Tantric sex or exploitation by Tibetan gurus?

I knew and helped cover it up like a Vatican Pope in Rome, but I was 'Pope' of Potala Palace

(Natasha Yehenara) Tantra: Dharma or sexual exploitation?

I'm giving this boy an extra juicy special "transmission." Outsiders wouldn't understand!

He has little boys suck his tongue, but that's culturally allowed or secret tantra?

• Tantra
• Tantric sex
• Vajrasana (yoga)
• Buddhist tantric literature
• Vajrayana
• Esoteric Buddhism
• Tibetan Buddhism

The 'Dark' Side of Theravada Buddhism

(Radici Exposition)

Sasana Flag – Int'l Buddhist Flag in Burma (Buddhism in Myanmar/Wikipedia)

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COMMENTARY

Wisdom Quarterly editors

What the Buddha Never Taught

The "dark" side of Theravada first came to light for us in reading Tim Ward's What the Buddha Never Taught. The problem then was the behavior of Buddhist "novices" (monks-in-training) in Thailand, which is a cultural custom to ordain before being considered ready for marriage in the wildly popular and largely Theravada Buddhist country.

Ward reports that as a samanera (white clad follower of eight or ten precepts), one Westerner had reported that a novice pleasured himself while staring over this sleeping person. We were shocked and mortified that such a thing could happen or be allowed to happen, but this is not the act of a male intending to be a monk until enlightenment or for the rest of his life. These hormonal boys are sent to the monastery for "temporary ordination" as young as 7 and may stay a few days or one rainy season (Rains Retreat). That's how it could happen.

Now, imagine the horror that men (20 and older) who take monastic vows live as wolves among the faithful givers of alms, taking advantage of the generosity of Buddhist supporters but having no aim of enlightenment or even keeping the monastic precepts recited in the patimokkha. That is a shame and a pity and directly the fault of a monastic sangha ("spiritual community") that does not enforce the rules or disciplinary procedures the historical Buddha laid down for the long life of the sangha and the Dhamma (the Teaching that leads to enlightenment in this very life).

The larger problem nowadays is even worse than that and is the real source of widespread corruption, homosexuality, crime, and hypocrisy in the sanghas of the Theravada countries. And that is that so few males want to enter the monastic life for genuine and sincere reasons that these societies have found workarounds: send in males who have no interest in practice but who need support and are willing to at least pretend to be well-behaved monks, teachers, and examples to the rest of society.

This problem has also appeared in Catholic countries all over the world, with overwhelming corruption, sinfulness, and public disaffection. It may be worse in Catholicism, which used to allow its priests to get married until the Vatican found it far more PROFITABLE to ban clergy marriages, which were directing donations to the children of clergy members as inheritance. When the practice of clergy marrying was BANNED, priests just broke the new rule the way they had always been breaking the rule against chastity (avowed celibacy), doing it in secret with child victims, fellow homosexuals, or visiting housewives. It has been more or less an open secret for centuries. So "secret" is it that corruption and homosexuality among cardinals and bishops -- who are priests with more responsibilities -- sets the example for younger "seminarians," which is what s*men-loaded cadets at the Catholic training schools call themselves and what they are called by other fellow gay-active trainees.

A wonderful book exposing the wholesale policy, not aberration, of these practices was published in Italian and has been translated into English. South Park mocked it in a wonderful episode about a good priest from the town going to Rome and finding out it's the norm. It's like that saying about police officers. "Nine out of ten officers make the other one look bad." In other words, the majority of hypocrites make the precious few sincere ones look bad. And the few good ones give cover and respectability to the many wolves in sheep's clothing. But this is not about Catholic corruption, or corruption among Jews, Evangelical Protestants, Western Hare Krishna devotees, or anybody else. This is about the dark and disgusting side of Theravada monastics.

A recent bust of many Sri Lankan novices and monks bringing potent cannabis into Sri Lanka through the international airport has not yet been resolves. Were they simply duped into acting as "mules" (carrying the pot in secret trap doors in their suitcases to benefit the donor who sent them on holiday to Thailand to pick up the massive shipment), or were they in on it and partaking of the intoxicant?

How can a common monk become a "saint"?

