Dear Ven. Dhammanando, Rett, Robertk, Terry and friends,

thank you for your kind words.

Bhante, I think it is still good to keep the 10-day break ("curfew"),
so that everyone can take a breather, relax, and let things settle
down a bit.

The central theme of the group is "Pali-focused, Nikaya-centric".
By "Pali-focused", I mean focus on Pali language, as opposed to
Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, etc., and it includes all Pali
literature. This is the broader scope of the group. By "Nikaya-
centric", I mean the Sutta Pitaka, as opposed to Abhidhamma, Vinaya,
and other Pali literature. This is the narrower scope of the group.
At all time, we strive for a good balance between the broader and
narrower scopes.

Robert and Terry, I share much of your sentiments, and understand the
efforts involved in research work very well. I am scrupulously
looking for postings that contain offensive language, as well as
those with nothing but silly remarks. I believe they are all gone by
now. A second round of checks merely acts as reassurance. So, if
there is no one raising objections to any particular message in the
archive, they should all remain "locked in".

Rett, by "scholarly ideas", I mean (1) ideas or concepts which are
either not well established as Buddhist, or not completely accepted
by Theravada practitioners. These ideas may or may not be from non-
Theravada Buddhist schools. They may or may not have been published
in academic journals. I don't think we should forbid their
discussion. It actually allows us to better appreciate the
diversified and colourful world of Buddhist/religious philosophy, and
nurtures in us the understanding and respect for others. But, lengthy
thesis-like messages are not really necessary. (2) Ideas or concepts
which are well established as Buddhist, and completely accepted by
Theravada practitioners. Again, lengthy thesis-like messages are not
really necessary. It makes them look more like a (one-way)
dissertation than a (two-way) discussion. While it is nice to cover
the length and breadth of Buddhism, this list should not disintegrate
into a "clearing house" of all conceivable ideas. Lastly, It is also
good to discuss things as basic and practical as possible, rather
than using some "big words". It is also good to quote from Pali
sources, rather than from unfamiliar non-Pali sources.

In addition, I would like to clarify two other issues raised in
recent posts.

1. There are talks about people with private agenda. I think things
are not that bad, but I like to advise everyone to bear good will,
compassion and loving-kindness during discussion.

2. Someone suggests using the online polls feature to collect
feeback. I think it is a great idea. All the Yahoo! features are
available to members. Please use them responsibly.

Thanks again for your patience.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Bankei wrote:

> If you are going to delete any of these could we be told so that
they can be moved to another dtabase.

I would have to agree with Robert. These messages contain important
information that should be preserved somewhere if possible.