Ñāṇa wrote:kirk5a wrote:And then there are the words of the Thai forest masters such as Luang Pu Dulaya "Dun" Atulo, student of Ajahn Mun for 16 years. It's like discovering a trove of stuff that is not being acknowledged. These are Theravada teachers here, right?
From the section titled "The Citta is Buddha":
"The single citta, this alone is Buddha. There is no difference between Buddha and all worldly beings except that worldly beings cling to the various worldly forms causing them to search for "Buddha Nature" (Buddha Bhava) externally. That very search makes them miss "Buddha Nature". This is like using Buddha to search for Buddha or the citta to search for the citta. Even though they may try as hard as they can for a full eon, they will never achieve "Buddha Bhava"...."
This is translated from a transcription of a tape recording by Ajahn Dune, which has been identified as him reading a translation of Chinese Chan patriarch Huangbo Xiyun's
Chung-ling Record. Huangbo's teachings were translated into Thai by Ajahn Buddhadasa, not directly from the Chinese but from the English translation of John Blofeld.
Ha! No wonder. I thought that sounded familiar. Thanks for making that clear.
Still, this part is directly from him, no?
"The principles of the Four Noble Truths are:
The citta that is sent outside is Samudaya. (Cause)
The result from sending the citta outside is Dukkha. (Suffering)
Citta seeing citta is Magga. (The Way)
The results of citta seeing citta are Nirodha. (Cessation)
The practice of Dhamma is the practicing of calm and insight meditation (Samatha-Vipassana-Kammatthana) and it is only concerned with going beyond dukkha. In short, the citta is Buddha; the citta is Dhamma, a special state of not coming or going with complete purity and without the need for "someone" pure or "one" who knows that they are pure. It is above both good and evil.
It does not have the character of physical form (Rupa) or mentality (Nama)."
As for the view expressed there, I'd suggest that it's far more skillful to follow the advise of the Buddha as recorded in the Pāḷi Canon. This will safeguard against engaging in pointless mental proliferation (papañca). Suttanipāta 5.6:
- [Upasiva:] He who has reached the end: Does he not exist, or is he for eternity free from dis-ease? Please, sage, declare this to me as this phenomenon has been known by you.
[The Buddha:] One who has reached the end has no criterion by which anyone would say that — for him it doesn't exist. When all phenomena are done away with, all means of speaking are done away with as well.
All the best,
Geoff
Well, if such teachings were so unskillful, they wouldn't have finally cleared things up for Ajahn Chah when he met Ajahn Mun.
http://www.abhayagiri.org/pdf/books/Thu ... en_Sky.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"But the most clarifying explanation, one that gave him the necessary
context or basis for practice that he had been hitherto lacking, was
of a distinction between the mind itself and transient states of
mind which arose and passed away within it.
'Tan Ajahn Mun said they're merely states. Through not
understanding that point we take them to be real, to be the mind
itself. In fact they're all just transient states. As soon as he said that,
things suddenly became clear. Suppose there's happiness present in
the mind; it’s a different kind of thing, it’s on a different level, to
the mind itself. If you see that then you can stop, you can put
things down. When conventional realities are seen for what they
are then it’s ultimate truth. Most people lump everything together
as the mind itself, but actually there are states of mind together
with the knowing of them. If you understand that point then there's
not a lot to do.' "
"When one thing is practiced & pursued, ignorance is abandoned, clear knowing arises, the conceit 'I am' is abandoned, latent tendencies are uprooted, fetters are abandoned. Which one thing? Mindfulness immersed in the body." -AN 1.230