Hollywood hitman hates meditators (video)

Will Conybeare (KTLA, 9/10/23); Dhr. Seven, Sheldon S., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Don't breathe, Punk! (Hitman)

In the time of the Buddha, Māra, who delights in putting up obstacles to absorption and insight, attempted to block his enlightenment and liberation. While Mara is generally spoken of as a metaphor, it is impossible to believe that Mara is merely a metaphor when reading the Mara Samyutta, the fourth section of the SN (S.i.103 27). These texts record the activities of a being in human form. Though the man shot in Hollywood has not been named, could it be actor Kevin "Otto" Kline, which seems to be how Hollywood views Buddhist meditation?

Meditating man shot on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in Los Angeles

Will Conybeare | KTLA, 9/10/23; edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Work is done. Money's made. Time to meditate.

(KTLA) A man who was meditating on the world-famous Walk of Fame in Hollywood was wounded in an apparently random shooting early Sunday morning, authorities said.

The victim, identified only as an approximately 44-year-old white man, was meditating on the sidewalk just after 3:20 am in the 6300 block of Hollywood Boulevard, according to Los Angeles Police.

That’s when [Mara disguised as] another man [one possessed by Mara's influence] walked up to him and opened fire, striking him at least once, police said.

Don't even think of meditating in peace.

The victim was taken to a local hospital, where he was said to be in stable condition. No suspect description has been released.

Police said that they believe the shooting was random and that the victim was not homeless. No explanation was provided as to why he felt possessed to meditate at the open-air tourist attraction at such an odd hour. Although still summer, the weather was not particularly good for a sit. Meditating man shot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (ktla.com)

SUTRA: Mara’s Snare (1)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Paṭhamamārapāsa Sutta (SN 4.4), "Connected Discourses with Mara"; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One [the Buddha] was dwelling at Baraṇasi in the Deer Park at the Resort of Seers (Isipatana). He addressed the meditators: “Meditators!”

“Venerable!” they replied.

“Meditators, by careful attention, by careful right [balanced] effort, I have arrived at unsurpassed liberation, I have realized unsurpassed liberation.

“You also, meditators, by careful attention, by careful right [balanced] effort, will arrive at unsurpassed liberation, will realize unsurpassed liberation.”

Then Mara the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:

“Bound by Mara’s snare are you,

Celestial and human;

Bound by Mara’s bonds:

You shall not escape me, ascetic!”

The Blessed One replied:

“I am free of Mara’s snare,

Celestial and human;

I am free of Mara’s bonds:

You’re defeated, End-maker!”

Then Mara the Evil One…disappeared right then and there. Source

• The Buddha defines "Mara"
• SN 35.65: Paṭhama-Samiddhi-Māra-Pañhā Sutta—translated by Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net)
• SN 35.65: Paṭhama Samiddhi Māra Pañhā Sutta—translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi (suttacentral.net)

Ananda as a young teacher (Robe Sutra)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Cīvara Sutra, "Connected Discourses with Kassapa" (SN 16.11), "The Robe" Discourse; edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

The Robe*

Ven. Ananda was a stream enterer.

(SC 1) On one occasion Venerable Maha Kassapa was living in Rajagaha (Rajgir) in the Bamboo Grove, in the Squirrel's Sanctuary.

On that occasion Ven. Ānanda [who was not yet appointed the Buddha's personal attendant] was wandering on tour in Dakkhiṇagiri together with a large community (saṅgha) of monks (bhikkhus).

On that occasion 30 monks — pupils of Ven. Ānanda — most of them youngsters, had given up the monastic training and had returned to the lower life. (sn.ii.218)

(SC 2) When Ven. Ānanda had wandered on tour in Dakkhiṇagiri as long as he wanted, he came back to Rajagaha, to the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary.

He approached Ven. Maha Kassapa, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Ven. Maha Kassapa said: “Friend Ānanda, for how many reasons did the Blessed One lay down the rule that monks should not take meals among families in groups of more than three?”

(SC 3) “The Blessed One laid down this rule for three reasons, Ven. Kassapa:

1. for restraining ill-behaved persons and for the comfort of well-behaved monastics,
2. with the intention, ‘May those of harmful wishes, by forming a faction, not create a schism in the Monastic Saṅgha!’
3. out of sympathy towards families.

It is for these three reasons, Ven. Kassapa, that the Blessed One laid down this rule.”

• Ten principal disciples of the historical Buddha

(SC 4) “Then why, friend Ānanda, are you wandering about with these young monks who are unguarded in their sense faculties, immoderate in eating, and not devoted to mindfulness [wakefulness, vigilance, bare awareness, presence of mind]?

