Gosh the statue is super-shiny now. I wonder what kind of paint that is? Maybe actual gold paint with several layers of gloss coat on top.
What were you doing up there in Thailand, Mike?

There are no stable atoms. Where did you hear there are stable, eternal atoms? Even the building blocks of atoms, like protons and electrons, decay and change.

He was in a few monasteries near Sydney, then went back to Thailand in May 2013, then on to Sri Lanka... But more recent news I do not know. He last logged in here at Dhammawheel about two months ago.
That's the full and complete extent of my stalking/info gathering.

Not a moron, just a dope. So far, I've heard about how everyone loves the Ajahn, but see nothing to respect about him. Some seem to feel they need discipline, and a Father figure. Could it be that simple? I think it's that indefinable "charisma" that some gurus and leaders have. Something about the...

This book is everywhere at the moment, for free at Ajahn Chah monasteries. There must have been a big reprint.
I think I'm going to have to read it, with the description of the author as a Delusional Moron.

SarathW wrote:Un defilement and wisdom (enlightenment) are two different things.
Once you have radiant consciousness (undefiled Citta) you should develop wisdom to attain Nirvana.
Radiant consciousness is not Nirvana.

Aha, I thought it was, thanks for clarifying that.

If the citta or whatever was originally undefiled, like you say, then you would have been enlightened back then.
You, and I, are not enlightened. Therefore the citta was never undefiled.

Oh noooo, no no, please no. Not a new thread for every new daily post from the Venerable. Keep it in the Daily Dhamma Drops, perhaps apart from the occasional request like SarahW made.
He posts individual new threads on NewBuddhist, and it clutters things up. In my opinion.

Ah, I see. I quite like these kinds of frequent educational posts to be in the Daily Dhamma Drops topic, but possibly that's just me.

Thank you Venerable.

Doesn't this belong in Daily Dhamma Drops?

FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for a hut in Vietnam?? You can rent a whole two storey house in Ho Chi Min City for $200 per month. Something is seriously wrong with your friend if he wants fifty K for a hut. For fifty thousand you can get your friend a nice house in the suburbs, far nicer than what most Vie...

waterchan wrote:... then we might imply that this extends to all traditional Theravada countries as well.

Not in Thailand. I saw several monks with tattoos of the Buddha on their arms, and one layperson.

and now my life is confusion and nonsense. What is your advice? My advice is to keep taking your meds, and if you aren't on them, to go to your doctor and have a talk. All this stuff sounds like things that would not be an issue if you were feeling mentally healthy. As you've said in other topics, ...

Hmm, that's interesting. All the other monasteries I have visited are open for quiet respectful public people to attend at any time. Ah, except for one Tibetan monastery (Gelug), where I could not attend the chanting because you had to have been initiated, or have had a transmission or something. Ma...

I have heard that at Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth, Australia, the newcomers get to choose their own monastic names from a book of names. Kind of cool, really. Yep, one monk even made up his own Pali-sounding name; "Nito", pronounced Neat-oh. :tongue: But that's not usual, it's usually as Goofaholi...