Aum Gung Ganapathaye Namah

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa

Homage to The Blessed One, Accomplished and Fully Enlightened

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Morality

A Collection of Articles, Notes and References

(Revised: Wednesday, January 12, 2005)

By

Praise the Buddha

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.

- William Shakespeare

Copyright © 2002-2010 Praise the Buddha

The following educational writings are STRICTLY for academic research purposes ONLY.

Should NOT be used for commercial, political or any other purposes.

(The following notes are subject to update and revision)

For free distribution only.
You may print copies of this work for free distribution.
You may re-format and redistribute this work for use on computers and computer networks, provided that you
charge no fees for its distribution or use.
Otherwise, all rights reserved.

8 "... Freely you received, freely give”.

            - Matthew 10:8 :: New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 

15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

            - Titus 1:15-16 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

            - Titus 2:6-8, 12 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

3 For WE OURSELVES also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

            - Titus 3:2-3, 8-11 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

Contents

Color Code

Morality and Righteousness

A Brief Note

Three levels of action

A Celibate (man or woman)

Orthodox State

A Married person (man or woman)

Orthodox State

Cleanness

To be One: Basics

Additional links

A Brief Word on Copyright

References

Educational Copy of Some of the References

 

Color Code

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Color Code                                                               Identification

 

Main Title                                                                  Color: Pink

Sub Title                                                                   Color: Rose

Minor Title                                                                Color: Gray – 50%

 

Collected Article Author                                       Color: Lime

Date of Article                                                          Color: Light Orange

Collected Article                                                      Color: Sea Green

Collected Sub-notes                                              Color: Indigo

 

Personal Notes                                                       Color: Black

Personal Comments                                             Color: Brown

Personal Sub-notes                                              Color: Blue - Gray

 

Collected Article Highlight                                    Color: Orange

Collected Article Highlight                                    Color: Lavender

Collected Article Highlight                                    Color: Aqua

Collected Article Highlight                                    Color: Pale Blue

 

Personal Notes Highlight                                     Color: Gold

Personal Notes Highlight                                     Color: Tan

 

HTML                                                                         Color: Blue

Vocabulary                                                               Color: Violet

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Morality and Righteousness

 

Author's note: Because of the subject of this writing, some readers may find it objectionable. There are words of wisdom. There are also words of erotic nature for comparative purposes.

 

A Brief Note

  • The case studies are given in the form of social jokes and social satires with fictitious characters. The objective is to convey the moral meaning across. The jokes are written in satire form to bring forward the level of moral turpitude, moral depravity, and the absence of moral values in modern men and women of society.

Which society?

Does it matter? Human emotions are same anywhere. Refer the article: What's the world thinking about? Sex, for one thing. (Friday, November 29, 2002) Singapore: The Straits Times. An educational copy of this article is given in Reference Chapter 6 of Use of Spy Cameras and Snooping Devices in India.

  • A glimpse of the moral rules, do’s and don’ts for any man or woman can be obtained from Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volume I and II.

 

Three levels of action

  1. Verbal action (Speaking, Talking)
  2. Bodily action
    1. (Touching)

(Kissing, different forms of sex (oral, anal, vaginal) are advanced forms of touching)

  1. Mental action (Thinking)

 

The five senses give rise to the different bodily actions, of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. We emphasize touching, since it externally deals with a second object or person in our case on morality.

  1. One should refrain from seeing what one should not see.

 

28   But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

            - Matthew 5:28 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

    1. All are forms of the One Lord. There is no point in classifying one person alone as a “godly element”. Thereby creating an improper reason of watching vulgar things. All matter are “godly elements”. Including you and me. The concept of “Know thyself” brings out man’s Godly nature. Be it any being - man or woman. So, spirituality finally narrows down to your personal behavior, your way of life. You should behave politely, with good manners, decency and self-respect.

                                                              i.      Never use spy devices to watch other’s intimate privacy and nakedness. For example, in their bedrooms and toilets. The action of watching the nakedness of an unsuspecting fellow human being gives the reverse action of blindness in your next births. So avoid such dirty habits.