Painting of Ven. Maha Kassapa with beard and hair, Kizil Caves, carbon dated to 422-529 CE

.

“One would think you were wandering about trampling crops. One would think you were wandering about destroying families. Your retinue is breaking apart, friend Ānanda. Your young followers are slipping away. But still this youngster does not know his measure!”

(SC 5) “Grey hairs are growing on my head, Ven. Kassapa. Can’t one avoid being called 'youngster' by Ven. Maha Kassapa?” (sn.ii.219)

(SC 6) “Friend Ānanda, it is just because you wander around with these young monks who are unguarded in their sense faculties…. But still this youngster does not know his measure!”

Rahula, the Buddha, and Ananda (but no Bimba)

(SC 7) The Buddhist nun Ven. Thullananda heard: “Master Maha Kassapa has disparaged Master Ānanda, the Videhan Sage, by calling him 'youngster.'”

Then, being displeased at this, she expressed her displeasure in this way: “How can Master Maha Kassapa, who was formerly a member of another sect, think to disparage Master Ānanda, the Videhan Sage, by calling him 'youngster'?”

(SC 8) Ven. Maha Kassapa overheard the nun Ven. Thullananda making this statement and said to Ven. Ānanda: “Surely, friend Ānanda, the nun Thullananda made that statement rashly, without consideration. For since I shaved off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and went forth from the home life into the left-home life, I do not recall ever having acknowledged any other teacher except the Blessed One, the Arhat, the Supremely Awakened One.

(SC 9) “In the past, friend, when I was still a householder, it occurred to me: ‘Household life is confinement, a path of dust, whereas going forth [into the left-home life] is like the open air. It is not easy for one living at home to lead the perfectly complete, perfectly purified supreme life [of a Buddhist monastic], which is like polished conch.

“Let me then shave off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and go forth from the household life into the left-home life.’ Some time later (sn.ii.220) I had an outer robe made from patches of cloth; then, acknowledging those who were arhats [fully enlightened ones] in the world as models, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and went forth from the household life into the left-home life.

(SC 10) “When I had thus gone forth, I was travelling along a road when I saw the Blessed One sitting by the Bahuputta Shrine between Rajagaha and Nalanda. Having seen him, I thought: ‘If I should ever see the Teacher, it is the Blessed One himself that I would see. If I should ever see the Fortunate One, it is the Blessed One himself that I would see. If I should ever see the Supremely Enlightened One, it is the Blessed One himself that I would see.’

“Then I bowed right there at the Blessed One’s feet and said to him: ‘Venerable sir, the Blessed One is my teacher, and I am his disciple. Venerable sir, the Blessed One is my teacher, and I am his disciple.’

(SC 11) “When I had said this, the Blessed One said to me: ‘Kassapa, if one who does not know-and-see should say to a disciple so single-minded as yourself: “I know, I see,” his head would split [into seven pieces]. But knowing, Kassapa, I say, “I know”; seeing, I say, “I see.”

“‘Therefore, Kassapa, train yourself thus: “I will rouse a keen sense of shame and fear of wrongdoing towards elders, the newly ordained, and those of middle status.” Thus train yourself.

(SC 12) “‘Therefore, Kassapa, train yourself thus: “Whenever I listen to any Dharma connected with the wholesome, I will listen to it with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying my whole mind to it.” Thus train yourself.

(SC 13) “‘Therefore, Kassapa, train yourself thus: “I will never relinquish mindfulness directed at the body associated with joy.” Thus train yourself.’

(SC 14) “Then, having given me this exhortation, the Blessed One rose from his seat and departed. (sn.ii.221) For seven days, friend, I ate the country’s alms food as a debtor [an ordinary worldling], but on the eighth day final knowledge arose.

(SC 15) “Then, friend, the Blessed One descended from the road and went to the foot of a tree. I folded in four my outer robe of patches and said to him: ‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One sit down here. This will lead to my welfare and happiness for a long time.’

“The Blessed One sat down on the seat I prepared and said to me: ‘Your outer robe of patches is soft, Kassapa.’

“‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One accept my outer robe of patches, out of compassion [for me].’

“‘Then will you wear my worn-out hempen rag-robes?’

“‘I will, venerable sir.’ Thus, I offered the Blessed One my outer robe of patches and received from him his worn-out hempen rag-robes.

(SC 16) “If, friend, one speaking rightly could say of anyone: ‘He is a son of the Blessed One, born of his breast, born of his mouth, born of the Dharma, created by the Dharma, an heir to the Dharma, a receiver of worn-out hempen rag-robes,’ it is of me that one could rightly say this.

