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'One-Liners'  Inspirational Quotes

 

The static format of this forum was conceived as an on-line journal, seeking submissions with substantial content that should be preserved but which would also allow for expansion and rebuttal. This seemed to be a better way to handle intelligent dialogue than the dynamic forums, which better serve as support communities, but where the sometimes very interesting and valuable contributions are quickly buried in on-going chatter.

Essentially it failed as a Forum. There was precisely one contribution submitted in all the time it was available. Where it has more or less succeeded is as a platform for the presentation of my take on the Buddha's science of Awakening.

 

Dittha-Dhamma Loka-dhamma! back to top

Loka. The World

1. What is perceived through the senses. Through the eye: Light (rūpa). Through the ear, nose, tongue, and body: sounds, scents, savours, contact = substantiality. Through the mind: perception, sense experience, sensation, intention, consciousness = things (dhammas). 2. the world of the perceiving existing being. 3. The location of or gathering place of beings. A focal point of existing things. For the individual being it is 'his' body; for groups of beings it is 'their' consensus reality. In sort 'loca' is a name for where beings and things that have come into existence are located. A focal point of existence.

PED:

Loka [cp. Vedic loka in its oldest meaning "space, open space." For etymology see rocati. To the etymology feeling of the Pāli hearer loka is closely related in quality to ruppati (as in pop. etymology of rūpa) and rujati. As regards the latter the etymology runs "lujjati kho loko ti vuccati" S IV.52, ... see lujjana. The Dhtp 531 gives root lok (loc) in sense of dassana] world, primarily "visible world," then in general as "space or sphere of creation," with various degrees of substantiality. Often (unspecified) in the comprehensive sense of "universe." Sometimes the term is applied collectively to the creatures inhabiting this or various other worlds, thus, "man, mankind, people, beings." - loka is not a fixed and definite term. It comprises immateriality as well as materiality and emphasizes either one or the other meaning according to the view applied to the object or category in question. Thus a translation of "sphere, plane, division, order" interchanges with "world." Whenever the spatial element prevails we speak of its "regional" meaning as contrasted with "applied" meaning. The fundamental notion however is that of substantiality, to which is closely related the specific Buddhist notion of impermanence (loka = lujjati).

Rocati [Vedic rocate, ruc, Idg. °leuq, as in Latin luceo to be bright (cp. lūx light, lūmen, lūna etc.); Sanskrit rocan a splendid, ruci light, roka and rukṣa light; Av. raocant shining; Gr. αμϕι-λύκη twi-light, λευκός white; also with 1: Sanskrit loka world, locate to perceive, locana eye; Lith. laukti to await; Goth. liuhap light = Ohg. lioht, E. light; Oir loche lightning. - The Dhtp (and Dhtm) gives 2 roots ruc, viz. the one with meaning "ditti" (Dhtp 37), the other as "rocana" (Dhtp 395), both signifying "light" or "splendour," but the second probably to be taken in sense of "pleasing"]

Lujjati [Pass. of ruj, corresponding to Sanskrit rujyate. Dhtp 400 gives luj as sep. root with meaning vināsa. See rujati] to be broken up, to break (up), to be destroyed; to go asunder, to fall apart

 

What's New?What's New?
What's New? 2023
What's New? 2021
What's New? 2020
What's New? 2019
What's New? 2018
What's New? 2017
What's New? 2016
What's New? 2015
What's New? 2014
What's New? 2010-2013.

Editorial Content of What's New Pages is migrated into the main body of this site as follows:

Discussions relating to the analysis of specific suttas: located under the Dhammatalk Forum Heading: Dhammatalk, Sutta Vibangha: Sutta Analysis

Essays on various subjects: in their relevant subject categories on the Forum. Some will go into new pages, some will be added to existing threads.

Short memorable quotes from the suttas: placed in the 'One-Liners' section.

Inspiring quotes from outside the Dhamma: placed in the Section just below: Inspirational and (hopefully) Thought Provoking Quotations and Short Essays from Outside the Strictly Buddhist Literature.

 


 

new Saturday, December 16, 2017 6:48 AMInspirational and (hopefully) Thought Provoking Quotations and Short Essays from Outside the Strictly Buddhist Literature.

new Friday, January 29, 2016 6:04 AMTowards a Uniform Style for Pāḷi Texts and Translations.

 

Come Beggar! back to top

Tips for beginners, Questions from beginners. Dhamma discussions of general interest.

