User talk:Hasantha Gunasekera
Hi all, I would like to note that I completely disagree with some wording on this page=- specifically 'prohibition' and 'retribution'. 'The term "prohibition" is not consistent with the Theravada translation of the Pali Buddhist scriptures. I do not know Mahayana or Chinese Buddhism, so perhaps the page needs to disaggregate the various schools, but I do not think there is much doubt that Theravada Buddhism does not 'prohibit' anything. In the Theravada paradigm of how Samsara works, the Buddha does not have any authority to order any other living being, just advise. Bhikkhus may provide the opportunity for lay people to undertake the precepts and laypeople may chant the words (to the effect): "I undertake the training rule to avoid killing....etc". That is not the Bhikkhu ordering the lay people, but simply accepting their commitment to train themselves to avoid killing- exactly how it is laid out later in the page and yet in other sections 'prohibition' is used! This error then leads to the suggestion that, therefore, a Buddhist is forbidden to engage in 'euthanasia' or 'abortion', as life begins at conception. Is there a reference for life beginning at conception in any Theravada Pali text? I do not know any and would be very interested if there was such a reference as I have heard Bhikkus and Bhikkunis debate this for the last forty years or so. If these are Mahayana teachings, I respect that, but please do not attribute those beliefs to Theravada Buddhism. Also, the term "karmic retribution" is a misunderstanding of the word kamma (and again, inconsistent with other parts of the page where Kamma is correctly translated from the Pali as "action" or "volitional action"). Karma is not 'retribution'. This is another example of other paradigms contaminating the Buddhist TheravaDA paradigm in my view. Theravada teaching is that every volitional action (the cause) has a mirror image reaction (the effect). This effect is actually the vipaka in Pali- it isn't the kamma. Although this might seem trivial, it goes to the very heart of Theravada Buddhism that the action and the reaction are the same thing, not a reward or punishment for something you have done that is "prohibited" by the Buddha and hence you have to be punished with some form of retribution for disobeying the order. I think it would be good to seek the advice of the Theravada scholars who have translated the original Pali (Bhikkhu Sujato or Bhikku Bodhi) and disaggregate Theravada from other Buddhist schools. The Buddhist schools are similar but do have minor differences, however, these distinctions are important as 'prohibition' and 'retribution' are very much throughout many world religions, but they do not seem to be anywhere to be found in literal translations of the Buddhist Pali texts used in the Theravada school of Buddhism.
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