20
votes
Accepted
Logic of Emptiness still unconvincing. Please help explain
Your confusion is clear as day to me. :) As is the true meaning of "emptiness". The challenge is how to explain it to you in a way you can understand. :)
You are stuck on this idea of "...
- 58.3k
10
votes
Accepted
Why did Mahayana leave out the Pali Canon?
It did not. The Canon is an integral part of Mahayana, has always been.
In Chinese Mahayana, the Canon is included in the form of Agamas (translated to Chinese). In Tibetan Mahayana, the Canon is a ...
- 58.3k
10
votes
Buddha's omniscience
In MN 71, the Buddha clarifies the meaning of his omniscience to the wandering ascetic Vacchagotta:
Vaccha: ‘Venerable sir, I have heard this said: The recluse Gotama is all knowing and all seeing ...
- 9,707
9
votes
miscarriage and abortion
3 years back i had to face with an relationships Problem with my ex boy friend and at that time i was pregnant. I had to abort my child at
that time as a result of those problems.
If necessary, ...
- 40.5k
8
votes
How to address wrong view
Of course others have responsibility to rectify the wrong views. There were several individuals spreading wrongly grasped views on Dhamma even during Buddha's time like Arittha, Sati and Sunakkhattha. ...
- 4,233
8
votes
What is Nirvana (mahayana)?
Warning: To not make it too long, I avoided quotes. In addition, this is merely a summary. Just like with Theravada, there are interpretations. Since I present things in a traditional way, please do ...
- 5,206
8
votes
How to reconcile Mahayana ideas of "nama-rupa" with the Pali definition?
Unlike Theravada tradition, which passes down the words, Mahayana tradition passes down the meaning - using whatever words and images that are most fitting for the occasion and the recipient.
So in ...
- 58.3k
8
votes
What is the Buddhist view in Socratic questioning?
This meta-topic mentioned the Pañha Sutta, which includes,
There are these four ways of answering questions. Which four? There are questions that should be answered categorically [straightforwardly ...
- 46.3k
7
votes
What is Karuṇā? Is 'compassion' really a good translation?
Literally, karuna means "to mourn", "to pity", "to lament" - but the Buddhist meaning is quite different.
In Pali Canon karuna is one of the four brahmaviharas, practiced as an antidote against ...
- 58.3k
7
votes
When is it time to meditate and when is it time to act?
In my opinion... in Buddhism this kind of worry is called "udacca-kukucca" :) -- "Am I not doing enough of what I should be doing? I am doing this but shouldn't I be doing that instead?"
Instead, ...
- 58.3k
7
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
Maybe because Clinging/Upadana is such a powerful destructive force, even advanced practitioners still have a tough time dealing with. So the non-clinging theme reflected through insight into ...
- 9,707
7
votes
Accepted
Why should Mahayana practitioners strive for anything at all?
Well in Mahayana, just like in Theravada, we strive for the end of striving. As @ChrisW said, Heart Sutra is written from the perspective of completion, the end of striving. This is called "taking the ...
- 58.3k
6
votes
In the five paramitas, what is patience and why is it on the list?
Patience is a mind that abides in its natural state unaffected by harm and suffering. It strongly abides in the Dharma.
The division is threefold:
Patience bearing suffering
Patience not paying heed ...
- 5,206
6
votes
Text request--Tibetan Buddhism
The Gelug tradition expounds on the following five types of meditation.
You find here teachings (for free) related to Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Lam Rim. They must cover the first, second and third ...
- 5,206
6
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
So I posed this question to my teacher at the temple yesterday, and the answer floored me!
I asked her what is the meaning of "No suffering, origination, cessation of suffering, path" in the Heart ...
- 1,705
6
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
The Heart Sutra is of utmost importance in Mahayana because it declares the key realization that makes Mahayana distinct from a superficial "Sutra-Yana":
That in the ultimate sense all ...
- 58.3k
6
votes
Why Buddha said "if you want to remove small/light codes from Vinaya"?
If the Buddha had totally approved the removal of certain rules then the Buddha would have explicitly mentioned which ones.
In the 1st Council the monks could not decide what extent was minor rules, ...
6
votes
Accepted
A good website for Mahayana texts?
I use Fodian.net a lot.
There are two categories of Mahayana texts, the ones that made it to China and the ones that made it to Tibet.
Within a specific sect or tradition, some sects have fantastic ...
- 7,121
6
votes
Why should Mahayana practitioners strive for anything at all?
I'll preface my answer by suggesting that you find a qualified teacher. That is to say, someone with years of formal study in a monastic setting leading to a qualification such as Geshe or Ajahn or ...
- 61
5
votes
Dhamma Language Learning
You can take one of the Pariyatti-Patipatti courses at Vipassana Research Institute (VRI). You can contact them for more longer and intensive courses done in partnership with universities. Some ...
5
votes
Buddha's omniscience
Omniscience is understood differently depending on one's school, capacity, and progress.
a primitive ("hinayana") understanding, is that omniscience literally means simultaneously knowing all facts ...
- 58.3k
5
votes
Pāramitāyāna and Tantrayāna
The quote is more or less true. The position that Tibetan Buddhism distinguishes between pāramitāyāna and tantrayāna is accurate. Pāramitāyāna is most often translated 'perfection vehicle' or 'sutra ...
- 5,206
5
votes
Accepted
Are there problems from mixing different sources of teachings?
The Teaching is just one but there might be many interpretations. That's why the Buddha advised us to always verify a teacher's words, no matter how famous or well respected he is, against the Buddha'...
- 9,707
5
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
Perhaps
its terse nature and convenience for chanting
(quote from your question)
is the exact reason that it is popular. I believe all the Prajnaparamita sutras point to the same thing in the ...
- 21k
5
votes
Accepted
What did Santideva, the authour of the Bodhicaryāvatāra, say about the realisabaility of Buddhahood?
In general, the following positions are accepted by Mahayana tenets:
We can achieve Buddhahood because we can separate mind from afflictive obscurations and knowledge obscurations since neither is in ...
- 5,206
5
votes
Accepted
Who was the first buddha?
You asked a very intelligent question; but this is an intellectual quest that fallen into the category of the Ten Unexpounded Questions, I infer. It belongs to this group: Is the world eternal?. ...
- 2,291
5
votes
Can you criticise or improve Ven. Bodhi's description of Mahayana
Modern Mahayana as practiced today has several sub-schools which are not always in agreement about various points of doctrine. Moreover, you can find practitioners of these various traditions on this ...
- 4,684
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