Dharma Wheel

It's a nice read. I forgot who said about Pallis - perhaps John Blofeld? - that the Tibetans called him "Mr Tradition" behind his back and found his attitude quite bizarre. That's interesting - and actually doesn't surprise me. The traditionalists do have a tendency to try to "teach&...

Because I need to asses all the differences and concepts for myself before committing!! What is committing exactly, to you? Hm, I think finding what I think is true and then practicing it for life. :smile: Most of us have done that in our teens, after simply accepting what we were taught up until t...

There are instances where ethics and politics have nothing do with each other except in some vague, indirect way. If someone needs help to change a tire on the side of the road, I will help them because I think it is the right thing to do - we ought be helpful to our fellows. There is no political ...

This isn't a book review but a Wikipedia article about a book which gives even more information about the book. I haven't read the book but it has been recommended to me and certainly looks good from this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_Level_(book) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societi...

Thanks for not posting a link to the pirated edition.


Anyone who wants to ask, "But why shouldn't we?" should read this recent thread about it before asking. https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=43530


Kim

I'm not sure how far apart we are on all this. My argument in earlier posts has been that we should, as Buddhists, start with the individual and work outwards to the social and political. You seem to be saying that we must 'tame our mind' completely before considering the movement outwards. If so, ...

One of the most basic things in Buddhism that makes it different from other religions is that the individual working with his or her own mind is at the religion's core. Many or most religions have equivalents of "do only virtuous acts, avoid non-virtuous acts" in their foundational belief...

... Tricycle used to limit itself to translations of recognized works and commentaries by established teachers. Either that was not selling enough magazines, or, as I suspect, the editors have an agenda outside Buddhism. :smile: Surely "selling [more] magazines" is "an agenda outside...

...In a representative democracy, presumably the ethics of the citizens are expressed in the laws and regulations through the political process, however that is constitutionally established. :rolleye: I'm sorry, but that's an incredibly idealised view of the situation. In the real world, the legal ...

the Buddha taught four different types of "birth": womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born (maybe the lotus birth?) and spontaneous-born. My understanding is that moisture-born refers to very tiny creatures which suddenly appear in damp environments or shallow water (mosquitoes) but whose caus...

...Thich Nhat Hanh always comes to mind during discussions like these. Trapped between warring Amerikan-imperialist puppets and Russian-backed proxies, he chose a political path that navigated between the two extremes, gaining the respect (and dislike) of both of them. AND he managed to remain thor...

A very good article on Tricycle. Just sharing as it ought to be read widely. https://tricycle.org/magazine/western-buddhism-individualism/?utm_content=buffer49657&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR309T_NJymJJ5vJVG_hGbnwbDM2q1DiqcM4_T2Mwg88U3maJ...

Thank you for the reply. The first part of your last sentence has been my understanding and the context helps. For better or for worse (or both) we find it very hard to think about genderless or gender-neutral humans, and I'm sure that difficulty extends to our conceptualisations of supernatural 'h...

...In terms of ultimate truth, Chenrezig has attained a state that is beyond gender, but his expression from our side is indeed male. Thank you for the reply. The first part of your last sentence has been my understanding and the context helps. For better or for worse (or both) we find it very hard...

Very cool. ... Yes and no. The more recent of the existing studies already relied on computer analysis, so improvements are likely to incremental rather than revolutionary. And AI makes stuff up and doesn't admit to doing so , which I reckon is a fatal flaw in anything purporting to be serious rese...

Grigoris wrote: ↑Sat Feb 10, 2024 7:25 am Happy New Year to all my Dharma brothers and sisters!

I hope it is a good one, though I doubt it! Not pessimistic, realistic!

Happy New Year to all!

Dragon years are always auspicious so let's not give up too easily on this one.


Kim