This is great. I was just saying something a bit like this about Sri Lankan Buddhism, since we have a lot of temples popping up here in the U.S., and they don't always feel "Buddhist" in the sense that Americans are expecting. I would imagine that the information here also applies to Thai ...

Some more info about these monks. I don't know what to think about this, but my monk guarenteed me that I wouldn't reach enlightenment in this lifetime. Should I be offended or humbled? Also, how long and how often are dhamma talks supposed to be given? There's one every week after meditation class...

Hi meindzai Try heading it off at the pass? :tongue: http://www.amaravati.org/downloads/pdf/Inner_Listening_-_Ajahn_Amaro.pdf :anjali: Interesting! I might try this, though I tend to "get to" a certain point using breath, I might try switching to this to see what happens. What good is med...

Yes, I'm not sure how much of a real problem it is. It's just that sometimes it seems to be the last thing floating around in there. It's like my ego's last guardsman going "haha! You will never get into this jhana!"

Congrats! I didn't use any Buddhist verses for my wedding, but I visited a Buddhist temple that morning and took my five precepts. My wife was with me, and though she doesn't practice to the extent that I do, she was very supportive, and the monk gave us both a little dharma talk, just for the two o...

I am in a fairly good place with my meditation right now. I can sit for quite awhile, and things are very quiet. There is often lots of piti and some sukha arising. The lasts wisps of noise going around in my head seem to be music related. It doesn't seem to matter weather I've listened to music or ...

What about grammatical structure? Is it similar? I think Sinhala is to pali what _____ is to Latin, where ___ is one of English, Spanish, Italian.... I'm always impressed at the way Sri Lankan monks seem to be able to rattle off pali phrases like it's their native language. But much of this is proba...

Within the context of the four noble truths, this doesn't seem to be a wise strategy for ending suffering.

-Dave K

I have a theory that for every philosopher we consider modern or western, there was an equivalent or closely equivalent philosopher in the Buddha's time that had all the same ideas, and that they are all somewhere in the Pali Canon and commentaries. The Buddha tended to best them in argument, at lea...

This is an upper-division course? With eight minutes, I'd talk about how the Buddha set aside metaphysics as a waste of time due to the impractical speculative aspects of that sort of thought, and see how many of your philosophy peers get uppity or otherwise become keen on a phenomenological discus...

Well, I started to put together a bunch of stuff, and then find out I have about 8 minutes to talk. That's hardly enough for an introduction. So, it was a good exercise, not for naught I suppose. Maybe I'll just finish it and put it together here when I have time. So instead I will probably talk abo...

That is *extremely* helpful. Thanks Mike.

Though I also found out computation and calculation is apparently a debased art.

-Dave K

Hi folks! Been awhile. I have been in school, so haven't done much on forums outside of my current field of study (mathematics). I find myself in a funny position of being in a Buddhist Philosophy class. I needed a 4000 level credit, so why not. We are expected to do a presentation at some point, an...

I think this is taking my point too far. I think there is a similar percentage of non-religious people that consider it immoral to kill, steal, and lie. Drinking is more likely, and therefore some reckless behavior, but I don't think any higher percentage of non-religious people would be so foolish...

The half and full lotus postures traditionally used for meditation are hatha yoga postures. This might be putting the cart before the horse, as those seated postures are historically attested long before Hatha Yoga appears. It would probably be more accurate to say that Hatha Yoga incorporated and ...