Abbreviations AAṅguttara Nikāya DDīgha Nikāya DhDhammapada DhACommentary on the Dhammapada ItItivuttaka KhKhuddakapāṭha JJātaka JAJātaka Commentary MMajjhima Nikāya Nd2Cullaniddessa SSaṁyutta Nikāya S…

Foundations of Buddhist Social Ethics Although the ethics of Buddhism is widely discussed today, its treatment is frequently misconceived or lopsided, even when offered by Buddhist scholars. In order …

Conclusion The foundations of Buddhist social ethics can be schematized in the following diagram, which outlines the whole system of Buddhist ethics: magga paññā Enlightened world view (based on insig…

Social Relationships and Responsibility Within the Monastic Order In comparison with society as a whole the sangha, or monastic fellowship, is a very small community. It is intended to be the completi…

Attitudes Toward Poverty and Wealth The term poverty may sometimes be misleading. The familiar Buddhist concepts are rather contentment (santuṭṭhi) or limited desires (appicchatā). Poverty (daliddiya)…

Notes 1. See the two kinds of extremes, the ten kinds of lay people or enjoyers of sense-pleasure, and the three kinds of ascetics in the Rāsiya Sutta S.IV.330ff. Buddhist thought is characterized by …

The System of Buddhist Ethics Buddhist social ethics will be understood more adequately if we understand its place in the whole system of Buddhist ethics. As mentioned earlier, the whole of Buddhist e…

Tradition and Change in Thai Buddhism In the Kālāma-Sutta, one of the Buddha’s discourses best known to Western scholars, the Buddha says, among other things, “Do not go merely by tradition.” This say…

Vinaya: The Buddhist Monk’s Discipline I. The code of fundamental rules for the Buddhist orders of monks and nuns is called Pātimokkha. There are two Pātimokkha, viz., Bhikkhu-pātimokkha containing 22…

Notes on Stupas and Other Sites of Pilgrimage I. In Pali, there are three terms that are often used in reference to holy places, namely, cetiya (Sanskrit: caitya; Thai: chedi), a shrine, which has the…