Hello Ven Yuttadhammo,

It looks like our messages got posted at the same time, so i hadn't
seen yours when i wrote mine.

Well, i guess you've seen by now that i may be counted among those
who say that ekaayana magga does not mean 'the only way'.

The Dhammapaada verse says that the eightfold path is the only way.
This has nothing to do with the term ekaayana, and the verse does
not mention satipatthana.

in Dhamma

Bhante Sujato

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Yuttadhammo" <buffer@...> wrote:
> Dear Nina and Paul,
>
> Just a note:
>
> > And a quote is used from the Patisambhida Magga:< "The
> > Excellent Way is the Eightfold way; four are truths;
> > dispassion is the best of things belonging to the wise;
> > besides that Way there is no other for the purifying of vision.
> > Walk along that Way so that you may confound Death, and put
> > an end to suffering.">
>
> This is actually probably a quote from the Dhammapada v.273-276.
And quite
> a good quote for people (including, I am told, some very prominent
monks)
> who say the Buddha didn't mean "the only way" by ekayana magga.
It says
> "eso'va maggo n'atth'a~n~no" - "this indeed is the path, there is
no other."
>
> I think Paul you have the right idea... too often I think people
are quick
> to argue against "one way" just because it doesn't suit their
speculative
> temperment. In Buddhism there are different methods of practice,
but they
> all are mindfulness for the purpose of seeing clearly the three
> characteristics of impermenance, suffering and non-self in the
end.
>
> Just like climbing Mount Everest. You could take different
routes, but in
> all of them you have to go up to get to the top. If you walk
around the
> base, or dig a hole, you'll never get there.
>
> Just a side note I got from America:
>
> > the FATTEST religious people are Baptists!
> > the THINNEST religious people are Buddhists!
>
> Sadhu,
>
> Yuttadhammo