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Bhikkhu Samahita Dhamma Posts
Comments
Friends:
What are the 8 Precepts, which brings Divinity?
The Blessed Buddha once said:
The habitual praxis of the observance day endowed with eight features brings high reward and blessing,
and is of sublime dignity and greatness! And which are these eight features? In this, any Noble Disciple
considers within himself: Throughout their life the Arahats avoid all alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine,
and liquor! May I also, this day and night, avoid alcoholic and intoxicating drinks... By that I will follow
the track and traits of the perfected Arahats! I shall then have observed the Uposatha observance day
perfectly! With this fifth praxis is the observance day enriched. Observed in this very way, the observance
day endowed with eight features brings high - even divine - reward and blessing and is of sublime dignity
and immense greatness...
The not innocent fluid down-the-drain-brain happy-Killer: King Alcohol !
Addiction to alcohol and drugs is often a need for tranquilization! The side-effects are much worse
than the restlessness they cure... Drinking and drugging - though pleasant - leads to lazy carelessness...
This lax neglect of the real world problems are often catastrophic! Bodily decay, social isolation and
steady fall is inevitable, though often violently denied or actively ignored by the addicted person...
Compared to the calm bliss of meditation is drugged sedation banal! Many addicted persons may have
experienced the serene bliss of deep meditative states in an earlier life and is thus now prone to
search for, and become addicted to a similar chemical calm, which however is a blurred haze lacking
the cool, calm, transparent and mesmerizing clarity of meditation., which invokes assured insight..
Tobacco => Lung-cancer and Marijuana => lazy no-brain zombie!
More on this common self-destructive behaviour: Drinking and Drugging:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Curing_Lethargy_and_Laziness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Blurred_and_Blinded.htm
Ecstasy and Cocaine: High Tempo, but No genuine Emotions...
More on this Optimal Buddhist Uposatha Day Observance:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fullmoon_Observance_Day.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Five_Basics.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/atthasila.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/uposatha.html
Drugs, Booze, Pills, Cocaine, Marijuana, and Tobacco Addiction are all a Chemical Calm Calamity !
Source (edited extract):
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya AN 8:44
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/Index.Numerical.htm
Synthetic Serenity spells Death!
Clean is Cool ;-)
Neither Drinking, nor Drugging!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Optimal_Observance_V.htm
Well said.
For us meditation addicts, we too aspire to a higher form of cleanliness . . .
Have a 'drug' habit that is skilful. That will lead to the end of being samsara drugees. Daily meditation fix. You know it makes sense.
:buck: .
There is no evidence whatsoever that proves cannabis or marijuana, leads a person to becoming a lazy no brained zombie....We actually have a receptor system in our brains only there to process THC, which is only to be found in cannabis/marijuana plants....Cannabis oil is prescribed by Dr's, & has many medicinal benefits....Also there is actually no such thing as a lazy person, & all there ever is is an unmotivated person....Being addicted to the T.V is the worst thing for any ones health, & yet no one mentions it ever. :-)
The addictive nature of TV is mentioned here on occasion.
The evidence for cannabis does exist:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_cannabis
Sometimes our judgement and faculties are impaired . . . :buck: .
Friends:
Running up & down this shore delays crossing!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, these 8 things, when cultivated & refined, lead to going beyond
from this near shore, right here, to the far shore beyond all... What eight?
Right View (samma-ditthi)
Right Motivation (samma-sankappa)
Right Speech (samma-vaca)
Right Action (samma-kammanta)
Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva)
Right Effort (samma-vayama)
Right Awareness (samma-sati)
Right Concentration (samma-samadhi)
These 8 things, when cultivated and refined, lead to going beyond from
this near shore, right here, to the far shore beyond all imagination.
The Well-Gone-One, the supreme Teacher, then added this:
Few humans cross to that sublime far shore beyond all being.
Mostly, people just run up and down along this barren bank!
Those whose praxis is like this even and exact Dhamma,
Will pass beyond the State of Death in quiet harmony!
Having left all the dark and evil doing, any intelligence
Seeks the luminous bright light by leaving this turmoil,
by going forth into solitary & silent homelessness.
Secluded from lust, he experiences an unworldly bliss!
Owing nothing, the wise and clever man thereby cleans
himself of all these mental pollutions and defilements...
Mentally well evolved by the 7 links to enlightenment,
Delighting in non-clinging and relinquishment of all,
Such luminous ones, having quenched all fermentation,
Are fully released even right here in this world!
Crossing...
To the Other Side...
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:24] section 45: The Way. 34: Gone to the other side ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
The Other Side...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Other_Side.htm
Friends:
Compassion is the Core of Buddhism!
Overcome the angry by friendliness,
overcome the wicked by goodness,
overcome the miser by generosity,
overcome the liar by truth...
Dhammapada 223
He who neither punishes, nor makes others punish,
He who neither steals, nor makes others steal,
who in friendly goodwill shares with all that lives,
such kind gentle one meets no enmity anywhere...
Itivuttaka 27
Train yourself in doing only what is good,
that will last and bring great happiness!
Cultivate generosity, a peaceful living,
and a mentality of infinite friendliness...
Itivuttaka 16
More on Friendly Goodwill (Metta): The sweetest fragrance of all!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unsurpassable_Radiance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Grace_of_Goodwill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Released_by_GoodWill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_11_Advantages.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Genuine_Goodwill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Goodwill_Encore.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Blazing_Goodwill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Cosmic_Goodness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Loving-Kindness.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
[color=#800000]Goodness Galore _/_ :-)
Try to Be Good in all Thought, Speech and Action.
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Goodness_Galore.htm
Friends:
How to be a Real Buddhist through Observance?