 

new Wednesday, August 03, 2005 11:28 AMKaccha! Worthy to debate.

new 2015Low Talk. The detailed version of 'Sammā Vaca': High Talk.

new Saturday, February 13, 2021 6:41 AMFrom Time to Time: Evaluating Progress. It is natural to want to know where one stands with regard to achieving the goal. The Buddha suggests that 'from time to time' one should evaluate other's progress, and 'from time to time' one should evaluate one's own progress.

new Thursday, August 27, 2020 8:29 AMThe Old Man. For the second time I am restoring this little essay for the possible help (knowing you are not alone!) it may be to the many who have followed this site for so long that they are now themselves facing this last among the great challenges of life: getting old.

new Monday, December 21, 2020 3:07 PMSogomon Barchan The History of Sogomon Barchan and The Beginning of Idolatry, The year is 1280 or so, and this is the state of Buddhism in Sri Lanka as told by Marco Polo.

new Saturday, December 16, 2017 5:15 AMAuthenticity. On the misguided and consummate way to consider authenticity in Buddhist studies.

new 2016Five Unreliable Ways of Determining the Truth and Awakening to the Truth.

new 2016Stop and Think. Commentary on MN 30. Dealing with the arguments of Leigh Brasington supporting a supposed late alteration of this sutta.

new 2014You Can Lead A Horse to Water, but You Can't Make Her Drink. The Dhamma can but show the way. Attainment of the goal is a matter of personal effort.

new 2016Qualifications for Stream-entry. The Buddha teaches that when a layman is able to identify in himself that he is free from the five sources of guilty dread in poor ethical behavior, when he has solid faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṇgha, and when he has wised up to the aristocratic method, he may call himself a Streamwinner and assure himself that rebirth below human states is finished.

new 2015A Course on Stream-Entry. eliminating dread, mastering the four dimensions, penetrating the aristocratic method, declaring intent.

new 2016Seeing Dhamma. On understanding the Four Truths.

new 2016The Four Inceptions of Deliberation. The orthodox way of practicing the Four satipaṭṭhanas. If you are coming to Buddhism fresh, you will find here a most reasonable approach to self-examination and the insights and calm that will result. If you are coming from some previous practice calling itself 'Vipassana' or 'Insight Meditation,' commercial or otherwise, you will find here what you should have been told about this practice from the start.

new 2016Self-Control. Get a grip! It's essential.

new 2014On Energy. On the importance of managing energy allocation.

new Friday, December 22, 2017 6:22 AMKnow Your Own Mind. An outline of AN 10.51 wherein The Buddha admonishes the bhikkhus to examine themselves for faults and then to make a strong effort to get rid of any faults found; this as a key to the comprehension of their hearts.

new 2016In the Dark. A little something to keep you awake at night.

new Saturday, December 23, 2017 1:51 PMKama: sense pleasures. Similes that illustrate the dangers in pleasures of the senses.

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 7:31 AMThe Outcome in Rebirth of Three Ways of Making Kamma. Eight outcomes from the performance of meritorious action graded as to extent of the giving and virtuous behavior involved.

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 7:56 AMAN 8.42 and the Uposatha. Eight essential factors in the observation of the Buddhist sabbath with an explanation of why this practice is so fruitful.

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 5:41 AMIt Ends! It Ends! An adaptation of SN 3.22.21 wherein the Buddha explains to Ānanda that the saying of seers of old 'It's Ending! It's Ending!' points to the perception that form, sense-experience, perception, own-making and consciousness are ending things.

new Wednesday, June 20, 2012 11:21 AMIf This Be Madness. On mental illness.

new Friday, April 12, 2013 1:35 PMThe End. On the experience of the approach of death.

new 2016Mount Meru.

Come Beggar Archives

 

Ethical Culture and Self Discipline back to top

Tips on the practice of cultivating ethical standards and behavior.

 


Even so, Rāhula,
of anyone for whom there is no shame at intentional lying,
of him I say
that there is no evil he cannot do.

— The Buddha to his son. MN 61, Horner translation.


 

As the plantain, bamboo, and the rush
Is each by the fruit it bears undone,
So the sinner is by men's homage slain,
As by her embryo the mule.

—SN 1.6.12, Mrs. Rhys Davids translation, slightly edited.

 

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 9:17 AMOn the Basis for Ethical Conduct. Various suttas dealing with the advantages of establishing virtuous conduct.

new 2015The Ethical Standards Much Praised by the Aristocrats or The Fourth Dimension of Streamwinning. A list of the five.

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 9:17 AMNeither Collaborate nor Resist. Heart-freed, a beggar neither collaborates with nor resists anyone, and whatever is expressed in worldly terms is not seized upon.

new Monday, December 18, 2017 8:13 AMBetter to Walk Alone. Inspirational quote from the Vinaya.

new Thursday, March 01, 2012 9:23 AMUnderstanding the Distinctions between Kamma, Ethics, Morality, the Rules of the Saṇgha, and the Behavior Required of One Seeking Awakening

new Friday, October 14, 2011 5:49 PMUntil Sickness Do Us Part.