(SC 17) “Friend, to whatever extent I wish, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I enter and dwell in the first meditative absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by thought and examination (sn.ii.222), with rapture and happiness born of seclusion…. [As in §9, down to:]

(SC 18) “Friend, by the destruction of the taints, in this very life I enter and dwell in the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, realizing it for myself with direct knowledge.

(SC 19) “Friend, one might just as well think that a bull elephant seven or seven and a half cubits high could be concealed by a palm leaf as think that my six direct knowledges could be concealed.”

(SC 20) But the nun (bhikkhunī) Ven. Thullananda fell away from the monastic life. Source

*Why would Maha Kassapa want the Buddha's old, worn-out hempen robe?

Together the Buddha and Maha Kassapa returned to Rājagaha. Great Kassapa bore on his body seven of the 32 Marks of a Great Being, following the Buddha who bored all 32.

On the way, the Buddha desired to sit at the foot of a tree by the roadside, so Kassapa folded his outer robe (pilotikasanghāti) for him as a seat. The Buddha sat on it and, feeling it with his hand, praised its softness.

Therefore, Kassapa asked him to accept it. "And what would you wear?" inquired the Buddha. Kassapa then begged that he might be given the rag robe worn by the Buddha. "It is faded with use," said the Buddha, but Kassapa said he would prize it above the whole world. The robes were exchanged.

(The robe which Kassapa exchanged with the Buddha was Punnā's cloak. See Punnā 6). Kassapa always recalled this incident with pride (e.g., S.ii.221).

It is said that the Buddha paid him this great honor because he knew that Kassapa would hold a recital after his final nirvana (his passing) and thus help in the perpetuation of this Dharma (SA.ii.130).

Ven. Mahākāśyapa (Wikipedia)

The earth quaked again in recognition of Kassapa's virtues, for no ordinary being would have been fit to wear the Buddha's cast-off robe.

Kassapa, conscious of the great honor, took upon himself the 13 Sane Ascetic Practices (austere vows or dhutagunā) and, after eight days, became an arhat (fully enlightened).

In the past Kassapa and Bhaddā had been husband and wife and companions in good works in many rebirths. In the time of Padumuttara Buddha, Kassapa was a very rich householder named Vedeha and married to Bhaddā and very devoted to that Buddha.

One day he heard that Buddha's third disciple in rank (Ven. Nisabha) being awarded the place of preeminence among those who observed austere practices, so he registered a wish for a similar honor for himself in the future.

He learned from the Buddha of the qualities in which Ven. Nisabha excelled the Buddha himself, and he determined to obtain them. With this end in view, during rebirth after rebirth, he expended all his energies in goods deeds. More

Mara, O, Mara (the defilements)

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit of Mara (demon)

Mara's daughters Craving, Lust, Aversion

Etymology The word māra comes from the Sanskrit form of the root verb mṛ. Māra is a verbal noun from the causative root that means "causing death" or "killing" [4].

It is related to other words for "death" from the same root, such as Pali maraṇa and Sanskrit mṛtyu. [In English we have mort and mortuary, French le morte, Spanish Muerte.]

• Mara's daughter Arati, Arāti, Ārati, Ārāti (wisdomlib.org)

The latter is a name for Death personified and is sometimes identified as the kind judge Yama, the King of the Dead. The root mṛ is related to the Indo-European verbal root *mer, meaning "die, disappear" in the context of "death, murder, or destruction."

It is "very widespread" in Indo-European languages suggesting it to be of great antiquity, according to Mallory and Adams [5].

Four types of Māra

In traditional Buddhism, four or five metaphorical forms of Māra are given [6]:

• Kleśa-māra: Māra as the embodiment of all defilements (unskillful root intentions, underlying motives, pernicious emotions, kleshas, kilesas), such as greed, hate/fear, and delusion.
• Mṛtyu-māra: Māra as Death personified.
• Skandha-māra: Māra as metaphor for the entirety of conditioned existence [explained in terms of the Five Aggregates clung to as self].
• Devaputra-māra: The deva (being of light, lit. "shining one") of the [top of the] Sensuous Sphere, who tried to prevent the Bodhisattva Siddhartha Gautama from from becoming a buddha by attaining liberation from the Cycle of Endless Rebirth (samsara) on the night of his great enlightenment.

Character

Early Buddhism acknowledged both a literal and psychological interpretation of "Mara" [7, 8].