Nikini Poya day is the full-moon of August. Bhikkhus who did not enter the yearly
rains retreat (Vas) early at Esala Poya day (peravas), are allowed to enter the
the rains retreat now in August (pasuvas). Nikini Poya day celebrates the first ever
Dhammasangayana - The First Buddhist Council where, what the Buddha said, was
agreed upon and recited. This took place at the Saptapanni Rock Cave in Rajagaha
(now Rajgir, India), under the patronage of Mahakassapa Thera and it went on for
seven long months. It established the original authentic Tipitaka: The 3 Baskets
of Sacred Text = The Pali Canon spoken by the historical Buddha and his disciples.
One of the 7 Sattapanni Caves, where the First Buddhist Council was held ~ 483 BC.
A huge wooden hall was built outside the cave to house the 500 Arahants.
This was built by King Ajatasattu, who tried to do some good after having killed his
father the good king Bimbisara, King of Magadha.
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/DPPN/sa/sattapanniguha.htm
http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=The_Sattapanni_Cave
On this first Buddhist Council:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Buddhist_Council
Video of the Sattapanni Caves:
On such 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 and
head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms in front of the heart,
one recite 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 & 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 Dishonesty.
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! So is the start towards Nibbana: the Deathless Element!
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Ease, to 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 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 Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
The New Noble Community of Disciples: The Saddhamma Sangha:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
And 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 Uposatha Observance Days:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/uposatha.html
This huge cave hall was built to house the Sixth Buddhist Council convened in 1955
to recite the Pali Tipitaka and authenticate the texts. On the 2,500th Anniversary
of the Buddha’s final passing away (Parinibbana), 2,500 monks assembled from the
Theravada Buddhist countries. Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw performed the central
role as Chief Questioner (Pucchaka), which was fulfilled by Venerable Mahakassapa
in the First Council, held three months after the Buddha’s passing away. To house
this great hall, an artificial hill was constructed by voluntary workers at Kaba-Aye
in Rangoon. This great hall is still used to hold the examinations in the Tipitaka.
Today is Nikini Poya Day.
True Buddhists Respect the Poya Days!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/Nikini_Poya_Day.htm
Friends:
The 5 Clusters of Clinging (Khandha):
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Bhikkhus, there are these five Clusters of Clinging. What five?
1: The Cluster of Clinging to Form...
2: The Cluster of Clinging to Feeling...
3: The Cluster of Clinging to Perception…
4: The Cluster of Clinging to Construction…
5: The Cluster of Clinging to Consciousness…
These are the 5 Clusters of Clinging! The Noble 8-fold Way should indeed
be developed for the direct experience of these five Clusters of Clinging,
for the full understanding and elimination of them, and for their final
overcoming, abandoning and leaving all behind…This Noble 8-fold Way is
to be developed for the uprooting of all of these five Clusters of Clinging!
Explanation: Clinging is intensified craving. Craving is the cause of Suffering:
The Cluster of Clinging to Form is internally to one's ‘own body’ and externally
to what is appearing as ‘my physical world’ and the bodies of others..
The Cluster of Clinging to Feeling is the obsession with pleasant feeling,
fear of painful feeling and obstinate indifference towards neutral feeling…
The Cluster of Clinging to Perception is the monomaniac obsession with the
diverse, and momentarily tantalizing manifold objects of the six senses…
The Cluster of Clinging to Construction is the persistent passion for intending,
planning, attending, thinking, involving, hoping, wanting, willing and worrying…
The Cluster of Clinging to Consciousness is the addiction to all that is seen,
heard, smelt, tasted, touched, and cognized as ideas or mental states…
Cluster of Clinging means an assemblage, bunch, clump, collection, group,
or knot of a tightly adhering collection of various forms of attachment!
There is nothing here ‘outside’ or ‘apart’ from these clusters of clinging,
neither internally, nor externally! This 5-fold classification is complete,
since it covers all worldly phenomena... The cause of clinging is craving.
The effect of clinging is becoming. The effect of becoming is (re)birth,
ageing, decay, sickness, (re)death and thus Suffering.... Dig that or die ;-)
More on these 5 Clusters of Clinging (Khandha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Any_Kind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Not_Yours.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Leash.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Like_Foam.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fingernail_of_Soil.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Acquisition_of_Fuel.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Clustered_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Burning_Five.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Stilling_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/g_m/khandha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Things_that_can_be_clung_to.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_are_the_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:60-1] section 45: The Way. 178: The 5 Cluster of Clinging...
The 5 Clusters of Clinging...
Clinging is solidified craving. Craving is the cause of Suffering:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
Friends:
Neglect Looses All, while Careful Alertness Wins All!
At Savatthi the Blessed One once said this:
I will teach you, friends, about the one who lives negligent, and about
the one who lives alert. Listen cautiously and pay full attention to it!
How, friends, does one live Negligent?
In him, friends, who lives with an uncontrolled ability to see, the mind is
agitated and warped by the objects recognizable by the eye. In him whose
mind is agitated and warped, there is no satisfaction! Without satisfaction,
there is no joy! Where there is no joy, there is no contentment, no calm, no
tranquillity, and no mental peace! Without this calm, one thus lives in sorrow,
frustrated, urging, and searching! Such sorrowful person’s mind is neither
composed, nor collected, nor confident. When the mind is not composed, one
has neither any clarity, nor any certainty! By not having any clear thinking,
one is reckoned as one, who lives negligent. One is regarded as confused...
So also it is for one who lives without any control over the ability to hear,
smell, taste, touch and without any control over the ability to think…
And how, friends, does one live Alert?
In him, who lives with a fully controlled ability to see, the mind is neither
agitated, nor warped by any object recognizable by the eye. In one, whose
mind is neither agitated, nor warped, satisfaction is born! In one satisfied,
joy is born. When one is joyful, the body is calmed down. He, whose body is
calmed, feels at ease. Composed is mind of one, who is at ease. When mind is
composed, one’s ideas are clear. One gains certainty & assured confidence!
By having clear ideas and thinking, one is reckoned as one who lives alert, &
as one, who is alert! So also it is for any one, who lives with full control over
the ability to hear, smell, taste, touch or controlling the ability to think.
Thus, friends, is one, who lives ready and aware in alertness.