The solution is clear but not simple. The sangha as a united body needs to reinstitute the existing procedures on the books for expelling "defeated" monks and wayward "ascetics" for the good of the Buddha's dispensation (Śāsana) and the long life of the uncorrupted Dhamma (Dharma) in the world. It is not so important that one man falls due to greed, hatred/fear, or delusion and becomes a hypocrite, one taking advantage of a monastic career. What is important is that such hypocrites end up taking the whole sangha and eventually the whole Dhamma (Buddhist Teaching) in the world. The Monastic Disciplinary Rules exist in the Vinaya Pitaka, which is one of three massive collections of works on the three distinct divisions of the Pali canon (conventional sutras, monastic discipline, and the Doctrine in ultimate terms: Suttas, Vinaya, Abhidhamma).

• 

  There is still time to be upstanding.

  There comes a time... the Yellow-Necks, "monks" who do not live by the rules but who at least study and learn the Dhamma without much putting it into practice. Are we arrived at that time?
• “In future times, Ānanda, there will be members of this clan who are ‘yellow-necks,’ immoral, of evil character. People will give gifts to those immoral persons for the sake of the Sangha. Even then, I say, an offering made to the Sangha is incalculable, immeasurable. And I say that in no way is a gift to a person individually ever more fruitful than an offering made to the Sangha [as a whole]” (Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅga Sutta, MN 142) dhammawheel.com
• The disparaging term "yellow-necks" comes from, in the future, those defeated (parajika) "monks" wearing not full robes but a yellow, orange, red, or saffron scrap of a robe around their neck or wrist to signify their status as members of the sangha.

[FREE eBook] The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volumes I & II (Thanissaro/AudioBuddha)

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The monastic rules have also been translated into English by the American monk in the Thai Forest Tradition Thanissaro Bhikkhu, an abbot near San Diego, California (watmetta.org).

I tried. You can't please everybody all the time.

Ven. Thanissaro is a cantankerous old monk whom, we were told in Thailand, was driven out of Thailand and back to America due to monastic politics. It seems he served his ailing teacher, who might have left him, a farang ("foreigner"), in charge, but the local Thai monks waiting their turn to ascend in the monastery weren't going to stand for that. This may have made him bitter, but he has suffered from malaria for so long that it is difficult to discern the roots eating at this prodigious but hopelessly idiosyncratic translator of Thai and Pali. But his voice is nice, like a pilot for the big airlines, and people not in the know seem to like his warped take on things. We recommend Bhikkhu Bodhi for classic, well-rounded, and well-supported translations. Tan Jeff is nice enough to explain himself sometimes, but he is sorely lacking in providing the Pali term he is aberrantly translating into his own misleading glossary of terms. Please do better, sir, but thank you for all your work. We have known young men who tried to be monastics at Wat Metta who, finding the abbot insufferable, have left to better pastures, usually the idyllic Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

• Buddhism in Cambodia
• Buddhism in Thailand
• Buddhism in Burma/Myanmar
• Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• Buddhism in Laos
• Buddhism in Southeast Asia
• Buddhist Monastic Code (Vinaya)
• Basic Monastic Precepts (Pāṭimokkha)
• All Buddhist rules for monks in English translation: The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volumes I and II | eBook (dhammatalks.org)
• The Dark Side of Albert Einstein (MSN)
• What the Buddha Never Taught: A 'Behind the Robes' Account of Life in a Thai Forest Monastery by Tim Ward

Buddhism and Dalai Lama on meat eating

(Dalai Lamb) Can Buddhists eat meat? Dalai Lama finally explains

Can Buddhists eat meat?

(Buddha's Wisdom) Can Buddhist eat meat? One bowl, three Buddhisms

• What have we said time and again? Buddhists can do whatever they want. However, killing (or violating any of the other precepts) is not keeping in line with what the Buddha taught.
• "Pig's Delight" (sukaramaddava): truffles, but in the case of the final meal offering, inadvertently poisonous/toxic mushrooms picked in error thinking them truffles, which pigs love
• Rule: A Buddhist monastic is not allowed to eat three kinds of "meat" (slaughtered flesh) -- that of a living being that is seen, heard, or suspected of having been killed for one's sake

Did the Buddha pass away from eating meat or mushrooms or by choice?

