#earlybuddhism — Public Fediverse posts

The brick structures at Sāvatthī were mostly built during the Mauryan, Kushan, and Guptan periods. So, Buddha never actually set foot in the Mulagandhakuti, which is just a shrine. But, he did probably stay in a mud/thatch/wood hut near there during rains retreats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetavana

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #maurya #gupta #india #bharat #bharata #jambudipa #history #jetavana #savatthi #sravasti #shravasti

After developing the ability to watch thoughts and feelings from a mental distance, an even greater freedom is to detach from the subjective feeling of a watcher (which is also impermanent). The result is ungrounded experience, where there is knowing but no knower.

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #detachment #thoughts #feelings #freedom #mind #mental #subjectivity #duality #dualism #impermanence #awareness #meditation

In early Buddhism, the rainy season/retreat (vassa), which began after the last full moon, was the only time monks/nuns lived indoors, and 'indoors' meant temporary wooden, thatch-roofed huts setup in pleasure gardens donated by wealthy laypeople, not stone viharas. They were expected to wander the rest of the year.

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #history #vihara #vassa #nomad #nomadic #wandering #homeless #donation #charity

One thing which bothers me about the prose in the Sutta Pitaka is it often presents plot devices as facts, eg: the Bāhiya Sutta (Ud 1.10) tells a story of a monk who is in a hurry to attain enlightenment, instantly attains it after talking to Buddha, then immediately dies from a cow attack.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Ud/ud1_10.html

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #prose #poetry #verse #writing #plotdevice #entertainment #fact #fiction #nonfiction #truth #coincidence

…Words the earliest Buddhist poetry used (2 of 2):
- nibbuto = cooled, extinguished
- each khandha had more tangible meanings, grouped under nāmarūpa
- upadhi = possessions, gandha = ties, saṅga = fetters
- ataṃ-mayo, amama, anupādiyāno = non-identification/ownership
- ekodibhūta = singleminded, unified
- causal pairs: craving causes suffering, etc

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #poetry #prose #history #meditation #enlightenment #nirvana #spirituality #religion

…Words the earliest Buddhist poetry used (1 of 2):
- purity comes from nonclinging, not from sīla (ritual)
- kusala = adept, skilled
- jhāna = meditation in general
- jhāyati, tapa, samāhita = active verbs for meditating
- paññā = intuitive clarity, not analytical discernment
- truth is 1, not 4

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #poetry #prose #history #meditation #enlightenment #nirvana #spirituality #religion

Words from the later prose Buddhist suttas which RARELY occur in the earlier poetry:
- sīla (precepts, rituals)
- kusala as merit
- jhāna and samādhi
- nibbāna/nirvāṇa
- anattā
- 4 Noble Truths (ariyasaccāni)
- 5 khandhas
- paṭiccasamuppāda (dependent origination)
- 37 factors of awakening
- upādāna
and others

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #poetry #prose #history #meditation #enlightenment #nirvana #spirituality #religion

Did Buddha spend 45 years tirelessly walking and teaching, or was that a 'retcon' story invented by the later prose authors of the suttas, to justify the long canon they needed to write in order to compete with Hinduism?

#buddhism #earlybuddhism #hinduism #palicanon #religion #scripture #canon #prose #poetry #competition #fiction #nonfiction #tradition #oraltradition #history #retcon

📰 Early Buddhist Stupas and the Origin of Mahayana Buddhism (A free, 33-page article from 2014)

Tags: #EarlyBuddhism #Buddhastatue
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/articles/material-practice-and-metamorphosis_fogelin-lars

📼 Buddhist Art in Early India (A free, 59-minute video from 2023)

Tags: #Buddhastatue #EarlyBuddhism
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/av/fragrant-stories_guy-john

📰 Apadana-Atthakatha/Visuddhajanavilasini (534 13-537 28, Vv 12–48) (A free, 55-page article from 2021)

Tags: #Pali #EarlyBuddhism #BuddhaQuotes
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/articles/dravidian-poem-translated-into-pali_levman

"One of the most counterintuitive and powerful aspects of early Buddhist thought is the practice of not clinging to views and opinions. What does this really mean? And why is clinging to views and opinions so dangerous?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzinQ4r7s10

#buddhism #earlyBuddhism

The #Arhat, central to early #Buddhism, embodies complete liberation through the eradication of mental defilements and the illusion of self. Unlike later #Mahāyāna ideals, #Arhatship marks irreversible freedom from #suffering and #rebirth, highlighting Buddhism's unique #psychological and #ethical insights. Here is a short overview:

🌍 https://www.fabriziomusacchio.com/weekend_stories/told/2025/2025-08-29-arhat/

#WeekendStories #EarlyBuddhism

📰 Archaeologies of Human:non-Human Suffering and Well-Being in Early Buddhist and Hindu Contexts (A free, 27-page article from 2016)

Tags: #EarlyBuddhism #Nature
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/articles/religion-nature-and-environmental-ethics_shaw-julia

☸️ The Storehouse of Sundry Valuables (A free, 274-page sūtra translation from 1994)

Tags: #CentralAsian #EarlyBuddhism #Avadana
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/canon/t0203

📰 Nirvāṇa in Early Buddhist Inscriptions (A free, 27-page article from 2020)

Tags: #EarlyBuddhism #Avadana
https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/articles/nirvana-in-early-buddhist-inscriptions_collett-alice