Comments:
Not seduced by the mere glitter of sensation of any kind, not running after
fancy dreams, driven by hopes or compelled longing. By not yearning after
pleasant sensations, satisfied by whatever there is, thus at ease, stilled,
one remains just calm, cleared and cooled... Like a Smiling Mountain :-)
Source: Samyutta Nikaya: On the 6 Senses:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Wild_Horses.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Source_of_What.htm
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/Guarding_the_Senses.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
Always Be Internally Alert!
Like a Smiling Mountain :-)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Smiling_Mountain.htm
Friends:
How is the Understanding Ability Outstanding?
With the development of the Ability of Understanding, enthusiasm arises,
with the complete elimination of all sceptical doubt, enthusiasm also arises,
with the fading of frustration within in all sceptical doubt, enthusiasm arises,
with the eradication of the mental obstructions of wrong view, enthusiasm arises,
with the removal of the gross mental obstructions, enthusiasm indeed arises,
with the dying out of subtle mental obstructions, enthusiasm also arises,
with extinction of all mental obstructions, enthusiasm arises as a thunderbolt!
when through this hilarious and energetic enthusiasm, gladness arises,
then the ability of understanding is outstanding as understanding due to gladness...
When through gladness, happiness arises, then the ability of understanding is
outstanding as understanding due to happiness...
when via happiness, tranquillity emerges, then the ability of understanding is
outstanding due to calmed and stilled tranquillity...
When tranquil, sweet pleasure arises, then the understanding ability is outstanding
as understanding due to this subtle pleasure of tranquillity ...
When through pleasure illumination arises, then understanding is outstanding as
understanding due to all pervading and all penetrating illumination...
When through this all revealing illumination the sense of urgency arises,
then the understanding ability is outstanding as understanding due to vivid urgency...
When feeling urgency one concentrates mind, then this ability of understanding is
outstanding due to this one-pointedly absorbed concentration...
When one now thoroughly trains the mind thus concentrated, then this ability of
understanding is outstanding as understanding due to right effort.
When one looks on with complete equanimity at mind thus wielded into solid focus,
then this unique ability of understanding is outstanding as due to equanimity.
when as a prime result of equanimity, mind is liberated from many kinds of mental
obstructions, then the understanding ability is outstanding as due to liberation.
when the mind is all liberated, this mentally unified state come to have a one single
function and taste, then the understanding ability is outstanding as understanding
due to development of just one single unified function and taste...
When mind is being cultivated and refined, it therefore turns to what is superior,
namely towards Nibbana, then verily this ability to understand is outstanding as
understanding due to turning away from all worldly phenomena of suffering.
When because of mind remains turned away, then one is now possessed of the path.
When one, as a consequence, relinquishes both mental obstructions and all clusters
of clinging, then ability of understanding is quite outstanding as understanding due
to fully released relinquishment letting all substrates go.
When due to this transcendent mental release, the mental obstructions and the
clusters of clinging therefore cease with no re-arising trace remaining, then the
ability of understanding is outstanding as understanding due to complete ceasing...
More on the supreme Understanding Ability:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Freed_by_Knowing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Chief_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/pannaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Right_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Understanding_is_the_Chief.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Supreme_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Revealing_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Understanding_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Understanding.htm
Source: Most Venerable Sariputta - The General of the Dhamma -
The Canonical: Path of Discrimination: Patisambhidamagga. IV.
http://store.pariyatti.org/Path-of-Discrimination-2nd-Edition_p_2126.html
Outstanding is Understanding!
Complete Comprehension is the Chief...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Understanding.htm
Friends:
Non-Agitation through detached Release:
The Blessed Buddha once said:
How, friends, is there non-agitation through detached release?
Regarding this, friends, the educated normal person, who is a friend of a Noble
One and who is clever and well trained in his Dhamma, or who is a friend of a
Great Man and is clever and well trained in his Dhamma, avoids regarding form
as self, he avoids regarding self as having form, he avoids regarding form as
inside any self, or any self as inside any form! Then inevitably his body form
changes and decays. When this change and decay of his material form occurs,
his mind does not become occupied or obsessed with this change of just a form.
Therefore does no agitated mental state, arised from worry over this changed
merely physical body form, remain obsessing his mind ...
Because his mind is not obsessed, then he is neither frightened, nor distressed,
nor anxious, and by this detached non-clinging his inner agitation is all stilled!
He does not regard feeling as self ... perception as self ... mental constructions
as self ... consciousness as self, nor the self as possessing consciousness, nor as
consciousness as being inside any self, nor any the self as being 'inside' any
consciousness ... When his consciousness momentarily changes and alters, then
his mind does not become engaged with this fast change of consciousness.
Therefore does no agitated mental state, born of concern over this changed
consciousness, remain obsessing his mind! Because his mind is neither obsessed,
nor upset, nor troubled, nor uneasy with this or any other change whatsoever,
then this aloof and detached non-clinging still, calm and evaporate all his prior
agitations! It is exactly in this way, friends, that there is non-agitation caused
by non-clinging.
Comment:
If the 5 clusters of Clinging are no EGO, how can there ever be lost anything
from such vacuum void! ;-) hihi:
More about this freeing selfless anti-ego impersonality = No-self = Anatta:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anatta_No_Self.htm
You can come as you like , but you pay as you go...!
Source:
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya XXII (7); [III 16-9]
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507 An Ocean of Dhamma!
On The 5 clusters of Clinging:
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/What_are_the_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
Cool Calm!
When not Agitated...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Cool_Calm.htm
Friends:
The Three Kinds of Mental Purity!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
How, Cunda, is purity of mental action threefold?
1: Herein, someone is all without jealousy, acquisitiveness, and greedy envy.
Whatever another person possesses of goods and property, he does not long
or yearn for it lime this: "Oh may I get what that other person has!"
2: He is free from ill-will since he harbours no angry thoughts in his mind!
Rather he thinks: Oh, may these beings be free from all hate and ill-will,
and may they lead a happy and easy life free from all trouble and harm!
