1)A consistency in implementation or understanding.tiltbillings wrote:What do you mean by orthodox?
If Khun Sujin is unorthodox wouldn't that be in relation to what is orthodox?
1)A consistency in implementation or understanding.tiltbillings wrote:What do you mean by orthodox?
Damdifino. Scrap the word orthodox. If bhavana practice is a central practice to the various meditation traditions within Theravada, then the Sujin tradition is an outlier in its characterization of what bhavana is in these non-Sujin traditions: self/lobha driven wrong path practices.Mr Man wrote:1)A consistency in implementation or understanding.tiltbillings wrote:What do you mean by orthodox?
If Khun Sujin is unorthodox wouldn't that be in relation to what is orthodox?
It's prudent to consult the earliest relevant stratas of commentary when attempting to interpret a given sutta passage. Not doing so can result in all kinds of interpretive nonsense, as I see it.daverupa wrote:However, looking for consistency with abhidhammas & commentaries is doing it backwards, as I see it.
There's no evidence that the suttas were ever meant to be taken as comprehensive explanations of all aspects of the gradual training. Also, within the sutta collections there are numerous suttas that are said to have been expounded by disciples both during the Buddha's life and after his parinibbāna.daverupa wrote:It begs the question why it fell to later disciples to extrapolate these details if the Buddha could have done so.
So what do you have confidence in?daverupa wrote:Additionally, since the Nikayas were largely open to editorial manipulation for at least a century, as well as being subject to the vagaries of unintended oral tradition interpolations, I fail to find confidence in such vague precedents as these.
I am confident that this pillory is off-topic.Ñāṇa wrote:So what do you have confidence in?
You brought up the issues of authority and Nikāya interpretation here:daverupa wrote:I am confident that this pillory is off-topic.Ñāṇa wrote:So what do you have confidence in?
I think consideration of the implications and consequences of these issues is relevant to the topic.daverupa wrote:I seem able to trace it back to which texts (written and spoken) are taken as authoritative. For example, the first thread of this name having been posted in the Classical section showcases what that point of view requires in terms of textual support. Without that, the points are matters of Nikaya interpretation instead of the pursuit of a certain scholastic orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
Well, readily thinking that one's whole daily life is just one big vipassana practice already - that can be a massive ego delusion and cushioning oneself from life right there.Dan74 wrote:Robertk has posted a thread with this title in Classical Theravada and invited people who are interested in other approaches to do this elsewhere. I think it may be worthwhile to explore why there are diametrically opposed approaches to this question.
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For my part I think Khun Sujin's views are conditioned by the apprehension of the pitfalls of meditation whereby some practitioners develop quietly massive egos or cushion themselves from life through their bliss-escapes. Perhaps the path she advocates is safer?
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So this inner sensitivity, something totally private to you, is what you're trying to develop here. That's where you start; that's what helps keep you on the path.
And of course, this sensitivity doesn't necessarily have to be here only while you're sitting and meditating. Try to keep in touch throughout the day with your inner experience of what you're doing and what stress is or is not arising as a result of what you're doing, the little choices you make inside. Try to carry that awareness around as much as you can, in all your activities. Make that your first priority. When you act, act from that point. When you speak, speak from that point. When you think, think from that point.
In that way the meditation becomes timeless. Ajaan Fuang once made the comment that our lives are often chopped up into little times: time to eat, time to talk, time to go here, go there, do this, do that. Instead of having more time when life has more times like this, everything gets chopped up into little tiny pieces and becomes less. But when you make this inner sensitivity as continuous as possible — you breathe in, let the body breathe out if it wants to, but you don't have to force the breath out; breathe in again, breathe in again — that inner sense of wellbeing can grow. Then as you carry it through the day, it becomes solid. It may take time to focus on it, time to get a sense of what helps it, what doesn't help it. But the sense of inner refreshment that comes: You want that to be as continuous as possible. The more continuous it is, the more strength it develops. The more resilient it becomes, the more you can rely on it, even in very difficult situations. This involves unlearning some old habits. Society often teaches us to give all our attention to things outside. What happens of course is that we lose touch with our own inner sensitivity. We become strangers to ourselves.
So reintroduce yourself to this inner sensitivity. Open up this area of your awareness, and be as sensitive to it as possible. In that way the meditation will grow in an organic way — not from words imposed outside, or ideas imposed from how you understand the words outside, but from a direct experience of what's actually going on inside. What works and what doesn't work, what's skillful, what's not, where there's stress, where there is no stress: These are the questions that only you can observe and only you can know. And they can be answered only by a very honest sensitivity that's always willing to learn more.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ml#private
Alex123 wrote:It is harder to remember the Dhamma truths when one is at the club or a busy shopping mall.
Well, I did get an insight from posture: leaning back in a chair or sofa or against a wall translates into a helpless victim attitude for me.I also notice the difference in mental states between sitting and reclining (I have poor health). So in some way, posture DOES DOES matter - at least for me. Of course it does not cause insight, it merely helps with attention and then it is possible to see the truths and get insight.
Agreed; "what I am confident in" is not.Ñāṇa wrote:I think consideration of the implications and consequences of these issues is relevant to the topic.
The place where she speaks is a typical Thai type place with people coming or going all day.Mr Man wrote:robertk, I'd be interested to hear how Khun Sujin "fits in" to Buddhism within the Thai context. Do her Thai students offer alms food, tam boon, wai phra, take the precepts from a monk etc. I understand that she is often on the Radio and is well known within "dhamma" circles. How is she generally received? Who were her Dhamma teachers/influences . Did she ever practice "formal" meditation?
Posts which do not comply with this clause will be subject to moderation and/or disciplinary action.2a. Respect other approach to the Dhamma
There are a broad spectrum of approaches to, and interpretations of, the Dhamma. Please refrain from wholesale dismissal of a particular view, approach, or teaching style.