Hi Sam Vara, Q: - "Are there any suttas which are helpful in explaining what paññā (wisdom or discernment) is, especially in terms of everyday practice? How do we know whether we are acting with paññā or not?" This is a difficult question to answer. The truth is that one is either an ordin...

Hi everyone, What is this 'something other', this 'outside'? It is called nibbana, or the deathless, or the unconditioned. Can this be seen, to some extent, before full liberation? The Buddha says: "Which two things are to be thoroughly learnt? Two elements, the conditioned and the unconditione...

Hi JohnK, Here is the Pali. “santi kho, migajāla, cakkhuviññeyyā rūpā iṭṭhā kantā manāpā piyarūpā kāmūpasaṃhitā rajanīyā. tañce bhikkhu abhinandati abhivadati ajjhosāya tiṭṭhati. tassa taṃ abhinandato abhivadato ajjhosāya tiṭṭhato uppajjati nandī. nandisamudayā dukkhasamudayo, migajālāti vadāmi ...&...

Hi everyone, Are the aggregates and dependent origination the same thing? In the sense that if all twelve formations cease, then there are no longer any aggregates? MN 28.28 says that: 'these five aggregates affected by clinging are dependently arisen.' I think that the last eight formations are the...

Hi Sam Vara, Sam Vara said:- "I might be misunderstanding you here, but could you please clarify why you think there needs to be something "outside the chain"? Could not that understanding also be dependently arisen?" Good question. SN 12.67 explicitly says that all twelve items ...

Welcome back Kevin.

Hi everyone, Another discourse on Dependent Origination which makes a similar point is SN 12.67. Each item in the chain is said to be: 'not created by oneself or another ..' It then describes a bhikkhu who: ' is practising for the purpose of revulsion towards aging-and-death, for its fading away and...

Hi johnK, JohnK said:-"I usually don't get involved in these types of discussion, but... I'm not sure what you mean by this being a "real problem" -- for the "uninstructed" perhaps?" Vincent:- No, not just for the uninstructed. JohnK:- "Don't the teachings suggest ...

Hi form, form said:- "It is kind of funny that the Buddha used "I say, and I don't say" when he expressed there is no one behind the phenomena. I was often baffled by this behaviour in the beginning, till I read somewhere he said it is OK to act conventionally to people. But till now ...

Hi everyone, “Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to be and for the assistance of those about to come to be. What four? The nutriment edible food, gross or subtle; second, contact; third, mental volition; fourth, consciousness. These...

Hi [name redacted by admin], From the Buddhist Dictionary: saṃyojana: 'fetters'. There are 10 fetters tying beings to the wheel of existence, namely: (1) personality-belief (sakkāya-diṭṭhi, q.v.), (2) sceptical doubt (vicikicchā q.v.), (3) clinging to mere rules and ritual (sīlabbata-parāmāsa; s. up...

Hi everyone, SN 12.12 - Bhikkhu Bodhi - suttacentral.net. At Savatthī. “Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that have already come to be and for the assistance of those about to come to be. What four? The nutriment edible food, gross or subtle; second, con...

Hi everyone, SN 22.44 At Savatthi. “Bhikkhus, I will teach you the way leading to the origination of identity and the way leading to the cessation of identity. Listen to that…. “And what, bhikkhus, is the way leading to the origination of identity? Here, bhikkhus, the uninstructed worldling … regard...

Hi everyone, I intend to quote some discourses which speak of the cessation of the clinging aggregates, using the alternative term 'sakkaya.' One problem with this term is that every translator seems to use a different word for it. Bhikkhu Bodhi uses 'identity', Ven. Thanissaro uses 'identification'...

Hi [name redacted by admin],

S. iv.118 is SN 35.132 - Lohicca.

Ud 71 is Udana chapter 6, sutta 8, Courtesan.

Regards, Vincent.