 


 

Yathā ahaɱ tathā ete||
Yathā ete tathā ahaɱ||
Attānaɱ upamaɱ katvā||
Na haneyya na ghātaye.
|| ||

Suchas I am thus are those,
suchas those are thus am I,
making the assumption of likeness,
neither kill nor rob.
— KD.SNP.3.11 — Olds
read Bhikkhu Thanissaro's translation

 

Ethical Culture Archives

 

DhammaTalk back to top

Focusing on understanding the Dhamma.

 


 

In the same way as the ocean always and throughout tastes of salt,
so the Dhamma always and throughout tastes of freedom.

— AN 8.19

 


 

new 2020Conversations With Daniel Ingram, MD, MSPH, Arahat (1).
Conversations With Daniel Ingram, MD, MSPH, Arahat (2).

new 2014On "mediators at Work". An essay by Bhikkhu Thanissaro.

new 2014The Paths. The Buddha describes the paths to the Pure Abodes. Includes a table showing the meditation practice, the co-factor (the sort of individual or experience), the immediate destiny, and any subsequent destiny.

new 2014On Being Debtless. On understanding what it means when arahants say they have become debtless.

new 2014On Chanting. About Dhamma recitation in sing-song or plain-song or chanting.

new 2014The Three Characteristics. On the importance of understanding the correct translation of these three terms. On the idea of divine madness.

new 2014Who Is An Arahant? A gathering place for a number of suttas describing the arahant, what he can and cannot do, how he understands things, etc.

new 2014Nāga. Discussing the term used for large animals such as snakes and elephants and for their mythical equivalents and for very large beings of any species.

new 2015The Self-Rising Nature of Existence and Pain. Discussion of the paṭicca samuppāda in the context of explaining the term samudaya, 'self-rising' or 'arising to' or 'arising as the self'.

new 2015In the Seen See Only the Seen. Discussion of this well-known sutta which is the source of a catch-phrase-teaching of Zen Buddhism.

new 2015Seen in This Life. On the description of the Dhamma as being within view, timeless, come-see-able, leading-on, individually to be experienced by the wise.

new 2015On Letting Go of the Eye. The Buddha explains that one must see the satisfactions, disadvantages, and the way of escape from the personal sense spheres in order to attain enlightenment.

new 2015Of Bhikkhus Handling Money.

new Friday, December 15, 2017 7:28 AMSutta Vibangha: Sutta Analysis A Sub-section in which selected suttas will have individual pages devoted to analysis and discussion. This link goes to the contents list of suttas discussed.

new 2015A Translation for Paṭicca. Various terms that convey the idea of the appearance of one thing resulting in the appearance of another.

new 2015The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening. An introductory list of the seven. Link to the 'full description'.

new 2015Pain. A fragment on the subject of Pain.

new 2015I Am Not MiPhone. At about the same time as the arising of the Buddha the people known as Moche in the Paruvian Andes built a temple dedicated to the Moon in which there was a chamber which had a fresco that has come to be called 'the revolt of the objects'. This fresco depicts man-created objects such as shields and weapons which have taken on arms and legs and have turned against their creator, man ...

new Friday, December 22, 2017 5:47 AMPerception Beyond Existence. In response to a question by Ānanda, Sariputta confirms that there is perception beyond existence. + An extensive list of supporting documentation.

new 2016Unshakable Freedom. Commentary on MN 29. Strongly related to the above discussion 'Perception Beyond Existence'. On the vital distinction between Vimutti (freedom) and Vimokkha (release).

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 6:01 AMReasoning out the paṭicca samuppāda. A presentation in detail from the perspective of one reasoning out the sequence.

new Saturday, December 23, 2017 11:58 AMSeven Persons. A different way of classifying the varying degrees of progress in the Buddha's system.

new Friday, December 22, 2017 7:15 AMAll Things Considered. The Buddha teaches ten important ideas by posing them as questions that might be asked of Buddhists by outsiders.

new Wednesday, December 20, 2017 6:56 AMFood for Thought. After the Buddha has taught the four foods, Moliya Phagguna asks who it is that feeds on the consciousness food. Gotama responds correcting his thinking from 'who feeds?' to 'what results from feeding on?', which leads into the chain of interdependent factors (paṭicca samuppāda).

new Wednesday, December 20, 2017 5:47 AMEssential Dhamma When speaking of 'The Dhamma', capital "D", it is these things that are being spoken of.

