Buddhism

An old Buddhist text written in Yi language

Sutra on expelling evils and begging fortunes. Click any photo to view full size gallery. Date: acclaimed 1745. Language: Yuanyang dialect, Yi language. Photographs from the British Library  #endangeredarchives project. Thanks to @bl_eap More posts about the #endangeredarchives project.

Om When Drunk, by Trevor Leggett

At present you are occasionally saying it as a sort of insurance policy, paying a little sum now and then and then forgetting about it. But the time will come when there is a crisis, and you will need to practise seriously to find your way out of it. If you then try repeating ‘Om’ seriously, you will find that there are innumerable low-level associations coming into your mind, which will take a good time to get rid of. And you may not have that much time…

Brahma Faring in 21st-Century Mazes, by Sylvia Swain

But first there is the maze which has to be negotiated. It is by definition a labyrinth—tortuous and serpentine—intended to confuse and disorientate. This brings us to the title: Brahma Faring in 21st-Century Mazes. The mind, because of its various functions, monkey origins, and self-deceptions, is very like those fascinating hedge mazes with their convolutions of temptation and the predicaments into which they lead us…

Two Kinds of Language, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

The word ‘Buddha’, for example, in everyday language refers to the historical enlightened being, Gotama Buddha. It refers to a physical man of flesh and bone that was born in India over two thousand years ago, died, and was cremated.

Considered in terms of dhamma language, however, the word ‘Buddha’ refers to the truth that the historical Buddha realised and taught, the dhamma itself…