DhammaVids channel now open

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
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Virgo
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DhammaVids channel now open

Post by Virgo »

Hey all,

Check out my first vid on my youtube channel. Please tell me what you think! My idea is to make inspirational videos from time to time.

Please rate, commment, and subscribe. Thanks!




Kevin
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Ben
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Re: DhammaVids channel now open

Post by Ben »

Thanks Kevin,
It looks good.
A bit of feedback, if I may:
- I disagree with the description that sila is "cleansing". Sila on its own provides the support for samadhi and panna, but sila itself does not liberate one from samsara.
- You might consider adding a bit more movement or interest. The absence of body language or any other movement, in me, created a bit of cognitive dissonance and I can see that others would focus instead on the animation rather than the message.
- You might want to tweak the pronounciation of the Pali words.

But over all - well done!
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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manas
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Re: DhammaVids channel now open

Post by manas »

Hi Kevin,

maybe a few of the words could use some tweaking as Ben pointed out, and a few aspects of the message could be made clearer, but as a concept, I sense you are really on to something here! :jumping: Keep at it. Personally I love animation (and anime, but that's another story), but more to the point here so do my kids - u get what I mean, yes? :idea: As you keep honing your skill in creating and producing such videos, there is the potential to reach and instruct in the Dhamma, a younger audience, who might ordinarily not come across it. :thumbsup:

Metta :anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
Coyote
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Re: DhammaVids channel now open

Post by Coyote »

I like it and I have subscribed. Would be better IMO if the voice wasn't so robotic.
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
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Virgo
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Re: DhammaVids channel now open

Post by Virgo »

Hi everyone. Thanks for the feedback.

Ben: Actually I think this analogy was used Suttas such as the one below:

Cleansing with regard to the body, Cunda, is threefold; cleansing with regard to speech is fourfold; and cleansing with regard to the mind, threefold. And how is cleansing with regard to the body threefold? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take the ungiven property of another, whether in a village or in the wilderness, with thievish intent. Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how cleansing with regard to the body is threefold.

And how is cleansing with regard to speech fourfold? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty [i.e., a court proceeding], if he is asked as a witness, 'Come and tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord. Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large. Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, and the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how cleansing with regard to speech is fourfold.

And how is cleansing with regard to the mind threefold? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He does not covet the property of another, thinking, "O, if only what belongs to another were mine!" He is not malevolent at heart or destructive in his resolves. He thinks, "May these beings — free from animosity, free from oppression, and free from trouble — look after themselves with ease." He has right views and an unperverted outlook. He believes, "There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits and results of good and bad actions. There is this world and the next world. There is mother and father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are brahmans and contemplatives who, living rightly and practicing rightly, proclaim this world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves." This is how cleansing with regard to the mind is threefold.

— A X.176 (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... efuge.html)

Also, I think the analogy is used in the Commentaries as well, as I have heard it in talks. It may be used in other Suttas as well. I don't think it means cleansed in the sense of permanently cleansed, which would be removal of the defilements, but cleansed as in temporarily cleansed mentally, and having wholesome mental states as a result of wholesome actions of body, speech, and mind.

@manas: good point!

@coyote: yes there is not much I can do about the voice being robotic, or about the pronunciation.

Thanks,

Kevin
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