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Nirvana vs Nibbana
sean
Explorer
this has been bothering me for a while now why does the old pali canon say no more rebirth and the sutras say omniscient
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I think it's because Bodhisattvas and Buddhas don't disappear from the world. They continue to manifest for sentient beings. Wikipedia I'm sure has an article on the three bodies of the Buddha which they are called the trikaya. Google: wikipedia trikaya buddhism.
I'm not sure what is meant by omniscient. Does it mean that a Buddha knows how many hairs are on my head? I don't think so. A Buddha does have the power to nudge people along the dharma, however, I feel.
I think you're mixing traditions. You know there's more than one type of Buddhism, right? They each have differing perspectives on things, especially the ones that can't be known like rebirth (as in the grasping mind creating new life at the moment of death, or sometime thereafter).
It would help immensely if you quoted the relevant suttas/sutras. At least then we could find out which traditions use those texts.
Yes it's differences in sects/traditions.
There is a disagreement about the nature of a Buddha between the two schools. There are other differences between differing schools. Each side will have their own arguments backing up their claims. Its not a simple topic, if you really want to understand it you'll probably have to do some study of each side.
well i'm reading the pali canon. i'm a student of Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, and i regularly attend my local rinzai zen center so yeah i am totally mixing traditions. lol
. . . hotline answering service now available . . . hold the line . . .
Well, you are:
Nibbana = Pali
Nirvana = sanskrit
Nibbana = Theravada
Nirvana = Mahayana
Nibbana = .....?
Nirvana = an American rock band formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987.
How far do you want to go with this?
And theres the problem. You might need to pick one and work with it.
We can and should respect all traditions, we can be inspired by any.
But most of us can only practice one to any depth.
thanks guys
great advice
but eventually . .
http://m.wikihow.com/Practice-Buddhist-Meditation
this is just my opinion.
the meaning of the word nibbana is extinguished, ie as in a flame being extinguished.
omniscience is the opposite of that. it suggest a 'god' like being.
the pali canon talks about liberation. escape from samsara. ending the cycle of rebirth.
the bodhisatva ideal does not fit in with the pali canon.
the bodhisatva will not get enlightened until all sentient beings are liberated.
the buddha never taught that.
and think about it, will all sentient beings, every last one, ever be liberated ?
Sure. Then we can go onto the non sentients . . . some people are in such a rush already . . .
Actually both Theravada and Mahayana agree that an arahant is liberated from rebirth but not omniscient, a Buddha is both liberated and omniscient.
Not all Mahayanists accept a literal omniscience @xabir.
A common position is that a Buddha knows what they need to know to teach the Dharma.
This would not for example include next years lottery winning numbers.
the bit about omniscient buddha in theravada is incorrect.
Ananda begged buddha to live longer but buddha turned him down.
The Buddha had appeared on earth to teach the seekers of Truth how to see things as they truly are and to show the path for deliverance from all the ills of life. The Buddha reflected about the long years of teaching he had performed to fulfil his mission. He felt that he had given all the necessary instructions to his followers, both monks and the lay followers. Not only were they following his teaching, they were also able to teach the teachings to others. He therefore decided not to live up to his full life span and announced to Venerable Ananda that he would pass away in three month's time.
Only then Venerable Ananda remembered what the Buddha had said earlier and begged him to live for a longer period for the good and happiness for all.
"Enough, Ananda, do not beg me. The time for making such a request is now past. Let us now go to the Hall with the Pointed Roof in the Great Wood," said the Buddha.
I'm so sorry.
That last bit sounds like a sentence out of Hansel & Gretel.....
Actually, the commentarial tradition of Theravada does affirm the Buddha's omniscience, albeit a limited version thereof.
In MN 71, for example, the Buddha rejects the assertion that he claims to be 'omniscient and all-seeing' (or alternately 'all-knowing and all-seeing'). He says, "[T]hose who say thus do not say what has been said by me, but misrepresent me with what is untrue and contrary to fact" (Bodhi); but the commentary states that all knowable things are potentially accessible to him based on other passages.
The issue here, from the commentarial standpoint, is whether the Buddha is rejecting the claim that he's omniscient in the sense that all things are knowable to him at all times without interruption (i.e., that he is omniscient in the sense that all knowable things are potentially accessible to him) or whether he's simply rejecting the claim altogether.
I'm somewhat critical of this, however, and take the position that it's possible the Buddha might have known all and saw all when it came to suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path leading to the end of suffering (which is impressive enough); but I have a hard time believing that the Buddha knew all and saw all in the biblical sense.
Different perspectives and goals, mostly. In the Pali Canon, nibbana is defined as the end of dukkha (suffering); the extinction of craving (AN 10.60); the extinguishing of greed, hatred and delusion (SN 38.1). In some Mahayana sutras, however (e.g., the Saddharmapundarika Sutra)), this level of cessation is just one in a stage of attainments leading towards the nirvana that's attained by a fully enlightened buddha, which is characterized by omniscience. This is said to be due to buddhahood being the result of wisdom and merit accumulation, and not just the eradication of afflictions (which isn't too different from Theravada sans the awakening of arahants bit. (Also see this post.)