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Did buddha give dharma transmission to ananda
Jeffrey
Veteran
Did buddha transmit all of the dharma to ananda?
1) Was it an oral list which ananda regurgitated?
2) Did ananda have enlightenment such that he knew which material to teach out of buddhas 80 years?
3) To what degree do WE know the answer to 1 and 2 factually granted that this occured 2500 years ago?
1) Was it an oral list which ananda regurgitated?
2) Did ananda have enlightenment such that he knew which material to teach out of buddhas 80 years?
3) To what degree do WE know the answer to 1 and 2 factually granted that this occured 2500 years ago?
0
Comments
But for practical (i.e. living) purposes, I think it is wise to remember the words of a Zen teacher whose name I have forgotten when he said to his transmitted student, "You must remember that there is something that cannot be transmitted."
3) To what degree do WE know the answer to 1 and 2 factually granted that this
occured 2500 years ago?
To no degree:) We cannot even be sure if the bbuddha was a single person. We can be sure that the True Dharma was discovered and taught.
If we actually take the time to study the Pali suttas, we may experience for ourselves how it is not too difficult to remember the teachings. Why? Because they were taught in a manner for easy retention. Thus, instead of getting caught up in speculations that hinder our spiritual life, we can learn for ourselves there is nothing contraversial about this thread.
There are many who can recite the entire Koran. If that is the case then to remember the Buddha's discourses is much more easy. Why? Because the Buddha was complete in compassion. He taught in a manner so we can easily remember his teachings. Yet many of us have so many doubts; so much resistence.
Am I missing something here? It just doesn't make sense to me.
So your opinion is that the transmission was 1). Do you think that ananda would have been able to give teachings himself had he not been able to regurgitate the words of buddha?
Why did he select those words in particular? As opposed to different words in buddha's 80 years.
On what basis are you suggesting that buddha himself urged chanting of his words? How do we know that the sutras were not derived post mortum from monks understandings? How good is our archaelogical record to support that the sutras were chanted DURING buddhas life? At what date was it committed to writing that there was any such chanting? Couldn't a legend have arisen during that period of time? A written record as in legal matters is more convincing I find.
For example the first discourse. Nobody knew that anything was special about buddha. Was someone walking around with a casette recorder which they later committed the teaching to a chant?
the 1 goal; the 1 person
the 2 bright protectors; the 2 kinds of happiness
the 3 characteristics; the 3 defilements; the 3 fold training
the 4 noble truths; the 4 brahma vihara; the 4 satipatthana; the 4 qualities of good marriage; the 4 modes of material (economic) happiness
the 5 aggregtes; the 5 powers; the 5 contemplations; the 5 precepts;
the 6 directions; the 6 elements; the 6 sense spheres; the 6 roads to ruin
the 7 factors of enlightenment; the 7 kinds of wives; the 7 qualities of a wise person
the 8 fold noble path; the 8 vicissitudes of life
the 9 actions an arahant cannot perform
the 10 factors of skillfulness and 10 factors of unskilfulness; the 10 foods of ignorance
the 11 benefits of loving-kindness
the 12 modes of dependent origination and 12 modes of dependent cessation
the 16 stages of anapanasati
the 18 contemplations of feeling
the 37 bodhipakiyadhammas
these are not difficult to remember :mullet:
definitely not. there is one sutta (from thousands) which states Ananda was a stream enterer but the evidence of his behaviour in the suttas, to me, would suggest otherwise. in fact the buddha declared the one person who could teach like him was Sariputta
select what words? the Pali teachings of the Buddha are extremely repetitive & uniform. the great standards state if a sutta stands out like a sore thumb, inconsistent with the rest, it is to be rejected as the words of the Buddha
i did not mention chanting...however there is a sutta that mentions recitation as benefical
how do we know that the Pali sutta were not derived post mortum from monks understandings? because of their uniformity & consistency. i suggested you read them for yourself rather than starting threads like without study
the first discourse is scientific fact. to question it is too declare ignorance. all beings from all traditions that have experienced suffering & its cessation do not question the first sermon
suffering = attachment or self-cherishing
origin of suffering = craving/ignorant expectation
cessation of suffering = cessation of craving & self-cherishing
path = 8 fold path = mindfulness keeping the mind free from craving & self-cherishing
best wishes
I thank you for your entreaty to enjoy the sutras.
Your argument is that because the sutras are uniform they must have originated from buddha. This reasoning is flawed because the sutras may have been composed uniformly hundreds of years post-mortem.