'Just Be Good' booklets...

[appicchato]

Why?

Since you've said please...what your saying, and the manner in which you're saying it...

[daverupa]

And I don't see the good of telling people that Buddhism promises an afterlife in heaven.

Folk Buddhism is a significant sociological enterprise worth understanding, but I am not at all certain it differs much from lay Buddhism c.450 BCE. The Suttas record two main thrusts of monastic discourse to the laity, one of which was the way to heaven. In fact, the gradual discourses to the laity begin with dana, then sila, then talk of heaven, and only then the drawbacks of sensual pursuit and the value of renunciation.

It has its place, for many.

[alan]

appicchato,
All I get from you is italic quotes which have no meaning.
What do you have to say? Don't bite your tongue. It isn't healthy.

[alan]

Folk Buddhism may have had it's place 2000 years ago, but if this is all the Therevada can offer today, I'd say It is basically pathetic, and not worthy of further study.

[daverupa]

Folk Buddhism may have had it's place 2000 years ago, but if this is all the Therevada can offer today, I'd say It is basically pathetic, and not worthy of further study.

Simply one aspect of a gradual discourse that goes on by stages, alan. Of course there are vast swathes of improvement which can be envisaged, but this is one aspect wherein we find the Buddha operating, as a matter of course.

[David N. Snyder]

Skillful means; it may not be the best teaching for some, but for others it is quite effective to getting them on course, on the path.

The Buddha didn't just teach one way. He taught based on the context of his audience and what they were able to understand.

[kirk5a]

I don't know what the participants here are talking about. What that site says is:

Just BE GOOD!


The Buddha's advice is to :


Do Good, Avoid Evil, and Purify the Mind.


In practical everyday terms, this means the practice of Dana, Sila and Bhavana.

Folk Buddhism? Did anyone actually read what is said there?

[pilgrim]

Just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual slope, a gradual inclination, with a sudden drop-off only after a long stretch, in the same way this Doctrine and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya) has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual progression, with a penetration to gnosis only after a long stretch.

— Ud 5.5

The beginner is not expected to jump into the deep end..