The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms like sukara-maddava.

The Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered "pig's delight" (sukaramaddava) which could be slaughtered pork or some kind of mushroom/food pigs delight in that was offered by the blacksmith Cunda, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed a truffle or other mushroom [mistaken to be edible].

These differing translations may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monastics (monks and nuns) [265] as well as laypersons.

Modern scholars disagree on this topic, arguing both for pig's delight, pig's flesh, or some kind of plant or mushroom that pigs delight in eating [z].

Whatever the case, none of the sources that mention the last meal attribute the Buddha's sickness to the meal itself [266]. But it is widely thought that he suffered severe illness from being unable to safely digest to toxic food, which he directed Cunda to dig a hole and bury rather than offering to any other monastic present at the meal.

As per the "Great Final Nirvana Discourse" (Mahaparinibbana Sutta), after the meal with Cunda the blacksmith, the Buddha and his monastic companions continued to walk until he was too weak to continue.

They stopped at Kushinagar (near modern Gorakphur, India), where Ānanda was directed by the Buddha to prepare a resting place of folded robes between two sala trees in a delightful grove [267, 268].

After announcing to the Monastic Sangha (spiritual community) that he would soon be passing away, reclining into final nirvana, the Buddha personally ordained one last novice into the Monastic Order. His name was Subhadda [267].

He then repeated his final exhortations to the Sangha, which was that when he was no longer present to guide them, the Dhamma and Vinaya (Doctrine and Discipline, Teaching and Training) was to be their guide.

Then he asked if anyone had any doubts about the Teachings, but nobody did [269]. The Buddha waited, satisfied that anyone who would have like to speak or ask any final question had the opportunity to do so.

His final words are reported to have been: "All formations (saṅkhāras, fabrications) are hurtling towards destruction. Strive for the goal with diligence (appamāda)." In Pali this is, "vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā" [270, 271].

He then entered the eight jhanas as his final meditation forward and then reversing, as verified by a psychic monk near him, reaching what is known as parinirvana ("final nirvana"). He did not "die," for if he had, he would be reborn as all ordinary being are reborn in accordance with their karma.

Rather than being reborn, "the Five Aggregates of physical and mental phenomena clung to as self that constitute a being cease to occur" [272] just as a fire, having exhausted its substrate of fuel goes out. But what is it that really goes out, a being? No, what goes out completely is ignorance.

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta reports that as his final act, the Buddha performed a final meditation of entering the first four material meditative absorptions (jhanas) consecutively, then the four immaterial absorptions, and finally a meditative dwelling known as "the extinction of feeling and perception" (nirodha-samāpatti), which should not be thought of as a permanent "extinction" since many Buddhist meditation practitioners are able to reach this attainment even now throughout life. It is said that only noble ones (those who have attained the stages of enlightenment) are able to reach it and can do so as often as they like as many times as they like. If it were a permanent extinction, no one would be able to do it a second, third, or thousandth time.

Before returning to the fourth absorption (jhana) right at the moment of passing into final nirvana without remainder [273, 268].

Having traveled and taught, the Buddha took his last meal, a sincere offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. But having eaten it, he fell violently ill. Not wishing that Cunda have remorse or misgivings about his offering, the Buddha instructed his personal attendant Ānanda to tell Cunda something.

The meal offering eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing. Moreover, such an offering was an extraordinary source of merit because it was provided as a last meal for a buddha [262] tantamount to an offering of food to a bodhisatta before his attainment of supreme awakening (buddhahood, arahantship, great-enlightenment).

Bhikkhu Mettanando and Oskar von Hinüber argue that the Buddha passed away due to mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than mushroom food poisoning [263, 264]. More

Buddhist novices busted smuggling weed

Dealer? British beauty busted in Sri Lanka with 101 lbs (46 kg) of kush in her suitcases.

 

Dried flower bud of "kush," potent cannabis

(DW News) Buddhist monks arrested in Sri Lanka for smuggling an s-load of cannabis weed (potent "kush") that would have likely addicted many Sri Lankan youths had they not been caught and stopped at the border, the international airport (BIA) in Colombo.

