There exists in the West, a group of middle class people who, although they had not the aptitude to learn an exacting discipline such as math or engineering, nevertheless went to college and learned a pseudo-science, or social-science that made them capable only of mental-masturbatory self-congratu...

If there is a scale of immorality, I would propose Truman/the Americans with their targeted bombings (nuclear and otherwise) of civilian centers to be on exactly the same lowest of the low denominator with Hitler and his concentration camps or Stalin and his Gulags. as the logical person you are, t...

To find out if an action would go into a direction which is potentially unwholesome, it is maybe a good guideline to have a look into the Vinaya. Even though laypeople do not need to heed those rules, they give a general yardstick of proper and moral behaviour in a Buddhist sense. Here, we find the ...

I imagine they thought it was going to swiftly end the war, which it did. I do not mean this was the right choice to launch a bomb. But it's easy to judge now war is won. One wrong does not allow a second wrong, especially not in Buddhist morale. Also: " one must accumulate good deeds and shun all ...

Buddha is not a person, its a state, or more precisely that which illumines the citta and brings enlightenment, ... Thank you for taking the time to respond at length. I do understand your thinking better now. Nevertheless, what you describe is a philosophical/metaphysical re-interpretation of hist...

The raunchy stories in the Vinaya (Monks Rules) appear to be exaggerations. Could you enlighten us how you came to this conclusion? I would have rather thought that the Buddha would not have had the need to exaggerate circumstances just to establish another Vinaya rule; it would have, in my humble ...

In ancient India there was no outward dress code If you could qualify this statement a little bit, because looking at contemporary archaeological sources your are simply wrong. The whole rest of your post, equating specific people as 'states' seems similarly uninformed, not just according to modern...

A) Buddha and Mahāvīra were two different people with very similar biographies. Possibly. I mean outwardly the career of one successful samaṇa teacher would probably have looked pretty much like that of another. The similarities are easily explainable by both coming from a small geographical region...

I'm sorry to see that much of the above-oriented discussion of the Dhammayuttika is largely sectarian rhetoric based upon anecdotal information. ... and then you go on doing exactly the same, repeating -- often highly unsubstantiated -- textbook passages. Starting with: Dhammayut was founded as a "...

It also helps give a reason to memorize suttas and possess the ability to recite teachings from memory. Chanting is one of the most powerful tools the human mind has with regard to remembering lists due to the way the human brain connects information. And as such it is not incidental, that many Sut...

Buddha said his teaching would disappeared around 2,500 years The teachings die out and then after some long period a new samma-sam-buddha appears, with the next one being Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya) currently residing in Tusita heaven (according to traditional buddhist cosmology). To be corrected if...

Dan74-MkII wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:59 am I'd say that highfalutin notions like 'truth, clarity, peace and happiness' are indeed too much to wish for, and wishing itself often gets in he way, but the reality these words conceal is always here, waiting for us.

The sources for this are mentioned broadly on p.414 of the link I posted; unluckily no exact Sutta was mentioned. It is additonally well worth reading the footnote for the term 'ubhatobhāgavimutta', as so often with these matters, scholarly opinion on its exact meaning differs. Maybe somebody else o...

Therefore, what made the bhikkhu robes different to ordinary dress in the Buddha's time?? Merely colour? Merely being made from rags or discarded cloth? The Buddha was a master in branding and the Vinaya has a whole section on robe materials. Reading through it, it becomes obvious fairly quick, tha...

There is a quite funny moment about cow urine in Tim Ward's book 'What the Buddha never taught' ( link ): "Ruk, what's this?" I interrupted. "It says here in the Vinaya that monks are only allowed to eat medicine if it's pickled in cow urine." "Indian civilization used cow urine for many medical tre...