Search found 163 matches

by fig tree
Tue Apr 14, 2015 3:25 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Did the Buddha teach the paramis?
Replies: 10
Views: 2436

Re: Did the Buddha teach the paramis?

A Treatise on the Paramis (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el409.html) says that some combined pairs of paramis to get just six. I also understand that one of them is sometimes broken up, producing a different list of ten.

Fig Tree
by fig tree
Sun Mar 22, 2015 3:45 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Marx on Religion
Replies: 38
Views: 6353

Re: Marx on Religion

I have a distant memory of a comment by Marx, in reference to Feuerbach, that in order to immunize ourselves from idealism, "we" (he and his allies) need to pass through this fire-stream ("feuer bach"). So he expressed considerable admiration for Feuerbach, who had a project of t...
by fig tree
Sun Jan 25, 2015 3:00 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Fear - Why do we fear dead bodies?
Replies: 13
Views: 3468

Re: Fear - Why do we fear dead bodies?

I've heard various reasons to think that people have an instinctive fear of contamination, even in some cases where one knows that there is no risk. Steven Pinker gave a demonstration of this once. He gave a talk in which he offered a member of the audience a coffee. "But I need something to st...
by fig tree
Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:15 am
Forum: Suggestion box
Topic: Internal Server Error, General Error
Replies: 36
Views: 11902

Re: Internal Server Error, General Error

We have "status 500" errors ("Server internal error") fairly regularly, perhaps a few times an hour on average in chat. I don't know whether it's related to the other errors.

Fig Tree

[Edited to add "in chat".]
by fig tree
Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:38 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Slick Secret Behind a “Stimulus Package”
Replies: 39
Views: 5516

Re: The Slick Secret Behind a “Stimulus Package”

I recommend reading the economist Paul Krugman about the effect of economic stimulus. It works differently when the economy is in a depressed state than when it is in normal condition. Some of the things the government pays for count basically as investments, e.g. building infrastructure, and a cert...
by fig tree
Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:27 am
Forum: Wellness, Diet & Fitness
Topic: Mindfulness and Eating
Replies: 4
Views: 2395

Re: Mindfulness and Eating

Hi, I haven't read any of the things you mentioned, sattva; from the authors I would expect them to be decent, though. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn03/sn03.013.olen.html I don't know anything about the original term translated as "bucketful of food" but I find that an amusi...
by fig tree
Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:09 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Bhikkhu Bodhi on War and Thanissaro's rebuttal
Replies: 383
Views: 72578

Re: Bhikkhu Bodhi on War and Thanissaro's rebuttal

I have some degree of agreement with what both are saying. Moral philosophers have on the one hand sometimes been prone to being a bit glib about proposing hypothetical situations in which certain potential consequences can be chosen and only those. On the other hand, other philosophers have questio...
by fig tree
Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:14 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Can we attain Jhana while we have a sexual relationship?
Replies: 128
Views: 44716

Re: Can we attain Jhana while we have a sexual relationship?

I don't know whether the commentary has anything to say about whether the individual accomplished laypeople mentioned in the canon had been having sex. I seem to remember Dhammadinna and Visakha described as having abstained from relations after he became a non-returner, but I don't know whether tha...
by fig tree
Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:36 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Love and Fear
Replies: 37
Views: 6446

Re: Love and Fear

I also think culaavuso has made a good point here. My guess is that the writer referring to love and fear has the intention of implying that the whole spectrum of skillful mental qualities is essentially the same and using "love" in a sense that encompasses presumably things like "let...
by fig tree
Fri Mar 07, 2014 5:18 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: "Good/Bad" Sits
Replies: 14
Views: 3304

Re: "Good/Bad" Sits

I think of sits where I make headway on the five hindrances as good. Sometimes I have some agitation that dissipates, then followed by torpor. The torpor can be difficult to deal with. Sometimes I feel impatient but experience the impatience fade.

Fig Tree
by fig tree
Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:24 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Buddhism and developments of science.
Replies: 34
Views: 6996

Re: Buddhism and developments of science.

My impression is that the science-friendly qualities of religion are often more an effect of the nature of the surrounding society than they are a cause. Success in science seems to live in a symbiotic relationship with various other kinds of success in a society. Economic prosperity for example ten...
by fig tree
Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:03 am
Forum: Samatha Bhāvana
Topic: Brain correlates....
Replies: 7
Views: 2952

Re: Brain correlates....

Best evidence I have seen for brain not being synonomous with mind is the Pacebo effect.... no other explanation needed IMHO . If the brain make changes when a non-placebo is administered, then what else evokes physiological changes when a placebo is used...? The first time I read this, I accidenta...
by fig tree
Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:02 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Is the moon there when you don't look?
Replies: 125
Views: 14690

Re: Is the moon there when you don't look?

Philosophers have had a version of this discussion going for a long time, sometimes under the terms of "realism" and "anti-realism". The terminology does get very slippery. Realists in some way want to claim reality is independent of experience and anti-realists that reality is n...
by fig tree
Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:40 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: What is unique in human compare to animal?
Replies: 67
Views: 14601

Re: What is unique in human compare to animal?

I think many of the differences between human beings and animals are matters of degree, and that if we could see our ancestors at various stages along the way this would be more obvious. The linguist Steven Pinker has some interesting comments on this. He likens the human ability to use language to ...
by fig tree
Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:44 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: spiritual pride
Replies: 21
Views: 6214

Re: spiritual pride

Remembering to think of the path as a gift that has been handed down to you (like in a bucket brigade) seems to help.

Fig Tree