Saengnapha wrote: ↑Sat May 26, 2018 11:19 am
Those disciples don't prove anything. Because you are more convinced by them than I, is nothing to base your logic on. I am not here to convince you. The flotsam and jetsam I am referring to is all arisings, not just religious stuff. I don't discriminate between jetsams.
Indeed. I'm not using any logic at all, other than to point out that what you say of Theravada is equally applicable to what you yourself claim. I have done that consistently with regard to your posts, and you tend to break off contact when the challenges to prove the difference become more direct.
You may not be here to convince me or anyone else, but some of your posts do come across as an attempt to prove that some practices and attitudes common in Theravada are not as useful as people think; that you have somehow "seen through them", or know of a better way. For example, to claim that "all arisings" are mere "jetsam and flotsam" is not value neutral.
noun: flotsam
the wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on or washed up by the sea.
synonyms: wreckage, lost cargo, floating remains
"we were still finding interesting pieces of flotsam on the beach"
people or things that have been rejected or discarded as worthless.
"the room was cleared of boxes and other flotsam"
synonyms: rubbish, debris, detritus, waste, waste matter, discarded matter, dross, refuse, remains, scrap, lumber, odds and ends;
To apply this term to "all arisings" means that it also applies to the Buddha's claim that
Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress'
This looks like a claim that what arose for the Buddha is to be rejected or discarded as worthless. Elsewhere, you have also,
inter alia, claimed that "Buddhism is a dead thing"; that "too much is made of ...meditation retreats"; "It is not done step-by-step as religions would have you believe". Now, as you are not trying to convince anyone of anything, I'm sure you won't mind if I clarify this point by pointing out that whatever
apparent criticisms you make of Theravadan Buddhism (long list of your posts available on request!) also applies to your own viewpoint.
Not that you would really be making any criticisms, of course. But if you post things which might be construed as criticisms, I'm sure you won't mind me pointing out the logical errors in such construals.