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Recent content by Vishvavajra

  1. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    It's not as if I'm making this stuff up myself, or as if these are strictly modern reinterpretations. On the contrary, what I've said is inspired by the Madhyamika and Yogacara treatises against the positions of groups like the Sarvastivadins and Sautrantikas, as well as the Prajñaparamita...
  2. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    I have no problem with that conceptualization. The danger arises in reifying ignorance and treating it as an existent thing, in which case you end up with the problem of where it comes from, and in which case suggesting that it is a causeless, elemental reality comes with serious doctrinal and...
  3. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    I said I'd get to it if and when I can, which will probably be little by little as I snatch a moment here and there. The classicist in me is willing to indulge it and also see where it goes, but this idea of requiring scriptural basis for every teaching is uniquely Theravadin and not actually...
  4. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    The entirety of the Buddhist canon couldn't be clearer on the point of dependent origination, which is one of the few non-negotiable doctrines that define orthodox Buddhadharma. But the most comprehensive treatment is probably Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika, which is also relevant to the...
  5. Vishvavajra

    Devas in Buddhism and Hinduism

    Makes sense. This is where "Hinduism" (or Vaidika Dharma, if you prefer) and Jainism may share something in common in contrast to Buddhadharma, which holds that there is no jiva/atman that can fall or rise and thus no ground to attain. However, the practice of worshiping and/or meditating on...
  6. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    If ignorance were uncaused, then it would be impossible for it to pass away, since arising and cessation are entirely a function of dependent origination. Nothing is inherently impermanent but is functionally so because the conditions that allow for it are present one moment, absent another...
  7. Vishvavajra

    Devas in Buddhism and Hinduism

    This is a difference between religions. In Buddhism those are natural phenomena that arise according to natural conditions. If people want to personify them and demonstrate gratitude towards them, it's fine, but Buddhism is a religion with a particular purpose, and worshiping devas doesn't...
  8. Vishvavajra

    Is life suffering?

    Who said life was suffering? The actual Buddhist teaching is that sentient beings are generally afflicted with a sort of illness that can be described as vexation, dissatisfaction, or existential angst. That illness of the mind is intimately tied up with seemingly fundamental aspects of life...
  9. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    I'm not going to be baited into an even more fruitless discussion, especially since you've demonstrated a nasty tendency to project all kinds of baseless things onto your interlocutors and argue with what amount to straw men, all of which is merely a distraction from the point at hand. But if...
  10. Vishvavajra

    Devas in Buddhism and Hinduism

    Buddhism grew out of Vedic culture and incorporates the Vedic (i.e. Aryan) devas into Buddhist myth and iconography. This is Indra and the rest, the ones that show up in the Vedic hymns, not so much the ones that became central to Hinduism later. But unlike the Vedic religion, Buddhism isn't...
  11. Vishvavajra

    Stuff You Should Know: Nirvana, Not the Band

    There's a lot of confusion there, including projecting some Hindu ideas onto Buddhism, and probably getting those wrong in the process. For example, there's a difference between Nirvana and bodhi, which is more analogous to moksha, though significantly different in character and conception...
  12. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    I'm saying my explanation is more useful than quoting Buddhist scriptures without understanding, in a way that one only sees among certain types of formerly Christian converts. This is not how Buddhists traditionally use scripture. Nor is scripture a magical "I win" button in any debate or...
  13. Vishvavajra

    Communication with Devas?

    Some devas are fellow Buddhists, in which case they can be respected as Dharma-protectors or even bodhisattvas. Apart from that, devas don't really feature in the religion aside from being characters in myths and moral examples, to show that even heavenly beings have the same basic problems we...
  14. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    Buddhist thought is vast and varied enough that context matters a great deal, and the same terms are used to refer to somewhat different things in different contexts. Simply pointing to one scriptural verse like a fundamentalist doesn't demonstrate anything useful, and that's not even getting...
  15. Vishvavajra

    Buddhism after death

    Osal is correct in that what is translated as "ignorance" is not a lack of knowledge so much as a conceptual view that does not accord with reality. This kind of ignorance is also translated as "delusion," and the circle of 12 Links is meant to illustrate how this is a self-perpetuating state of...
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