Why did the Buddha speak in these ways?

[sujato]

Hi, thanks for the question

@travlingwonderer

I have read some of Bhikkhu Thanissaro’s writings, including his pamphlet The Mind Like Fire Unbound, and I must say that I like his position. However, I am also aware that certain of his stances are not without criticism.

If you’re interested, I wrote a substantial critique of his position here. I agree, there’s a lot of “reading between the lines”.

Going Out Like Fire Quenched

One of my first inspirations in the suttas was the short book by Venerable Thanissaro, Mind Like Fire Unbound, which came out when I was a young monk in the early 90s. I read it while staying at the little hermitage on Poo Jorm Gorm in northeast Thailand. The book had an elegant and moving quality to it; something in the Venerable’s presence in the written word conveyed a sense of depth and assurance that left an impression that has lasted to this day. I read it when it came out, and to me at …

I welcome the discussion, and I won’t attempt to answer the specifics you raise here, but if it is okay I’d like to make just one observation.

Long ago, Ven Nyanaponika advised Ajahn Brahm to avoid trying to make a theory on Buddhism based on obscure or uncertain passages, and instead focus on the fundamental teachings that are unambiguously repeated throughout the canon.

Unfortunately, most scholarship avoids this good advice, perhaps under the impression that the common teachings are well-understood and hence uninteresting.

As an experiment, try asking the same question, but start with the four noble truths and dependent origination. Then see how these more obscure teachings illuminate them.