 


 

The Core Dhammas

The Four Settings-up of Mind,
The Four Consummate Efforts,
The Four Paths to Supernormal Powers,
The Five Forces,
The Five Powers,
The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakening,
The Aristocratic Eight-Dimensional High Way.

AN 8.19

 


 

new 2015Seven Classes of Experience and Ten Classes of Happiness. Tables showing the different classes. With sutta references. Note here I have called the Akinkannancāyatana 'The Sphere where Nothing's Real. Changed from my previous translation '~ Nothing's Had'; usually translated by others as '~ Nothingness. This change made pondering the meaning of the term which is that of 'impossibility of owning' which some experience tells me is the sense that there is nothing real in what is nevertheless the world as ordinarily perceived.

new Tuesday, December 19, 2017 5:32 AMThe Load. A path to Nibbāna based on analysis of the stockpiles (khandha: body, sense-experience, perception, own-making, and consciousness).

new Tuesday, December 19, 2017 5:04 AMApproaches to Nibbāna. A table showing a few of the major approaches to Nibbāna. There is not just one way!

new Sunday, December 17, 2017 7:44 AMSanity Test. On the value of understanding the Buddha's teaching that pain is born of affection.

new Sunday, December 17, 2017 6:53 AMSeparating the Wheat from the Chaff. On the various things one should take into consideration when determining the value of a teaching or a teacher.

new Sunday, December 17, 2017 6:42 AMSetting Priorities. On the importance of setting priorities.

new Sunday, December 17, 2017 5:29 AMAnalysis of the Six Realms. MN 137 in outline form.

new Sunday, December 17, 2017 5:29 AMDestiny is Self-Made. A straight-forward presentation of kamma.

new Sunday, October 26, 2014 6:58 AMThe Ten Powers and the Four Confidences of the Tathāgata. A list and first stab at a good translation of these two groups of attributes of the Tathāgata.

new Sunday, August 31, 2014 1:07 PMAN 5.166 Discussing the very obscure beginning of AN 5.166.

new Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:50 AMThe Last Seven Buddhas. A table giving some information about the past seven buddhas and a longer list of the twenty-four Buddhas preceding Gotama.

new Friday, October 11, 2013 5:29 PMThe Sutra of the Forty-two Sections. A very early (c A.D. 64), possibly the first work on the Dhamma translated into Chinese. As the translator mentions, this is not a known 'sutta' and it is not a Mahayana document. It reflects the Dhamma as we have it in the Pāḷi. It looks like a 'quick summary'.

new Wednesday, October 09, 2013 9:11 AM The Eighteen Schools of Buddhism by Vasumitra. The author reproduces a strange work of the 'forecasting the past' sort. For those who are curious.

new 2013.03.06What's Wrong with Abhidhamma Study?

new Thursday, December 06, 2012 8:28 AMWonderland. Grasping the dragon by the wrong end. How wrong view ends in rebirth in Hell.

new Tuesday, November 27, 2012 6:32 AMOriginal Sources: Examining the definition and constructive use of original sources in the study of Buddhism.

new Monday, November 26, 2012 4:58 AMCareless Reading and Empirical Evidence.

new Monday, July 16, 2012 5:55 AMOn the Advantages of Not Skipping Over Repetitions.

new Friday, July 13, 2012 1:29 PMPajapati's Problem
Again. "I lefa a ova ..."

new Friday, March 02, 2012 2:28 PMIs Nibbāna Conditioned? Putting forth the idea that it is a mistranslation that is the source of this debate.
Follow-up discussion of Vinnana Anidassana.
Discussing the ramifications of the mistranslation of 'sankhārā' as 'conditioned' on the understanding of the consciousness of the Arahant.

new Tuesday, January 03, 2012 7:04 AMWhat is Two?

new Sunday, October 23, 2011 8:52 AMDon Juan's Table.

new Monday, October 03, 2011 8:14 AMDiscussing MN 38.

new Friday, November 24, 2006 6:42 AMMemories are Made of This.

new Wednesday, September 28, 2011 12:52 PMNot-self, not No-self.

new Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:47 AMSeven More at Most.

Dhammatalk Archives

 

Ñāya — The Knack

One In the same way that a person who has never done intentional harmful deeds
can never experience harmful results from his intentional harmless deeds;
so from the time a person abandons intentional harmful deeds
no new harmful results will be forthcoming.

Two And then,
as an intermediate fail-safe precautionary step,
by the generation of powerful compensatory good kamma
such as with the development of the heart of good will
such as are the consequences of past deeds
that must be experienced
are experienced
relative to the mass of good kamma so developed,
and by a balanced, happy mind —
that is, much less severely,
and with detached understanding.

