Dear Gillian The Carthusians appear to be creating the opulence of lay life in the monastery. Whereas the Desert Fathers sat in a cave or

Dear Gillian The Carthusians appear to be creating the opulence of lay life in the monastery. Whereas the Desert Fathers sat in a cave or
Buddhism is defined by the ‘Dharma’ – or the teachings of the Buddha – and the ‘Vinaya Discipline’, which is the moral backbone of Buddhism.
The Theravada School is one tradition of at least eighteen lineages that developed from the teachings of the single Buddha. Each of these schools differed
The Vinaya Discipline exists to put an end to the agency of human desire. Greed is desire, hatred is desire and delusion is desire. All desire is
In ancient days, according to the records of history, the welfare of the nation and the welfare of the religion were regarded as synonymous terms by the laity as well as by the Sangha. The divorce of religion from the nation was an idea introduced into the minds of the Sinhalese by invaders from the West, who belonged to an alien faith. It was a convenient instrument of astute policy to enable them to keep the people in subjugation in order to rule the country as they pleased.
The Buddha explained that physical existence is ‘nama-rupa’, or ‘mind-body’. This analysis is found in the received Chain of Dependent Origination (specifically in the 4th link which is conditioned by consciousness [mind], and which in turn conditions the sixfold sense-base [body]).