Clint wrote:

dihutenosa wrote:

I don't know, there's just something about paying to receive the good lord's word - whatever your motive - that strikes me as wrong - or at least unneccessary.

Or actually, yes, wrong.

Maybe you should've taken a closer look at that Bible. I've never read it, and I'm not a Christian myself, but I've heard tell there's a commandment in there something along the lines of "thou shalt not steal"

Hm. Come to think of it, I think there's a Buddhist precept against that sort of thing as well.

Buddhism has many schools of thought. One encourages "wrong" behavior if it brings you closer to the Buddha. So stealing a copy of the sutras etc would be encouraged

Jarvik, what school of Buddhism allows a person to steal??  One major idea of Buddhism is to alleviate the desire for material objects; not to gain more stuff!

I'm familiar with Mahayana Buddhism and yes, there is a belief that allows, for example, the temporary deliberate witholding of the highest teachings to the uninitiated for his/her own benefit.  However, it is a huge stretch to apply this belief to stealing.  Stealing is a karma-generating behavior in Buddhism unless it is borne completely of compassion (which unless we are talking about stealing food from a very rich tyrant to feed the starving is close to impossible) .  The problem with stealing sutras to help someone spiritually is that it is not completely compassionate because it necessitates taking from somebody else in the process.  It's hard to think of a scenario where such extreme measures are needed.  A true Buddhist would do something like go to a library, or just ask nicely to borrow a book, or find a living spiritual guide.

Clint wrote:

dihutenosa wrote:

I don't know, there's just something about paying to receive the good lord's word - whatever your motive - that strikes me as wrong - or at least unneccessary.

Or actually, yes, wrong.

Maybe you should've taken a closer look at that Bible. I've never read it, and I'm not a Christian myself, but I've heard tell there's a commandment in there something along the lines of "thou shalt not steal"

Hm. Come to think of it, I think there's a Buddhist precept against that sort of thing as well.

To get back on topic..

I think the idea here was that the Bible should be readily available to people for free, rather than to encourage stealing. It's a good point though! I didn't see that that could be misinterpreted!

There is also a verse in the Bible refering to the Gospel itself "Without payment you have received; without payment you are to give".

This is also often one foundational idea when it being translated to a new language. It isn't done for profit and the expenses are usually payed by fund raising in churches and christian communities.

That's what it means that it feels wrong to ask payment for the Word but as I said, if you want a really good quality Bible, It's gonna cost you honey!


I didn't really agree with the part about "工夫" though..
You should be able to get a Bible for free in almost any church just by asking.
No need for schemes!

Expedient means also justifies drinking, eating meat (and thus killing), gambling, debauchery, blasphemy, etc (a reverse connection to the Buddha). It seems to me to just be excuses to allow yourself to continue calling yourself a Buddhist without actually modifying your behavior. Later schools (at least in Japan) only require you to say the nenbutsu one time (with feeling) to attain pure land, regardless of behavior, anyways.

Similar things sometimes rise up within Christian communities too!
"God is loving, merciful, and kind so I don't have to change how I live" although change of heart through that love is in core of the message and there are people that say that once you're saved once, you can go your merry way doing whatever you please.

It is interesting that same kinds of problems arise within buddhism too!

Last edited by alantin (2008 September 26, 12:54 am)

Nukemarine wrote:

For a "quality" bible, you're paying for the gift wrapping, not the gift. This is similar to printed works of public domain items (The Odyssey, Shakespeare, Bible, etc). You're paying for the effort that went into making the items, not the ideas that are contained there in.

Exactly! You propably said it better than I!
Thanks for clearing it out! ^^

Last edited by alantin (2008 September 26, 1:37 am)