1.      A person who uses such spy devices for watching vulgar and intimate affairs of others naturally is of bad manners, acts impolitely, indecent and lacks self-respect. Such a person if identified in public, naturally could face social stigma, in certain societies. A bad person to deal with. To be avoided. Mentally perverted, impure.

  1. One should refrain from hearing what one should not hear.
  2. One should refrain from smelling what one should not smell.
  3. One should refrain from tasting what one should not taste.
  4. One should refrain from touching what one should not touch.

 

That which can energize, heat the mind, burn one’s passions, one should not deal with.

Naked photos, naked scenes, others reproductive organs, one should not see.

 

28   But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

            - Matthew 5:28 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

Obscene or sexually explicit language or songs, one should not hear.

Heavy perfumes or fragrant flowers, one should not smell.

Excessive tasty food or drink one should not taste.

Such actions “turn on” the mind. So caution in behavior.

 

A Celibate (man or woman)

Orthodox State

You should not have any verbal action with any woman other than your mother.

You should not have any bodily action with any woman or man

You should not have any mental action or thoughts about any woman or man.

 

A Married person (man or woman)

Orthodox State

Verbal

If man,

You should not have any verbal action with any woman other than your parents and wife.

If woman,

You should not have any verbal action with any man other than your parents and husband.

 

Bodily

If man,

You should not have any bodily action with any woman other than your wife.

You should not have any bodily action with any man.

If woman,

You should not have any bodily action with any man other than your husband.

You should not have any bodily action with any woman.

 

Mental

If man,

You should not have any mental action or thoughts of any woman other than your wife.

You should not have any mental action or thoughts of any man.

If woman,

You should not have any mental action or thoughts of any man other than your husband.

You should not have any mental action or thoughts of any woman.

 

Man or woman,

You marry only once in your lifetime.

For a man, only a woman.

For a woman, only a man.

If your husband or wife die, or divorce, you will not remarry.

You remain chaste or pure till you die.

 

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

            - Matthew 5:27 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

            - Matthew 5:31-32 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

If they [the unmarried and widows] have not continency, let them marry. --1 Cor. vii. 9 (Rev. Ver. ).

 

9 But if they have not self-control (restraint of their passions), they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame [with passion and tortured continually with ungratified desire].

            - 1 Corinthians 7:9 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

 

Chastity is either abstinence or continence: abstinence is that of virgins or widows; continence, that of married persons.

- Jer. Taylor.

 

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Vocabulary

fornication  

n.

Sexual intercourse between partners who are not married to each other.

 

Word History: The word fornication had a lowly beginning suitable to what has long been the low moral status of the act to which it refers. The Latin word fornix, from which fornicti, the ancestor of fornication, is derived, meant “a vault, an arch.” The term also referred to a vaulted cellar or similar place where prostitutes plied their trade. This sense of fornix in Late Latin yielded the verb fornicr, “to commit fornication,” from which is derived fornicti, “whoredom, fornication.” Our word is first recorded in Middle English about 1303.

 

- Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

            - Mark 10:12 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

A person, man or woman, before marriage remains celibate.

If a person has developed sufficient will power (by means of fasting) to withstand the “pleasures of the flesh”, then he or she should remain celibate until he or she die. A life dedicated to the Lord.

 

6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

            - Hebrews 5:6 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

Small modifications, or relaxation of the above concepts are permitted depending on the environment.

 

Cleanness

The ultimate frontier is always the mind.

BUT what is inside is what is outside.

Inside energy purity (mental purity) is equal to outside energy purity, which displays in the form of verbal/bodily actions.

 

17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

            - Matthew 15:17-20 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

If you wish to achieve mental purity, then you should also have bodily purity. Only after achieving bodily purity, can you achieve mental purity.

If you wish to achieve bodily purity, then you should also have verbal purity. Only after achieving verbal purity, can you achieve bodily purity.

A vow of silence, zero verbal action gives perfect verbal purity. The orthodox state.

Refraining from incorrect speech (Precept/Law 4) gives a certain relaxation to the orthodox state for verbal action.

 

To be One: Basics

A sincere trainee trains for stillness.

 

Be still, and know that I am God:…

            - Psalm 46:10 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

Stillness - verbally, bodily, mentally.

First you achieve the verbal stillness, by controlling your speech.