3: He possesses right understanding and this unshakable right view:
result of all advantageous and disadvantageous actions! There is this world,
and there is the next world. There are duties towards father and mother.
There are spontaneously reborn beings. There are in this world recluses and
monks of right, pure and perfect living, who have themselves understood and
directly realized both this very world and the next, and are able to explain
them both....This is the threefold mental purity, Cunda!
More on Mental Purification (Visuddhi):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Ability_Purification.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_7_Purifications.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Immaculate_Integrity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/u_v/visuddhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Levels_of_Leaving_Behind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_8_Understandings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_purpose_of_purification.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_7_stages_of_Purification.htm
Source (edited extract):
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya AN 10:176
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/Index.Numerical.htm
Elevating is Mental Purity!
True innocence entails Peace, Freedom & Happiness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mental_Purity.htm
Friends:
What is the Mental Ability of Energy?
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, there are these mental five abilities. What five?
The ability of Faith (saddha)
The ability of Energy (viriya)
The ability of Awareness (sati)
The ability of Concentration (samadhi)
The ability of Understanding (pañña)
But what is the Ability of Energy (Viriya):
That which is the arousing of mental energy, effort, endeavour, exertion, industry,
toiling travail, diligent zeal, vigour, tenacity, enthusiasm, eagerness, unfaltering will,
not giving up the task, forceful drive, intense activity, controlled ardour, get-up-and-go
or in short: The power of energy. This is called ability of energy!
Source: The Book of Analysis: Vibhanga
http://store.pariyatti.org/Book-of-Analysis_p_1905.html
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
Never ever Give Up on the Good!
Enthusiastic Energy is the root Hero of all Success..
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Ability_of_Energy.htm
Friends:
What is this Mental Ability of Awareness?
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Bhikkhus, there are these five mental abilities (indriya). What five?
The ability of Faith (saddha)
The ability of Energy (viriya)
The ability of Awareness (sati)
The ability of Concentration (samadhi)
The ability of Understanding (pañña)
But what is the mental ability of Awareness (Sati)?
That which is Awareness, constant attention, recollection, mental presence,
mindfulness, remembering, bearing in mind, alertness, watchful consciousness,
non-neglect, non-oblivious, non-forgetfulness, non-carelessness, and acute
non-superficiality. This is called the ability and power of Awareness, Right
Awareness, and the Awareness link to Awakening!
But what is this Awareness link to Awakening?
Herein a Bhikkhu is mindful, endowed with excellent Awareness, recollection,
he remembers, remembers constantly, what has been done & what have been
said concerning release even very long ago. This is called the Awareness link
to Awakening... There is awareness of internal states and there is awareness
of external states. Both the awareness of all internal states & awareness of
all external states is an Awareness link to Awakening leading to knowledge,
Enlightenment, and to complete emancipating release!
The Power of Presence!
On this illuminating & crucial presence of Awareness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Sati_Studies.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Causes_of_sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Sati_Summary.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sati_in_Solitude.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Clear_Comprehension.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Noble_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_and_only_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Analysis.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sati_a_la_Anuruddha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Careful_and_Rational_Attention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Four_Foundations_of_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Clear_and_Aware_Comprehension.htm
Source: The Book of Analysis: Vibhanga 124 + 228
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=130304
The Power of Presence!
Awareness of the present is always advantageous!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Awareness_Ability.htm
Through virtue, seclusion, aspiration and effort we can be inspired by the generous efforts of the three pure jewels. How do we purify our refinement? Focus on essential purity. Go where you want to be. Karma. :wave: .
Friends:
What is a Clever, Intelligent & Wise One?
A certain bhikkhu once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, it is said: Clever and wise, clever and wise...
In what way, Venerable Sir, can one rightly be called clever and wise?
Bhikkhu, it is because one has indeed developed and cultivated these
Seven Links to Awakening that one rightly is called clever and wise..
What seven?
1: The Awareness Link to Awakening.
2: The Investigation Link to Awakening.
3: The Energy Link to Awakening.
4: The Joy Link to Awakening.
5: The Tranquillity to Awakening.
6: The Concentration Link to Awakening.
7: The Equanimity Link to Awakening.
It is because one has indeed developed and made much of these
Seven Factors of Enlightenment that one is called clever and wise...
On these 7 sublime links to Enlightenment (Sambojjhanga):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Rare_Emergence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Sequential_Seven.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Seven_Fruits.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/7_Links_to_7_Wings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Four_Fulfilling_Seven.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Unsurpassable_Seven.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/When_7_becomes_14.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Leading_to_Enlightenment.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Enlightened_and_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Seven_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Meaning_of_the-7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
Source of reference:
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 100] 46: The Links. 45: Intelligent...
Wise and Clever ...
The 7 sublime links to Enlightenment!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Wise_and_Clever.htm
Friends:
What is the Cause of Contentment?
The blessed Buddha once said:
Contentment is the Highest Treasure!
Dhammapada 204
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Who understands & clearly sees the Dhamma.
Udana 10
What is the proximate cause of contentment?
Mutual joy with others success is the proximate cause of contentment...
Therefore: If one is always gladdened by other's success, one will always be content!
Therefore: If one is never gladdened by other's success, one will always be discontent!
Therefore is contentment caused by an altruistic mental state & not by external richness...
Example: Rich people possessing all the things they ever desired, can still be very discontent!
And vice versa: Poor people not having much, can still be very content and very much smiling!
Contentment even with almost nothing!
More on the Contentment:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Contentment.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Cause_of_Contentment.htm
How to cultivate mutual joy & thus increase contentment:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mutual_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm
Proof:
The beings above are without many possessions, yet seemingly quite content!
Have a nice content day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Calm and Content!
Contentment is the Highest Treasure!
