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Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
When one cultivates regular meditation on Infinite Friendliness (Metta), then these 11 advantages are produced, can be expected and observed:
1: One sleeps in comfort. 2: One wakes in comfort. 3: One dreams no evil dreams. 4: One is dear to human beings. 5: One is dear to non-human beings. 6: Deities guard and protect one. 7: Fire, poison and weapons cannot affect one. 8: One's mind is easily concentrated. 9: The expression of one's face is serene. 10: One dies unconfused and without panic. 11: If one penetrates no higher, then one is reborn in the Brahma-world. These 11 advantages emerges and hold insofar as goodwill is maintained! Vism I 312-314, AN V 342
RADIATING PEACE The Noble Friend, who dwells in friendly good-will, Who has faith in the Teaching of the Buddhas, Will reach the place of Peace, the mode of ease, The stilling of all formation, The calming of all construction, Purest Happiness itself ... Dhammapada 368
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Blessed Buddha once said: There are five obstructing obstacles and hindrances of the mind, which weakens knowledge. What five? The mental hindrance of Sense-Desire is an overgrowing blocking insight. The mental hindrance of Evil-Will is a fire-like mental stumbling block. The mental hindrance of Lethargy & Laziness is a slowing interruption. The mental hindrance of Restlessness & Regret is a stirring disturbance. The mental hindrance of Doubt & Uncertainty is an wall-like embankment. Without having overcome these Five Mental Hindrances, it is impossible for any Bhikkhu whose understanding thus lacks both strength and power, to understand what is to his own advantage, to other advantage, or to the advantage of both. That he should be capable of attaining a supra-human state: Noble Vision and Wisdom, that is indeed impossible... But if a Bhikkhu has overcome these Five Mental Hindrances, these five obstructing impediments, these overgrowths of the mind that dampen and diminish any understanding, then it is very likely that he will understand what is to his own advantage, others advantage, & the advantage of both. Thus unhindered is he quite capable of attaining any supra-human state: Noble Vision & Wisdom... It is like a fast flowing canal where a man opens up 5 draining side-channels, which then weakens, and diverts the strong midstream. Similarly is indeed this understanding stream of insight weakened and diluted in anyone who have not yet overcome these Five Mental Hindrances, which block knowing. However, if the man closes down all the 5 draining side-channels, one by one, then the midstream becomes stronger and can carry anything with it. Similarly with one unhindered by these 5 mental hindrances, his now freely flowing understanding stream of insight is neither weakened, nor polluted, nor diluted any, so he can easily recognize what is good for himself, others and both. That such unhindered friend should be capable of the state of Noble supra-human Vision and Wisdom, that is indeed possible...
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
And how, Bhikkhus, are sense desires regarded by a Bhikkhu so that he weakens the latent tendency to sense desire, to lust for sensing, to sense mania, to sense infatuation, to sense addiction, and to sensual obsession? Imagine a Charcoal Pit deeper than a man's height, filled with red glowing coals without flame or smoke. A man who wishes life & not death, who wants happiness & not suffering, would pass by... Then two strong men would grab him firmly by both his arms and drag him towards that burning charcoal pit... In panic, that man would indeed wriggle & try to resist with all his might! For what reason? Because he understands: If I fall into this charcoal pit, then I will surely meet a terrible death or deadly pain! Exactly & even so, Bhikkhus, when a Bhikkhu has seen & comprehended, that any & all sense desire is similar to a Charcoal Pit, then the latent tendency to sense desire, to sensual lust, to sense mania, to sense infatuation, to mad sense addiction, & the deeply embedded latent tendency to sensual obsession fades away...
Comment: The Two Strong Men of evil force are similar to Ignorance & Craving, which are the evil forces, that induce & reinforce disadvantageous sensual greed... The resulting craving is the cause & origin of all Suffering = 2nd Noble Truth!
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Grace of Goodwill: A Meditation on Friendliness (Metta): May my mind be filled with the thought of Kind Friendliness & open Amity. May the minds of my good teachers be filled with the thought of Friendliness. May the minds of my parents and dear ones be filled with the thought of Friendliness. May the minds of all unfriendly persons be filled with the thought of Friendliness. May the minds of all living beings be filled with the thought of Friendliness. May the minds of all strangers be filled with the thought of Friendliness. May we be free from fear, tension, anxiety, worry, and restlessness. May our hearts become soft. May our words be pleasing to others. May we be generous. May we be gentle. May we be relaxed. May we be happy and peaceful. May we be healthy. May we be a source of pure peace and happiness.
May the minds of everyone in this room be free from greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, and fear. May the peace and tranquillity of tender Friendliness pervade their entire bodies and minds. May they have good fortune. May they be prosperous. May they have really good friends May the minds of everyone in this building, in this street, in this city, in this nation on this continent, on this planet & in this universe be free from greed, anger, & doubt. May these thoughts of Friendliness embrace them, charge them and envelope them. May every cell, every drop of blood, every atom, be charged with kind amity. May the peace & tranquillity of goodwill pervade their entire bodies & minds. May they be happy-hearted. May they be free from worries and troubles. May all beings in all directions throughout this multiverse be happy. May they be filled with Friendliness, abundant, exalted, & infinite! May they be free from enmity affliction, and anxiety. May they live happily.
May all beings in all directions, all around the universe be happy. May they have good fortune. May they be prosperous. May they be famous. May they have good friends. May they be reborn in a happy destination. May they be reborn in the heavens. May all beings Awaken swiftly! May they become thus Happy!
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Thus have I heard the Blessed Buddha saying it: Whatever, Bhikkhus and Friends, there are here of worldly merit making, all these are not worth 1/16 of mental release by All-Embracing Kindness... The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, emanates and shines, far surpassing it all! Like the light of the stars is not 1/16th of the moonlight, which radiates, beams and shines, surpassing all the stars, even & exactly so: Whatever there are of simple worldly and meritorious things, all these are not worth one 1/16th of the mental release reached by All-Embracing Kindness... The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, beams, sparkles and shines, far surpassing it all... Just as in autumn, in the last month of the rainy season, on a clear and cloudless day the sun rises and dispels all the darkness bright and brilliant, even & quite exactly so: Whatever there are of worldly, meritorious, admirable, and attractive things, all these even summed up are not worth even one 1/16 of the release of mind by All-Embracing Kindness! The release of mind, which liberates the heart, by All-Embracing Kindness, radiates, dazzles and shines, far surpassing them all...
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Let us face the dry facts! Everything is impermanent! We can all understand impermanence superficially. But deep down in our subconscious mind a sense of permanence is lurking. So we keep patching up our broken teeth, wrinkled dry skin, brittle nails, grey hair, hunched backs, weak eyes, impaired hearing, becoming sick, breaking bones & many other things caused by the inevitable impermanence of this fragile body. Similarly do our moods, our feelings, our thoughts, our perceptions, and our memories all go through many changes in every moment. We take medicines, see mental health specialists, & do many other things, including meditation, to correct our restless flickering minds! While we are doing this, impermanence is still going on crushing everything both inside our body and mind and also outside in all the world relentlessly... While all the organs, all the cells, nervous system, quality of blood, capacity of oxygen content in the lungs and the bone structure are going through this very rapid and unmistakable change, no matter how much we patch up on the surface and beneath the skin, impermanence is working its due course quite persistently underground & inside the body and mind. Nothing on this earth, no science, no technology, can ever delay or stop this proceeding of change! Impermanence keeps burning everything up unstoppable and systematically!
Seeing impermanence (anicca) is the key that opens mind to see suffering, and non-self! The moment we understand this very clearly, our mind opens to the fact that things change without leaving a trace behind to follow the path that impermanence has taken. This is called voidness or signlessness... This awareness evaporates the desire for anything that is impermanent! It also evaporates all aversion growing from our disappointed expectations. Then naturally, this clean mind becomes fully aware of not having any agent, immovable mover, or controller, which sometimes is called "Self, I, Me, Ego" or even "Soul" by some people. This element of Dhamma, this basic intrinsic nature of all, this law of Dhamma is known in Buddhism as emptiness of self! The Blessed Buddha said: Sabbe Dhamma Anatta = All States are Selfless! Seeing impermanence with wisdom is the key to detachment, calming, stilling, ceasing, and releasing mental relinquishment. Joyous Freedom is the result!
In the Maha-suññata Sutta (MN 122) The Blessed Buddha points out that suffering arises from clinging and attaching to all impermanent things: "I do not see even a single kind of form from the change and alteration of which there would not arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair in one who lusts for it and takes delight in it!" The same is true of all transient feeling, perception, mental construction=intention & sorts of consciousness! If we tenaciously cling to any of them, then we suffer, when they decay!
This passage clearly states, that suffering arises from the attachment to form, not because the form is impermanent, but because we are attached to impermanent form. When we attain full enlightenment, we do not suffer! This happens not because we make any impermanent things now everlasting! This happens only because we release our clinging to all impermanent things. Impermanent phenomena continue to be impermanent, whether we ever gain enlightenment or not. As the blessed Buddha also has explained exactly: "Bhikkhus, whether Tathagatas appear or do not appear, there is always this constantly established element of Dhamma, this fixed law of Dhamma: All that is conditioned and constructed is impermanent. To this aTathagata fully awakens and fully understands. So awakened and thus understanding, he announces, points it out, declares, establishes, expounds, and explains it, classifies and clarifies it: All that is conditioned is actually impermanent... Bhikkhus, whetherTathagatas appear or do not appear, there is always this precedent condition and absolute of Dhamma, this anchored law of Dhamma: All that is conditioned and constructed is unsatisfactory, & thus suffering! To this aTathagata fully awakens and fully understands. So awakened and thus understanding, he announces, points out, declares, establishes, explains, and clarifies it: All that is conditioned and constructed is indeed Suffering! Bhikkhus, whether Tathagatas appear or do not appear, there is always this situation present, a subtle truth of Dhamma, this safe doctrine of Dhamma: All states are without a self! To this fact anyTathagata fully awakens and fully understands. So awakened and understanding, he announces, points out, declares, establishes, explains, and clarifies it: All states are without self!" Anguttara Nikaya I 285
By seeing the impermanence, suffering & selflessness thus in all conditioned things in this and any other world, one naturally becomes disenchanted with everything constructed. Disenchantment leads to disillusion and dispassion towards everything. Within a dispassionate mind craving for everything will gradually fade away (viraga). With this insight one lets go of all attachment. Being dispassionate, one thereby liberates oneself from all this evil misery... Being liberated, one knows that one is liberated, has ended rebirth, has lived the Noble life, has done what should be done, and that there is nothing more to be done! This means that attaining full freedom from all suffering indeed begins with this very perfect and acute awareness of impermanence...!
Source: Bhante Henepola Gunaratana: From Impermanence to Liberation. Buddhist Publication Society http://www.bps.lk/ Newsletter #63: 2010-1.
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The entire world is in flames, all the entire world is blazing up in smoke! The entire world is burning, the entire world is decaying and vanishing... But that which does not vanish or burn, which is experienced by the Nobles, where Death has no entry, in that stilled silence mind finds sweet delight. Samyutta Nikaya 1.168
Without sign, unknown, uncertain, is the life here of mortals, demanding, short, tied up with pain and misery. For there's no way by which those who are born will not die. All Beings will surely die even if they become very old!
Like ripe fruits, whose downfall, whose danger always is inevitable falling, so for mortals, once born, the constant danger is forever hereafter death!
As a potter's clay vessels, large & small, fired & unfired, all end up broken, so too life heads to death. Young & old, wise & foolish, rich & poor: Everyone come under the sway of death, all have death as their assured certain end.
For those overcome by death, gone to the other world, father cannot protect son, nor relatives any family. See: Even while relatives are looking & wailing heavily, mortals are one by one led away like dumb cows to the slaughter...
In this way is the world afflicted with aging & death! Knowing this indeed inescapable and unavoidable nature of the world, the enlightened don't ever grieve! You don't know from where the dying came or where he is going... Seeing neither end, you lament uselessly in blind vain.. Helping nobody at all!
If, by lamenting, confused, harming yourself, any good use could be gained the prudent would do it as well. But not by weeping & grief do you gain peace of mind. Pain just arises all the more. Your body is hurt. You grow thin, pale, harming yourself by yourself. Not in that folly way, are the dead protected. Lamentations are all in pointless vain.
Not abandoning grief, a person suffers all the more pain. Bewailing one whose time is done, you fall under the sway of grief yourself. Look at others, going along, people arriving in line with their past actions: Falling under the sway of death, beings simply shivers here, for a short unstable waste of a life...
For however they imagine it to be, it always becomes quite other than that! That's a fate of their blinded estrangement. See this evil way of the world...
Even if a person lives a century, or even more, he will be separated from his community, friends & relatives. He leaves his life alone & naked right there!