Then you achieve bodily stillness, without any movement, without any scratching or irritation, you sit or lay down on the floor or stand still. A yogic posture is also an added advantage.

After achieving bodily stillness, you train for mental stillness.

Innumerable thoughts pass through the mind for any normal person - man or woman.

How about no thinking? Perfect mental stillness?

Don’t pursue the thoughts. Like waves, let them come. Like waves, they will go away. Don’t forcibly touch the thoughts. Don’t pursue. Don’t think further on any specific thought. Don’t go deeper into any specific thought. To help this activity of detachment, watch your in-breath and out-breath. When your monitoring wanders away, come back to the breath again. Slowly a time reaches where the heaviness of breathing slows down by itself. The calming down. The breathing slows down and down, to a faint level. The calm level. Be at that state as long as you can. Peaceful. Happiness. Concentrated. Period.

 

Additional links

Hesychasm

The word hesychia designates the state of calm, peace, rest, of silence, and an absence of the inner agitation of the soul.  The practice of Hesychasm leads to gaining inner health.  The Hesychia must be accompanied by amerimnia (lack of worries), nepsis (watchfulness or guarding of the mind), and unceasing prayer to gain the true union with God.

Jesus Prayer

13 …God be merciful to me a sinner.

          - Luke 18:13 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

A Brief Word on Copyright

Many of the articles whose educational copies are given below are copyrighted by their respective authors as well as the respective publishers. Some contain messages of warning, as follows:

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited

without the written consent of “so and so”.

According to the concept of “fair use” in US copyright Law,

The reproduction, redistribution and/or exploitation of any materials and/or content (data, text, images, marks or logos) for personal or commercial gain is not permitted. Provided the source is cited, personal, educational and non-commercial use (as defined by fair use in US copyright law) is permitted.

Moreover,

  • This is a religious educational website.
    • In the name of the Lord, with the invisible Lord as the witness.
  • No commercial/business/political use of the following material.
  • Just like student notes for research purposes, the writings of the other children of the Lord, are given as it is, with student highlights and coloring. Proper respects and due referencing are attributed to the relevant authors/publishers.

I believe that satisfies the conditions for copyright and non-plagiarism.

  • Also, from observation, any material published on the internet naturally gets read/copied even if conditions are maintained. If somebody is too strict with copyright and hold on to knowledge, then it is better not to publish “openly” onto the internet or put the article under “pay to refer” scheme.
  • I came across the articles “freely”. So I publish them freely with added student notes and review with due referencing to the parent link, without any personal monetary gain. My purpose is only to educate other children of the Lord on certain concepts, which I believe are beneficial for “Oneness”.

 

References

Some of the links may not be active (de-activated) due to various reasons, like removal of the concerned information from the source database. So an educational copy is also provided, along with the link.

If the link is active, do cross-check/validate/confirm the educational copy of the article provided along.

  1. If the link is not active, then try to procure a hard copy of the article, if possible, based on the reference citation provided, from a nearest library or where-ever, for cross-checking/validation/confirmation.

 

Watanabe, Teresa. (Monday, October 21, 2002) Young Priests Hold Old Values. Los Angeles, USA: Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/la-me-priest21oct21,0,5286892.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dtimes%5Fpoll

 

The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volume I: The Patimokkha Training Rules Translated and Explained, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1996; multi-part HTML book; 1273k/574pp.) *

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/modern/thanissaro/bmc1/index.html

 

The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volume II: The Khandhaka Rules Translated and Explained, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2002; 532pp.) *

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/modern/thanissaro/bmc2/index.html

 

The Eight Precepts. attha-sila. (Revised: May 17, 2002) accesstoinsight.org

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/atthasila.html

 

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Educational Copy of Some of the References

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

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Reference

Watanabe, Teresa. (Monday, October 21, 2002) Young Priests Hold Old Values. Los Angeles, USA: Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/la-me-priest21oct21,0,5286892.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dtimes%5Fpoll

 

October 21, 2002

 

THE TIMES POLL

Young Priests Hold Old Values

 Their views often are at odds with liberal reform of Vatican II in 1960s.

