Search found 60 matches
- Sat May 21, 2011 9:51 am
- Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
- Topic: The end goal of Buddhism
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1884
Re: The end goal of Buddhism
That one's easy. How do you know when you get to Disney Land? Or to the Moon? The goal of Buddhism is not an attainment, not something that you gain and so have to ask yourself if you actually have it or not, it's the elimination of all suffering through clear discernment of reality. Since this is a...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:29 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
So all this talking wouldn't help unless it gave rise to stream-entry? Well, since tilt wants it back on subject anyway, no more dukkha-talk.
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:55 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
Enlightenment is not about not experiencing; in that sense dukkha may have been used to indicate something unpleasant, but it goes on to say he was unperturbed (and that's the part that keeps being left out; it's one full explanation, don't stop at "dukkha"). This is what enlightenment is;...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:45 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
So cling to those, does that help? Does not understanding them as stories, possibly translated poorly into English or misunderstood make more sense? Dukkha is what the purpose of the teachings is about; that it's our condition, but we may become free of it. We can't get stuck on the words as if they...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:38 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
It's a story to convey the point that the Buddha was unsure whether or not the Dharma would be understood; if it was skillful to teach it. There's much more to go on; the Tipitaka is vast but if you read a deal of it the pieces fit together. Taken out of context, or not understood as a traditional a...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:34 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
Incomplete. One can't understand with a simple definition; that is what we cling to, get stuck on. There's more to study that explains the Four Noble Truths and dukkha in more detail, and then practice is what truly gives the mind's eye a view of this truth. If you read more than you can bear on Acc...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:27 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
- Topic: Acquiring the meditational skills to attain Nibbana
- Replies: 15
- Views: 3424
Re: Acquiring the meditational skills to attain Nibbana
Be mindful of your in and out breathing at all times, even before falling asleep, not forcing but knowing each breath fully. This is called Samatha. Samatha develops a tranquility of mind, a calmness, and from this calm insight arises. This is called Vipassana. They are not two different things, but...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:16 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet & Fitness
- Topic: pain
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1772
Re: pain
good!
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:13 pm
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: How important is The Buddha to Buddhism?
- Replies: 115
- Views: 18921
Re: How important is The Buddha to Buddhism?
You know, training and teaching people with varying levels of understanding is really difficult. Some people have certain ideas, you tell them something and they don’t believe you. You tell them the truth and they say it’s not true. “I’m right, you’re wrong...” There’s no end to this. If you don’t ...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:06 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
This understanding of dukkha seems to be important, and until it came up in this forum I hadn't heard it mistaken. Dukkha is not any thing of itself... dukkha is what arises when there is wrong view in combination with sight, sound, touch, smell, taste or thought. Dukkha is what arises to the unenli...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:28 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: the great rebirth debate
- Replies: 7559
- Views: 1337172
Re: the great rebirth debate
from the teachings of Ajahn Chah: Even the Buddha experienced these things, he experienced comfort and pain, but he recognized them as conditions in nature. He knew how to overcome these ordinary, natural feelings of comfort and pain through understanding their true nature. Because he understood thi...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:15 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: not the only one
- Replies: 2
- Views: 976
Re: not the only one
The nature of one is the nature of all. If you only think of yourself, you are not seeing the Dhamma in all things, and so will not see with discernment that all worldly phenomena are impermanent, bound with suffering and not self. Our particular mess is one of duality, of separation. We should see ...
- Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:47 am
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: How important is The Buddha to Buddhism?
- Replies: 115
- Views: 18921
Re: How important is The Buddha to Buddhism?
This from the teachings of Ajahn Chah: Where is the Buddha? We may think the Buddha has been and gone, but the Buddha is the Dhamma, the Truth. Some people like to say, “Oh, if I was born in the time of the Buddha I would go to Nibbana.” Here, stupid people talk like this. The Buddha is still here. ...
- Sun Dec 19, 2010 5:27 am
- Forum: Connections to Other Paths
- Topic: NDE Elements & Buddhist Experience
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2197
Re: NDE Elements & Buddhist Experience
I'm not surprised. Anything to cling to, right?
- Sun Dec 19, 2010 5:26 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: suffering
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1536
Re: suffering
Contact with the object (through the senses) combined with ignorance. In each experience, for every sensation, see that all things arise and fall (are impermanent), are bound with unsatisfactoriness and are not separate (neither self nor other). Anicca-Dukkha-Anatta. The purpose of Buddhist practice...