If one is always gladdened by other's success, one will always be content!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_and_Content.htm
Friends:
Craving for Sense Pleasure causes Pain!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Truly, due to craving for sense pleasure, conditioned by sensuous craving,
compelled by craving for sense pleasure, entirely pushed by craving for
sense pleasure, kings fight with kings, princes fight with princes,
priests with priests, citizens with citizens; mother quarrels with son,
son with mother; father with son, son with father; brother with brother,
brother with sister, sister with brother, friend fights even with his friend.
Thus, lost in conflict, quarrelling, and hostilities, they attack one another
with fists, sticks or weapons. And thereby they suffer death or deadly pain.
And further, due to this craving for sense pleasure, people break into houses,
rob, plunder, pillage whole villages, commit highway robbery, & seduce the wives
of others. Then the rulers have such people caught and inflict on them various
forms of punishment. And thereby they meet death or deadly pain!
This is the misery of sensuous craving: The accumulation of pain in this present life,
due to craving for short and trivial sense pleasure... Furthermore, one accepts evil
modes of behaviour, speech, and thought! Therefore, at the break-up of the body,
right after death, one fall into a bad state of existence, a state of suffering,
into perdition, even into the inferno of hell... Such is the heaping up of future
suffering caused by craving for this short-lived simple sense pleasure...
All this misery results from craving for sense pleasure...
All Craving causes Suffering!
Blissful is being without passions in this world,
Blissful is the overcoming of all sense-desires!
Udana II, 1
Beings are attracted to and consumed by Sense Pleasure like the moth flying into the flame...
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
Source:
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Majjhima Nikaya MN 13
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=25072X
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjhima/index.html
Craving Causes Pain!
Urging for Sense Pleasure entails Suffering!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Craving_is_Pain.htm
Friends:
Mental Release comes by Understanding!
The Blessed Buddha once explained this chain of causal events:
Association with a Great Man completes hearing the True Dhamma..
Hearing the true Dhamma completes Faith, Confidence and Conviction..
Faith, confidence and conviction completes Rational Attention..
Rational attention completes Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension..
Mindfulness and clear comprehension completes Guarding the Senses..
Guarding the senses completes good mental, verbal and bodily Behaviour..
Good modes of action completes the Four Foundations of Awareness..
The 4 foundations of Awareness completes the 7 Links to Awakening..
The 7 links to Awakening completes Mental Release by Understanding!
Details are outlined here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Dhamma_Contemplation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Lay_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Careful_and_Rational_Attention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Clear_Comprehension.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Guarding_the_Sense_Doors.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Guarding_the_Senses.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Five_Basics.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Four_Foundations_of_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Seven_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Understanding_is_the_Chief.htm
More on the supreme Understanding Ability:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Freed_by_Knowing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Chief_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/pannaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Right_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Understanding_is_the_Chief.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Supreme_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Revealing_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Understanding_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Understanding.htm
Source:
The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: Anguttara Nikaya V 115
Freed by Knowing...
Mental Release is caused by Understanding!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Freed_by_Knowing.htm
Friends:
What are the Fruits of the 5 Mental Abilities?
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Bhikkhus, there are these five mental abilities. What five?
The ability of Faith (saddha)
The ability of Energy (viriya)
The ability of Awareness (sati)
The ability of Concentration (samadhi)
The ability of Understanding (pañña)
These are the five abilities.
It is, Bhikkhus, because he has developed & cultivated these 5 abilities,
that a Bhikkhu, by the destruction of the fermentations, in this very life
enters and dwells in the stainless liberation of mind, released by wisdom,
realizing it for himself with direct experience and complete understanding!
Comments:
The 4 mental fermentations are wrong, false & hidden assumptions associated with:
1: Sense-desire (kamasava). Ex: "Sensing is only and always pleasant. Pain is irrelevant.."
2: Desiring becoming into new existence (bhavasava): Ex: "All life is good. Decay and death is insignificant.."
3: Wrong views (ditthasava): Ex: "I am better, know better and what I think is never wrong!"
4: Ignorance (avijjasava): Ex: "The 4 Truths of suffering, craving, end, and noble way don't exist...."
For Details on the Mental Fermentations (asava) see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/aasava.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Cause_of_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Three_Fermentations.htm
All beings can train their mental abilities!
Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 203] 48 The Mental Abilities: 20 Fermentation free..
Uprooting all Mental Fermentation!
When not assuming, one either sees or knows...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Freed_from_Fermentation.htm
Friends:
Expectation inevitably creates Disappointment:
How does one create future frustration for oneself? By expecting:
Ooh May I enjoy such and such form in the future.
Ooh May I delight in this and that feeling in the future.
Ooh May I experience exactly these lovely things in the future.
Ooh May I receive my beloved favourite experiences in the future.
Ooh May I relish only in those mental states, that I like in the future.
Ooh May I be satisfied by solely favourite sorts of consciousness in future.
Ooh May I not meet this or that disliked person, event, circumstance, etc...
On the contrary: One is always content if one is without any expectations:
Let the past be past, passed and forgotten, for never to return to it again!
Let forms, feelings, experiences, hopes and mind here & now be as they may!
Let whatever arise & cease! Relinquishing all hoping and wishing for whatever
future forms, feelings, experiences, constructions & types of consciousness:
May I just remain aware, calm, clear, content and thus utterly unagitated :-)
Let it be, as it may!
Let it come, as it comes!
Let it go, as it goes!
Good is contentment with just what one has, with just what there is!
More on calm satisfied Contentment:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Contentment.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_and_Content.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Cause_of_Contentment.htm
Source: The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya III 11-12
http://store.pariyatti.org/Connected-Discourses-of-the-Buddha_p_1379.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Acceptance vs. Expectation..
Expectation inevitably creates Disappointment:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Always_Different.htm
Friends:
Avoiding the Extremes Opens Way to Peace!
