Fruit of the Contemplative Life
Fruit of the contemplative life: => General Discussion => : Jhanananda January 03, 2024, 06:07:40 PM
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This morning I was informed by Facebook administration that our Facebook page
Fruit of the Contemplative Life (https://www.facebook.com/fruitofthecontemplativelife?mibextid=ZbWKwL) has been blocked due to copyright infringement. I expect this is the work of Thanisaro Bhiku, who translated the title of his translation of the Samamana Phala sutta as "Fruit of the Contemplative Life." While it would be more accurately translated as "Fruit of the Mendicant;" nonetheless, I liked the universality of his translation to be inclusive of householders who also lead a contemplative life, as I did for 30 years, and reaped many of the superior fruit (maha-phala). However, we must prepare ourselves for a change of not just our Facebook name but likely this forum name. So, let us discuss renaming this forum.
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I like "the Holy Life" or "the Spiritual Life" as substitutes--maybe "the Spiritual Life" better. Especially since the phrase repeats throughout the suttas: “Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.”
I know there were good reasons for calling it the Contemplative Life to begin with, but to me that always carried the connotation of discursive thinking. Also, the word "spiritual" has the benefit of contrasting with the word "physical," which to me is appropriate since the path is geared towards removal from the world of the senses.
Just my 2c.
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Thank you, Michael, for contributing your thoughts to this thread. I agree with you, "Holy Life" and "Spiritual Life" as they are understood today certainly care necessary nuances in western thought in the last 120 or so years that pertain to our focus here. And, even though "Mendicant Life" is surely a more accurate translation of the Pali term in the Pali Canon "samana;" nonetheless my preference for "Contemplative Life" stands, because, even as you point out, 'contemplative' tends to carry an unnecessary burden of thinking and not necessarily meditating; however, in John of the Cross's use of that term it was actually the cultivation of the ecstacies. So, we are caught in a linguistic and legalistic maze as we negotiate language and copyright. So, I still favor 'contemplative' over 'mendicant' because inspiring people to walk away from their material lives in this materialistic culture is going to be a hard sell, especially when my life demonstrates that so much progress can be made by someone living in this culture and maintaining a job or career, while following the Noble Eightfold Path to fruition.
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Hello dear friends,
It is news to me that FotCL had a FB group. I guess it is better to find out later than never :)
Regarding the name, I am too used to Contemplative. Is Great Western Vehicle an option?
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Hello dear friends,
It is news to me that FotCL had a FB group. I guess it is better to find out later than never :)
Yes, the Fruit of the Contemplative Life (http://V=https://www.facebook.com/fruitofthecontemplativelife) FB page is at the link
Regarding the name, I am too used to Contemplative. Is Great Western Vehicle an option?
Thanks, Tad, I think that will be our best solution