[Buddha-l] Monk/nun or lay person

[jkirk]

"One way is to assume that anything that starts to look like something else 
does so as a result of outside influence, meaning that original teachings 
would tend to be those that are most idiosyncratic."

Could you maybe explain a bit more what is meant this sentence, especially 
by idiosyncratic?
Thanks, Joanna
=======================================================
> ...   It's not at all surprising that the Pali literature is inconsistent, 
> given that the Book of Genesis and the Christian Gospels are also 
> inconsistent, and the process of canon formation is apparently somewhat 
> haphazard. The problem comes in trying to decide how to distinguish 
> earlier from later in Pali texts. One way is to assume that anything that 
> starts to look like something else does so as a result of outside 
> influence, meaning that original teachings would tend to be those that are 
> most idiosyncratic. I did a little bit of work on this connected with the 
> issue of omniscience in Indian philosophy, and there is definitely a 
> change in approach towards this concept. But I don't want to go on too 
> long here, so I will stop.
>
>          All the best,      Alex Naughton
>
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