What about the paṇḍaka variant from the Pāli commentaries who is only a paṇḍaka when the moon is waning, pakkhapaṇḍaka? Where does this tradition of paṇḍaka-variant classification come from?Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:12 pmThere are five kinds of paṇḍakas; intersexed people, impotent men, homosexuals, eunuchs, and men who can only become aroused by watching others engaged in sexual intercourse.
The Lotus Sūtra states, in chapter 14 (chapter 13 in the Sanskrit and Tibetan recensions):
na ca paṇḍakasya dharmaṃ deśayati, na ca tena sārdhaṃ saṃstavaṃ karoti
Do not teach Dharma to paṇḍakas, nor should one associate with them.
It says also:
strīpaṇḍakāśca ye sattvāḥ saṃstavaṃ tairvivarjayet|
Avoid associating with female and paṇḍaka sentient beings.
I've been so wrong/pure lands
- Caoimhghín
- Posts: 3419
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Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
And female sentient beings..... Oh man....... The road to Buddhahood is going to be very very long.
Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:12 pmThere are five kinds of paṇḍakas; intersexed people, impotent men, homosexuals, eunuchs, and men who can only become aroused by watching others engaged in sexual intercourse.
The Lotus Sūtra states, in chapter 14 (chapter 13 in the Sanskrit and Tibetan recensions):
na ca paṇḍakasya dharmaṃ deśayati, na ca tena sārdhaṃ saṃstavaṃ karoti
Do not teach Dharma to paṇḍakas, nor should one associate with them.
It says also:
strīpaṇḍakāśca ye sattvāḥ saṃstavaṃ tairvivarjayet|
Avoid associating with female and paṇḍaka sentient beings.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
I am familiar with the pali commentaries around the vinaya to some extent and I don't remember this.
Pandaka is clearly defined as what Malcolm stated. Nagas are also not suppose to be ordained if I remember it.
Pandaka is clearly defined as what Malcolm stated. Nagas are also not suppose to be ordained if I remember it.
Coëmgenu wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:13 pmWhat about the paṇḍaka variant from the Pāli commentaries who is only a paṇḍaka when the moon is waning, pakkhapaṇḍaka? Where does this tradition of paṇḍaka-variant classification come from?Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:12 pmThere are five kinds of paṇḍakas; intersexed people, impotent men, homosexuals, eunuchs, and men who can only become aroused by watching others engaged in sexual intercourse.
The Lotus Sūtra states, in chapter 14 (chapter 13 in the Sanskrit and Tibetan recensions):
na ca paṇḍakasya dharmaṃ deśayati, na ca tena sārdhaṃ saṃstavaṃ karoti
Do not teach Dharma to paṇḍakas, nor should one associate with them.
It says also:
strīpaṇḍakāśca ye sattvāḥ saṃstavaṃ tairvivarjayet|
Avoid associating with female and paṇḍaka sentient beings.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
It is a bit strange that bodhisattva mahāsattvas should be enjoined from associating with anyone, since presumably they are bodhisattvas on the pure stages who have realized patience towards the non-arising of phenomena and can without a second thought offer their eyes or even their heads to those in need. How could such a highly realized being be distracted by anything?
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
You're assuming these are bodhisattvas who have advanced that far.Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:19 pmIt is a bit strange that bodhisattva mahāsattvas should be enjoined from associating with anyone, since presumably they are bodhisattvas on the pure stages who have realized patience towards the non-arising of phenomena and can without a second thought offer their eyes or even their heads to those in need. How could such a highly realized being be distracted by anything?
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
My bad —— a bodhisattva mahāsattva is any bodhisattva on the stages -- but still my point stands, if one is able to offer one's eyes or limbs sentient beings, how could one possibly be distracted on the path since one has now realized emptiness?Queequeg wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:24 pmYou're assuming these are bodhisattvas who have advanced that far.Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:19 pmIt is a bit strange that bodhisattva mahāsattvas should be enjoined from associating with anyone, since presumably they are bodhisattvas on the pure stages who have realized patience towards the non-arising of phenomena and can without a second thought offer their eyes or even their heads to those in need. How could such a highly realized being be distracted by anything?
Last edited by Malcolm on Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Caoimhghín
- Posts: 3419
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:35 pm
- Location: Whitby, Ontario
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
I can only speak to my own experience, but personally, I am rarely surprised when aversion to homosexuals, transexuals, even demographics as innocuous as heterosexual transverstites, creeps into organized religions. Let's face it, most religions are homophobic (etc.), though religions differ in their precise relations with, and often objections to, homosexuality et al., and to simply say that "religions are homophobic (etc. i.e. transphobic & whatnot)" does not acknowledge this difference within religions.
