Search found 759 matches

by lostitude
Sun Mar 17, 2024 10:36 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: "If we owned our body, it would obey our every command"
Replies: 13
Views: 189

Re: "If we owned our body, it would obey our every command"

I'm adding the quote for context: "If this body is really mine, it will obey my commands. when I say "don't get old" or "I forbid you from getting hurt!" does it listen to me? No! It doesn't care about my opinion at all. We are only tenants, not owners of this "house&qu...
by lostitude
Sun Mar 17, 2024 10:26 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: "If we owned our body, it would obey our every command"
Replies: 13
Views: 189

"If we owned our body, it would obey our every command"

Hello, I keep running into this statement in Ajahn Chah's teachings. I don't understand the logic. To me this sounds like a logical fallacy, because it doesn't matter what kind of thing you own, it just does not follow that said thing will 'obey your commands', especially if it's not even a being of...
by lostitude
Wed Dec 27, 2023 10:01 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Keeping a cool head in times of hatred
Replies: 14
Views: 711

Re: Keeping a cool head in times of hatred

Thank you all for your really helpful answers! It’s really nice to have such a group to turn to when things get confusing.
by lostitude
Sun Dec 10, 2023 3:13 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Keeping a cool head in times of hatred
Replies: 14
Views: 711

Keeping a cool head in times of hatred

Hello, I feel terribly upset by the current news of daily atrocities over the last two months. If I were upset by misfortunes happening to me, I would not hesitate to refer to Buddhist teachings on how to deal with that. But in the case of other people being slaughtered and hundreds of thousands los...
by lostitude
Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:58 am
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: social anxiety
Replies: 16
Views: 2582

Re: social anxiety

In a recent talk Ajahn Brahm described how he helped someone with a debilitating anxiety. Roughly: First he asked where the anxiety manifested. A few days later he got an answer. Then he asked for a detailed description of it, how it felt etc. Where was it worst. A few days later the answer came. H...
by lostitude
Fri Jan 20, 2023 10:44 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

When you are checking your own contradiction then you use the accusation of condescend that yourself chose to start writing in this thread: "Frankly this is about as compelling as the story of Eve being created from Adam’s rib" ... "So basically the scriptures say that Buddha accesse...
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:17 pm
Forum: Pāli
Topic: Pali Resources
Replies: 115
Views: 225586

Re: "There is a book" new learners book(s) for pāḷi by J. R. Bhaddacak

I have just seen this relatively new aid for learning pāḷi, you may be interested as well. The first volume is about how to say things in pāḷi and second is about how to read pāḷi texts. "I write this book with a hope that it can be an easy starter to Pāli studies which I wish it had been my f...
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:06 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

note how you try to solve the contradiction using "mind" when you writes "yet a tree is displayed in your mind". I think you're just missing the point of the metaphor. Saying 'a tree is displayed in your mind' is similar to saying 'a tree is displayed on your screen' in the comp...
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:44 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

Yes it is since science works by assuming a substance called matter, but does that ultimately make sense? How can electrical impulses and chemicals reproduce immaterial feelings, sensations, perceptions etc long since passed? This takes us back to the hard problem of consciousness and the philosoph...
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:41 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

How can electrical impulses and chemicals reproduce immaterial feelings, sensations, perceptions etc long since passed? This takes us back to the hard problem of consciousness and the philosophy of mind. Not really. The hard problem is relevant, but not here in my opinion. Chemical and electricity ...
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:37 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

agree. Although this is what pop-Science is spreading everywhere. Science doesn't have idea about what is Gravity, although the spreading of pop-Science causes that if you says that nobody knows what is Gravity, the Science devotees will look at you like an heretical wandering outside the world. Th...
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:32 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

Johann wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:18 pm

It's possible, akaliko, good householder. Yet the "spontaneous" kind isn't very relay-able
But how do we know if the other kind is any more reliable? There hasn’t been any objective observation to that effect, right?
by lostitude
Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:29 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

If one understands the workings of kamma, and understands that "kamma, therefore, rebirth", then it stands to reason that one will "remember one's past lives". So it appears that understanding the workings of kamma will lead to an understanding of rebirth, and to the "remem...
by lostitude
Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:42 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

Well that’s exactly what I am interested in. How do we know that memories are complex and often not located in the brain? On what basis can we assert this with any degree of confidence? This would be a question for neuroscientists. Wouldn't that be a question for someone who remembers previous live...
by lostitude
Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:35 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Exact process of remembering past lives
Replies: 61
Views: 3049

Re: Exact process of remembering past lives

as happened in the past with quite Religious arguments That is just not true. Religious arguments are in the form of "that’s how it is and no rational explanation is to be expected, and any religious statement is not to be subjected to testing to check its soundness". That’s the opposite ...