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Some doubts | Beginner
Please forgive my English, not my first language.
1) At the time of Buddha the production of the agriculture in India could have not been possibly sufficient for the population. Hence meat and fish must have been common diet. Also Buddha was Kshatriya(warrior class) which used to be non-vegeterian. So was Buddha vegegterian? The last meal being pork? How does it go with first precept (not to kill)? Also bhikku should accept whatever is served, what if non vegeterian food is served?
2) To achieve nibbana, is it necessary to give up householder's life? (There are accounts of householders being arhant but they have to ordained on the same day or die in a week)
3) How is mindfulness different from Emotional Intelligence?
4) Are there any living Arhat known? As I heard Arhat declare the achievement to only their teachers. Also developing/displaying psychic power is not appriciated in buddhism. Then how can be one sure about the existence of nibbana? Without any supernatural/psychic power how can one be sure if this is all game of idle mind?
5) If kamma can not be destroyed and will ripen in its due time then what happens to the kamma (good or bad) acquired by one untill he becomes arhant (Since arhant will not be born again)?
6) To stop the cycle of birth and death one should keep working towards his/her nibbana. Is that all there is to buddhism?
7) In the debate of king Milinda when asked by Milinda to Nagasena who is already an arhant
“Will you be reborn?”
“If I die with attachment in my mind, yes; but if not,
no.”
If Nagsena is arhat how will he have attachment in mind?
8) Did it strike odd to someone that buddha had his own persnal fragrant chamber (Why would he have a preferential treatment to himself)?
9) Is buddhism all about reprogramming your mind for detachment from all emotions so that when you die you won't have any attachment in mind so won't be born again?
1) At the time of Buddha the production of the agriculture in India could have not been possibly sufficient for the population. Hence meat and fish must have been common diet. Also Buddha was Kshatriya(warrior class) which used to be non-vegeterian. So was Buddha vegegterian? The last meal being pork? How does it go with first precept (not to kill)? Also bhikku should accept whatever is served, what if non vegeterian food is served?
2) To achieve nibbana, is it necessary to give up householder's life? (There are accounts of householders being arhant but they have to ordained on the same day or die in a week)
3) How is mindfulness different from Emotional Intelligence?
4) Are there any living Arhat known? As I heard Arhat declare the achievement to only their teachers. Also developing/displaying psychic power is not appriciated in buddhism. Then how can be one sure about the existence of nibbana? Without any supernatural/psychic power how can one be sure if this is all game of idle mind?
5) If kamma can not be destroyed and will ripen in its due time then what happens to the kamma (good or bad) acquired by one untill he becomes arhant (Since arhant will not be born again)?
6) To stop the cycle of birth and death one should keep working towards his/her nibbana. Is that all there is to buddhism?
7) In the debate of king Milinda when asked by Milinda to Nagasena who is already an arhant
“Will you be reborn?”
“If I die with attachment in my mind, yes; but if not,
no.”
If Nagsena is arhat how will he have attachment in mind?
8) Did it strike odd to someone that buddha had his own persnal fragrant chamber (Why would he have a preferential treatment to himself)?
9) Is buddhism all about reprogramming your mind for detachment from all emotions so that when you die you won't have any attachment in mind so won't be born again?
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Comments
5) kamma is a relative teaching such as 'the sun rises in the east'. An arhant isn't a being with a life and lifetime so they cannot have kamma which belongs to them. From a perspective of 'their body' there is karma, but from the perspective of their realized enlightened mind the karma is no problem and their body is no problem no matter what happens to it.
'Body' is also mind skhandas and enlightened mind the transformed skhandas/buddha qualities/awareness-awake.
6) there are three main motivations. 1) to not suffer in this life. 2) to avoid rebirth in samsara again. 3) to help all beings overcome samsara by returning to each world as a bodhisattva or Buddha.
7) He doesn't say he has attachment, rather he says IF.
8) I never heard that
9) Some Buddhism doesn't worry about what is in your mind, rather it uses all obstacles as path to awaken bodhicitta. That would be Mahayana and Tantric. Otherwise see (6).
1) At the time of Buddha the production of the agriculture in India could have not been possibly sufficient for the population. Hence meat and fish must have been common diet. Also Buddha was Kshatriya(warrior class) which used to be non-vegeterian. So was Buddha vegegterian? The last meal being pork? How does it go with first precept (not to kill)? Also bhikku should accept whatever is served, what if non vegeterian food is served?
