Old News Archive
July-September 2010

Obsolete and unsupported links have been disabled and are highlighted like this .

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.