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**salomal-qask** · 04-13-2011, 06:34 PM

My intention is not to "wowser" (if by that you mean show off) and I'm not on a vendetta. I'm not identifying with Levine; I'm DIS-identifying with him.

hi

well, my opinion is both love & aversion can form grounds for "identifying". are "identifying" and "dis-identifying" the same as "non-identifying"? like, in the Pali, there is the word atammayata, which some translate as meaning 'non-identification'.

Who is the WE implied in your use of "our path?" i am sorry if I was not clear. i have implied no "we". By "our", I am referred to each individual rather than a collective.

How do you determine beneficence? How open minded should Buddhism be? Well, my impression is the Buddha did not teach one "path". My opinion is he taught different paths for different folks.

Buddha's "Awakening...tells us that good and bad are not mere social conventions, but are built into the mechanics of how the world is constructed. We may be free to design our lives, but we are not free to change the underlying rules that determine what good and bad actions are, and how the process of kamma works itself out. Thus cultural relativism — even though it may have paved the way for many of us to leave our earlier religious orientations and enter the Buddhist fold — has no place once we are within that fold. There are certain ways of acting that are inherently unskillful, and we are fools if we insist on our right to behave in those ways" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Refuge, p. 55; http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/a...awakening.html). Thanissaro Bhikkhu is free to give his opinion but i personally see it as merely his subjective opinion.

my view is it is best to not create a dogma out of Buddhism. instead, we can try to see a bigger picture.

like, i do not regard the essence of Buddhism is about "good and bad karma".

The Buddha called himself The Tathagata, which means 'The One Gone to Thusness' or 'Suchness'. What the Buddha himself could not control, he regard as merely "thus" or "such".

The scriptures say:
The murderous Devadatta and the robber Angulimala
Rahula and [the elephant] Dhanapala
To all was the Sage even minded warm regards

Atammayata. Literally, "not-made-of-that-ness." See the introductions to sections II/B and III/G in The Wings to Awakening.

Salayatana-vibhanga Sutta translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

04-13-2011, 06:34 PM	#22
salomal-qask Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 516 Senior Member	My intention is not to "wowser" (if by that you mean show off) and I'm not on a vendetta. I'm not identifying with Levine; I'm DIS-identifying with him. hi well, my opinion is both love & aversion can form grounds for "identifying". are "identifying" and "dis-identifying" the same as "non-identifying"? like, in the Pali, there is the word atammayata, which some translate as meaning 'non-identification'. Who is the WE implied in your use of "our path?" i am sorry if I was not clear. i have implied no "we". By "our", I am referred to each individual rather than a collective. How do you determine beneficence? How open minded should Buddhism be? Well, my impression is the Buddha did not teach one "path". My opinion is he taught different paths for different folks. Buddha's "Awakening...tells us that good and bad are not mere social conventions, but are built into the mechanics of how the world is constructed. We may be free to design our lives, but we are not free to change the underlying rules that determine what good and bad actions are, and how the process of kamma works itself out. Thus cultural relativism — even though it may have paved the way for many of us to leave our earlier religious orientations and enter the Buddhist fold — has no place once we are within that fold. There are certain ways of acting that are inherently unskillful, and we are fools if we insist on our right to behave in those ways" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Refuge, p. 55; http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/a...awakening.html). Thanissaro Bhikkhu is free to give his opinion but i personally see it as merely his subjective opinion. my view is it is best to not create a dogma out of Buddhism. instead, we can try to see a bigger picture. like, i do not regard the essence of Buddhism is about "good and bad karma". The Buddha called himself The Tathagata, which means 'The One Gone to Thusness' or 'Suchness'. What the Buddha himself could not control, he regard as merely "thus" or "such". The scriptures say: The murderous Devadatta and the robber Angulimala Rahula and [the elephant] Dhanapala To all was the Sage even minded warm regards Atammayata. Literally, "not-made-of-that-ness." See the introductions to sections II/B and III/G in The Wings to Awakening. Salayatana-vibhanga Sutta translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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