Dharma-ending age

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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Kusala
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Re: Dharma-ending age

Post by Kusala »

LauraJ wrote:According to Theravada, are we in the dharma-ending age?
"The Buddha foresaw that people would introduce what he called “synthetic Dhamma”—and when that happened, he said, the true Dhamma would disappear (SN 16:13). He compared the process to what happens when a wooden drum develops a crack, into which a peg is inserted, and then another crack, into which another peg is inserted, and so on until nothing is left of the original drum-body. All that remains is a mass of pegs, which cannot come near to producing the sound of the original drum (SN 20:7)."
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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BubbaBuddhist
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Re: Dharma-ending age

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

I think it was sunk with the advent of the Internet. :computerproblem:

M4
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cooran
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Re: Dharma-ending age

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

This Sutta ht be of interest:
SN 16.13 Saddhamma-pa.tiruupaka.m Sutta: False Dhamma translated from the Pali by Maurice O'Connell Walshe

[At Saavatthii Kassapa asked the Buddha:] "What is the reason, Lord, and depending on what conditions is it that formerly there were fewer precepts, yet more monks attained enlightenment?[1] What is the reason, Lord, and depending on what conditions is it that nowadays there are more precepts, and fewer monks attain enlightenment?"

"It is like this, Kassapa. When beings are in decline,[2] and the true Dhamma is waning, then there are more precepts and fewer monks attain enlightenment.

But there is no disappearance of the true Dhamma, Kassapa, till a counterfeit Dhamma arises in the world; but when a counterfeit Dhamma arises, then there is a disappearance of the true Dhamma, just as there is no disappearing of gold so long as no counterfeit gold has arisen in the world...[3] The earth-element[4] does not make the true Dhamma disappear, the water-element... the fire-element... the air-element..., But right here[5] men of straw[6] appear, and it is they who bring about the disappearance of the true Dhamma.

A ship, Kassapa, may sink all at once, but it is not thus that the true Dhamma disappears.
There are five contributory[7] factors, Kassapa, which lead to the adulteration[8] and disappearance of the true Dhamma.

Which five? It is when monks and nuns, male and female lay-followers behave disrespectfully and rebelliously towards the Teacher,... towards the Dhamma,... towards the Sangha,... towards the training,... towards meditation.[9]

"But when monks and nuns, male and female lay followers behave respectfully and deferentially towards the Dhamma,... towards the Sangha,... towards the training,... towards meditation, then these five things conduce to the maintenance, the purity and the preservation of the true Dhamma."

Notes
1.
Aññaa: "highest knowledge, gnosis": the knowledge gained by Arahants.
2.
Sattesu haayamaanesu "with the dwindling of [numbers of] beings." Mrs Rhys Davids has "when members [sic! = numbers?] decrease," with a note: "As in the case of physical cataclysms, such as the three cosmic "involutions"... discussed in Visuddhimagga 414f. [VM XIII, 28ff.]."
3.
A Buddhist "Gresham's Law"?
4.
The "four great elements" (mahaabhuutaa) cf. Vol. III, n. 232.
5.
Here in the Sangha.
6.
Worthless, empty men.
7.
Okkamaniyaa dhammaa: "factors which enter in" (okkamati=avakamati). Mrs Rhys Davids has "lowering factors." The article on the verb okkamati in PED is thoroughly muddled and muddling.
8.
Sammosaaya: "confusing, bewildering": from the same root as musaa- in musaavaadaa "wrong speech."
9.
Samaadhi, here in the general sense of "meditation."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .wlsh.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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DNS
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Re: Dharma-ending age

Post by DNS »

Metta-4 wrote:I think it was sunk with the advent of the Internet.
Actually, I think the internet has helped the Dhamma and that it will be a net-gain for the Dhamma.

Certainly with the Dhamma on the internet, there will be a proliferation of papanca and some adhammic ideas out there and some teachers claiming enlightenment while breaking precepts (Ingram, etc), but the gains from the internet will out-weigh any negatives.

From around 100 BCE when the Pali Canon was first written up to around the year 1700 I would imagine there may have been less than 50 non-Asian people who had access to the Pali Canon. Today it is available to billions via the internet, in Pali and several other languages.

This is the information-age, which is a good thing, imo. You just have to use caveat emptor more and be careful with the information and use it wisely and with a grain of salt.
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altar
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Re: Dharma-ending age

Post by altar »

akaliko, "timeless"

One may speak of a decline in dharma,
as in, now people act more or less in tune with nature, but, the dhamma is "timeless." The Tathagatha having passed away so long ago, it doesnt surprise me if the dhamma and the dispensation are ebbing and diminishing, so to speak, in terms of abundance, but when i think of modern buddhism it does... one of the 8 comparisons in the ocean sutta is that just as when it rains and the oceans increase or decrease, no rise or fall can be discerned, just so with the saints who enter upon final liberation. (though yes now we have modern measuring techniques............)
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