Three And then,
by the powerful effects
of the kamma which is the intent to end kamma
that is generated by intentional non-reaction
to the consequences of past deeds that arise,
in the form of unpleasant, pleasant or not-unpleasant-but-not-pleasant sense-experiences,
all past kamma is understood,
warn out
and has no footing for future arising.

 

Sitting Practice back to top

Tips on, statements about, and questions concerning samādhi practice, whether walking, standing still, sitting or lying down.

 

eyes horizontal

Acquiring upright posture

The Magic Carpet Ride

Go to your place to be alone. Sit down, sitting up straight, legs crossed in front, and bring your mind to your mouth and then to your respirations. In the style of the Emptiness Sutta, let go of all the world except for the body and the small area where you are sitting. With your eyes only just open, gazing down at the mouth such that the image of the body is just recognizable, imagine you are riding a magic carpet.
If you slouch back the magic carpet will tip back and dump you off.
If you slouch forward the magic carpet will tip forward and dump you off.
If you slouch twisting to the left the magic carpet will twist and dump you off.
If you slouch twisting to the right the magic carpet will twist and dump you off.
If you stretch up to the back the magic carpet will tip back and dump you off.
If you stretch up to the front the magic carpet will tip forward and dump you off.
If you arch to the left the magic carpet will twist and dump you off.
If you arch to the right the magic carpet will twist and dump you off.
If you fall asleep you will slump.
If you are taken up by a train of thought you will twist.
If you are perfectly balanced, focused and alert the magic carpet will fly in whatsoever direction you wish
and soon you will be able to maintain your balance without effort or thought and can let go of the tensions that arise without slouching or stretching.

 

new 2015 Vitakka and Vicara in Jhāna. The Buddha describes six situations in which hearing Dhamma before dying can produce either non-returning or arahantship. Primarily discussing the rational way to approach understanding arahantship and jhāna attainments in both self and others.

new 2015 The Light of Thabor. The meditation practice of the 'Quietists' c. 1341 and its striking resemblance to the 1st jhāna.

new 2015 On SN 4.41.6 On what stops at what point as one progresses through the jhānas. Also discusses SN 4.43.3 on the same topic.

new Saturday, January 07, 2017 7:43 AM Developing Psychic Powers and Jhāna Practice that Leads to Awakening. An analysis of Majjhima Nikāya 128.

new Friday, December 22, 2017 7:04 AM Helpful Perceptions. Perceptions which are very helpful to seekers.

new Sunday, February 17, 2013 8:33 AM The Dreaming Body An interesting parallel between the teachings of Don Juan concerning the dreaming body and the development of the Buddhist mind-made body. Also touches on being conscious while sleeping.

new Wednesday, October 12, 2011 4:33 PMPersuing Jhāna.

new Monday, August 29, 2005 4:51 PMWords and Thoughts.

 

Before Retiring into Seclusion

Five things which should be mastered before considering retirement into seclusion:

Being content with any clothing.
Being content with any food.
Being content with any lodging.
Being content with any medical treatment.
Having as a principle purpose the elimination of lust.

— Adapted from AN 5.127

 

Sitting Practice Archives

 

Give Ear back to top

A Translator's Corner

 


 

"Speech, originally, was the device whereby Man learned, imperfectly, to transmit the thoughts and emotions of his mind. By setting up arbitrary sounds and combinations of sounds to represent certain mental nuances, he developed a method of communication - but one which in its clumsiness and thick-thumbed inadequacy degenerated all the delicacy of the mind into gross and guttural signaling.
Down - down - the results can be followed: and all the suffering that humanity ever knew can be traced to the one fact that no man in the history of the Galaxy, until Hari Seldon, and very few men thereafter, could really understand one another. Every human being lived behind an impenetrable wall of choking mist within which no other but he existed. Occasionally there were the dim signals from deep within the cavern in which another man was located - so that each might grope towards the other. Yet because they did not know one another, and could not understand one another, and dared not trust one another, and felt from infancy the terrors and insecurity of that ultimate isolation - there was the hunted fear of man for man, the savage rapacity of man toward man.

-Second Foundation, Vol. 3 of the Foundation Trillogy, by Isaac Asimov, Everyman's Library, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2010, pg. 493

We must object to the statement that no man has ever understood his fellow men, and to the one that suggests that Hari Seldon, standing in for Isaac Asimov, did, at least in so far as it is demonstrated in this book. What is the case is that very few have ever learned how to understand their fellow men from those that did understand and taught the way to do so in a way that could have been understood by them.