• EDITOR'S NOTE: It is easy to believe nowadays that Mara is only a metaphor for the subtlety of the mental defilements. But this is contradicted by extensive texts describing his deeds. It would be very difficult to read the collection of Mara texts (Mara Samyutta in the fourth section of the SN, S.i.103 27) and come away thinking he is anything but real.
• Indeed, there are many maras, at least one in each world-system. The word may also refer to ogres (yakkhas), as Mara seems to be their chief, as on the night under the bodhi tree at the great awakening.
• In the Mara Sutra, Rādha asks the Buddha what is meant by "Māra.” Anything that perishes, answered the Buddha -- such as [the Five Aggregates clung to as self, namely] form (this body), feelings, perceptions, mental formation, and consciousness..." (S.iii.188.).
• FOR MUCH MORE ON THIS SUBJECT, SEE Māra

Mara is described both as an entity having an existence in the Sensuous Sphere (kāma-loka) [9] and coming down to interact with the Buddha and also as described in the description of Dependent Origination (pratītya-samutpāda) as, primarily, the guardian of passion and the catalyst for lust, hesitation, and fear that obstructs meditation among Buddhists.

The Denkōroku refers to him as the "One Who Delights in Destruction," which highlights his nature as a light being among the Parinirmitavaśavarti devas [10]. More

The Anger-Eating Demon

Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, retelling of ancient Buddhist story from the Sakka Samyutta (SN 22)

The hot demon Kim Kardashian absorbs our hate and grows stronger (animalnewyork.com)

 

Once there lived a demon who had a peculiar diet: He fed on the anger of others. And as his feeding ground was the human world, there was no lack of food. He found it quite easy to provoke a family quarrel, or national and racial hatred, fanning the fire of racist hatred.
 
Even to stir up a war was not very difficult for him. And whenever he succeeded in bringing about a war, he could gorge himself. After all, once a war starts, hate multiplies exponentially by its own momentum and affects even normally kind, compassionate, and friendly people.
 

The demon!

The demon's food supply became so rich that he sometimes had to keep himself from overeating, being content with nibbling just a small piece of resentment found close by.
 
But as often happens with successful people, he became overbearing. One day, feeling bored, he thought, "Shouldn't I try it with the devas?" On reflection he chose the space world of the Thirty-Three, ruled by Sakka, King of the Devas (literally, "shining ones").

He knew that only a few of these devas had entirely eliminated the fetters of ill-will and aversion and fear, even though they were far above petty and selfish quarrels. So by magic power he transferred himself from Earth to that nearby celestial realm. He was lucky enough to arrive at a time when Sakka the divine king was absent.

There was none in the large audience hall, and soon the demon seated himself on Sakka's empty throne, waiting quietly for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a tasty feast.

Soon some of the devas came to the hall. First they could hardly believe their divine eyes when they saw the ugly demon sitting on the throne, squat and grinning. Having recovered from their shock, they started to shout and lament: "Oh, ugly demon, how can you dare sit on the throne of our king? What gall! What disrespect! What a crime! You should be thrown headlong into some hell, straight into a boiling cauldron of oil! You should be quartered alive! Get out! Get out!"
 
While the devas grew more and more angry and incensed, the demon was pleased: From moment to moment he grew in size, in strength, and in power -- gorging on their hate. The anger he absorbed into his system started to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist. And this evil aura kept the devas at a distance, and due to their own anger, their own natural radiance dimmed.
 
Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall, and it grew into a dazzling light from which Sakka, the King of Devas, emerged. As a stream enterer (one entered upon the first stage of enlightenment), the undeflectible stream that leads to nirvana, was unshaken by what he saw.

The smoke-screen created by the devas' anger parted when Sakka slowly and politely approached the demon on his throne. "Welcome, friend! Please, stay seated. I can use another seat. May I offer you a drink of hospitality? Our Amrita nectar is good. Or do you prefer a stronger brew, some Soma perhaps?"
 
While Sakka spoke these kind and friendly words, the demon rapidly began to shrink to a diminutive size and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of malodorous smoke which soon dissolved.

The New Hate (Goldwag)

The gist of this story dates back to the discourses of the Buddha. But even now over 2,600 years later, our world looks as if large hordes of Anger-Eating Demons were haunting it. And we are keeping them well nourished all over the Earth. Fires of hatred, greed, delusion, intolerance, and wide-traveling waves of violence threaten to engulf humankind. 

The grass roots of society are poisoned by conflict and discord, manifesting in angry thoughts and words and in violent deeds. There was a time to end our self-destructive slavery to our habitual impulses of hate and aggression. They better serve demonic forces than us.

The story reveals how these demons of hate can be exorcised -- not by more hate but by the power of gentleness and love, compassion and equanimity. If this power of loving-kindness can be developed and displayed at a grass-root level, in the widely spread net of our personal relationships, nations at large, and world at large, we will all be benefited by it.

