Search found 18 matches

by Dharmajim
Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:19 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: 10-Fold Path
Replies: 3
Views: 1861

10-Fold Path

Good Friends: A friend of mine came across a reference to a "10-fold" path, with two additional aspects past the 8-fold path. These two additional aspects were referred to as "transmundane". I told my friend that I believe this appears in the Numerical Discourses; but I'm not sur...
by Dharmajim
Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:09 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Non-duality AND Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism
Replies: 184
Views: 43518

Re: Non-duality

Dear Abu: Thank you for your thoughtful comments. For the most part, I agree. I'm not against a non-dual view if it assists people. By 'assists people' I mean if it helps them to be more kind, to be less self-centered. My observation is that in some cases it accomplishes that. My quarrel with non-du...
by Dharmajim
Sun Apr 26, 2009 4:09 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Non-duality AND Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism
Replies: 184
Views: 43518

Re: Non-duality

Good Friends: Mother Teresa has come up twice on this thread as an examplar of non-dualism. The view is that she saw God in all beings and because of this Mother Teresa is an example of a Christian non-dualist. I disagree with this conclusion and in the interest of possibly furthering the discussion...
by Dharmajim
Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:50 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Non-duality AND Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism
Replies: 184
Views: 43518

Re: Non-duality

Greetings Christopher: The kind of quotes you offered on non-duality illustrate what strike me as some of the shortcomings of that approach, particularly as it is offered in the west. The idea that the "only" obstacle to "freedom", which I take to be a stand-in for "awakenin...
by Dharmajim
Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:27 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Non-duality AND Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism
Replies: 184
Views: 43518

Re: Non-duality

Tilt: I'm glad you started a thread on non-duality. For the past nine years I've lead a group that studies the Buddhist Discourses. Recently some participants brought up the non-dual view in a way that implied that Buddhism shared that perspective, as if everyone knows that to be the case. After thi...
by Dharmajim
Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:42 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: A Sutta Reference Question
Replies: 4
Views: 2188

Re: A Sutta Reference Question

That was fast, and informative. No wonder I couldn't find the reference. Here's a followup that's a little obscure; does anyone know if the Four Sights are explicitly mentioned in the Sarvastivada Canon as it survives in Chinese translation? Thanks again for your attention, Jim P.S. The story of the...
by Dharmajim
Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:39 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: A Sutta Reference Question
Replies: 4
Views: 2188

A Sutta Reference Question

Good Friends: A friend of mine asked me the Pali source for the tradition of the Buddha having four encounters (a sick man, an old man, a funeral, and an ascetic). At first I thought it was the Airyapariyesana Sutta, MN 26, but that's not it. I'm fairly certain it's in the Jataka-Nidana, but she wan...
by Dharmajim
Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:24 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Landmark Translation Conference at Deer Park
Replies: 17
Views: 4581

Re: Landmark Translation Conference at Deer Park

Good Friends: I want to add several considerations. First, there is the Numata Center BDK English Tripitika translation project the purpose of which is to tranlsate the entire Chinese Canon into English. This has been in progress for a few decades, I think. There is a lot of excellent Mahayana mater...
by Dharmajim
Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:20 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Nagarjuna and Theravada
Replies: 29
Views: 11659

Re: Nagarjuna and Theravada

Individual: I agree that it's possible to use Nagarjuna to assist one's understanding. Kalupahana seems to have been able to do this. But as Tilt pointed out, the madhyamika tradition (though perhaps not Nagarjuna himself) makes much larger claims as to the importance of their analysis. They do not ...
by Dharmajim
Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:09 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Nagarjuna and Theravada
Replies: 29
Views: 11659

Re: Nagarjuna and Theravada

Hi Tilt: I find the point you made one of the most disturbing of the madhyamika tradition. Chandrakirti explicitly says you have to be a madhyamikan to have full enlightenment. In order for that to be the case one would have to establish a causal connection between awakening and learning a system of...
by Dharmajim
Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:56 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Nagarjuna and Theravada
Replies: 29
Views: 11659

Re: Nagarjuna and Theravada

A few comments regarding Nagarjuna: First, Theravada does not need Nagarjuna. I would argue that no one does, meaning that no Buddhist tradition needs his analyses in order to practice, follow the path, attain realization. In other words, I don't think Nagarjuna is particularly insightful nor do I t...
by Dharmajim
Sun Feb 01, 2009 1:28 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: E-Sangha
Replies: 79
Views: 24997

Re: E-Sangha

There is an aspect to the history of e-sangha that I think should be taken into account. Many of the initial participants at e-sangha had bitter experience with previous online inter-Buddhist forums. I am thinking particularly of Tricycle, which used to operate an online forum that in some ways was ...
by Dharmajim
Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:28 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: Zen Forum International: Coming soon!
Replies: 48
Views: 22708

Re: Zen Forum International: Coming soon!

This is really great news. The Zen tradition has long needed a place for interaction on the web that respects its own view and history. I also want to give a nod to the people here at Dhamma Wheel for helping to assist in this endeavor; that's a wonderful example of constructive interaction of tradi...
by Dharmajim
Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:34 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Theravadins' thoughts on the origin of the Mahayana sutras?
Replies: 31
Views: 9808

Re: Theravadins' thoughts on the origin of the Mahayana sutras?

Good Friends: The subject of non-Nikaya/Agama Discourses is very complex. First, I think it is a mistake to view them as a unified corpus. It seems that they were written over a long period of time, among various groups, with divergent purposes. Some of them, such as the Diamond Sutra, appear to be ...
by Dharmajim
Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:59 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: Tiltbillings - Global Moderator
Replies: 17
Views: 8510

Re: Tiltbillings - Global Moderator

Congratulations both to Tilt and to the Forum in general.

Jim