45
In the (translated into English) Pali text that I have, there's a section titled "The Admission of Women to the Order" within a chapter titled "Stability of Societies". This section describes Ananda's asking the Buddha whether Maha-Pajapati could join the order.
When Ananda asks for the third time, he asks,
"Lord, are women capable, after going forth ...
34
A 4 year old can be told that the Buddha was a man who wanted to understand how to be happy and free and he worked very hard to understand how to be truly happy and free. Then he taught other people what he learned.
For many years the Buddha taught:
Sometimes people feel sad.
Sometimes the thing that makes people sad is not getting something they want or ...
24
This reminds me of a Zen story. A North-American female student approaches her Zen master and asks: "Is it true that a woman can never become a Buddha?" Zen master says "yup". The student gets into a long rant about women discrimination, equal rights, and how deluded the Zen master must be in his culturally-inherited biases. Zen master waits until she runs ...
22
Sez who?
Attachment to Buddhism and to Buddhist philosophy is a very serious problem, which every practitioner should be careful about, since it's so seductive: it's easy to be perceived as progress, whereas it's the very opposite of progress.
To counter this hazard, some Zen schools recommend that "if you come across the Buddha on the road, kill him!" (...
18
Can the Buddha never be a woman? If it is true, why can't they?
According to MN 115, a woman cannot be a Buddha and, as far as I know, the reason is not explained anywhere in the canon.
He understands: ‘It is impossible, it cannot happen that a woman could
be an Accomplished One, a Fully Enlightened One ― there is no such
possibility.’ And he ...
18
Unfortunately, this is one of the first questions people ask, especially if they are coming from a theistic background. As a result, many who require the belief of a 'God' as a precondition, turn away from Buddhism without even practicing and finding out for oneself. Likewise, many atheists also get turned off when they hear about hells/heavens/rebirth in ...
17
There are lot of archaeological evidence align with Buddha's life story. I think those can be considered as the most trusted third party evidence.
Here I am listing some of the web search findings.
Archaeologists working in Nepal have uncovered evidence of a structure at the birthplace of the Buddha dating to the sixth century B.C. This is the first ...
16
What would be your plan of action, if you saw someone running a brothel with your mother's name and picture on it? Feeling angry or not depends on if you have eradicated anger. You can do Metta meditation to deal with your anger. But that doesn't mean it is wrong to take action against such establishments, even if they mean no disrespect. There's nothing ...
15
No! All Sammasambuddhas are equal in their attainment of Buddhahood. They are all omniscient, equal in virtue, concentration and wisdom. However the time they take to cultivate Paramitha might vary from Bodhisatva to Bodhisatva. There are three classes of Bodhisattvas, namely; Intellectual Bodhisattvas (Pannadhika), Devotional Bodhisattvas (Saddhadhika) and ...
15
For most people God is a dualistic concept. Meaning, for a typical person the unspoken assumption is: "I am here and God is over there". So when I think about God, when I speak to God -- I inevitably imagine some power outside of myself. It is in this power that I place hope for good life and for salvation; it is this power that I blame for unfairness etc. ...
15
How is it possible that he had past lives?
Because until he became the Buddha he hadn't eliminated craving.
Craving leads to clinging, clinging leads to becoming, becoming leads to birth.
how did he know they were his? What defines them as his?
Do you remember your childhood? If so, why do you call it your childhood? Because your current existence(...
13
This is from Hajimi Nakamura's "Gotama Buddha" vol. 1
Sorry about the quality...
1st 36 varanasi migadayavana
2nd 37 Vulture Peak Veluvana
3rd 38 Vulture Peak Veluvana
4th 39 Vulture Peak Veluvana
5th 40 Vesali Mahavana
6th(...
12
As mentioned in another thread by @catpnosis, in MN 100: Sangarava Sutta:
“kiṃ nu kho, bho gotama, atthi devā”ti?
"How is it then, good Gotama; are there divine beings?"
“ṭhānaso metaṃ, bhāradvāja, viditaṃ yadidaṃ — adhidevā”ti.
"With reason it is known by me, Bhāradvāja, that there are higher divinities."
The question is, what do you ...
12
Responsibility in Theravada Buddhism falls into two categories - practical and absolute. In an absolute sense, we only have two responsibilities:
“bhante, imasmiṃ sāsane kati dhurānī”ti?
