Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
Nyana
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Nyana »

Sanghamitta wrote:Avalokiteshvara , Tara, Manjushri et al are borrowings from the Vedanta incorporated into the mahayana by a regrettable lapse into the pre Buddhist cosmology of the Indian Subcontinent.
So are you now suggesting that the meditative practice of the recollection of devas is a "regrettable lapse into the pre Buddhist cosmology of the Indian Subcontinent"?
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Sanghamitta »

It depends what you mean by meditative practices. If you mean reflecting the nature of Devas as described in the Canon...then no.
If you mean practices that start by initiation by a Guru figure into visualisation with concomitant "mantras" which somehow connect between the "Kayas".... in order to realise the essential emptiness of phenomena...then absolutely that is contamination from the Vedanta.
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

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Hanzze
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Hanzze »

Dear Friends,

there are no scared texts or any special hidden. Those ancient suttas cared by the Theravada are just empty. Empty of sectarian, empty of schools, empty of any "I" or "ours".
It is just as Buddha explained in the sutta of Alagaddupama Sutta (allready posted) It is a very important sutta to keep the original teaching alive as it should be. And also dear gavesako has already posted, that what should not be ignored.
It is very important to discover the ancient way of the 9th and 10th century, because they will provide a possible way for many layman today. "Original Theravada" is a way of ordination and keeping precepts very strict and not easy to make archive in this days.
There is no Mara outside of us. Aversion and adherence are the qualities of Mara.

Please let the dhamma empty, other wise it will be eaten by Mara. No need to combat. Please

_/\_
with loving kindness and joy
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Sanghamitta »

Hanzze I am a practitioner of Theravada Buddhism. Do not dismiss me or the Tradition that I am part of.
You are posting on a Theravadin Forum in subforum called Theravada for the Moden World.
in order to say that the Theravada does not exist
Apart from anything else its downright crassly offensive.
Last edited by Sanghamitta on Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

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Karma Dondrup Tashi
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Karma Dondrup Tashi »

Touchy, touchy.

I wonder if the Blessed One himself was this touchy.

:jumping:

:rofl:

:yingyang: :yingyang: :yingyang:
Last edited by Karma Dondrup Tashi on Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It has been the misfortune (not, as these gentlemen think it, the glory) of this age that everything is to be discussed. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France.
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Sanghamitta »

Karma Dondrup Tashi wrote:Touchy, touchy.

I wonder if the Blessed One himself was this touchy.

:jumping:

:rofl:

:yingyang: :yingyang: :yingyang:
No probably not touchy. I am not the Blessed One
I also think that he might have a few pithy words to anyone who told him that his teaching was identical to the Brahmins or fireworshipers and that he was being exclusivist and all he needed to do was chill out and realise that it was all the same really.. It isnt.
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

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m0rl0ck
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by m0rl0ck »

Karma Dondrup Tashi wrote:Touchy, touchy.

I wonder if the Blessed One himself was this touchy.

:jumping:

:rofl:

:yingyang: :yingyang: :yingyang:
Yeah its the followers that screw it up. I bet if you put shakya buddha, huang po, ajahn chah and the dalai lama in the same room they would get along famously and have much in common. Its only the followers who have to latch on to sectarian identity as some sort of badge of superiority. I bet that sort of view plays hell with your practice.
“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.” ― Robert M. Pirsig
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Hanzze
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Hanzze »

"Worthless man, from whom have you understood that Dhamma taught by me in such a way? Worthless man, haven't I in many ways described obstructive acts? And when indulged in they are genuine obstructions. I have said that sensual pleasures are of little satisfaction, much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks. I have compared sensual pleasures to a chain of bones: of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks. I have compared sensual pleasures to a lump of flesh... a grass torch... a pit of glowing embers... a dream... borrowed goods... the fruits of a tree... a butcher's ax and chopping block... swords and spears... a snake's head: of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks. But you, worthless man, through your own wrong grasp [of the Dhamma], have both misrepresented us as well as injuring yourself and accumulating much demerit for yourself, for that will lead to your long-term harm & suffering."[2]
Alagaddupama Sutta
Last edited by Hanzze on Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Sanghamitta »

I am not harmed Hannzze I am seriously offended by your words. Dont tell me not be offended. that would be even more offensive.
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Bhikku Bodhi.
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Hanzze
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Hanzze »

_/\_
Last edited by Hanzze on Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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bodom
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by bodom »

Karma Dondrup Tashi wrote:Touchy, touchy.

I wonder if the Blessed One himself was this touchy.
There are some people who tenaciously cling to this label and concept "Theravada" as some sort of ultimate truth. They are no better than Christian fundamentalists who believe there way is the one and only and everyone else is going to burn for eternity.

I would like a source from the canon where the Buddha explicitly states we should cling to this label and concept "Theravada"?

Where in the Four Nobel Truths, Dependent Origination, or any other teaching found in the canon for that matter, does the Buddha praise this sort of clinging to concepts?
"If you are a bodhisattva, you will suffer, if you are an arahant, you will suffer..if you are anything at all, you will suffer." - Ajahn Chah


:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Sanghamitta »

By "some people " you mean me Bodom... :lol: Its Ok I am a big girl I can take it...And I am glad to know where I stand in your eyes.
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Bhikku Bodhi.
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by Sanghamitta »

Sanghamitta wrote:By "some people " you mean me Bodom... :lol: Its Ok I am a big girl I can take it...And I am glad to know where I stand in your eyes.
Its preferable to the kind of passive aggression being spread around liberally.
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

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tiltbillings
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by tiltbillings »

What a pain in the ass.

The problem is not the Theravada, but it is the Mahayana and the assumption it has built into its very structure of holding itself as being superior and as being the arbiter of all things Buddhists. It has constructed the towering edifice of the bodhisattva path, an impossibly complex path, claiming of itself the greatest nobility and anything else is, compared to that, of a considerably lesser standing (to understate it). Whatever insights that various Mahayanists have brought forth over the ages, as they have confronted the human condition in terms of anicca, dukkha, anatta and paticcasamuppada, those insight get all too easily lost in the dualistic bodhisattva construct that really runs counter to the better impulses of the Buddha's teachings.

The Theravada does not need the Mahayana, but if one is so inclined there is no reason not to study whatever aspect of the Mahayana that might grab one's fancy. There are things to be found that really are quite interesting and useful, but I strongly reject any implication - directly or indirectly - that the Theravada must measure itself in Mahayana terms or against the Mahayana. And that is the problem with the Mahayana structure, it tends force that sort of comparison by its self proclaimed superiority.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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tiltbillings
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Re: Bodhisattva Path: Historical Aspects In Theravāda

Post by tiltbillings »

Moderator note: Play nice. No need for personal comments, direct or indirect.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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