• (10 News Late) 22 Buddhist monks (novice trainee monastics who have not been fully ordained) arrested at airport in giant drug bust, returning from Bangkok, Thailand (that experimented with legalizing cannabis for recreational use but discovered it was a mistake)
• (NewsX) Buddhist monks novices shock the Theravada Buddhist nation with cannabis smuggling scandal
• (WhyItsTrendingDaily) 22 Buddhist monks trainees just got caught with 242 pounds of potent weed at the airport

First, in defense of these Buddhist monastics, it is important to note that they (most) were not "monks" (bhikkhus) but rather novices (trainees, samaneras) during a probationary period that can last years as they learn and put into practice the Buddhist Monastic Code (Vinaya and Patimokkha).

• Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Second, of all the rules to break, drug dealing cannabis -- as horrific and condemnable as it is -- is not the worst thing they could have done. The four worst things they could have done are "defeat" (parijika) offenses: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying about spiritual attainments. Or they might have committed one of the five heinous acts (anantarika-karma, deeds that bear bitter fruit in the very next life):

1. killing one's mother (matricide)
2. killing one's father (patricide)
3. killing an arhat (arahant, fully enlightened being)
4. Wounding a Tathāgata (a buddha, silent or teaching)
5. Creating a schism in the Monastic Community (Sangha).

We stayed behind in the monastery sweeping.

Third, there are no more excuses or consoling statements to be made. They each had about 5 kilograms or 11 U.S. pounds (110 kg or 242 lbs in total). This is no accident but sounds like a cynical abuse of the high esteem in which monastics are held to smuggle drugs, likely for sale and distribution rather than recreational or medicinal use. Novices (samaneras) have very strict rules to live by, beyond what is expected of all Theravada Buddhists.

Did the "businessman" sponsor put them up to it to gain financially, and will they say they knew nothing about it?

• British woman accused of smuggling drugs into Buddhist Sri Lanka in suitcase
• Woman caught with cannabis in suitcase at airport (AOL)

There are Five Precepts all Theravada lay Buddhists vow to maintain:

1. abstain from killing
2. abstain from stealing
3. abstain from sexual misconduct
4. abstain from lying
5. abstain from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness.

The very minimum precepts for monks-in-training (samaneras or "baby samanas") are the Eight Precepts or Ten Precepts, abstaining from harming, taking what is not given or handling "gold and silver" (money), sex (all erotic activity), lying, intoxicants, eating before dawn or after noon, using high and luxurious seats or beds, dancing, singing, self-beautification, viewing lowbrow entertainments and shows...

If one were to follow the major rules and the minor (etiquette) rules, it would never come to this unless, as we say, they were cynically used by the businessman drug kingpin as "mules" to unknowingly transport drugs into the very uptight and traditional island Buddhist country of Sri Lanka (Ceylon, Serendib) with a sizeable Tamil Hindu population and significant number of Muslims and Christians.

• Sri Lankan monks arrested after 110kg... - Zambia Daily Mail | Facebook

We could be mystics but prefer drugs as shortcut? Micro of the macro: colliders, unity, quantum...

Sri Lanka arrests 22 Buddhist novices allegedly carrying over 110 kilos of cannabis at airport

Vassa: What is Buddhist Rains Retreat?

What is the Buddhist Rainy Season or Rains Retreat (Vassa)? What is the Rains Retreat or "Buddhist Lent"? Understanding the Vassa and Kaṭhina ceremonies

Each year, Theravāda Buddhist monastics all over the world make a determination to stay in a single monastery for a three-month period of the Rainy Season also known as the Vassa, the Rains Retreat. This year it begins July 10th.

One will hear the term “Vassa” often in this article, so please bear it in mind. Traditionally, it starts the day after the Full Moon Day in July or the day after the Āsāḷha full moon as it is known in the Pāḷi language.

If monks move around a lot and one needs to rely on a teacher, one can at least expect monks to stay at a single monastery for a full three months without moving around. Some make determinations to practice harder, while others who already follow a steady practice simply continue their daily routine as usual.

In this article, let's look at the origins of Vassa, the different types, the allowances to leave the Vassa on business or emergencies, if it affects the age of a monastic, and what happens at the end of the Vassa.

