Priscillian
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances 1999, Aragones 2000, Desde Le Puy 2002, Portuguese 2009, hoping RDLP 2014
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Br. David said:Such programmes are created by men living at the explanatory level of awereness and those born as women of course, whose brains work in a different way - so different that Gautama (the Buddha) said it was pointless having Buddhist nuns as they couldn't attain enlightenment, and after decades of resistance he eventually allowed the formation of convents only on the explicit instructions that the oldest, most long-serving nun or Abbess was always to be inferior in status to a monk even if he was a child and had just been inducted. His point being that one is reborn as a woman because one has specific duties for that lifetime, and they do not include enlightenment (there are no substantive males or females of course, only male or female bodies to temporarily inhabit).
Then we have Pure Land being introduced later along the Buddhist time-line specifically for the illiterate, the stupid, and women, as it needs only to be followed and practised without deep thought or attainment - there are strong paralells with modern evangelical Christianity. They both serve a great purpose.
Well, well, well!
So - there are two levels from which to understand the world around us (actually there are four but these two will suffice here), the explanatory and the experiental. The programme is from the viewpoint of the lower and common explanatory level of awareness - works well on naming objects and making drugs to heal us and building buildings - the mechanical world, we couldn't do without it - and people at this level, if 'religious' have to have faith, have to believe, have to fit half-understood sayings into a world that they don't fit into ..... but there is another level of awareness, the experiental, where one has 'experienced' and therefore knows - so there is no 'faith' or 'belief' there is only knowledge.
Ah! the empiricist illusion....
:wink:
WOMEN IN BUDDHISM - Rev. Patti Nakai
If anyone wanted to present Buddhism as a viciously sexist religion, they could easily do so by quoting out of context passages from numerous sutras or from more recent texts such as Shinran's wasan (poems) or the by-laws of the Shinshu Otani-ha (Higashi Honganji's denomination) which denies female clergy the same status as male priests.
I believe the essential spirit of Buddhism absolutely includes all beings, male and female, in its vision of enlightenment. If I did not believe in that then I would not want to be a part of this religious tradition. The 48 vows in the Immeasurable Life Sutra point out that there is no discrimination against anyone on the path to spiritual truth. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, be assured that the Buddha's words won't support them!
Br. David said:Sorry Sil - that is a quote from a woman ...
how dare a woman quote? :shock: ?
I did not write with the intention of being drawn - again - into futile arguments ....
Br. David said:have fun :wink: but please keep it fluffy (and it is considered dishonest to use partial sentences as quotes) :lol:
Another 'partial quote' Br. David! And here was me thinking that Paul's teaching insisted on the experience of a Spirit filled life :shock: His arrival at Ephesus is a case in point: Acts 19. If those early disciples could 'experience' something as powerful as the description there, church members today are sadly lacking. It may be that Constantine and his entourage saw that there was mileage in this new religion and the law was re-emphasised to suit :roll:And, his teachings were completely misunderstood by that good hearted but self-opinionated and stupid Paul.
Br. David said:that good hearted but self-opinionated and stupid Paul.
:wink:
Br. David said:Suggesting that I don't either?
How rude.
Am I to be insulted for no reason? Please show where I have ever suggested or implied that I don't like half of the human species ...
Priscillian said:Very interesting television series to watch on line. For me the last three chapters were the most interesting as they talk about how the Canon was codified, but all of it deserves a watch. The music and the drums are a bit irritating though!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... ion/watch/
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