Cittasanto wrote:Hi David, SDC
I am assuming the Imortality is refering to Amata = deathless?
Yes.
However it is a word he rarely uses. Like David said he uses certain words in certain settings and I think he is willing to take this risk to get the point across. In this particular case I do not believe it was necessary, but like I said he explains the concept of nibbana so well apart from the word “immortality” that the listener will not be at risk of misinterpreting it as some eternalist viewpoint. I will personally attest to this, having studied his work quite extensively.
Cittasanto wrote:on the Brahma Bhuto; is Venerable influenced by the Brahmavihara or a specific explanation here?
From the Aggañña Sutta - DN27
“Vasettha, all of you, through of different birth, name, clan and family, who have gone forth from the household life into homelessness, if you are asked who you are, should reply: ‘We are ascetics, followers of the Sakyan.’ He whose faith in the Tathagata is settled, rooted, established, solid, unshakeable by any ascetic or Brahmin, any deva or mara or Brahma or anyone in the world, can truly say: ‘I am a true son of Blessed Lord, born of his mouth, born of Dhamma, created by Dhamma, an heir of Dhamma.’ Why is that? Because, Vasettha, this designates the Tathagata: ‘The body of Dhamma’, that is, ‘The body of Brahma’, or ‘Become Dhamma’, that is, ‘Become Brahma’.
Meaning dhamma is the ideal and the Buddha became that ideal. I have never seen the Venerable explain this to mean anything more than that.
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3