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The Open Buddhist University

buddhistuniversity.net

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Re: The Open Buddhist University

#71

Post by esbeeb »

nxpnsv wrote: post #65
esbeeb wrote: post #38

Actual Buddhist monk here (Ajahn Subharo), in the Theravada Thai forest lineage. Khemarato Bhikkhu - who is much more junior a monk than me, and is not formally any sort of Ajahn (teacher) yet - and myself both have Computer Science degrees, which are rare things for Buddhist monks to have. So take his authority to run a "university" with a huge grain of salt. He would get roundly mocked in subtle ways by senior Budd…

I don't know much about Buddhism, but that thing sure is no University. However, maybe this is missing the point. As you are qualified, what do you think about the content? Would this be a good place for me to learn about Buddhism?

I've taken a look at only a small portion of all the things which he's posted on his site. So I can't vouch for everything there, giving all the content of the site a wholehearted endorsement or not.

From what I saw, yes, it seemed quite solid, and doesn't misrepresent Theravada views.

> Would this be a good place for me to learn about Buddhism?

It wouldn't hurt, as a start. If you want to learn more about it on an experiential level, I would suggest going on a meditation retreat, ideally one which is 10 days long, run by an organization with a good reputation.

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#72

Post by guerrilla »

rafram wrote: post #40
kagakuninja wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Pali Cannon, while orally transmitted by monks for 500 years before being written down, should not be assumed to be "the original, actual, oral teachings of the historical Buddha". They are the closest thing we have to what the Buddha might have taught (assuming he actually existed, and like Jesus, there is no evidence outside of religious texts that Buddha did exist).

Virtually all mainstream secular scholars of early Christianity agree that Jesus existed. He was mentioned by Josephus and Tacitus, and the Talmud - a religious commentary, albeit not a Christian one, with genuine historical narrative interspersed - mentions him repeatedly. Essentially, based on the sources we have access to today, it’s far more likely that Jesus was a real wandering preacher in the first-century Lan…

> My understanding is that scholars also believe that Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, was indeed historical, but the contemporary sources are weaker.

This is correct and as for which parts of the text are original, philologists such as KR Norman, Gombrich, Vetter and Bronkhorst have come to some consensus (like on the four noble truths and dhyana), excluded some things and some things are still debated.

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#73

Post by layer8 »

WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #16
blinkingled wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> former software engineer from Silicon Valley I don't think I have encountered a website with tests before - https://buddhistuniversity.net/tests/

But it has broken tests in the similarity tests.

That illustrates the first Noble Truth.

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#74

Post by layer8 »

gtop3 wrote: post #3
qntty wrote: post #2

> The Open Buddhist University is an unaccredited, digital resource run by Khemarato Bhikkhu since 2020. > It is based on his personal library on Google Drive which he shared with his friends after his ordination in Thailand in 2019. Also: > Khemarato Bhikkhu [...] is a former software engineer from Silicon Valley.

University might be a strong word to describe this website, but the lack of an edu tld should have lowered your expectations going in.

Only US universities use .edu.

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#75

Post by dv35z »

esbeeb wrote: post #58
p-e-w wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So take his authority to run a "university" with a huge grain of salt. What does "authority" mean in a Buddhist context? From what little I know about it, Buddhism isn't like the Catholic church, where everything is a hierarchical pyramid with a single individual at the top, through which authoritative declarations can be made. Plus, schools like Theravada and Zen seem to differ quite significantly from each other,…

>What does "authority" mean in a Buddhist context? That's a fantastic question, and the short answer is: "given my expertise is in the Theravada world... how authority works is complicated". An overly simplistic answer is: the number of years of a monk's seniority is the easy and fairly-reliable gauge of a monk's authority. It would take a good 1-hour Dhamma Talk for me to explain what I know. Most people would be bo…

I would love to hear it, would you please say more?

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#76

Post by [deleted] »

newusertoday wrote: post #67
r_singh wrote: post #52

I’ve learnt that every religion is a framework (school of philosophy) and even as an atheist I have benefitted from learning some mental models a few religions offer. I would never brand myself or be a part of the cult though (claiming that one is better than the other or that everything said is holy). Even though one of things religions are good at is to also be to give people a sense of belonging to a community wit…

Buddhism is atheist religion that is it rejects god and if you follow 8-fold path than you have become Buddhist though you don't want to admit it :-)

[deleted]

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#77

Post by [deleted] »

fnordpiglet wrote: post #45
esbeeb wrote: post #38

Actual Buddhist monk here (Ajahn Subharo), in the Theravada Thai forest lineage. Khemarato Bhikkhu - who is much more junior a monk than me, and is not formally any sort of Ajahn (teacher) yet - and myself both have Computer Science degrees, which are rare things for Buddhist monks to have. So take his authority to run a "university" with a huge grain of salt. He would get roundly mocked in subtle ways by senior Budd…

I would note he’s not claiming to be a teacher or a dean or claiming anything other than: Khemarato Bhikkhu (Chief Librarian) I’d note also he’s not written anything of his own “teaching” but instead provides a curated set of texts. I think the wise thing to do in these situations is to carefully review what you’re going to criticize publicly to be certain your accusations are merited. As a lay student of Buddhism fo…

[deleted]

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#78

Post by [deleted] »

esbeeb wrote: post #38

Actual Buddhist monk here (Ajahn Subharo), in the Theravada Thai forest lineage. Khemarato Bhikkhu - who is much more junior a monk than me, and is not formally any sort of Ajahn (teacher) yet - and myself both have Computer Science degrees, which are rare things for Buddhist monks to have. So take his authority to run a "university" with a huge grain of salt. He would get roundly mocked in subtle ways by senior Budd…

[deleted]

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#79

Post by emptysongglass »

logicchains wrote: post #43
esbeeb wrote: post #38

Actual Buddhist monk here (Ajahn Subharo), in the Theravada Thai forest lineage. Khemarato Bhikkhu - who is much more junior a monk than me, and is not formally any sort of Ajahn (teacher) yet - and myself both have Computer Science degrees, which are rare things for Buddhist monks to have. So take his authority to run a "university" with a huge grain of salt. He would get roundly mocked in subtle ways by senior Budd…

That doesn't sound like a very Buddhist thing to say? I thought Buddhists were supposed to be about "no ego", not "don't listen to this guy because I'm more senior/got more titles than him".

Actually, the Buddha was critical of other teachers and practices when he felt those teachers and practices were not teaching what leads to the end of the suffering. Some people misapprehend Buddhism to be a kind of wet mop that just sort of sits there.

Re: The Open Buddhist University

#80

Post by boxed »

logicchains wrote: post #43
esbeeb wrote: post #38

Actual Buddhist monk here (Ajahn Subharo), in the Theravada Thai forest lineage. Khemarato Bhikkhu - who is much more junior a monk than me, and is not formally any sort of Ajahn (teacher) yet - and myself both have Computer Science degrees, which are rare things for Buddhist monks to have. So take his authority to run a "university" with a huge grain of salt. He would get roundly mocked in subtle ways by senior Budd…

That doesn't sound like a very Buddhist thing to say? I thought Buddhists were supposed to be about "no ego", not "don't listen to this guy because I'm more senior/got more titles than him".

Buddhism is concerned with truth. That's a hard problem! But it ends up with the same solutions as in science: you DO in fact need to listen to experts, and you need to take peoples education into consideration, but it might not be the end of the conversation.
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