Hello everyone, lately in my practice I've been noticing a theme of the need to hold each other accountable, be it in the world of politics, business, family, and friendships. It seems that when we tell others not to do something, or to do something, often there is a pushback: "you can't tell me wha...

I recently went to an outdoor museum in northern Michigan that had an old school house. This was framed on one of the walls: If I want to be a happy, useful citizen I must have: COURAGE AND HOPE I must be brave -- This mans I must be brave enough and strong enough to control what I think, and what I...

Yes. I think "Right Effort" as a factor of the overall path has a sort of conceptual value to it (i.e. we have to differentiate right from wrong), while Viriya as a factor of enlightenment is more visceral, heartfelt, etc. As a factor of enlightenment it's an invigoration of our mind, while as a fac...

This is the Vappa sutta referred to in the OP: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN4_195.html It seem that the Buddha isn't advocating for Jain practices, but is rather describing how new kamma isn't formed by an enlightened being:: Vappa, as for any effluents causing trouble & vexation that ari...

What do you make of that, TLCD96? Mooji's teachings are quite questionable! Lots of people have apparently found this person's posts helpful, but it seems like some pretty heavy spiritual bypassing. It's not inspiring to me, but I have no knowledge of what's really going through this person's mind.

Go back to Pythagoras Golden Verses and many commentaries by those in his tradition, like Hierocles. Practice was the theme throughout the Platonic tradition. I.B. Horner, in the introduction to the third volume of her translation of the Vinaya Piṭaka, draws a comparison between the seventy-five se...

You're welcome. I'm not part of a physical sangha here but have a few good dhamma friends. Even so I feel connected to the virtual sangha - teachers and followers from the past and present, the people in spaces like this forum, on youtube etc. So good to hear! :anjali: From a discussion with a very...

They used to follow Mooji who is very vague and refers little to any scriptures. Since then they have switched to the Bhagavad Gita, which at least has a solid base for morality and practice, and a more coherent world-view. I trust that things have improved now. I don’t think it’s helpful to go int...

You should question your premise because you seem to assume buddhism to be a philosophy and thus compare the apple with the pears. There are western religions that have precepts for the ordained, too. Thanks for the feedback Stero. Actually, I'm moreso referencing others who have taken that as thei...

I think we might all be familiar with the tendency to compare Buddhism to different philosophies: Stoicism, Epicureanism, Aristotle's Virtue ethics. But so many of these comparisons revolve more around theory rather than practice. It seems that a huge and glaring difference is the fact that Buddhism...

:focus: I spent some time in an Advaita community. As far as I can observe, the practice can lead to a long-term soft 6th jhana (consciousness) which the practitioners then identify with. Meditating more intensively leads to a harder jhana which was interpreted as total unity i.e. the ultimate attai...

That reminds me of Mahayana thought. Why not simply bliss out? It might inspire others to bliss out, too. I think the problem with that is that not all "blissful" states are actually wholesome; perhaps in that sense they aren't really blissful either. It's one thing to "bliss out" on dhamma, someth...

Hi everyone, I watched this video yesterday of Rokas (of "The Journey" and "Martial Arts Journey") talking about his experiences with Advaita Vedanta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAPhLCgG0Q Basically, he talks about a time when he was heavily invested in the practice, and at one point he engage...

Yeah, it really seems like his teachings have been helpful for a lot of people who burden themselves with thinking. I remember I found them super helpful when I first started getting into "spirituality"; his teachings were soothing and made a lot of sense at that time. Better than fault-finding, th...

Yeah, it really seems like his teachings have been helpful for a lot of people who burden themselves with thinking. I remember I found them super helpful when I first started getting into "spirituality"; his teachings were soothing and made a lot of sense at that time. Better than fault-finding, tha...