 

  By Teresa Watanabe, Times Staff Writer

 

Second of two parts

 

Younger Roman Catholic priests in the United States are markedly more conservative than their elders, a Los Angeles Times poll has found, reflecting a global trend toward Christian orthodoxy that is reshaping the world's largest church.

 

Clerics under age 41 expressed more allegiance to the clerical hierarchy, less dissent against traditional church teachings, and more certainty about the sinfulness of homosexuality, abortion, artificial birth control and other moral issues than did their elders, the poll found.

 

Those attitudes place the younger priests at odds with many priests who were shaped by the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and who tend to support further changes in the church — including women priests, optional celibacy, more lay empowerment and the direct election of bishops.

 

The poll found that overall, 30% of priests described themselves as liberal on religious and moral issues, while 28% described themselves as conservative and 37% as moderate. Among younger priests, however, nearly four in 10 described themselves as conservative, and three-fourths said they were more religiously orthodox than their older counterparts.

 

The shift to orthodoxy has been actively promoted by Pope John Paul II during his 24-year pontificate. In addition to their predominance among the younger generation of American priests, orthodox views are in the ascendancy worldwide as Catholicism's center of gravity shifts from liberal Europe and North America to the more conservative regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, according to scholars of the church.

 

As the influence of those regions grows in the American church — in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for example, Latinos and Asians already constitute more than 80% of the faithful — disagreements over the U.S. institution's future are certain to deepen, many experts say.

 

"The church has developed a fissure whose size most people do not fully appreciate," said Philip Jenkins, a Pennsylvania State University professor and author of "The Next Christendom."

 

The Times Poll surveyed a nationwide sample of 1,854 priests in 80 U.S. dioceses. The survey is the most extensive independent nationwide poll of Catholic priests since a similar Times poll conducted in 1993 and 1994. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

 

The poll paints a portrait of a gradually diversifying and aging priesthood. Eighty-eight percent of priests are non-Latino whites — a figure that is down a few percentage points from the last Times poll but remains higher than the white percentage among lay Catholics. Younger priests are also considerably more likely to identify themselves as gay than are those who were ordained in earlier decades.

 

As the number of new priests graduating from seminaries fails to keep pace with the number reaching retirement age, the average age of a Catholic priest has risen to nearly 61; in the 1994 survey it was 54.

 

Great Expectations

 

The survey shows the vast majority of priests to be happy with their vocations, but the shortage of priests causes many to struggle with burnout. Some talk of feeling caught between what one poll respondent referred to as "a bishop who expects everything and a people who expect everything."

 

Throughout the poll, the clearest divide was the one between the younger and older generation.

 

That gap is reflected in men like Father Vincent Inghilterra, a 60-year-old Army chaplain based in the Diocese of Trenton, N.J., and Father Matthew O'Donnell, a 39-year-old pastor from San Andreas, which is east of Stockton.

 

Inghilterra came of age during Vatican II. The Second Vatican Council was launched by Pope John XXIII in 1962 as a way to "bring the church up to date." The council launched a revolutionary effort to bring the church closer to the people by emphasizing a greater role for the laity, declaring the primacy of individual conscience and abandoning centuries of traditional practices, such as Latin Masses. Particularly in the United States, the reform ideas associated with Vatican II strongly influenced a generation of priests.

 

Influenced by such dissident theologians as Hans Kung and Charles Curran, who were both subsequently investigated by John Paul II's more orthodox Vatican, Inghilterra said he was encouraged to open all subjects to examination and to think for himself.

 

A Careful Approach

 

"I was taught to be very respectful of the conscience of people and not denounce everything as a sin," he said. "The Catholic people will do what they feel is right in their hearts — with or without the blessing of the local priest."

 

O'Donnell was raised in West Covina with such traditional Catholic practices as nightly family rosaries and frequent attendance at daily Mass. But he said that he, like many younger Catholics, longed for stability and certainty amid a climate of moral relativism, sexual permissiveness, social degeneration and a sense that the experiments of Vatican II had created more confusion than success.

 

In his seven years as a priest, O'Donnell said, he has gently but firmly laid down church teachings — telling one couple who had wed in a civil ceremony, for instance, that they could not receive Communion unless they married within the church.