So, having heard the Arahat, who have subdued all lamentation, seeing that the dead is one whose time is done, understanding: "I can't fetch him back." Just as one would extinguish a burning shelter with water, even so does the Enlightened One, intelligent, clever and wise, blow away any arisen sorrow, like a strong wind, a bit of cotton fluff!
Seeking your own happiness, you should pull out your own injuring arrow: All your own lamentation, longing, hoping, hungering producing only sorrow! With arrow pulled out, independent, attaining peace of awareness, all grief is transcended, griefless you are unbound, free, safe, at ease in peace...
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Buddha once epitomized a crucial, yet counter-intuitive fact by saying: "Sabbe Dhamma Anatta ", which means "All states are self-&-coreless...!"
This entails an absence or voidness of a stable same core in any phenomena: Internally exists there no "self", "soul", "I", "you" "me", "agent" anywhere! Externally exists there no "substance", "matter", or "real world" anywhere! Mentally is there no "controller", "speaker" or "experiencer" inside in mind... Physically is there no "reality" or "rock-solid-matter-stuff" outside in world... Both inner "EGO" & outer "SUBSTANCE" are illusionary ideas!
Buddha emphasized that release from the Ego-Substance-concept was Bliss: "Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who see the Dhamma. More blissful is harmlessness towards all living beings without exception. Even more blissful is freedom from any sensual urge & craving whatsoever. Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit 'I Exists'" Udana – Inspiration: II – 1
No Substantial Object exists 'Out There', nor any Subject-Ego 'In Here'! The Blessed Buddha once said: "In the seen is merely the process of seeing... In the heard is merely the process of hearing... In the sensed is merely the process of sensing... In the thought is merely the process of thinking... So knowing, you will not be connected 'with that'... So disconnected you will not be absorbed 'into that'... So neither with that, nor into that You Are Not created by that sensation! When there is no 'You' inferred or conjectured by that very experience, then 'You' are neither 'here', 'there', 'both', 'beyond' nor 'in between'...!
On realizing the importance of this incident the Blessed One exclaimed: Where neither solidity, fluidity, heat nor motion find any footing, there no sun, moon nor star ever shines. There is neither any light, yet nor is there any darkness! When the Noble, through stilling of all construction, through quieting of all mental formation, directly experiences this, then is he freed from both form & formlessness, then is he released from both pleasure and all pain ..." Udana – Inspiration: I - 10. Further comments and explanation here: http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/No_Substance_'Out_There'.htm
The Buddha insisted on a subtle and profound quasi-pseudo-real world: "The world is bound up by and shrouded in delusion. It appears as real and is regarded as if it were fine! The fool bound to his illusive acquisitions, blinded by darkness, assumes it as eternal, but for one who sees & really understands, there is nothing real, stable or same, neither here nor there..." Udana – Inspiration: VII – 10
"This World both Begins and Ends within this 2 fathom frame of bones..." SN I 62 "The ALL is thereby actually just a sensed & experienced representation..." SN IV 15
A crucial core question is: What is actually an experienced phenomenon? See the equally vital answer here! If mind is directly involved in creating the very "thing" or "state" it perceives, as an active participatory observer, then there cannot ever be any "objective observation" or "world out-there", which is independent of the mind that intends, selects, and manifests it...! It entails that 'mind' is inseparable from 'matter'. They are Siamese-Twins! In early Buddhism, the Buddha coined this subtle yet dual Unity: Nama-Rupa! Name-&-Form or Naming-&-Forming, since these are dynamic processes, that in mutual dependence creates each other like 2 creepers, that only can grow up, if growing up twisted & rotated around the other's stem like a DNA-helix.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Pics/participatory.observation.jpg The anthropic universe develops by conscious selection of many participating observers. Please note that the U symbolizing the universe gets "fatter" left by increased observation! American physicist John Archibald Wheeler said: "No phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is an Observed Phenomenon...!" "We are participators in bringing into being not only the near, but also the far away both in time and space! Symbolic representation of the Universe is a self-excited system brought into being by self-reference or auto-creation by consciously selecting observers over an immensely long period of time... Such a recursive-reflecting creative concept is similar to the endless series of receding reflections one sees in a pair of mirrors facing each others....” Reference: J.A. Wheeler in Isham et al., eds., Quantum Gravity (Clarendon, Oxford, 1975), pgs. 564-565. (Edited Extract.)
"No phenomenon is a phenomenon, until it is an observed phenomenon!" said by J.A. Wheeler from his delayed choice experiment ideas, is referenced in: The undivided universe: An ontological interpretation of quantum theory. p. 104 By David Bohm, and Basil J. Hiley.
"The path of the electron comes into existence, only when we observe it." John S. Bell
"Fundamental to contemporary Quantum Theory is the notion that there is no phenomenon until it is observed! This is known as the 'Observer Effect'. The implications of the 'Observer Effect' are profound because, if true, it means that before anything can manifest in the physical universe it must first be observed! This Observer Effect clearly implies that all the physical Universe is the direct result of consciousness itself!" Alex Paterson.
HELP! Please Help Me Out of this Empty Illusion!
If you feel slightly weird or dizzy after reading this, you are right on track! Hihihi ;-) Keep on observing, studying, reflecting. Never give up Examination! It is not "reality" that seems to be evaporating under your feet, but rather the unseen, hidden, habitual and utterly false assumptions you had about it!
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Blessed Buddha once explained: And what, Bhikkhus, is then this simple indifference of the flesh? There are these five strings of sense-pleasure. What five? Visible forms experienceable by the eye ... Hearable sounds experienceable by the ear ... Smellable odours experienceable by the nose ... Tastable flavours experienceable by the tongue ... Touchable objects experienceable by the body ... That all are attractive, captivating, desirable, irresistible, lovely, charming, tempting, pleasing, sensually enticing, seductive, alluring, and tantalizing! These are the 5 strings of sense-pleasure. The indifference that arises from these 5 strings of sense-pleasure, is simply indifference of the flesh...
And what, Bhikkhus, is the equanimity, which is not of this world? With the leaving behind of both pleasure and pain, & with the prior fading away of both joy & sorrow, one enters & dwells in the 4th jhana absorption, which is an entirely stilled mental state of utter awareness, purified by the equanimity of neither-pain-nor-pleasure. This is called the equanimity, which is not of this world!
Finally, what is serenity beyond the equanimity, which is not of this world? When a bhikkhu, whose mental fermentations are eliminated, reviews his calmed mind, which is liberated from all lust, freed from all hatred, and released from uncertainty, then there arises a transcendental serenity... This is the serenity beyond that equanimity, which is not of this world!
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Buddha pointed out the fact of impermanence by saying: Sabbe Sankhara Anicca. All constructions are Impermanent!
The Blessed One was once asked: What is the World? He answered: The eye disintegrates. Forms disintegrate. Consciousness disintegrates. All contact, all feeling, all organs, all bodies & all sensations disintegrate... The intellect disintegrates. Ideas disintegrate. The mind disintegrate! Insofar as it disintegrates, is it called the world. SN 35.82
The Blessed One pointed out: Perception of inconstancy, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. It gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its final end. AN 7.46
And what is the perception of inconstancy? There is the case where a monk having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building reflects thus: All form is inconstant, all feeling is inconstant, all perception is inconstant, all fabrications are inconstant, all consciousness is inconstant. Thus he remains focused on inconstancy with regard to the five clusters of clinging. This, Ananda, is called the perception of inconstancy.
Going forth is hard. Household life is hard. This Dhamma is a deep wealth, hard to obtain. It's hard to keep going with whatever we ever can get. Therefore we should ponder continually on this continual inconstancy. Thag 111
Impermanent are all component things, They arise and cease, that is their very nature: They come into being and pass away... Release from them is bliss supreme. DN 16
The five clusters are impermanent. Whatever is impermanent is dukkha, suffering. Whatever is dukkha, suffering, that is without atta, a self! What is without self, that is not mine, that I am not, that is not my self. Thus should it be seen by perfect wisdom as it really is. Who sees by perfect wisdom, as it really is, his mind, neither grasping, nor clinging is detached from fermentations... He is liberated. SN 22.45
Material form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness, monks, are impermanent (anicca). Whatever causes and conditions there are for the arising of these aggregates, they, too, are impermanent. How could anything arisen from what is impermanent, ever be permanent? SN 22.7-9
Whatever material form there be: whether past, future, or present; internal or external; gross or subtle; low or lofty; far or near; that material form the monk meditates upon, examines systematically with acute attention, he thus seeing, meditating upon, and examining with systematic attention, would find it empty, he would find it insubstantial and without essence. What essence, monks, could there be in any form? What essence, monks, could there be in feeling, in perception, in mental formations and in any consciousness? SN 22.95
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Karuna is feeling the pain of other beings, either partially or completely;
Possible translations: 1: Pity not from above: “I am better”, but as if in the other being’s shoes… 2: Compassion is OK, but that is difficult to reach up to for many beings… 3: Fellow feeling, sympathy, empathy, understanding are all OK, but somewhat missing these essential points:
A: It is an inability to see and accept other being’s suffering and distress! B: It is a deep desire to make others feel free, glad, happy and peaceful! C: It is extended to and pervaded over many beings simultaneously…
The proximate cause of Karuna = pity is noticing other being’s helplessness. The immediate effect of Karuna = pity is evaporation of all evil cruelty!
Medin Poya day is the full-moon of March. This holy day celebrates that the Buddha visits his parental home after his supreme Enlightenment, and ordains his son prince Rahula, & half brother Nanda. This day is also called: The Sangha Day, since on this full-moon 1250 Arahats spontaneously met & assembled around the Buddha without any call. Buddha then spoke the famous Ovada Patimokkha core teaching!
On such Full-Moon Uposatha Poya Observance days: Any Lay Buddhist simply joins the Three Refuges and undertakes the Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, shaved, white-clothed, with clean bare feet, one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue, and bows first three times, so that feet, hands, elbows, knees & head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms at the heart, one recites these memorized lines in a loud, calm & steady voice:
As long as this life lasts: I hereby take refuge in the Buddha. I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma. I hereby take refuge in the Sangha. I hereby seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time. I hereby seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time. I hereby seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time. I hereby request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time. I hereby request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time. I hereby request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time. I will hereby respect these Three Jewels the rest of my life!
I accept to respect, keep & undertake these 5 training rules: I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Lying & Cheating. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs.
As long as this life lasts, I am thus protected by these 5 precepts... Then, one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's own eyes & children!, since they protect you & all other beings much better than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in & to this world! The journey towards Nibbana: The Deathless is hereby started! This is the Noble Way to Absolute Peace, to Complete Freedom, to Ultimate Happiness, initiated by Morality, developed further by Dhamma-Study and fulfilled by training of Meditation...
Today indeed is Pooya or Uposatha or observance day, where any lay Buddhist normally keeps also the Eight Precepts from sunrise until the next dawn... If any wish an official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha, they may simply forward the lines starting with "I hereby ..." signed with name, date, town, & country to me or join here. A public list of this new quite rapidly growing global web Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Blessed Buddha often said: With good will for the entire cosmos, Cultivate an infinite & boundless heart: Above, below, all across and all around, Beaming, without any hostility or hate! Sutta Nipata I, 8
May all creatures, all breathing things, all beings one and all, without exception, experience joyous good fortune only! May they never fall into any harm. Anguttara Nikaya II, 72
Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere, or through anger or irritation wish for another to suffer. Sutta Nipata I, 8
Friendship is the Greatest! If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures and embedded links (recommended) then click join here: http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said Have a nice, noble and easy day! Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Only determination can completely fulfill the other mental perfections! Its characteristic is an unwavering decision, its function is to overcome hesitation, and its manifestation is unfaltering persistence in this task...! The proximate cause of determination is strong willpower to succeed! Only the power of resolute determination lifts any praxis to perfection...
When the Future Buddha placed his back against the trunk of The Bodhi Tree, he right there made this mighty decision: "Let just the blood and flesh of this body dry up and let the skin & sinews fall from the bones. I will not leave this seat before having attained that absolute supreme Enlightenment!" So determined did he invincibly seat himself, from which not even 100 earthquakes could make him waver. Jataka Nidana
A female lay follower (Upasika) at the time of the Buddha kept pure the precepts, comprehended the nature of impermanence, the consequent fragility of the body and thereby won stream-entry (Sotapanna)... After passing away, she re-arose as the favourite attendant of Sakka, the king of Gods. Reviewing her own merit, she remembered her prior admonition to herself:
"Let this body break up as it may, herein will not be any excuse or relaxation of the effort...!"
