Hindus believe that the Buddha opposed Vedic rites of animal sacrifice in his time, for example, on this page and on this page . This apparently influenced later Hindus to abandon the practice of animal sacrifice. In the suttas, we find the Buddha forbidding taking of a life, and this is the first precept. But are there any sutta or vinaya references showing the Buddha explicitly opposing animal sacrifices as a religious practice?

I am looking to learn and get initiation into Dzogchen eventually leading into Tögal and trekchö. Coming from a Indian yogic tradition the rainbow body of perfection is the pinnacle of yogic achievement. I would consider it an honour to get initiated under a master in an accomplished lineage for this purpose alone. Also any good books that discuss the rainbow body and the dzogchen practices such as chord, trechko and togal will be immensely useful. Please give me suggestions. Respectfully, B

I've recently been invited to a Maitreya Buddha's Temple. They are required to held a ceremony if you want to join. So I do a little research and found out the name of their teaching is actually "Yiguandao". They stated that this world/earth is created by Eternal Venerable Mother (Wusheng Laomu) [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiguandao#Eternal_Venerable_Mother) which I find contradicting to Gautama Buddha's teaching where there is no supreme creator [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creator_in_Buddhism) . And some other factors I find even more contradicting to Buddhism as what I know. All I need to know is whether this teachings is something different from true Buddhism Teachings and where did this teachings come from? And If they are not the same, why do the use Maitreya Buddha in their teaching?

I found there are lacking of Buddhism knowledge sharing in Temple or some close friends. The temple would rather be superstitious like worshiping, or more commercialize or like a tourism place. I was taught by one of my teacher that Buddhist needs certain level of credits or faith to study it. It was written in the Mahayana Sutra opening verse too. "Is difficult to encounter throughout hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas" https://www.fgsitc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Ksitigarbha_Sutra_ChiEng.pdf . My personal findings we are still following the Treravada traditional of teaching where Pali languange was a royalty, the kingdom officer or the rich spoken language so it's not easy to encounter. I think what I was meant by this statement "Is difficult to encounter throughout hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas" Scholars consider it likely that he taught in several closely related dialects of Middle Indo-Aryan, which had a high degree of mutual intelligibility. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali Does it a truth or where else Sutra mentioning that sharing of Buddhism shall be limited to certain people?

In my readings of Buddhist commentary there is a distinction drawn between rebirth and reincarnation. But to me it is unclear what is the difference between rebirth and reincarnation--the explanations are rather abstruse. Is there a simple one-sentence explanation of this difference?

Is Huayan Buddhism the one that teaches about infinite universes being held on a jeweled flower garland, or is it another branch/sect of Buddhism?

What is the source of the following quote (rightly or wrongly) attributed to the historical Buddha (easily found online): > Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We > experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience > joy in the actual act of giving something. And we experience joy in > remembering the fact that we have given.

I am aware of a similar question here: https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31393/2493 However, I would like a deeper understanding of what precisely is meant by “knowledge and vision” in the heartwood sutta and why is its attainment positioned as it is with respect to the other attainments. I feel that I have a good understanding of the meaning of the attainments which precede, and presumably are prerequisites for “knowledge and vision”. Namely 1: gain, honor and renown 2: moral discipline 3: concentration and for the attainment which follows and presumably depends upon it. Namely 5: perpetual liberation but the attainment of “knowledge and vision” itself is frustratingly fuzzy in my mind. I’d like a better understanding of 1: What precisely is meant by “knowledge and vision” in this context? 2: Why is concentration a prerequisite for “knowledge and vision”? 3: Why is “knowledge and vision” a prerequisite for perpetual liberation? My best guess is that 1: Knowledge and vision” represents a level of development wherein one can get to nibbana when needed, but it does not persist perpetually. 2: Concentration is a prerequisite for “knowledge and vision” because seeing the arrow (hard to see) as it enters the heart requires a concentrated mind. Perhaps this is the vision part? Seeing the arrow as it enters the heart enables us to identify precisely where we became self-absorbed in the narrative and thus where the work of severing attachments must be done. 3: “Knowledge and vision” is a prerequisite for “perpetual liberation” because having knowledge of each individual desired sensory experience which the mind is attached to, is required before the work of severing said attachment can begin. Perhaps this is the knowledge part? When all such attachments are severed and no new ones are added, then sustaining nibbana perpetually becomes possible This is a complete guess on my part. Am I close? I am referring to the translation provided by Bhikkhu Bodhi. https://www.suttareadings.net/audio/index.html

Which Pali suttas refer the subject of "gradual training"? Do the Pali suttas say observing the five precepts is a "gradual training"?

I knew a few very senior Buddhism Scholars, one of them also start teaching Dharma having an issue as per title above. The guiltiness is persist more than a decade and the actions below i personally felt inappropriate especially being too superstitious and claim that all those bad luck due to the title above. Kindly Correct me from wrong if any statement here found inappropriate. 1) Body overweight and start having obesity sickness like knee pain. They will claim that the aborted child coming back and bite the knee. I thought it is as simple as due to diet issue (too much sugar and fats) and lack of exercise? 2) Getting a Spirit tablet for the aborted/miscarriages child and often doing offering like praying, food, toy, etc - Personally thought the child will remain in the human dimension and refuse to get incarnation yet it will keep playing mind tricks to the person. 3) They will start teaching Dharma and hope the child can listen as well? Q1) Please someone review the action above is appropriate especially #2 and #3 ? Q2) Apart the similar question and answer and this post , should we focus more in 8 fold path as core resolution and performing often chanting/praying without spirit tablet? Any Sutta/Mantra suitable for this type issue? I hope can have different angle and views from Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, etc. Well, those scholars i mentioned above are from Mahayana by the way.

