Post by retrofuturist on Dec 30, 2008 19:40:03 GMT 10
Greetings,
The Buddha taught about eight worldly conditions (Atthalokadhamma)
They come in four opposing pairs which make the world go round...
Gain/Loss
Praise/Blame
Fame/Infamy
Happiness/Pain
There is a good article about them at www.bps.lk/bp_library/bp_102s/page_43.html and a good sutta about them at www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.006.than.html (AN 8.6 Lokavipatti Sutta).
Some people think that the Buddha's teachings are relevant only to Indians 2500 years ago... but teachings like this one show precisely how relevant they are today. We've not overcome suffering, and would do well to renounce these eight worldly conditions. Laying down the burden sounds nice to me.
Metta,
Retro.
The Buddha taught about eight worldly conditions (Atthalokadhamma)
They come in four opposing pairs which make the world go round...
Gain/Loss
Praise/Blame
Fame/Infamy
Happiness/Pain
There is a good article about them at www.bps.lk/bp_library/bp_102s/page_43.html and a good sutta about them at www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.006.than.html (AN 8.6 Lokavipatti Sutta).
Some people think that the Buddha's teachings are relevant only to Indians 2500 years ago... but teachings like this one show precisely how relevant they are today. We've not overcome suffering, and would do well to renounce these eight worldly conditions. Laying down the burden sounds nice to me.
Metta,
Retro.
