binocular wrote: ↑Sat Aug 18, 2018 2:47 pm
markandeya wrote: ↑Sat Aug 18, 2018 10:46 am
binocular wrote: ↑Sat Aug 18, 2018 10:14 am
Possibly because there are aspects of Right View that have to be understood by implication, not to be put into words. Easterners have the advantage of the home turf in that regard.
I agree, ultimately the whole system of eightfold path has to work equally together, and grow like limbs, if one is isolated from the other the whole things goes out of shape and the process just wont work or it will stagnate, like what is happening in Western Sanghas.
Although the lists are there from 1 to 8 and samma dhitti will always be the starting point, due to the way most people in the west are educated , religious conditioning and constantly stuck on sexual psychology are the pivoting points of the hindrances to Buddha Dharma it becomes quite difficult to gain any real steadiness in Samma Dhitti. Western TheravAda is way to stuck in the physical and has become blind to the esoteric and more subtle wisdom teachings, what can be the outcome of blind leading the blind.
I don't see that as being the issue.
The issue, rather, is that Westerners tend to approach religion/spirituality in a naive, secular way, thinking they can really know things for themselves, from scratch, not having to take anything for granted.
"Is what the Buddha taught really true?" -- I doubt any Easterner would ever ask themselves this question. On the other hand, for many Westerners, it seems to be central and informs their whole approach to religion/spirituality.
I dont see how we are saying anything different.
To get back more to the point and what I and others have found beneficial is to take teachings from the most healthy sources. At the time of the Buddha and in many places within all of parts of Asia there would have been good and bad patches, thats just part of human life.
Ajhan Chah in his teachings was very critical of the current practices of Thailand, so it becomes more about taking the best parts and learning to apply them. Western TheravAda and in the east is stuck in institutional regulations, and this seems to be a hindrance, but somehow I am looking to find a middle ground, where tradition is preserved but not set in stone and Buddhism is progressive and contemporary while not dissociating itself from the past.
Obviously sectarianism is something that is made up or cashed in on in unbalanced proportions by imperialist monotheistic materialists with agenda's, but if one can see past that there is a wide range of beneficial practices and studies that can compliment ones own chosen practices. Like as someone mentioned monks or nuns or lay practitioners having courses in psychotherapy. it may not be advised by the hierarchy, but they would use a doctor for a health condition Learning more about diet and nutrition that have been used in the past as aids for health and well being for the meditater. More investigation into chi and prana and understanding the vital forces, studying sutta in the traditional way , rather than monotonous repetition. These are just some of the things that can be implemented, not just for ordained but for lay people.
This is the section for wellness, diets and fitness. So if the ordained and lay people are depressed mostly, which may have some causes within the practice of TheravAda then they need to be addressed individually or as a whole.