Thanks Alpha! 🙏

Thank You From New Jersey

Absolutely! 🙏😊

🙏😊

It's my pleasure! Thanks for the comment. 🙏😊

I agree Susmita. It's a wonderful sutta. 🙏

Susmita : some Buddhist scholars said if you don't read Abiddhama , you haven't understand thoroughly Buddhadharma yet - some westerners scholars judged that Avatamsaka is the highest point of Buddhism . Avatamsaka was translated in english verses .

Thank you kindly Sam! 🙏

You're very welcome Ashan_K!

Never too young or old for the TRUTH!

What are the best buddhist channels?

Thanks for the comment loeur prim! Glad you found them interesting.

You're very welcome Anjan! Thanks for the kind comment. 🙏🙂

😄 Cool! Glad you enjoyed it Cameron. Be well!

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@Ching Vang it's actually a book!

Thanks Tiago, I'm glad you found them useful. 🙏

Yes! The Buddha really does make you think. 🙏

Absolutely, you can do it! 🙏

My pleasure Nicholas!

Glad to hear it! 😊

You're very welcome Handsome Loner, glad to be of service. 🙏

You are very welcome!

You're very welcome Joann!

Thanks Deep, I might do so eventually!

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Yes they aren't quite as simple! As for becoming a secular Buddhist, the main idea is to embrace Buddhist practice without any particular interest in the speculative stuff about rebirth and so on. 🙂

You're very welcome Sandeep. 🙏

Thanks Alfred, I'm glad you enjoyed.

Wonderful, same to you! 🙏😊

Most welcome!

Hi Travis, yes I tend to focus on early Buddhism here (early Buddhism is related to the Theravāda, but different), and the Mahāyāna does have a broader range of what they consider authentic teachings. I have an earlier video on authenticity in Buddhism if you are interested: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/obldi9ek1prDqHk.html

Thanks so much!

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You're very welcome lab997. Thanks for watching! 🙏

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You're very welcome Neha, thanks for the comment!

You're very welcome Hollylivengood!

Yes, they are very much worth reading and thinking about! 😄

You're welcome Joe!

You're very welcome Ninja!

That's great to hear Misa, I hope they lead you in the right direction. Thanks for the comment!

Can you share the name of the documentary you watched?

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How do you mean?

Thanks for the question Chris, it's hard to say exactly but I think the Buddha would reflect upon the fact that most of humanity is mired in the three fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance, and therefore that very many people are (and will be for a very long time) deep in suffering. 🙏

My understanding is that loving kindness means wanting them to be freed from suffering, greed, hatred, and ignorance. It does not mean liking the way that they are but wanting them to be physically and spiritually well off. As someone who has been assaulted on several occasions I find it useful to reflect on the level of suffering and confusion it takes to attack someone unprovoked and to focus on protecting myself rather than harming the other (applying the minimum level of force needed).

Rufus Hume thanks for the input !

I know this is old but my take on that is that buddha could say that one day you will die, and one day will rot away. Nothing is permanent, and so does your form which you cling to with your ego... a bit of a stretch, I know, but if we're sticking to the teaching, this is one potential answer.

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Thanks Benawesome, I agree it can be pretty annoying to read some of the "quotes" out there. 😄

Well yes, to be fair "religion" is not a term the Buddha would have known, there is no equivalent concept in his language. But he did work very hard to establish and expand a monastic institution.

Doug, I think it's reasonable to state that Buddha's Monastic Institutions are very similar to the Schools established by Ancient Greek Philosophers like the Lyceum. After all, it's just Philosophy (and some Religion) that Buddha would teach his students. Right ?

Thanks for the suggestion Uilium, I'll consider it in future. 🙂

When pali language is translated to english the meaning is not the same. eg. there is no proper word for 'meththa' in english.

😄 How do I even know I said them? Maybe I didn't. 😉

I believe it says that just as a mother protects her only son, so we should cultivate a boundless mind towards all beings. This is essentially how KR Norman and Bhikkhu Bodhi translate the passage.

@@DougsDharma yes, that's how Mills, Norman, Piyadassi, Ñanamoli, etc basically copied and repeated Vigo Fausböll (1880-ish) translation. Thanissaro at least somewhere has a footnote. It's probably not going to change anyone's practice, but this reading doesn't make sense, unless it's sarcastic (it's not). We don't cultivate a boundless heart to all beings without exception just as a mother cultivates a heart toward exactly one and only one child.

As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate the heart limitlessly with regard to all beings. Thanissaro's footnote: The image here is sometimes misconstrued as saying that one should protect all beings as a mother would protect her only child. Actually, the parallel is not between the child and all living beings; it is between the child and one’s cultivation of the heart: One should protect one’s goodwill toward all beings in the same way that a mother would protect her only child. On this point, see MN 21 Presumably, Thanissaro is referring to: “Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: ‘Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of goodwill, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness imbued with goodwill and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with goodwill-abundant, enlarged, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.’ That’s how you should train yourselves. We can be sure that the Buddha is not suggesting that we love or protect bandits like our only child. Yet we should protect our mind of goodwill without hate like we protect our only child.

