Is there anything even remotely resembling the idea of grace - help from outside of ourselves - in the Suttas or the writings of Theravada Buddhists that you know of? Maybe not ongoing active help, but it is I believe worth reflecting on the good fortune that we have inherited. To be born in a time...
Is there anything even remotely resembling the idea of grace - help from outside of ourselves - in the Suttas or the writings of Theravada Buddhists that you know of? Kalyāṇa-mittatā aside, no. Not only NO, but HEAVENS NO! The question alone betrays the ignorance of the questioner with regard to th...
Hello, According to my understanding, Theravada Buddhism places the responsibility for awakening on each individual. In many other religious traditions, there is an "other power", like the Amida Buddha, Christ, etc, and by calling upon or entrusting ourselves to this power or entity, we re...
mike said: It might be easier to comment if you could give a link to the other discussion. Please, as Mike has requested, give a link to the other discussion. It can be misleading to request comment on a chosen quote which is only part of an inaccessible discussion elsewhere. with metta Chris There...
Thanks, Mike. Your explanation makes sense to me. This poster didn't say that meetings with past Buddhas were possibly an important factor in his awakening. He said awakening was impossible without studying under a Buddha. Here's the gentleman's quote: "... the good priest states that early Bud...
Greetings, I feel that Theravada Buddhism is possibly being misrepresented on another forum that I sometimes frequent. The poster says that it is a western misunderstanding that Buddhists can become enlightened without an intermediary, and that the Pali texts make it clear that one can ONLY achieve ...
Sorry to start with a provocative title, but I have wrestled with this for a long time. In my "search" for the best way to live, no "path" makes as much immediate and practical sense to me as that of Buddhism, and particularly Theravada. I have studied it alongside many other tra...