I grew up with the same misconceptions as most Americans of Buddhism being very close to a rational philosophy rather than a religion and the Buddha as being privy to all knowledge....especially, somehow, having an intuitive grasp of modern science. Having read many suttas I see that both those things are far from the truth. Yet, I am still kind of taken aback by all of the questions as to what Buddhism has to say about modern conditions and bodies of knowledge that simply didn't exist 2600 years ago for the *man* call The Buddha to have an opinion.
So, what did the Buddha have to say choosing a Mac over a PC?
What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
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Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Why does it have to be one or the other? It can be a rational philosophy and a religion. I wouldn't follow it if I thought it was an irrational philosophy.Jhana4 wrote:I grew up with the same misconceptions as most Americans of Buddhism being very close to a rational philosophy rather than a religion
Mac.So, what did the Buddha have to say choosing a Mac over a PC?
Steve Jobs is a Buddhist.
(just kidding; Jobs is a Buddhist but I have no idea which one the Buddha would pick.)
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Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Definitely get a MAC or an iPad .
By the way, which of the Buddha's teaching do you believe is wrong , rebirth or kamma ?
Also , in one life he was a deva born in a deva plane and therefore a deva, in another life he was born in a human plane and therefore a human. So how do you decide if he is a man or a deva. Besides, after awakening one doesn't identify with any of these temporary identities as self. For example . being some one in such and such plane ( human or deva ).
By the way, which of the Buddha's teaching do you believe is wrong , rebirth or kamma ?
Also , in one life he was a deva born in a deva plane and therefore a deva, in another life he was born in a human plane and therefore a human. So how do you decide if he is a man or a deva. Besides, after awakening one doesn't identify with any of these temporary identities as self. For example . being some one in such and such plane ( human or deva ).
with metta,
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
The Buddha's teachings are just as relevant today as they were 2600 years ago. The teachings are timeless.
If you asked the Buddha about purchasing a Mac or a PC he'd probably wonder what your intentions were in purchasing such a product. If your intentions for buying the Mac was to have the latest and greatest gadget and to keep consuming as many new things as possible he would likely question that as being unwise. However, if your intention was to use the product to expand your knowledge, study the Dharma, use it to finish your work more successfully, etc, etc. he'd probably suggest it was wise.
Intention is what needs to be observed in all things we do, regardless of the century we're living in.
If you asked the Buddha about purchasing a Mac or a PC he'd probably wonder what your intentions were in purchasing such a product. If your intentions for buying the Mac was to have the latest and greatest gadget and to keep consuming as many new things as possible he would likely question that as being unwise. However, if your intention was to use the product to expand your knowledge, study the Dharma, use it to finish your work more successfully, etc, etc. he'd probably suggest it was wise.
Intention is what needs to be observed in all things we do, regardless of the century we're living in.
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
I think, J4, the Buddha was too busy dealing with Devadatta and his followers who wanted to turn the sangha into vegetarians to give the question you posed the attention that it so richly deserves. Not even Ananda was willing to interrupt the Buddha to pose the question on our behalf - so many centuries later aching for that knowledge in the beginning of the second sasana. We'll never know whether the Buddha prefered a Mac to a PC - just like we'll never know whether he would prefer corn flakes to coco-pops, or coke to pepsi (or for that matter one of the lite or diet varieties of such non-alcoholic beverages), or whether the Buddha preferred to drink his morning coffee from a porcelain cup than a styrofoam mug.
These ponderous questions, I say to you, are endless.
These ponderous questions, I say to you, are endless.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
"There are these five unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them. Which five?
"The Buddha-range of the Buddhas is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
"The jhana-range of a person in jhana...
"The [precise working out of the] results of kamma...
"Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
The Mac vs The PC...
"These are the five unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them."
"The Buddha-range of the Buddhas is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
"The jhana-range of a person in jhana...
"The [precise working out of the] results of kamma...
"Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
The Mac vs The PC...
"These are the five unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them."
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Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
plwk wrote:"There are these five unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them. Which five?
........
The Mac vs The PC...
"These are the five unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them."
with metta,
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
So you do not know what to purchase and your are seeking advice from the Buddha? Or what is your intention?Jhana4 wrote:I grew up with the same misconceptions as most Americans of Buddhism being very close to a rational philosophy rather than a religion and the Buddha as being privy to all knowledge....especially, somehow, having an intuitive grasp of modern science. Having read many suttas I see that both those things are far from the truth. Yet, I am still kind of taken aback by all of the questions as to what Buddhism has to say about modern conditions and bodies of knowledge that simply didn't exist 2600 years ago for the *man* call The Buddha to have an opinion.
So, what did the Buddha have to say choosing a Mac over a PC?
Kind regards
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Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Neither.
Thus have I heard...
Amstrad CPC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#CPC6128" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Metta,
Retro.
Thus have I heard...
Amstrad CPC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#CPC6128" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Clearly neither. The Buddha advocated open source software...
Mike
The Buddha wrote:I have set forth the Dhamma without making any distinction of esoteric and exoteric doctrine; there is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back.
Free Software Foundation wrote: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mike
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Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Greetings Mike,
I guess that would be a vote slightly in the PC favour then given the stringent controls Apple places on the use of non-Apple software and hardware.
Metta,
Retro.
I guess that would be a vote slightly in the PC favour then given the stringent controls Apple places on the use of non-Apple software and hardware.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Windows has inspired some very Zen-like poetry - http://soler7.com/IFAQ/WindowsErrorHaiku.html (origins discussed here http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/haiku.asp); and Macs give their users almost no practice in dealing with anger
I think the Buddha would have recommended Windows and used a Mac
Kim
P.S. to Mike, who was just a bit quicker to hit 'submit' than I was.
I think the Buddha would have recommended Windows and used a Mac
Kim
P.S. to Mike, who was just a bit quicker to hit 'submit' than I was.
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
I haven't seen Bill Gates giving away source code lately...retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Mike,
I guess that would be a vote slightly in the PC favour then given the stringent controls Apple places on the use of non-Apple software and hardware.
Metta,
Retro.
But of course, an Intel-based PC doesn't have to run Windows... Actually that includes modern Macs...
Speaking of Bill Gates, there is this: http://www.bbspot.com/news/2001/06/gates.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mike
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Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
Greetings Mike,
Well actually I was taking more of a Mac vs PC view, than the traditional Apple vs Microsoft battle.
PCs can seemingly be made by anyone, as IBM didn't have Apple's scroogish foresight to tightly control the patents.
Metta,
Retro.
Well actually I was taking more of a Mac vs PC view, than the traditional Apple vs Microsoft battle.
PCs can seemingly be made by anyone, as IBM didn't have Apple's scroogish foresight to tightly control the patents.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: What did the Buddha have to say about The Mac vs The PC?
I want to know if it would be PC for the Buddha to eat a big MAC.
chownah
chownah