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who has determined he is a bodhisattva??
Also, remember that in order to get ordinary people to keep their attention, books need to be written in a way that interests them. TNH (I believe) has a goal of reaching a wide audience, to introduce them to the principles of Buddhism to improve their lives and the lives of others on the planet. He actually doesn't even encourage people to be Buddhist, he encourages them to go back to, or stay with, their own path and incorporate the beneficial things he offers into their own practice. So in trying to reach a largely western world with his writings, he has to say things in ways the general populace will easily understand, which very likely are not the way that actual Buddhist scripture would teach them. He, like the HHDL, has put Buddhism on the map for the western world in the past couple decades. Not that others didn't as well, of course. But when you ask the average person who they know from Buddhism, HHDL is likely to be #1 and TNH will be a close second. He most certainly has a place. That doesn't mean he has to have a place in your practice though.
If it doesn't appeal to you....don't read it. No problem.
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Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited May 2014
@shanyin Don't think about it too hard. Try to let it pass through you, like food. Maybe meditate on it, but don't get yourself all tied up in knots trying to figure it out. It could easily be one of those things that's almost word-play or semantics, that depends on how "conceptual" or "non-conceptual" the intent of the phrases are. Buddhist masters can go all the way from blunt conceptuality to vague non-conceptuality, and really there's something "missing" or "wrong" from either!
It's the whole truth-can't-be-expressed-fully-in-words paradox of Buddhist teachings, and why they're considered pointers. I got the same headache when I heard "nirvana is samsara, samsara is nirvana", or some such. Try reading the Shobogenzo sometime if you want to see how crazy it is to think you can understand, on a conceptual level, everything a Buddhist master says, LOL.
"Right" as in "Right View" is sometimes translated as "complete". Wrong views, therefore can also be seen as incomplete views.
I prefer that POV. "Right" presupposes "wrong" and I don't think it's a question of right vs wrong. Those evaluations I'll leave to those who depend on such distinctions.
We're taught that nirvana and samsara have same taste. The difference lies in how you view them. A complete view reveals nirvana. Incomplete is samsara.
@karasti said:
I really like TNH myself. He was the first author I read when I started learning about Buddhism. His idea of engaged Buddhism really appeals to me. I don't always agree with him on some things, because I practice a different tradition, but that is ok. I still get a lot of value from his teachings. Not a fraud at all in my opinion. Just because we might not understand something, doesn't make the other person fraudulent.
TNH's book "The Heart of the Buddha's teaching" is still top of my list, along with Walpola Rahula's "What the Buddha taught," as recommended reading for my non-Buddhist friends who want to have an idea of the Buddha's teaching.
I know it's difficult to cover all traditions in a single book, and many won't probably agree with me, but I find his style both poetical and at the same time very academic and logical.
Comments
who has determined he is a bodhisattva??
Also, remember that in order to get ordinary people to keep their attention, books need to be written in a way that interests them. TNH (I believe) has a goal of reaching a wide audience, to introduce them to the principles of Buddhism to improve their lives and the lives of others on the planet. He actually doesn't even encourage people to be Buddhist, he encourages them to go back to, or stay with, their own path and incorporate the beneficial things he offers into their own practice. So in trying to reach a largely western world with his writings, he has to say things in ways the general populace will easily understand, which very likely are not the way that actual Buddhist scripture would teach them. He, like the HHDL, has put Buddhism on the map for the western world in the past couple decades. Not that others didn't as well, of course. But when you ask the average person who they know from Buddhism, HHDL is likely to be #1 and TNH will be a close second. He most certainly has a place. That doesn't mean he has to have a place in your practice though.
If it doesn't appeal to you....don't read it. No problem.
@shanyin Don't think about it too hard. Try to let it pass through you, like food. Maybe meditate on it, but don't get yourself all tied up in knots trying to figure it out. It could easily be one of those things that's almost word-play or semantics, that depends on how "conceptual" or "non-conceptual" the intent of the phrases are. Buddhist masters can go all the way from blunt conceptuality to vague non-conceptuality, and really there's something "missing" or "wrong" from either!
It's the whole truth-can't-be-expressed-fully-in-words paradox of Buddhist teachings, and why they're considered pointers. I got the same headache when I heard "nirvana is samsara, samsara is nirvana", or some such. Try reading the Shobogenzo sometime if you want to see how crazy it is to think you can understand, on a conceptual level, everything a Buddhist master says, LOL.
"Right" as in "Right View" is sometimes translated as "complete". Wrong views, therefore can also be seen as incomplete views.
I prefer that POV. "Right" presupposes "wrong" and I don't think it's a question of right vs wrong. Those evaluations I'll leave to those who depend on such distinctions.
We're taught that nirvana and samsara have same taste. The difference lies in how you view them. A complete view reveals nirvana. Incomplete is samsara.
In Theravada Right View is part of the 8-fold path, see here:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-ditthi/
TNH's book "The Heart of the Buddha's teaching" is still top of my list, along with Walpola Rahula's "What the Buddha taught," as recommended reading for my non-Buddhist friends who want to have an idea of the Buddha's teaching.
I know it's difficult to cover all traditions in a single book, and many won't probably agree with me, but I find his style both poetical and at the same time very academic and logical.