Misquote of the Buddha?

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Ceisiwr
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Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Greetings

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense
This is quite a popular "quote" that i have seen attributed to our teacher but i havent come accross the actual passage itself, is it a slight alteration of the kalama sutta teaching?


Metta
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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retrofuturist
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Craig,
clw_uk wrote:is it a slight alteration of the kalama sutta teaching?
Yes - a slight alteration that makes a significant difference to the meaning.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Ceisiwr
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Ceisiwr »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Craig,
clw_uk wrote:is it a slight alteration of the kalama sutta teaching?
Yes - a slight alteration that makes a significant difference to the meaning.

Metta,
Retro. :)

Quite a bad difference in meaning, puts the message accross that the Buddha taught that people can just do what they wanted
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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retrofuturist
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Craig,
clw_uk wrote:Quite a bad difference in meaning, puts the message accross that the Buddha taught that people can just do what they wanted
Indeed. These generic "Buddha quotes" propagated over the Internet can be quite the problem to the extent that they cause people to get the wrong understanding of the Dhamma.

Back in the day when I moderated at E-Sangha, we actually had to introduce a policy that anything you attributed to the Buddha in your signature had to be referenced, simply because you would get so many people coming in the door, attributing nonsense to the Buddha, and often doing so completely oblivious to the fact they were misrepresenting him. The policy put the emphasis back on the member to just ditch the quote or maybe do a bit of investigation and find out what the Buddha actually taught.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Ngawang Drolma.
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Ngawang Drolma. »

It happens so much I felt compelled to make a smiley for it:

Image
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Mexicali
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Mexicali »

Ngawang Drolma wrote:It happens so much I felt compelled to make a smiley for it:

Image
I tip my hat to you, sir. This is awesome.
"We do not embrace reason at the expense of emotion. We embrace it at the expense of self-deception."
-- Herbert Muschamp
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Cittasanto
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Cittasanto »

Misquotes or mistranslations can be used to understand Dhamma.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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genkaku
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by genkaku »

Maybe the whole thing is a bit of a sticky wicket:

On the one hand, there are intellectually-sloppy attributions... oh so annoying. :smile:

On the other hand there can be an undue attachment to what is not intellectually sloppy ... as if that were somehow the truth. :jumping:

My own take is that there is only one way to know what the Buddha taught: Realize and actualize it in your own life. Anything else, whether intellectually sloppy or intellectually apt, will always fall short of the mark.
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kc2dpt
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by kc2dpt »

So, genkaku, we should make no effort to preserve the Buddha's teachings?
- Peter

Be heedful and you will accomplish your goal.
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Fede
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Fede »

.... so....

where's this smiley then? :computerproblem:

:jumping:
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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genkaku
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by genkaku »

Peter wrote:So, genkaku, we should make no effort to preserve the Buddha's teachings?
I think it's good to preserve the Buddha's teachings ... as long as we honestly dedicate ourselves to what those teachings are and not to what we imagine them to be. For my money, when you realize there is nothing that can be preserved, there will be fewer problems.

Fewer problems is nice, I think.
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

140. Those monks who explain what is not Dhamma as not Dhamma, work for the welfare, happiness, and benefit of gods and men. They make much merit and preserve the true Dhamma.

141. Those monks who explain what is Dhamma as Dhamma, work for the welfare, happiness, and benefit of gods and men. They make much merit and preserve the true Dhamma.

142-9. Those monks who explain not Vinaya as not Vinaya, Vinaya as Vinaya, what was not said by the Tathägata as not said by him, what was said by him as said by him, what was not practised by him as not practised by him, what was practised by him as practised by him, what was not laid down by him as not laid down by him, what was laid down by him as laid down by him, work for the welfare, happiness, and benefit of gods and men. They make much merit and preserve the true Dhamma.

(A.i.140-149)
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Individual
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Individual »

Peter wrote:So, genkaku, we should make no effort to preserve the Buddha's teachings?
People should engage in Right Effort, but they should not be disenchanted by views, that is, they should be aloof from views and not unreasonably expect to preserve anything impermanent.
The best things in life aren't things.

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thornbush
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by thornbush »

Perhaps these 2 Suttas have said it well...
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Monks, these two slander the Tathagata. Which two?
He who explains what was not said or spoken by the Tathagata as said or spoken by the Tathagata.
And he who explains what was said or spoken by the Tathagata as not said or spoken by the Tathagata.
These are two who slander the Tathagata."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Monks, these two slander the Tathagata. Which two?
He who explains a discourse whose meaning needs to be inferred as one whose meaning has already been fully drawn out.
And he who explains a discourse whose meaning has already been fully drawn out as one whose meaning needs to be inferred.
These are two who slander the Tathagata."
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Cittasanto
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Re: Misquote of the Buddha?

Post by Cittasanto »

Individual wrote: People should engage in Right Effort, but they should not be disenchanted by views, that is, they should be aloof from views and not unreasonably expect to preserve anything impermanent.
Hi Individual,
how do you mean?
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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