BUDDHA SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THE SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD ACCEPT HIS TEACHINGS

hermitwin

I am trying to recall in which Sutta Buddha said that the number of people who will appreciate his
teachings are miniscule compared to those who are ignorant. Please let me know if you know
where Buddha said this. thanks.

upalabhava

I don't know about Buddha, but Laozi said:


When a superior man hears of the Tao,
he immediately begins to embody it.
When an average man hears of the Tao,
he half believes it, half doubts it.
When a foolish man hears of the Tao,
he laughs out loud.
If he didn't laugh,
it wouldn't be the Tao. (41)

Mountains

I'm pretty sure he didn't yell about it though

Ada_B

I'm pretty sure he didn't yell about it though

Unless it was a very noisy environment Skillful means, LOL

pegembara

I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree. Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: "This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me."

Ayacana Sutta: The Request

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn06/sn06.001.than.html

TheJourney

In the diamond sutra he says basically that.

[DeletedUser]

Should be rebirth into the human realm is miniscule, and in contact with Buddha dharma and know its beauty is not as easy :thumbsup:
That's none of a problem :whatever:

Roger

AFAIK, The world could easily go dark again. That's when for each and every human being: their Buddha nature is completely forgotten.

hermitwin

I found sth quite similar to what Pegembara quoted. There is another one that says 'Buddha surveyed the world and found that there were some people with little dust in their eyes and would be able to understand his teachings'.
Those who have studied the life of the

Buddha may recall his reflections shortly

after the Enlightenment, when he had not yet

begun to expound the teaching. At that time,

the Buddha was reluctant to teach, as is

related in the Scriptures:

"Monks, the thought arose in me thus:

'This truth which I have realized is

profound, difficult to see, abstruse,

calming, subtle, not attainable through mere

sophisticated logic.

"'But beings revel in attachment, take

pleasure in attachment and delight in

attachment. For beings who thus revel, take

pleasure and delight in attachment, this is

an extremely difficult thing to see: that

is, the law of conditionality, the principle

of Dependent Origination. Moreover, this

also is an extremely difficult thing to see:

the calming of all conditioning, the casting

off of all clinging, the abandoning of

desire, dispassion, cessation, Nibbana. If I

were to give this teaching and my words were

not understood, that would simply make for

weariness and difficulty.'" [Vin.I.4;

M.I.167]

sisnarf

Perhaps only a few can be easily manipulated. Confused into believing a lot of nonsense. Dumb enough to practice until he has gone completely mad and believes he is enlightened.

Then again maybe like most religions the power is saved for a couple people. Its a much easier way to control the community. I mean how many people would follow religion if it came with a 90 day money back guarantee.

Who knows maybe I am one of the few

ravkes

@sisnarf of course the teachings themselves are stupid and nonsense if you don't do anything, however meditation has very tangible benefits. have you meditated?

on a side note, i do agree with you that enlightenment is bull, although scientifically all phenomena is empty of self so for me that drove an investigation to figure out why i experience suffering.. then well lol it was clear that the phenomena can be experienced just as they are..

btw just a heads up buddhism isn't a religion, there's nothing to believe or follow here.. simply progress through your own experience and logic like a super scientist! it's fun.

shanyin

did sinsnarf say enlightnement was bs?

sisnarf

@sisnarf of course the teachings themselves are stupid and nonsense if you don't do anything, however meditation has very tangible benefits. have you meditated?



on a side note, i do agree with you that enlightenment is bull, although scientifically all phenomena is empty of self so for me that drove an investigation to figure out why i experience suffering.. then well lol it was clear that the phenomena can be experienced just as they are..

btw just a heads up buddhism isn't a religion, there's nothing to believe or follow here.. simply progress through your own experience and logic like a super scientist! it's fun.

Yes I have moved to Thailand to live a simpler life. Do many meditation retreats. Do many types of mediation. I do believe it CAN have many tangible assets. It could also be harmful. If you meditated on hateful,destruction concentrated only on that you would become one evil person. Basically saying if you thought about being a rock long enough you would really think you were a rock. This is also my thoughts about enlightenment. It is a positive thing to trick yourself in the right way. I guess this is mindfulness.

