Search found 168 matches

by tharpa
Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:11 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums
Replies: 50
Views: 1843

Re: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums

If you get the chance, kindly tell Ven. Sujato that requiring registrants to state that they have not only read, but understood his long summary of his personal Buddhist philosophy is a barrier to those who take the Fourth Precept seriously. And at least put his name on the page, so people will kno...
by tharpa
Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:31 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums
Replies: 50
Views: 1843

Re: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums

Sutta Central for specifically EBT. Classical Theravada for specifically Classical. https://classicaltheravada.org/ I'm a member of Sutta Central D&D and Classical Theravada, as I like both of these major forms of Theravada. If you get the chance, kindly tell Ven. Sujato that requiring registra...
by tharpa
Fri Sep 16, 2022 8:20 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums
Replies: 50
Views: 1843

Re: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums

e-sangha was great, nice format, except for the ads and was pan-buddhist, hosting all traditions and that is where some of the problems started with sectarian fights. It took me a while to realize that Theravada and Mahayana are more like different religions than different schools in the same relig...
by tharpa
Fri Sep 16, 2022 8:12 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Are people with ASPD unteachable?
Replies: 41
Views: 1341

Re: Are people with ASPD unteachable?

What if they are dysfunctional and struggle to understand Sangha participation and cause tumult? Will Sangha give up or leave them behind? Like elsewhere in society, they can obtain positions of power and leadership. Will they go to hungry ghost or hell if they can't understand? Frankly, that's har...
by tharpa
Fri Sep 16, 2022 6:02 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: A brief history of Buddhist internet forums
Replies: 50
Views: 1843

A brief history of Buddhist internet forums

I was reflecting on the great booming success that Dhamma Wheel is. Many monks and laypeople interested in the Theravada are here, and they interact casually, discussing various Buddhist matters with great precision. Some of them are extremely knowledgeable. There are few to no Meists here. (A Meist...
by tharpa
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:29 am
Forum: Ordination and Monastic Life
Topic: Is it right for a lay person to criticize/question the behaviour of a monk?
Replies: 18
Views: 1397

Re: Is it right for a lay person to criticize/question the behaviour of a monk?

I remember a while ago there is news of high seated Tibet Monk fathering a child. I think with his public profile, that is appropriate disclosure taken. Part of the reason I left Tibetan Buddhism. Their high-seated teachers are considered above criticism. While as we see in this thread, there is so...
by tharpa
Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:44 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Why the sutta Jhana seem so different from what some teach?
Replies: 45
Views: 1947

Re: Why the sutta Jhana seem so different from what some teach?

Hello all, If the Buddha taught access concentration (upacara) & fixed concentration (appana) - then why wasn't it mentioned in the standard sutta jhana formulas? I think that's a good question. Unless a person has read every word of the Tipitika, I see no need for the Commentaries. If it was i...
by tharpa
Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:35 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Giving up the will to live is not the same as suicide
Replies: 14
Views: 739

Re: Giving up the will to live is not the same as suicide

The passages do not specifically mention the Buddha eating the meat, but we could infer that from the passages. As long as you now recognize that the sentence "There are a few more references to the Buddha eating meat. " was false, then we have made important progress here. And if you cha...
by tharpa
Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:11 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Giving up the will to live is not the same as suicide
Replies: 14
Views: 739

Re: Giving up the will to live is not the same as suicide

There are many things about the MAHÂ-PARINIBBÂNA-SUTTANTA that make me suspicious that it was corrupted. I'll only touch on some of them briefly here. Firstly, there's the question of what mamsa actually is, but assuming it is pork, it's the only place in the Tipitika where he eats meat, and he die...
by tharpa
Thu Sep 15, 2022 1:46 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Giving up the will to live is not the same as suicide
Replies: 14
Views: 739

Re: Giving up the will to live is not the same as suicide

This is no different than choosing to allow the body to grow old just like any other, even that of an arahant. Of course this meant that if he were to eat spoiled pork and get gravely ill there would be nothing he could do to stop it, which is what eventually happened. So, he didn’t die because he ...
by tharpa
Thu Sep 15, 2022 12:42 am
Forum: Dhammaduta (Dhamma propagation)
Topic: Preserving the teachings of Bhikkhu Samahita
Replies: 15
Views: 65340

Re: Preserving the teachings of Bhikkhu Samahita

I also had some communication with him from time to time, via emails. I heard from his son about the suicide but didn't want to ask the big question (why?) as it was too soon. Now some years have passed, was it mental health / depression? He had some rather cryptic, to say the least, posts at his g...
by tharpa
Wed Sep 14, 2022 11:54 pm
Forum: Dhammaduta (Dhamma propagation)
Topic: Preserving the teachings of Bhikkhu Samahita
Replies: 15
Views: 65340

Re: Preserving the teachings of Bhikkhu Samahita

I knew the Venerable Samahita on the internet quite well from way back when he first got started. He was one of the early monks to make his presence well known on the internet. I could say both positive and negative things. The dhamma is available in translations of the Tipitaka. Whether a given mon...
by tharpa
Wed Sep 14, 2022 11:25 pm
Forum: Dhammic Stories
Topic: A different kind of warrior
Replies: 2
Views: 795

Re: A different kind of warrior

The page does not actually say what this is a translation of. It says it's Arnold's famous Light of Asia, but not what it is.

Is it Tipitika? If so, what book and sutta?
by tharpa
Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:27 pm
Forum: Dhammic Stories
Topic: Cloudy With A Chance Of Enlightenment
Replies: 6
Views: 726

Re: Cloudy With A Chance Of Enlightenment

Thank you, Sam.
by tharpa
Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:02 pm
Forum: Dhammic Stories
Topic: Cloudy With A Chance Of Enlightenment
Replies: 6
Views: 726

Re: Cloudy With A Chance Of Enlightenment

Thank you for this. I am currently reading the 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑏ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑎, so this is a nice change. I noticed the phrase, my rigidity gone in the Buddha's first verse, and it struck me as fitting in with a certain slant one finds among some Western Buddhists, especially Mahayanists. I wonder what word that ...