For instance, most Buddhisms are anti-sex, generally and crudely speaking. Most religions are actually, in one way or another, anti-sex, for good reasons or bad (what better way to control people than control their access to sexual pleasure?). Heterosexual sex gets a pass because it is quite literally necessary for the survival of the species and care for the elderly as they age. Homosexual sex is simply an expression of relation between two people, be it predominantly sexual or be it predominantly romantic. In a religion where one is supposed to be shedding attachments to worldly things, other people included, they are not going to look particularly favourably on relationships that are not conceived of as absolutely "necessary".
Obviously this does not apply to all Buddhisms, and different Buddhisms address with friction differently. Renunciant Buddhisms, for instance, IMO are less likely to be open to paṇḍaka etc.
For instance, the same section has a great deal of prohibitions against various manners and settings of/for having interactions with women in.
Ven Zhiyi, in one of his more interesting moments, actually contradicts the Lotus Sutra in his commentary on the Lotus Sutra, and says that the textus receptus is wrong, indirectly. That quote is in Rory's signature.
Last edited by Caoimhghín on Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
These days people call that the Down Low.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
BingoCoëmgenu wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:26 pmI can only speak to my own experience, but personally, I am rarely surprised when aversion to homosexuals, transexuals, even demographics as innocuous as heterosexual transverstites, creeps into organized religions. Let's face it, most religions are homophobic (etc.), though religions differ in their precise relations with, and often objections to, homosexuality et al., and to simply say that "religions are homophobic" does not acknowledge this difference within religions.
For instance, most Buddhisms are anti-sex, generally and crudely speaking. Most religions are actually, in one way or another, anti-sex, for good reasons or bad (what better way to control people than control their access to sexual pleasure?). Heterosexual sex gets a pass because it is quite literally necessary for the survival of the species and care for the elderly as they age. Homosexual sex is simply an expression of relation between two people, be it predominantly sexual or be it predominantly romantic. In a religion where one is supposed to be shedding attachments to worldly things, other people included, they are not going to look particularly favourably on relationships that are not conceived of as absolutely "necessary".
For instance, the same section has a great deal of prohibitions against various manners and settings of/for having interactions with women in.
Ven Zhiyi, in one of his more interesting moments, actually contradicts the Lotus Sutra in his commentary on the Lotus Sutra, and says that the textus receptus is wrong, indirectly. That quote is in Rory's signature.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
What conclusion ought be drawn?Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:25 pmIt is basic to the definition of a bodhisattva mahāsattva.Queequeg wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:24 pmYou're assuming these are bodhisattvas who have advanced that far.Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:19 pm
It is a bit strange that bodhisattva mahāsattvas should be enjoined from associating with anyone, since presumably they are bodhisattvas on the pure stages who have realized patience towards the non-arising of phenomena and can without a second thought offer their eyes or even their heads to those in need. How could such a highly realized being be distracted by anything?
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
It's all just religious writings and we need to relax a bit and not allow texts to get us more lost and confused.
Least we become ISIS.......
Least we become ISIS.......
Practice, Practice, Practice
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
Sometimes its hard to tell, but if issues are posed in a misleading manner, then that tends to the conclusion that its trolling.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
My bad —— a bodhisattva mahāsattva is any bodhisattva on the stages -- but still my point stands, if one is able to offer one's eyes or limbs sentient beings, how could one possibly be distracted on the path since one has now realized emptiness?
The only conclusion I can draw is that these sentiments are reflective of the bias of the person who wrote the text down.
- Losal Samten
- Posts: 1591
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Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
Arya bodhisattvas are those on any bhumi, and mahasattvas are those on the pure bhumis, no?Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:35 pmMy bad —— a bodhisattva mahāsattva is any bodhisattva on the stages -- but still my point stands, if one is able to offer one's eyes or limbs sentient beings, how could one possibly be distracted on the path since one has now realized emptiness?
The only conclusion I can draw is that these sentiments are reflective of the bias of the person who wrote the text down.
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
OK, I found the passage that illarraza was referring to in Chapter 15. It's early on in the chapter in The Threefold Lotus Sutra (Bunno Kato, trans.), on page 239.