The blessed Buddha once explained:
There are these two extremes, which should not be practiced by any one,
who has begun purification: The hunt for sensual pleasures, which is low,
vulgar, the common way of ordinary worldlings, ignoble, disadvantageous;
and any practice of self-torture, which is painful, ignoble, and also quite
disadvantageous! Without veering towards either of these extremes, the
well-come-well-gone-beyond Buddha has awakened to this Middle Way,
which leads to assured vision, to direct knowledge, which leads to ease,
to peace, to certain knowledge, to Enlightenment, to Nibbana...
And what is that Middle Way awakened to by the Buddha, which leads to
assured vision, to direct knowledge, which leads to ease, to peace, to all
certain knowledge, to Enlightenment, to Nibbana?
It is this very Noble 8-fold Way: That is
Right View
Right Motivation
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Awareness
Right Concentration
That is indeed the very Middle Way awakened to by the Blessed Buddha,
which leads to assured vision, to direct knowledge, which leads to ease,
to certain knowledge, to Peace, to Bliss, to Enlightenment, to Nibbana...
Further study on the Noble 8-fold Way:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Noble_8_fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_3-fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Failed_by_Neglect.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Noble_8-Fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fruits_of_the_Noble_Way.htm
Source:
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [330-1]
Section 42: On The 6 Senses. Rasiya: 12.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Avoiding the Extremes Produces Peace...
The Golden Middle Way!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Middle_Way.htm
Friends:
How are these four persons who are quite comparable to Trees?
There are these four kinds of trees:
One is itself rotten and weak, but is surrounded by strong hardwood trees...
One is itself of strong hardwood, but is surrounded by rotten and weak trees...
One is itself rotten and weak, and is also surrounded by rotten and weak trees...
One is itself of strong hardwood, and is also surrounded by strong hardwood trees...
Schiele: Four Trees
There are four types of persons similar to these four classes of trees:
A person is himself rotten and weak, but is surrounded by strong and good persons!
A person is himself strong and good, but is surrounded by rotten and weak persons!
A person is himself rotten and weak, and is also surrounded by rotten and weak persons!
A person is himself strong and good, and is also surrounded by strong and good persons!
How is the one himself rotten and weak, but yet surrounded by the strong and good?
Here one is immoral, and wicked, while his friends are moral men of lovely nature...
Thus is a person, who himself is rotten and weak, surrounded by the strong and good,
just in the same way as a rotten and weak tree is surrounded by strong and good ones...
How is a person who himself is strong and good, yet surrounded by the rotten and weak?
Here one is moral, of lovely nature, but he has friends, who are immoral, and wicked...
Thus is a person, who is strong and good surrounded by the rotten and weak, just in the
same way as a strong and good tree, is surrounded by many rotten and weak ones...
How is a person who is rotten and weak, and also surrounded by the rotten and weak?
Here one is immoral, wicked and evil, who has friends who are immoral, wicked and evil!
Thus is a person, who is rotten and weak, and also surrounded by those rotten and weak,
just in the same way as a rotten and weak tree, is surrounded by rotten and weak ones...
Finally: How is a person who is strong and good surrounded by the strong and good?
Here one is moral of lovely nature, who has similar moral friends of lovely nature...
Thus is a person, who is strong and good surrounded by the strong and good, just in the
same way as a strong and good tree, is surrounded by strong and good hardcore ones...
These are the four persons comparable to trees existing in this world...
Comment:
Discrimination of good and bad groups is a signature sign of genuine understanding!
The rotten and weak may take with them other beings in their inevitable fall...
The strong and good may take with them other beings in their inevitable rise...
The wise therefore selects his fine friends like when picking exquisite flowers. ;-)
Source:
The 4th Higher Science Abhidhamma Book: The Personality Concept: Puggala-Paññatti.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=130096
Monet: Four Trees
More on Buddhist Personality Analysis:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Human_Types.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_7_Persons.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Nine_Supremes.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Four_Personalities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ideal_Person.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_9_Supremes_Explained.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Persons_similar_to_Trees.htm
Choose Company Carefully!
The Four Trees...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/The_4_Persons_similar_to_Trees.htm
Friends:
The Happiness of Bliss is the Goal of all Life!
The Buddha on the Beauty of Bliss:
Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who sees the Dhamma.
Blissful is harmlessness towards all beings without any exception.
Blissful is freedom from any sensual urge whatsoever.
Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit “I am”!
Udana – Inspiration: II – 1
Mind initiates and precedes all Phenomena...
Mind is their chief! They are all mind-made!
Therefore:
If a person thinks, speaks or acts with a pure mind:
Happiness then follows him like the cart-wheel that
follows the foot of the ox...
Dhammapada 2
Oh let us live happily! Possessing nothing at all!
Let us feed on joy, just like the shining Devas!
Dhammapada 200
Nibbanam paranam sukham...
Nibbana is the Highest Bliss!
Dhammapada 203/204
On this precious happiness, pleasure, bliss (Sukha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Happy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Samana-Sukha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Untroubled_Yeah.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sukha.htm
Beautiful is Bliss!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Buddha_on_Bliss.htm
Friends:
The Happiness of Bliss is the Goal of all Life!
The 10 indeterminable subjects deliberately undeclared by the Buddha:
1: The cosmos is eternal
2: The cosmos is not eternal,
3: The cosmos is finite...
4: The cosmos is infinite...
5: The mind and the body (brain) are the same. (inseparable)
6: The mind is one thing and the body (brain) is another. (separable)
7: After death a Tathagata exists...
8: After death a Tathagata does not exist...
9: After death a Tathagata both does and does not exist...
10: After death a Tathagata neither exists, nor does he not exist.
“And they lived arguing, quarrelling, and disputing, wounding one another
with weapons of the mouth, saying, "The Dhamma is like this, not like that.
The Dhamma is not like that, it is like this." Ud 6.4
Due to their irresolvable nature, these 10 questions should be laid all aside,
since they only provoke endless and fruitless speculation and dispute, which
needless to say blocks any progress whatsoever toward the ending of suffering!
