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Street Walking Buddhas

lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran
in Buddhism Basics

In Dhammapada verse 178 we read:
Sole dominion over the earth,
going to heaven,
lordship over all worlds:
the fruit of stream-entry
excels them.

Pretty cool. So who are the stream entry/winners? One will find various alignments, aggrandisements and assertions from ignorance, experience and attainment. As someone who swims up as well as down from the Far Shore, I like to drown in the dharma ocean as much as any fishy character. :3

To enter the Buddha dharma stream one has to be good.
The Sotāpanna stream winner is traditionally incapable of committing the five worst actions:

    1. Murdering your mother.
    1. Murdering your father.
    1. Murdering an Arahant.
    1. Maliciously injure a Buddha (if you can find her) to the point of drawing blood.
    1. Deliberately creating a schism in the monastic community.

So far so good? Maybe the symbolism of mother has a deeper symbolic meaning for you . . . maybe not . . .

Amrapali the well known working girl/courtesan
http://opcoa.st/PGQ9v
was an early Buddhas disciple Arahat. Ah yes good company, something Jesus excelled at too - hanging out with ... wait for it ... tax collectors ...

What practices apart from 'good' behaviour are required for the modern day path walker?

Comments

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    edited September 2016

    Not being a gormless i-phone smombie addict is a good start.

    lobster
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran
    edited September 2016

    @SpinyNorman said:
    Not being a gormless i-phone smombie addict is a good start.

    Thank heavens I have an Android!

    ShoshinJeroensilver
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    I fear you may have missed the sixth action @lobster i.e. taking another teacher other than Buddha.

    lobster
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    edited September 2016

    @Bunks said:

    @SpinyNorman said:
    Not being a gormless i-phone smombie addict is a good start.

    Thank heavens I have an Android!

    You have a robot? Does it make the tea? :p

    Bunks
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    @Bunks said:
    I fear you may have missed the sixth action @lobster i.e. taking another teacher other than Buddha.

    Perhaps lobster has become enthralled with the naughty temptress Mara? :p

    lobster
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    @lobster said:

    What practices apart from 'good' behaviour are required for the modern day path walker?

    'Bad' behaviour ...how else is one gonna learn :)

    DairyLamalobsterBunksBeej
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    @Shoshin said:
    'Bad' behaviour ...how else is one gonna learn :)

    Indeed. Though our own behaviour may be unskilful at times, we can also learn and be inspired or forewarned by others behaviour. In other words we do not have to take up murderous sorcery as did Milrepa in early life, or be a Hedonist Princess/Princling in order to learn ...

  • ShimShim Veteran

    Wasn't 'slandering the Dharma' one of the Big Five in some schools? (I've done that and if there's a doctrine that proves that I'm a sinner of some sort, I'll definitely remember that.)

    For a modern person... Well, I still think murdering (pre-meditated or not) your parents is not a good starter.

    Bunks
  • RichdawsonRichdawson Explorer

    Since we are talking about phones. The thought of distractions while driving that could lead to the death of someone?

    silver
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    @SpinyNorman said:
    Not being a gormless i-phone smombie addict is a good start.

    Well it is spelt iPhone you know, is also known as the Jesus phone, and although I don't know what a smombie is, I will have to confess to having bought my first iPhone in 2008, and I am still going strong. Wonderful device, I wouldn't be able to organise my life without it :)

    But to give a serious answer to the OP, I think we live in a time at the crossroads, and I think much revolves around the following:

    • Being sensitive to nature, so that we do not harm the planet more than we need to
    • Interacting well with media, both to avoid taking in bad influences, and to broadcast good ones
    • Living an aware life, making good choices in where we work and the causes we support
    • Exercising our rights under the state we live in, such as voting

    Thich Nhat Hanh's 5 mindfulness trainings are good to look at, if you are considering a modern interpretation of the precepts, although I don't entirely agree with all of it. Engaged Buddhism is another stream that has important things to say in this area.

    lobster
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    The important thing for me is the potential of all beings to renounce the past and make efforts towards a better life. We all need the inspiration ...
    http://opcoa.st/Pwdw9

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    @Kerome said:> Well it is spelt iPhone you know

    I thought it was "I"Phone. :p

    Shoshin
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @SpinyNorman said:

    @Kerome said:> Well it is spelt iPhone you know

    I thought it was "I"Phone. :p

    No, that's @Shoshin's phone...

    ShoshinWalker
  • gracklegrackle Veteran

    Mae West was really a Bodhisattva often misquoted. She really said,"Why don't you come up and meditate sometime big boy".

    lobster
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