Category: Teaching

Free PTS Sutta eBooks

The Pali Text Society has made its Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma books available for non-commercial use since 2013. The Sutta books have been extracted from the Buddhadust Website which is still considered as “work in progress.” However, the work was good enough to reformat as eBooks in its current state. Stephen Torrence and myself did most of the work to reformat the web pages into eBook versions. There were thousands of webpages which required many scripts to remove the web content. We used the open source project called Sigil. What is special about these books? These are the unabridged editions […]

Kauai Monk Update 3

Kauai Update #3 I have moved from the Botanical Gardens recently.  I was able to stay there for 5 months and the majority of the time there was wonderful.  However things were changing and it was time for me to look for another place and now I am staying in a new long term location in Kilauea. It all happened after a wonderful person picked me up on the side of the road holding my signs the day my parents, brother and in-law dropped me off (I’ll get back to that family-visit part later).  So this guy I knew from […]

Abhidhamma Lessons: A Top-Down Approach Using Computer Science

Free Book:  Abhidhamma Lessons PDF Download Abhidhamma Lessons PDF Here is a book I wrote long ago that relates the Abhidhamma to Computer Science. As a programmer from the nineties, I “clicked” with the abhidhamma after reading just a small amount.  When I learned that the mind does only one thing at a time, it instantly clicked with a graduate class I had taken on digital circuits.  It gave me the faith in the Abhidhamma early on which is very rare among Western Monks and Western Theravada Buddhist lay people. Most of the Western scholars are outspoken against the Abhidhamma.  […]

Why do monks have one shoulder exposed sometimes and both shoulders covered other times?

Why do monks have one shoulder exposed sometimes and both shoulders covered other times? There is a very small rule about having the robes fully covered when we are in a populated areas (sekhiyā 3). Although it is a very small rule, it can say a great deal about the monk and his respect for the monastic code, especially in the afternoons or evenings. “Populated areas” refers to when we are outside of the monastery and outside of the forest. Buddhist Shrines in a city like Shwedagon Pagoda can be considered a “monastery” and it is OK and sometimes culturally […]

Dhamma Talk Princeville August 19 2018

With only 5 minutes left before we were supposed to start, the security guard told us that someone else had the room booked and we would need to move to a smaller amd inferior room.  It was a mistake on their part, and while I did ask to see the schedule book, I opted out because we were running out of time and needed to setup the room again.  It was disturbing and noisy, but we had to make the best of it.  During the process of being notified and moving our setup I said a few times, “I am […]

Vegetarianism and Theravada Buddhism

Vegetarianism and Theravada Buddhism I have been asked to write a little something on vegetarianism and Theravāda Buddhism. I am qualified to be quite objective, and to see both sides of the issue because I was a vegetarian for a total of ten years as a lay person and I had vegetarian eyes. That meant that when I looked at meat, cooked or not, I saw a dead animal in front of me. Now that I am a monk, I am no longer a vegetarian although I have lived at vegetarian monasteries for many years, so I know both sides […]

Are You A Buddhist

Are You A Buddhist?  Introduction  Being a Buddhist is quite open because if you believe in certain aspects it is better than not believing in anything.  We take what we can get. However, here  are the more traditional aspects of being Buddhist.  One should believe in The Triple Gem – ie: The Buddha, The Dhamma and The Sangha).  This can be expanded to include The 4 Noble Truths.  This can be expanded to include the Eightfold Noble Path as well.  The Four Noble Truths also include a belief in cause and effect and past lives (aka Saṁsāra).  Lastly, one should live by these ideals and follow the five precepts for morality, and follow […]