Sources:
AN 10.93 Ditthi Sutta: Views A v 185
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.093.than.html
MN 63 i 426 Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.063.than.html
Ud 6.4 Ud 66 Tittha Sutta: Various Sectarians
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.6.04.than.html
AN 7.51 A iv 67 Avyakata Sutta: The Undeclared
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an07/an07.051.than.html
The irresolvable!
Indeterminable questions should be laid aside...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Undeclared.htm
Friends:
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
Untroubled Yeah!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Untroubled_Yeah.htm
Friends:
Self-Critique versus Blaming others!
A good friend asked:
1: How can we avoid self-blame, when things are not right?
2: How can we get rid of the feeling of spiritual inadequacy?
Answer 1:
Blaming (whether of oneself, or others) contains a stint of hate/aversion,
that makes blaming quite unsuitable as a vehicle for reconstructive purposes…
Critique/good advice (whether of one-self, or others) should better be based
on these 5 principles given by the blessed Buddha:
[1] "Do I think/speak at the right time, or not?
[2] "Do I think/speak of actual facts, or not?
[3] "Do I think/speak gently or harshly?
[4] "Do I think/speak long-term advantageous thoughts/words or not?
[5] "Do I think/speak with a kind heart, or internally/externally malicious?
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-vaca/index.html#admonish
Answer 2: “Spiritual inadequacy” can be utilized in 2 widely different ways:
A: Skillfully:
To urge one to enhance or stabilize the effort by inducing a sense of urgency!
B: Un-skillfully:
By straining mind by self-blaming and self-hating disabling all good efforts…
Whenever state B is recognized, then redirect mind to state A. This can indeed
elevate the mind by adding purposefulness! to even a ‘bad’, unwanted, wrong,
and displeasing state by inducing a sense of –meaning- even with the absurd!
Like: “Ahh what an excellent training ground and thus opportunity for progress
is not this frustrating event!” Or:
“OK fine, but there is definitely room for improvement here…” ;-)
However: The utility and efficacy of self-critique depends on the individual:
1: The mostly greedy, lusty and desirous one, will tend towards complacency.
2: The mostly angry, and irritated one, will tend towards denial, or self-hatred.
3: The mostly confused and uncertain, will tend towards neglect, or hesitation.
Unfortunately: In either of these 3 cases, the final result is the very same:
The mental defilements are left unabated in dominating the mind, whether it
is due to carelessness (1), opposition (2), or disregard and vacillation (3).
Why so? The problem (inner and mental) is not SEEN as it really IS, to the degree
it actually is present in mind, thought, speech and behaviour, due to grossly
lapsing or completely absent (self) Awareness (sati)…
Lapsing Awareness are periods of:
Mind seeing mind for split-seconds, or a few seconds at most…
interrupted by:
Mind looking for pleasure for minutes/hours/days/months/years/lives…
As Ven. Luang Pu Atulo aptly noted:
The Mind sent Outside is the Cause of Suffering.
The Effect of the Mind sent Outside is Suffering.
The Mind seeing the Mind is the Path: The Noble Way!
The Effect of Mind seeing Mind, is the End of Suffering.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/solid_siam.htm
Critique versus Blaming!
Progress vs. denial, neglect, and careless complacency..
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Critique_vs_Blaming.htm
Friends:
Rescue into Salvation is Possible!
There may be no tomorrow,
But do not fear!
Do not feel sorrow.
Salvation is near.
If one puts in the effort,
And does good deeds,
Then one should not worry;
Their kamma harbours good seeds.
Purity is attainable,
If one simply tries.
Impurity is easier,
But that's no surprise.
Keep your focus,
And see your goal.
Always be mindful,
Don't fall in a hole.
Always be vigilant,
And never surrender.
Keep doing what's good,
Let kamma be your tender.
Kindly shared by our friend Kevin Walker. (on the path)
On this Noble Eightfold Way (Ariya Atthangika Magga):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Middle_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_3-fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Noble_8_fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Rare_Emergence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Noble_8-Fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Golden_Middle_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Three_Trainings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fruits_of_the_Noble_Way.htm
Rescue ...
Heading Home ..
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Salvation.htm
Friends:
Why Does Mind Avoid the Present Moment?
Is mind truly capable of operating in this present and real moment of now?
Memory-dwelling: When mind is stuck in the forever gone and now unreal past:
Memory is at best incomplete, one sided, and revisionist, since consciousness
is a process, which moulds thoughts of past events into forms coloured by
preferences and biases conditioned by past education, experience, and not
so sound reasoning. These are simply attachments serving the ego, this elusive
delusional self with what it wants to hear. Since this memory requires mental
processing any noticing of its conclusions, is not truly in the present moment,
since mind processes these thoughts, feelings, emotions, perspectives, attitudes,
and viewpoints constructed in the past. The moment any mental state/idea is
formulated by mind, time continues its flow leaving mind behind stuck in the past...
Planning ahead: When mind imagines the yet uncome and equally unreal future:
Originating from the same mental processes, the motivation to make plans is
indicative of an afflicted mind. It is a mind conditioned by dukkha, that is:
Mental and/or physical pain, suffering, stressed and dissatisfied, tormented
with feelings rising out of a constant dissatisfaction with the present state,
something - often indefinable, yet indispensable - is missing... which necessitates
a desperate need to protect this delusional self against this ever frustrating now!
Such a mind is struggling to prevent, what it realizes as inevitable deterioration,
death, and annihilation. Moment by moment. Life by life. Such projection and
imagination of the future - near as distant - is notoriously inaccurate, unreliable
and often wide of the mark of reality, and thus folly fairy-tale day-dreaming...
Mindfulness of the present and Meditation Reveals How Our Minds Operate:
Real-time personal observation of our own mind operating in what might be
the best approximation of the present moment is during awareness meditation.
It reminds of sitting in the middle of a busy train terminal watching travellers
come into and disappear out of our view. There seems to be no mental limit as
to direction, volume, or capacity in this often chaotic flow of passing thoughts,
that all arise conditioned by mental contact with both external & internal events,
past, present and future, all totally out of reach of our personal control now...
