Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.zen,alt.philosophy.zen,alt.religion.buddhism,talk.religion.buddhism Subject: Basics of Buddhism (was Roman Catholic Koans) References: From: i@no.self (!) Reply-To: spam@yronwode.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 17 Message-ID: Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 23:38:16 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1016840296 208.201.242.18 (Fri, 22 Mar 2002 15:38:16 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 15:38:16 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:31967 alt.zen:291249 alt.philosophy.zen:88018 talk.religion.buddhism:208573 uncited: |# Start off with the basics, the four noble truths and the eightfold path. "Free" : | Where can I find this? most rudimentary studies or introductions to Buddhism should contain them: these pertain to the initial lectures ascribed to Gautama Buddha in the Forest Lectures, if memory serves, and may be firmly linked with the numbers 4 (Truths), 8 (Folds), and 12 (Links) for mnemonic ease in recall the 4 tell us the condition of the cosmos, the 8 is included as the 4th of the 4 and instructs as to the best method of encountering the world, and the 12 describe a metaphysical 'chain of causation', typically blaming "avidya" (ignorance) as the initial 'starting point' for the Problem -- though careful Buddhists will understand this as a cycle with no clear and resolute beginning-point, orienting to the whole cyclic process