Hi everyone, As to the question - is everything the Buddha says true ? I think that the Buddha said on many occasions that one should not say something true if it would - in that situation - cause harm to someone. One must therefore deviate from the truth for a good reason. It seems that moral issue...

Hi dustyzafu, Please do not apologise for joining in the debate you are most welcome. You make a number of good points , which I hope I can respond to in due course. But first I have to admit that I made a mistake , I think you were the first to point it out. I should not have said : "Would not ever...

Hi retrofuturist, Thanks for your reply. I actually started this thread in order to reveal ( in due course ) that Theravada teachings are in fact an esoteric system. Not of course in the simple sense of my first example but in a more subtle sense. If this claim should turn out to be true we could di...

Hi everyone, What is "esoteric buddhism"? I believe the word esoteric is latin and means something like private in contrast to public. So a buddhist teaching which was given only to selected individuals and never in public would be an esoteric teaching ? Is this correct ? Are there other ways in whi...

Hello everyone, I am a 61 year old man living in Bristol in the UK. I spent 10 years studying the Theravada Teachings, trying to understand them starting around 1990. But I could not make sense of the teachings and eventually gave up. Now that I am retired and have more time I find my interest in th...