 


Bhagavam-mūlakā no bhante Dhammā||
Bhagavan-nettikā||
Bhagavam-paṭisaraṇā.
|| ||

We-uns* things, bhante, are Lucky-man-rooted,
Lucky-man-channeled,
Lucky-man-housed.

*We-uns = We ones. 'Our'; U.S. dialect. Sometimes "We's"


 

new 2015 Translating Pāḷi. Negative Opposites. In this system we go from that which is to that which no longer is; not to some other thing that is. Our translations need to reflect this.

new 2015 Let go of 'Causation'. We all, not just Buddhists, need to let go of the idea of causation. This is a concept rooted in the idea of God The Creator. The reality is that causation is a mystery. What we can know is proximate or economic cause, association, correlation, relatedness, driving force and such terms as indicate the relatedness of this to that.

O. von Hinuber, Pāḷi as an Artificial Language. From Indologica.com, The Online Journal of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, Volume X (1982), Proceedings of the "Conference-Seminar of Indological Studies", Article #10. PDF

new 2015 Vitakka and Vicara. Discussing the translation, meaning and uses of these two terms.

new 2015 Moha A significant change in the usual translation of 'moha' as 'delusion' (Hare's 'infatuation'). I am suggesting 'confusion'.

new 2015 Sa-k-kāya: Own Body. Buddha teaches that because of form, sense-experience, perception, own-making and sense-consciousness the view that there is only one correct way of seeing things with regard to body arises and that the escape therefrom is through seeing the inconstance, pain, and non-self in these things.

new 2015 Āsavas: Influences. Dealing with the difficulties of translating this term.

new 2015 Saññā-Vedayita-Nirodha: The Ending of Sense-Perception and Sense-Experience'. Dealing with the necessity in English of distinguishing between 'experience' and 'sense-experience'. Also touches on the topic of whether or not Nibbāna is reached gradually or spontaneously.

new 2015 Anusaya: Reaction: The Follow-on Experience. The way this term is usually translated it has been made into a mystery. 'The Lurking Tendency'. Something remote from 'reaction'. But it is, in simple terms, the reaction and probably should be translated using this term.

new 2015 Upekkhā and Upekkh'Indriyaɱ — Detachment and the Detachment-Force. Upon an experience that arises from either body or mind that is neither unpleasant nor pleasant, identify that experience as having given rise to the detachment-force and use it as a detachment-power to attain detachment. When detachment has been achieved, let go of the force and power of detachment.

new 2015 No Other Thing Just So Effective. The difficulty in translating the phrase: "Nāhaṃ bhikkhave, aññaṃ eka-dhammam pi samanupassāmi yo evaṃ ... ."

new 2015 Kāye Kāye-anupassī Viharati — Living Seeing Body Following Upon Body. Discussing the various translations of this phrase.

new Tuesday, December 19, 2017 10:54 AM Samudaya. Suggesting that this term be translated: "arising to the self" or "arising as the self."

new Wednesday, December 20, 2017 10:02 AM Pari-vīmaɱsa and Yoniso-Mani-sikara. Discussing a term that comes up in SN 2.12.51 in an outline of the practice to be used by the person interested in comprehending the paṭicca samuppāda. Sheds light on the term Yoniso-Mani-sikara.

new Thursday, December 21, 2017 5:23 AM Past, Future, Present. Discussing the word order of this series.

new Friday, December 22, 2017 8:58 AM Nīvaraṇa: Diversions. The Pāḷi word Nīvaraṇa: should be being translated 'diversion', not 'obstruction' or 'obstacle, or check.

new Wednesday, December 20, 2017 10:50 AM Citta, Mano, and Viññāṇa as Synonyms. Discussing how these terms can sometimes be thought of as synonyms and sometimes not.

new Tuesday, December 19, 2017 7:26 AM Translating Compounds. Suggesting that compounds be translated as compounds more frequently than is at present the case.

new Monday, December 18, 2017 8:51 AM Saṇsāra. On the understanding of the term Saṃsāra.

new Monday, December 18, 2017 6:20 AM Yakka. On the understanding of the term 'yakka'.

new Monday, December 18, 2017 6:57 AM Digitized Pāḷi. Links to the unproofread, superficially reformatted files of the Dhammakaya-input Pāḷi Text Society hard copy version of the Pāḷi texts, otherwise known as 'the Goettingen files' and to the original Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series Pāḷi texts. These files are the 'raw' unproofed, unedited and unformatted original files. The Pāḷi text linked-to from the translations on this site has, for the most part, been proofed against the hard copy of the PTS Pāḷi.