This is the chapter that starts with a great earthquake, and the emergence of a multitude of bodhisattva-mahasattvas. Shakyamuni Buddha is greeted as follows:
This looks like a conventional exchange of niceties rather than a doctrinal discussion.
I'm not in a position to evaluate the translation of this passage. Does the English correspond to Kumarajiva's Chinese? to the Sanskrit?
This is the chapter that starts with a great earthquake, and the emergence of a multitude of bodhisattva-mahasattvas. Shakyamuni Buddha is greeted as follows:
I have some other thoughts about this passage that may be appropriate for a different thread. For now, I have two thoughts.Thereupon the four great bodhisattvas spoke thus in verse:
"Is the World-Honored One at ease,
With few ailments and few troubles?
In instructing all the living beings,
Is he free from weariness?
And are all the living
Readily accepting his teaching?
Do they cause the World-honored One
Not to get tired?"
Then the World-honored One, in the great assembly of the bodhisattvas, spoke thus: "Sot it is, so it is, my good sons! The Tathagata is at ease, with few ailments and few troubles. These beings are easy to transform and I am free from weariness. Wherefore? Because all these beings for generations of constantly received my instruction and worshiped and honored the former buddhas, cultivating roots of goodness..."
This looks like a conventional exchange of niceties rather than a doctrinal discussion.
I'm not in a position to evaluate the translation of this passage. Does the English correspond to Kumarajiva's Chinese? to the Sanskrit?
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
I watched a youtube movie about a yogi... not sure where. Maybe Ladakh? Anyway, he remarked, hundreds of thousands of prostrations are easy compared to maintaining single pointed focus. Medals of Honor were given out posthumously on a regular basis in WWI and WWII to men who jumped on grenades to save their fellows. I seriously doubt there were many practicing Buddhists, let alone bodhisattvas among those recipients. I think you have it backwards about the difficulty of maintaining concentration.Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:35 pmMy bad —— a bodhisattva mahāsattva is any bodhisattva on the stages -- but still my point stands, if one is able to offer one's eyes or limbs sentient beings, how could one possibly be distracted on the path since one has now realized emptiness?
The only conclusion I can draw is that these sentiments are reflective of the bias of the person who wrote the text down.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
Yes, it's a tricky needle to thread.
Speaking for myself only, I don't have the capacity to judge the intentions or the minds of others based on their posts to a forum. Maybe others do?
Last edited by DGA on Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
If you have realized emptiness, you have no problem maintaining concentration, the former requires the latter.Queequeg wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:40 pmI watched a youtube movie about a yogi... not sure where. Maybe Ladakh? Anyway, he remarked, hundreds of thousands of prostrations are easy compared to maintaining single pointed focus. Medals of Honor were given out posthumously on a regular basis in WWI and WWII to men who jumped on grenades to save their fellows. I seriously doubt there were many practicing Buddhists, let alone bodhisattvas among those recipients. I think you have it backwards about the difficulty of maintaining concentration.Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:35 pmMy bad —— a bodhisattva mahāsattva is any bodhisattva on the stages -- but still my point stands, if one is able to offer one's eyes or limbs sentient beings, how could one possibly be distracted on the path since one has now realized emptiness?
The only conclusion I can draw is that these sentiments are reflective of the bias of the person who wrote the text down.
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
Illustrating this point, I just recalled the story of Sariputra who was on the verge of Buddhahood in the past such that when a brahmin asked him for his eye, he plucked it out and gave it to him. When the brahmin tossed the eye away in disgust, Sariputra lost his concentration, got angry, and wiped out the stores of good karma. Concentration is hard - that's why even though we've given our lives for family, friends and rulers more times than we can count, we're still here.Queequeg wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:40 pmI watched a youtube movie about a yogi... not sure where. Maybe Ladakh? Anyway, he remarked, hundreds of thousands of prostrations are easy compared to maintaining single pointed focus. Medals of Honor were given out posthumously on a regular basis in WWI and WWII to men who jumped on grenades to save their fellows. I seriously doubt there were many practicing Buddhists, let alone bodhisattvas among those recipients. I think you have it backwards about the difficulty of maintaining concentration.Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:35 pmMy bad —— a bodhisattva mahāsattva is any bodhisattva on the stages -- but still my point stands, if one is able to offer one's eyes or limbs sentient beings, how could one possibly be distracted on the path since one has now realized emptiness?
The only conclusion I can draw is that these sentiments are reflective of the bias of the person who wrote the text down.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: I've been so wrong/pure lands
I didn't want to brag....
Practice, Practice, Practice