Search found 11 matches

by Bhikkhu Cintita
Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:05 am
Forum: Ordination and Monastic Life
Topic: Monastic Alms Round in the West
Replies: 36
Views: 9288

Re: Monastic Alms Round in the West

I tried, with limited success, to institute an alms round in Minnesota, USA in 2010 after returning from Myanmar, where I had ordained the year before. This is an account: Before I left Myanmar, Ashin Paññasīha had onced admonished me, “When you go back to America you should continue to do alms roun...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Sat Dec 16, 2017 11:47 pm
Forum: Dhammaduta (Dhamma propagation)
Topic: Those Self-Absorbed Buddhists
Replies: 15
Views: 6408

Re: Those Self-Absorbed Buddhists

key indicator of spiritual progress: humility. But whence this idea that the "key indicator" of spiritual progress is humility?? I don't recall reading anything to this effect in the suttas! "Humility" is a bit ambiguous in English and it was my interlocutor's word-choice. It is...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Sat Dec 16, 2017 5:17 pm
Forum: Dhammaduta (Dhamma propagation)
Topic: Those Self-Absorbed Buddhists
Replies: 15
Views: 6408

Re: Those Self-Absorbed Buddhists

Thanks for the many comments. Let me correct a possible misperception concerning my story. The talk I was giving was to a very open-minded Christian audience, with a great deal of curiosity and no evidence of hostility toward Buddhism. Almost all of my Christian friends are like this. The seminary s...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Fri Dec 15, 2017 1:54 am
Forum: Dhammaduta (Dhamma propagation)
Topic: Those Self-Absorbed Buddhists
Replies: 15
Views: 6408

Those Self-Absorbed Buddhists

I recently posted a short reflection on my blog about how the propagation of Buddhism to the west is progressing. I thought I would drop it here in the Dhammaduta section as well, in the hope that it might be helpful. It begins: A few months ago I gave a talk to some seminary students who wanted to...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:59 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Stephen Batchelor's “After Buddhism.” Yale University Press, 2015
Replies: 25
Views: 7420

Re: Stephen Batchelor's “After Buddhism.” Yale University Press, 2015

I am a latecomer to this tread, and only recently read this book. But I have recently posted a critique of some of Batchelor's points, so let me give a link to this here. I feel the main arc of this book has not been addressed in other reviews. It has to do with the nature of the Buddhist community:...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:36 pm
Forum: Early Buddhism
Topic: Early Buddhism resources
Replies: 181
Views: 281190

Re: Early Buddhism resources

I would like to recommend my own introductory textbook, Buddhist Life / Buddhist Path: the foundations of Buddhist based on earliest sources . I have taught a course on early Buddhism for many years, initially making use of Bhikkhu Bodhi's In Buddha's words , but in need in something more concise. A...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Sun Jan 11, 2015 5:03 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Why arūpa is translated as "formless" ?
Replies: 7
Views: 2207

Re: Why arūpa is translated as "formless" ?

We drive on a parkway, yet park in a driveway (at least in the States).
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Fri Jan 17, 2014 8:24 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Response from member of the Burmese Sangha to U Wirathu
Replies: 4
Views: 1931

Re: Response from member of the Burmese Sangha to U Wirathu

The international press tends to be driven more by sensationalism that fairness. "Religious violence" gets good press, while attempts at reconciliation go unheard. There has been a response by the Burmese Sangha against the statements of U Wrathu and the 969 movement that has been largely ...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Sat Sep 07, 2013 5:59 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Alchoholic Buddhists
Replies: 8
Views: 3023

Re: Alchoholic Buddhists

One might think of Buddhism as Samsarics Anonymous. I have found that people who have successfully given up alcohol, that one rather vexing part of samsara, find it easy to appreciate that Buddhism is about giving up the rest.
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Fri May 03, 2013 5:49 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Genocide in Burma: Monks and Perpetuation of Violence
Replies: 146
Views: 49159

Re: Genocide in Burma: Monks and Perpetuation of Violence

A number of people involved in this thread have suggested that while some monastics in Burma have advocated violence few have condemned it. I want to point out the following recent statement by Ashin Nyanissara (Sitagu Sayadaw's): https://www.facebook.com/notes/%E1%80%9E%E1%80%AE%E1%80%90%E1%80%82%E...
by Bhikkhu Cintita
Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:51 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: What if everyone in America becomes Buddhist?
Replies: 25
Views: 6002

Re: What if everyone in America becomes Buddhist?

My own impression of Buddhism is that it has maintained its integrity remarkably well over the centuries and as it has spread to new lands, in spite of many cultural accretions and most remarkably in spite of not having a common scriptural foundation. The essence of Buddhism is the same in Tibet, in...