Just as a mother, her own child, at the risk of life, her only child, she protects, in the same way, toward all beings, her heart [mind with intention], cultivated, limitlessly. mata = mother yatha = just as niyam = (her) own putta = child, son maayusa = at the risk of life eka-puttam = only son, born of oneself anurakkhe = would protect, preserve, guard, shield evam = so, thus, in this way pi = also, even so, just so sabbabhuutesu = toward all beings -- sabba = all, every, whole, entire (sabba- without exception) -- bhutesu = become, existed -- bhuuta = grown, become, born, being maanasa(m) = belonging to mind, intention, purpose, mental action, felt mind, with heart, urge (manasa = having mind, with such a mind) bhaavaye = should cultivate -- bhaava = condition, nature, becoming -- ye = which, what, whatever aparimanam = limitless, immeasurable, boundless

Sure! Look for a local Buddhist meditation group, or during the Coronavirus, one online.

Well those quotes aren't from the historical Buddha of course. 🙂

I have a video on past and future Buddhas here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bqmAYLaUtKmsemQ.html

You're very welcome Seneli. 🙏

Check out my playlist on books, I have some videos where I discuss the main texts of Buddhism: kzfaq.info/sun/PL0akoU_OszRjBKHxKj98qtSmcLpBmDWkL

@@DougsDharma Tysm🙏

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Thanks toddviv! 🙏

I have playlists on my channel that are an introduction to Buddhism as well as an introduction to secular Buddhism. I’d suggest checking them out!

That's right, though it requires us to have a very deep understanding of the early texts to do so properly.

Well, I think there is a distinction between accepting something because your teacher/guru told you to accept it, and accepting something because the wise people accept it. The difficulty might come in when we are unwise enough not to be able to distinguish between the two. This is always a problem. (It might also actually be that your teacher is wise. If so you are lucky!) 🙂

@@DougsDharma Are you saing that the wise, IF we can somehow trust that they are wise, are to be followed since they seem to know the proper way? Whereas someone's less trusted advice, is to be taken with a grain of salt. Or in modern and current terms - trust the CDC, not the random KZfaq commenter. Something like that?

@@andersbenke3596 Well yes, something like that. The problem that we both see here is figuring out who "the wise" really are, especially since we ourselves lack the wisdom to figure it out!

Yes, I think it is translated interchangeably as either "island" or "lamp".

It certainly can be.

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😄😄 Not sure the Buddha ever said anything about physical exercise, it's something I'll try to keep an eye out for. But they got in plenty of walking every day for alms round.

Great way to look at it Andrew, thanks!

Yes, that's an important one for sure!

The Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. If you want you can Google it and find out more of the basics, but I also have a video where I talk about how the Buddha saw himself as different and not-so-different from other enlightened beings: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fdiEec6ivrnMgIk.html

Sir Buddhism is a religion?

@@SalmanKhan-wu2fc Actually, most of Buddha's teachings are not religious, but Rational or Philosophical in nature. They make Perfect Logical Sense. There certainly are some religious elements in Buddhism, but you can ignore them ...

Happy holidays to you as well Michael, thanks for the comment!

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Of course! 😊🙏

Thanks Ratna! To you as well!

Yes indeed Gustavo, I tried to get into a little of that in my description box below the video as well as in the video itself. 🙂

😄That's a good practice!

These are nice quotes but I'm not sure they're from the Buddha. 🙂

Hey it's absolutely normal Joe, we all share it. Take that energy and put it into practice! 🙂

Thanks Crow, glad you enjoyed. 🙂

You've got the picture! 😄

Yes, a "middle path".

Hello.yes i agree.👍🤣🇯🇵

😄 Good one! Though a fake Buddha quote to be sure!

@@DougsDharma My mistake. It's not a quote. It's in the teaching as is Perfect is imperfect, imperfect is perfect.

Yes, well I think it is legal! 🙂

Thanks for the question Just Aguy. The Buddha wasn't against desire. He was against unskillful desire. Take a look at my video on whether desire is the root of suffering: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jMuDm7Ggur7SqKs.html

@@DougsDharma I will and I appreciate your response. My questioning is honest, not insulting or incredulous. I have more of course, and maybe there's a better forum for stating them than a YT video comment.

I guess the big problem that people often make is that assume that every quote that was said by Buddha was said by him in a 100 % generalized sense. Quite often, we find that that is not the case. In the video above, you see the guy mention that Buddha would often say those quotes to people in response to questions raised by the monastics. So the context definitely matters. Unfortunately, we can not really know the exact details of every major conversation that Buddha had, can we ? We can only try to understand why Buddha said the things he said, in response to whom, in what context and so on ... Now, it should be obvious to us that Buddha was a very practical person. He actually went through hell and came to conclusions about reality from his own experiences. That is why he often taught the Middle Way. His MIDDLE WAY should be a clear indication to all followers of Buddhism that Buddha obviously knew that we ALL have desires as they are intrinsically a part of us and that we can NOT stop having them. But, obsession with desires is what often causes suffering. So, it should be controlled. Not too much, not too little. Take food: If you eat nothing, you will die. If you eat too much, you will develop health disorders. It is a problem in both ways. Hence, the Middle Way. It is not a complicated philosophy. People just don't follow it well in their lives and that is why they have too many problems ...

That is a huge misinterpretation of Buddha's teachings. Buddha wanted to eliminate suffering. His teachings don't have to get in the way of Ambition. Buddha comes to the rescue when your ambitions start draining you, physically and/or mentally. You then need to follow his teachings to find a solution to your problem of suffering. Once you have solved it, MOVE ON !

@@DipayanPyne94 Buddha comes to the rescue? Sure ok thanks, my parents thought me this basic part of lo ife with never consulting or even knowing who the Buddha was, look to yourself for rescue and move on. As long as there is life there is suffering for someone.

You don't seem to get what I am saying, my friend. Your parents are not Buddhists, right ? Of course we all learn from them. Isn't that great ? That doesn't mean they know everything about Buddha's teachings, do they ? There is SO MUCH within Buddhist Philosophy that people can and should learn from. Anyway, the reason I wrote my previous comment is simply because you made mistakes. If you had known Buddha's teachings properly, you would not have written your original comment. You think Buddha didn't know that people have desires and ambitions ? Of course he did. That's why he divided them into Skillful Desires and Unskillful Desires. Also, you wrote 'we would basically have to just do nothing'. Again, a huge misrepresentation of his teachings. Buddhist practice is definitely not something that teaches us to do nothing. You sort of made it sound as if we are expected to live in a cave or isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. That is not the case. Then, you also said 'As long as there is life, there is suffering for someone'. Well, Buddhism tells us that it doesn't have to be that way. If you just accept that we all suffer and do nothing about it, then you will suffer for sure, isn't it ? You obviously don't want to suffer. No one does. Anyway, I can see why you have made many mistakes. You just don't seem to know enough about Buddha's teachings. That's why, it's necessary to read more or learn from someone who knows much more than you. I would like you to check out many other videos by the same person aka the person in the video above. For starters, watch his video called 'Buddhism for Beginners'. Type 'Buddhism for Beginners Doug's Dharma' on KZfaq. You'll get the video. And yeah, please don't think that I wrote the above sentences with a sense of superiority. I just wanted to correct you and I am quite sure that there is nothing wrong with that. Anyway, please do watch the videos, starting with the one I suggested ...

@@DipayanPyne94 lol don't think you wrote the sentence thinking that you are Superior LMFAO 🤣🤣 but yet you want to correct me on something that is open to interpretation. OK mister buddist you sound like every other religious fanatic but you think yourself different.

Yes thanks Mael-Strom. I have an earlier video on the Three Refuges that refers to the same concepts: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mNyboMV7q7icfas.html

I’m from the US.

Sure Anders, exactly right. If they have value in your life, if they lead to happiness and well-being for ourselves and others, the rest doesn't really matter so much.

Can you expand on what you found too difficult? It may be that other videos on my channel will explain some of the material in more detail.

@@DougsDharma My english is not too good. Its ohk with your vedio. Thanks

Thanks for your feedback Kyle.

You mean the "pada" in "Dhammapada"? That means "foot", but has the connotation of "verse" in this context. It can also connote a path. So it has multiple meanings.

Sorry if it confused you! If you have questions let me know. I also have lots of other videos that might answer those questions for you.

Yes indeed Brandon. Doing what I can. 😉

When you suddenly see the light... make sure you're not "sitting" in a railway tunnel. ^^

Hi daniel, I have a number of videos on the channel about what "secular" means in this context. If you're interested you can take a look at the playlist here: kzfaq.info/sun/PL0akoU_OszRjx0lEV_Bre693AvHWrk-Kp 🙏

Hello Daniel. I was a secular Buddhist in outlook before hearing of the word in this context. The Buddha's teaching are not limited by Eastern and Western. As a modern, 2500 years removed from the Buddha, filled with a completely different cultural, political, and socio-economic background, the fundamental teachings of the dhamma still apply. Rebirth in the next life is not important to me in this context. It's the moment to moment rebirth in this life, and I am quite comfortable with the term secular, as some might be with Mahayana, Theravada, etc.

So the only thing you reject is rebirth?

I used to think the same... but think of it as a more inclusive flavor of dharma. The fundamentals can be used by all peoples of all beliefs.

daniel daniel basically