Piya Tan

Textual analysis and comparative discussion on early Buddhist sects and scriptures.
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 17192
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:15 am
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Piya Tan

Post by DNS »

Piya Tan is a former Theravada monk (of 20 years) and continues to write on the Dhamma. He has some very good articles. His most recent one:

R541 Revisioning Buddhism 202
http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-con ... -RB202.pdf

Beginning excerpt:
Buddhist agnosticism

After nearly 50 years of seeking and studying religion and ending up choosing to practise Buddhism, I have given up all forms of Buddhism except early Buddhism, with which I have been Iiving for nearly 2 decades now. Why stand in the shadows of foreign cultures and exotic cults when we can bask in the bright healthy sunshine of early Buddhism?

As I study more of the early Buddhist texts more closely—translating and analyzing them, and writing modern commentaries on them—I find that I am beginning to know less and less, but understanding ever better. It’s like learning a language. At first you read the primer, then the grammars, conversations, essays and debates. But when you have mastered the language, you simply enjoying communicating with people, or delving into the wealth of its literature, drama and meditations. You begin to love the culture and the people. So, it is for me with the Buddha Dhamma.
User1249x
Posts: 2749
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:50 pm

Re: Piya Tan

Post by User1249x »

I think he is onto something essential to human condition and understanding the Dhamma.

I used to listen to a lot of talks by Jacque Fresco in my studies of communication and he used to talk quite a lot about how people seek to participate in conversations in which they are not qualified to participate in, instead of being aware of their own short comings and gathering more accurate information before making any decisions or statements they engage in meaningless discussion and project their views as reality.

It is somewhat like people not hestitating to talk about high Dhamma teachings as if they were experts but when posed with a real psychological problem in real life then all of a sudden they do not know much about the human condition afterall and seek out a "professional".

Here a short one by JF;
Last edited by User1249x on Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
retrofuturist
Posts: 27848
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:52 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Piya Tan

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Nice. I appreciate his sentiment.

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
SarathW
Posts: 21242
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:49 am

Re: Piya Tan

Post by SarathW »

Oh yes, I can speak volumes,write volumes about it; and I have. But I still have to awaken to what the Buddha and the arhats
have awakened to. Of this I am more certain than ever before.
Well, I can relate to this.
I have post 8000 questions and answers in this forum, But I still wonder what I write.
But I am more certain than ever before about the awakening.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
paul
Posts: 1512
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 11:27 pm
Location: Cambodia

Re: Piya Tan

Post by paul »

Are there any examples of monks returning to lay life from the Pali Canon?
santa100
Posts: 6815
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:55 pm

Re: Piya Tan

Post by santa100 »

AN 6.60 tells the story of Ven. Citta who left the order but then returned and became an arahant.
paul
Posts: 1512
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 11:27 pm
Location: Cambodia

Re: Piya Tan

Post by paul »

User avatar
Dhammarakkhito
Posts: 1115
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:31 am
Contact:

Re: Piya Tan

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

this is (imo) too sectarian. i rely on the early buddhist texts and view them as verifiably authentic, unlike later additions, but just because something was added later doesn't mean it's not dhamma. compare it to the early teachings, analyze it for leading to dispassion. my local temple is theravāda and to them early buddhism might seem foreign. i'm still going there to give alms. if my temple were lotus sutra i might still give alms, if there were validly ordained monks
i believe the buddha's dispensation is good enough that even apocryphal traditions contain purity of essence.
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

https://www.facebook.com/noblebuddhadha ... 34/?type=3

http://seeingthroughthenet.net/
https://sites.google.com/site/santipada ... allytaught
sentinel
Posts: 3236
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:26 pm

Re: Piya Tan

Post by sentinel »

Dhammarakkhito wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:56 pm this is (imo) too sectarian. i rely on the early buddhist texts and view them as verifiably authentic, unlike later additions, but just because something was added later doesn't mean it's not dhamma. compare it to the early teachings, analyze it for leading to dispassion. my local temple is theravāda and to them early buddhism might seem foreign. i'm still going there to give alms. if my temple were lotus sutra i might still give alms, if there were validly ordained monks
i believe the buddha's dispensation is good enough that even apocryphal traditions contain purity of essence.
How do you know if there were validly ordained monks or not ?
Last edited by sentinel on Tue Mar 06, 2018 1:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Kumara
Posts: 995
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:14 am
Contact:

Re: Piya Tan

Post by Kumara »

paul wrote: Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:34 pm Are there any examples of monks returning to lay life from the Pali Canon?
Sure. Can't recall where in the Canon though. It has some lay people saying that they've disrobed not because the Buddha'a teaching is no good, but they are just not up to the training, or something like that.
Planetary
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:41 am

Re: Piya Tan

Post by Planetary »

That link doesn't work for me. I even Googled "R541 Revisioning Buddhism 202", and when I clicked the direct link for that dhammafarer site, it still took me to the same page saying the site couldn't find the content I was looking for.

Is it possible to paste the full text of the article here? Or is it too long?
User avatar
Virgo
Posts: 1546
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:52 pm
Location: United States

Re: Piya Tan

Post by Virgo »

Planetary wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:31 pm Is it possible to paste the full text of the article here? Or is it too long?
I kind find it either. It is possible they moved it.

Kevin
Planetary
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:41 am

Re: Piya Tan

Post by Planetary »

EDIT:

I contacted their email, they are having issues with the website.
Last edited by Planetary on Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
thomaslaw
Posts: 812
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:55 am
Location: Australia

Re: Piya Tan

Post by thomaslaw »

Thanks for the website information about the Dhamma works by Piya Tan. He certainly has done a very good job for those who want to know about Buddhism and spiritual happiness. But it seems that he uses and claims to be studying Early Buddhism is actually investigating Pali Buddhism.

Thomas
alan
Posts: 3111
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:14 am
Location: Miramar beach, Fl.

Re: Piya Tan

Post by alan »

Weird old dude makes no sense.
Post Reply