tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012277645322483593.post6402991117073607430..comments2024-03-27T23:37:20.556-07:00Comments on dhamma musings: The Buddhist Precepts IIIShravasti Dhammikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06246408068143301108noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012277645322483593.post-26433696711423951102011-08-22T19:07:23.624-07:002011-08-22T19:07:23.624-07:00Perhaps going to sleep at night with undigested fo...Perhaps going to sleep at night with undigested food in the stomach is bad for the health. This would be prevented by stopping eating after noon.fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07440984467014856406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012277645322483593.post-18398671361746238832011-08-10T02:41:07.171-07:002011-08-10T02:41:07.171-07:00Dear Shravasti Dhammika, westernising or easternis...Dear Shravasti Dhammika, westernising or easternising Buddhism is not the point, I feel. Western mentality can create new traps. Buddha's teaching is universal, and it should be cleansed of all regionalism, traditionalism and modernism as well. No other way to develop pure vision, I think.yurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459608592333995535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012277645322483593.post-7273644991875408052011-07-30T14:06:35.425-07:002011-07-30T14:06:35.425-07:00Dear Richard,
I have long been an advocate of the ...Dear Richard,<br />I have long been an advocate of the idea that ultimately, to move ahead, Western Buddhists will have to gently and politely ‘part company’ from traditional Asian Buddhism. The values, assumptions and attitudes of the two are just too different. Recently a friend in Germany contacted me concerning unpleasant in-fighting in a particular ethnic temple to which he and a lot of other local Germans go to. He found that whereas he and the other Germans wanted to discuss the matter, talk through it, the ethnic Buddhists vehemently denied that there was a problem and wouldn’t discuss it. The problem itself was also an ‘ethnic’ one, arising from linguistic and regional differences within the Asian Buddhist community. We Westerners have enough problems of our own, getting involved in ethnic Buddhists’ wastes energy, leads to resentment and changes nothing. Let’s walk our own path.Shravasti Dhammikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06246408068143301108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012277645322483593.post-61072565538521853492011-07-30T07:52:28.081-07:002011-07-30T07:52:28.081-07:00Bhante, I have an off-topic question. Sexual abuse...Bhante, I have an off-topic question. Sexual abuse of minors by Thai monks has now been revealed in the US recently at a temple in suburban Chicago. I live in Chicago. As a lay person, how do I respond to and pressure the appropriate ecumenical and administrative organizations to take appropriate action rather than what they are doing, which is ignoring the issue, remaining silent, and just sending monks away just like the Catholics did with their priests. In the Chicago case, the Temple elders assert that because intercourse was not proved, the incident did not violate the code. Whose Vinaya are they reading? I am confused. Here's a link to the Chicago Tribune story about this http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-24/news/ct-met-monk-sex-cases-20110724_1_thai-monks-buddhist-monks-paul-numrich <br /><br />Thank you.Richard Harroldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02943119066949899198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1012277645322483593.post-27072297626781385282011-07-29T16:28:28.981-07:002011-07-29T16:28:28.981-07:00I believe that the rule about eating only after su...I believe that the rule about eating only after sunrise and before noon is based on Ayurveda and is in fact a health recommendation rather than a form of abstinence. This is supported by the fact that the Buddha lived during the golden age of Ayurveda. The vital energy, referred to as agni, associated specifically with the digestive process, is considered to be at its height during the waxing of the solar energy. Since I took the eight Mahayana precepts I have been following this rule, and my health has greatly improved, including the loss of almost 20 pounds. This rule returns the body to its natural, healthy state.Setenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05615168455587930402noreply@blogger.com