Language patterns of puthujjana

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paul
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Language patterns of puthujjana

Post by paul »

The Buddha often draws a distinction between the ordinary run- of- the- mill person and those who are on their way to ariyan realisation. In everyday life the patterns of speech of the puthujjana reveal their allegiance to the cycles of samsara. The informal term “kids” for example links children with young goats, which is its secondary meaning. Animals are of course from a lower realm, and use of the term reinforces the idea that offspring and by extension, intercourse are normal everyday affairs, bolstering the security of the puthujjana, because for those who live in ignorance there is always an underlying anxiety due to the unrecognised presence of the universal law of dhamma. In contrast those on the ariyan path recognize the cycles of samsara as the path followed by the common herd:

“I practice the chaste life, the life apart, abstaining from intercourse, the act of villagers”
—-Gavesin sutta, AN 5:180.
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Sam Vara
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Re: Language patterns of puthujjana

Post by Sam Vara »

paul wrote: Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:11 pm In everyday life the patterns of speech of the puthujjana reveal their allegiance to the cycles of samsara.
Do they?
The informal term “kids” for example links children with young goats, which is its secondary meaning.
No, that's its etymology, which is something else altogether. The term might come from young goats originally, but it might well be used by a person who didn't even know what it meant; especially if they came to English as a second language. To them, "kids" might be an informal term for children, with no connotations regarding the animal realm.
Animals are of course from a lower realm, and use of the term reinforces the idea that offspring and by extension, intercourse are normal everyday affairs, bolstering the security of the puthujjana, because for those who live in ignorance there is always an underlying anxiety due to the unrecognised presence of the universal law of dhamma.
Evidence for this would be nice, in particular as it raises questions over the compilers of the suttas using animal terms as praise.
Before, when I was a householder, maintaining the bliss of kingship, I had guards posted within and without the royal apartments, within and without the city, within and without the countryside. But even though I was thus guarded, thus protected, I dwelled in fear — agitated, distrustful, and afraid. But now, on going alone to a forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty dwelling, I dwell without fear, unagitated, confident, and unafraid — unconcerned, unruffled, my wants satisfied, with my mind like a wild deer.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dha ... index.html
This unites mind with mind,
The perfected one and the bull elephant
With tusks as long as chariot-poles:
That each delights in being alone in the forest.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .irel.html

There are also references to thoroughbred horses, etc.
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JamesTheGiant
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Re: Language patterns of puthujjana

Post by JamesTheGiant »

So, if we use the word "children" instead of "kids", that will make us somehow more holy, less rooted in the puthujjana way of life?
...idea that offspring and by extension, intercourse are normal everyday affairs
They are normal and everyday affairs. The world population is more than 7 billion, the number of celibate buddhists is probably not more than a million, which is a ratio of One to Seven Thousand. 1:7000
That makes puthujjana life "normal" and ariyan life wildly abberant.
User1249x
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Re: Language patterns of puthujjana

Post by User1249x »

paul wrote: Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:11 pm
Friend please provide Sutta support for the use of the term kids being a mark of putthujana. Is the term offspring also a mark of the putthujana?
The term offspring is often found in the english translations of the Sutta and it's "secondary meaning" according to google definitions is also that of an animal's young.
Jeremy
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Re: Language patterns of puthujjana

Post by Jeremy »

I would think that ignorance of vocabulary does not mean one is ignorant of Dhamma. Perhaps a Pacceka Buddha would be an example: "He has, however, not the capacity to proclaim the Teaching effectively to others, and therefore does not become a 'Teacher of Gods and Men', a Perfect or Universal Buddha sammā-sambuddha." https://dhammawiki.com/index.php/Pacceka-buddha
Vocabulary though is probably not the only reason. Lack of interest may be the main reason, I'm guessing.
rolling_boulder
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Re: Language patterns of puthujjana

Post by rolling_boulder »

paul wrote: Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:11 pm The informal term “kids” for example links children with young goats, which is its secondary meaning.
:jumping:
The world is swept away. It does not endure...
The world is without shelter, without protector...
The world is without ownership. One has to pass on, leaving everything behind...
The world is insufficient, insatiable, a slave to craving.
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