I’ve been interested in/reading about Buddhism for many years now, but you explain this stuff astonishingly clearly. Thank you for making this available on TH-cam.
Thank you for sharing your work on Huayan. It is a subject I that I have not been able to find a clear overview as yours. Being able have your talk for understanding how Indra's Net is woven into Chinese Buddhism is a treasure for me. It's been a subject I have come across practicing Pureland Buddhism but not knowing the relationship between them. It's a fascinating subject for me and I appreciate your work and efforts bringing a complicated school of thought to non scholars. I look forward to each of these talks. Thank you
Thank you for posting these lectures publicly! As a relatively (within the last year or two) recent convert to Zen Buddhism, I've been somewhat disappointed at its "non-conceptual" focus. Its preference for experience and practice over philosophy and contemplation, in other words (As I am, personally, very philosophically inclined). Just recently learned of Huayan Buddhism and am dying to know more. These lectures have helped enormously.
My current understanding is that Buddhist monism and dependent origination are like a photon, which can be a particle (monism) or wave (dependent origination). However, Nagarjuna came further and declared that in 'absolute reality', the emptiness is pervasive. We use verbal convention to describe and discuss the reality. However, since verbal convention can only be presentation, we can never understand/know reality through it. Therefore, Mahayana tradition emphasizes Zen technique, which is different from Vajrayana or Theravada traditions. Thoughts? Thanks.
It sounds like there’s a jump in going from the idea that a dharma’s identity consists in how it relates to everything else, to the idea that we are all identical. After all, being a jewel in the web isn’t the same as being an image of said jewel in another. They still represent different viewpoints. Granted, I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a serious assertion of monism or just a claim about how the universe needs to be conceived holistically.
I’ve been interested in/reading about Buddhism for many years now, but you explain this stuff astonishingly clearly. Thank you for making this available on TH-cam.
Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed my lectures.
Thank you for sharing your work on Huayan.
It is a subject I that I have not been able to find a clear overview as yours. Being able have your talk for understanding how Indra's Net is woven into Chinese Buddhism is a treasure for me. It's been a subject I have come across practicing Pureland Buddhism but not knowing the relationship between them. It's a fascinating subject for me and I appreciate your work and efforts bringing a complicated school of thought to non scholars. I look forward to each of these talks.
Thank you
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so happy that you are enjoying my lectures.
Thank you for posting these lectures publicly! As a relatively (within the last year or two) recent convert to Zen Buddhism, I've been somewhat disappointed at its "non-conceptual" focus. Its preference for experience and practice over philosophy and contemplation, in other words (As I am, personally, very philosophically inclined). Just recently learned of Huayan Buddhism and am dying to know more. These lectures have helped enormously.
Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed my lectures.
Bryan does it again! Thank you, Professor. Watching you from Brazil
Thank you for your kind words!
Great! Huayan is not easy to talk. But, Proferrot talk it well. Good examples.
most enjoyable and edifying! thank you so much for sharing with the wider community.
Thank you for your kind words of support!
My current understanding is that Buddhist monism and dependent origination are like a photon, which can be a particle (monism) or wave (dependent origination). However, Nagarjuna came further and declared that in 'absolute reality', the emptiness is pervasive. We use verbal convention to describe and discuss the reality. However, since verbal convention can only be presentation, we can never understand/know reality through it. Therefore, Mahayana tradition emphasizes Zen technique, which is different from Vajrayana or Theravada traditions. Thoughts? Thanks.
It sounds like there’s a jump in going from the idea that a dharma’s identity consists in how it relates to everything else, to the idea that we are all identical.
After all, being a jewel in the web isn’t the same as being an image of said jewel in another. They still represent different viewpoints.
Granted, I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a serious assertion of monism or just a claim about how the universe needs to be conceived holistically.