Clear Comprehension of Pali Terminology

To begin with I am not a Pali scholar.

I am a scientist by nature and upbringing.

I am trying to be a philosopher but failing due to paucity of my language skills.

Having said that to understand Pali one does not need Grammer and Schematics.

The words by themselves have pristine meanings.

Larger than self of their own.

Metta
Karuna
Muuditha
Upekka are foundations of Buddhist way of life.

I have three Pali words that, I am interested:

1. Nana or near enough English word Knowledge

2. Darshana, Dassana or Wisdom

3. Visuddhi or Mental Purity, the Clear Comprehension of the concepts of Anatta (no abiding self), unsatisfactory nature or Dukkha of conditional phenomena and Anitta or changing nature of all phenomena with constant flux, are  the fundamentals, to ponder upon in Dhamma.

I am indebted to all Western scholars of Pali Text Society of London and German Jewish Founders  of Buddhist Publication Society (Gnanathiloka and Gnanaponika) of Kandy which was the Consultation Clinic of Dr.Dharmasena, our family doctor when I was a kid.

All these are interlocked for me to  present Buddhism in a Nutshell through our erudite Reverend Narada Thera.

But if not for Bikku Bodhi in USA now, none of these texts would have been edited and presented to worldlings, all over the world.

We are on the threshold of World War, it is time for everybody to visit the Wisdom of Buddha with non violence or Avihinsa as a goal for human preservation.

It is very strange that American preoccupation is possession of guns.

Dhamma Pada does NOT have a verse on crimes but there is a popular saying in Ceylon, that states, those who carry swords are killed by swords.

Please substitute guns for swords  that is especially applicable to America.

People in Ceylon had guns to protect property before JVP insurrection.

The JVP by force collected these guns and used them, in their insurrection in 1970s.

The government confiscated all the guns and only the forces can carry guns  (live rounds  are never charged except in combat).

This was after a shooting in the Peradeniya University where a protesting student was killed that guns were not allowed to be loaded (only when necessary the soldiers act in defense and load guns).

We are not trigger happy nation (except rank criminals who use them or premeditated cases of murder).

I heard this incident in the university and rushed to the hospital and he was DOA (dead on arrival).

Buddha's time guns were not available but he used the word Danda or Rod (used in violence).

Even monks used Danda to fight among monks of opposing views.

Danda Vagga has 16 verses.

Violence were common in human conflict throughout history only the weapons have changed over time.

China invented gun powder.

But it was in Wild West America that  guns and violence were used to settle disputes.

It is (guns) a money spinner for American economy and currently it is supplying the Ukraine.

How Civilizations End?

How Civilizations End?

 

This is to add to Carl Sagan's predictions of scientific nature.

But my presentation is slanted on Buddhist view.

By the way, Buddhism is cosmological in nature and when Gotama Buddha was described by  Ananda as a colossal entity, Buddha in his own unenviable way said that there were many Buddha's before him who were formidable and that comparison should never be made.

Instead his teaching or Dhamma precede in any future discussions which also would last, only a limited time frame.

I think we have exhausted that time frame already and the world today with impending World War III, is a classic example trying to finish this Civilization in a moment of insanity.

Mind you there were lot of tribal or internecine wars in India when Buddha was spreading his Message of Wisdom.

Buddhist teaching is based on state of flux or constant change in all phenomena worldly and mental.

Buddha's focus was internal mental formations and not external.

One has to try by oneself without external inputs.

His last words at death bed was 

Vyadhamma Sankaram
Uppamadena Sammpadetam

What it means is all phenomena are constantly changing (instead of wavering the mind on those changing things or Dhammas) but strive to understand his teaching (without wasting time) in this life, not in the next life.

He also indirectly meant the life time currently is limited to 100 to 120 years and there is hardly any time left which is being wasted on mundane stuff.

War is mundane by default.

He did not want to go beyond 80 years, in his mind and if requested he would have lived another 40 years.

Ananda Thera was given a chance to make that request but he could not grasp it, at the moment that offer was made.

This piece is cosmological in nature and about world systems of enormity and constantly changing.

In a nutshell, all advanced civilizations end themselves when they achieve advanced technology, like space travel etc.

They also develop advanced technology to carry forward mutual destruction or MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).

We have come to that point already and we seem to enjoy that scenario in American and Ukraine standards.

Give me more weapons of destruction.

I love destruction by all means, is the goal of Zlensky and his cohorts in UK and USA are eager to help MAD.

I am not defending President Putin and I am totally against any form of war (we had internecine war of attrition in Ceylon for 35 years and we are starving now) but stating the fact, that there is a limit one can push him (Putin in this case) and his finger is NOT on the button, at this moment.

A think Poland wants the button to be pressed and directed at them instead of Ukraine.

This is very funny world of politics.

Give him some respite by ejecting this Mad Man or Joker without Z or Elensky.

He is a CIA consort in sleep and in day dreams.

Pentagon not being astute and dragging the decision making process under their feet is glaring, at this critical juncture.