tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8485583244199236996.post5380621475458911953..comments2024-03-27T14:35:59.406-07:00Comments on The Outsider: Reflections on RussiaPaññobhāsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14148206217028034038noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8485583244199236996.post-11367637055560157362022-06-06T17:00:59.864-07:002022-06-06T17:00:59.864-07:00As a russian I must say you are quite wrong about ...As a russian I must say you are quite wrong about what is happening over here (and about Putin's true goals either).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8485583244199236996.post-43205773803311832892022-04-02T06:02:37.831-07:002022-04-02T06:02:37.831-07:00These days ukrainians are seeing how dangerous and...These days ukrainians are seeing how dangerous and intimidating NATO is.Adánhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06468595917535674477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8485583244199236996.post-41594385479033133372022-03-28T19:02:12.903-07:002022-03-28T19:02:12.903-07:00This story of The Bondage of Vepacitta from SN is ...This story of The Bondage of Vepacitta from SN is very helpful and scary in a "if you only knew how bad it really is" kind of way. And seeing how bad things are politically or Samsarically, doesn't even get at the Bondage of Mara at all yet. I'm not attempting to relate it to the current war, but to your quote at top.<br />Excerpt from 248 (11) The Sheaf of Barley Sutta, Samantha Nikaya:<br />"Once in the past, bhikkhus, the devas and the asuras Were <br />arrayed for battle.222 Then Vepacitti, lord of the asuras <br />addressed the asuras thus: 'Good sirs, if in this impending battle <br />the asuras win and the devas are defeated, bind Sakka, lord of <br />the devas, by his four limbs and neck and bring him to me in the <br />city of the asuras.' And Sakka, lord of the devas, addressed the <br />Tavatimsa devas: 'Good sirs, if in this impending battle the devas <br />win and the asuras are defeated, bind Vepacitti, lord of the asuras,<br />by his four limbs and neck and bring him to me in <br />Sudhamma, the assembly hall of the devas.' <br />"In that battle the devas won and the asuras were defeated. <br />[202] Then the Tavatimsa devas bound Vepacitti by his four <br />limbs and neck and brought him to Sakka in Sudhamma, the <br />assembly hall of the devas. And there Vepacitti, lord of the asuras,<br />was bound by his four limbs and neck. <br />"When it occurred to Vepacitti: 'The devas are righteous, the <br />asuras are unrighteous; now right here I have gone to the city of <br />the devas,' he then saw himself freed from the bonds around his <br />limbs and neck and he enjoyed himself furnished and endowed <br />with the five cords of divine sensual pleasure. But when it <br />occurred to him: 'The asuras are righteous, the devas are unrighteous;<br />now I will go there to the city of the asuras,' then he saw <br />himself bound by his four limbs and neck and he was deprived <br />of the five cords of divine sensual pleasure. <br />"So subtle, bhikkhus, was the bondage of Vepacitti, but even <br />subtler than that is the bondage of Mara. In conceiving, one is <br />bound by Mara; by not conceiving, one is freed from the Evil <br />One.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com