In the interest of (maybe) a new discussion... (Agnosticism)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Monday, December 12, 2022, 23:56 (710 days ago) @ dhw

I don’t know why eating one chocolate constitutes full consciousness and hogging the whole box = semi-consciousness, or why the desire for one chocolate isn’t a desire, or why having wants and desires = semi-consciousness. You’re proposing that we should indulge our wants and desires in moderation, but that’s not what I understand by Ajahn Brahmali’s Buddhism, and in any case I don’t think it would cause much disagreement in non-Buddhist or secular Buddhist circles!

So, I have 5 precepts. The next step up for a lay person such as myself is 8 precepts, and to be honest I should take that vow because I already keep them. (The additional 3 are: abstain from false speech, abstain from harsh speech, abstain from useless speech.) Monks (such as Brahmali) have 227 precepts. Monks also have a special social role in their countries of origin, and it isn't lost on me the irony that when we praise the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, the chant for the Sangha is the longest. The veneration in Eastern traditions for their teachers is legendary and predates Buddhism. This isn't particularly controversial for me--Monasticism as far as the preservation of the Buddha's teachings *is* part of the package. It hasn't been until the mindfulness teachers here in the States where there has been a challenge of sorts to monastic authority--which is where some of his concern my lie.

I think this is really a sidebar though, so I'll address the meat of your comments in another post.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"