The individual is pancakhandhā as opposed to pañc'upādānakkhandhā . And while in a sense the individual is always present, it is the contingency of that presence that undermines and precludes his existence. I wonder if you would care to expand on the phrase: "undermines and precludes" ? I...

Thanissaro is pretty spot on when it comes to the academic and secularist view of Buddhism... What Thanissaro says is no doubt a valid critique of the words that he attributes to the academic. But what kind of academic was it? I mean the quotation is hardly representative of the sort of things that...

As I understand it, to abstain from covetousness is a part of the ten wholesome courses of action. I'm not sure I understand the term "covetousness" 100%. If you see someone that has item X, and upon seeing the enjoyment this person receives with item X, you decide you'd like to get one y...

Those were just speculations made by Gombrich and Gethin. Did you actually read them? I find it hard to believe that someone who had read (and understood) Gombrich's article and Gethin's chapter would describe them as "just speculations". To speculate is to conjecture without evidence, wh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcGYY_T5-_E Eluveitie, Brictom LYRICS Sa senit conectos Onda bocca nene Rionti onda boca ne On barnaunom ponc nit Issintor sies eianepian Digs ne lisantim ne licia Ne rodatim biont Utu semnanom sagitiont Seuerim lissatim licia Tim anandognam acolut Utanit andognam da...

I don't know. I don't pay much attention to what scholars say. Many of them don't practice the Dhamma anyway. They rely only on their intellect, which is very limited, and cannot penetrate deep into the Dhamma. That scholars don't practise the Dhamma does not prevent them from having astute and ins...

Hi zengen, Dear Aloka, with all due respect, I must point out that the description of the sufferings in hell are not mere speculation, but are explicitly stated in the Sutta. The Sutta also leaves no room for interpretation. The Buddha described the hell realms as he saw them with his Divine Eye. Di...

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Gojira, Stranded. From their album Magma, available from 17th June.

Hi Paul, Wishing you a warm welcome. I was very happy to see Fuengsin's dedication page and would like to express my gratitude to you for posting it here. I used to know your mother a little when I was doing post-graduate research at Birmingham University in the 1980s. Her friend Prani (a square-jaw...

Hi zengen, Most people will not win jackpot, even though they play lottery their entire lives. By the same logic, most beings will have to stay in the lower realms for a very long time. Sure. Which means that the probability of getting out quickly is low. But your earlier statement that I disagreed ...

Queen Mallika, for example, is said to have spent only a week in hell and then emerged and was reborn in a heaven. I'm curious, how did Queen Mallika get out of hell so soon? As a human Mallika is said to have lived a generally spotless life, both as the king's consort and during many years as an u...

Hi zengen, The Buddha taught that time passes very slowly in the hell realm, so a living being in hell can suffer for billions and trillions of human years before taking rebirth in higher realms. Can but not necessarily will . The big figures you quote are maximum life-spans of the beings in hell, n...

Hi David, שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם As an 8 precept nun or is the plan for full ordination? If it's in Myanmar then it will be as a thilashin who normally take ten precepts, like samaneras. Of all the kinds of Buddhist nun that I've met it is these who've impressed me most favourably. If you are in t...

Hi Mr Man, Is opposing abortion a moral obligation? When you say "opposing" could you state what it is you have in mind? I mean I can imagine that the term may cover quite a spectrum of acts of opposition, ranging from merely voicing one's disapproval to anyone who asks one's opinion, to p...