• Israel/CIA won't stop killing indigenous Palestinians
• A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Yunnan, China, kills at least 589 people and injures more than 2,400 others. 
• U.S. launches new airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq 
• Israel fighting resumes on Gaza after truce ends; 10-year-pld Palestinian child murdered 
• W.H.O. declares Ebola outbreak a global public health emergency
• U.S. Sec'y of State Kerry seeks resolution to fixed Afghan election 
• Report: German firm helped Bahrain spy on pro-democracy activists  
• Obama signs bill to address VA healthcare crisis
• Argentina seeks to sue U.S. at The Hague over debt dispute
• Uri Avnery on Gaza crisis, his time in a Zionist "terrorist group," becoming a peace activist

Understanding Maitreya Buddha

CC Liu, Maya, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; Bhikkhu Bodhi (BAUS) ASK MAYA

Question: Recently K.K. Shrivastava contacted Wisdom Quarterly with an appetizing offer, asking if we would be willing to probe his claim about Maitreya Buddha. That would having go through 20 pages of text containing plainly written and easily verifiable facts supporting his mysterious contention.

• The Buddha's "Second Coming" (Maitreya)

Answer: We would love to, particularly because the future Buddha is widely misunderstood and been made much of and possibly distorted in the service of a universalist-Buddhist message, a "greater vehicle" (maha yana) for all to cross over on going from this painful and fraught samsara to that secure and joyful nirvana -- without perceiving any duality (because of Hindu-Advaita influence on this school) in the process.

Gandhara Maitreya Buddha (asianart.org)

Dear K.K. Shrivastava, please send us (or help us locate) your scholarship, and you can start with the abstract or brief summary. 

While we wait -- and while others realize the dual offer is also open to them to write for Wisdom Quarterly or ask us any question -- we should explore the original story of Maitreya/Metteyya ("friend," from the Sanskrit maitri/Pali metta, a proper name referring to loving-kindness, loving-friendliness, altruistic help).

Because the historical Buddha had mentioned 24 supremely enlightened teaching buddhas in the past, and many other nonteaching (pacceka) buddhas

 

Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas

Bhikkhu Bodhi

I. Competing Buddhist Ideals The arhat ideal [enlightenment for all] and the bodhisattva ideal [enlightenment for none as everybody is already enlightened, and everyone should become a martyr and messianic/maitreyanic "savior" saving an infinite number of living beings first] are often considered the respective guiding ideals of [a simplistic understanding of] Theravāda Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism.

This assumption is not entirely correct, for the Theravāda tradition has absorbed the bodhisattva ideal [and many Mahayanists in the past and now would indeed strive for the stages of enlightenment] into its framework and thus recognizes the validity of both arhatship and buddhahood as objects of aspiration.

It would therefore be more accurate to say that the arhat ideal and the bodhisattva ideal are the respective guiding ideals of Early Buddhism [Sarvastivada and the Hinayana schools, of which Theravada is not one but gets called one because of its age and its keeping with early ideals and teachings] and Mahāyāna Buddhism.

"Early Buddhism" is not the same thing as Theravāda Buddhism that exists in the countries of South and Southeast Asia. It refers to the type of Buddhism embodied in the archaic Nikāyas [collection, division, volume, assemblages of sacred texts] of Theravāda Buddhism and in the corresponding texts of other schools of Indian Buddhism that did not survive the general destruction of Buddhism in India.
 
It is important to recognize that these ideals, in the forms that they have come down to us, originate from different bodies of literature stemming from different periods in the historical development of Buddhism.

If we fail to take this fact into account and simply compare these two ideals as described in Buddhist canonical texts, we might assume that the two were originally expounded by the historical Buddha himself. Then we might suppose that the Buddha -- living and teaching in the Gangetic plain in the fifth century B.C. -- offered his followers a choice between them, as if to say: "This is the arhat ideal, which has such and such features, and that is the bodhisattva ideal, which has such and such features. Choose whichever one you like."

• There is also a third model of Buddhist spiritual life, that of the pacceka-buddha (Sanskrit pratyeka), which is similar in many respects to the disciple arhat, except that the disciple arhat attains enlightenment under the guidance of a teaching buddha, and other gains enlightenment without any outside guidance [after an incredibly long time and a great deal of effort and uncertainty with no ability to teach the Path to others]. Otherwise, the combination of qualities that constitute this type is essentially the same. In the literature of the Buddhist systems, we often read of three types of fully enlightened ones -- disciples ("hearers," Pali sāvakas), nonteaching (pacceka) buddhas, and supremely or perfectly enlightened teachers (sammā sam buddhas, Sanstrit śrāvakas, pratyeka-buddhas, and samyak sam buddhas). And of the three vehicles (yānas) that lead to these attainments.

