Post is pinned.
We are different
To make the G+ Philosophy Community one of the best online forums for philosophy enthusiasts to participate in, I have been working hard to increase the standards and the quality of the contents in the community. That is one reason why most posts in the community have a high engagement rate, no spam of any kind, and you rarely see a post in the community that does not attract any comment and discussion.
Unlike many other G+ communities, when someone posts something in the G+ Philosophy Community it is almost guaranteed that a conversation will ensue. Not a trivial achievement! That is all possible thanks to you and other members of the community. So, thank you! I am proud of what we have been able to achieve with the help of all members and contributors.
Standards
To get even closer to an ideal community, there have been a set of standards that are being enforced upon all contents posted in our community. No post is exempt from these standards. That ensures consistency, better communication, higher quality posts, relevance, a higher rate of engagement, and overall a much better experience for all members.
Your post, if you made any, is one of the many posts I need to approve or reject on a daily basis. I am always excited about new posts and what they can bring to the community. I am committed to the highest level of quality that I can achieve through the moderation process. I strive to be fair, play no favouritism and hold everyone accountable against the same set of standards, and use sound discretion in corner-cases where there is no guideline upon which a situation can be decided. I do not operate in isolation. That is where your posts come into play.
You and the other 41,000+ members of this community are integral parts of the life of this community. Without your help and attention, there will be no community, no posts, no discussions, and no fun. Eventually, it is within your power to make it work or break. My job here is to make this community the best it can be so your discussions can flourish and you get a qualitatively different experience in this community compared to others.
To achieve that goal, I have devised a set of standards, as explained in the community guidelines, that I have been adjusting, polishing, and monitoring for years since 2012. Most contributors neatly comply with all of them. However, every day there are a few posts that do not. Once informed of the issues, the authors of these posts usually adjust their posts promptly and everything keeps moving smoothly. In rare occasions, a poster finds themselves in contempt of the standards and decides to leave the community (happens a couple of times a year; sourly unfortunate).
Behind the scene
If you are curious about what I deal with behind the scene, here are a few issues against which I see the most number of non-compliances:
(1) disruptive writing styles, e.g. disruptive punctuations, all caps, grammatical and mechanical errors, typos, etc.,
(2) images under the posts (a post must not have any link, attachment, or image. Instead leave them in the comment section under the post if necessary).
The 2nd issue is easy to understand and fix.
Not much the 1st issue though. Some might not care about any of the aforementioned errors. They might even like them and feel liberated by incorporating even more errors in their posts as a way to show how carefree or cool they are. They might have made a patented style out of it. Fair enough. That certainly is their choice and I respect it. Nevertheless, I happened not to see those stylistic choices as appropriate in a large community such as this one, and as a result, do not allow such posts in this community. This is not going to go away anytime soon, so we have to live with this disagreement.
Let’s improve!
I have increased my attention to the 1st item lately, and I am going to hold members accountable to a higher degree of professionalism than before. As such, I am going to ask all members to fix their posts, if they contain such errors, before approving them. There is no exception to this rule. This is not a new rule though, and it has already been explained in the community guidelines that has always been available to all members at all time. I am going to enforce them a bit more diligently now.
Who would be affected?
Everyone is held to the same standard. As such, I expect all members to have read and understood the community guidelines upon joining the community and post in compliance with its standards.
Need your help
With your help, we keep having a great community that looks professional, clean, active, enthusiastic, and relevant to all of us. I won’t be able to achieve these goals without you. If everyone helps, we can make it happen and even improve upon what we have already got. It certainly takes a lot of time and effort, but it is worth it.
Editorial Guidelines & Style Sheet
We don’t have an official style sheet for the posts in this community (should we?). Nevertheless, the following items are the bare minimum criteria that all posts need to meet before I approve them (they don’t apply to comments):
- paragraph spacing: there must be one line-space between each paragraph; no more, no less;
- meaningless punctuations: avoid using meaningless punctuations such as ?????? / !!!!!! / …….. / ?!?!?! / ?, / ?. / ?... / !, / !. / !... / ,,,,, / etc. They don’t mean what some think they mean. They don’t mean anything at all, and they are annoying;
- ALL CAPS: avoid using ALL CAPS. Use bold or italic to emphasize a word or a sentence sporadically;
- wall of text: avoid copy/pasting a long paragraph with no proper line-space. It gets annoying and hard to read;
- first-word capitalization: unless it is a list, English sentences must start with a capital letter;
- end-of-sentence punctuations: unless it is a list item or a header, all English sentences end with a punctuation of some sort (list items might end with a semicolon or no punctuation); and
- punctuation marks do not mix: in most cases, punctuation marks do not follow one another in an English sentence. Those few corner-cases have meaningful reasons why two punctuation marks do follow one another (for example a closed bracket at the end of a sentence or something like “this”). See “meaningless punctuations” above.
If you are in doubt, consult the University of Oxford Style Guide for more information (or see the relevant part of this cheat-sheet: http://bit.ly/2wehQpf). As a rule of thumb, “Use as little punctuation as necessary while retaining the meaning of the sentence.” [Source: the same cheat-sheet.]
All Indo-European languages follow similar rules. Most posters naturally follow them since there is nothing exceptional or extraordinary about the rules. Those posters who do not, will be asked to edit their posts before they can be released into the community. Posters have 24 hours to comply. When the grace period elapses and if all the edits are not properly applied, the post will be rejected. It applies to all posts, regardless of their content.
Keep It Simple, Stupid
All we need to do is to pay attention to how we compose our posts when we post. Just follow the KISS principle and all will be good. Remember, if we don’t have time to compose a professional-looking post or if we don’t care, then we cannot expect others to have time to put up with our poorly-written piece of word-salad.
Please comment below
As always, you are welcome to comment below. Don’t be afraid of holding me to the same set of standards. I would love to hear your constructive input.
Thank you for your time and happy philosophizing!
To make the G+ Philosophy Community one of the best online forums for philosophy enthusiasts to participate in, I have been working hard to increase the standards and the quality of the contents in the community. That is one reason why most posts in the community have a high engagement rate, no spam of any kind, and you rarely see a post in the community that does not attract any comment and discussion.
Unlike many other G+ communities, when someone posts something in the G+ Philosophy Community it is almost guaranteed that a conversation will ensue. Not a trivial achievement! That is all possible thanks to you and other members of the community. So, thank you! I am proud of what we have been able to achieve with the help of all members and contributors.
Standards
To get even closer to an ideal community, there have been a set of standards that are being enforced upon all contents posted in our community. No post is exempt from these standards. That ensures consistency, better communication, higher quality posts, relevance, a higher rate of engagement, and overall a much better experience for all members.
Your post, if you made any, is one of the many posts I need to approve or reject on a daily basis. I am always excited about new posts and what they can bring to the community. I am committed to the highest level of quality that I can achieve through the moderation process. I strive to be fair, play no favouritism and hold everyone accountable against the same set of standards, and use sound discretion in corner-cases where there is no guideline upon which a situation can be decided. I do not operate in isolation. That is where your posts come into play.
You and the other 41,000+ members of this community are integral parts of the life of this community. Without your help and attention, there will be no community, no posts, no discussions, and no fun. Eventually, it is within your power to make it work or break. My job here is to make this community the best it can be so your discussions can flourish and you get a qualitatively different experience in this community compared to others.
To achieve that goal, I have devised a set of standards, as explained in the community guidelines, that I have been adjusting, polishing, and monitoring for years since 2012. Most contributors neatly comply with all of them. However, every day there are a few posts that do not. Once informed of the issues, the authors of these posts usually adjust their posts promptly and everything keeps moving smoothly. In rare occasions, a poster finds themselves in contempt of the standards and decides to leave the community (happens a couple of times a year; sourly unfortunate).
Behind the scene
If you are curious about what I deal with behind the scene, here are a few issues against which I see the most number of non-compliances:
(1) disruptive writing styles, e.g. disruptive punctuations, all caps, grammatical and mechanical errors, typos, etc.,
(2) images under the posts (a post must not have any link, attachment, or image. Instead leave them in the comment section under the post if necessary).
The 2nd issue is easy to understand and fix.
Not much the 1st issue though. Some might not care about any of the aforementioned errors. They might even like them and feel liberated by incorporating even more errors in their posts as a way to show how carefree or cool they are. They might have made a patented style out of it. Fair enough. That certainly is their choice and I respect it. Nevertheless, I happened not to see those stylistic choices as appropriate in a large community such as this one, and as a result, do not allow such posts in this community. This is not going to go away anytime soon, so we have to live with this disagreement.
Let’s improve!
I have increased my attention to the 1st item lately, and I am going to hold members accountable to a higher degree of professionalism than before. As such, I am going to ask all members to fix their posts, if they contain such errors, before approving them. There is no exception to this rule. This is not a new rule though, and it has already been explained in the community guidelines that has always been available to all members at all time. I am going to enforce them a bit more diligently now.
Who would be affected?
Everyone is held to the same standard. As such, I expect all members to have read and understood the community guidelines upon joining the community and post in compliance with its standards.
Need your help
With your help, we keep having a great community that looks professional, clean, active, enthusiastic, and relevant to all of us. I won’t be able to achieve these goals without you. If everyone helps, we can make it happen and even improve upon what we have already got. It certainly takes a lot of time and effort, but it is worth it.
Editorial Guidelines & Style Sheet
We don’t have an official style sheet for the posts in this community (should we?). Nevertheless, the following items are the bare minimum criteria that all posts need to meet before I approve them (they don’t apply to comments):
- paragraph spacing: there must be one line-space between each paragraph; no more, no less;
- meaningless punctuations: avoid using meaningless punctuations such as ?????? / !!!!!! / …….. / ?!?!?! / ?, / ?. / ?... / !, / !. / !... / ,,,,, / etc. They don’t mean what some think they mean. They don’t mean anything at all, and they are annoying;
- ALL CAPS: avoid using ALL CAPS. Use bold or italic to emphasize a word or a sentence sporadically;
- wall of text: avoid copy/pasting a long paragraph with no proper line-space. It gets annoying and hard to read;
- first-word capitalization: unless it is a list, English sentences must start with a capital letter;
- end-of-sentence punctuations: unless it is a list item or a header, all English sentences end with a punctuation of some sort (list items might end with a semicolon or no punctuation); and
- punctuation marks do not mix: in most cases, punctuation marks do not follow one another in an English sentence. Those few corner-cases have meaningful reasons why two punctuation marks do follow one another (for example a closed bracket at the end of a sentence or something like “this”). See “meaningless punctuations” above.
If you are in doubt, consult the University of Oxford Style Guide for more information (or see the relevant part of this cheat-sheet: http://bit.ly/2wehQpf). As a rule of thumb, “Use as little punctuation as necessary while retaining the meaning of the sentence.” [Source: the same cheat-sheet.]
All Indo-European languages follow similar rules. Most posters naturally follow them since there is nothing exceptional or extraordinary about the rules. Those posters who do not, will be asked to edit their posts before they can be released into the community. Posters have 24 hours to comply. When the grace period elapses and if all the edits are not properly applied, the post will be rejected. It applies to all posts, regardless of their content.
Keep It Simple, Stupid
All we need to do is to pay attention to how we compose our posts when we post. Just follow the KISS principle and all will be good. Remember, if we don’t have time to compose a professional-looking post or if we don’t care, then we cannot expect others to have time to put up with our poorly-written piece of word-salad.
Please comment below
As always, you are welcome to comment below. Don’t be afraid of holding me to the same set of standards. I would love to hear your constructive input.
Thank you for your time and happy philosophizing!
I don't know how relevant this is to the page, but....
During Marvel the infinity Wars, I actually rooted for Thanos to win...
His motivation made sense. A lot of the words he spoke are the same words that have already crossed my mind about Humanity itself, since childhood.
I see a lot of myself in thanos.
. . . I am not going to lie. Half the crap he did is something that I would probably do.
Including kill the person the most closest to me to gain an all-powerful Stone.
During Marvel the infinity Wars, I actually rooted for Thanos to win...
His motivation made sense. A lot of the words he spoke are the same words that have already crossed my mind about Humanity itself, since childhood.
I see a lot of myself in thanos.
. . . I am not going to lie. Half the crap he did is something that I would probably do.
Including kill the person the most closest to me to gain an all-powerful Stone.
“How should we grieve when someone close to us dies? Should we wail and gnash our teeth? Should we swallow our pain? Some would say there is no right answer. You feel whatever you feel, and heal however you heal, and that’s okay. But according to the ancient Stoics – those Greco-Roman philosophers making a comeback as preachers of practical wisdom in a self-help world – there is a correct answer to the question of how we should grieve. And the answer is that we shouldn’t. What’s done is done. There is nothing you can do to change the situation – so move on.”
Within philosophy logic has remained approximately stagnant throughout it's entire history being based primarily on two state propositional logic.
Philosophy of science being the primary exception where propositional logic has been almost completly abandoned for bayesian logic and probability theory to fantastic success.
This seems to be true in many other categories of philosophical endeavor including epistemology and metaphysics as examples, where more formal academic philosophy seems to have lagged with the general advancement of societies overall knowledge.
Why do you think it is that philosophy has failed to encompass more general knowledge into it's methods and adapt and grow as a field?
Far too many times do I see discussions based on philosophical premises that are thousands of years old and too little do I see discussions based on these stagnant methodologies.
We seem to enjoy asking questions, but philosophy so seldom turns on the why we're asking the questions the way we do and are their better ways of asking questions in general based on what we have come to learn more broadly about the world.
Philosophy of science being the primary exception where propositional logic has been almost completly abandoned for bayesian logic and probability theory to fantastic success.
This seems to be true in many other categories of philosophical endeavor including epistemology and metaphysics as examples, where more formal academic philosophy seems to have lagged with the general advancement of societies overall knowledge.
Why do you think it is that philosophy has failed to encompass more general knowledge into it's methods and adapt and grow as a field?
Far too many times do I see discussions based on philosophical premises that are thousands of years old and too little do I see discussions based on these stagnant methodologies.
We seem to enjoy asking questions, but philosophy so seldom turns on the why we're asking the questions the way we do and are their better ways of asking questions in general based on what we have come to learn more broadly about the world.
Initially written in a comment to +Eric Bright and asked for a separate post.
We seem to have a common interest, where I'm taking the philosophy of mind approach to show that religion has always been about psychology and education. As with any other topic, this one in particular it's not easy to find dialogue where others genuinely follow and engage in intelligent conversation. As for religion, polytheist religion according to me is mostly about naming cognitive functions, describe what they are like and how they relate to others; mystifying these things I think is a consequence of the written language where non-verbal conveyance is not involved.
And it is a cogent premisee for discourse if followed.
It served a function, and one may be free to argue for example that entertainment is a more leading principle as that is much more common in informal conversation. But I wager that the best entertainment in poetry and art does play with intuition and emotion at that level and is a grounding feature of whether an idea or story spread easily or not irrespective of current relevance.
By adding the above, I somehow verged more into metaphysics, ontology and epistemology. Hope the category can be changed to reflect eventual interest.
But hoping to keep the category and perhaps even elaborations on Qualia in creative form can show up. Realistically however this is likely to lead onto basic principles behind Memes, intuition pumps and the like.
Epistemology, for what are we talking about -- and please do!
We seem to have a common interest, where I'm taking the philosophy of mind approach to show that religion has always been about psychology and education. As with any other topic, this one in particular it's not easy to find dialogue where others genuinely follow and engage in intelligent conversation. As for religion, polytheist religion according to me is mostly about naming cognitive functions, describe what they are like and how they relate to others; mystifying these things I think is a consequence of the written language where non-verbal conveyance is not involved.
And it is a cogent premisee for discourse if followed.
It served a function, and one may be free to argue for example that entertainment is a more leading principle as that is much more common in informal conversation. But I wager that the best entertainment in poetry and art does play with intuition and emotion at that level and is a grounding feature of whether an idea or story spread easily or not irrespective of current relevance.
By adding the above, I somehow verged more into metaphysics, ontology and epistemology. Hope the category can be changed to reflect eventual interest.
But hoping to keep the category and perhaps even elaborations on Qualia in creative form can show up. Realistically however this is likely to lead onto basic principles behind Memes, intuition pumps and the like.
Epistemology, for what are we talking about -- and please do!
If You Accept Restrictions On Free Speech
[ From my major G+ collection Free Speech. First post to a forum.
I am the primary free speecher across this entire social platform. ]
If you accept any restrictions on free speech for any reason other than public safety, it only proves you received indoctrination and not real education.
Free speech is the whole ball game. Without real free speech there is no democracy, no critical thinking, no negotiation, no philosophy, and no western civilization.
Serious limitations on free speech are extremely damaging for society and only serve to develop major bad guy culture, such as National Socialism, Marxism-Leninism ( and Cultural Marxism ), and Political Islam.
These totalitarian approaches are what we must wholly oppose, and free speech is the fundamental approach for that highest priority work.
Free speech necessarily includes fundamental free speech rights for all bad guys, including National Socialists, Marxist-Leninists and Cultural Marxists, Islamists, and every other kind of anti-social jerk, sociopath, totalitarian, "hater" or bad actor in the public square.
There is in legal fact no reasonable or functional definition for the mythical 'hate speech'. Anyone can be offended.
So-called hate speech is in the ear of the offended person.
If you start banning all the hate speech of Eminem, then you have to ban music and free speech in general. You will have to police and criminalize free speech in general. And that is effectively the same thing as policing thought and criminalizing thought.
This totalitarian approach is more destructive than any one kind of 'hate speech'. It is no different than the Nazi book burnings of 1930s Germany or the continuing murders of journalists by Islamic fanatics.
Spill Ink Not Blood!
Nous Sommes Tous Charlie.
[ From my major G+ collection Free Speech. First post to a forum.
I am the primary free speecher across this entire social platform. ]
If you accept any restrictions on free speech for any reason other than public safety, it only proves you received indoctrination and not real education.
Free speech is the whole ball game. Without real free speech there is no democracy, no critical thinking, no negotiation, no philosophy, and no western civilization.
Serious limitations on free speech are extremely damaging for society and only serve to develop major bad guy culture, such as National Socialism, Marxism-Leninism ( and Cultural Marxism ), and Political Islam.
These totalitarian approaches are what we must wholly oppose, and free speech is the fundamental approach for that highest priority work.
Free speech necessarily includes fundamental free speech rights for all bad guys, including National Socialists, Marxist-Leninists and Cultural Marxists, Islamists, and every other kind of anti-social jerk, sociopath, totalitarian, "hater" or bad actor in the public square.
There is in legal fact no reasonable or functional definition for the mythical 'hate speech'. Anyone can be offended.
So-called hate speech is in the ear of the offended person.
If you start banning all the hate speech of Eminem, then you have to ban music and free speech in general. You will have to police and criminalize free speech in general. And that is effectively the same thing as policing thought and criminalizing thought.
This totalitarian approach is more destructive than any one kind of 'hate speech'. It is no different than the Nazi book burnings of 1930s Germany or the continuing murders of journalists by Islamic fanatics.
Spill Ink Not Blood!
Nous Sommes Tous Charlie.
The inexpressibility factor: finding proofs for the ineffable was always going to be a problem for non logicians. Does being a good mathematician make for a better, truer, more rational philosopher?
~Symon~
~Symon~
I have been thinking about the value of life and I thought does there really need to be an answer? The value of life may be to be clueless of what life actually is. Not knowing if there is a God and if there is life after death is kind of interesting. Lets pretend we know for fact God exist and for fact we know where we go after death; the world is different now that we know. There is no need to wonder about existence and try new ideas and learn from mistakes. Life may be about wondering about our existence, seeing how we react to suffering, and lying in your death bed thinking what path is man going down and knowing that you really don't know.
In The Buddha's Words
A Major Source Book Of Pali Buddhist Scripture
"If you want to criticize Buddhism, you have to study it.
If you want to practice Buddhism, you have to study it."
Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, Tibetan scholar and abbot
This is a classical text on source Buddhist teaching, which is of course one of the primary and most important traditions of philosophy for the entire world, both across classical Asia and for the entire world today.
The study of Buddhism is now growing substantially in the West, in Europe and North America and Australia. We know this from the high volume of sales for Dalai Lama books. I recommend several of those books.
Philosophy in the Buddhist sense covers an extremely broad range of meanings and teachings. There is no one book or set of books that covers Buddhist ethics, dialectics, mysticism, cosmology and so forth.
Most people who study Buddhist philosophy study sections of the overall system.
What is needed in all cases is a foundational text for students, teachers, and for the general public. This is the text I recommend.
This set of text translations originates in the early, basic Pali language tradition and culture which was mainly propagated across South Asia.
This text is extremely broad and useful for both outsiders and for Buddhist practitioners all over the world.
I have included the pdf for the entire table of contents.
The book is organized by topics which can be read separately.
Many people claim to criticize or reject the teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha, and in the West there are people who claim to comprehend it and to teach it.
In many of these cases I find little effective knowledge or communicated understanding of Buddhist principles.
This book is the answer for such issues, on the basic level. It is foundational.
It is important to understand the foundations of the Buddhist teaching.
Classical Buddhist practice and culture remain very new and mostly unknown to the West as a whole.
This is not a fundamental or blocking problem when good books such as this one are available, known, and propagated.
The main teaching language for Buddhist study and practice is now English. We have now in English many excellent translations from many Buddhist traditions.
This book is one major example.
And the same author / translator has provided a tremendous amount of high quality dharma translation in his several books for Wisdom Publications.
This book should be part of the core collection of public libraries and assigned reading for university courses on world religion.
There are now many books that are related to Buddhism and claim to give perspective on the Buddhist teaching.
But there is no substitute for the classical source materials.
I have recently placed this book review in my major Buddhist teaching and practice collection G+ "Buddhist Teaching".
I am a licensed Buddhist teacher and putting forward this specific book in particular is foundational for my professional teaching work.
My overarching goal is to support and represent the totality of the classical Buddhist teaching, and that requires at least one major Pali / Theravadin sourcebook.
I am in the process of establishing the Buddhist teaching as a whole across this social platform.
It is important to emphasize to westerners that the Buddhist teaching is not little bits of confetti, not piles of confetti. That it is rather a comprehensive system with great depth and breadth.
In previous centuries for various reasons, very few people in the East or the West had effective access to substantial and authoritative books on Buddhist teaching and practice.
That has changed. We have excellent books and they should be used.
I have already promoted a substantial set of major Buddhist books on this social platform, often several at once.
I am the main proponent of Buddhist books on G+.
This book is written in modern English and it is very accessible. There are smaller and simpler books, starting with the Dhammapada.
This follows the Dhammapada.
May All Beings Benefit!
Sarva mangalam!
Primary Buddhist Book Reference: In The Buddha's Words
Keywords: Buddhism, Sakyamuni Buddha, Formal Classical Buddhist Teaching, Buddhist Culture, Early Tradition / Theravada, Pali Canon.
The compilation "In The Buddha's Words" is a major and foundational text for all Buddhist traditions.
In general, every Buddhist or prospective Buddhist or interested outsider should start with the Dhammapada, a short simple collection of statements by Sakyamuni Buddha.
While that works as a starting point, there is much more to study.
I strongly recommend this book to all libraries, scholars, college programs on religion, Buddhist centers, and Buddhist teachers.
It is a primary source book and reference text.
Here are the introductory materials and table of contents:
[ Link removed. ]
This anthology is very clear and accessible because the translation is made by a western monk and major Buddhist scholar, Bhikkhu Bodhi. And it is endorsed by the Dalai Lama and published by Wisdom Publications, a premier Buddhist publisher.
It is not necessary to read the entire volume. The book is well organized for study of specific subjects which can be read individually. This book conveys a great deal of Buddhist culture at the very source of all the Buddhist traditions.
There are now a large number of books on Buddhism and Buddhist teaching. It is therefore necessary to examine the available books and determine which are more important and more useful, whether for general audiences, scholars, or dharma practitioners and teachers.
This book is of great value to people of all Buddhist traditions, be they Theravadin, Great Way / Mahayana, or Esoteric Great Way / Vajrayana.
All the Buddhist traditions share a common foundation in the general teachings given by Guru Sakyamuni Buddha, and it is extremely important to emphasize this common ground.
The Pali tradition of the Elder / Theravada School does historically emphasize material renunciation, living as a monk or nun, and turning away from the world.
This is classical but it is not the whole story.
The main renunciation is an inner renunciation, not literal poverty and homelessness. These are after all illegal in the West, where begging from door to door is mostly illegal.
It is not necessary to learn a foreign language to study Buddhism, nor to move to a Buddhist monastery in Asia, nor take college courses.
We already have all the teachings in English.
It is important to understand basic Buddhist policies, norms, and shared values. Without a basic understanding of these there is no Buddhist culture.
This book is a foremost example. It is a five hundred page synopsis of a larger set of texts.
And it is available to all of us, because English is a major secondary language in many parts of the world.
This single volume anthology is not my primary reference for study and teaching. Nor is it in my core library for personal study and practice.
My primary reference is a much smaller and more technical book called "Dakini Teachings" by Padmasambhava.
There is however no substitute for this single volume summary of the Buddha's direct teachings. It is both small enough and large enough to serve as a top-tier reference on the formal classical Buddhist teaching, and as an excellent book to follow the Dhammapada.
As a Buddhist guru my public work is to promote and support the Buddhist teaching as a whole, not as this piece or that piece.
That primarily means the broader and deeper Great Way / Mahayana teaching, which mainly propagated in Northern Asia.
With this essay I have effectively supported the foundational teaching that is most characteristic of Southern Asia and Southern Buddhism, and which is critically important to the propagation of authentic Buddhist teaching and culture in the West.
From the author / translator:
"If this anthology is meant to make any other point, it is to convey the sheer breadth and range of the Buddha’s wisdom.
While Early Buddhism is sometimes depicted as a discipline of world renunciation intended primarily for ascetics and contemplatives, the ancient discourses of the Pali Canon clearly show us how the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion reached into the very depths of mundane life, providing ordinary people with guidelines for proper conduct and right understanding.
"Far from being a creed for a monastic élite, ancient Buddhism involved the close collaboration of householders and monastics in the twin tasks of maintaining the Buddha’s teachings and assisting one another in their efforts to walk the path to the extinction of suffering.
"To fulfill these tasks meaningfully, the Dhamma had to provide them with deep and inexhaustible guidance, inspiration, joy, and consolation. It could never have done this if it had not directly addressed their earnest efforts to combine social and family obligations with an aspiration to realize the highest."
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
Paperback – July 28, 2005
by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Author), His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Foreword)
Series: The Teachings of the Buddha
Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Wisdom Publications; First Edition edition (July 28, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0861714911
This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings - in his own words.
The American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught.
Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight.
A concise, informative introduction precedes each chapter, guiding the reader toward a deeper understanding of the texts that follow.
In the Buddha's Words allows even readers unacquainted with Buddhism to grasp the significance of the Buddha's contributions to our world heritage.
Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha's teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever-vital path.
Students and seekers alike will find this systematic presentation indispensable.
Review:
"A remarkable book.
In the Buddha's Words is an anthology drawing primarily of the first four [widely available translations of collections of the Buddha's spoken teachings], and manages quite successfully to both summarize them and extract their essence. [ . . . ]
Although this material has been available for some time now, one of the things that has remained a difficulty for many readers is its complexity and scope.
In the Buddha's Words provides a framework with which to see the teachings' overall structure, and it does so in a skillful way.
"Bhikkhu Bodhi's introductions alone, strung together, would themselves serve as a beautiful and accessible overview of the dhamma. [ . . . ]
I think this anthology will rapidly become the sourcebook of choice for both neophyte and serious student alike.
In the Buddha's Words reveals the mature understanding of someone who has not only a complete mastery of his material, but also of someone who has deeply understood the nature and intention of the dhamma and who shares it with us as an expression of his own caring.
"This publication will be very much welcomed by Western meditators and students of the dhamma. [ . . . ]
Any amount of study or practice that helps to deepen wisdom and assist us to emerge from layers of delusion is precious. This book could contribute to this enterprise more than almost anything else in print.
"It gives us access to the very texture of the dhamma, the specific words and phrases, which guided and inspired the Buddha's original students.
Bhikkhu Bodhi has created a framework upon which he has placed the key elements of the dhamma for all to plainly see and investigate for themselves.
"With a map of such clarity in hand, one may tread the landscape with confidence.
Those for whom the Buddha's teaching is a living tradition will find this book to be a dear friend and spiritual companion."
Andrew Olendzki, Executive Director of the Barre Center of Buddhist Studies -- excerpted from a three-page review in Buddhadharma
[ For educational purposes only. All legal rights remain with copyright owner. No infringement intended. ]
====================
Dedication Prayer of HH Dudjom Rinpoche
DZAM LING CHI DANG YUL KHAM DI DAG TU
at this very instant, for all the people and nations of Earth,
NED MUG TSHON SOK DUG NGAL MING MI DRAG
Let not even the words "disease," 'famine," "war" and "suffering" be heard,
CHÖ DAN SO NAM PAL JOR GONG DU PHEL
But may virtue, merit, wealth and plenty increase
TAG TU TASHI DE LEG PHUN TSHOG SHOG
And auspiciousness and well-being ever abound.