new Saturday, December 16, 2017 5:29 AM Desire and Temptation. On understanding the role of 'upadāna' as being the thinking, pondering, plan making, wishing, desiring, wanting and action taken in order to produce existence (bhava) in a world of sense-experience.

new Friday, July 04, 2014 7:38 AM Paṭibhāna, and translating AN 4.132. Discussion of translating the term 'paṭi-bhāna' and relevant subjects.

new Wednesday, November 20, 2013 3:19 PMIf Not Mine. Discussion of the difficulty in translating the ditthi:

No c'assa||
no ca me siyā,||
na bhavissati||
na me bhavissati.
|| ||

new Tuesday, May 21, 2013 4:31 AMOn the Importance of the Pāḷi Text Society Translations. A long-winded explanation of why it was so important that the complete set of Pāḷi Text Society translations of the Sutta Piṭaka be made freely and easily available.

new Saturday, August 18, 2012 4:20 AM Digital Pāḷi Reader.
Download links for a tool in the form of a Mozilla Firefox extension, much like a hard-copy language reader, facilitating study of the Pāḷi language.

Make It Make Sense.
On translating similies in parallel with what they are supposed to illustrate.

Resources and Links

new Friday, July 13, 2012 9:08 AMThe Eye in the back of the Head.
Translating the term pacchāpure-saññī describing how to develop this ability to see both what is in front and in back of one while simultaneously being able to understand and deal with it.

new Wednesday, March 14, 2012 5:13 AMOn Translating 'Dhatū'.

new Thursday, February 09, 2012 8:17 AMDiscussion of the final paragraph of MN 29.

new Thursday, August 25, 2005 6:34 AMOn translating 'bhikkhu' as 'beggar'. Again.

new Thursday, August 25, 2005 3:14 AMYoniso Mana-sikaro. Studious Etiological Examination.

new Friday, September 09, 2005 3:03 AMSati-Pari-mukkham. Put a look of satisfaction on your face.

new Monday, January 02, 2012 6:04 AMHow is Translation Possible? Not as tough as understanding the lingo of today's kids!

 


 

Recommended for diacritical input:

Genovation Keypad  Genovation Keypad
Click for larger image

The Genovation Keypad. A programmable keypad I use to input Pāḷi characters. @ U.S. $140. See specs at Genovation.com It takes about an hour to set up and will save you hours of time and your wrists and fingers much pain. This is not a paid advertisement. I have received no compensation in any form for this recommendation.

 


 

Give Ear Archives

 

Reviews back to top

Reviews of books, audios, videos, websites, etc. In this section 'review' is to be understood as 'response'; 'publication' is to be understood as a communication allowing for or begging for a response. Selection for review is based on relevance to the topics of this site.

new 2015Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Here we have another writer that but for contact with the True Dhamma might well have gone all the way.

new 2015The Ornament of Lay Followers Translated by Giulio Agostini, The Pāḷi Text Society.
I cannot recommend this book as it is really a translation of a commentary on a commentary on Buddhaghosa's editing of the original commentaries which is to say that it affirms and elaborates on and stands a high probability of adding to the errors of the originals.

new Saturday, December 16, 2017 7:26 AMDenial of Death, by Ernest Becker
Not recommended. Facing the chaos. Face the chaos and learn how to escape it, not how to yield to blind faith that a Supreme Creator God has a good plan.

new Saturday, December 16, 2017 7:26 AMThe Buddha before Buddhism, by Gil Fronsdal.
Not recommended. A flawed work. Don't waste your time, read the original documentation.

new Saturday, April 09, 2016 7:43 AMUncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
A very moving story. So powerful that it is considered to have been one of the contributing causes of the U.S. Civil War. It is, in story form, a thorough examination of the evils of the institution of slavery. The review shows how this story is relevant today to the Buddhist.

new Thursday, March 31, 2016 7:41 AMRemembrance of Things Past, The definitive French Pleiade edition translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terrence Kilmartin, with Volume III, Part 7: Time Regained, translated by Andreas Mayor
A classic of French literature that deals with an individual's experience of 'Temporary Release' without the knowledge of Buddhist theory.

new Wednesday, January 20, 2016 3:33 AMLimitless, Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro
Director: Neil Burger
Movie Review. Take a pill, experience great super-normal powers, murder, steal, write a best-seller, have lots of sex, get rich, become President of the U.S.

new Tuesday, June 09, 2015 6:34 AMThe Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Reviewed by L.S. Cousins, A PDF file. From The Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Volume 4 1997. What looks like a fair review, but the real value is in a sort of appendix where Cousins goes over the translations of specific terms comparing the translations of Bhk. Bodhi with those of Bhk. Ñanamoli, Ms. Horner, and K.R. Norman.