The Mahāyāna sūtras, such as the "Great Perfection of Wisdom" (Mahā Prajñā-Pāramitā Sūtra) and the Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra), give the impression that the Buddha did teach both ideals. Such sūtras, however, are certainly not archaic. To the contrary, they are relatively late attempts to schematize the different types of Buddhist practice that had evolved over a period of roughly 400 years after the Buddha's final nirvāṇa.
 
The most archaic Buddhist texts -- the Pali [an exclusively Buddhist language] Nikāyas and their counterparts from other early schools (some of which have been preserved in the Chinese Āgamas and the Tibetan Kanjur) -- depict the ideal for the Buddhist disciple as the arhat.

The Mahāyāna sūtras, composed a few centuries later in a Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, depict the ideal for the Mahāyāna follower as the bodhisattva. Now some people argue that because the arhat is the ideal of Early Buddhism, while the bodhisattva is the ideal of later Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Mahāyāna must be a more advanced or highly developed type of Buddhism, a more ultimate teaching compared to the simpler, more basic teaching of the Nikāyas.

That is indeed an attitude common among [average or unlearned] Mahāyānists, which I will call "Mahāyāna elitism." An opposing attitude common among conservative advocates of the Nikāyas rejects all later developments in the history of Buddhist thought as deviation and distortion, a fall away from the "pristine purity" of the ancient teaching. I call this attitude "Nikāya purism."
 
Taking the arhat ideal alone as valid, Nikāya purists reject the bodhisattva ideal, sometimes forcefully and even aggressively.
 
I have been seeking a point of view that can do justice to both perspectives, that of the Nikāyas and the early Mahāyāna sūtras, a point of view that can accommodate their respective strengths without falling into a soft and easy syncretism, without blotting out conceptual dissonances between them, without abandoning faithfulness to the historical records -- yet one which also recognizes that these records are by no means crystal clear and are unlikely to be free of bias.

This task is difficult. It is much simpler to adopt either a standpoint of "Nikāya purism" or one of "Mahāyāna elitism" and hold to it without flinching. The problem with these two standpoints, however, is that both are obliged to neglect facts that are discomforting to their respective points of view.
 

Although I am ordained as [an American] Theravāda Buddhist monk, in this paper I am not going to be defending the opinions of any particular school of Buddhism or trying to uphold a sectarian point of view. For six years, I have lived in Chinese Mahāyāna monasteries, and my understanding of Buddhism has been particularly enriched by my contact with the teachings of the Chinese scholar-monk Master Yinshun (1906-2005) and his most senior living pupil, Master Renjun, the founder of Bodhi Monastery in New Jersey. My first purpose is to draw out from the texts what the texts say explicitly, and also what they imply, about these two competing ideals of the Buddhist life. More

Connected Discourses of the Buddha (sutras)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (librarum.org); Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; edited book description

The golden Buddha, a forest-tradition itinerant teacher and wandering ascetic from India and Afghanistan shown here in modern Theravada Thailand (Nippon_Newfie/flickr.com)

  

FREE: Read the sutras (full text)

This volume offers a complete translation of The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya), the third of the four great collections in the Sutra Collection (Sutta Pitaka) of the Pali Canon.

It consists of 56 short chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha's discourses into sets. The chapters are organized into five major parts.

The first, "The Book with Verses," is a compilation of sutras composed largely in verse. This book ranks as one of the most inspiring compilations in the Buddhist canon, showing the Buddha as the peerless "teacher of devas and humans."

Bringing Buddhism out of the clouds (HK)

The other four books deal in depth with the principles and meditative structures of early Buddhism. They are compiled in orderly chapters of important short sutras of the Buddha on such major topics as:

• Dependent Origination (how all things other than nirvana arise only in dependence on causes and conditions), 
• the Five Aggregates of Clinging (the four groups of physical phenomena lumped as one, "form," and the four psychological groups of phenomena -- "feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness" -- that give rise to the illusory ego, repeated rebirth, and all forms of disappointment/suffering),
• the Six Sense Bases (the five ordinary physical senses in addition to the mind),
• the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (the constituents developed immediately preceding awakening),
• the Noble Eightfold Path (a summary list of the limbs of the Middle Way pointed out by the Buddha), and
• the Four Noble Truths (the shortest possible summary of all Buddhist teachings as a path to liberation and complete freedom from all suffering).

Buddha, Sukhothai, Thailand

Among the four large divisions (nikayas) belonging to the Pali Canon, the Samyutta Nikaya ("Collection of Connected Discourses") serves as the repository for the many shorter sutras of the Buddha, where he discloses radical insights into the nature of reality and this unique Buddhist path to spiritual emancipation.

