Dear Ven. Kumara, Gopal, John, Nina, Piya, Robert and friends,

thanks again for your replies.

Bhante, the idea of removing bouncing members is because they
superficially increase the group membership figure. Their associated
e-mail addresses are no longer valid or inaccessible. Even those who
join the forum through the website require a valid Yahoo! ID too.
But, you may be referring to very unique situations which I do not
quite understand. Hence, I will not remove any more bouncing member.

Comparisons with non-Pali sources is fine as long as they are kept to
a minimum, and more importantly they are relevant to the discussion.

To Ven. Kumara, John, Nina and Piya:

This mailing list is started for the purpose of learning Pali,
especially for those deprived of proper monastic or academic support,
and yet are interested to learn Pali to be able to read the Pali
texts. We cannot stop people from reading or sharing any of the Pali
texts they like. Hence, the broader scope cover the entire Pali
literature, which is really quite enormous.

Another purpose, a hidden one, is to stimulate the interest in people
to learn Pali and read the texts. Primarily, it is to encourage
people to learn to appreciate the suttas in Pali. Hence, this narrow
scope of the Nikayas. This list targets the average lay Buddhist, who
is less likely be able to read all Pali texts. So, among all texts,
the suttas are selected for the focus. Personally, I am also
interested in the accounts of the life of the Buddha and the stories
of the early Sangha in the Vinaya. And, like we always do, we also
turn to the commentarial literature and the Abhidhamma for deeper
understanding of certain concepts and terminologies in the suttas.

In actual fact, there is only one scope: This list is by Pali readers
for Pali readers. The rest are refinements to what we currently want
to achieve. But, I like the idea of the Nikayas as the primary focus,
the remaining Pali texts as secondary, and anything else tertiary.

As a moderator, I always like to keep the list open. I hate iron-
handed style, and I don't think it works on a mailing list using a
free service and relying on the knowledge and expertise of so many
wonderful venerables, seniors and peers. There are certain things
which I know well, and can therefore provide timely notice to the
group. However, there are certain things I may not know very well,
and it becomes harder for me.

A good example is the recent discussion of antaraabhara. I
acknowledge to have read about it (as a Mahayana concept), but I have
no idea that it is an old debate topic and was once rejected by the
Theravada. So, I was simply following through the replies and
arguments, and hope to learn something new. For members who are
unmoderated, I expected them to write respectfully. Unfortunately, a
potentially good discussion ended up in unhappiness.

Then, on second thought, I think I should have stopped the discussion
if I know of the controversy, since there is no one capable of ending
it, it would end up being a long debate of a scholarly nature, which
will turn the list into a hotbed of scholars, but possibly lock the
laymen out, and affect the normal Pali studies.

Furthermore, I don't think we should be another Buddha-L, which
discuss everything in detail. Certain things, while we allow them,
should be simply touch-and-go, i.e. sketchy, sufficient to illustrate
a simple point. We should not stretch ourselves too thin on the
account to be open. As some have pointed out earlier, there are
different forums for different purposes. And we should respect their
very existence by encouraging members to participate in other forums
too.

With this, I assure everyone that the list is still as open and
inclusive as it used to be.

To everyone:

For unmoderated members, I hope everyone takes some responsibility to
the overall quality of the group. Please exhibit basic courtesy and
avoid harsh speech. When there is an argument, whichever side you are
on, please remain cool, objective, and open-minded. The idea of
having unmoderated members is that I do not need to check every line
of their messages.

I apologise if there are things which I may have missed out and not
mentioned. If it is urgent, please bring it up again. Otherwise, I
believe there will be many opportunities to discuss them in time to
come.

There are some exciting news which I will announce over the next few
days. So, stay tuned.

Thanks again for your patience, and I wish you every success in your
Pali studies.


metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Nina van Gorkom wrote:

It is useful to concentrate just on the Pali texts. These could be,
apart from the Nikayas, also Abhidhamma and Commentaries. I did not
quite understand what you said about wide scope and narrow scope
being the Nikayas only. Perhaps I misunderstood.