"Bhante, in this religion, how many duties are there?"
“ganthadhuraṃ, vipassanādhuranti dveyeva dhurāni bhikkhū”ti.
"The duty of study and the duty of ...
12
Buddha did not experience suffering(mental). He experienced pain due to poor health during his final days. Enlightened beings do not create new Karmas. Also, they have removed the potential of all their past Karmas to give future births. But they can still face the consequences while they live.
11
"Buddha" is a title, not a name. It means "awake" or "enlightened". Usually, when one mentions "the Buddha", one is referring to Gautama Sidharta, who lived about 2600 years ago and founded what is now called Buddhism.
Some traditions, however, say that he was just one in a long line of Buddhas, who come into the world whenever the dharma is forgotten by ...
11
Simply I can tell you this. When Buddhism was invented in certain countries, it mixed with their culture and believes. So if you want to filter what Buddha really said, you have to refer The Pali canon. Actually in "Mahaparinibbana Sutta (Maha vagga - Digha Nikaya)" before The Blessed one passed away, when gods and humans are worshiping him and paying their ...
11
You could say the Buddha and arahants had a peculiar form of humour, as Konrad suggested in his comment above. The hasituppādacitta (smiling-producing mind) is a citta unique to enlightened beings. While they can also smile due to beautiful-functional cittas, the hasituppādacitta is rootless, containing none of the wholesome or unwholesome roots.
This ...
11
First, some canonical background:
According to the Acintita Sutta, speculating on the origin of the cosmos or similar topics will lead one to confusion i.e. it cannot be understood.
According to the Cula-Malunkyavada Sutta in the Parable of the Poisoned Arrow, the speculation of the origin of cosmos or suffering or similar topics is not useful, because the ...
11
From Milindapanha:
The king said, “Is there anyone who is not reborn
after death?”
“Yes there is. The one who has no defilements is not
reborn after death; the one who has defilements is reborn.”
“Will you be reborn?”
“If I die with attachment in my mind, yes; but if not,
no.”
...
He who is reborn, Nàgasena, is he the
same person or ...
11
I'll answer in two parts-- what sort of looks like a god in Buddhism and which of those are female.
Early Buddhism didn't see gods as important to solving their fundamental problem of ending suffering. Gods were seen as a possible destination for our reincarnation. Gods didn't provide any help to us humans, they were too busy enjoying themselves (devas) or ...
10
The original Vedas themselves have little that a Buddhist would consider "wisdom", I think, being comprised mainly of battle hymns, sacrificial procedures, and ceremony. They are mentioned often in the Pali texts, e.g.:
13.‘Well then, Vaseṭṭha, what about the early sages of those Brahmins learned in the Three Vedas, the makers of the mantras, the ...
10
What the Buddha experienced at 35 was called sa-upādisesa-nibbāna - nirvana with remainder. What he experienced at 80 was called anupādisesa-nibbāna - nirvana without remainder:
“dvemā, bhikkhave, nibbānadhātuyo. katame dve? saupādisesā ca nibbānadhātu, anupādisesā ca nibbānadhātu.
There are these two, monks, elements of nibbāna. What two? The element of ...
10
"Monks, I will teach you the All. Listen & pay close attention. I will
speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "What is the All? Simply the eye & forms, ear &
sounds, nose & aromas, tongue & flavors, body & tactile sensations,
intellect & ideas. This, monks, is called the All. [1] ...
10
Buddha said women can be Enlightened.
In an unprecedented move for the times, Buddha allowed women to ordain as Buddhist wanderers.
Buddha added numerous rules to Vinaya to protect women practitioners from the abuse of men practitioners.
Buddha said that part of the path to Enlightenment is abandoning gender biases (AN 7.48)
Buddha was a big opponent of the ...
10
he didn't prohibit it for secular people, it's not even subsumed under sexual misconduct
but since it's a lustful urge and act it is unwholesome and unskillful, and those need to be handled using the Right effort
[i]"There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the ...
10
I can't find the reference at the moment but if I recall correctly, the Buddha continued to meditate after enlightenment for two reasons, according to the Theravada tradition: (1) To dwell in a pleasant abiding here and now (jhana) (2) to set an example for his followers
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible