jts-khorat

I see you gave it some thought. Is something pressing on your mind? I heard confessing the truth makes the heart feel much lighter. You know, deep down, you want to talk!

In the event of Parinibbana, if Dukkha is absent, what follows is the complete cessation of the five Khandhas (body, perception, conception, volition, and consciousness). I do understand that this becomes increasingly cryptic, if you have not delved deeper into Theravada philosophy, but it cannot be helped, you will need to give yourself a good reading in the basic ideas, or this will be just more word salad for you. Book lists are in one of the previous posts. I have to confess, in totality it is quite complicated, Theravada encompasses a complete, near-scientific theory of reality with basically no parallel in Western thought. The ancient Indians went so far to describe reality as an increasing complex system of factors and perceptions (Abhidhamma) which exist in a state between impermanence and momentariness. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abhidharma/#TimImpMom You got to start somewhere, Abhidhamma is maybe not the right place though. For most Westerners, it is fully sufficient to read up on Vipassana meditation and some basic ideas like the Eightfold Path etc. This is the starting point for most, and as it allows for immediate start of meditation practice, it is one I would also recommend. In case you are still just wondering in what happens in the event of Parinibbana and how it relates to Nibbana itself, I recommend to you this article from Bikkhu Brahmali: https://journal.equinoxpub.com/BSR/article/view/8891/10347

Out of the absence of craving follows the absence of Dukkha in a wholly natural, for lack of a better word "automatic" process. This is actually the central tenet of the Buddhavacana, see the Four Noble Truths.

Also, maybe helpful for your imemdiate question, read up on the concept of Anatta. https://www.britannica.com/topic/anatta Also, there are two Suttas which might interest you, namely: Nibbana Sutta: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.8.01.than.html Vajira Sutta https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.010.bodh.html

No, of course not. Theravada is based on the laws of Kamma (not: Karma!), so it is not rejecting morals as meaningless. On the contrary, only with the right application and development of morals (Sila) is it possible to be sensitized enough to perceive reality as it is and therefore achieve removal from the wheel of Samsara.

Interesting that you quote Ajahn Maha Bua, who is the most divergent from orthodox Theravada with his ideas of an indestructible Citta. See: https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/whats-up-with-ajahn-chahs-the-knower/21870 Which goes to show, that even in the most "modern" philosophical trend in Theravada, there are severe differences. This idea of a Citta does still have nothing to do with some form of enduring consciousness. It does not help, of course, that Theravada is mainly based on Buddhagosa's Visudhimagga treatise and later Sri Lankan Buddhism, itself removed from the Buddha by a 1000 years, adding a rudimentary Boddhisattva ideal, the idea of a Buddhist god-king and lots of ideas about various supernatural phenomena (including a first try to make Pali a "magic" language, which only later succeeded with the amazing mathematical rules to build a Sanskrit grammar --> see Thai amulets and Sak Yant tattoos). https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/perera/wheel100.html#sect-28 All the more confusion, if you then move on to still equate Nibbana to Nirvana, where both are exactly opposites in idea. So, to answer your question: nobody will be drawn to Theravada for its eternal bliss, as this is not part of the belief; it is simply not on offer. Many people from even more derived Budddhist Mahayana and Vajrayana philosophies just might, as this is their opposing, central tenet.

Americans are literally barbarians. A society which is not able to socialize its members enough to prevent them from doing the most heinous crime, is then enacting itself the same gruesome act. No wonder, that in light of such uncouth uncivilized behaviour of the state, the whole populace is itself debased in its actions, leading to the highest rate of incarceration on the planet. 'Land of the Free' is just so much propaganda they tell themselves. But as long as they are happy in their delusion...

Buddhism is not like Buddhism. The problem is, that many people only have the most superficial idea what Buddhism supposedly teaches. Also, in its 2500 years of history, there are literally a myriad of different philosophies and ideas -- very often conflicting -- that sprung from the Buddhavacana, especially if you move geographically away from where the Buddha lived. You would be true if you would follow the diverse Mahayana philosophies, or even Tibetan Buddhism, where you reach some kind of paradise, where Bodhisattvas are eternal beings helping others. At least in Thai and Burmese Theravada (itself derived from Sri Lanka and the theories of Buddhagosa's Visudhimagga from the 5th century), there are no "eternal existences", and there is no "place" or "state" called nirvana (which would be a Sanskrit word). There is nibbana (a Pali word), which describes the release from Samsara -- so it is exactly the opposite of an eternal existence: it is the release first from ego, then release from the illusion of such repeated existences altogether. Unluckily, there is literally nothing that is easy to understand about it, it is quite a complex philosohpy. The most recent edition of the Pali Tipitaka is 40 books and 15,000 pages. You might have seen it when visiting Thai temples, it is the book cabinet full with books from top to bottom and the reason, why higher-ranking Thai monks since the reform in the 19th century need to study years in university to get enough experience to read and understand Pali. Still, if you want to get an understanding, about Theravada there are a ton of good books explaining all that, but expect to read hundreds of pages until you get a good hang of it. The luck is, many of those books are free. Maybe start here: https://buddho.org/books/. I personally recommend Thanisaro Bikkhu for theory and material about meditation, Ajahn Chah for Dhamma talks from the Forest tradition. Lots of the western temples of the Forets tradition have websites and free reading material, with lots of very good informaiton on meditation (the thing most foreigners are the most interested in): https://www.abhayagiri.org/books For a translation of much of the Tipitaka, and lots of commentary: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ In case you would want to discuss with Theravada specialists and those who think they are, I recommend the following forum: https://www.dhammawheel.com/.

Have you actually read the article you are linking to?? You must be incredibly stupid, because it says:

You already care enough to be bothered to answer. Strange that. It seems, Americans are even more thin-skinned than I thought. How pathetic.

I am coming more and more to the conclusion, that having world powers is not a good thing for average citizens. This was made quite clear by Putin, but after only six weeks in office, I am more and more sure, that Trump is actually as big of an enemy to democracy as his two dictator chums in Moscow and Beijing. By now I would welcome the dismantling not just of Russia and China, but of the USA as well. This obviously is not possible militarily, but if the US economy is hit hard enough, the country might just disintegrate in its 50 statelets. I for one have started to boycott any American goods, the one action I can make perosnally to get this moving along.

Trump is certainly uneducated and stupid. But I would never think that he is that stupid. I rather think that what is played here is a game of "plausible deniability". Have a foreigner do the dirty work, kick him down a notch from time to time, but not more than the useful idiot can take... then build him slowly up again. Makes the opponents relish that finally reason has come back, but it is only a play for time. I am sure, in the background, the hacking and slaying goes on with unchanged speed. One day not very far in the future the Americans will wake up, living in a full-blooded fascist dictatorship. It is to be seen if Apprentice Elon will get a job there, or goes to Guantanamo. At the moment I give it 40/60 that he will "enjoy" a Cuban beach sooner or later.

A gravy train it has been, but only for the American industrial-military complex. Due to the USA being the strongest member of NATO, there has been pressure to buy American weapons -- to the tune of 100 billion USD a year. This makes the other countries of NATO by far the biggest customer of the US. All the while, there are great European weapons systems, see German defence companies. Their stock have risen over 25% since Trump started to manhandle his "allies" with tariffs. I for one think that the American troops should move out immediatly, and not another unnecessary Euro spent on American weapons. Lets ship them all to Ukraine, where they are scrapped in the process of removing Russians and replace everything new with European systems.

You do realize, that the American people are represented by the office of the US president, not by individual people. Therefore, later presidents are bound by what earlier ones signed. But as I have written before, the American gobvernment has now proven, that it cannot be taken by its word any more, so as partners the USA are beyond useless. The same as no European government would make contracts with a Mexican drug cartel or a mafia family, there is no way to connect with the American government (as they are now on the same stage of malevolent actors).

Not quite. Before, the Americans were at least reliable business partners, even if they were never liked due to their arrogance, while at the same time being completely uneducated. Only with Trump it has become obvious that Americans are worse than the Chinese as future partners, as you now cannot count on their word any more, the only thing they had ever going for them.

Pretty good so far. I love pizza and döner, but lately I also have a favorite Syrian falafel restaurant. My daughter goes to primary school and besides Thai and English at home she has beginning knowledge of a few Ukrainian phrases because she bonded quite strongly with a kid from a lovely couple fleeing from the war. Her other friends (besides all the german kids) are Lebanese and Italian, and as a result I am very sure that she will be able to move confidently through life in an international setting. Quite the difference to me, having been a German country boy from a small city, with the most useless school english imaginable going wide-eyed into a not always friendly wide, wide world.

As Trump is the master of the deal, I am sure he will be received with open arms by the Mujaheddin and the Taliban, especially when he comes ridden along with his best buddy Putin. The red carpet will be rolled out for him... I am sure of it. In a sense he is a genius: a single man, alone and within a mere month, making the US literally the laughing stock of the world.

They got quite the unfair political say, especially in German politics. I for one am very happy when they finally have to pack their bags and leave Ramstein airbase. Already as a kid I hated their fighter jets overhead, and after 80 years, we will be finally rid of their undue influence. What else did the Americans get? The dollar being the world's reserve currency. Here, again, the Euro is so much better suited, maybe in a basket with the Yuan for Asian trade. I am, again, happy, that we Europeans will not have to pay for the disastrous US debt policies any more, after the Americans will have strangled themselves with tariffs on Chinese products. So I think it better to ask, what did the Europeans get out of their "friendship" with the Americans?

Maybe, maybe not. But Russia is already, just as we speak, giving ballistic missile technology to North Korea. And this is the state the US voted together in the latest UN resolution. I bet, that if Trump goes on like this, in a year the political landscape of the World will be unrecognizable. Thinking geopolitically, what better cover for Chinese expansionism, to have Korea and Japan bound up in a war with North Korea and Russia bound up in a war against a nuclear-capability Ukraine? Who knows where the US will stand then? I at least see really dark times ahead, and if I would be Chinese, I would throw the fox in the henhouse just to see in which directions the chicken will scatter.

The Ukrainians have spoken about this before, so I personally think it is imminent: the US guaranteed their safety if they give up their nukes, but they will try to get new ones if the US fails to fulfill their obligation. If the technology does not come from France or the UK (unlikely), the logical other partner would be China. I think we will see diplomatic overtures start soon, and the Ukraine having a functioning nuke within the year. Usually, the more difficult part than the nuke itself is the delivery vehicle. But as we have seen with the Crimean Bridge, a truck driven with a bomb on it would suffice. Lots of roads go to Moscow or St Petersburg or maybe just Kursk. So Zelenskyy was right, the Americans will feel the repercussions of their betrayal. It was not a threat, it was a clear statement of fact, that Trump just toppled 80 years of national security doctrine of the US, possibly in a not repairable way.

The USA voted *already* in the UN together with North Korea and China, so: sorry to say, you should have used past tense.

Why in general I would not even dispute your general point -- but "loud complaining" in the face of authority has indeed and always proven the best way to move things along in Thailand. Screaming, even. I wish you luck.

I see, the Americans have found their own version of a "Wunderwaffe", together with the "Golden Dome". Or maybe call it better "bread and games" to distract the masses. It would be hilarious, if it would not have so much of an echo of Godwins Law in it.

As I said before, it will be great as soon as Germany has their own nukes. Trump would have to think twice before threatening to annex Greenland again, as this would be right on the cusp of the German sphere of influence and within its security umbrealla.

Look up who is the biggest weapons merchant after the USA on the planet. Frankly I would have thought that it is the better solution to not have a new German army involved in an arms race for planetary dominion. But if push comes to shove, I think the economic power and resolve of all Europeans combined would be well sufficient to make all kinds of uncomfortable scenarios true. However, this would mess up my argument that we Europeans are all so enlightened, so I let you have your point.