Old News Archive
July-September 2010

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Search plugins for Firefox and Safari 2010.09.26

The Firefox search plugin is back! And you can now install it in Safari, too. See "More ways to search ATI" for details.

Pali text of ATI suttas 2010.08.22

I've just installed the SLTP edition of the Pali Tipitaka on the website. Now, when you view a sutta and click its PTS page number reference, the corresponding Pali text will appear in a new browser window.

For example, look at the Anattalakkhana Sutta (SN 22.59). Above the sutta's title you'll see its PTS reference number: S iii 66. Click on that, scroll down a few lines, and you'll find the sutta in Pali!

Essay by Bhikkhu Bodhi 2010.08.21

Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas.
For centuries, Theravada's arahant ideal and Mahayana's bodhisattva ideal have served as lightning rods of contention between these two schools of Buddhism. In fact, the author argues, a healthy and integrated Buddhist practice requires respect of both ideals.

Dhamma talks by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 2010.08.08

Meditations 4: Dhamma Talks.
More Dhamma talks from the evening meditation sessions at Metta Forest Monastery. This book is highly recommended.

On the ending of Bhāva 2010.08.08

The Paradox of Becoming.
The Buddha's second Noble Truth states that the cause of suffering is any kind of craving that stimulates becoming (bhava; the process by which we continually fabricate new states of mind, from moment to moment and lifetime to lifetime). Yet this Noble Truth also states that the desire for non-becoming is one of the three basic forms of craving. Thus the paradox: How can we attain the end of suffering if the desire to end it is itself a cause of suffering? In this book the author explores the Buddha's own resolution of this paradox: how, through the practice of jhāna, we can create a unique state of becoming whereby the mind does not add further fuel to its desires. Eventually, this intentionally fabricated state of becoming itself comes to an end, providing the long-sought opening to the Deathless. [Not available in HTML] [PDF icon]

The many kinds of speculative views 2010.08.01

Brahmajāla Sutta: The All-embracing Net of Views (DN 1).
In this important sutta, the first in the Tipitaka, the Buddha describes sixty-two philosophical and speculative views concerning the self and the world that were prevalent among spiritual seekers of his day. In rejecting these teachings — many of which thrive to this day — he decisively establishes the parameters of his own.