[Buddha-l] Monk/nun or lay person

[jkirk]

Sure, why not?
There are famous monks who agree to this idea: Buddhadasa, Ajahn Cha, Thich 
Nhat Hanh. Buddhadasa: Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree; Ajahn Cha: anything he 
wrote that got translated, although I think he still figured that monk life 
was more conducive than lay life. But Ajahn Cha warned against taking 
Nibbana as a goal, as something you aim for--so did the others as I recall. 
Nhat Hanh: everything he wrote where the issue comes up.
Joanna K.
==============================================
I tend to believe that anyone may attend Nibbana here and now. Lay persons 
doing everyday's work are just as capable of Nibbana as any monk or nun. My 
argument is that the method described in Mahasatipattana Sutta is a direct 
way to Nibbana and may very well be used by anyone and in any situation and 
for the disiplined mind every hour of the day. It may be it is easier for a 
monk or nun to disipline the mind but nobody needs to become a monk or nun 
in order to have a dispilined mind. The same goes for the ethical dimension 
of Buddhist practise.

Would this be wrong thinking?

Best wishes from Knut in Norway


Knut Heidelberg
http://heidelberg.no



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