The Origins of Vassa

During the Buddha’s time, monastics (samanas or "wandering ascetics") wandered on foot between different monasteries (viharas), forests, groves, and villages. They would wander during all times of the year, even during the period or season of heavy rains. However, laypeople—especially farmers—began to complain:

“How can the Sakyan [Scythian, Saka, Shakyian] monastics go wandering in the winter, in the summer, and even during the rainy season? They’re trampling down the green grass shoots, oppressing one-sensed living being, and destroying many small creatures. Even the monastics of other doctrines (religions), with their flawed (imperfect) teachings, settle down for the rainy season. Even birds make a nest in the top of a tree and settle down for the rainy season. But not so the Sakyan monastics.”

Out of compassion and to match the culture of the time, the Buddha responded with a new instruction: Anujānāmi, bhikkhave, vassaṁ upagantun'ti. “I allow you, monastics, to enter the rains residence.”*

This rule brought the monastics the Rains Retreat period of three months that met the expectations of the lay communities during the time of the Buddha. It now inspires the practice and striving of monastics, as it has for generations, all the way to the present. Moreover, it inspires laypeople in the present.

Two Kinds of Vassa

The Buddha allowed for two entry points into the Rains Residence: Dvemā, bhikkhave, vassūpanāyikā: purimikā ca pacchimikā ca: “There are two entries, the earlier and the later.” Purimikā (First Vassa) begins the day after the Āsāḷha full moon. Pacchimikā (Second Vassa) begins one month later.

Sometimes referred to as “Second Vassa.” This allowance for two Vassas shows the Buddha’s practical wisdom and compassion because not everything goes right the first time, as will be discussed later. It should be noted that the determination to stay in one monastery for three months is actually the day after the full moon day. This is when the new month starts.

Although most monasteries have the Vassa ceremony on the full moon day and it is a time for a large gathering, that is just for laypeople because they have that day off. Monastics really make the official determination the next day. Most of laypeople will probably never know it really happens on the next day.

Leaving during Vassa: seven-day business rule

Monastics are expected to remain in their Vassa location for the full three months. However, issues may come up where a monastic needs to leave. The Buddha allowed what is called, Sattāhakaraṇīya or “seven-day business.” Some of the many valid reasons include: More

• Bhante Subhuti (US student of Pa Auk Sayadaw), American Monk.org, July 10, 2025; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Living with Tibetan monks in Himalayas

Definition of monastery? #SangayNyinparinpocohe

Is it like the Sanskrit word ashram, "a place of effort" for sramanas?

Day in the Life of a Tibetan monk

Tibetan prayer flags in the Himalayan breeze

Hey, what's the difference, Buddhism is Buddhism, right? No. The differences are so vast that they make one form or school nearly unrecognizable from another. There are at least three or four Buddhisms, but many more when culture is factored in. This website is partial to "orthodox" Early Buddhism, the many forms of Theravada (particularly Burmese, Sinhalese, and Thai).

But there's no denying the extreme value of the "reformed" Mahayana schools, with their mix of Hinduism, Taoism, and indigenous shamanism. One should parse what is missionary Buddhism from what practices and beliefs were present before Buddhism arrived and not confuse the Dharma (the Buddha's Teaching) with many other beliefs. The bathwater was not thrown out just because the baby arrived. There are throughlines for all forms of Buddhism no matter how far afield they travel.

Note that Theravada ("Teaching of the Elders") only represents 10% of the Buddhist experience in the world, whereas Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") is a big tent with many disparate members that would not really go together but do because everyone accepts the mainstream by default and some even prefer it.

What's the difference? Would YOU prefer a Buddhism centered on Amitabha, a "Cosmic Buddha" of Infinite Light, or a Queen of Heaven who is the Goddess of Compassion Virg Yin Guanyin -- or a lackluster tradition about an actual historical human guy named Siddhartha Gautama who mostly refuses to do magic and prefers the "miracle of instruction" over the other more flashy miracles?

We think the answer is clear. But people on this planet, by and large, will stick with whatever they were born with. Right, Catholic readers? Lol. We were Catholic, we were Christian, we were Jewish, we were atheists, we love (animistic) shamanism, and now we fancy ourselves lapsed agnostics (like Monty Python said).

