This talk on the elements was given to a (mainly) English/European audience of top-ranking engineers and scientists at Masonic Hall in Bangkok in April. 2008, who found no conflict between what the Buddha was saying and their understanding and findings in modern science in practice and research.

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And we shall begin our talk,
with a few words on ‘nourishment’
or ‘nutriment,’ as it is often translated,
from the Theravada texts.

Concerning ‘nourishment’
Human life begins as a small, dark speck,
which needs nourishment, in Pali (ahara),
as a condition (paccaya), to evolve,
─through a dependent process of
coming-to-be (bhuta)—
which,

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And we shall be proceeding
from the topic of nourishment,
to the topic of mind and body.

Concerning Mind and Body*
According to the Lord Buddha,
man’s ‘being-in-the-world’
may be analyzed in terms
of two coexistent parts, which are dependent upon one another,
in what we may call a ‘psychophysical’ sense.

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“If One is the need for nourishment,
and Two/ is the psychophysical/ mind/body
(which is continually-seeking nourishment),
What, then, is Three?”

This is/, indeed/,
a befuddling puzzle/,
─ at least for those/
who prefer to wear
the blinkers and blinders/ of this world

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Concerning the Four Noble Truths

If what the Buddha says about
impermanence, suffering and
non-self/ in The Three Signata/
(otherwise known as the
three characteristics of existence)

is true, then, it follows/ that any idea/
a mind may have/ of itself/
as an independent/ and abiding ‘self/’ is delusory/ -
and based on avijja/ - which is translated as “ignorance.”

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The Cause and Cure of Mental Suffering

talk continues-on from where
we left-off in our previous discussion
and analysis of the Four Noble Truths:

Concerning the Second Noble Truth

Francis Story discusses/ the Cause of Suffering/ as follows:

“It is usually explained that
unfulfilled desire or craving
causes suffering,
so the way to cut out suffering
is to cut out desire or craving,

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Arising out of the Four Noble Truths
is the Noble Eight-fold Path —

[or in other words]
The Way to Liberation on the Path to Purity.

This Eightfold Path/ is the centre and apex
of what makes/ the Buddha-Dhamma
unique/, in comparison/ to all other religions
and philosophies and forms of moral practice.

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These are some live clips from a series of lectures given at Maha Chula Buddhist University in Bangkok. They have not been edited yet and so the reader will hopefully excuse the slow start and informal manner.Listen as though it were an auditory form of literary naturalism.

Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 1; July 6
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 2; July 6
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 3; July 6
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 4; July 6
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 5; July 6

Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 1; July 20
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 2; July 20
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 3; July 20
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 4; July 20
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 5; July 20
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 6; July 20
Download Zipped Audio File: Lecture 7; July 20