It really depends on what vehicle one follows and the capacity of the individual practitioner. And the whole non-harming intention is also based on a certain view, which is also based on the vehicle one follows. For instance eating meat in Vajrayana is a compassionate action as it creates a karmic link from the animal to the dharma, thus giving potentiality for such animal to have a connection to the dharma and potential liberation. This is generally not the view of Buddhadharma though. Generally meat is avoided on the basis of vows.
2) To achieve nibbana, is it necessary to give up householder's life? (There are accounts of householders being arhant but they have to ordained on the same day or die in a week)
This comes from a certain view and vehicle and isn't necessarily absolute truth.
Each vehicle has its set of stories/myths proclaiming and championing the vehicle as most relevant.
Nirvana is as a goal can be achieved by any being, but it is all determined by again the vehicle one follows and the karmic disposition of the individual mind stream. Not all individuals are created equal.
3) How is mindfulness different from Emotional Intelligence?
Mindfulness is an act of attention. For instance if there is a sensation in the body then the very act of noticing the sensation is mindfulness of sensation.
Emotional intelligence is also intelligence of the body. Sensations and how they relate to energy and thoughts = emotional intelligence. One needs mindfulness to recognize emotions. But mindfulness has many other applications as well. For instance one can be mindful of thoughts or say sounds.
4) Are there any living Arhat known? As I heard Arhat declare the achievement to only their teachers. Also developing/displaying psychic power is not appriciated in buddhism. Then how can be one sure about the existence of nibbana? Without any supernatural/psychic power how can one be sure if this is all game of idle mind?
There are living Arhats both in the modern world and in the east. The existence of nirvana is only known for absolute certainty once stream-entry is apparent. For instance if one actively engages in the 8 fold path with a sincere attitude then it is in no time that the individual will progress and realize the constructed nature of reality, thus intuiting how the path works. The Buddha asserted that suffering was the effect of clinging. Thus less clinging = less suffering. There is no truth more profound and overlooked than the basic four noble truths. It is nakedly staring at us all and it is free and it is complete nectar.
5) If kamma can not be destroyed and will ripen in its due time then what happens to the kamma (good or bad) acquired by one untill he becomes arhant (Since arhant will not be born again)?
Each moment is due to karma. Birth and death occur this instant, over and over and over again. An Arhat is one that steps out from this by seeing the falsity of this instant. If the mindstream projects subject and object then that mindstream will always be ensnared in samsara. When the projections end, samsara ends. Not sure if this answered your question.
6) To stop the cycle of birth and death one should keep working towards his/her nibbana. Is that all there is to buddhism?
Buddhism is all about insight. One must see directly how suffering is built. Then one must see how suffering is deconstructed. When that process is seen then the path is evident and what one must do becomes very apparent. Insight must be cultivated and lived over and over and over again. Thus the fuel for ignorant proliferation ends and finally the individual attains total cessation of the three poisons, which is nirvana or peace. Check out the 8 fold path.
7) In the debate of king Milinda when asked by Milinda to Nagasena who is already an arhant
“Will you be reborn?”
“If I die with attachment in my mind, yes; but if not,
no.”
If Nagsena is arhat how will he have attachment in mind?
I have no answer to this question because I am not an Arhat.
8) Did it strike odd to someone that buddha had his own persnal fragrant chamber (Why would he have a preferential treatment to himself)?
The Buddha is a being that awoken into the true nature of reality. Apart from that he was nothing special or nothing beyond a human being. In a real sense a human being in its fullest potentiality is a Buddha. But not all Buddhas are alike. Each is unique and has different gifts to give to the world. Personal preferences are the display of the trikaya.
9) Is buddhism all about reprogramming your mind for detachment from all emotions so that when you die you won't have any attachment in mind so won't be born again?
In a certain view yes Buddhism is reprogramming of negative emotions such as greed, aversion and ignorance into positive emotions such as compassion, generosity, and wisdom.
Attachment isn't the problem it is wrong view and wrong perception. Ignorance is what causes craving (aversion or attachment).
So as long as there is an "I" view the individual mindstream will be reborn continuously.
All the best
I will say that devadatta tried to split the sangha by forcing more ascetic rules for the monks and the Buddha said if a monk wants to follow those extra rules they can however these would not be rules.
Vegetarianism was one of those ascetic rules.
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/vegi.html
and from Ajahn Brahm -
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/meat.html