So one way the Dhamma (Pali) came to be practiced was the post-Brahmin version that went north. Technically, it is a Mahayana school, but it is actually Himalayan Vajrayana (as distinct from the related Mongolian, Russian, and Siberian versions), where -yana means "vehicle." Let us take a peek at a lama's life in a form of Buddhism so influenced by Bon shamanism that it is all about ritual, black magic, and a whole lot of Hinduism by another name.

(One may ask how Tibetan Vajrayana survived and came to be so widely known. The CIA and the American Empire, at odds with the Chinese Empire, had a lot to do with that). Which Buddhism is the "right" Buddhism? Viva la difference.

Tibetan Monk: A Day in the Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk | Tibet Travel

Tibet Travel (Tibet Vista) What is the daily life of a Tibetan monk or lama? This is one of the most intriguing aspects when we talk about the Tibetan plateau, now a quarter of China's total territory. Learn more at tibettravel.org.

This video lets us have a glimpse of what a monk’s daily life is like in Tibet, which is shown as we followed a head monk, who lives in the Jhoden Monastery, about three hours driving east of the Tibetan (formerly imperial) capital Lhasa.

Follow-up on monk's daily life: The Daily Life of a Monk (2): Gift

He leads a fairly peaceful and simple life. His daily schedule consists of morning Buddha offering (puja), meditation (bhavana), praying for the peace and a good harvest for the villages around his monastery, and night chanting (paritta).

Buddhist monastics are living a happy and simple, but it’s not easy. They need to keep pursuing their Buddhist practices, studies, and praying for the blessings of the Goddess of Mercy Kannon (Kwan Yin, Guanyin, Avalokita).

From the early morning to the late night, see how he will enjoy the day. Hoping all will enjoy the video and let us know what you think. 

Subscribe to channel: bit.ly/2UzibQD. Website: tibettravel.org. Social media: tibettravel.org/tibetan-c.... Facebook/tibettravelorg. IG: tibettravelorg #tibet #monk #tibetanmonk #monastery #dailylife #lhasa

• Tibet Travel (Tibet Vista), July 22, 2020; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Day in life of a Western Buddhist monk

A Day in the Life of a Buddhist Monk: full of great self-isolation techniques

(TrueTube) Say hello to Venerable Manapo (the "Likeable One"). He’s a Westerner and a Theravada Buddhist monk. TrueTube followed him around with a camera to find out what he does all day.

American hermit gains no samadhi or insight

This is a film by Jonathan Green. Check out the Vimeo page: vimeo.com/mrjonathangreen. For more free videos and resources, visit: truetube.co.uk. Subscribe to TrueTube's channel: @truetube5717. Facebook: truetube. Twitter: truetube. Instagram: truetube.

• TrueTube, March 26, 2020; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha: Progress of the Disciple

German born author Ven. Nyanatiloka

The Buddha taught not sudden enlightenment (satori) but gradual development of the Noble (Ennobling) Eightfold Path to bodhi:

In many discourses or sutras there occurs an identical passage that outlines the gradual course of development in the progress of the disciple. There it is shown how this development takes place gradually, in conformity with natural laws or fixed regularities of the universe, from the very first hearing of the Dharma (the Enlightened One's Doctrine), to germinating confidence/faith (saddha) and dim comprehension, up to the final realization (bodhi) of liberation (nirvana) from all suffering.

"After hearing the Dharma, one is filled with confidence, and one thinks: 'Full of hindrances is household life, a refuse heap. But the left-home life (of a Buddhist monastic) is like the open air. It is not easy, when one lives at home, to fulfill in all points the rules of the supreme life. How now if I were to cut off hair, put on saffron robes, and go forth from home to the left-home life?'

"And after a short time, having let go of one's possessions, whether they be great or small, having forsaken a circle of relations, small or large, one cuts off hair, puts on saffron robes, and goes forth from home to the left-home life.

