Search found 5298 matches

by daverupa
Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:43 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: "Its like this"
Replies: 34
Views: 8997

Re: "Its like this"

Perhaps this refrain... I already addressed this above when I said "Maybe you mean that line 'free from desires & discontent'? Where does it support your claim that mindfulness alone accomplishes this?" But you didn't read this, or you chose not to answer the question. You simply quot...
by daverupa
Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:09 pm
Forum: Samatha Bhāvana
Topic: Can we keep "God" (Abrahamic religion) as the meditation object?
Replies: 60
Views: 13734

Re: Can we keep "God" (Abrahamic religion) as the meditation object?

I still find it unlikely that they could reach what the Buddha called jhana by pondering the notion of the jealous, genocidal, highly confusing character that the Abrahamic religions call "God." What do you think, mr billings? What's odd is that you are forcing this hypothetical divinity-...
by daverupa
Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:58 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Why smart people are better off with fewer friends
Replies: 20
Views: 3754

Re: Why smart people are better off with fewer friends

For a very large part of our evolutionary history we have lived in smallish, closely-related groups. It would be surprising if that hadn't shaped us to some extent. Of course. There's also the fact that resource scarcity brings people together in mutual support while resource excess leads to acquis...
by daverupa
Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:49 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Poll: Belief in rebirth
Replies: 143
Views: 34962

Re: Poll: Belief in rebirth

Lazy_eye wrote:Well, plausible answers to these questions have been provided by the natural and social sciences -- so it's not a situation where we have a big mystery that can only be explained by kamma.
This is also a component of my own "other" response.
by daverupa
Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:40 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: "Its like this"
Replies: 34
Views: 8997

Re: "Its like this"

Right mindfulness, as per the satipatthana sutta, includes putting aside unwholesome states of mind Nope. MN 10 doesn't have that, instead speaking of observation and acting with awareness. Maybe you mean that line 'free from desires & discontent'? Where does it support your claim that mindfuln...
by daverupa
Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:11 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Is the Dhamma purely utilitarian?
Replies: 16
Views: 3648

Re: Is the Dhamma purely utilitarian?

He taught the rewards of virtue, giving and practicing dhamma; which all account to friends, beauty, wealth and heaven. Hmm. Where's this said? Perhaps you think AN 4.197 ? It's a misunderstanding, if so; otherwise, let's have your source. (You seem to be blaming the Buddha for the pre-existing ign...
by daverupa
Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:35 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Is the Dhamma purely utilitarian?
Replies: 16
Views: 3648

Re: Is the Dhamma purely utilitarian?

I think the Buddha very much did reveal the path to wealth, success, friendship and beauty in the dhamma only to then reveal the evil inherent therein. This doesn't make sense to me; where did the Buddha promise friendship and wealth and beauty? He described the attraction, drawback, and escape in ...
by daverupa
Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:33 pm
Forum: Suggestion box
Topic: Darken Signature Border For Alternating Post Colours
Replies: 15
Views: 4113

Re: Darken Signature Border For Alternating Post Colours

I'm something of a computer idiot, so it's above my pay grade. This was just a bit of duct tape, as it were, to see if it could help for now.
by daverupa
Sat Apr 23, 2016 5:25 pm
Forum: Suggestion box
Topic: Darken Signature Border For Alternating Post Colours
Replies: 15
Views: 4113

Re: Darken Signature Border For Alternating Post Colours

I notice you added your own line; sufficient fix, do you think?

Instead of _, one could also use ▒ or ─ or ▬ or something.

Maybe I'll edit my own sig, see how it looks... yeah, not too bad with that wee bullet there.
by daverupa
Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:34 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: What music are you listening to right now?
Replies: 2175
Views: 525279

Re: What music are you listening to right now?

http://www.di.fm/

| downtempo lounge
+
| chill & tropical house
by daverupa
Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:24 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: What music are you listening to right now?
Replies: 2175
Views: 525279

Re: What music are you listening to right now?

phpBB [video]


Robert DeLong - Long Way Down
by daverupa
Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:10 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Poll: Belief in rebirth
Replies: 143
Views: 34962

Re: Poll: Belief in rebirth

Well, SN 12.70 suggests that even with an understanding of DO, there's no personal confirmation of past lives or divine realms, only of dukkha-nirodha. This is a case of conviction, it seems to me; not even an arahant's attainment necessarily delivers knowledge of post-death states or past lives at ...
by daverupa
Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:22 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Why smart people are better off with fewer friends
Replies: 20
Views: 3754

Re: Why smart people are better off with fewer friends

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26847844 We propose the savanna theory of happiness, which suggests that it is not only the current consequences of a given situation but also its ancestral consequences that affect individuals' life satisfaction and explains why such influences of ancestral conse...
by daverupa
Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:58 pm
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Buddhist Morality
Replies: 18
Views: 6046

Re: Buddhist Morality

Well, I can understand the devotional motive of "officially" going for refuge & taking five precepts (perhaps via chanting) in front of monastics, but it sounds like magic rituals, doesn't it, when the ritual itself is seen as cleansing something? Maybe I'm just misreading things, but ...
by daverupa
Thu Apr 21, 2016 3:42 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: "Its like this"
Replies: 34
Views: 8997

Re: "Its like this"

I'll try to correct anything that I think contradicts the Buddha's teachings and that masquerades as wisdom wherever it rears its head, not where you tell me to. It's no contradiction; effort is one thing, mindfulness another. This mindfulness is only observation, while it's the goal of effort to a...