 

"The beauty and liberty comes in accepting church teachings, not making your own theology," O'Donnell said.

 

Many younger priests, like O'Donnell, see themselves as carrying out the mission of the pope. Indeed, the poll found that younger priests who came of age after Vatican II and during John Paul's papacy were the most positive toward him, with 79% ranking him outstanding. That compared with 60% of Vatican II-generation priests, and 64% of pre-Vatican II priests 60 years of age and older.

 

Three-fourths of younger priests ranked the pope's moral views as "about right," compared with 60% of Vatican II-era priests and 61% of pre-Vatican II clerics. About one-third of the older two groups found John Paul's views "too conservative."

 

To priests such as O'Donnell, the pope represents "a guiding light and a strength." Amid social and religious confusion, he said, "Pope John Paul II speaks with certainty, love and compassion. This is what young people need."

 

In addition to their admiration for the pope, the younger priests surveyed were more upbeat about the church in general, with 69% ranking conditions "excellent" or "good" compared with 56% among priests of the Vatican II generation, defined by Catholic officials as those ages 42 to 59.

 

'Empower the Laity'

 

The younger priests were more apt to believe that no reform is needed in the church, compared with priests of the Vatican II generation, who most frequently chose "democratization" and "empower the laity" from a list of possible reforms.

 

Younger priests were also far more likely to fully embrace traditional church teachings — and expect the same from their fellow Catholics.

 

While 72% of Vatican II priests said Roman Catholics could disagree with some church teachings and remain faithful, only 48% of younger priests agreed with that proposition. The younger priests were the most likely to regard as "always a sin" such acts as premarital sex, abortion, artificial birth control, cloning, using fetal stem cells for research, gay sex, masturbation and wearing condoms as protection against AIDS.

 

About two-thirds of younger priests opposed the ordination of women as deacons or priests, although a narrow majority favored ordination of married men as priests in the Latin, or Western, rite.

 

By contrast, among the older priests, large majorities favored women deacons and ordination of married men as priests; among the Vatican II-era priests, 51% also supported the ordination of women as priests.

 

Shortage of Priests

 

The differences between liberal and conservative priests color views on everything from the cause of sex scandals that have rocked the church to the solution for shortages of priests — a problem named as the church's most pressing issue by the largest number of respondents across the ideological spectrum.

 

Liberals argue that the church must open the priesthood to women and married men. But many conservatives assert that the dioceses and religious orders headed by orthodox leaders are brimming with people eager to devote themselves to the religious life.

 

An example frequently cited by conservatives is the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., home to 90,000 Catholics.

 

According to Msgr. Timothy J. Thorburn, the diocesan vicar-general, the number of candidates for the priesthood or religious orders is growing at both seminaries in the area, and within three orders of nuns — including a new Carmelite monastery of cloistered women established last December.

 

One of the seminaries, Thorburn said, recently had to expand its quarters to accommodate the surge of young men — more than 60 — attracted to the Latin liturgies and other traditional practices of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

 

Thorburn called the priest shortage "a short-term problem" that would be solved in a few decades by the return to orthodoxy. "Young people with ideals are not looking for the easy path," he said. "A 'Catholic lite' is not attractive to them."

 

Some critics fear that younger, conservative clerics will alienate a more liberal Catholic lay population. But conservatives argue that orthodoxy is growing among the laity as well.

 

According to Father Joseph Fessio, editor of the conservative Ignatius Press in San Francisco, about 20 new Catholic magazines have been launched in the last two decades — all of them orthodox.

 

Conservative Catholics, he added, have started a host of new organizations, such as St. Joseph Communications, which holds an annual family conference in Long Beach that has grown from 300 participants when it began a decade or so ago to 7,000 today. In addition, he and others assert that younger families are having more children and increasingly choosing to home-school them.

 

As the Catholic population continues to change complexion, with increasing numbers of the faithful coming from immigrant communities, Jenkins and other experts say, ideological conflict between younger traditionalists and an older generation of reformers is bound to increase.

 

In Southern California, for instance, conflict frequently occurs over the role of the laity, said Father Thomas Rausch of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Discomfort "comes out all the time" from younger priests over the issue of treating lay pastoral associates as equal, professional partners, he said.

