. Vistors have 240 steps to climb to reach this immense bronze statue. At 112 ft tall and weighing in at 275 tons, it is one of the world’s largest Buddhas.


2) Reclining Buddha
Source : http://www.coolfreewallpaper.net/index_cool_free_desktop_wallpaper_backgrounds.htm

DS Star

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2013, 12:03:06 AM »
Small | Large


I love nature scenery....

Here is the Top Ten Amazing Places on Earth as presented by "Pastimers"

Small | Large


sonamdhargey

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2013, 02:39:23 PM »
view from atop Mingalazedi Pagoda shows sprawling Bagan, Myanmar (Burma), a pilgrimage center covered with hundreds of ancient Buddhist shrines. The monuments, most of which were erected between the 11th and 14th centuries, cover a 20-square-mile (50-square-kilometer) area along the east bank of the Irrawaddy River.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Time and Again in Burma," July 1984, National Geographic magazine)

RedLantern

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2013, 04:47:13 PM »
Buddhism offers a simple moderate lifestyle.Satisfaction of basic human necissities,reduction of wants to the minimum,frugality and contentment are it's important characteristics.
Each has to order life on normal principles.,exercise self control in the enjoyment of the senses,discharge his duties in his various social roles,and conduct himself with wisdom and self awareness in all activities.
With such lifestyle,one can adopt a non-exploitative,non-aggresive,gentle attitude towards nature. Then only can one live in harmony with nature,utilizing it's resources for satisfaction of one's basic needs.The Buddhist admonition is to utilize nature in the same way as a bee collects pollen from the flower,neither polluting it's beauty nor depleting it's fragrance.Just as the bee manufactures honey out of pollen,so one should be able to find happiness and fulfillment in life without harming the natural world in which one lives.

diablo1974

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2013, 04:13:12 AM »
I believe Gautama Buddha went through forest and mountains to teach and give advices.  These might be the scenes existed at that time and minus the statues you can see in these images. Actually, the evolvement of nature is not simple at all, just that when we said "simple" because theres too much hassle in secular lives.

Tenzin K

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2013, 04:19:15 PM »
Buddhism, in common with some other Eastern traditions, does not make the big distinction found in the West between “nature” and human beings. It is stressed that we are not set apart from nature (as is believed in Christianity), but that we are part of it. The doctrines of karma and of rebirth put the whole of human life in the context of an endless series of cycles, which resemble those which operate in the natural world (e.g. the water cycle, the food cycle). The Buddhist stress on impermanence reminds us that our bodies are subject to the endlessly-changing processes of nature, whilst beliefs about rebirth suggest that even our consciousness is recycled in relation to a new body. The form of things changes constantly, but certain basic patterns continue.

So, it should certainly not come as a shock to practising Buddhists to discover what environmentalists are now telling us. That is, that nature is not a boundless ocean of resources (the doctrine of impermanence should have made this clear), and the actions that we perform have an effect on the world around us. In the theory of karma the effects of our actions are in proportion to the greed and hatred which motivated them, so if our spoiling of the planet through stripping its resources and polluting it was motivated by greed, we are now beginning to experience the effects of that greed. The earth is our mirror.

Buddhism thus offers some strong arguments for environmentalism, and it is quite difficult to interpret Buddhism not to at least be sympathetic to environmental concerns. On the other side there are not really any anti-environmentalist Buddhists, but there are some who have given the environment relatively little priority in their thinking, perhaps because of a focus on the personal pursuit of enlightenment.

icy

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2013, 09:37:11 AM »
I have some beautiful pictures to share here too.  Hope you enjoy my friends.....

sonamdhargey

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2013, 09:54:00 AM »
Byodo-In temple at Valley of the Temples Memorial Park


Tammy

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Re: Beautiful pictures of Nature
« Reply #14 on: May 12, 2013, 05:55:05 AM »
Thank you for sharing these breath taking pictures. I always have this crazy longing - I want to be a bird (a strong eagle, preferably) so that I could fly to places and enjoy the beautiful landscape on Mother Earth. i want to enjoy the freedom of being able to surf the blue sky freely is so wonderful...
Down with the BAN!!!