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Buddha chat and Web Sanghas
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
One thing all Buddhist forums seem to have in common, with the exception of one I can think of, is they all espouse nihilism in the form of saying that the Buddha denied the atman or Self with a capital 'S'.
In the past, scholars like A.P. Buddhadatta, one of the greatest Sinhalese Pali scholars, have conceded that the Buddha affirmed the Self but did so implicitly through a negative methodology, viz., the via negativa. Other great scholars like Pande, Nakamura, and Frauwallner have tried to make it clear that the Buddha did not deny the Self. The Buddha only denied that what is impermanent and distressed could be the Self.
Over the years a few of us hardcore Buddhists have waged a lonely battle against the nihilist Buddhist forums and their staff who pretend to be Buddhists. The good news is, by and large, we are winning the battle as more and more people discover passages like these:
"The clear Self has been soiled by primal and adventitious defilements and (therefore) is regarded like a soiled garment which as been washed off " (Lankavatara Sutra Sagatham X: 358-59 vv. 752-761).
"For, truly if there is no personal entity (atman), there are no (Bodhisattva) stages, no psychic abilities, not highest initiation, and no excellent Samâdhi" (Lankavatara Sutra, X: 359, vv. 762-771).
There are many more besides these. But such passages don't serve the propaganda aims and the dogma of the Buddhist nihilists who also want you to believe the Buddha taught nirvana to be a kind of mystical death, since there is no Self. He didn't. The Buddha said, in fact, that nirvana is deathless!
"Nirvana; being himself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, he seeks the deathless supreme security from bondage, Nibbana" (M.i.162–163).
In other words, one who wins nirvana, upon the dissolution of their physical body, attains eternal life—and survives!
The Buddha also said:
"If one sees samsara as impermanent and nirvana as permanent, his view is neither nihilistic nor eternalistic, but is the right view" (Maharatnakuta Sutra).
If you decide to join a Buddhist forum like E-Sangha or BuddhaChat take note of how these false Buddhists will try to sell you on the idea that there is no Self because the senses can't detect one. This is an inversion of the Buddha's teaching. It is not the senses which are the measure, but the Self. The Self, by removing what is transitory, establishes itself as a firm island (atmadipa) that cannot be swept away by the flood of samsara.
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Buddha chat and Web Sanghas
One thing all Buddhist forums seem to have in common, with the exception of one I can think of, is they all espouse nihilism in the form of saying that the Buddha denied the atman or Self with a capital 'S'.
In the past, scholars like A.P. Buddhadatta, one of the greatest Sinhalese Pali scholars, have conceded that the Buddha affirmed the Self but did so implicitly through a negative methodology, viz., the via negativa. Other great scholars like Pande, Nakamura, and Frauwallner have tried to make it clear that the Buddha did not deny the Self. The Buddha only denied that what is impermanent and distressed could be the Self.
Over the years a few of us hardcore Buddhists have waged a lonely battle against the nihilist Buddhist forums and their staff who pretend to be Buddhists. The good news is, by and large, we are winning the battle as more and more people discover passages like these:
"The clear Self has been soiled by primal and adventitious defilements and (therefore) is regarded like a soiled garment which as been washed off " (Lankavatara Sutra Sagatham X: 358-59 vv. 752-761).
"For, truly if there is no personal entity (atman), there are no (Bodhisattva) stages, no psychic abilities, not highest initiation, and no excellent Samâdhi" (Lankavatara Sutra, X: 359, vv. 762-771).
There are many more besides these. But such passages don't serve the propaganda aims and the dogma of the Buddhist nihilists who also want you to believe the Buddha taught nirvana to be a kind of mystical death, since there is no Self. He didn't. The Buddha said, in fact, that nirvana is deathless!
"Nirvana; being himself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, he seeks the deathless supreme security from bondage, Nibbana" (M.i.162–163).
In other words, one who wins nirvana, upon the dissolution of their physical body, attains eternal life—and survives!
The Buddha also said:
"If one sees samsara as impermanent and nirvana as permanent, his view is neither nihilistic nor eternalistic, but is the right view" (Maharatnakuta Sutra).
If you decide to join a Buddhist forum like E-Sangha or BuddhaChat take note of how these false Buddhists will try to sell you on the idea that there is no Self because the senses can't detect one. This is an inversion of the Buddha's teaching. It is not the senses which are the measure, but the Self. The Self, by removing what is transitory, establishes itself as a firm island (atmadipa) that cannot be swept away by the flood of samsara.
thezennist at 4:44:00 PM EDT Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