Whose mind is like a rock, determined, unwavering, immovable, without a trace of lust of urging towards all the attractions, without a trace of aversion of pushing away all the repulsive, from what, can such a refined mind ever suffer? Udana IV - 4
Using the tools of Faith, Morality, Effort, Determination, Meditation and true Understanding of the Dhamma, one gradually perfects first knowing and then behaviour. So well equipped & always aware, one becomes capable of eliminating of this great heap of suffering once and for all ... Dhammapada 144
What is being determined by Right Motivation? The decision for always being motivated to withdrawal, The decision for always being motivated to good-will, The decision for always being motivated to harmlessness, This is being determined by Right Motivation... Samyutta Nikaya XLV 8 My mind is firm like a rock, unattached to sensual things, no shaking in the midst of a world, where all is decaying and vanishing... My mind has been thus well developed, so how can suffering ever touch me? Theragatha 194
The four determinations: One should not neglect the Dhamma, One should guard well the Truth, One should be devoted to Withdrawal, and one should always train only for Peace. Majjhima Nikaya 140 Fearing being predestined for Hell if he became a King, who had to punish criminals violently, the Bodhisatta determined not to show any intelligence, and played dumb, deaf and crippled for sixteen years, only showing his real abilities, when he was on the verge of being buried alive! This was his ultimate perfection of resolute determination... The Basket of Conduct: Cariyapitaka
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Arahat Nagasena once told King Milinda: Your majesty, like a man might reinforce a house that was falling down with an extra piece of wood, & being thus strengthened that house would not collapse. Even so, your majesty, has energy (viriya) the characteristic of reinforcing support & consolidating strength. By energy are no advantageous states lost. The Questions of King Milinda: Milinda-Pañha 36 http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut045.htm
Energy is the prime state of a chief hero, a champion, a conqueror! Its characteristic is enthusiastic and forceful thrust of exertion. Its function is the supporting foundation of associated states. Its manifestation is a state of non-collapse of whatever is good. The proximate cause of energy is a sense of urgency that stirs up. Alternatively: Any source that stimulates and instigates energy. It is said by the Blessed One that one who is stirred and aroused by energy exerts and struggles properly. That leads to all success! Rightly instigated it should be seen as the root of all attainments! Visuddhimagga XVI 137 http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=771100
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The Primary Aspect of Morality is: Composing internal consistency in all behaviour…
The Dual Aspects of Morality are: Keeping the rules and avoiding wrongdoing… Good behaviour and mental purification… Good intention and complete self-control… Dependent on prompting or own initiative… Limited in extent or unlimited in extent… Temporary & feeble or lifelong & stable… Ordinary=Mundane or Supramundane=Noble…
The Triple aspects of Morality are: Low, or medium, or superior… Giving first priority to oneself, or to the world, or to the Dhamma… Clung to, or not clung to, or naturally & spontaneously maintained… Pure, or impure, or dubious and doubtful… The learner’s, the learned’s, or the neither-learner-nor-learned’s…
The Quadruple aspects of Morality are: Leading to falling, to stagnation, to distinction, or to penetration… That of Bhikkhus, or Bhikkhunis, or novices, or the laity… Being natural, customary, necessary, or caused by prior events… Regarding the rules, the sense doors, livelihood, or the requisites…
The Fivefold aspects of Morality are: Limited, unlimited, completed, detached, and tranquillized purity… Intending, refraining, controlling, leaving, and non-transgression… These are the various inherent aspects of Morality…
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The Blessed Buddha once said: How, Nandiya, does a Noble Disciple live in alert elevated joy? Here, Nandiya, any Noble Disciple is endowed with verified conviction in the Buddha thus: Worthy, honourable & perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha! Not satisfied with that verified conviction in the Buddha, he makes a further effort in solitude by day and seclusion at night! When thus enthusiastic, he is elevated by alertness! When thus elevated by alertness, then gladness is born! When he is gladdened, then a rapturous joy arises! When the mind is uplifted by joy, the body becomes all tranquil... One tranquil in body experiences a pure bliss of happiness! The mind of one who is happy becomes condensed and concentrated... When mind is concentrated, even subtle phenomena become plain & manifest. Since these subtle phenomena become plain and manifest, he becomes one, who lives and dwells in alert elevated joy...
Source (edited extract): The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:398] Section 55 on Stream-Entry: Sotapattisamyutta. Thread 40: Nandiya.
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The brahmin Magandiya asked the Buddha about how to become calmed: Not dwelling in the past, stilled in the present, one prefers no kind of future! Without irritation, without agitation, without regrets, without worry, neither boasting, nor proud, but humble and modest, one is indeed a restrained sage... Withdrawn, not opposed to anything, not wanting anything, all unconcerned, aloof, gentle, independent, for such one there exists neither craving or fear for any kind of existence, nor craving or fear for any form of non-existence... Such calmed one is indifferent to sense pleasures, detached, not clinging to any kind of property! For him there is nothing more to take up or lay down! For whatever others might accuse him, he remains tranquil and not agitated! Neither opposed to anything, nor attracted to anything, with nothing of his own, not perturbed by what does not exist, such tranquil one is truly calmed! Sutta-Nipata 849-861 Edited excerpt.
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The Blessed Buddha once said: While alive, then he is untroubled, & when he dies too, then he is not worried! A recluse who has seen the goal, lives undisturbed even in a sorrowful world... Ud 46
Wherever he goes, there he is unafraid.. Wherever he sleeps, there he is unalarmed! The nights and days does neither touch nor burn him. He sees nothing in this world that is to be kept or lost.. Therefore his mind dwells in goodwill and gentle kindness towards all beings until he falls asleep. SN I 110
One who has attained the Dhamma has no task to do, as his task has been accomplished. As long as he has not obtained a foothold, the swimmer must strive to his utmost, but when he has found a place to rest his feet and gone up to dry land, his striving is over, because he has crossed to the further shore... SN I 48
What are the characteristics of the State called Nibbâna?
Total ease, complete calm, absolute stillness, safe freedom, perfect happiness & pure peace… Absence of any uncertainty, any doubt, any confusion, any delusion & all ignorance… Presence of confidence, cleared certainty, understanding all, and direct experience… Absence of any greed, lust, desire, urge, attraction, hunger, temptation and pull… Presence of imperturbable indifference, serene composure & all stilled equanimity… Absence of any hate, anger, aversion, hostility, irritation, & stubborn rigidity… Presence of universal goodwill, infinite friendliness, all-embracing & boundless kindness… Not a place, not an idea, not a fantasy, not a deception, not a conceit, not a conception… Not a cause, not an effect, not finite, not definable, not formed, not changing, but eternal… Unborn, unbecome, unmade, uncreated, uncaused, unconditioned & unconstructed, yet real… Void of eye, visible objects & visual consciousness, void of ear, sounds & auditory consciousness, Void of nose, smells & olfactory consciousness, void of tongue, tastes & gustatory consciousness, Void of body, touch & tactile consciousness and void of mind, thoughts & mental consciousness… Pure Peace @ Rest …
The Blessed Buddha once said: Hard it is to see the unconstructed, the undistorted! This independent state is not easily realized. Craving is all cut for the One, who so knows, since he sees, that there is nothing to cling to ... !!! … Udana – Inspiration: VIII - 2
In any dependence there is bound to be instability. In Independence there cannot be any instability. When there is no liable instability, no feeble wavering, there is a quiet calm, stillness, serenity & peace. When there is such solid tranquillity, then there is no tendency to drift, no attraction, neither mental push nor pull, nor any strain of appeal or repulsion. When there is no attraction, no drift, no bending, then there is no movement, no development, and neither any coming nor any going. Neither any starting nor any ending... When there is neither any coming nor any going, then there is neither any ceasing nor any reappearing... There being neither ceasing nor reappearing, then there is neither any here, there, beyond, nor in between... This – just this – is the End of Suffering. Udana – Inspiration: VIII - 4
Having understood this unconstructed state, released in mind, with the chain to becoming eliminated, they attain to the sublime essence of all states. Delighting in the calmed end of craving, those steady Noble Ones have left all being & becoming behind. Itivuttaka: Thus spoken 38
One, who so knows, sees, that there is nothing to cling to ... !!! …
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The characteristic of patience is acceptance, its function is to endure, and its manifestation is non-opposing tolerance! The cause of patience is understanding how things really are.. The effect of patience is calm tranquility despite presence of intensely stirring provocation.. Patience of the will produces forgiving forbearance! Patience of the intellect produces faith, confidence and certainty! Patience of the body produces resolute and tenacious endurance! Internal tolerance of states within oneself is patient endurance... External tolerance of other beings is forbearance and forgiveness...
He who patiently protects himself, protects also all other beings! He who patiently protects all other beings, protects also himself!
Not from speaking much is one called clever. The patient one is free from anger and free from fear, only such steady persisting one, is rightly called clever... Dhammapada 258
Patient tolerance is the highest praxis... Nibbana is the supreme Bliss! So say all the Buddhas. Dhammapada 184
The innocent one, who has done nothing wrong, Who endures abuse, flogging and even imprisonment, Such one, armed with stamina, the great force of tolerance, Such stoic one, who self-possessed can accept, I call a Holy One! Dhammapada 399
One should follow those who are determined, tolerant, and enduring, intelligent, wise, diligent, clever, good-willed and evidently Noble. One shall stick to them as the moon remains in its regular orbit. Dhammapada 208
Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, you should not get angry, but do my bidding: Remain pervading them and all others with a friendly Awareness imbued with an all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, and immeasurable! Free from hostility, free from any ill will. Always remembering this very Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves. Majjhima Nikaya 21
The five ways of removing irritating annoyance: Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which any irritation can be entirely removed by a Bhikkhu, when it arises in him. What are these five ways? 1: Friendliness can be maintained towards an irritating person or state.. 2: Understanding can be undertaken towards an irritating person or state.. 3: On-looking Equanimity can be kept towards an irritating person or state.. 4: One can forget and ignore the irritating person, mental or physical state.. 5: Ownership of Kamma of the irritating person can be reflected upon thus: This good person is owner of his actions, inherit the result his actions, is indeed born of his actions and only he is responsible for his actions be they good or bad. This too is how annoyance with the irksome can be instantly removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, and by which any irritation can be entirely removed in a friend, exactly when it arises... Anguttara Nikaya V 161
Buddha to his son Rahula: Develop an Imperturbable Mind like the elements: Rahula, develop a mind like earth, then contacts of arisen like and dislike will not obsess your mind! Rahula, on the earth is dumped both the pure and the impure: excreta, urine, saliva, pus, blood, but the earth does not detest any of those... Even and exactly so make your mind stable like the earth! Rahula, develop a mind like water, then contacts of arisen pleasure and pain will not seize your mind. Rahula with water both the pure and the impure are cleaned... Washed away with water are excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood, yet the water does not despise any of that! Even so make the mind fluid and adaptable like the water! Rahula, develop a mind like fire, then the contacts of any arisen attraction or aversion will neither consume, nor hang on to your mind! Rahula, fire burns both the pure and the impure, burns excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood, yet the fire does not loathe any of that.. In the same manner refine the mind into a tool like an all consuming and purifying fire! Rahula, develop a mind similar to space, then contacts of arisen delight and frustration does neither take hold of, nor remain in your mind. Space does not settle anywhere! Similarly make the mind unsettled and unestablished like open space. When you expand mind like space, contacts of delight and frustration will neither be able to dominate, nor obsess your mind... Majjhima Nikaya 62
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At Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this: Bhikkhus, the arising, emergence, maintenance, creation, & manifestation of the Eye the Ear, the Nose, the Tongue, and the Body is also the arising of much Suffering, the continuation of disease, the very manifestation of ageing, decay and Death itself! The ceasing, all subsiding, and complete passing away of the Eye, the Ear, the Nose, the Tongue, and the Body is also the Final Ending of all Suffering, the abating of all disease, and the complete passing away of all ageing, decay and even the elimination of the process and necessity of death itself! Bhikkhus, the arising, emergence, maintenance, creation, & manifestation of the Mind is also the arising of Suffering, the long continuation of disease, the very manifestation of ageing, decay and Death itself! Therefore is the ceasing, subsiding, silencing and thus the complete passing away of the Mind and all mentality consequently also the final ending of all Suffering, the abating of all disease, & stopping the ageing, sickness, pain, suffering, & even the fact of death itself! Only this can end all Suffering!
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The Good Friend can show the Way to Eternal Bliss!!!
At Savatthi the Blessed Buddha once said on beautiful friendship (Kalyanamittata): Bhikkhus, as dawn is the initiator and messenger of the rising sun, exactly & even so too, Bhikkhus, is Good Friendship the forerunner and originator for the arising of the Noble Eightfold Way, since when a Bhikkhu has a good friend, it is to be expected that he will develop, cultivate & complete this Noble Eightfold Way... And how does a Bhikkhu develop, cultivate & perfect this Noble Eightfold Way... A Bhikkhu first develops Right View, thereafter he develops Right Motivation, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Awareness, and finally Right Concentration, which all are based upon seclusion, disillusion, calming, stilling, ceasing, and which culminates in complete mental release.... It is in this way, friends, that a Bhikkhu, who has a good & mentally beautiful friend develops, cultivates & consummates this supreme Noble Eightfold Way!
