Search found 23 matches
- Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:25 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Many lifetimes of paramita development needed to be aryan?
- Replies: 591
- Views: 117440
Re: Many lifetimes of paramita development needed to be aryan?
Even someone with tremendous Parami can go to hell. We have various accumulations and create various kammas. Therefore, I could devote my lifetime (and many of them) to developing the Parami, yet, the afflictions remaining uprooted, could kill a man who tries to burglarize my home and so forth, esp...
- Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:13 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Many lifetimes of paramita development needed to be aryan?
- Replies: 591
- Views: 117440
Re: Many lifetimes of paramita development needed to be aryan?
According to Theravada it is possible to achieve enlightenment in this lifetime, but only if you have been developing all of the perfections for many. many lifetimes already. I doubt that very much. Take the leper Suppabuddho for example (Udana V, 3) or the nun Isidasi (Therigatha 400 et seq.). Sup...
- Sat Feb 06, 2010 5:36 pm
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: the Dhamma without rebirth: amoral and what else?
- Replies: 107
- Views: 18500
Re: the Dhamma without rebirth: amoral and what else?
What do you get instead of death? Freedom from fear/anxiety. That's what you get when you die too. Dukkha is not an intellectual problem. Emotions are blind. They don't care about "logic" or "reason". Apart from that I don't deny "rebirth". It's just not my main motiva...
- Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:12 pm
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: the Dhamma without rebirth: amoral and what else?
- Replies: 107
- Views: 18500
Re: the Dhamma without rebirth: amoral and what else?
Freedom from fear/anxiety.nowheat wrote:What do you get instead of death?Abyss wrote: What about death? I don't want to die, therefore I seek liberation from death in this very life, which is possible according to the Buddha..
- Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:35 pm
- Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
- Topic: Anatta as the basis for insight - What object? What benefit?
- Replies: 72
- Views: 18223
Re: Anatta as the basis for insight - What object? What benefit?
Why is it that my atta cannot be dukkha? Cannot be anicca? Why is it that things which are dukkha and/or anicca are not fit to be called my atta? Because "atta" involves the idea of mastery over what is regarded as "self". See MN 35 (which unfortunately is not availabe at access...
- Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:17 pm
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: the Dhamma without rebirth: amoral and what else?
- Replies: 107
- Views: 18500
Re: the Dhamma without rebirth: amoral and what else?
I agree that if we do not hold the view that rebirth is a possibility, there is no urgent reason to seek total liberation. What about death? I don't want to die, therefore I seek liberation from death in this very life , which is possible according to the Buddha. Can anyone find wording that makes ...
- Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:17 pm
- Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
- Topic: Best Dharma Talks
- Replies: 43
- Views: 22799
Re: Best Dharma Talks
Bhante Madawela Punnaji, especially his talks about samadhi.
- Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:36 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: strange logic in a sutta
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2544
Re: strange logic in a sutta
[not sure about where I should post this topic] here are the stanzas. Can anyone help understanding the meaning of the conclusion? Searching all directions with one's awareness, one finds no one dearer than oneself. In the same way, others are fiercely dear to themselves. So one should not hurt oth...
- Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:50 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
- Topic: Techniques to keep a daily meditation practice going
- Replies: 13
- Views: 3978
Re: Techniques to keep a daily meditation practice going
I would like to quote Bhante Punnaji here: When our goal in life changes to tranquility of mind, our thoughts, speech, and actions will fall in line directed towards this goal. You don't have to push yourself to meditate. Meditation will automatically occur in you because meditation is the means to ...
- Thu Jan 28, 2010 10:34 am
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: Suicide and rebirth
- Replies: 57
- Views: 10900
Re: Suicide and rebirth
If we think of suicide only as self -murder, an arahant cannot commit suicide, since he is free from the conceit "I am". But the simple fact that "pain is painful" remains even in the case of an arahant. If his body comes in contact with fire for example, he will certainly make a...
- Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:08 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: The path of the Bodhisattva in Theravada Buddhism
- Replies: 61
- Views: 17253
Re: The path of the Bodhisattva in Theravada Buddhism
I think that the path of a Bodhisattva, as imagined and stated by many, contradicts certain discourses of the Buddha. For example: To me it doesn't make sense to strive for countless aeons in order to attain Buddhahood and then, after Buddhahood is finally attained, to hesitate like this: "This...
- Mon Jan 25, 2010 4:57 pm
- Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
- Topic: How to explain death/rebirth to a child?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 3695
Re: How to explain death/rebirth to a child?
Maybe the Jataka tales are what you want. They are quite suitable for children and have a moral.
- Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:10 pm
- Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
- Topic: Career in the military?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 6143
Re: Career in the military?
I never served in the military (albeit I intented to do so in my early youth) but my father and both grandfathers did. It seems that most Buddhists are mainly concerned about the precept against killing when thinking of a soldiers life (which is quite understandable). But I also would like to bring ...
- Sat Jan 23, 2010 3:04 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: How to deny Atman - Help defending Buddhadhamma
- Replies: 96
- Views: 19099
Re: How to deny Atman - Help defending Buddhadhamma
He also keeps quoting this Verily, there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. If there were not this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the formed, would not be possible; Ud. VIII, 3. There is a great clarity here t...
- Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:11 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Are there beings becoming buddhas in deva realms?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 3267
Re: Are there beings becoming buddhas in deva realms?
While it's difficult for the Devas to keep Uposatha Precepts, do they at least keep the minimum 5 precepts? I should think so right? Otherwise, how different would they be from Petas? I think we have to remember that "deva loka" in general is the community of "the good guys". Th...