Hare Krishna, Siksha Guru Maharaja,
please kindly accept my most humble obeisances;
all glories to Srila Prabhupada;
all glories to your good self, for your many years of devotional service to Srila Prabhupada;
all glories to all the devotees of Lord Chaitanya.
I just wanted to share a question about a statement that you made in a recent Bhagavatam class : "Buddhists really like a lively conversation." I have always thought that real followers of Buddhism are keen to practicing "maunam:" silence.
I can understand that many people today who are interested in Buddhist meditation may have an appeal for lively conversation because they are out of touch with the real austerities traditionally observed in Buddhism.
Traditional Buddhism is not at all involved in worldly social interaction.
And from my own personal experience, when I drive for Uber, a passenger will notice the books on display, and the most common question that comes up is "Is this some sort of Buddhism? Is this anything to do with Buddhism?"
I guess it's more of a rhetorical question, but since you made it I felt compelled to ask it.
Yls, Bbd 🙏
ASA 🐵 🔬
"From a largely English-language standpoint, and to some extent in most of Western academia, Buddhism is separated into two groups: Theravāda (lit. 'the Teaching of the Elders' or 'the Ancient Teaching'), and Mahāyāna (lit. 'the Great Vehicle'). The most common classification among scholars is threefold: Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna.", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_Buddhism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHNYR8xj5s
Theravadan would be solitary silence, no? Yet, Mahayana would be social concern.
Somewhere in this movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulDzLjz0wdw I also saw them illustrating this principle.
Then, Tulasi carana sevita Das, our disciple from San Jose, stayed in Thailand several times, and married a girl from there and made the same comment that the monks would wonder, accept alms, and lye under a tree in a market place and just discuss The Dharma with others.
🙂