With good will for the entire cosmos, cultivate a boundless & infinite mind, Above, below, across & all around, unobstructed, freed of anger & hate. Sutta Nipata I, 8
The friend who is a helpmate, The friend both in happiness and woe, The friend, who gives good counsel, The friend, who sympathizes too! These four as friends the wise behold and cherish with deep devotion, as does a mother her own child. Digha Nikaya 31
Who is hospitable, and friendly, Tolerant, generous and unselfish, A guide, an instructor, a leader, Such a one to honour may attain. Digha Nikaya 31
One is not wise just because one speaks much. He who is peaceful, friendly & fearless is really the wise. Dhammapada 258
If you find a wise and clever friend, who leads a good and pure life, you should, overcoming all obstacles, keep his company joyously & aware. Dhammapada 328
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The Buddha explained the sweet, yet solid silence of the sage: From all acquaintance, association, affiliation, and attachment, fear arises! From any form of civil house-life emerges a mentally dull and dusty pollution! The sage therefore prefers the disentangled and dissociated houseless state. He who has cut down what has grown up accumulating, and who would never neither plant anything new, nor irrigate what has already sprung up, him they call a solitary wandering sage. Such great seer has seen the state of peace... Having considered and comprehended all the fields of constructing activity, having killed all initiation and all clinging affection, such sage indeed, seeing the end of both birth and death, is beyond both speculation and designation! Knowing all stations of the mind, yet detached from them all, a silenced sage with neither greed nor preference, does neither any good nor any bad action, for he has gone beyond to the far shore, by not accumulating any kamma... Overcoming all, knowing all, very intelligent, unattached to all phenomena, giving up all, completely released by the destruction of craving, such one the wise know as a sage. One who has the power of wisdom, endowed with pure virtue and ascetic praxis, concentrated, delighting in meditation, possessing continuous mindfulness, released, detached, with neither mental barrenness, nor with any mental fermentation brewing, such one the wise know as a sage. Persistent, unshaken by blame & praise like a lion not trembling at any sound, or like the wind not caught in any net, or like a lotus not defiled by any mud. The sage is wandering alone, attentive, leading others, not to be led by any. In the midst of oppression, despise & accusation he becomes imperturbable like a pillar, with passion gone, with senses well under control... Immovable, straight, upright, direct, never ever deviating, disgusted with all evil deeds, examining both good & bad conduct, such one the wise surely know as a sage. Fully restrained, fully self-controlled, who cannot be angered and who never angers anyone, who does no evil, and who neither praises, nor criticizes any other, him indeed the wise know as a sage. Constantly protecting all living & breathing beings, the sage meditating in the remote forest, all beyond both company and sex, completely released, not tied to anything, never negligent, knowing all in this world, seeing the highest goal, having crossed the flood, such a one, with his bonds completely cut, not fettered, without any mental pollution, unselfish, swift and elevated, him indeed the wise know as a sage... Sn 207-221
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I am the owner of my actions (kamma), inheritor of my actions, born of my actions, created by my actions, and have my own actions as my judge! Whatever I do, good or evil, I will feel the resulting effects of that ... Source: AN V 57
Intention, Bhikkhus, is what I call action, for through intention one initiates these actions through the door of the body, speech or mind. There is kamma (intentional action), Bhikkhus, that ripens in hell.... There is kamma that ripens in the animal world.. There is kamma that ripens in the world of humans.... There is kamma that ripens in the divine world.... Threefold, however, is this ripening fruit of kamma: ripening during here in this life, or ripening in the next rebirth life, or ripening in even later rebirths ... Source: AN VI 63
The 10 advantageous courses of action (=Good Kamma): The 3 bodily actions: Avoidance of killing, stealing, and abusive sexuality. The 4 verbal actions: Avoidance of lying, slandering, angry & empty speech. The 3 mental actions: Doing Withdrawal, Good-will, and Right Views. Source: MN 9
Greed, Bhikkhus, is a condition for the arising of kamma. Hate is a condition for the arising of kamma. Confusion is a condition for the arising of kamma. Source: AN III 109
One who kills & harms goes either to hell or will be short-lived elsewhere. One who torments others will be afflicted with disease or disability. The angry one will look ugly, the envious one will be without influence. The stingy one will be poor, the stubborn will be placed low and stupid. The lazy will be without knowledge, understanding and certainty. In the contrary case, one will be reborn in heaven or reborn as man. One will be long-lived, beautiful, influential, highborn and intelligent! Source: MN 135
There are 10 meritorious actions leading to human or divine rebirth: 1: Giving. 2: Morality. 3: Meditation. 4: Reverence by paying respect to monks and elders. 5: Performing services to others. 6: Transference of merits to others. 7: Rejoicing in others' merit. 8: Learning this true Dhamma. 9: Teaching this true Dhamma. 10: Correcting one's wrong views.
To the extent that there are beings, past, and future, dying & re-arising, all beings are the owners of their actions, inheritor to their actions, are born of their actions, created by their action, conditioned by their actions, related to their actions, and are dependent on the effect of past actions. Whatever they do, for good or for evil, from that will they feel the result... Source: AN V 57
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What Intentional Actions (Kamma) influence Life-Length?
A student once asked the Buddha: Master Gotama, what is the cause and condition why some human beings here are short-lived, while other human beings are long-lived?
The Blessed Buddha then explained: Here, friend, some man or woman kills living beings and is murderous, bloody-handed, enjoying rage and violence, cruel to all living beings! Because of intending and undertaking such action, at the breakup of the body, right after death, such one reappears in a state of affliction, in a painful destination, in the purgatory, or even in the hells... But if such one at the breakup of the body, after death, is not reborn in an awful state, a painful destination, the purgatory, or in the hells, but instead comes back to the human state, then wherever such one is reborn he is short-lived#! These are the actions, friend, that leads to a short future life, namely, kill, murder, bloody-handed brutality, slaughter, violence, and cruelty towards all living beings... However, friend, any man or woman, who is avoiding killing of any living beings, who abstains from killing any living beings, with rod and weapon laid down, gentle & kind, such one dwells friendly to all living beings... Because of intending & undertaking such action, at breakup of the body, right after death, such one reappears in a pleasurable & happy destination, even in the divine dimensions! But if at the breakup of the body, right after death, such one is not reborn in a happy destination, in the heavenly worlds, but instead comes back to a human state, then wherever such one reappears, such one is long-lived%! This way, friend, leading to long life, is namely, avoiding the killing of any living beings, refraining from killing living beings, with stick and weapon laid aside, gentle and kind, one abides compassionate to all sentient beings, completely harmless to all living & breathing beings...!
Notes: #: Such one escapes hell, because the evil kamma is modified by past good! %: Such one miss heaven, because the good kamma is modified by past evil!
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The 11 Advantages of Infinite Friendliness:
When one cultivates regular meditation on Infinite Friendliness (Metta),
then these 11 advantages are produced, can be expected and observed:
1: One sleeps in comfort.
2: One wakes in comfort.
3: One dreams no evil dreams.
4: One is dear to human beings.
5: One is dear to non-human beings.
6: Deities guard and protect one.
7: Fire, poison and weapons cannot affect one.
8: One's mind is easily concentrated.
9: The expression of one's face is serene.
10: One dies unconfused and without panic.
11: If one penetrates no higher, then one is reborn in the Brahma-world.
These 11 advantages emerges and hold insofar as goodwill is maintained!
Vism I 312-314, AN V 342
RADIATING PEACE
The Noble Friend, who dwells in friendly good-will,
Who has faith in the Teaching of the Buddhas,
Will reach the place of Peace, the mode of ease,
The stilling of all formation,
The calming of all construction,
Purest Happiness itself ...
Dhammapada 368
Universal Friendliness, which cures all aversion, is a divine state!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The-Effective_Saw.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Universal_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/All-Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Grace_of_Goodwill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Infinite_and_Divine_Classic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
Have a nice friendly day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Friendliness Blazes Beyond!
The 11 Advantages!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/The_11_Advantages.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
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Mental Hindrances Block all Understanding!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
There are five obstructing obstacles and hindrances of the mind, which
weakens knowledge. What five?
The mental hindrance of Sense-Desire is an overgrowing blocking insight.
The mental hindrance of Evil-Will is a fire-like mental stumbling block.
The mental hindrance of Lethargy & Laziness is a slowing interruption.
The mental hindrance of Restlessness & Regret is a stirring disturbance.
The mental hindrance of Doubt & Uncertainty is an wall-like embankment.
Without having overcome these Five Mental Hindrances, it is impossible
for any Bhikkhu whose understanding thus lacks both strength and power,
to understand what is to his own advantage, to other advantage, or to the
advantage of both. That he should be capable of attaining a supra-human
state: Noble Vision and Wisdom, that is indeed impossible...
But if a Bhikkhu has overcome these Five Mental Hindrances, these five
obstructing impediments, these overgrowths of the mind that dampen and
diminish any understanding, then it is very likely that he will understand
what is to his own advantage, others advantage, & the advantage of both.
Thus unhindered is he quite capable of attaining any supra-human state:
Noble Vision & Wisdom...
It is like a fast flowing canal where a man opens up 5 draining side-channels,
which then weakens, and diverts the strong midstream. Similarly is indeed
this understanding stream of insight weakened and diluted in anyone who
have not yet overcome these Five Mental Hindrances, which block knowing.
However, if the man closes down all the 5 draining side-channels, one by one,
then the midstream becomes stronger and can carry anything with it.
Similarly with one unhindered by these 5 mental hindrances, his now freely
flowing understanding stream of insight is neither weakened, nor polluted,
nor diluted any, so he can easily recognize what is good for himself, others
and both. That such unhindered friend should be capable of the state of
Noble supra-human Vision and Wisdom, that is indeed possible...
More on these 5 Mental Hindrances (Nivaranas):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_5_Mental_Hindrances.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Fire_of_Sense-Desire.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Starving_the_Hindrances.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Restlessness_and_Regret.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Feeding_the_Hindrances.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Doubt_and_Uncertainty.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Lethargy_and_Laziness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Suitable_Substitution.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Colourful_but_Muddy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Anger_and_Irritation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_5_Become_10.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Naturally_Radiant.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4c.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Numerical Sayings of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya.
The Book of Fives 51: Unhindered... [III: 63-4]
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
How to Open the Mental Canal?
Mental Hindrances...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Canal.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
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Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Any Sense-Desire induces repeated Death!
And how, Bhikkhus, are sense desires regarded by a Bhikkhu so that he
weakens the latent tendency to sense desire, to lust for sensing, to sense
mania, to sense infatuation, to sense addiction, and to sensual obsession?
Imagine a Charcoal Pit deeper than a man's height, filled with red glowing
coals without flame or smoke. A man who wishes life & not death, who wants
happiness & not suffering, would pass by... Then two strong men would grab
him firmly by both his arms and drag him towards that burning charcoal pit...
In panic, that man would indeed wriggle & try to resist with all his might!
For what reason? Because he understands: If I fall into this charcoal pit,
then I will surely meet a terrible death or deadly pain! Exactly & even so,
Bhikkhus, when a Bhikkhu has seen & comprehended, that any & all sense
desire is similar to a Charcoal Pit, then the latent tendency to sense desire,
to sensual lust, to sense mania, to sense infatuation, to mad sense addiction,
& the deeply embedded latent tendency to sensual obsession fades away...
Comment:
The Two Strong Men of evil force are similar to Ignorance & Craving, which
are the evil forces, that induce & reinforce disadvantageous sensual greed...
The resulting craving is the cause & origin of all Suffering = 2nd Noble Truth!
More on the folly vanity of desire for simple Sense Pleasure (Hedonism):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Why_Not.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Craving_is_Pain.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.1-2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Charcoal_Pit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4c.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Colourful_but_Muddy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Craving_is_Catastrophic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Fire_of_Sense-Desire.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/What_is_Disadvantageous.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happiness_of_the_Flesh_and_Beyond.htm
Blissful is being without passions in this world,
Blissful is the overcoming of all sense-desires!
Udana II, 1
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [188-]
35: 6 Senses. Salayatana. States that entail Suffering. Dukkha-Dhamma 244.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Passion Burns Beings...
The Charcoal Pit!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Charcoal_Pit.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
How to Beam & Extend Amity Universally:
The Grace of Goodwill: A Meditation on Friendliness (Metta):
May my mind be filled with the thought of Kind Friendliness & open Amity.
May the minds of my good teachers be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of my parents and dear ones be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of all unfriendly persons be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of all living beings be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of all strangers be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May we be free from fear, tension, anxiety, worry, and restlessness.
May our hearts become soft. May our words be pleasing to others.
May we be generous. May we be gentle. May we be relaxed.
May we be happy and peaceful. May we be healthy.
May we be a source of pure peace and happiness.
May the minds of everyone in this room be free from greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, and fear.
