~ APRIL 1 2006

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Negative E-mails
From: USA
Inquiry:

Have you ever received any negative e-mails about something that was covered or answered in the Advice Column?

Yes, we have. Although, admittedly it is rare that we receive such negative e-mails.

The only LCW Advice Column topic to receive a bit of negativity, was Teaching in Laos. The e-mailer was from Canada. We presume that their negative response stemmed from the fact that the our written response was quite frank and in some ways perhaps negative or rather quite realistic about the realities of teaching in Laos and how school's treat the teachers, etc.

And from that point this individual chose to also criticize the rest of the Advice Column and so fourth.

It is unfortunate that such ill-will from this individual occurred when you consider that at LCW our purpose is to educate and offer a different perspective/opinion that may not exist elsewhere on the internet. Clearly, this particular e-mailer did not appreciate our research or our answer.

We do respect everyone's opinion and certainly welcome constructive criticism though.

After visiting Laos, I feel I want to learn more about Buddhism. I know of the Dhammapada, the teachings, which seems to be the most written on. But is that all reference material available on Theravada Buddhist doctrine? And I'm referring specifically to what the Buddha taught. Do you know of anything else I can read to learn more about that?

Certainly there are tons of books published on Buddhism. And these books can be found at any major bookseller or even online.

I think however what you are referring to is that you often see books that are opinion, topic-specific, only discuss/translate the Dhammapada or general books on Buddhism.

In Buddhism there are three jewels as you know: The Buddha, the teachings, and the sangha (community of monks/nuns). WIthin the teachings, The Tipitaka, they are divided into three goups: Sutra Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka.

At any rate, within the Sutra (or Sutta), there is the Digha Nikaya, the long discourses of the Buddha. They go into much more depth on Buddhist doctrine viewpoints. At times if you read the original translations, they can be a a bit repetitive, however they are still very interesting to read.

Chances are you have probably already read certain things from the Digha Nikaya and not have known that it was from this source, for example, Dependent Origination. If you are looking to learn more in-depth from the Buddha's teachings look for Digha Nikaya related book. There is a great deal written in the Long Discourses.