equanimity

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Taijitu
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equanimity

Post by Taijitu »

Does Buddhist teaching teach how long one maintain equanimity before one shares what one has learnt with others?
http://www.dhammawheel.com/chat/
Unfettered at last, a traveling monk,
I pass the old Zen barrier.
Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life,
Of these mountains, which shall be my home?
Manan (1591-1654)
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cooran
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Re: equanimity

Post by cooran »

Hello Taijitu,

Equanimity is quite difficult to achieve.

Quotes from the Theravada Tradition:
http://media.audiodharma.org/documents/ ... uotes.html

With metta,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Taijitu
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Location: Scotland

Re: equanimity

Post by Taijitu »

cooran wrote:Hello Taijitu,

Equanimity is quite difficult to achieve.

Quotes from the Theravada Tradition:
http://media.audiodharma.org/documents/ ... uotes.html

With metta,
Chris
Sorry I loath to be cryptic. From what little I have read of Buddhism I recall reading that Buddha had doubts that he could teach what he had learnt to others. From what I read he asked a friend if he should even try, perhaps from fear of doing more harm then good.

How long do you feel you have managed to achieve continuous equanimity for? Or do you feel you have never achieved it even for one second?
http://www.dhammawheel.com/chat/
Unfettered at last, a traveling monk,
I pass the old Zen barrier.
Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life,
Of these mountains, which shall be my home?
Manan (1591-1654)
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mikenz66
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Re: equanimity

Post by mikenz66 »

Taijitu wrote: From what little I have read of Buddhism I recall reading that Buddha had doubts that he could teach what he had learnt to others. From what I read he asked a friend if he should even try, perhaps from fear of doing more harm then good.
Here is a sutta that addresses this issue:
MN 26 wrote: I considered: ‘This Dhamma that I have attained is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, takes delight in attachment, rejoices in attachment. It is hard for such a generation to see this truth, namely, specific conditionality, dependent origination. And it is hard to see this truth, namely, the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna. If I were to teach the Dhamma, others would not understand me, and that would be wearying and troublesome for me.’ Thereupon there came to me spontaneously these stanzas never heard before:

‘Enough with teaching the Dhamma
That even I found hard to reach;
For it will never be perceived
By those who live in lust and hate.

Those dyed in lust, wrapped in darkness
Will never discern this abstruse Dhamma
Which goes against the worldly stream,
Subtle, deep, and difficult to see.’

Considering thus, my mind inclined to inaction rather than to teaching the Dhamma.

“Then, bhikkhus, the Brahmā Sahampati knew with his mind the thought in my mind and he considered: ‘The world will be lost, the world will perish, since the mind of the Tathāgata, accomplished and fully enlightened, inclines to inaction rather than to teaching the Dhamma.’ Then, just as quickly as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, the Brahmā Sahampati vanished in the Brahma-world and appeared before me. He arranged his upper robe on one shoulder, and extending his hands in reverential salutation towards me, said: ‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma, let the Sublime One teach the Dhamma. There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are wasting through not hearing the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.’ The Brahmā Sahampati spoke thus, and then he said further:

‘In Magadha there have appeared till now
Impure teachings devised by those still stained.
Open the doors to the Deathless! Let them hear
The Dhamma that the Stainless One has found.

Just as one who stands on a mountain peak
Can see below the people all around,
So, O Wise One, All-seeing Sage,
Ascend the palace of the Dhamma.
Let the Sorrowless One survey this human breed,
Engulfed in sorrow, overcome by birth and old age.

Arise, victorious hero, caravan leader,
Debtless one, and wander in the world.
Let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma,
There will be those who will understand.’

http://suttacentral.net/mn26/en/
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
:anjali:
Mike
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Taijitu
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Re: equanimity

Post by Taijitu »

Thank you.

Can you tell me please what you feel I should learn before leaving the Discovering Theravada section to post on a section that does not require someone to approve my posts?

:hug:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/chat/
Unfettered at last, a traveling monk,
I pass the old Zen barrier.
Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life,
Of these mountains, which shall be my home?
Manan (1591-1654)
SarathW
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Re: equanimity

Post by SarathW »

Hi only Discovering Theravada requires the approval. :)

Some info re Equanimity:
At Savatthi The Buddha once said:
All form is transient, all feeling is transient, all perception is transient,
all mental constructions are transient, all consciousness is transient...
This transience is suffering! What is suffering is no-self! What is no-self
should be seen as it really is with correct understanding in this very way:
'All this is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self!'...
When one sees and understands this thus, as it really is with correct and
penetrating understanding, then one maintains no views on what is past.
When one maintains no more views regarding the past, then one neither
maintains any views about the future. When one has relinquished all views
about the future, then one is not being possessed by stubborn clinging...
Having no trace of immovable clinging left, the mind becomes disillusioned
regarding all form, all feeling, all perception, all mental constructions, and
all consciousness. By that it is released from the 3 mental fermentations
through detached non-clinging... By being released, the mind is all silenced!
By being thus stilled, the mind becomes content... Being content, it is not
agitated anymore... Being thus unagitated, one indeed attains Nibbana!
Right there and then, one instantly understands: Ended is this process of
rebirth, this Noble Life has been lived, done is all what had to be done,
there is no state beyond this...
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... start=1680
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Taijitu
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:52 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: equanimity

Post by Taijitu »

SarathW wrote:Hi only Discovering Theravada requires the approval. :)

Some info re Equanimity:
At Savatthi The Buddha once said:
All form is transient, all feeling is transient, all perception is transient,
all mental constructions are transient, all consciousness is transient...
This transience is suffering! What is suffering is no-self! What is no-self
should be seen as it really is with correct understanding in this very way:
'All this is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self!'...
When one sees and understands this thus, as it really is with correct and
penetrating understanding, then one maintains no views on what is past.
When one maintains no more views regarding the past, then one neither
maintains any views about the future. When one has relinquished all views
about the future, then one is not being possessed by stubborn clinging...
Having no trace of immovable clinging left, the mind becomes disillusioned
regarding all form, all feeling, all perception, all mental constructions, and
all consciousness. By that it is released from the 3 mental fermentations
through detached non-clinging... By being released, the mind is all silenced!
By being thus stilled, the mind becomes content... Being content, it is not
agitated anymore... Being thus unagitated, one indeed attains Nibbana!
Right there and then, one instantly understands: Ended is this process of
rebirth, this Noble Life has been lived, done is all what had to be done,
there is no state beyond this...
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... start=1680
Thank you. That makes a lot of sense.

:yingyang:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/chat/
Unfettered at last, a traveling monk,
I pass the old Zen barrier.
Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life,
Of these mountains, which shall be my home?
Manan (1591-1654)
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