May the peace and tranquillity of tender Friendliness pervade their entire bodies and minds.
May they have good fortune. May they be prosperous. May they have really good friends
May the minds of everyone in this building, in this street, in this city, in this nation on
this continent, on this planet & in this universe be free from greed, anger, & doubt.
May these thoughts of Friendliness embrace them, charge them and envelope them.
May every cell, every drop of blood, every atom, be charged with kind amity.
May the peace & tranquillity of goodwill pervade their entire bodies & minds.
May they be happy-hearted. May they be free from worries and troubles.
May all beings in all directions throughout this multiverse be happy.
May they be filled with Friendliness, abundant, exalted, & infinite!
May they be free from enmity affliction, and anxiety.
May they live happily.
May all beings in all directions, all around the universe be happy.
May they have good fortune. May they be prosperous.
May they be famous. May they have good friends.
May they be reborn in a happy destination.
May they be reborn in the heavens.
May all beings Awaken swiftly!
May they become thus Happy!
Inspired by 2 really good friends.
More on this shining, radiating through all & everywhere beaming Friendliness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Infinite_Friendliness.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Friendliness Frees :-)
The Grace of Goodwill!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/The_Grace_of_Goodwill.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Release of Mind by All Embracing Kindness!
Thus have I heard the Blessed Buddha saying it:
Whatever, Bhikkhus and Friends, there are here of worldly merit making,
all these are not worth 1/16 of mental release by All-Embracing Kindness...
The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, emanates and shines,
far surpassing it all! Like the light of the stars is not 1/16th of the moonlight,
which radiates, beams and shines, surpassing all the stars, even & exactly so:
Whatever there are of simple worldly and meritorious things, all these are not
worth one 1/16th of the mental release reached by All-Embracing Kindness...
The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, beams, sparkles and
shines, far surpassing it all... Just as in autumn, in the last month of the rainy
season, on a clear and cloudless day the sun rises and dispels all the darkness
bright and brilliant, even & quite exactly so: Whatever there are of worldly,
meritorious, admirable, and attractive things, all these even summed up are
not worth even one 1/16 of the release of mind by All-Embracing Kindness!
The release of mind, which liberates the heart, by All-Embracing Kindness,
radiates, dazzles and shines, far surpassing them all...
More on infinite Friendliness (Metta):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_BIG_Family.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Good_Friend.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm
Source Text: The Itivuttaka 27: Thus was it said:
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=404214
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.1.024-027.irel.html
Have a nice and noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Blazing and Bright is Friendliness!
All-Embracing Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Impermanence cannot ever be Stopped!
Let us face the dry facts! Everything is impermanent! We can all understand
impermanence superficially. But deep down in our subconscious mind a sense
of permanence is lurking. So we keep patching up our broken teeth, wrinkled
dry skin, brittle nails, grey hair, hunched backs, weak eyes, impaired hearing,
becoming sick, breaking bones & many other things caused by the inevitable
impermanence of this fragile body. Similarly do our moods, our feelings, our
thoughts, our perceptions, and our memories all go through many changes in
every moment. We take medicines, see mental health specialists, & do many
other things, including meditation, to correct our restless flickering minds!
While we are doing this, impermanence is still going on crushing everything
both inside our body and mind and also outside in all the world relentlessly...
While all the organs, all the cells, nervous system, quality of blood, capacity
of oxygen content in the lungs and the bone structure are going through this
very rapid and unmistakable change, no matter how much we patch up on the
surface and beneath the skin, impermanence is working its due course quite
persistently underground & inside the body and mind. Nothing on this earth,
no science, no technology, can ever delay or stop this proceeding of change!
Impermanence keeps burning everything up unstoppable and systematically!
Seeing impermanence (anicca) is the key that opens mind to see suffering,
and non-self! The moment we understand this very clearly, our mind opens
to the fact that things change without leaving a trace behind to follow the
path that impermanence has taken. This is called voidness or signlessness...
This awareness evaporates the desire for anything that is impermanent!
It also evaporates all aversion growing from our disappointed expectations.
Then naturally, this clean mind becomes fully aware of not having any agent,
immovable mover, or controller, which sometimes is called "Self, I, Me, Ego"
or even "Soul" by some people. This element of Dhamma, this basic intrinsic
nature of all, this law of Dhamma is known in Buddhism as emptiness of self!
The Blessed Buddha said: Sabbe Dhamma Anatta = All States are Selfless!
Seeing impermanence with wisdom is the key to detachment, calming, stilling,
ceasing, and releasing mental relinquishment. Joyous Freedom is the result!
In the Maha-suññata Sutta (MN 122) The Blessed Buddha points out that
suffering arises from clinging and attaching to all impermanent things:
"I do not see even a single kind of form from the change and alteration of
which there would not arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair in
one who lusts for it and takes delight in it!" The same is true of all transient
feeling, perception, mental construction=intention & sorts of consciousness!
If we tenaciously cling to any of them, then we suffer, when they decay!
This passage clearly states, that suffering arises from the attachment to
form, not because the form is impermanent, but because we are attached
to impermanent form. When we attain full enlightenment, we do not suffer!
This happens not because we make any impermanent things now everlasting!
This happens only because we release our clinging to all impermanent things.
Impermanent phenomena continue to be impermanent, whether we ever gain
enlightenment or not. As the blessed Buddha also has explained exactly:
"Bhikkhus, whether Tathagatas appear or do not appear, there is always
this constantly established element of Dhamma, this fixed law of Dhamma:
All that is conditioned and constructed is impermanent. To this aTathagata
fully awakens and fully understands. So awakened and thus understanding,
he announces, points it out, declares, establishes, expounds, and explains it,
classifies and clarifies it: All that is conditioned is actually impermanent...
Bhikkhus, whetherTathagatas appear or do not appear, there is always this
precedent condition and absolute of Dhamma, this anchored law of Dhamma:
All that is conditioned and constructed is unsatisfactory, & thus suffering!
To this aTathagata fully awakens and fully understands. So awakened and
thus understanding, he announces, points out, declares, establishes, explains,
and clarifies it: All that is conditioned and constructed is indeed Suffering!
Bhikkhus, whether Tathagatas appear or do not appear, there is always this
situation present, a subtle truth of Dhamma, this safe doctrine of Dhamma:
All states are without a self! To this fact anyTathagata fully awakens and
fully understands. So awakened and understanding, he announces, points out,
declares, establishes, explains, and clarifies it: All states are without self!"
Anguttara Nikaya I 285
By seeing the impermanence, suffering & selflessness thus in all conditioned
things in this and any other world, one naturally becomes disenchanted with
everything constructed. Disenchantment leads to disillusion and dispassion
towards everything. Within a dispassionate mind craving for everything will
gradually fade away (viraga). With this insight one lets go of all attachment.
Being dispassionate, one thereby liberates oneself from all this evil misery...
Being liberated, one knows that one is liberated, has ended rebirth, has lived
the Noble life, has done what should be done, and that there is nothing more
to be done! This means that attaining full freedom from all suffering indeed
begins with this very perfect and acute awareness of impermanence...!
Source: Bhante Henepola Gunaratana: From Impermanence to Liberation.
Buddhist Publication Society http://www.bps.lk/ Newsletter #63: 2010-1.
More on Impermanence, Instability, Change and Transience (Anicca):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Trap.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Rise_and_Fall.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Evident_Facts.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hidden_Horror.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Flash_In_Flash_Out.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Burning_Turban.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Noting_the_Breakup.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Transient_formations.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Perceiving_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Impermanence_Anicca.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Internal_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_External_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Experiencing_Impermanence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Contemplating_Impermanence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Contemplating_Impermanence_2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Experiencing_Universal_Transience.htm
Impermanence is a Fact!
Impermanence cannot ever be Stopped!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/The_Fact_of_Impermanence_Anicca.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Suffering in this World is Inevitable!
The entire world is in flames, all the entire world is blazing up in smoke!
The entire world is burning, the entire world is decaying and vanishing...
But that which does not vanish or burn, which is experienced by the Nobles,
where Death has no entry, in that stilled silence mind finds sweet delight.
Samyutta Nikaya 1.168
Without sign, unknown, uncertain, is the life here of mortals, demanding,
short, tied up with pain and misery. For there's no way by which those who
are born will not die. All Beings will surely die even if they become very old!
Like ripe fruits, whose downfall, whose danger always is inevitable falling,
so for mortals, once born, the constant danger is forever hereafter death!
As a potter's clay vessels, large & small, fired & unfired, all end up broken,
so too life heads to death. Young & old, wise & foolish, rich & poor: Everyone
come under the sway of death, all have death as their assured certain end.
For those overcome by death, gone to the other world, father cannot protect
son, nor relatives any family. See: Even while relatives are looking & wailing
heavily, mortals are one by one led away like dumb cows to the slaughter...
In this way is the world afflicted with aging & death! Knowing this indeed
inescapable and unavoidable nature of the world, the enlightened don't ever
grieve! You don't know from where the dying came or where he is going...
Seeing neither end, you lament uselessly in blind vain.. Helping nobody at all!
If, by lamenting, confused, harming yourself, any good use could be gained
the prudent would do it as well. But not by weeping & grief do you gain peace
of mind. Pain just arises all the more. Your body is hurt. You grow thin, pale,
harming yourself by yourself. Not in that folly way, are the dead protected.
Lamentations are all in pointless vain.
Not abandoning grief, a person suffers all the more pain. Bewailing one whose
time is done, you fall under the sway of grief yourself. Look at others, going
along, people arriving in line with their past actions: Falling under the sway
of death, beings simply shivers here, for a short unstable waste of a life...
For however they imagine it to be, it always becomes quite other than that!
That's a fate of their blinded estrangement. See this evil way of the world...
Even if a person lives a century, or even more, he will be separated from his
community, friends & relatives. He leaves his life alone & naked right there!
So, having heard the Arahat, who have subdued all lamentation, seeing that
the dead is one whose time is done, understanding: "I can't fetch him back."
Just as one would extinguish a burning shelter with water, even so does the
Enlightened One, intelligent, clever and wise, blow away any arisen sorrow,
like a strong wind, a bit of cotton fluff!
Seeking your own happiness, you should pull out your own injuring arrow:
All your own lamentation, longing, hoping, hungering producing only sorrow!
With arrow pulled out, independent, attaining peace of awareness, all grief
is transcended, griefless you are unbound, free, safe, at ease in peace...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Suffering here is Inevitable...
Nibbana is the only safe Escape!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/The_Fact_of_Suffering_Dukkha.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
No States have a Core, Self or Substance!
The Buddha once epitomized a crucial, yet counter-intuitive fact by saying:
"Sabbe Dhamma Anatta ", which means "All states are self-&-coreless...!"
This entails an absence or voidness of a stable same core in any phenomena:
Internally exists there no "self", "soul", "I", "you" "me", "agent" anywhere!
Externally exists there no "substance", "matter", or "real world" anywhere!
Mentally is there no "controller", "speaker" or "experiencer" inside in mind...
Physically is there no "reality" or "rock-solid-matter-stuff" outside in world...
Both inner "EGO" & outer "SUBSTANCE" are illusionary ideas!
Buddha emphasized that release from the Ego-Substance-concept was Bliss:
"Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who see the Dhamma.
More blissful is harmlessness towards all living beings without exception.
Even more blissful is freedom from any sensual urge & craving whatsoever.
Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit 'I Exists'"
Udana – Inspiration: II – 1
No Substantial Object exists 'Out There', nor any Subject-Ego 'In Here'!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
"In the seen is merely the process of seeing...
In the heard is merely the process of hearing...
In the sensed is merely the process of sensing...
In the thought is merely the process of thinking...
So knowing, you will not be connected 'with that'...
So disconnected you will not be absorbed 'into that'...
So neither with that, nor into that You Are Not created by that sensation!
When there is no 'You' inferred or conjectured by that very experience,
then 'You' are neither 'here', 'there', 'both', 'beyond' nor 'in between'...!
On realizing the importance of this incident the Blessed One exclaimed:
Where neither solidity, fluidity, heat nor motion find any footing,
there no sun, moon nor star ever shines. There is neither any light,
yet nor is there any darkness! When the Noble, through stilling of
all construction, through quieting of all mental formation, directly
experiences this, then is he freed from both form & formlessness,
then is he released from both pleasure and all pain ..."
Udana – Inspiration: I - 10. Further comments and explanation here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/No_Substance_'Out_There'.htm
The Buddha insisted on a subtle and profound quasi-pseudo-real world:
"The world is bound up by and shrouded in delusion. It appears as real and
is regarded as if it were fine! The fool bound to his illusive acquisitions,
blinded by darkness, assumes it as eternal, but for one who sees & really
understands, there is nothing real, stable or same, neither here nor there..."
Udana – Inspiration: VII – 10
"This World both Begins and Ends within this 2 fathom frame of bones..."
SN I 62
"The ALL is thereby actually just a sensed & experienced representation..."