 

"It's very important that these younger Catholics not become so enamored with tradition that they lose sight of the need for greater inclusion of the laity or a more collective style of decision making," Rausch said. "Laypeople are claiming their ministry and won't have it taken away from them by some conservative cleric."

 

In a recent essay in the national Catholic magazine America, however, Rausch wrote that he had also become more sympathetic to some of the concerns of the younger, more conservative theologians.

 

"After all the confusion and 'Cafeteria Catholicism' in the post-Vatican II climate," he said, referring to the practice of selective adherence to church teachings, "there is a real desire for a greater sense of Catholic identity, more Jesus-centered piety and a rediscovery of the purity of the tradition."

 

He called on the church and its theologians to bridge the growing divide.

 

To many Catholics, however, diverse opinion is as old as the church itself.

 

"We've never been a community that thought the same way," Inghilterra said. "We're richer for the diversity."

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Personal Review

Main Points

  1. Younger Roman Catholic priests in the United States are markedly more conservative than their elders
    1. a global trend toward Christian orthodoxy
  2. Survey:
    1. the vast majority of priests to be happy with their vocations
    2. the shortage of priests causes many to struggle with burnout
    3. a bishop who expects everything and a people who expect everything
  3. The Second Vatican Council launched a revolutionary effort to bring the church closer to the people by emphasizing a greater role for the laity, declaring the primacy of individual conscience and abandoning centuries of traditional practices, such as Latin Masses.
  4. An older priest:
    1. I was taught to be very respectful of the conscience of people and not denounce everything as a sin
    2. The Catholic people will do what they feel is right in their hearts — with or without the blessing of the local priest.
  5. traditional Catholic practices
    1. nightly family rosaries
    2. frequent attendance at daily Mass.
  6. A younger priest:
    1. The beauty and liberty comes in accepting church teachings, not making your own theology

 

20   Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21   For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

            - 2 Peter 1:20-21 :: King James Version (KJV)

 

  1. The younger priests were the most likely to regard as "always a sin" such acts as
    1. premarital sex
    2. abortion
    3. artificial birth control
    4. cloning
    5. using fetal stem cells for research
    6. gay sex
    7. masturbation
    8. wearing condoms as protection against AIDS
  2. shortages of priests
    1. the church's most pressing issue
  3. the dioceses and religious orders headed by orthodox leaders are brimming with people eager to devote themselves to the religious life.
    1. Young people with ideals are not looking for the easy path

                                                              i.      A 'Catholic lite' is not attractive to them.

    1. orthodoxy is growing among the laity as well.
  1. younger families are having more children and increasingly choosing to home-school them
  2. 'Cafeteria Catholicism'
    1. the practice of selective adherence to church teachings
  3. there is a real desire for
    1. a greater sense of Catholic identity,
    2. more Jesus-centered piety and
    3. a rediscovery of the purity of the tradition

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Reference

The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volume I: The Patimokkha Training Rules Translated and Explained, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1996; multi-part HTML book; 1273k/574pp.) *

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/modern/thanissaro/bmc1/index.html

 

The 227 Patimokkha training rules, which are recorded in the Suttavibhanga (the first major section of the Vinaya Pitaka), affect every aspect of the daily life of the Theravada Buddhist bhikkhu (monk). The Patimokkha rules are presented here along with summaries of their "origin stories" and valuable commentary to help the monk-in-training master the fine points of monastic conduct. This book is now in widespread use at English-speaking Theravada monasteries around the world. (Printed copies of this book are available free of charge upon request from: Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA. For delivery to Asia or Australia, please write instead to: Chao Khun Nyanadilok, Wat Makut Kasatriyaram, Krung Kasem Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand.)

 

Chapter Four Parajika

 

Parajika     This term, according to the Parivara, derives from a verb meaning to lose or be defeated

Finally, the Commentary concludes its discussion of the parajikas by noticing that there are altogether 24, actual and virtual, in the Vinaya. They are:

 

The four for bhikkhus.

The four additional parajikas for bhikkhunis.