This collection was directed at all disciples but is of particular interest to intensive monastic practitioners capable of dedicating the effort to grasp the deepest dimensions of wisdom and compassion and of clarifying them for others.

Bhikkhu Bodhi (bodhimonastery.org)

Moreover, it provides guidance to meditators intent on consummating their efforts with the direct realization of the ultimate truth.

The present translation begins with an insightful general introduction to the collection a whole. Each of the five parts is provided with an introduction intended to guide readers through this vast collection of short Buddhist sutras.

To further assist readers the translator -- the eminent American scholar-monk, Bhikkhu Bodhi, the principal teacher of Wisdom Quarterly writers and translators -- has provided an extensive body of notes clarifying various problems concerning both the language and the meaning of these sacred texts.

Wheel of the Dharma above (NN)

Distinguished by its lucidity and technical precision, this new translation makes this ancient collection of the Buddha's discourses comprehensible to thoughtful readers today. Like its two predecessors in this series, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha is sure to merit a place of honor in the library of every serious student of Buddhism. The Connected Discourses

• Amazon: The Connected Discourses of the Buddha — a New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya
• Massive 2,600-year-old Buddhist temple complex found

A silly SEX article (and sutra)

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Jessica Wakeman (TheFrisky, Feb. 18, 2014)

All of a sudden this [Valentine's Day] weekend, a bunch of friends began passing around the same Business Insider article on Facebook, called “A Beautiful House in Brooklyn is Secretly Being Used for Upscale Sex Parties” by Megan Rose Dickey.

 

Uh oh, I thought, having only read the headline. I immediately knew which house and which parties were being talked about. Some secret! But what exactly does the writer mean, “beautiful” house being used for “upscale” sex parties?

 

Sexy? (thefrisky.com)

Look. I’m a writer. I get the way this author is trying to tell the story: Readers might think things are ONE WAY, but really they are a completely different way! Whoa! Mind blown?! 

It’s a common narrative device (e.g., “Dick Cheney Bottle Feeds Sick Kittens!”) that operates on an assumption most people share (i.e., Dick Cheney is not a nice person). 

 

My issue with the Business Insider piece is the specific assumptions the writer makes. Given how frequently I write about sex, I’m well aware of the sorts of attitudes some people have towards sex-positive folks.

 

Why Charlie quit "50 Shades of Grey"

They usually range from “You’re going to get STDs, sluts!” to “Ewww, why do you have to shove your sexuality in my FACE (but do you maybe want to have cyber-sex later)?” More

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• POLL: Should California be divided into 6 states?
• Why does Julianne Hough want to be single for a year?
• Catholic Archbishop Mahony kept altar boy list from police

SUTRA: The Conch Trumpet: Illicit Sex

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Thanissaro (trans.) (SN 42.8)

I swear, I didn't know this person was married! Ugh, get away from me!

 

I'm trying to stop. But my mind pulls me back.

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Nalanda in Pavarika Mango Grove.

Then the headman Asibandhakaputta, a disciple of the Niganthas [Jains], arrived, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. The Blessed One addressed him: "Headman, how does the Nigantha Nataputta [Mahavira, the founder of Jainism] teach dharma to his disciples?"
 
"Venerable sir, the Nigantha Nataputta teaches dharma to his disciples in this way: 'All who take life are destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell. All who steal... All who indulge in illicit sex... All who speak falsely* [see the Five Precepts] are destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell. Whatever one keeps doing frequently, by that is one led [to a state of rebirth].' That is how he teaches dharma to his disciples."
 

My church is fine with gay rape pederasty.

"If it is true that 'Whatever one keeps doing frequently, by that is one led [to a state of rebirth],' then no one is destined for a state of deprivation or destined for hell in line with the Nigantha Nataputta's words. What do you think, headman? If a person is one who... indulges in illicit sex, then taking into consideration time spent doing and not doing, whether by day or night, which time is more, the time spent indulging in illicit sex or the time not spent indulging in illicit sex?"

"...The time spent not... indulging in illicit sex is certainly more. If it is true that 'Whatever one keeps doing frequently, by that is one led [to a state of rebirth],' then no one is destined for a state of deprivation or destined for hell in line with the Nigantha Nataputta's words."...
 
"Headman, there is a case where a certain teacher holds this doctrine, holds this view: 'All who take life are destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell. All who steal... All who indulge in illicit sex... All who speak falsely are destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell.' A disciple has faith in that teacher, and the thought occurs, 'Our teacher holds this doctrine, holds this view: "All who [do these things] are destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell." There are living beings I have killed. I, too, am destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell.' One clings to that view. If one does not abandon that doctrine, does not abandon that state of mind, does not relinquish that [wrong] view, then just as if one were to be carried off and placed there, one will be [reborn] in hell.
 