SN IV 15
A crucial core question is: What is actually an experienced phenomenon?
See the equally vital answer here! If mind is directly involved in creating
the very "thing" or "state" it perceives, as an active participatory observer,
then there cannot ever be any "objective observation" or "world out-there",
which is independent of the mind that intends, selects, and manifests it...!
It entails that 'mind' is inseparable from 'matter'. They are Siamese-Twins!
In early Buddhism, the Buddha coined this subtle yet dual Unity: Nama-Rupa!
Name-&-Form or Naming-&-Forming, since these are dynamic processes, that
in mutual dependence creates each other like 2 creepers, that only can grow
up, if growing up twisted & rotated around the other's stem like a DNA-helix.
See, dig and ponder also intensive over what Buddha taught as "Reality":
Maha-suññata Sutta: The Greater Discourse on Emptiness. MN 122 iii 109
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.122.than.html
Mulapariyaya Sutta: The Root of all Things. MN 1 i 1
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.001.than.html
Anatta-lakkhana Sutta: On the Characteristic of No-Self. SN 22.59 iii 66
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.nymo.html
See also what contemporary Quantum Mechanics deposits as "Maybe-Real":
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/ontology.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Some_Clues.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Discrete_States.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Quantum_Buddhism.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Omniscient_Quantum_Mind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/No_Substance_'Out_There'.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/wheeler_law_without_law.pdf
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Coincident_Cross-Consistency.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Pics/participatory.observation.jpg
The anthropic universe develops by conscious selection of many participating
observers. Please note that the U symbolizing the universe gets "fatter" left
by increased observation! American physicist John Archibald Wheeler said:
"No phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is an Observed Phenomenon...!"
"We are participators in bringing into being not only the near, but also the
far away both in time and space! Symbolic representation of the Universe is
a self-excited system brought into being by self-reference or auto-creation
by consciously selecting observers over an immensely long period of time...
Such a recursive-reflecting creative concept is similar to the endless series
of receding reflections one sees in a pair of mirrors facing each others....”
Reference: J.A. Wheeler in Isham et al., eds., Quantum Gravity
(Clarendon, Oxford, 1975), pgs. 564-565. (Edited Extract.)
"No phenomenon is a phenomenon, until it is an observed phenomenon!" said
by J.A. Wheeler from his delayed choice experiment ideas, is referenced
in: The undivided universe: An ontological interpretation of quantum theory.
p. 104 By David Bohm, and Basil J. Hiley.
"The path of the electron comes into existence, only when we observe it."
John S. Bell
"Fundamental to contemporary Quantum Theory is the notion that there is
no phenomenon until it is observed! This is known as the 'Observer Effect'.
The implications of the 'Observer Effect' are profound because, if true,
it means that before anything can manifest in the physical universe it must
first be observed! This Observer Effect clearly implies that all the physical
Universe is the direct result of consciousness itself!" Alex Paterson.
HELP! Please Help Me Out of this Empty Illusion!
If you feel slightly weird or dizzy after reading this, you are right on track!
Hihihi ;-) Keep on observing, studying, reflecting. Never give up Examination!
It is not "reality" that seems to be evaporating under your feet, but rather
the unseen, hidden, habitual and utterly false assumptions you had about it!
More on No-Self, impersonality, ego-lessness, No-I-Me-identity (Anatta):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Not_Who_but_What.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Invisible_Impersonlatity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Changing_Self.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Self-less_Anatta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/We_Are_Not.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/No_Being_No_Person.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Deed_without_Doer.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Divorced_Freedom.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Without_Controversy.htm
Neither a Self, nor a Substance Exists!
The Fact of No-Self = Anatta...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Fact_of_No-Self_Anatta.htm
Have a nice, noble and real day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Equanimity of the Mind, Serenity & Beyond!
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
And what, Bhikkhus, is then this simple indifference of the flesh?
There are these five strings of sense-pleasure. What five?
Visible forms experienceable by the eye ...
Hearable sounds experienceable by the ear ...
Smellable odours experienceable by the nose ...
Tastable flavours experienceable by the tongue ...
Touchable objects experienceable by the body ...
That all are attractive, captivating, desirable, irresistible, lovely, charming,
tempting, pleasing, sensually enticing, seductive, alluring, and tantalizing!
These are the 5 strings of sense-pleasure. The indifference that arises
from these 5 strings of sense-pleasure, is simply indifference of the flesh...
And what, Bhikkhus, is the equanimity, which is not of this world?
With the leaving behind of both pleasure and pain, & with the prior fading
away of both joy & sorrow, one enters & dwells in the 4th jhana absorption,
which is an entirely stilled mental state of utter awareness, purified by
the equanimity of neither-pain-nor-pleasure. This is called the equanimity,
which is not of this world!
Finally, what is serenity beyond the equanimity, which is not of this world?
When a bhikkhu, whose mental fermentations are eliminated, reviews his
calmed mind, which is liberated from all lust, freed from all hatred, and
released from uncertainty, then there arises a transcendental serenity...
This is the serenity beyond that equanimity, which is not of this world!
More one the fine mental state of Equanimity (Upekkha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Even_is_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Divorced_Freedom.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Serene_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Empty_Equanimity.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Exquisite_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/u_v/upekkhaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unshakable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Imperturbable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/tatra_majjhattataa.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [235-7]
section 36:11 On Feeling: Vedana. Joys beyond this world ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Serene is Equanimity!
Tranquillity is a prerequisite for Happiness!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Serene_Equanimity_and_Beyond.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Change means Fragility & Danger!
The Buddha pointed out the fact of impermanence by saying:
Sabbe Sankhara Anicca. All constructions are Impermanent!
The Blessed One was once asked: What is the World? He answered:
The eye disintegrates. Forms disintegrate. Consciousness disintegrates.
All contact, all feeling, all organs, all bodies & all sensations disintegrate...
The intellect disintegrates. Ideas disintegrate. The mind disintegrate!
Insofar as it disintegrates, is it called the world. SN 35.82
The Blessed One pointed out:
Perception of inconstancy, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit,
of great benefit. It gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless
as its final end. AN 7.46
And what is the perception of inconstancy? There is the case where a monk
having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building
reflects thus: All form is inconstant, all feeling is inconstant, all perception
is inconstant, all fabrications are inconstant, all consciousness is inconstant.
Thus he remains focused on inconstancy with regard to the five clusters of
clinging. This, Ananda, is called the perception of inconstancy.
Going forth is hard. Household life is hard.
This Dhamma is a deep wealth, hard to obtain.
It's hard to keep going with whatever we ever can get.
Therefore we should ponder continually on this continual inconstancy.
Thag 111
Impermanent are all component things, They arise and cease, that is their
very nature: They come into being and pass away...
Release from them is bliss supreme. DN 16
The five clusters are impermanent. Whatever is impermanent is dukkha,
suffering. Whatever is dukkha, suffering, that is without atta, a self!
What is without self, that is not mine, that I am not, that is not my self.
Thus should it be seen by perfect wisdom as it really is.
Who sees by perfect wisdom, as it really is, his mind, neither grasping,
nor clinging is detached from fermentations... He is liberated. SN 22.45
Material form, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness,
monks, are impermanent (anicca). Whatever causes and conditions there
are for the arising of these aggregates, they, too, are impermanent.
How could anything arisen from what is impermanent, ever be permanent?
SN 22.7-9
Whatever material form there be: whether past, future, or present;
internal or external; gross or subtle; low or lofty; far or near;
that material form the monk meditates upon, examines systematically
with acute attention, he thus seeing, meditating upon, and examining with
systematic attention, would find it empty, he would find it insubstantial
and without essence. What essence, monks, could there be in any form?
What essence, monks, could there be in feeling, in perception, in mental
formations and in any consciousness? SN 22.95
More on Impermanence , Instability, Change and Transience (Anicca):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Experiencing_Universal_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Contemplating_Impermanence_2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Monkey_passing_the_Banana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Contemplating_Impermanence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Experiencing_Impermanence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Internal_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_External_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Impermanence_Anicca.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Perceiving_Transience.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Transient_formations.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Highway_to_Nibbana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Noting_the_Breakup.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Burning_Turban.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Flash_In_Flash_Out.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hidden_Horror.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Mara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fingernail_of_Soil.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/At_All_Times.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh_186.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Evident_Facts.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Rise_and_Fall.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rough_Realism.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Trap.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Impermanent means Fragile!
Change Spells Danger!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Change_means_Danger.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Karunã: The Great Good Helper!
Karuna is feeling the pain of other beings, either partially or completely;
Possible translations:
1: Pity not from above: “I am better”, but as if in the other being’s shoes…
2: Compassion is OK, but that is difficult to reach up to for many beings…
3: Fellow feeling, sympathy, empathy, understanding are all OK, but somewhat
missing these essential points:
A: It is an inability to see and accept other being’s suffering and distress!
B: It is a deep desire to make others feel free, glad, happy and peaceful!
C: It is extended to and pervaded over many beings simultaneously…
The proximate cause of Karuna = pity is noticing other being’s helplessness.
The immediate effect of Karuna = pity is evaporation of all evil cruelty!
Pity (Karuna ) is one of the four divine and infinite dwellings (Brahmavihara) :
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Great_Compassion.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Compassionate_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Space_Compassion.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Understanding other being's Helplessness...
Great Compassion!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
How to be a Real Buddhist through Observance?
Medin Poya day is the full-moon of March. This holy day celebrates
that the Buddha visits his parental home after his supreme Enlightenment,
and ordains his son prince Rahula, & half brother Nanda. This day is
also called: The Sangha Day, since on this full-moon 1250 Arahats
spontaneously met & assembled around the Buddha without any call.
Buddha then spoke the famous Ovada Patimokkha core teaching!
On such Full-Moon Uposatha Poya Observance days:
Any Lay Buddhist simply joins the Three Refuges and undertakes the
Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, shaved, white-clothed, with clean
bare feet, one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue, and bows first
three times, so that feet, hands, elbows, knees & head touch the floor.
Then, with joined palms at the heart, one recites these memorized lines
in a loud, calm & steady voice:
As long as this life lasts:
I hereby take refuge in the Buddha.
I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma.
I hereby take refuge in the Sangha.
I hereby seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time.
I hereby seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time.
I hereby seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time.
I hereby request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time.
I hereby request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time.
I hereby request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time.
I will hereby respect these Three Jewels the rest of my life!
I accept to respect, keep & undertake these 5 training rules:
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Lying & Cheating.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs.
As long as this life lasts, I am thus protected by these 5 precepts...
Then, one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's
own eyes & children!, since they protect you & all other beings much
better than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in & to
this world! The journey towards Nibbana: The Deathless is hereby started!
This is the Noble Way to Absolute Peace, to Complete Freedom, to Ultimate
Happiness, initiated by Morality, developed further by Dhamma-Study and
fulfilled by training of Meditation...
Today indeed is Pooya or Uposatha or observance day, where any lay
Buddhist normally keeps also the Eight Precepts from sunrise until the
next dawn... If any wish an official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha,
they may simply forward the lines starting with "I hereby ..." signed with
name, date, town, & country to me or join here. A public list of this new
quite rapidly growing global web Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
The New Noble Community of Buddha's Disciples: The Saddhamma Sangha:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
Can quite advantageously be Joined Here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
May your journey hereby be light, swift, and sweet. Never give up !!
Bhikkhu Samahita: what.buddha.said@gmail.com
For Details on The Origin of Uposatha Observance Days:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/uposatha.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Pics/buddha_with_rahula.jpg
Buddha with his Rahula who also awakened into enlightenment!
Have a nice day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Real Buddhists respect the Poya Days...
Today is Sangha Poya Day!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/Medin_Poya_Day.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Calm Kindness Protects All Beings!
The Blessed Buddha often said:
With good will for the entire cosmos,
Cultivate an infinite & boundless heart:
Above, below, all across and all around,
Beaming, without any hostility or hate!
Sutta Nipata I, 8
May all creatures, all breathing things,
all beings one and all, without exception,
experience joyous good fortune only!
May they never fall into any harm.
Anguttara Nikaya II, 72
Let no one deceive another
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer.
Sutta Nipata I, 8
More on All-Embracing Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/United_in_Harmony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kalyanamitta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
Have a nice Calm & Kind day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Clever is Tranquil Goodwill :-)
Calm Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_Kindness.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Determination is the 8th Mental Perfection:
Only determination can completely fulfill the other mental perfections!
Its characteristic is an unwavering decision, its function is to overcome
hesitation, and its manifestation is unfaltering persistence in this task...!
The proximate cause of determination is strong willpower to succeed!
Only the power of resolute determination lifts any praxis to perfection...
When the Future Buddha placed his back against the trunk of The Bodhi
Tree, he right there made this mighty decision:
"Let just the blood and flesh of this body dry up and let the skin & sinews
fall from the bones. I will not leave this seat before having attained that
absolute supreme Enlightenment!" So determined did he invincibly seat
himself, from which not even 100 earthquakes could make him waver.
