Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

Exploring the Dhamma, as understood from the perspective of the ancient Pali commentaries.
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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13. FOUR KINDS OF ATTACHMENT

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The four snakes in this picture represent four kinds of attachment: kamupadana (grasping arising from sense desires), ditthupadana (grasping at views philosophical and theological), silabbatupadana (grasping at belief in the efficacy of rites and vows), attavadupadana (grasping at belief in a soul theory). Any manner of attachment is, of course, the result of ignorance and like the entwinement of a snake. (It is noteworthy that these four graspings are shown by snakes looped and wound about each other indicating that all the graspings are interrelated. They illustrate very well the sense of being bound by or tied down to the ordinary round of life.)

pursuing here the The Atthaka Vagga
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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14. UNDERSTANDING AND ATTACHMENT

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The man standing complacently as if unaware of his danger, (on the left of this picture), is entwined by the four snakes shown in the last illustration. The wise man on the right sits freely in his palace and recognizing them, points to the four kinds of grasping.

(Grasping at belief in the soul or abiding self is the snake which is poised over his head, while in his left hand he grasps at sense-desire. His right hand lays hold of theological and philosophical views while he is hobbled and cannot walk along the Practice-path of Dhamma because the snake of believe in the efficacy of rites and vows has him by the heels.)
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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15. THE WHEEL OF WANDERING-ON

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The four men confined in the inner circle represent again the four kinds of grasping, while the six men in the outer circle stand for the five sensory and one mental perception (seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, touching, and thought). These sense -perceptions are the cause of suffering and entanglement in the Wheel of Wandering-on (in birth-and-death).*

So long as the men do not realize the truth, they cannot escape being trapped. Held captive by misunderstanding their perceptions, men are also subject to birth, old age, sickness and death.




*This is portrayed in great detail in the paintings of the Wheel of Wandering-on originating in India but a tradition now confined to Tibet. Three Wats in Siam now also possess such paintings: Suan Mokkhabalarama in Chaiya, Wat Khao Krailas, Hua Hin, and Wat Bovoranives, Bangkok.

supplemental the The Wheel of Birth and Death by Bhikkhu Khantipalo
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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16. OCEAN CLOSE TO THE EYES - UNSEEN

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The larger circle on the left with four men represent the wheel of birth, old-age, sickness and death. The fish in the smaller circle on the right are symbolic of all beings caught in the Wheel of Wandering-on.

Fish, in their natural habitat of water, do not recognize it as water because their environment has never changed so that they have no basis for comparison. Men too, are not aware of dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) because they know nothing else. Water symbolizes the Ocean of Wandering-on, while the dry land close at hand, is Nibbana that the fish think of approaching, (as men do not think to „approach“ Nibbana which is so „close“ to them).


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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17. EFFECT OF IGNORANCE

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The top part of the picture shows an elephant caught in the mud of ignorance. The harder the elephant struggles not knowing the correct way to free himself, the deeper he sinks. (This is exactly the same with many people who realize to some extent how they are trapped in their lives but who, as they fail to discern the cause of their troubles, cannot remedy them. The wise man standing nearby is detached from the turmoil and exhorts us to beware of this treacherous mud.) The two men at the bottom, are engaged in sawing through the tree of ignorance. Both of them wear crowns of high station signifying that no matter how high one’s position, one is also subject to ignorance of real condition of samara. Thus attaining freedom is not easy. The wise man, seated at ease, is one who has relized the truth, being detached and free.


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Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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18. WRONG PRACTICE OF BUDDHA-DHAMMA

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The Buddha, here representing the true teaching, is being attacked by three monks and one laymen. The fact that there is only one layman attacking the teachings indicates that many monks, once having been ordinated in the order, continue to follow false path and are attached to ceremony. They are indifferent to the true teachings and prefer the Wheel of Wandering-on to Nibbana.

(Monks, as they are more conspicuous than layman and because they are supposed to be devoting their lives to the Three Gems, and because it is known that they have many precepts to keep pure, can attack the Dhamma by misconduct in a more violent way than is possible for laypeople)

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Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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19. RIGHT PRACTICE OF BUDDHA-DHAMMA

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This picture illustrates the adoration of the Three Gems by four persons representing the four constituents of the Buddhist community: a monk (bhikkhu), nun (bhikkhuni), layman (upasaka) and laywoman (upasika). For some reason or other, it has not been completed.

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Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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20. ACCEPTANCE OF THE DHAMMA

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The monks carrying a fan in this picture, shows acceptance of Dhamma for both thorough study (pariyatti) and practice (patipatti). (Study without practice produces the dry scholar for whom all wisdom is found in books. Practice without study though often accompanied by intense but blind faith, easily leads to taking a wrong path. These two are complementary aspects and if one or the other is lacking, it is not likely that one will be able to gain realization of Dhamma or penetration [pativedha].)