Being obsessively preoccupied with following after the captivating content of this
mental flux of noisy conceptual abstractions, continuously evades the real present..
This does not mean that we are left helpless, as we can chose to:
A. Pay attention to these mental phenomena, thereby giving them importance
and conditioned reinforcement will result in clinging and attachment.
B. Or, passively observe, smiling in equanimity, simply letting them pass away
into the same empty mental oblivion from which they arose.
C. Final solution: The Stilling of all conceptual Thinking (vitakka-vicara):
Develop and train a mind, which is totally devoid of the arising of thought,
where all mental processing has ceased. This is a mind free of clinging, desire,
and attachment. When all mental processing has ceased, such a mind is truly
in the present moment, because no reflection is required, as no mental, or
physical action is being processed, or even contemplated..
It all boils down to a personal choice to participate, or not to participate in
these flickering, yet captivating labyrinths of insignificant mental processing..
When faced with such decisions it is quite beneficial to follow Buddha's
advice to his son as given in the Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta regarding
the crucial importance of observing, practicing and training our minds.
Source: Majjhima Nikaya 61: Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta:
Instructions to Rahula on the Mango Stone.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.061.than.html
By our friend Ronald J. Chiodi, Concord USA.
More on awareness of the present = Mindfulness (Sati):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Winning_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Aware_and_Settled.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Noble_Awareness.htm
Evading the Present Reality ..
Why Does Mind Avoid the Present Moment?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Evading_the_Present.htm
Friends:
The 4 Foundations of Awareness:
Which Four Foundations?
1: Only if and when the Noble Friend resides regarding any Body -own or other-
simply as a heaped up group, just as a transient, compounded and complex form,
only as a fragile, accumulated and alien assemblage, while being alert, aware and
thereby clearly comprehending, then will he cause effective removal of all urge,
and frustration rooted in this world…!
2: Only if and when a Noble Friend dwells observing any Feeling –from within or
from without– simply as an affective emotional reaction, as an assigned response,
only as a fleeting sensation, while being keen, fully conscious and continuously
attentive, then will he thereby consequently eliminate all desire, and discontent
caused simply by being in contact with this world…!
3: Only if and when a Noble Friend abides viewing any Mood –present or remote-
simply as a fancy temper, just as a made up mentality, only as a conscious moment,
while being ready, actively investigating and deliberately discriminating, then will
he thereby naturally eradicate all longing, and sadness inherent in this world…!
4: Only when a clever Friend lives comprehending any Phenomenon –internal or external –
simply as a passing mental state, just as a mentally created and conditioned construct,
only as an experienced appearance, merely as a created, imaginary, & reflected imprint,
while being acutely awake, mindful and carefully understanding, then will he thereby
overcome all attraction and repulsion entrenched, and ingrained in this world…!
Without any even single exception:
Whoever in the distant and ancient past has Awakened to full Enlightenment;
Whoever in the present, right now is Awakening to complete Enlightenment;
Whoever in the near and far future will ever Awaken to perfect Enlightenment;
All those have been freed, is being freed, and will be freed only through and by:
Initiating, cultivating & establishing these unique 4 Foundations of Awareness!
The single and sole cause of really being mentally really present…!
Check it Out: It pays off inestimably!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Crucial_Foundation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_and_only_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Four_Foundations_of_Awareness.htm
Clever Presence!
The 4 Foundations of Awareness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Clever_Presence.htm
Friends:
How to Feed the ability to Investigate all states!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, as this body, is sustained by feeding, exists in dependence on
feeding & cannot survive without food, so are the 7 Links to Awakening
also sustained by feeding, they can only exist in dependence on feeding
and they cannot survive without feeding... And what is the feeding of the
emergence of any yet unarisen Investigation & feeding of the completion
by progress of already arisen Investigation of states Link to Awakening?
This formula: There are states that are:
1: Advantageous or Disadvantageous.
2: Blamable or Blameless.
3: Ordinary or Excellent.
4: On the Bright side or on the Dark side.
Frequently giving careful & rational attention to them, is feeding arising
of any unarisen ability to investigate & feeding also for the fulfillment
of any already arisen Investigation of states Link to Awakening...
And what, Bhikkhus, is the starving that obstructs the emergence of yet
unarisen ability to investigate & which also hinders ongoing Investigation?
There are, bhikkhus, things that are advantageous or disadvantageous,
blamable or blameless, ordinary or excellent and on the bright side or on
the dark side: not giving frequent, careful & rational attention to them,
not considering them much and often, is the starving that prevents any
unarisen ability to investigate from arising and also blocks any already
arisen investigation of states link to awakening from reaching complete
fulfillment and refinement by mental development...
Comments from the classical commentaries:
Examining is the characteristic of the Investigation Link to Awakening
(Dhamma-Vicaya-sambojjhanga). Scrutiny, inspection, inquiry, exploration,
analysis, research & repeated review is the purpose of the investigation.
Interested and eager curiosity is the manifestation of this investigating.
Before, while and after doing any mental, verbal or bodily action simply
then ask yourself: Are this behaviour advantageous or disadvantageous,
blamable or blameless, ordinary or excellent, on the bright or dark side
and act accordingly! Keep on refining this crucial ethical discrimination!
Conditions helpful for the emergence of the ability to investigate are:
1: Asking questions to yourself and those you respect.
2: Clean, healthy and hygienic mental, physical and bodily praxis.
3: Avoidance of people with reduced and confused understanding.
4: Friendship with people with exact and profound understanding.
5: Repeated reviewing reflection on all the deeper questions.
6: Commitment to finding out precisely why and how: Cause and effect!
There is investigation of external states and there is investigation of
internal states. Both are crucial for all progress towards understanding.
Awakening is a pure knowing that is the result of perfect investigation!
Sources (edited extracts):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 65-6+102-8] 46: Links. 2+51: Group & Nutriments....
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Investigation_Vicaya.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/The_7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
Check it Out!
Feeding the ability to Investigate!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Investigation.htm