Buddhist Sutras: The ULTIMATE Collected Works of 10 Famous Sutras

[MJD]

Use this thread to discuss Buddhist Sutras: The ULTIMATE Collected Works of 10 Famous Sutras.

[MJD]

One of my favorite quotes is the following from the "Sutra of the Forty-Two Sections":

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"Buddha said: There are twenty difficult things in the world, viz.: being poor to be charitable; being rich and noble, to learn supreme wisdom; to risk one's life and yet escape death; to gain sight of the Buddhist scriptures; to be born in the age of a Buddha (or, in the world of a Buddha); to repress lust and banish desire; to see an agreeable object and not covet it; having power, not to be supercilious; not to be angry when insulted; to be passive amidst all worldly influences; to understand completely the end of learning; not to despise the ignorant; to eradicate selfishness; to unite virtuous conduct with learning; to observe one's nature, and at the same time pursue the study of supreme reason; having attained one's end, not to be moved (by exultation); to explain satisfactorily the nature of final deliverance; to pass through various forms of being to deliver men; to have a heart enlightened and unmoved in action; to avoid positive and disputatious assertions."

[MJD]

I found this commentary on the Heart Sutra interesting: https://plumvillage.org/news/thich-nh...

[MJD]

One of the more interesting parts of the The Lotus Sutra is where the the Buddha, who is often characterized as ever in pursuit of the truth, seems to come out in favor of the right to lie from altruistic motives ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upaya#P... ) [side-note: I also see interesting parallels between the parable of the burning house in this sutra and the parable of the cave in [book:The Republic|30289] by Plato ]

For those interested in the subject, one of the better refutations in philosophy on this supposed right to lie - in my opinion - would be "ON A SUPPOSED RIGHT TO LIE FROM ALTRUISTIC
MOTIVES" by Immanuel Kant: http://www.mesacc.edu/~davpy35701/tex...


For a more contemporary book the philosophy of the right to lie for any reason for those interested in the subject I would recommend a book that was used in an ethics class I took in grad school, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life by Sissela Bok

[John]

MJD wrote: "One of my favorite quotes is the following from the "Sutra of the Forty-Two Sections":

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"Buddha said: There are twenty difficult thin..."

I'm puzzled by "to understand completely the end of learning".

[MJD]

John wrote: "MJD wrote: "One of my favorite quotes is the following from the "Sutra of the Forty-Two Sections":

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"Buddha said: There are twenty di..."

Good question.

When I posted the quote I thought that the bulk of it had good advice for positive mind-states to strive after, but in retrospect I don't think I fully evaluated the part that you have pointed out.

When I tried to find another translation for some assistance I found this version that seems to be very different: "It is difficult to be thorough in learning and exhaustive in investigation" ( http://buddhasutra.com/files/forty-tw... ). This alternative translation seems to just be encouraging good scholarship.