new Monday, June 01, 2015 5:57 AMSeven Pillers of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence

new Sunday, August 31, 2014 7:06 AMRememberance Rock, Carl Sandburg

new Sunday, November 24, 2013 2:03 PMThe Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer

new Wednesday, December 19, 2012 4:02 PMToo High to Fail, Doug Fine

new Wednesday, June 13, 2012 6:22 AMThe Doctrine of Awakening, Julius Evola

new Sunday, April 29, 2012 8:42 AMZen Simply Sitting, Philippe Coupey

new Thursday, October 13, 2011 2:36 PMDesolation Angels, Jack Kerouac

new Sunday, September 25, 2011 8:32 AMSuccess Happens Burroughs, Junky

new Wednesday, May 14, 2008 1:25 PMI See You Māra Kornfield, The Wise Heart

new Sunday, July 24, 2011 4:19 AMMuch Ado about Nothing Lattin, The Harvard Psychedelic Club

new Sunday, July 24, 2011 4:19 AMI'm Over All That, Shirley MacLaine

new Saturday, August 06, 2011 6:44 PMI Am A Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter

new Tuesday, August 30, 2011 8:17 AMThe Men Who Stare at Goats, and The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson

new Tuesday, July 04, 2023 12:16 PMGiles, The Travels of Fa-Hsein

new Tuesday, August 04, 2020 12:12 PMRevolver Directed by Guy Ritchie.

Quickies:
Future Shock, Alvin Toffler, Random House, N.Y., 1970. Relevance: Transience. I thought this would throw some light on anicca. It does, but, of course what he is dealing with is worldly transience. His proposition is that the new technologies emerging in the world speed up transience and this will result in mass disorientation. The first half of the book is very informative in its discussion of the areas where technology will cause disruption. The book was 50 years ahead of its time and is required reading for anyone who has the feeling that the insanity here today is more than the usual older generation viewing the younger generation as more corrupt than they were and who wishes to understand what happened. The second half of the book is useless predictions and methods for counter-acting the damage of transience. Interesting because most of the predictions and methods suggested for coping were tried and failed.
2001 A Space Oddesy. Stanley Kubrick, Director. Relevance: Pajapati's Problem. Creates in the viewer the overwhelming sense of boredom experienced by 'the one and only.' Some people, and some robots call this the best movie ever made. I could barely force myself to watch it through. Pretentious in the extreme. Slow. Plodding. Disrespectful of the viewer's intelligence. Looks like the idea was cop't from Kurt Vonnegut; the whole history of mankind being directed at one point ... in this case the return of man to a point where he begins the whole story again. Every scene goes on and on interminably. ... and did I say the movie was boring? I side with the computer that wants to scuttle the whole project.
Franz Kafka, The Trial: Not really helpful. Pajapati's problem allowed to become paranoia, no helpful or edifying solution pointed to.
Knut Hamsun, Hunger Hamsun has not yet reached Pajapati's problem in this one. Here he portrays a true to life, autobiographical picture of his struggles with hunger. Really useful from the point of view of understanding why Food is #1. So much of his trouble results from poor training in understanding ethics which allows his pride to bring him back to starvation again and again.
Mysteries. Another early work which reveals the madness faced by the mind that has reached into the upper atmosphere without adequate training in ethics. This book was the inspiration for the yellow suit of The King of New York (aka P.P.). As an aside the first thing one will encounter when beginning to read Hamsun is the bewilderment on the part of reviewers as to how it could be possible for such an intelligent, sensitive person to also have been a Nazi sympathizer. Even casual reading of Mysteries should answer that question. The seeds of a radical political view are a central theme! There is no mystery as to how the writer of this book could come to champion the early Hitler as a crusader for a break-away from somnambulist politics, the idea that Hitler espoused of detachment from all current political forms in favor of a more noble past. At a later point there is good reason to think that Hamsun's Nazism was a ruse used to gain influence with Hitler so as to attain the liberation of Nazi prisoners in Scandinavia. Still, he clearly advocated racial purity; he considered the U.S., for example, as destined to fail as it was becoming a mongrel nation. (I prefer to see it in more positive terms as a nation of hybrid strains, one which has and could still result in hybrid vigor and which is certainly producing a human of extraordinary physical, if perhaps too feminine beauty.) The book is a great read. It is often laugh-out-loud funny in a mad sort of way when the central character piles lie upon lie, outrageous action upon outrageous action making every aspect of the world crumble around him. However it has little use for anyone who does not already appreciate the dangers of irrational behavior.

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