On a trip to visit the Hungarian Romany community early in 2010 Subhuti encountered potentially explosive social tensions. In the midst of mass unemployment there has been a rise in Hungarian nationalism, and part of this story has been apportioning blame to the Romany peoples. Arriving just before a planned rally by a nationalist political party, Subhuti found himself looking to the Pali Canon to help his Buddhist friends whom were desperate to avoid violent social disharmony. This talk is a consequence of what he found, and in particular an exegesis of the Madhupindika, or Honey Ball Sutta (MN 18) in which the Buddha asserts and proclaims a path that leads one to not 'quarrel with anyone in the world with its gods, its Maras, its Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, its princes and its people.' (Nanamoli and Bodhi translation, p. 201)
From the 'The Ten Transcendent Practices of the Bodhisattva' series given at the Sheffield Buddhist Centre, Vajratara talks on the ethical precept concerning affectionate speech as a 'skilful means'...