Search found 16 matches

by socratessmith
Fri Aug 09, 2013 4:47 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

Mr. Man and Pulga:

Completely predictable, and useless, Buddhist responses to a feasible argument directly related to a practice you both frequently engage in.

Throw away your Buddhist books and use your brains!
by socratessmith
Fri Aug 09, 2013 3:17 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

Jeebus Crikes, all of this text citation. All of these minute details. All of this classical Buddhist eel-wriggling. This rubric from Cruel Theory | Sublime Practice may be useful. I assume most of you will cry "too obscure!" or "too French!" or whatever. But maybe one or two of ...
by socratessmith
Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:06 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

unconditioned consciousness = special form of consciousness that doesn't need to be experienced though the six senses. Now, I'm not going to pretend to understand this, being outside of time, but I'm also not going to jump to calling it a soul or core mind. Of course, Samma: classic eel-wriggling (...
by socratessmith
Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:12 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

"Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace".
Kusala: Better than the ventriloquized words of the phantom Buddha is your own unique expression.
by socratessmith
Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:34 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

And you have something better to offer us than the pali canon??? Yes, Lyndon, the raw capacity for human thought. Human thought is infinitely superior to Buddhist thought. And I say that having practiced Buddhism very strictly for forty years. If you're unsure what I mean by this, and why I recomme...
by socratessmith
Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:04 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

Then why doesn't the Buddha, or Thannisaro, state explcitly that they do not believe in snowballs in hell? Here's the sentence referred to by the lengthy note 2 that Sylvester quoted: "Worthless man... Haven't I, in many ways, said of dependently co-arisen consciousness, 'Apart from a requisit...
by socratessmith
Tue Aug 06, 2013 2:37 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

Do the Pali suttas teach atman--soul, unconditioned mind, or something effectively like it? Yes and no. "The Buddha" of the suttas is a literary concoction. Sure, the basis of that concoction is a historical figure and his historical teachings. But the sum total of "The Buddha" a...
by socratessmith
Mon Aug 05, 2013 9:06 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

No, BuddhaSoup, I can read your words.
by socratessmith
Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:54 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

Like I said, his belief in an unconditioned X--a soul-like entity-is hiding in plain sight. If you don't see it, it's because you refuse to see it. No "false dichotomy fallacy" here, bro, just the all-too-predictable Buddhist obfuscation. BuddhaSoup: I don't "have an "axe to grin...
by socratessmith
Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:23 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

In literally hundreds of places in his writings, Geoff alludes to a soul-like entity. Just Google "Thanissaro Bhikkhu unconditioned mind," for instance, and you get things like: "Once the mind can detach itself from the pleasure & equanimity offered by jhāna, it can be inclined to...
by socratessmith
Mon Aug 05, 2013 3:24 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?
Replies: 124
Views: 25310

Re: Does Thanissaro Bhikkhu believe in a soul?

I’d like to encourage all of you Dharma Wheelers to become better readers. Your comments here show a poor understanding of what Tom Pepper is up to in that essay. They also reveal your collective poor grasp of what Geoff holds to be true. Please learn to distinguish between rhetorical presentation a...
by socratessmith
Thu May 19, 2011 7:09 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Thought-provoking new blog
Replies: 26
Views: 4784

Re: Thought-provoking new blog

Well, it's nice to see all of the replies here. Thank you everyone. I will just point out – and this will be the last thing I say – that most of the posts I've seen here exemplify speculative non-Buddhism's concern for what it sees as the need to "devitalize Buddhism's postulates." Obvious...
by socratessmith
Thu May 19, 2011 1:48 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Thought-provoking new blog
Replies: 26
Views: 4784

Re: Thought-provoking new blog

As far as I can understand it (and I am not certain that I do) the Speculative non-Buddhist blog is an attempt to critique Buddhism without rejecting it. Based on the posts so far, it seems to respect the Buddha's teachings by putting them in dialogue with western knowledge. That shouldn't be threat...
by socratessmith
Wed May 18, 2011 9:32 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Thought-provoking new blog
Replies: 26
Views: 4784

Re: Thought-provoking new blog

What pious Buddhists Dhamma Wheel subscribers are! Peace...