Introduction to ItBC
All religions are notoriously difficult to pin down. I recall a story of a particularly sophist Catholic monk who would provide a seeker with verses to support literally any position, as well as its opposite, for a small fee. I don't know if that is a real memory, but I'm sure I could find something to support it being considered one. Abrahamic religions, however, at least have a manageable enough number of scriptures--handily compiled into singular texts--that it is relatively easy to verify something quoted from them.
It is not so with Buddhism. According to popular conception, the Buddha, apparently, said literally everything that could be considered in any way
It is not so with Buddhism. According to popular conception, the Buddha, apparently, said literally everything that could be considered in any way
1. nice,
2. chill, or
3. deep,
because absolutely no one is going to slog through hundreds of suttas just to get the first wave of what he reportedly said.
No one has read all the suttas. Have you? Nuns read them, and monks read them, and by the time they're done reading all of them they've almost certainly forgot some of them anyway. It's a huge body of literature that's largely incredibly dry and repetitive, because they were born out of an oral tradition passed on to people who had "gone forth into the homeless life" and therefore had a great deal of time on their hands.
However, I have read some of them. They are, as you might imagine, full of profound wisdom and practical instruction, and I can see why they formed the basis of a religion that continues to be extremely useful as a codified path of living. However, there really is no need to read the same paragraph six times, just with one word changed. If you read "all six of these things are like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such are these things and how they're done and what they're full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc." it really is the same as reading
"the first of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
"the second of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
No one has read all the suttas. Have you? Nuns read them, and monks read them, and by the time they're done reading all of them they've almost certainly forgot some of them anyway. It's a huge body of literature that's largely incredibly dry and repetitive, because they were born out of an oral tradition passed on to people who had "gone forth into the homeless life" and therefore had a great deal of time on their hands.
However, I have read some of them. They are, as you might imagine, full of profound wisdom and practical instruction, and I can see why they formed the basis of a religion that continues to be extremely useful as a codified path of living. However, there really is no need to read the same paragraph six times, just with one word changed. If you read "all six of these things are like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such are these things and how they're done and what they're full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc." it really is the same as reading
"the first of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
"the second of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
"the third of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
"the fourth of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
"the fifth of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
"the sixth of these things is like this, full of this, devoid of that, done like this, with this in mind, such is this things and how it's done and what it's full of and devoid of, oh nobly born, etc. etc."
It's just not as tedious.
I am going to transform Buddhism forever
by imagining the Buddha concise
It's just not as tedious.
I am going to transform Buddhism forever
by imagining the Buddha concise
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