[Buddha-l] A question for Jewish Buddhists

[L.S. Cousins]

Dan,
>  Theravada monks avoid eating meat "intended" for them by
> passing their plate one to the left, so the plate now in front of them would
> not be considered "intended" for them. Absurd! 
Well, this is a new one for me. I have never met such a practice. Do you 
have a source or evidence for this ? I certainly don't believe there 
would be any way this could be valid.
> And food rules is one of the
> places Buddha himself (or at least the Buddha who appears in the Pali
> vinaya) started to mess with the rules (had he been more fastidious, he
> wouldn't have died of trichonosis).
In the account as we have it in DN II, the Buddha became ill a year or 
more before his death which has nothing to do with his last meal. There 
is no other evidence and the suggestion that his last meal was the cause 
of death is explicitly denied.
>  Connected with the assumption in the
> previous query about insight and belief translating into observable
> behavior, Arhats are supposed to be beyond kle"sa, etc. (otherwise what
> benefit would arise from attaining arhatship?), but, as the Buddhist sources
> themselves well document, Arhats got themselves embroiled in all sorts of
> scandalous behavior, leading to controversies within Buddhist groups as to
> the status of Arhats (nicely side-stepped by Mahayana by cleaning off a new
> label, Bodhisattva).
Can you prove that there are any such stories which were not invented by 
story writers long after the event ?

Lance