37
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 ...
32
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 ...
21
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!" (...
19
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 ...
19
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
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 ...
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
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
"I also was under the impression that perfectly enlightened beings have obliterated, or rendered ineffective, all of their karma"
The five skhandas are roughly understood as "past kamma". Even arahants experience the fruits of their past kamma and are only free of it in parinibbana. For example, there are suttas describing arahants being hurt. In the case ...
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(...
13
The Buddha taught 'birth' with an 'animal' state of mind is a state of woe (beset by chronic suffering) or lower state of 'existence' (being).
The Lokapala Sutta states that people who do not have moral shame (human conscience) and fear of wrongdoing (compassion for self & others) will behave like dogs & thus not have the bright principles that ...
12
"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 ...
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 ...
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
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
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
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
"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
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 ...
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 non-...
9
Yes, Buddha was a one human. There were previous humans who attained the same knowledge and understanding before.
Gautama was the recent Buddha's name. He was born between c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE ( roughly) and lived for 80 years.
History of Buddhas has a brief summary of the event when Gautama Buddha talked about previous Buddhas.
Venerable Særiputta ...
9
The Pāli Canon (Pali: Tipitaka) is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It was composed in North India, and preserved orally until it was committed to writing during the Fourth Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka in 29 BCE, approximately ...
9
Buddhism is a "kayak" (a guide) that takes one from the endless sea of sufferings to find a harbor. What would one do in order to commence and land on the harbor?
Leave the kayak - Buddhism - and disembark.
If not, one is attached to the kayak. Still at sea.
The sea of sufferings.
9
My understanding is that the Buddha taught that we should not attach ourselves to him or his teachings. If we find that his teachings don't work, then we should feel free to leave them behind and pursue other paths.
That said, there is also the idea that some attachments are better than others. For example it is probably better for an alcoholic to replace ...
9
This is actually a mistranslation of the verse; Buddhist Legends by Burlingame is a bit better:
The Buddha, unlimited in power, the trackless.
By what track can you lead him?
In order to understand this verse, it might help to see the context; the Buddha is using poetry and imagery. Here's the Pali leading up to the verses in the commentary (it's about ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