Having thus left the world, one fulfills the monastic rules:

1. One abstains and avoids killing living beings, having abandoned cudgel and knife, conscientious, full of sympathy, desiring the welfare of all living beings.
2. One avoids stealing (taking what is not given)...
3. One avoids unchastity...
4. One avoids lying...
5. One avoids tale-bearing...
6. One avoids harsh speech...
7. One avoids idle chitchat.
8. One abstains from destroying vegetal seeds and plants.
9. One eats only at one time of day [after dawn but before noon].
10. One keeps aloof from dance, song, music, and visiting unseemly shows.
11. One rejects floral adornments, perfumes, ointments, as well as any other kind of embellishments. 
12. One avoids using high and luxurious beds and seats.
13. One avoids accepting gold and silver...
14. One keeps aloof from buying and selling....
15. One contents oneself with the robe that protects one's body and with the alms bowl with which one keeps oneself alive: Wherever one goes, one is provided with these two things, just as a winged bird in flying carries along its two wings.

"By fulfilling this noble domain of virtue (sīla) one feels in one's heart an irreproachable happiness."

In what follows thereafter it is shown how the disciple watches over the five senses and the mind and by this noble restraint of the senses (indriya-samvara) feels at heart an unblemished happiness.

It is shown how in all one's actions one is ever mindful and clearly conscious and how, being equipped with this lofty virtue and with this noble restraint of the senses, and with mindfulness and clear comprehension (sati-sampajañña), one chooses a secluded dwelling.

Freeing the mind from the Five Hindrances (nīvarana), one reaches full absorption (samādhi).

Thereafter, by developing insight (vipassanā, lit. "clear seeing") with regard to the radical

1. impermanence (anicca),
2. disappointment (dukkha), and
3. impersonal (anattā) nature of all phenomena of existence [summarized as the Five Aggregates clung to as self],

one finally realizes liberation from all cankers and defilements, and this certainty and assurance arises:

"Forever is liberation achieved,

This is the last time I am reborn,

No new rebirth awaits me."

Cf. D.1, 2f; M. 27, 38, 51, 60, 76; A. IV, 198; X, 99: Pug. 239, etc.

• Ven. Nyanatiloka (Anton Gueth), Buddhist Dictionary, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Jordan Peterson: Gender, Patriarchy, Left

Jordan Peterson on Gender, Patriarchy, and the Slide Towards Tyranny

(Intelligence Squared) Self-described classic British liberal [and accused right-wing maniac] Canadian Clinical Psychologist and University of Toronto Professor Jordan Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, joins Senior Editor at The Economist and Head of Economist Radio Anne McElvoy to discuss gender, identity politics, political correctness, liberalism, conservatism, and the #MeToo movement.

Leftist feminists or corporatist careerists?

Brilliant minds, debate, online, asking questions and getting answers. Try Intelligence Squared +: intelligencesquared.com/p... What is Intelligence Squared +?

ABOUT: Intelligence Squared+ brings live, interactive events online every week. Viewers can ask questions to speakers, vote in live polls, and interact with other members of the audience. Subscription gives access to multiple events, live and on-demand, featuring the world’s top thinkers and opinion formers. #MeToo

Blind to white privilege, implicit bias, sexism?

Deluded that we are a fair meritocracy with mistakes?

• Guest Dr. Jordan Peterson, Hostess Anne McElvoy, Intelligence Squared (UK), May 24, 2018; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Breastfeeding in Islam: Muslim rules

SUTRA: The Danger of Waves (AN 4.122)

Danger? Olympic surfing in Surf City USA (Huntington Beach, OC) (NBC Olympics)

• 

  Surf the Seine River by the Eiffel Tower, Paris

  Surfers, is there any greater danger than waves? Yes, according to the Buddha, there are crocs, whirlpools, and sharks, too. He recognized these dangers as symbolic for a monastic, a Buddhist monk or nun who leaves the low life of the ordinary uninstructed worldling for the high life of the path and precepts, wandering asceticism he used in his awakening to the complete freedom of nirvana. There are dangers to anyone who would escape the simulation, this samsara, the Wheel of Life, Death, and thus far unbounded suffering.
• Olympic Surfing: Paris 2024 event guide, athletes, how to watch, daily schedule | NBC Olympics

Numerical Discourses (AN 4.122, 13. Fears), "The Danger of Waves")

ALERT: Big surf good, tsunami bad (Japan).

“Meditators, anyone who enters the water should anticipate [these] four dangers. What are the four? The dangers of waves, crocodiles, whirlpools, and sharks.

“These are the four dangers that anyone who enters the water should anticipate.

