…sounds like Zen, might be Zen, but is no Zen? Hidden within the scholastic bodies of ancient Theravadin commentarial literature dwell gems of wisdom taught by ancient Masters of Buddhist meditation. One such beautiful little gem, an allegory, really needs…
…and started something else. I admit – this was just for my amusement. Below you will find a Pali version of the famous Mahayana text the “Heart Sutra” which I attempted to “translate” (back) into Pali. The purpose of this…
What is the difference between a Buddha and an Arahant? Before “deciding” which way to go, let’s hear what the Buddha has to say on this topic: At Savatthi… “Monks, the Tathagata — the worthy one, the fully enlightened one,…
There are a couple of instances in the Pitaka where the Buddha compares our moment-to-moment experience (zoom out and you would call it “life”) with a swift river. In some similes he compares our journey from Samsara to Nibbana as…
Even at the Buddha’s time, insight meditators went through times of doubt regarding their meditation practice. In the following case, one monk thought he might simply ask his fellow monks how they practice and solve his own uncertainty. Unfortunately, they…
This posting, in a way, continues the discussion on whether there can be craving for Nibbana. We concluded that there well can be such a desire, which is more like a motivation for the goal, and the craving for Nibbana…
I just found this very interesting letter by Hans Gruber in the Asian Tribune (June 8, 2007) regarding a controversy around the Venerable Nyanatiloka Mahathera. The observations made by Gruber in the following few lines are very notable. I think…