Dear Nina & Pali friends,

Thanks for your diplomatic note. Yes we are both hard-headed actually,
as far as self-effacement is wholesome. It;'s good to have a head, and of
course,
a heart, too.

On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 10:41 PM, Nina van Gorkom <vangorko@...> wrote:

> When it is said sutta, geyya, it is the beginning of a well known
> series, all nine angas are included.
>





I still have a problem with this statement you (and the Commentaries) made:
Does this mean that all the nine angas are already there even when the
Buddha started teaching?

The Buddha taught for 45 years. Understandably, the nine angas could have
evolved eventually, perhaps after the first 20 years when the Buddha's
audience
was not so spiritually ready as during the first 20 years.

But I find it hard to imagine that the Dharma appeared in the world as the
nine
angas as a full set.

I hope you understand what I am trying to say here.

My point is also that if the Sutta says "Sutta and Geyya" and maybe also
"Veyyakara.na", I see no problem in accepting it as it is. There is no
reason
to read more into it or "standardize" this to the nine angas.

This then becomes dogma.

With metta,

Piya


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