“In the same way, a person gone forth from the lay life to the left home life in this teaching and training (Dhamma-Vinaya) should anticipate four dangers. What are the four? The dangers of waves, crocodiles, whirlpools, and sharks.

What leviathans or nagas roam the seas?

“What, meditators, is the danger of waves? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence [saddha, faith in the enlightenment of the Buddha, the enlightening power of the Dharma, and the enlightenment of disciples in the Noble Sangha] from the lay life to the left home life, thinking:

“‘I’m swamped [flooded, overtaken, overwhelmed] by rebirth, old age, and death, by sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. I am swamped by disappointment [dukkha, unsatisfactoriness, ill, woe, suffering, mired in it].

“I hope I can find an [escape, a way out, an] end to this entire mass of suffering.’

The waves inside our heads: tsunamis

“When such a person has gone forth, one’s spiritual companions advise and instruct one: ‘Go out like this, and come back like that. Look ahead like this, and to the side like that. Contract the limbs like this, and extend them like that. This is how to wear the cloak, alms bowl, and monastic robes.’

“Such a person thinks, ‘Formerly, as a lay person, I advised and instructed others. Now these monastics — who I might think were my own children or grandchildren — imagine they can advise and instruct me!’ Angry and upset, one quits the training and returns to the lower life [of a layperson]. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to a lesser life for fear of the danger of waves. ‘Danger of waves’ is a term for anger and distress. This is called the danger of waves.

Crocodilian gharials with gaping mouths await.

“What, meditators, is the danger of crocodiles? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence from the lay life to the left home life… When one has gone forth, that person’s spiritual companions advise and instruct: ‘Eat, consume, drink, and taste these things, but not those. Eat what is allowable, but not what is disallowed. Eat at the right time [between dawn and noon], but not at the wrong time.’

“One thinks, ‘Formerly, as a layperson, I used to eat, consume, drink, and taste what I wanted, not what I did not want. I ate and drank both allowable and disallowed things, at the right time and the wrong time. These faithful householders give me delicious fresh and cooked food at the wrong time of day. But these other monastics imagine they can gag my mouth!’ Angry and upset, one quits the training and returns to the lower life. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to a lower life for fear of the danger of crocodiles. ‘Danger of crocodiles’ is a term for gluttony. This is called the danger of crocodiles.

Who fear the reptilian dragon crocs? 15 terrifying creatures still roaming the sea

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Be careful or be sucked in insidiously.

“What, meditators, is the danger of whirlpools? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence from the lay life to the left home life… When one has gone forth, one puts on robes in the morning and, taking alms bowl and cloak, enters a village or town for alms without guarding body, speech, and mind, without first establishing mindfulness, without restraining the sense faculties.

“There one sees householders or children amusing themselves, supplied and provided with the five kinds of sense strands of pleasure. One thinks, ‘Formerly, as a layperson, I amused myself, supplied and provided with the five sense strands of pleasure. And it is true that my family is wealthy. I can both enjoy my wealth and make merit. Why do I not quit the training and return to the lower life so I can enjoy my wealth and make merit?’

“One quits the training and returns to the lower life. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to the lower life for fear of the danger of whirlpools. ‘Danger of whirlpools’ is a term for the five sense strands of pleasure. This is called the danger of whirlpools.

Sharks represent the sex we find attractive.

“What, meditators, is the danger of sharks? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence from the lay life to the left-home life…

“When one has gone forth, one puts on robes in the morning and, taking alms bowl and cloak, enters a village or town for alms without guarding body, speech, and mind, without establishing mindfulness, and without restraining the sense faculties.

Get back! Get away! I'm leading a pure life!

“There one sees a female scantily clad, with revealing clothes. Lust infects his mind, so he quits the training and returns to the lower life. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to a lower life because one is afraid of the danger of sharks. ‘Danger of sharks’ is a term for [objects of lust, whether females or males, from the point of view of monks and nuns]. This is called the danger of sharks.

“These are the four dangers that a person gone forth from the lay life to the left home life in this teaching and training (Doctrine and Discipline) should anticipate.”

• Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), AN 4.122: Ūmibhaya Sutta—"The Danger of Waves" (suttacentral.net) edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly