tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229289912009-12-19T07:11:25.876-05:00Theravada monk blogs about Buddhist philosophy and other random things.Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-5521705206133150152009-12-17T16:41:00.002-05:002009-12-17T16:57:25.826-05:00

Yokie, in the comments, asksWhat we want to know (as the verdict is not conclusive) whether those 4 Bhikkhunis are still valid under the theravada tradition and is Bodhiyana monastery still valid under the theravada tradition (as we find that it is"business" as usual for the Dhammasara Bhikkhunis and AB in Bodhiyana as though oblivious of the issue).There is still a lot of obscurity in this area.

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-74265333686833696132009-12-16T20:53:00.001-05:002009-12-16T20:54:40.884-05:00

While I would like to start blogging on other topics, both serious and light-hearted, I don't think we can leave the Perth Bhikkhuni controversy behind just yet.To bring everyone up to date; the World Abbot's Meeting has concluded and the western elders have issued an official statement. This statement states the position of the sangha leadership in a clear and concise manner. The statement

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-54984183449586715982009-12-16T20:36:00.002-05:002009-12-16T20:48:59.051-05:00

(This post was inspired by a sentence in the statement made by the Insight Meditation teachers of Australia - "This was the original vision of the Buddha 2500 years ago, in far less enlightened times than today." Debatable sentiment that, to say the least. See an old post of mine - The Myth of Progress.)Many of the English words used to translate Dhamma concepts are problematic; unavoidably so as

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-60033302452152377382009-12-10T09:20:00.000-05:002009-12-10T09:21:37.117-05:00

I would like to attempt a reply to the very eloquent and heartfelt note left in the comments by a poster identifying himself as "EH."This situation has unfolded like a Greek tragedy. The protagonist is a very good, upstanding monk, well known and respected internationally especially as a meditation teacher. Acting with the idea, no doubt, that he was doing something right and proper he committed

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-52412403931272858772009-12-08T09:24:00.003-05:002009-12-08T09:57:58.294-05:00

My recent post on the Bhikkhuni controversy (see below) has generated a fair bit of feed-back, in private correspondence as well as in the comments, both here at at the Women's Sangha Facebook page.I would just like to add a couple of points; one correction and one explanation.First, the correction. I had imagined I was fairly well read on Thai history and on the history of Buddhism in general.

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-54270021884411992432009-12-04T09:57:00.002-05:002009-12-04T10:04:06.968-05:00

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-61972637779155213402009-12-04T09:41:00.004-05:002009-12-04T09:57:43.407-05:00

On Oct. 22nd 2009 at Wat Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia the ordination of four bhikkhunis was performed under the auspices of the abbot, Ajahn Brahmavamso who participated as chanting acariya. This was the first time that women were given the higher ordination in a branch monastery of the Ajahn Chah tradition. The act was done unilaterally by Ajahn Brahmavamso without the approval of the

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-33451042611644601382009-05-21T21:18:00.002-04:002009-05-21T21:26:15.451-04:00

An excellent BBC production on the Life of the Buddha. Very well done.Here is the YouTube page where you can watch the remaining segments;Life of the Buddha.Quite a fine piece of work; the presentation of the Buddha's teachings is sympathetic and accurate, the look and feel of the dramatic scenes are believable.Any points of criticism I could make border on hair-splitting. For instance, I don't

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-52235671415180600172009-05-20T20:33:00.000-04:002009-05-20T20:34:57.085-04:00

In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers have been decisively defeated, and their leader, Prabhakaran, is almost certainly dead. Modern warfare is a cruel and ugly business and the cost in civilian death and suffering is always huge, and this conflict was no exception. And like in all modern wars, crimes were committed by both sides.As a pacifist I cannot but deplore the method, and make no excuses for any

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-69926191199948410502009-03-21T20:11:00.001-04:002009-03-21T20:13:24.360-04:00

I've been thinking more about a statement I made in a recent post; that in the long history of Buddhist sectarianism there were very few splits on issues related to meditation practice. In fact, the only example I could think of was the Zen split between Soto and Rinzai. In the comments to that post Honsing said;Hence although there is no dispute over meditation, I believe for many, we quietly do

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-10919745437939213372009-03-04T20:37:00.000-05:002009-03-04T20:38:34.796-05:00

Every year at Arrow River we run a book study programme. This year the group wanted something to help them sort out the different Buddhist schools and so I suggested Peter Harvey's "Introduction to Buddhism" which takes a generally historical approach and attempts to cover the gamut of all branches of Buddhism. This book is widely used in colleges for the Buddhism 101 course.This has led me to

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-16771191304079770682009-01-21T21:06:00.005-05:002009-01-21T21:33:02.606-05:00

You may have heard the song, but the cartoon video is great. There's No One as Irish as Bareach O'bama.On the pessimistic side, there's a pretty persistent meme out there comparing Obama to Mikhail Gorbachev. Moribund economy, social system on it's life-support, even war in Afghanistan and then the high hopes raised by a brash young reformer.Cartoonist Ted Rall took this tack as early as last

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-18617578098411978222009-01-13T19:10:00.002-05:002009-01-13T19:16:09.790-05:00

How do we hold in our hearts and minds the reality that is Gaza, the terrible crimes of Operation Cast Lead? If we aspire to follow the teachings of the Buddha the starting point, and ending point, must be the maxim, "Hatred is not overcome by hatred. Hatred is only overcome by love, that is a law eternal, spoken by all the Buddhas" (Dhammapada)It does not help anyone to view the indisputable war

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-83870541424459556802009-01-07T21:02:00.004-05:002009-01-07T21:13:20.732-05:00

I heard an interview on CBC this morning with a Canadian who is serving as a civilian helper for the Israeli army. I felt a great sadness hearing him say that he was happy about the "operation" in Gaza, calling it "payback" and being "glad to see the other side getting some too."Where to start about the sick morality of war? The first thing that comes to mind listening to people like that is the

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-66658394623529631152008-12-11T20:24:00.003-05:002008-12-11T20:33:59.064-05:00

(Short answer - maybe)A recession is defined as two subsequent quarters of negative growth, and a depression as a recession where the drop in GDP exceeds ten percent. These working definitions, rough as they are, are worth bearing in mind in the months to come. Our political and media elites will try very hard not to use the d-word at all. Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, already is

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-51315254653458335242008-11-20T20:08:00.003-05:002008-11-20T20:50:02.494-05:00

Ecuador has just adopted a new constitution with some very radical new ideas. One in particular represents a totally new way of relating on the legal plane to the natural environment. The new Ecuadorean constitution recognizes that natural eco-systems have an inherent right to exist.The text states;"Natural communities and ecosystems possess the unalienable right to exist, flourish and evolve

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-20754721120652970522008-11-20T19:57:00.003-05:002008-11-20T20:08:00.997-05:00

A kind of cool time-waster at http://www.typealyzer.com/ lets you analyze the personality of a blog writer by submitting the url. Part of the results is presented as an image showing which parts of the brain are dominant for the writer. Here's mine;The same site has two more similar features;Gender Analyzer uses software to guess the gender of a blog writer (I apparently have an 81% likelihood of

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-60246620491487969842008-11-16T20:21:00.002-05:002008-11-16T21:03:57.664-05:00

India has successfully hit the moon with an impact probe, called Chandrayana - Sanskrit for "Moon Vehicle." The space race appears to be on again. Beside the old players, Russia and the USA, the new players are China, Japan, India, the European Union and even South Korea. Japan says its goal is a manned base on the moon by 2030, and 2031 is currently set as the US target for a manned Mars mission

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-21668368098576461442008-11-05T19:36:00.003-05:002008-11-05T19:39:35.530-05:00

Damn, it feels good. Who can remember an election result which unleashed such a surge of joy? Looking at the video clips of ordinary Americans, in cities across that fair land, cheering and laughing and dancing in the streets is enough to melt the heart of the crustiest old cynic. The slogan on everyone's lips, "Yes We Can!" is quintessential Yankee can-do optimism at its very best. And it's

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-52173480965958670012008-11-02T19:34:00.002-05:002008-11-02T19:36:10.467-05:00

We're currently getting in our firewood for the winter. Yes, I know, we left it late this year. We always buy ten cords of logs, and this year because of various economic factors in the local forestry sector, a supplier proved difficult to find.The logs have to be cut to stove-length with a chain-saw, split, trucked to the various buildings and then neatly stacked in the sheds. It's big job, but

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-64196448680569819892008-10-23T20:28:00.003-04:002008-10-23T20:30:21.482-04:00

The long hiatus from blogging was due to more than my usual procrastination. I have been computer-less for the last two months after an unfortunate incident involving a cup of coffee and an inexcusable lapse of mindfulness. Sorry about that.

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-72599298679533548332008-10-23T20:21:00.002-04:002008-10-23T20:27:49.452-04:00

The financial markets reflect the cumulative result of millions of individual decisions. Regarding decisions, The Buddha said that they should never be made on the basis of greed, anger, fear or delusion. It is obvious how greed and fear have poisoned the well, but I would like to focus on something a little deeper, how delusion has worked in creating the present financial collapse.Specifically,

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-89114131215381009672008-06-13T20:18:00.003-04:002008-06-13T20:28:10.033-04:00

The world scene looks pretty grim. Let's face it, this millenium hasn't exactly got off to a good start. We were supposed to get monoliths on Jupiter, not planes crashing into skyscrapers. Wars, rumours of more wars, creeping police-state fascism ("war against terra"), not to mention failing ecologies and crashed economies. And the political leadership, and even the opposition, in most countries

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-59967385941145535642008-06-13T19:50:00.002-04:002008-06-13T20:16:49.371-04:00

A new theory is challenging the Big Bang cosmology. It is called Null Physics. (Terrence Witt)From a Wikibin page about Null Physics;In short, existence is composed of nonexistence. Our universe is the internal substructure of nothingness. In Null Physics this premise is called the Null Axiom.And6. Eternal equilibrium. The universe has existed forever, so any cosmic process that produces

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22928991.post-26756466863058522252008-06-06T19:57:00.003-04:002008-06-06T20:32:43.822-04:00

My last post on the inter-monastic environmental conference has already sparked some thoughtful comments. Thanks to those who have posted.A theme in all the comments is that what I am suggesting is a tall order.I also suggest that it may be too difficult to require thinking of the Earth as sacred. Not many people are capable of thinking in this way. Hence again I suggest to look for intermediate

Ajahn Punnadhammohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09660291919550183357noreply@blogger.com4