According to the theory of karma,an individual receives the punishment for one's past deeds. Now my question is the whole world is going through a massive unprecedented time,not only corona but severe issues already took place this year,which clearly bore the same effect on every person,does that mean the whole mankind is being punished for their past deeds? If so why don't these pandemics persist eventually? Why only after a certain period of time?

What does the Noble Eightfold Path say about right speech when it comes to persuasion and influence?

I wanted to ask how Buddhism explains why we don't remember our past lives? Why bother with the Buddhist path when we will not remember this temporary life in our next? I heard that for example contrary to rebirth in the human realm, beings who are reborn in the Pureland of Amitabha can remember their past life. Why bother practice other methods and not only just focus on reaching Sukhavati? If I won't remember the temporary "me" of this life in the next, why bother practicing at all? Isn't it better to know about my continuity in the next life for progression?

Is it OK to use zazen for the purposes one would use metta meditation? Because I don't want to do any meditation except zazen.

I'm a lay Buddhist and it's almost Christmas, and I would like to know if it is acceptable for Buddhists to celebrate Santa Claus. I have children and want them to be happy. Does anyone know the answer to this question? Thanks! P.S. My question is somewhat related to [this one](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/13248/20191) .

Dhamma greetings to you, Considering the possible advantages and disadvantages of where one is being ordained, I wish to have your understanding on whether it'd be more conducive to ordain in Asia or in Europe ? Thank you for reading me, May you be well, With metta.

This question is further to my last question on Nirvana and evolution, and considering the answer ... If we believe the Buddhist cosmology to be true and Nirvana as an *evolutionary* next step, then why is it that very few people actually tread the path to it? Considering the world religious demographics only 7% of worlds population follow Buddhism and of those who call themselves Buddhists maybe just 1% actually want or strive towards Nirvana. Is intense suffering an inevitable step to begin striving towards Nirvana? If Buddhist understanding of the human condition and psychology is true, why do only a limited few humans want or strive towards Nirvana? If Buddhist cosmology is true, why do humans not en masse go on the Buddhist path?

I'm looking for some help in finding a reference. It's from a contemporary writer -- probably in the last ten years -- not from anything ancient or canonical. The context is as follows. The word “Buddha” -- i.e. the title-cased version -- is typically used to refer to *The* Buddha, *Siddartha Gautama*. Also, but less frequently, it can refer to a relatively small bunch of others, such as *Maitreya*; any of the *Saptatathāgata*; and the like. By contrast, and contrary to popular opinion (although familiar to most of us here), the lower-cased version of the word, “buddha" actually applies to anyone who has attained a particular degree of awakening. Please excuse that very imprecise definition on my part, but for the purposes of my question the operative word there is simply the “anyone”. In other words, while only a few are acknowledged as being a *Buddha*, in theory anyone can (and perhaps gazillions already have) become a *buddha*. So to my reference. The writer was offering an explanation as to the difference between the two; i.e. what distinguishes the rare, named *Buddhas* from the relatively common, (lower-cased) *buddhas*. And he (I'm pretty sure it was a dude) said that one difference was the place of the *Buddha* as a major teacher of humanity. But in fact, the writer was more emphatic than that. If I'm remembering right, he was arguing that being a teacher of extreme significance was *The* defining characteristic that distinguishes a major *Buddha* from a mere *buddha*. One more clue. I have a strong hunch that the writer was Shinzen Young, but I have not been able to track down what I'm after. And, knowing how I've encountered most of Shinzen's stuff, that might be because I heard him say it, in a video presentation, rather than read it. Is this ringing any bells to anyone? A follow-up question. I don't know the extent to which Shinzen (or whomever it was) was expounding his own theory, versus merely explaining what is a well-established view. If it sounds like it was the latter, then just as useful to me would be a reference to any reliable source, ancient and canonical would then be ideal, that makes the same point; i.e. the point that *The* key characteristic distinguishing a *buddha* from a *Buddha* is that the latter teaches the world how to become the former.

In the Lotus Sutra, (Burton Watson translation) there is often mention of "the counterfeit law" being propigated for so-and-so number of small kalpas. I will give an exerpt below, but what exactly is this referring to? I don't know if this is helpful information, but it almost always is talked of in accordance to a prophesy. >"That buddha's life span will be twenty-four small kalpas, his Correct Law will endure in the world for fourty small kalpas, and his Counterfeit Law for fourty small kalpas."

I am trying to recall the formal/traditional way of offering help to a monk for the longevity of their ordination. Being a steward doesn't seem like it's the answer I'm looking for. I have both met a family that does this for a monk with travel, etc.. and remember reading something about it in 'Stillness Flowing'. Thanks!