 

The eleven disqualified types who should not be ordained in the first place. If they happen to be ordained, their ordination does not count, and once they are found out they must be expelled for life (Mv.I.61-68). Thus they are virtual parajikas. They are --

 

1.  a pandaka (essentially, a eunuch or a person born neuter -- see Sanghadisesa 2),

 

2.  a "non-human" being, such as a naga or yakkha, that can assume human form,

 

3.  a hermaphrodite,

 

4.  a person who poses as a bhikkhu without having been ordained,

 

5.  a bhikkhu who has ordained in another sect or religion without first giving up his status as a bhikkhu;

 

6.  a person who has murdered his father,

 

7.  a person who has murdered his mother,

 

8.  a person who has murdered an arahant,

 

9.  a person who has sexually violated a bhikkhuni,

 

10.a person who has injured a Buddha to the point of causing him to bleed,

 

11. a person who has caused a schism in the Sangha.

 

 

In addition to the above actual and virtual parajikas, the Commentary gives separate listing to the four anulomika (derived) parajikas, which refer to four cases included under Parajika 1:

 

1.  the bhikkhu with a supple back who sticks his penis in his mouth,

2.  the bhikkhu with a long penis who inserts it into his anus,

3.  the bhikkhu who performs oral intercourse with someone else, and

4.  the bhikkhu who receives anal intercourse.

 

The 24th Parajika refers to the case of a bhikkhuni who, taking up the role of a housewife, goes to live in a lay person's household.

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Reference

The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volume II: The Khandhaka Rules Translated and Explained, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2002; 532pp.) *

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/modern/thanissaro/bmc2/index.html

 

Whereas the Patimokkha concerns the basic rules of Theravada Buddhist monastic life (see The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volume I), the Khandhaka (the second major section of the Vinaya Pitaka) concerns its customs, which are no less essential to monastic life. This landmark book organizes and explains the Khandhaka rules in a systematic and practical way, for the benefit of any Theravada monk-in-training. (Printed copies of this book are available free of charge upon request from: Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA. For delivery to Asia or Australia, please write instead to: Chao Khun Nyanadilok, Wat Makut Kasatriyaram, Krung Kasem Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. The printed version now available is an earlier edition that contains a number of typographical and other errors. A revised and up-to-date printed edition is expected by early 2003.)

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Reference

The Eight Precepts. attha-sila. (Revised: May 17, 2002) accesstoinsight.org

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/atthasila.html

 

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa

 

  1. Panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures.

 

  1. Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not given.

 

  1. Abrahmacariya veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual activity.

 

  1. Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech.

 

  1. Suramerayamajja pamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness.

 

  1. Vikalabhojana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from eating at the forbidden time (i.e., after noon).

 

  1. Nacca-gita-vadita-visukkadassana mala-gandha-vilepana-dharana-mandana-vibhusanathana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from dancing, singing, music, going to see entertainments, wearing garlands, using perfumes, and beautifying the body with cosmetics.

 

  1. Uccasayana-mahasayana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

I undertake the precept to refrain from lying on a high or luxurious sleeping place.

 

These training rules are observed by laypeople during periods of intensive meditation practice and during uposatha (lunar observance) days. The eight precepts are based on the Five Precepts, with the third precept extended to prohibit all sexual activity and an additional three precepts that are especially supportive to meditation practice.

 

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Published on internet: Sunday, December 01, 2002

Revised: Wednesday, January 12, 2005

 

Information on the web site is given in good faith about a certain spiritual way of life, irrespective of any specific religion, in the belief that the information is not misused, misjudged or misunderstood. Persons using this information for whatever purpose must rely on their own skill, intelligence and judgment in its application. The webmaster does not accept any liability for harm or damage resulting from advice given in good faith on this website.

 

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“Thou belongest to That Which Is Undying, and not merely to time alone,” murmured the Sphinx, breaking its muteness at last. “Thou art eternal, and not merely of the vanishing flesh. The soul in man cannot be killed, cannot die. It waits, shroud-wrapped, in thy heart, as I waited, sand-wrapped, in thy world. Know thyself, O mortal! For there is One within thee, as in all men, that comes and stands at the bar and bears witness that there IS a God!

(Reference: Brunton, Paul. (1962) A Search in Secret Egypt. (17th Impression) London, UK: Rider & Company. Page: 35.)

Amen

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