As far as I know, Bhante Sujato is great at promoting peace and
harmony in the Buddhist world. I must say he's one of those few with
both IQ and EQ.

Though I agree that based on the suttas, there isn't much mention of
"vipassana meditation," but how to explain 2 living examples who have
treaded that path with success (well I think so anyways)....and I
think that if you were to hang out with them for a bit, you might
agree too.

By the way, I am enjoying the debate, especially Frank's way of
talking, that was very intelligent, entertaining, amusing...thanks :)

June

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "rjkjp1" <rjkjp1@...> wrote:

> Dear Venerable Pessala,
>
> Last month this was posted on another list. It would be good if
> venerable Sujato could join in the dialogue but I think he said he is
> not replying to group emails while on vassa (maybe he can join in
> later):
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanas/message/7720
> ven. Sujato: It is sad, and not a little weird, how attachment to
> meditation techniques generates such anger. I try to approach the
> matter through remaining cool and relying on the facts, without
> buying into personal stuff. There is a strong vipassana bent in
> Sydney where i live; in fact Mahasi and Goenka dominate the whole
> scene. It is important to positively encourage good relations and
> mutual help in other areas, even if we disagree about meditation.
>
> In Western terms, vipassana develops IQ [Intelligence Quota] but not
> EQ [Emotional Quota], and this causes dislocation and imbalance in
> the community. I think historically this was a result of an attempt
> to rationalize meditation in the wake of the colonial challenge. In
> other words, the vipassanavada is a modern western-influenced idea,
> not an authentic tradition at all.
>
> In my opinion, the whole vipassanavada thing is a big 20th Century
> furphy: it could only arise in a context where the suttas were
> subordinated to the commentaries, and with increasing awareness of
> the suttas it will soon enough disappear. People will look back at
> this odd episode and shake their heads in wonder at how the supposed
> most orthodox of orthodoxies managed to convince the world that the
> Buddha taught a sevenfold path.
>
> [furphy (aussie slang) n.(pl.furphies) 1 a false report or rumour. 2
> an absurd story]
> in Dhamma,
> Bhante sujato
>
> ________
>
> I would like to look at this in some detail if you feel interested. I
> have written several posts over the last few years on sukkhavipassaka.
> Robertk