[Buddha-l] Loving your object of study

jkirk jkirk at spro.net
Sun Dec 2 11:24:32 MST 2007


 
How edifying this list has become, devoted as it is to the binaries of bad
vs good.

We ought to be grateful that some people take the time, and it requires a
lot of it, 
to study the dhamma at all, much less go for seclusion and commit to
internal tranquillity. These days, there's an alternative to seclusion known
as practicing mindfulness no matter what one is doing.
Joanna
=========================================


"Then there is the case where a monk studies the Dhamma: dialogues,
narratives of mixed prose and verse, explanations, verses, spontaneous
exclamations, quotations, birth stories, amazing events, question & answer
sessions [the earliest classifications of the Buddha's teachings]. He
doesn't spend the day in Dhamma-study. He doesn't neglect seclusion. He
commits himself to internal tranquility of awareness. This is called a monk
who dwells in the Dhamma."

Note that the "monk who dwells in the Dharma" *does* study the Dharma
teachings - but he also "doesn't neglect seclusion" and he "commits himself
to internal tranquility of awareness."

All of the "bad monks" were characterized by their neglect of seculsion and
their failure to commit to "internal tranquility of awareness" - while
simultaneously (and erroneously) focussing *only* on study, descriptions,
recitation, or thinking.

Curt

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