Mediation brings mindfulness which brings emotional control. This is the positive aspect of Buddhism for me. I'll never quiet get my head around the no self thing. Sounds like a good way to detach yourself from your actions and feelings. How far do you want to detach? What was the most selves you have had that needed to be emptied? This is a great doorway into schizophrenia. I once had three selves for a retreat.

Westerners like to say that Buddhism is not a religion. It fits better into the scientific culture. Buddhism like many religions change things all the time to help get accepted by the main stream. Buddhist in Thailand like to feed Buddha coca cola and ask monks for the winning lotto #s.

To bad reincarnation had to be part of Buddhism then they might of really had me. A monk told me that reincarnation was actually one of the ways Buddhism change to fit the old mainstream religon when people needed to know what was going to happen when they died. They had to compete with perfect life in the clouds and a bunch of virgins. Had to do something. Those gold statues didn't build themselves. So the new non religion of Buddhism seems to fit right in. Fine with me, take out all the BS and get down to basics. Rid yourself of the concept of 'I'

ravkes

@sisnarf well no, that isn't mindfulness. mindfulness is simply seeing things as they are. so one looks at phenomena such as they body, thinking, feeling, sensations, emotions and simply sees them as such and that's where it ends.

emotional control is a byproduct of meditation and mindfulness, i wouldn't call it control though i'd call it letting the emotions be as they are. and good, the 'no self' thing isn't something to get your head around or they'll throw you into the loony bin, it's something that can be seen after practicing for a while. and no one doesn't go insane, because scientifically all phenomena are empty of self so one just lives within the truth. which of course is liberating and free of suffering..

buddhists in thailand are less educated and haven't had exposure to western thinking, perhaps this is what leads them to a more primitive perspective of buddhism. either way, thai or american if he practices properly the same things are seen.

ridding yourself of the concept of 'i' is going to drive you insane, because well you need your thoughts to help the body function properly. just see 'i' as a function of thought, something the mind uses to concentrate attention on something, therefore when you meditate simply see it as 'thinking'.. which is the truth lol..

anyways man, have fun in thailand!

sisnarf

did sinsnarf say enlightnement was bs?

No just reserved for a special few. Like me, I'm enlightened. If you too would like to be enlightened just send me a check for 9.99 every month. I will give you words of wisdom you can mediate on every week. Just because I am filled with loving/kindness if you buy 1 year I'll give you two months free.

Have you met anyone else who has claimed to be enlightened? Then I must be telling the truth. You don't need faith like other religions. Just please get rid of everything you have ever worked for. Don't ask too many questions, stay in the moment. Come to my luxury resort where you can lay on a concrete floor and have a wooden pillow. Follow my instructions for the rest of your life and you will find out at the very end of your life that I'm telling the truth.

ravkes

@shanyin no he didn't, that was an incorrect assumption on my part.

@sisnarf there are a few scam artists like that, but if you go to monasteries the masters live just like you do.. soo? lol i don't see what your point is i don't think they're hypocritical.

sisnarf

@sisnarf well no, that isn't mindfulness. mindfulness is simply seeing things as they are. so one looks at phenomena such as they body, thinking, feeling, sensations, emotions and simply sees them as such and that's where it ends.

emotional control is a byproduct of meditation and mindfulness, i wouldn't call it control though i'd call it letting the emotions be as they are. and good, the 'no self' thing isn't something to get your head around or they'll throw you into the loony bin, it's something that can be seen after practicing for a while. and no one doesn't go insane, because scientifically all phenomena are empty of self so one just lives within the truth. which of course is liberating and free of suffering..

buddhists in thailand are less educated and haven't had exposure to western thinking, perhaps this is what leads them to a more primitive perspective of buddhism. either way, thai or american if he practices properly the same things are seen.

ridding yourself of the concept of 'i' is going to drive you insane, because well you need your thoughts to help the body function properly. just see 'i' as a function of thought, something the mind uses to concentrate attention on something, therefore when you meditate simply see it as 'thinking'.. which is the truth lol..

anyways man, have fun in thailand!

Very good words of wisdom. It all seems to make sense. For this moment.

hermitwin

A monk answered my question about karma this way, 'no need to consider the things that you cant see yet, look at the world around you. cause n effect in this material world'. My point is , most Buddhist dont know whether reincarnation is true or not. They believe it. but they cant be sure. Of course if you an aarahant, maybe you can know these things for sure. Otherwise, it would be dishonest to say that you know for sure.