Jataka Nidana
A female lay follower (Upasika) at the time of the Buddha kept pure the
precepts, comprehended the nature of impermanence, the consequent
fragility of the body and thereby won stream-entry (Sotapanna)...
After passing away, she re-arose as the favourite attendant of Sakka,
the king of Gods. Reviewing her own merit, she remembered her prior
admonition to herself:
"Let this body break up as it may,
herein will not be any excuse or
relaxation of the effort...!"
Whose mind is like a rock, determined, unwavering, immovable,
without a trace of lust of urging towards all the attractions,
without a trace of aversion of pushing away all the repulsive,
from what, can such a refined mind ever suffer?
Udana IV - 4
Using the tools of Faith, Morality, Effort, Determination, Meditation and
true Understanding of the Dhamma, one gradually perfects first knowing
and then behaviour. So well equipped & always aware, one becomes capable
of eliminating of this great heap of suffering once and for all ...
Dhammapada 144
What is being determined by Right Motivation?
The decision for always being motivated to withdrawal,
The decision for always being motivated to good-will,
The decision for always being motivated to harmlessness,
This is being determined by Right Motivation...
Samyutta Nikaya XLV 8
My mind is firm like a rock,
unattached to sensual things,
no shaking in the midst of a world,
where all is decaying and vanishing...
My mind has been thus well developed,
so how can suffering ever touch me?
Theragatha 194
The four determinations:
One should not neglect the Dhamma,
One should guard well the Truth,
One should be devoted to Withdrawal,
and one should always train only for Peace.
Majjhima Nikaya 140
Fearing being predestined for Hell if he became a King, who had to punish
criminals violently, the Bodhisatta determined not to show any intelligence,
and played dumb, deaf and crippled for sixteen years, only showing his real
abilities, when he was on the verge of being buried alive!
This was his ultimate perfection of resolute determination...
The Basket of Conduct: Cariyapitaka
Decisive is Determination!
Resoluteness resolves all hesitation...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Determination_Determines.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Energy is The Chief Root Hero of all Success!
Arahat Nagasena once told King Milinda:
Your majesty, like a man might reinforce a house that was falling
down with an extra piece of wood, & being thus strengthened that
house would not collapse. Even so, your majesty, has energy (viriya)
the characteristic of reinforcing support & consolidating strength.
By energy are no advantageous states lost. The Questions of King Milinda:
Milinda-Pañha 36 http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut045.htm
Energy is the prime state of a chief hero, a champion, a conqueror!
Its characteristic is enthusiastic and forceful thrust of exertion.
Its function is the supporting foundation of associated states.
Its manifestation is a state of non-collapse of whatever is good.
The proximate cause of energy is a sense of urgency that stirs up.
Alternatively: Any source that stimulates and instigates energy.
It is said by the Blessed One that one who is stirred and aroused
by energy exerts and struggles properly. That leads to all success!
Rightly instigated it should be seen as the root of all attainments!
Visuddhimagga XVI 137 http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=771100
For a full Study on Energy (Viriya): The root Hero of all Success:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Definition_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Arising_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Ability_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Origin_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Enthusiastic_is_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Power_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Ballanced_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Chief_Hero.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energetic_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Avoiding_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energy_Viriya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Dual_Energy.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Enthusiastic is Active Effort!
Energy is The Chief Root Hero!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/The_Chief_Hero.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Saving Aspects of Morality?
The Primary Aspect of Morality is:
Composing internal consistency in all behaviour…
The Dual Aspects of Morality are:
Keeping the rules and avoiding wrongdoing…
Good behaviour and mental purification…
Good intention and complete self-control…
Dependent on prompting or own initiative…
Limited in extent or unlimited in extent…
Temporary & feeble or lifelong & stable…
Ordinary=Mundane or Supramundane=Noble…
The Triple aspects of Morality are:
Low, or medium, or superior…
Giving first priority to oneself, or to the world, or to the Dhamma…
Clung to, or not clung to, or naturally & spontaneously maintained…
Pure, or impure, or dubious and doubtful…
The learner’s, the learned’s, or the neither-learner-nor-learned’s…
The Quadruple aspects of Morality are:
Leading to falling, to stagnation, to distinction, or to penetration…
That of Bhikkhus, or Bhikkhunis, or novices, or the laity…
Being natural, customary, necessary, or caused by prior events…
Regarding the rules, the sense doors, livelihood, or the requisites…
The Fivefold aspects of Morality are:
Limited, unlimited, completed, detached, and tranquillized purity…
Intending, refraining, controlling, leaving, and non-transgression…
These are the various inherent aspects of Morality…
Source: The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga.
Written by 'the great explainer' Ven. Buddhaghosa in 5th century AC.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=771100
More on this basic first cause of all Good: Morality (Sila)!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happy_Habit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Virtue.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/immaculate_virtue.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Best_Protection.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Good_Disciple.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Five_Basics.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Best_Buddhist_Praxis.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sila_Contemplation.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Pure Virtue Outshines All!
Morality is the Seed of all Good!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Sila_1_to_5.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
How does the Noble live in Alert Elevated Joy?
The Blessed Buddha once said:
How, Nandiya, does a Noble Disciple live in alert elevated joy?
Here, Nandiya, any Noble Disciple is endowed with verified conviction in the
Buddha thus: Worthy, honourable & perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha!
Not satisfied with that verified conviction in the Buddha, he makes a further
effort in solitude by day and seclusion at night!
When thus enthusiastic, he is elevated by alertness!
When thus elevated by alertness, then gladness is born!
When he is gladdened, then a rapturous joy arises!
When the mind is uplifted by joy, the body becomes all tranquil...
One tranquil in body experiences a pure bliss of happiness!
The mind of one who is happy becomes condensed and concentrated...
When mind is concentrated, even subtle phenomena become plain & manifest.
Since these subtle phenomena become plain and manifest, he becomes one,
who lives and dwells in alert elevated joy...
More on this blessed Bliss:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Forest_Bliss.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Joy_Piti.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_Beyond_This_World.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Blessing_all_Beings_by_Bliss.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:398]
Section 55 on Stream-Entry: Sotapattisamyutta. Thread 40: Nandiya.
Have a nice elevated day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Joy Sweeps Mind into Smiling!
Alert Elevated Joy!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Alert_Elevated_Joy.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
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Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
One becomes Calmed by Stilling all Agitation!
The brahmin Magandiya asked the Buddha about how to become calmed:
Not dwelling in the past, stilled in the present, one prefers no kind of future!
Without irritation, without agitation, without regrets, without worry, neither
boasting, nor proud, but humble and modest, one is indeed a restrained sage...
Withdrawn, not opposed to anything, not wanting anything, all unconcerned,
aloof, gentle, independent, for such one there exists neither craving or fear
for any kind of existence, nor craving or fear for any form of non-existence...
Such calmed one is indifferent to sense pleasures, detached, not clinging to
any kind of property! For him there is nothing more to take up or lay down!
For whatever others might accuse him, he remains tranquil and not agitated!
Neither opposed to anything, nor attracted to anything, with nothing of his
own, not perturbed by what does not exist, such tranquil one is truly calmed!
Sutta-Nipata 849-861 Edited excerpt.
More on Calm (Samatha) = Tranquil Ease:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Calm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Forest_Bliss.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Silenced.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Calm_Power.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_and_Insight.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Tranquil_One.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/samatha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Breathing_Calm_and_Insight.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Tranquillity slides into Bliss!
Calmed...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Calmed.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
What is the Fruit of the Noble Way?
The Blessed Buddha once said:
While alive, then he is untroubled, & when he dies too, then he is not worried!
A recluse who has seen the goal, lives undisturbed even in a sorrowful world...
Ud 46
Wherever he goes, there he is unafraid.. Wherever he sleeps, there he is unalarmed!
The nights and days does neither touch nor burn him. He sees nothing in this world
that is to be kept or lost.. Therefore his mind dwells in goodwill and gentle kindness
towards all beings until he falls asleep.
SN I 110
One who has attained the Dhamma has no task to do, as his task has been accomplished.
As long as he has not obtained a foothold, the swimmer must strive to his utmost,
but when he has found a place to rest his feet and gone up to dry land,
his striving is over, because he has crossed to the further shore...
SN I 48
Untroubled, unworried, unconcerned, unagitated & undisturbed!
More good even better here ;-)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/climax_of_calm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unshakable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Deathless_Dimension.htm
Have a nice unstirred day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Untroubled Yeah!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Untroubled_Yeah.htm
What are the characteristics of the State called Nibbâna?
Total ease, complete calm, absolute stillness, safe freedom, perfect happiness & pure peace…
Absence of any uncertainty, any doubt, any confusion, any delusion & all ignorance…
Presence of confidence, cleared certainty, understanding all, and direct experience…
Absence of any greed, lust, desire, urge, attraction, hunger, temptation and pull…
Presence of imperturbable indifference, serene composure & all stilled equanimity…
Absence of any hate, anger, aversion, hostility, irritation, & stubborn rigidity…
Presence of universal goodwill, infinite friendliness, all-embracing & boundless kindness…
Not a place, not an idea, not a fantasy, not a deception, not a conceit, not a conception…
Not a cause, not an effect, not finite, not definable, not formed, not changing, but eternal…
Unborn, unbecome, unmade, uncreated, uncaused, unconditioned & unconstructed, yet real…
Void of eye, visible objects & visual consciousness, void of ear, sounds & auditory consciousness,
Void of nose, smells & olfactory consciousness, void of tongue, tastes & gustatory consciousness,
Void of body, touch & tactile consciousness and void of mind, thoughts & mental consciousness…
Pure Peace @ Rest …
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Hard it is to see the unconstructed, the undistorted! This independent state is not easily realized.
Craving is all cut for the One, who so knows, since he sees, that there is nothing to cling to ... !!! …
Udana – Inspiration: VIII - 2
In any dependence there is bound to be instability. In Independence there cannot be any instability.
When there is no liable instability, no feeble wavering, there is a quiet calm, stillness, serenity & peace.
When there is such solid tranquillity, then there is no tendency to drift, no attraction, neither mental push
nor pull, nor any strain of appeal or repulsion. When there is no attraction, no drift, no bending, then there
is no movement, no development, and neither any coming nor any going. Neither any starting nor any ending...
When there is neither any coming nor any going, then there is neither any ceasing nor any reappearing...
There being neither ceasing nor reappearing, then there is neither any here, there, beyond, nor in between...
This – just this – is the End of Suffering. Udana – Inspiration: VIII - 4
Having understood this unconstructed state, released in mind, with the chain to becoming eliminated,
they attain to the sublime essence of all states. Delighting in the calmed end of craving, those steady
Noble Ones have left all being & becoming behind. Itivuttaka: Thus spoken 38
One, who so knows, sees, that there is nothing to cling to ... !!! …
Have a nice released, relaxed & peacefull day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Pure Peace!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Peace.htm
Absolute Freedom Exists!
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
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Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Patience is the 6th Perfection:
The characteristic of patience is acceptance, its function is to endure,
and its manifestation is non-opposing tolerance! The cause of patience
is understanding how things really are.. The effect of patience is calm
tranquility despite presence of intensely stirring provocation..
Patience of the will produces forgiving forbearance!
Patience of the intellect produces faith, confidence and certainty!
Patience of the body produces resolute and tenacious endurance!
Internal tolerance of states within oneself is patient endurance...
External tolerance of other beings is forbearance and forgiveness...
He who patiently protects himself, protects also all other beings!
He who patiently protects all other beings, protects also himself!
Not from speaking much is one called clever.
The patient one is free from anger and free from fear,
only such steady persisting one, is rightly called clever...
Dhammapada 258
Patient tolerance is the highest praxis...
Nibbana is the supreme Bliss!
So say all the Buddhas.
Dhammapada 184
The innocent one, who has done nothing wrong,
Who endures abuse, flogging and even imprisonment,
Such one, armed with stamina, the great force of tolerance,
Such stoic one, who self-possessed can accept, I call a Holy One!
Dhammapada 399
One should follow those who are determined, tolerant, and enduring,
intelligent, wise, diligent, clever, good-willed and evidently Noble.
One shall stick to them as the moon remains in its regular orbit.
Dhammapada 208
Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb,
with a two-handled saw, you should not get angry, but do my bidding:
Remain pervading them and all others with a friendly Awareness imbued
with an all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, and immeasurable!
Free from hostility, free from any ill will. Always remembering this very
Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves.
Majjhima Nikaya 21
The five ways of removing irritating annoyance:
Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which any
irritation can be entirely removed by a Bhikkhu, when it arises in him.
What are these five ways?
1: Friendliness can be maintained towards an irritating person or state..
2: Understanding can be undertaken towards an irritating person or state..
