Richard Gombrich

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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tiltbillings
Posts: 23046
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am

Re: Richard Gombrich

Post by tiltbillings »

rowyourboat wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:Are you going to back up your claim: "Unless someone has gone the whole hog with vipassana (all 16 nanas) there is no way to know what a genius he is ?" Is this something you know from direct experience? If you have not directly experienced all the 16 ñānas, then you really do not know.
Well now, this is where saddha-faith comes in. Do you believe that there might be enlightened beings in this world?

'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are priests & contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is the right view that has effluents, sides with merit, & results in acquisitions.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To have that right view, you will need more than scepticism and proof, because you will never know for sure at the begining. Without never knowing you will never get to a place you will know for sure. So then, it takes saddha.

with metta

RYB
Gombrich is not a Dhamma teacher, and he makes absolutely no claim to be. He is an historian and within that context he is worth listening to. Putting the Buddha in the actual historical context can, indeed, help open up what it is that he was saying in certain contexts, especially when when the Buddha was responding to the Brahmanical point of view.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
suanck
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 7:51 am

Re: Richard Gombrich

Post by suanck »

suanck wrote:
mikenz66 wrote:What the Buddha Thought costs 15 pounds/26 AUD here: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/97 ... ha-Thought" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TheBookDepository is my first stop if I'm trying to buy a book, since they don't have the crippling shipping charges (for those of use not in the US or the UK etc) of *m*z*n and others...

Mike
Thanks for the info. I've also placed an order with the above online bookshop for 2 books:

1) What the Buddha Thought, Richard Gombrich
2) Buddhist Teaching in India, Johannes Bronkhorst

Suan.
I've recceived the books from TheBookDepository yesterday. Thanks again, Mike, for the recommendation.

Ñāṇa wrote:

For anyone who is interested there are a number of Bronkhorst's papers and such available on the Université de Lausanne Unisciences site.

Geoff
Thanks, Geoff. I've downloaded some of his articles. Very valuable!

Suan.
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