Bronkhorst: Greater Magadha, & Buddhist Teaching in India

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tiltbillings
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Re: Bronkhorst: Greater Magadha, & Buddhist Teaching in India

Post by tiltbillings »

Paññāsikhara wrote:
Tilt wrote:Bronkhorst: "We, cautiously, opt for the general principle that the teaching that the acient discourses ascribe to the buddha can indeed be ascribed to him, pages 7-8 BUDDHIST TEACHING IN INDIA.


He tends to be quite skeptical, he is certainly not in the "true believer" category at all! And, as Sean says, sees much influence here and there. So, I find it interesting that somebody who is that skeptical, still holds that ("cautiously") their was a person called the Buddha, and those ancient discourses are pretty much what he taught.
That seems to be increasingly the way of things in the scholarship among buddhologists.
Like a lot of things, but I still think that having a second (or third, fourth, etc.) opinion from somebody who knows what they are talking about, is always helpful. I though that Bronkhorst's book was also quite well organized, too.
Agreed.
As Norman said: "What hasn't been done, should be done, and what has been done, should be done again." (quote from memory, but should be pretty darn close).
So it should be with translations as well.
>> 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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BlackBird
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Re: Bronkhorst: Greater Magadha, & Buddhist Teaching in India

Post by BlackBird »

Tilt wrote:That seems to be increasingly the way of things in the scholarship among buddhologists.
Just waiting for the opportune time to break out with a turkey reference too I assume? :tongue:

metta
Jack
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

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tiltbillings
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Re: Bronkhorst: Greater Magadha, & Buddhist Teaching in India

Post by tiltbillings »

BlackBird wrote:
Tilt wrote:That seems to be increasingly the way of things in the scholarship among buddhologists.
Just waiting for the opportune time to break out with a turkey reference too I assume?

metta
Jack
Where I live as I look out my bathroom window I can often see wild turkeys, which I'd rather not have for dinner.

As for up to one's arm pit in turkeys, we will have to wait till after the 4th of Jan to see if that opportunity arises. In the meantime, I shall continue look at Bronkhorst's book. Might even read some of it.
>> 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
seanpdx
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Re: Bronkhorst: Greater Magadha, & Buddhist Teaching in India

Post by seanpdx »

tiltbillings wrote:
Paññāsikhara wrote:Like a lot of things, but I still think that having a second (or third, fourth, etc.) opinion from somebody who knows what they are talking about, is always helpful. I though that Bronkhorst's book was also quite well organized, too.

As Norman said: "What hasn't been done, should be done, and what has been done, should be done again." (quote from memory, but should be pretty darn close).
So it should be with translations as well.
Funny that you two should mention this. I was just re-reading Norman, so I know exactly where I can find said quote. =)
K.R.Norman, A Philological Approach To Buddhism, p2 wrote: I am confronted with this tendency all the time. Prospective research students visit me or write to me and ask what they can do for their doctoral thesis in the field of Pali studies. I say: "What has not been done needs to be done, and what has been done needs to be done again". Of these the second is the more important, because, by and large, the most important Pali texts were published first, when little was known about the Pali language -- there were only inadequate dictionaries and grammars, and only a few manuscripts had come to Europe.
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Re: Bronkhorst: Greater Magadha, & Buddhist Teaching in India

Post by Paññāsikhara »

seanpdx wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:
Paññāsikhara wrote:Like a lot of things, but I still think that having a second (or third, fourth, etc.) opinion from somebody who knows what they are talking about, is always helpful. I though that Bronkhorst's book was also quite well organized, too.

As Norman said: "What hasn't been done, should be done, and what has been done, should be done again." (quote from memory, but should be pretty darn close).
So it should be with translations as well.
Funny that you two should mention this. I was just re-reading Norman, so I know exactly where I can find said quote. =)
K.R.Norman, A Philological Approach To Buddhism, p2 wrote: I am confronted with this tendency all the time. Prospective research students visit me or write to me and ask what they can do for their doctoral thesis in the field of Pali studies. I say: "What has not been done needs to be done, and what has been done needs to be done again". Of these the second is the more important, because, by and large, the most important Pali texts were published first, when little was known about the Pali language -- there were only inadequate dictionaries and grammars, and only a few manuscripts had come to Europe.
haha! Thanks for that!
My memory is not bad, I just made "needs" into "should".
My recently moved Blog, containing some of my writings on the Buddha Dhamma, as well as a number of translations from classical Buddhist texts and modern authors, liturgy, etc.: Huifeng's Prajnacara Blog.
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