"My body, my rules"! I'm naked and loving it!

"[The thought occurs,] 'Our teacher holds this doctrine, holds this view: 'All who steal... All who indulge in illicit sex... All who speak falsely are destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell.' There are [such actions] I have done. I, too, am destined for a state of deprivation, destined for hell.' One cling to that view....
 
"There is the case, headman, where a Wayfarer (Tathagata) appears in the world, worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge and [proper] conduct, well-gone, a knower of the universe, unexcelled trainer of those to be tamed, teacher of human beings and devas, enlightened, blessed. He in various ways criticizes and censures [unwholesome karma] and says, 'Abstain from [it].'...
 
"A disciple has faith in that teacher and reflects: 'The Blessed One in a variety of ways criticizes and censures [unwholesome karma like indulging in illicit sex] and says, "Abstain from [it]." There are living beings I have [harmed], to a greater or lesser extent. That was not right. That was not good. But if I become remorseful for that reason, that unskillful deed of mine will not [thereby] be undone.' So, reflecting in this way, a disciple abandons right then [such unprofitable actions, such unskillful karma] and in the future refrains from [it]. This is how there comes to be the abandoning of that harmful action (karma). This is how there comes to be the transcending of that harmful action. ...

• *UNSKILLFUL DEEDS: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct. FALSE SPEECH (unskillful verbal actions): perjury, divisive speech, harsh speech, and idle chatter. UNSKILLFUL MENTAL KARMA: covetousness (greed), ill will (anger, hate), wrong views (delusion).

Buddhism is for museums! What has it to do with me? (Mark Kamermans/pomax/flickr)

  
"A disciple of the noble ones (ariya pugala), headman -- thus devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will, unbewildered, alert, mindful -- keeps pervading first one direction [the east] with loving kindness, likewise the second direction, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. So above, below, and all around, everywhere, in all directions, one keeps pervading the all-encompassing universe with an loving kindness -- abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free of hostility, free of ill will.

"Just as a strong conch-trumpet blower can call out in four [cardinal] directions without any difficulty, in the same way, when one finds temporary liberation through loving kindness, it is developed, pursued, and any deed done to a limited extent no longer remains there, no longer stays there [no longer obstructs and hinders one].
 

Buddhism is ancient but ever useful (Boonlieng/flickr)

"That disciple of the noble ones -- devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will, unbewildered, alert, mindful -- keeps pervading first one direction with loving kindness (metta), compassion... appreciation... and equanimity. And likewise the second direction, the third, the fourth. So above, below, and all around, everywhere, in all directions, one keeps pervading the all-encompassing universe with a mind/heart full of loving kindness... compassion... appreciation... and equanimity -- abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free of hostility, free of ill will.

When this was said, the headman Asibandhakaputta, a disciple of the Niganthas, said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, venerable sir, magnificent! It is just as if one were to set upright what was overturned, or to reveal what was hidden, or to point out the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms! In the same way has the Blessed One -- through many lines of reasoning -- made the dharma clear. I go to the Blessed One for guidance, to the Dharma, and to the enlightened Community [all stream enterers and others destined for certain enlightenment within seven lives, conventionally thought of as the Monastic Order, the noble Sangha]. May the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone for guidance from this day forward for life!"

• See MN 21; MN 101; SN 42.9; AN 3.33; AN 3.65; AN 3.99

KARMA: BUDDHISM vs. JAINISM

*Jains (Niganthas), like Buddhists, teach a doctrine of karma -- the moral consequences of actions. But the teachings of the two traditions differ in many important details. This sutra points out two of the major differences. The Buddhist teaching is distinctive in its understanding of the complexity of the karmic process, and its application of that understanding to the psychology of teaching is different, too. The Buddha says that a simplistic, fatalistic view of karma is logically inconsistent and leads to unfortunate results for any person who, with a background of bad karma, believes in it/holds this wrong view. The full complexity of karma, however, allows for a way in which past harmful deeds can be overcome: By refraining from unskillful karma now and the future, developing instead expansive mind-states of kindness, compassion, appreciation, and equanimity (the Four "Divine Abidings"). In such a state, the unavoidable consequences of past harmful actions counts for next to nothing. The Buddha also shows how his teaching exceeds that of the Jains in that it actually helps free the mind/heart from debilitating feelings of guilt and remorse and leads to the overcoming of past karma. (See Karma and the Ending of Karma for more details).