Ajahn Sujato - Buddhist Mythology: The Sacred and the Profane

In the Kuddhanikaya.

Thanks Mike.

@musiko

Is it possible to share the slides of the course? I’ve watched two of the three episodes so far and find them very interesting. So thanks a lot for sharing them in the first place!

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After listening to Bhante Sujato’s presentation some interesting thought came to me.
Why monks ware golden (yellow) robes?
Because they (monks) are un untarnishable like the gold.

I checked both the Youtube and the Buddhist Library site but unfortunately the presentations are not published at either site as a separate download.

Maybe Bhante @sujato or @michaelh can help us with that (and also with information whether the final part (four) was recorded and will be available online)?

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I listend to three parts in Youtube.

I would have interpreted the golden pe-cock story in a different way.
For me, the golden peacock is the Jhana practitioner, Pea-hen is Mara’s snare, the snare is the fetters or five hindrances.
The moral of the story is, even if you break your Jhana practice for one moment Mara can get hold to you. However, you still benefit the fruit of your Jhana practice in your death bed and have a favorable rebirth.

Have watched the first one. Will watch it again before proceeding. Pacing myself, as it evokes previous studies I have made. :slight_smile: Enjoying very much.

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Is there a link to MP3s? My internet here is a bit slow.

and +1 to the request for the slides. :smile: Thanks!

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Here you go, bhante :smile:

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Part 4 is a work in progress, I have to edit together the slides as I wasn’t able to get to the last session!
Thanks @musiko for posting and transcoding these :slight_smile:

Anagarika @sabbamitta was also asking about the last session

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Thanks to all of you for your awesome work which makes treasures like this course accessible to many! :pray:

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Do you need copies of the slides?

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Yes please Bhante :slight_smile:

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Part 3 is very interesting! Sadhu bhante! :pray:t4:

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Added part four (final) and updated the mp3 files here Bhante Sujato---Buddhist Mythology Course---Sydney 2019

A big thanks to @michaelh for providing the recordings of the course! :heart:

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Will the copies still come?

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To anyone who enjoyed this class, I recommend this interview with Katherine Bowie on the politics of the Jataka in Thailand (courtesy of the New Books in Buddhist Studies podcast)

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Just want to mention that this is such a good series… I watched it earlier this summer, over the course of a weekend. Probably the single most fascinating and informative video lecture series on Buddhism that I’ve ever seen. Now I’m stuck seeing connections to myth everywhere.

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Wow, high praise indeed llt! That is exactly my hope, to get under the skin and prompt new ways of seeing. It’s one of those things, when you immerse yourself in the world and the way of seeing opened up by mythology, you do see it everywhere; specifically in ancient narrative, which is soaked in mythic archetypes and which is slowly emerging from them.

If anyone doesn’t know what I mean by that, try the following exercise. Read these accounts of the early Buddhist period.

  1. MN 123: The Buddha’s birth
  2. Kd 1: The period following the Buddha’s enlightenment.
  3. DN 16: The Mahaparinibbana
  4. Kd 22: The Second Council

Step by step, little by little, the accounts become rather less like mythology and rather more like journalism.

If we are insensitive to mythology then we miss out on a vast dimension of meaning.

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