A Major Source Book Of Pali Buddhist Scripture
"If you want to criticize Buddhism, you have to study it.
If you want to practice Buddhism, you have to study it."
Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, Tibetan scholar and abbot
This is a classical text on source Buddhist teaching, which is of course one of the primary and most important traditions of philosophy for the entire world, both across classical Asia and for the entire world today.
The study of Buddhism is now growing substantially in the West, in Europe and North America and Australia. We know this from the high volume of sales for Dalai Lama books. I recommend several of those books.
Philosophy in the Buddhist sense covers an extremely broad range of meanings and teachings. There is no one book or set of books that covers Buddhist ethics, dialectics, mysticism, cosmology and so forth.
Most people who study Buddhist philosophy study sections of the overall system.
What is needed in all cases is a foundational text for students, teachers, and for the general public. This is the text I recommend.
This set of text translations originates in the early, basic Pali language tradition and culture which was mainly propagated across South Asia.
This text is extremely broad and useful for both outsiders and for Buddhist practitioners all over the world.
I have included the pdf for the entire table of contents.
The book is organized by topics which can be read separately.
Many people claim to criticize or reject the teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha, and in the West there are people who claim to comprehend it and to teach it.
In many of these cases I find little effective knowledge or communicated understanding of Buddhist principles.
This book is the answer for such issues, on the basic level. It is foundational.
It is important to understand the foundations of the Buddhist teaching.
Classical Buddhist practice and culture remain very new and mostly unknown to the West as a whole.
This is not a fundamental or blocking problem when good books such as this one are available, known, and propagated.
The main teaching language for Buddhist study and practice is now English. We have now in English many excellent translations from many Buddhist traditions.
This book is one major example.
And the same author / translator has provided a tremendous amount of high quality dharma translation in his several books for Wisdom Publications.
This book should be part of the core collection of public libraries and assigned reading for university courses on world religion.
There are now many books that are related to Buddhism and claim to give perspective on the Buddhist teaching.
But there is no substitute for the classical source materials.
I have recently placed this book review in my major Buddhist teaching and practice collection G+ "Buddhist Teaching".
I am a licensed Buddhist teacher and putting forward this specific book in particular is foundational for my professional teaching work.
My overarching goal is to support and represent the totality of the classical Buddhist teaching, and that requires at least one major Pali / Theravadin sourcebook.
I am in the process of establishing the Buddhist teaching as a whole across this social platform.
It is important to emphasize to westerners that the Buddhist teaching is not little bits of confetti, not piles of confetti. That it is rather a comprehensive system with great depth and breadth.
In previous centuries for various reasons, very few people in the East or the West had effective access to substantial and authoritative books on Buddhist teaching and practice.
That has changed. We have excellent books and they should be used.
I have already promoted a substantial set of major Buddhist books on this social platform, often several at once.
I am the main proponent of Buddhist books on G+.
This book is written in modern English and it is very accessible. There are smaller and simpler books, starting with the Dhammapada.
This follows the Dhammapada.
May All Beings Benefit!
Sarva mangalam!
Primary Buddhist Book Reference: In The Buddha's Words
Keywords: Buddhism, Sakyamuni Buddha, Formal Classical Buddhist Teaching, Buddhist Culture, Early Tradition / Theravada, Pali Canon.
The compilation "In The Buddha's Words" is a major and foundational text for all Buddhist traditions.
In general, every Buddhist or prospective Buddhist or interested outsider should start with the Dhammapada, a short simple collection of statements by Sakyamuni Buddha.
While that works as a starting point, there is much more to study.
I strongly recommend this book to all libraries, scholars, college programs on religion, Buddhist centers, and Buddhist teachers.
It is a primary source book and reference text.
Here are the introductory materials and table of contents:
[ Link removed. ]
This anthology is very clear and accessible because the translation is made by a western monk and major Buddhist scholar, Bhikkhu Bodhi. And it is endorsed by the Dalai Lama and published by Wisdom Publications, a premier Buddhist publisher.
It is not necessary to read the entire volume. The book is well organized for study of specific subjects which can be read individually. This book conveys a great deal of Buddhist culture at the very source of all the Buddhist traditions.
There are now a large number of books on Buddhism and Buddhist teaching. It is therefore necessary to examine the available books and determine which are more important and more useful, whether for general audiences, scholars, or dharma practitioners and teachers.
This book is of great value to people of all Buddhist traditions, be they Theravadin, Great Way / Mahayana, or Esoteric Great Way / Vajrayana.
All the Buddhist traditions share a common foundation in the general teachings given by Guru Sakyamuni Buddha, and it is extremely important to emphasize this common ground.
The Pali tradition of the Elder / Theravada School does historically emphasize material renunciation, living as a monk or nun, and turning away from the world.
This is classical but it is not the whole story.
The main renunciation is an inner renunciation, not literal poverty and homelessness. These are after all illegal in the West, where begging from door to door is mostly illegal.
It is not necessary to learn a foreign language to study Buddhism, nor to move to a Buddhist monastery in Asia, nor take college courses.
