It is quite common in Buddhist circles these days to hear the following assertions:
1. everything affects everything else, at least minimally, in one way or another
therefore
2. everything is interdependent
and
3. interdependent co-arising is the fundamen
Commentary on Summary of Faith and Practice
Part 27 "Delineated by the Precepts" from the sentence "The Buddha Body is delineated by the precepts"
To delineate is to loosely define. It is to create a sketch or outline that indicates the shape or n
Read more…In my Principles Against Common Fallacies
7. Spiritual maturity requires a sense of separation.
These days there is a great emphasis in spiritual teachings upon interconnectedness. These ideas have some sense, but should not be taken too far. Separat
Read more…Commentary on Summary of Faith and Practice
TEXT: Faith & practice cannot be differentiated
COMMENTARY
Differentiating
"Cannot be differentiated" means that one cannot tell one from the other. You can see a person's real faith in their practice. Prac
Read more…In my post: Principles Against Some Common Fallacies...
5. 'Oneness' and 'interdependency' are mutually contradictory ideas and neither is central to Buddhism.
Interdependency exists, but is a special case, not a universal one.In the Abhidhamma secti
Read more…In my post: Principles Against Some Common Fallacies...
4. The idea of 'interbeing' was not taught by Buddha.
This item is close to that of yesterday. However, we can address the matter from a different angle. One often hears these days that the esse
Read more…In my post: Principles Against Some Common Fallacies...
3. It is not true that believing that all people are part of one another will necessarily make somebody a better person. People are often careless of themselves.
Advocacy of the idea that we are
Read more…In my post: Principles Against Some Common Fallacies...
2. It is not necessary to create a 'self' before you abandon it.
The attempt to square Western psychology with Buddhist psychology sometimes yields useful ideas, bit it also often leads to confu
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