Search found 9139 matches

by Spiny Norman
Wed Apr 10, 2024 9:05 am
Forum: Ordination and Monastic Life
Topic: Ajahn Chandako to James - Transition to Laylife
Replies: 18
Views: 820

Re: Ajahn Chandako to James - Transition to Laylife

santa100 wrote: Tue Apr 09, 2024 3:26 pm
It's actually one of the best gig ever, no tax, no obligations, endless supply of hot pious young women, etc....
<furtively googling "how to become a monk"> :jumping:
by Spiny Norman
Wed Apr 10, 2024 8:48 am
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Identity View
Replies: 304
Views: 10114

Re: Identity View

Coming back to the OP, it reminded me of this passage towards the end of MN1. Seeing things directly, rather than seeing things as objects experienced by a self? "The Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha directly knows earth as earth. Having directly known earth as earth, ...
by Spiny Norman
Wed Apr 10, 2024 6:49 am
Forum: Samatha Bhāvana
Topic: Do we need to make an effort to control or should we not try to control our breathing during meditation?
Replies: 15
Views: 349

Re: Do we need to make an effort to control or should we not try to control our breathing during meditation?

Note also that deciding to calm bodily fabrication - which is the in and out breath - explicitly requires controlling the breath. I would suggest calming bodily fabrication means letting go of controlling and allowing the breath to become naturally calm, controlling agitates rather than calms. :goo...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 12:00 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Eternity
Replies: 113
Views: 1279

Re: Eternity

thepea wrote: Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:48 am
Every sun-atomic particle contains mind/body/soul.
That sounds like something Deepak Chopra would say. <shudder>
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:52 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Is the nature of the mind is ignorance?
Replies: 26
Views: 507

Re: Is the nature of the mind is ignorance?

The nature of the mind is impermanence, unsatisfactory and not self. If you don't discern this nature of the mind then that is ignorance. If you discern it's nature then the mind is just part of the aggregates, then there is no longer any binding to this mind, this is the unbinding and freedom of n...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:49 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: "If we owned our body, it would obey our every command"
Replies: 88
Views: 1916

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

lostitude wrote: Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:08 am I found out that the opposite applies to nibbāna, which is the only thing that can truly be owned. Unfortunately I cannot find this passage anymore.
It would be interesting to find that passage. Who would own Nibbana? :reading:
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:41 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Eternity
Replies: 113
Views: 1279

Re: Eternity

Buddha clearly didn't teach that we have an eternal soul. Nor did he say there is no soul Nor did he say that there were no unicorns, but we don't on that account allow them to play any part in practice, do we? Well, he didn't say "no unicorns", but he did say "sabbe dhamma anatta&qu...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:27 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Eternity
Replies: 113
Views: 1279

Re: Eternity

I wouldn't try to mix concepts from different religious traditions, it's a futile task. I agree, it's futile, and it often looks like lazy perennialism, or new-age mix and match. <shudder> And understanding the differences between traditions is actually a good way of understanding what the individu...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 9:11 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Eternity
Replies: 113
Views: 1279

Re: Eternity

People think they are the same person they were (twenty years ago)… They do not account for the fact they’re someone else (Well they sort of do) Yes, and another distinction is that a soul is created at conception, and so - although it may be considered to be immortal, because it can't cease to exi...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 9:03 am
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Identity View
Replies: 304
Views: 10114

Re: Identity View

There is no CT that comes or has come to a conclusion. It’s only people / beings that can come to a conclusion. And there is a difference between presenting what others did say or did conclude and what one self understood and can thereby contribute. The focus here is on understanding the Theravada ...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 8:20 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: visible spirit body
Replies: 6
Views: 147

Re: visible spirit body

Sam Vara wrote: Tue Apr 09, 2024 6:50 am None of my meditation teachers seemed to have been interested in my penis, so perhaps you could explain the link with Theravada? This section is about connections to other paths...
Difficult to see a connection.
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 8:07 am
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Identity View
Replies: 304
Views: 10114

Re: Identity View

Ceisiwr wrote: Mon Apr 08, 2024 9:01 pm

The Path of the Dhamma is to undo the false notion of there being a self to begin with. Its a totally different trajectory to other paths like Christianity, Jainism or Vedanta to name a few. Its the opposite direction of travel.
Yes, it's a radical teaching, and challenging for many.
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 7:50 am
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Identity View
Replies: 304
Views: 10114

Re: Identity View

There is no CT that comes or has come to a conclusion. It’s only people / beings that can come to a conclusion. And there is a difference between presenting what others did say or did conclude and what one self understood and can thereby contribute. The focus here is on understanding the Theravada ...
by Spiny Norman
Tue Apr 09, 2024 7:39 am
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Identity View
Replies: 304
Views: 10114

Re: Identity View

No I'm saying that terminology is all a matter of convention, but that terms refer to events or things that can be agreed on by reasonable people as existing or happening. Your own comparison of sunrise is a case in point. Since it's pointless talking with someone uninterested in reason when it con...
by Spiny Norman
Mon Apr 08, 2024 8:47 pm
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Identity View
Replies: 304
Views: 10114

Re: Identity View

There is a self - there is no self - extreme philosophical standpoints / the two naturally occurring extreme concepts of understanding existence (dependent origination of the skandhas) which one can avoid. The skandhas arise in dependence upon conditions, but the self is only a view. "Sabbe dh...