We already have all the teachings in English.
It is important to understand basic Buddhist policies, norms, and shared values. Without a basic understanding of these there is no Buddhist culture.
This book is a foremost example. It is a five hundred page synopsis of a larger set of texts.
And it is available to all of us, because English is a major secondary language in many parts of the world.
This single volume anthology is not my primary reference for study and teaching. Nor is it in my core library for personal study and practice.
My primary reference is a much smaller and more technical book called "Dakini Teachings" by Padmasambhava.
There is however no substitute for this single volume summary of the Buddha's direct teachings. It is both small enough and large enough to serve as a top-tier reference on the formal classical Buddhist teaching, and as an excellent book to follow the Dhammapada.
As a Buddhist guru my public work is to promote and support the Buddhist teaching as a whole, not as this piece or that piece.
That primarily means the broader and deeper Great Way / Mahayana teaching, which mainly propagated in Northern Asia.
With this essay I have effectively supported the foundational teaching that is most characteristic of Southern Asia and Southern Buddhism, and which is critically important to the propagation of authentic Buddhist teaching and culture in the West.
From the author / translator:
"If this anthology is meant to make any other point, it is to convey the sheer breadth and range of the Buddha’s wisdom.
While Early Buddhism is sometimes depicted as a discipline of world renunciation intended primarily for ascetics and contemplatives, the ancient discourses of the Pali Canon clearly show us how the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion reached into the very depths of mundane life, providing ordinary people with guidelines for proper conduct and right understanding.
"Far from being a creed for a monastic élite, ancient Buddhism involved the close collaboration of householders and monastics in the twin tasks of maintaining the Buddha’s teachings and assisting one another in their efforts to walk the path to the extinction of suffering.
"To fulfill these tasks meaningfully, the Dhamma had to provide them with deep and inexhaustible guidance, inspiration, joy, and consolation. It could never have done this if it had not directly addressed their earnest efforts to combine social and family obligations with an aspiration to realize the highest."
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
Paperback – July 28, 2005
by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Author), His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Foreword)
Series: The Teachings of the Buddha
Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Wisdom Publications; First Edition edition (July 28, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0861714911
This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings - in his own words.
The American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught.
Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight.
A concise, informative introduction precedes each chapter, guiding the reader toward a deeper understanding of the texts that follow.
In the Buddha's Words allows even readers unacquainted with Buddhism to grasp the significance of the Buddha's contributions to our world heritage.
Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha's teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever-vital path.
Students and seekers alike will find this systematic presentation indispensable.
Review:
"A remarkable book.
In the Buddha's Words is an anthology drawing primarily of the first four [widely available translations of collections of the Buddha's spoken teachings], and manages quite successfully to both summarize them and extract their essence. [ . . . ]
Although this material has been available for some time now, one of the things that has remained a difficulty for many readers is its complexity and scope.
In the Buddha's Words provides a framework with which to see the teachings' overall structure, and it does so in a skillful way.
"Bhikkhu Bodhi's introductions alone, strung together, would themselves serve as a beautiful and accessible overview of the dhamma. [ . . . ]
I think this anthology will rapidly become the sourcebook of choice for both neophyte and serious student alike.
In the Buddha's Words reveals the mature understanding of someone who has not only a complete mastery of his material, but also of someone who has deeply understood the nature and intention of the dhamma and who shares it with us as an expression of his own caring.
"This publication will be very much welcomed by Western meditators and students of the dhamma. [ . . . ]
Any amount of study or practice that helps to deepen wisdom and assist us to emerge from layers of delusion is precious. This book could contribute to this enterprise more than almost anything else in print.
"It gives us access to the very texture of the dhamma, the specific words and phrases, which guided and inspired the Buddha's original students.
Bhikkhu Bodhi has created a framework upon which he has placed the key elements of the dhamma for all to plainly see and investigate for themselves.
"With a map of such clarity in hand, one may tread the landscape with confidence.
Those for whom the Buddha's teaching is a living tradition will find this book to be a dear friend and spiritual companion."
Andrew Olendzki, Executive Director of the Barre Center of Buddhist Studies -- excerpted from a three-page review in Buddhadharma
[ For educational purposes only. All legal rights remain with copyright owner. No infringement intended. ]
====================
Dedication Prayer of HH Dudjom Rinpoche
DZAM LING CHI DANG YUL KHAM DI DAG TU
at this very instant, for all the people and nations of Earth,
NED MUG TSHON SOK DUG NGAL MING MI DRAG
Let not even the words "disease," 'famine," "war" and "suffering" be heard,
CHÖ DAN SO NAM PAL JOR GONG DU PHEL
But may virtue, merit, wealth and plenty increase
TAG TU TASHI DE LEG PHUN TSHOG SHOG
And auspiciousness and well-being ever abound.
Has anybody here ever read Plato's The Republic?
What are your thoughts regarding the debate between Socrates and Thrasymachus?
What are your thoughts regarding the debate between Socrates and Thrasymachus?
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