[Buddha-l] Loving your object of study

[curt]

Jackhat1 at aol.com wrote:
>  
> There is a group at _http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dhammastudygroup/_ 
> (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dhammastudygroup/)  that  advocates "an only 
> intellectual approach." They feel an  understanding gained through studying the 
> Abhidhamma is sufficient.
>  
> I had understood Bob's comment about scholarship being the  practice as an 
> "only intellectual approach." Was I incorrect?
>  
> jack.   
>
>
>   
I wouldn't speak for Bob - but to me it sounded like he was saying that 
it is a mistake to "make a separation between scholarship vs. practice". 
Which I agree with - and, moreover, I would contend that this is (a) 
common-sense, and (b) widely accepted among Buddhists and Hindus.

The quickest way to liberation is almost certainly to focus (but not 
exclusively) on whatever one is *least* inclined to. If you want to get 
fancy you could do a weighted average over all of the yogas - where the 
weight is assigned in reverse proportion to one's proclivities. But it's 
simpler to just do them all - which is really not that complicated: 
Read. Pray. Meditate. Help. Repeat.

Curt

P.S. The yahoo group's description clearly states that "The discussions 
include matters of both theory and practice, with the aim of developing 
precise understanding of dhammas (the ‘realities’ of the present 
moment)." The description also says that they are "under the guidance" 
of Khun Sujin Boriharnwanaket - who is a vipassana (meditation) teacher.