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Wouldn't the primary concern be about suffering and working to minimize it? If so, it seems to me that the more complex the organism, the greater the myriad of ways it can suffer. The most simple life forms can suffer physical pain. The more intelligent animals can suffer from fright...

Thanks very much for your help on this Vajradhara. I suspected this was not the case, but lacked your knowledge to address it properly. I shall pass along your notes and references. :) With Compassion, DT Strain

I've read this recently, from a person on an email list I'm on... "the oringinal Buddhists did believe that it was necessary to be a monk to become enlightened. Not only this but the Theravada school still holds the idea that if you are not a monk you do not even have Buddha nature!" Is...

"The Theory of Evolution, as proposed by Darwin and refined with insights derived from genetics, is objectionable from a Muslim point of view because it elevates ‘chance’ to the level of a deity." This is a misunderstanding. It comes from the lack of appreciation that there are two ways to...

I have never said "nothing is there" nor would I. Since I base my beliefs off of physical empirical evidence, and since we have none which would determine exitence OR nonexistence of unseeable entities, I can't possibly know whether "nothing is there" or not. You are right that angels...

Yes, peace, honesty, and such are universal truths that people from any walk can understand and agree on. But these things are true regardless of any supernatural underpinnings. It is the relevance and application of these ethical truths in our Natural world which makes them universal. When...

Thanks to this and other input, I've updated my chart. Hopefully this is closer to reality than the last version. But please feel free to critique further! :) http://dtstrainphilosophyblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/possible-buddhist-school-lineage.html

Postmaster, I am not a Buddhist myself, but I have been learning about Buddhism and relate to many of its concepts. I will trust that less ignorant people than myself will correct me if I am wrong on these points... The reason you find the concept of an impermanent self (or no-soul) to be...

Thanks much Samabudhi! :)

Hello friends, My wife and I have recently visited a Buddhist temple for the first time. I have described our experience on my blog, for those who might care to read. Many thanks :) http://dtstrainphilosophyblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/visit-to-buddhist-temple.html

Ah, that clears up a lot for me, thanks Samabudhi. So, I'll place Vajrayana as coming off from Mahayana. Then I'll place Tibetan as coming off of Vajrayana. By the way, does this mean that "Tantric" is also the same, and another name for Tibetan/Vajrayana? Also, where does Vietnamese...

Greetings everyone, I've been reading a textbook I have on the history of religion, as well as a number of Buddhist websites, this site, and Wikipedia articles, trying to understand the historic relationships between the various Buddhist schools. I made a chart and posted it on my blog. My...

Ah, thanks very much Rdwillia and Samabudhi! Your posts have helped my understanding greatly. I think I understand what you are saying. Let me explain where I'm coming from, so that you know why I was leaning toward Theravada... I see that the Theravada held all of the Pali canon to be the...

Hmm, I am most surprised to see two of you recommend Mahayana to me. Mind you, this is coming from a very ignorant novice's limited knowledge, but I had the impression from my cursory readings that Mahayana tended to be more religious, ritualistic, and mystical, while Theravada tended to be...

I was most intrigued by the portion below. How do others here feel about this?... "Rhodes, considering how far the Buddhist teachings have come, looks ahead to the day of a school of Buddhist thought that is uniquely American, crafted by children like his daughter who have been raised in the...

Thanks much for the responses everyone. But sureley there are different schools of Buddhism and some include more ideas of worship, the heavenly realm, and ritual, while others less so? If I knew a little about that it might help me better select which area of Buddhism to begin my...

I have done some searches and fortunately I live in a large city. There seem to be many Buddhist temples and organizations in my area. But they all are of various types and I'm confused as to which will suit me. I am a Naturalist and have no supernatural beliefs, so it is the teachings of...

Thanks again for these words Samabudhi. This rings of truth to me :)

Thank you for this Samabudhi. I have a question about what you said in the "Before Arising" section... It seems to me that what you are saying is that living virtuously will lead to a life free of bad karma, and therefore the violent passions will not arise. However, isn't this process...

Thanks Samabudhi, Actually, I'm using the Stoic sense of the word passion. In that sense, what you describe as extreme passion run amok IS (alone) what Stoics mean by "passion". So, by Stoic vocabulary, passion is a disease (literally - it's "pathos" or pathology). To help discuss Buddhism...