Search found 1048 matches

by reflection
Sat Oct 26, 2013 7:02 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

I think a difficulty also arises when we think dying is so much more suffering than living, so if we die non-naturally (eg. murder, accident) we must have somehow deserved it by kamma. But the difference ain't that big. One could also easily be reborn without having gone backwards, so kamma vipaka i...
by reflection
Sat Oct 26, 2013 7:23 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Are Theravadins Simpler ?
Replies: 125
Views: 25273

Re: Are Theravadins Simpler ?

Achaan Chah says he does not dream any more. He sleeps only a few hours a night, upstairs in a small one-room cottage. Underneath this cottage, which is on wooden pillars in Thai fashion, is an open floor where he receives visitors. Often these visitors bring him gifts, not just food or robes but a...
by reflection
Fri Oct 25, 2013 4:53 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: We can't all ordain...right?
Replies: 33
Views: 8466

Re: We can't all ordain...right?

I don't know about breaking with Theravada, but it would break the monastic code on various grounds. But I don't see what is limiting about dependency on the lay people. It is good because it forces connection with the outside world, not turning into some insiders-only club.
by reflection
Fri Oct 25, 2013 7:53 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Are Theravadins Simpler ?
Replies: 125
Views: 25273

Re: Are Theravadins Simpler ?

Theravada is not one big group of people that all act the same. It is cluttered up and the boundaries are unclear. Some monks/nuns live a very renunciate life somewhere hidden in the forests, with only a bowl and robes. Others live a more westernized life, use money, things like that. But to me Budd...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:23 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

Thanks robertk and mikenz66 But don't all these discussions come about because we want to get away from a world that feels random and create some order (through ideas). So I'm not sure if accepting randomness is really appealing to many (although yes it does get offered as an option). I don't think...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:18 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

hmm maybe i was obtuse earlier reflectin: A stone falling down a hill is supposedly due to kamma The texts never suggest that a stone falling down a hill is due to kamma. maybe you could quote something so we have an idea of where you get that idea from.. I'm not saying the texts say that. It's an ...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:08 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

Hi Mr Man, But how does this relate to the idea that "randomness appeals"? http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=18948&start=40#p265757 ... Aside from being born leading to death I don't think there always has to be any further reason for a particular death. The "univer...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:55 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

The Sammohavinodani, chapter on Paticcasamuppada (PTS)p181 , refers to this sutta and notes that there is no single fruit from a single cause: "for here there is no single nor multiple fruit of any kind from a single cause, nor is there a single fruit from multiple causes, but only multiple fr...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:29 pm
Forum: Ordination and Monastic Life
Topic: any retreat by ajahn brahm in thailand?
Replies: 10
Views: 3675

Re: any retreat by ajahn brahm in thailand?

oh well ! so ajahn brahm, wont be teaching retreats there. well any other good teachers holding retreats there. any recommendations for meditation retreats then, by a good teacher you know of? maybe somewhere in malaysia or thailand. I live in India, so these are the places where travelling wont co...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:26 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

robertk wrote:there is no where , anywhere where it is said that someones past kamma caused the throwing of stones by someone else.
Sorry, I think I don't understand your point.
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:20 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

why does the idea of randomness appeal to so many people? this is an old post from the thread I referenced. Mikenz66 wrote: Dear Ven Dhammanando, But what about the statement in the Angulimala Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.086.than.html Then Ven. Angulimala, early in the morni...
by reflection
Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:42 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Do people who get murdered deserve it?
Replies: 110
Views: 14614

Re: Do people who get murdered deserve it?

I think it's thinking too mechanical that all things that happen are kamma related; that being murdered must be due to your kamma. It has to do with the kamma of the murderer, not always your own - not in these random shootout things anyway. That's more like sitting in the wrong plane that happens t...
by reflection
Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:38 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: We can't all ordain...right?
Replies: 33
Views: 8466

Re: We can't all ordain...right?

Why is a hypothetical situation that will never happen worth thinking about? "A thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment (from German) considers some hypothesis, theory or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. Given the structure of the experiment, it may or may not b...
by reflection
Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:30 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Awareness in the Theravāda
Replies: 27
Views: 6975

Re: Awareness in the Theravāda

Hi, I don't think there is one such thing as "the Theravada". Different teachers have different views and share them in different ways. So I think it is best for us to take the views of each teacher as only the views of that teacher. It's up to us to distill what teachings we think are rig...
by reflection
Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:08 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: We can't all ordain...right?
Replies: 33
Views: 8466

Re: We can't all ordain...right?

Why is a hypothetical situation that will never happen worth thinking about?