3: On-looking Equanimity can be kept towards an irritating person or state..
4: One can forget and ignore the irritating person, mental or physical state..
5: Ownership of Kamma of the irritating person can be reflected upon thus:
This good person is owner of his actions, inherit the result his actions, is
indeed born of his actions and only he is responsible for his actions be they
good or bad. This too is how annoyance with the irksome can be instantly
removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, and by which any
irritation can be entirely removed in a friend, exactly when it arises...
Anguttara Nikaya V 161
Buddha to his son Rahula: Develop an Imperturbable Mind like the elements:
Rahula, develop a mind like earth, then contacts of arisen like and dislike
will not obsess your mind! Rahula, on the earth is dumped both the pure and
the impure: excreta, urine, saliva, pus, blood, but the earth does not detest
any of those... Even and exactly so make your mind stable like the earth!
Rahula, develop a mind like water, then contacts of arisen pleasure and pain
will not seize your mind. Rahula with water both the pure and the impure
are cleaned... Washed away with water are excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and
blood, yet the water does not despise any of that! Even so make the mind
fluid and adaptable like the water!
Rahula, develop a mind like fire, then the contacts of any arisen attraction
or aversion will neither consume, nor hang on to your mind! Rahula, fire burns
both the pure and the impure, burns excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood,
yet the fire does not loathe any of that.. In the same manner refine the mind
into a tool like an all consuming and purifying fire!
Rahula, develop a mind similar to space, then contacts of arisen delight and
frustration does neither take hold of, nor remain in your mind. Space does
not settle anywhere! Similarly make the mind unsettled and unestablished
like open space. When you expand mind like space, contacts of delight and
frustration will neither be able to dominate, nor obsess your mind...
Majjhima Nikaya 62
More on the 10 mental perfections (paramis):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ten_Perfections.htm
Have a nice, noble & patient day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Advantageous is Patience, Tolerance & Endurance!
Patience is the Highest Praxis!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Patient_is_Tolerance.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
Sense-Organs also implies Sensing Suffering!
At Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
Bhikkhus, the arising, emergence, maintenance, creation, & manifestation
of the Eye the Ear, the Nose, the Tongue, and the Body is also the arising
of much Suffering, the continuation of disease, the very manifestation of
ageing, decay and Death itself!
The ceasing, all subsiding, and complete passing away of the Eye, the Ear,
the Nose, the Tongue, and the Body is also the Final Ending of all Suffering,
the abating of all disease, and the complete passing away of all ageing, decay
and even the elimination of the process and necessity of death itself!
Bhikkhus, the arising, emergence, maintenance, creation, & manifestation
of the Mind is also the arising of Suffering, the long continuation of disease,
the very manifestation of ageing, decay and Death itself!
Therefore is the ceasing, subsiding, silencing and thus the complete passing
away of the Mind and all mentality consequently also the final ending of all
Suffering, the abating of all disease, & stopping the ageing, sickness, pain,
suffering, & even the fact of death itself! Only this can end all Suffering!
More on these Sense Sources (The 12 Ayatana):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Hands_and_Feet.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Source_of_All.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Mistaken_Reference.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/aayatana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sour_Sense_Sources.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Fisherman's_Hook.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Guarding_the_Sense_Doors.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Things_that_can_be_clung_to.htm
Source:
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya 26:1 III 228-9
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice and noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Sensors inevitably Sense also Suffering!
The Eye!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/The_Eye.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Good Friend can show the Way to Eternal Bliss!!!
At Savatthi the Blessed Buddha once said on beautiful friendship (Kalyanamittata):
Bhikkhus, as dawn is the initiator and messenger of the rising sun, exactly & even
so too, Bhikkhus, is Good Friendship the forerunner and originator for the arising
of the Noble Eightfold Way, since when a Bhikkhu has a good friend, it is to be
expected that he will develop, cultivate & complete this Noble Eightfold Way...
And how does a Bhikkhu develop, cultivate & perfect this Noble Eightfold Way...
A Bhikkhu first develops Right View, thereafter he develops Right Motivation,
Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Awareness, and
finally Right Concentration, which all are based upon seclusion, disillusion, calming,
stilling, ceasing, and which culminates in complete mental release....
It is in this way, friends, that a Bhikkhu, who has a good & mentally beautiful friend
develops, cultivates & consummates this supreme Noble Eightfold Way!
With good will for the entire cosmos,
cultivate a boundless & infinite mind,
Above, below, across & all around,
unobstructed, freed of anger & hate.
Sutta Nipata I, 8
The friend who is a helpmate,
The friend both in happiness and woe,
The friend, who gives good counsel,
The friend, who sympathizes too!
These four as friends the wise behold
and cherish with deep devotion,
as does a mother her own child.
Digha Nikaya 31
Who is hospitable, and friendly,
Tolerant, generous and unselfish,
A guide, an instructor, a leader,
Such a one to honour may attain.
Digha Nikaya 31
One is not wise just because one speaks much.
He who is peaceful, friendly & fearless
is really the wise.
Dhammapada 258
If you find a wise and clever friend,
who leads a good and pure life,
you should, overcoming all obstacles,
keep his company joyously & aware.
Dhammapada 328
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book V [30]
45: The Way. Magga. Good & Beautiful Friendship. Kalyanamittata 244.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The Good Friend!
Advantageous is Beautiful Friendship!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Friendship.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
http://groups.google.com/group/what_buddha_said
Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Sage is a stilled seer, sweet in his silence!
The Buddha explained the sweet, yet solid silence of the sage:
From all acquaintance, association, affiliation, and attachment, fear arises!
From any form of civil house-life emerges a mentally dull and dusty pollution!
The sage therefore prefers the disentangled and dissociated houseless state.
He who has cut down what has grown up accumulating, and who would never
neither plant anything new, nor irrigate what has already sprung up, him they
call a solitary wandering sage. Such great seer has seen the state of peace...
Having considered and comprehended all the fields of constructing activity,
having killed all initiation and all clinging affection, such sage indeed, seeing
the end of both birth and death, is beyond both speculation and designation!
Knowing all stations of the mind, yet detached from them all, a silenced sage
with neither greed nor preference, does neither any good nor any bad action,
for he has gone beyond to the far shore, by not accumulating any kamma...
Overcoming all, knowing all, very intelligent, unattached to all phenomena,
giving up all, completely released by the destruction of craving, such one the
wise know as a sage. One who has the power of wisdom, endowed with pure
virtue and ascetic praxis, concentrated, delighting in meditation, possessing
continuous mindfulness, released, detached, with neither mental barrenness,
nor with any mental fermentation brewing, such one the wise know as a sage.
Persistent, unshaken by blame & praise like a lion not trembling at any sound,
or like the wind not caught in any net, or like a lotus not defiled by any mud.
The sage is wandering alone, attentive, leading others, not to be led by any.
In the midst of oppression, despise & accusation he becomes imperturbable
like a pillar, with passion gone, with senses well under control... Immovable,
straight, upright, direct, never ever deviating, disgusted with all evil deeds,
examining both good & bad conduct, such one the wise surely know as a sage.
Fully restrained, fully self-controlled, who cannot be angered and who never
angers anyone, who does no evil, and who neither praises, nor criticizes any
other, him indeed the wise know as a sage. Constantly protecting all living &
breathing beings, the sage meditating in the remote forest, all beyond both
company and sex, completely released, not tied to anything, never negligent,
knowing all in this world, seeing the highest goal, having crossed the flood,
such a one, with his bonds completely cut, not fettered, without any mental
pollution, unselfish, swift and elevated, him indeed the wise know as a sage...
Sn 207-221
Have a nice silent day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The silent Sage...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/The_Sage.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
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Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
The Buddha on Kamma (Intentional Action):
I am the owner of my actions (kamma), inheritor of my actions, born of
my actions, created by my actions, and have my own actions as my judge!
Whatever I do, good or evil, I will feel the resulting effects of that ...
Source: AN V 57
Intention, Bhikkhus, is what I call action, for through intention one
initiates these actions through the door of the body, speech or mind.
There is kamma (intentional action), Bhikkhus, that ripens in hell....
There is kamma that ripens in the animal world..
There is kamma that ripens in the world of humans....
There is kamma that ripens in the divine world....
Threefold, however, is this ripening fruit of kamma:
ripening during here in this life, or
ripening in the next rebirth life,
or ripening in even later rebirths ...
Source: AN VI 63
The 10 advantageous courses of action (=Good Kamma):
The 3 bodily actions: Avoidance of killing, stealing, and abusive sexuality.
The 4 verbal actions: Avoidance of lying, slandering, angry & empty speech.
The 3 mental actions: Doing Withdrawal, Good-will, and Right Views.
Source: MN 9
Greed, Bhikkhus, is a condition for the arising of kamma.
Hate is a condition for the arising of kamma.
Confusion is a condition for the arising of kamma.
Source: AN III 109
One who kills & harms goes either to hell or will be short-lived elsewhere.
One who torments others will be afflicted with disease or disability.
The angry one will look ugly, the envious one will be without influence.
The stingy one will be poor, the stubborn will be placed low and stupid.
The lazy will be without knowledge, understanding and certainty.
In the contrary case, one will be reborn in heaven or reborn as man.
One will be long-lived, beautiful, influential, highborn and intelligent!
Source: MN 135
There are 10 meritorious actions leading to human or divine rebirth:
1: Giving.
2: Morality.
3: Meditation.
4: Reverence by paying respect to monks and elders.
5: Performing services to others.
6: Transference of merits to others.
7: Rejoicing in others' merit.
8: Learning this true Dhamma.
9: Teaching this true Dhamma.
10: Correcting one's wrong views.
To the extent that there are beings, past, and future, dying & re-arising,
all beings are the owners of their actions, inheritor to their actions, are
born of their actions, created by their action, conditioned by their actions,
related to their actions, and are dependent on the effect of past actions.
Whatever they do, for good or for evil, from that will they feel the result...
Source: AN V 57
For details on the mechanics of Kamma (=Karma) = Intentional Action see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_is_intention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_dilutes_Evil_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_short_&_long_life.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Health_&_Sickness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Low_or_High_Birth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Wealth_or_Poverty.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Beauty_&_Ugliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Effect_of_Action_(kamma)_is_Delayed.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Power_or_Disrespect.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Evil_Kamma_enhances_other_Evil_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_enhances_other_Good_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Stupidity_or_Intelligence.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The Intention is the Kamma!
We are all Created by our Actions = Kamma!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Buddha_on_Kamma.htm
If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail including pictures
and embedded links (recommended) then click join here:
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Have a nice, noble and easy day!
Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
What Intentional Actions (Kamma) influence Life-Length?
A student once asked the Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause and condition why some human beings
here are short-lived, while other human beings are long-lived?
The Blessed Buddha then explained:
Here, friend, some man or woman kills living beings and is murderous,
bloody-handed, enjoying rage and violence, cruel to all living beings!
Because of intending and undertaking such action, at the breakup of
the body, right after death, such one reappears in a state of affliction,
in a painful destination, in the purgatory, or even in the hells...
But if such one at the breakup of the body, after death, is not reborn
in an awful state, a painful destination, the purgatory, or in the hells,
but instead comes back to the human state, then wherever such one is
reborn he is short-lived#! These are the actions, friend, that leads to a
short future life, namely, kill, murder, bloody-handed brutality, slaughter,
violence, and cruelty towards all living beings...
However, friend, any man or woman, who is avoiding killing of any living
beings, who abstains from killing any living beings, with rod and weapon
laid down, gentle & kind, such one dwells friendly to all living beings...
Because of intending & undertaking such action, at breakup of the body,
right after death, such one reappears in a pleasurable & happy destination,
even in the divine dimensions! But if at the breakup of the body, right after
death, such one is not reborn in a happy destination, in the heavenly worlds,
but instead comes back to a human state, then wherever such one reappears,
such one is long-lived%! This way, friend, leading to long life, is namely,
avoiding the killing of any living beings, refraining from killing living beings,
with stick and weapon laid aside, gentle and kind, one abides compassionate
to all sentient beings, completely harmless to all living & breathing beings...!
Notes:
#: Such one escapes hell, because the evil kamma is modified by past good!
%: Such one miss heaven, because the good kamma is modified by past evil!
Source:
The Moderate speeches of the Buddha: The short speech on Action. MN 135
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=25072X Full Text:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn135a.html
For details on the mechanics of Kamma = Intentional Action see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_is_intention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Buddha_on_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_dilutes_Evil_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_short_&_long_life.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Health_&_Sickness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Low_or_High_Birth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Wealth_or_Poverty.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Beauty_&_Ugliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Effect_of_Action_(kamma)_is_Delayed.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Power_or_Disrespect.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Evil_Kamma_enhances_other_Evil_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_enhances_other_Good_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Stupidity_or_Intelligence.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Killing shortens your Life!
Kamma and Life Length...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_short_&_long_life.htm