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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21. MEDITATION IN A SECLUDED PLACE

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This picture depicts meditation in a secluded place. According to the Pali Canon, such a place is found at the food of a tree, in a forest or cave, on a mountain, in a cemetery, jungle, or in a peaceful and secluded open space.

(The cultivation of solitude in living (kaya-viveka) is useful for the development of solitude of the heart (citta-viveka) when it is separated from mental defilements, and this in turn leads on to the ultimate solitude, the final separation from all bases for future existence - upadhi-viveka)


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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22. CONTEMPLATION ON CORPSES I-II

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At this point, we have reached the essential method of meditation taught through this book: reflection on foulness (asubha kammatthana) or the use of corpses as objects for contemplation and realization of impermanence. (There are ten Reflections on Foulness given in the Discourses and in the „Path of Purification“ Visuddhimagga each of the corpses varying according to the stage of decay reached. However, Teachers of meditation in Siam often teach that one should see one‘s own body as though it were one of these corpses. Only then will one find Freedom (vimutti) from the idea that the body is „me“ or „mine“.) There are two corpses in this picture, and the monks are using both the bloated corpse (uddhumata) at the top, and the livid corpse from green to blue-black in colour (vinilaka) at the bottom, as objects of meditation. The purpose of this type of meditation is to lead the monk to the realization of the changeability and unwholesomeness of the body. Once this is thoroughly understood, a monk can no longer be attached to his body.

(The „Path of Purification“, Chapter VI says that the former type is suitable for one who is greedy about shape, form or figure since it makes evident the disfigurement of the body‘s shape. The latter, the livid, is recommended for those greedy for the skin‘s colour and complexion since the disfiguring of the skin‘s colour is evident.)


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Last edited by Hanzze on Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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23. CONTEMPLATION ON CORPSES III-IV

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Above is seen a festering corpse (vipubbaka) while below is a cut-up corpse (vicchiddaka). Both are being used as objects of meditation. (The former suited to those keen about the body‘s smell when scents and perfumes are used, since it makes evident the foul stench of this sore, the body; while the latter is useful for those who think of the body as „one thing“, since hollowness and lack of singleness becomes evident in the cut-up corpse.)


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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24. CONTEMPLATION ON CORPSES V-VI

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The corpse in the top part of this picture is called “the gnawed” (vikkhayita) or one which has been dismembered and gnawed by dogs. The one below is called “the scattered” (vikkhittaka), or a corpse that has been separated and scattered by its exposure to nature and beasts. (the gnawed is suited to those who lust after accumulation of flesh in such places as the breasts since it makes plain how such prized flesh-masses come to naught. “The scattered” should be used by those who are greedy for grace of limbs for it can be seen how without grace are scattered limbs.)


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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25. CONTEMPLATION ON CORPSES VII-VIII

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The corpse at the top is know as “the hacked and scattered” (hatavikkhittaka), and the one below is called “lohitaka” or a bleeding corpse. (The first is recommended for the use of those who have greed for beauty of the body as a whole since it makes evident the disintegration and alteration of the body. The bleeding corpse is suitable for one greedy in seeing elegance of ornaments and fine cloth since the body’s repulsiveness when smeared by blood.)


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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26. CONTEMPLATION ON CORPSES IX-X

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This picture completes the sequence of ten objects of contemplation of the foul by illustrating a worm-infested corpse (puluvaka) at the top, and the bone’s remaining from a corpse at the bottom (atthika).

(The first of these suits those who think that “this body is mine”, for having this sense of ownership over the body they must be rather disillusioned to see a corpse shared with many families of worms. As the “Path of Purification” also says: “This is shared by many and creatures live in dependence on (all parts and organs) and feed (on them). And there they are born, grow, old and die, evacuate and pass water; and the body is their maternity home, their hospital, their charnel ground, their privy and their urinal...” The last of the ten reflections upon foulness is for those who are greedy about having and seeing fine bones, especially teeth, since the repulsiveness of bones is evident.

(If one passes over these pages quickly or finds them of little interest, this will reveal the fact that one has little inclination to face the true nature of one’s body instead prefer these subjects of great interest since they help to eliminate greed, making him dispassionate regarding the body, which does not in any case, “belong” to anyone.)





Download of The path of purity; being a translation of Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga by Pe Maung Tin ([1922])
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
User avatar
Hanzze
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Re: Teaching Dhamma by Pictures

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27. THREE ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE

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This picture deals with the three essentials for successful practice of Dhamma. They are: preference (chanda), energy (viriya), and self-confidence (vesarajja). Preference here is expressed by two Devas holding gems or diamonds in their hands. The man working the bellows is an expression of energy and action necessary to create the fire, which in turn, is powerful enough to melt any material. The next part of the picture shows a mouse chasing two tiger and is an example of self-confidence. For if we wish to practice Dhamma, we must be confident and resolute in fighting the tigers of the defilements.


.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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