Search found 4527 matches
- Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:37 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: respecting sangha
- Replies: 4
- Views: 80
Re: respecting sangha
does anybody else have trouble paying respect sufficiently to sangha. Absolutely. For me, the biggest issue is that monks can sometimes be too friendly to lays, or appear too lay-like. For example, when they make references to secular literature and films, music videos, especially when they do so i...
- Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:10 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Does Buddhism needs marketing ?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 355
Re: Does Buddhism needs marketing ?
Perhaps, "promoting strategy" to make it easier to understand and applying in daily life ? Then the advertisement should go something like this, in order to be honest: Buddhism in the West: How to lose friends and alienate people Become that nice enough weirdo that people at first believe to be a h...
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:02 pm
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: Post your original poetry here!
- Replies: 105
- Views: 13614
Re: Post your original poetry here!
From there:Subharo wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:21 amThere's a thread over at discourse.suttacentral, where you can post a haiku about your biggest pet peeve about Buddhism.
The temple is clean.
The practitioners, astute.
Look! A “cyber sage” .
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 1:54 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Does Buddhism needs marketing ?
- Replies: 43
- Views: 355
Re: Does Buddhism needs marketing ?
To market Buddhism would be to present Buddhism as something to be consumed.
Yet Buddhism is not something to be consumed; even though many people remain on the level of merely consuming it.
Yet Buddhism is not something to be consumed; even though many people remain on the level of merely consuming it.
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:05 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Why is brahma vihara is important in Buddhism ?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 114
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:52 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Could sensual happiness be worked with?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 192
Re: Could sensual happiness be worked with?
So sensual happiness is worthless for generating wealth and health and stopping wars? I don't understand the question. I'm wondering if, rather than writing off sensual happiness as irredeemably impermanent and stressful It's not about "writing off sensual happiness as irredeemably impermanent and ...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:47 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: What makes a sutta fake/genuine?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 204
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:36 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 773
Re: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
My point is that animals might well be reborn despite having no conception of themselves, so in general terms a lack of "belief in rebirth" is no bar to that rebirth. Like I said earlier: If not conceiving of oneself is arrived at through the right practice (as opposed to being an infant (who also ...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:33 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Why is brahma vihara is important in Buddhism ?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 114
Re: Why is brahma vihara is important in Buddhism ?
Do you think in reality being kind to others but the other party treat us as fool and hostile , how is it possible to reduce our suffering or even helps reducing their suffering ? There are four brahmaviharas, not just one. Equanimity, a reflection on kamma, is what helps one to keep a distance to ...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:29 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Could sensual happiness be worked with?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 192
Re: Could sensual happiness be worked with?
I'm wondering if, rather than writing off sensual happiness as irredeemably impermanent and stressful and focusing only on the breath, could it be worked with through human effort toward skillful thoughts, words and actions that shape a better and better sensual reality until ultimately there is no...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:57 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Why is brahma vihara is important in Buddhism ?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 114
Re: Why is brahma vihara is important in Buddhism ?
I think practicing the brahmaviharas helps one to relate to others in a wholesome manner, so that one can significantly reduce the suffering due to unwholesome interactions with others. For many people, the suffering that is due to unwholesome interactions with others is a major part of their suffer...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:51 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 773
Re: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
I don't know whether animals conceive of themselves, so the point is moot. (Although my intuition is to think that they do conceive of themselves.)
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:49 am
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: Why are you practising Buddhism?
- Replies: 26
- Views: 398
Re: Why are you practising Buddhism?
Sorry, I meant they are easier to do, they require little to no effort, I don't find that to be the case at all. It's because it takes me so much effort to do worldly activities that I started wondering whether they're worth it. but like you said they can never satisfy, and now, unlike before, i kn...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:36 am
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: The conspiracy to end all conspiracies
- Replies: 1
- Views: 79
Re: The conspiracy to end all conspiracies
Quoting Fox Mulder from memory: People will sooner believe in aliens rather than consider the possibility that their own government is abusing them.
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:31 am
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: Buddhism and alcohol
- Replies: 214
- Views: 7302
Re: Buddhism and alcohol
Doctor was right, he said that stress of this job is beyond my tolerance level. This cannot be levelled out with medicines. Interesting though, I only crave when I do this job. It's not for a recovering alcoholic, it's not for me. Edit I call this job a meat grinder, I always forget about dhamma an...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:52 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Children and parents
- Replies: 11
- Views: 149
Re: Children and parents
It's possible, of course, but there are many accounts in the suttas of parents loving their children and grieving deeply over their loss. One can grieve the loss of one's child for a number of reasons. "Parental love" seems to be a concept that has culturally specific meanings. I prefer to think th...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:46 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 773
Re: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
rebirth takes place depending on how this _you_ is conceived of. If no _you_ is conceived, there is no rebirth. I'm not sure what you mean here; whether the "conceiving" here is by the being that is subject to rebirth; or by us, as onlookers and speculators who conceive what a being must have in or...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:23 pm
- Forum: Lounge
- Topic: Why are you practising Buddhism?
- Replies: 26
- Views: 398
Re: Why are you practising Buddhism?
In my experience doing non Buddhist stuff is a hell of a lot easier, and what got me in a mess in the first place! I've never been able to convince myself that the proverbial eating, drinking, and making merry is the way to go. I've tried very hard to convince myself that it is, but to no avail. It...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:56 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 773
Re: If _you_ don't believe in rebirth, can _you_ be reborn?
I do not understand your explanation, however. Why a skeptic would be convinced that "if one acted honestly, in good faith, and as one sees fit, this would _necessarily_ lead to suffering for at least oneself"?. A person of bad faith is convinced of that. Mere skepticism carries no emotional or mor...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:45 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Children and parents
- Replies: 11
- Views: 149
Re: Children and parents
But you do raise an interesting point as to why duties to one's parents are more important or more often cited. My guess is that it reflects cultural differences, and the need to reinforce ties to clan and family; whereas love for one's children might have been taken for granted as natural or inevi...