Search found 602 matches

by Bakmoon
Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:20 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: No Wisdom without Jhana?
Replies: 78
Views: 12153

Re: No Wisdom without Jhana?

Zom wrote:Suttas say that jhana is necessary and the one & only path. That's it, no need for diversity of views on this topic.
Where do the suttas say that the four jhanas are the one and only path?
by Bakmoon
Sat Oct 01, 2016 4:49 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: No Wisdom without Jhana?
Replies: 78
Views: 12153

Re: No Wisdom without Jhana?

In the suttas, the term jhana doesn't always refer specifically to the four jhanas, but just like its Sanskrit cognate dhyana, the term can also refer to meditation in general. There are a number of examples of this, most famously section 18 of the book of ones in the Anguttara Nikaya that says that...
by Bakmoon
Fri Sep 30, 2016 8:56 pm
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: One could support the entirety of the Vipassana
Replies: 5
Views: 2073

Re: One could support the entirety of the Vipassana

One could support the entirety of the vipassana path, as detailed by the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, using only the Sutta and Vinaya pitakas, I know this intuitively but cannot explain it due to my understanding being too broad and unspecific because I have seen it explained before, but in bits and p...
by Bakmoon
Wed Sep 28, 2016 4:47 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: I am stuck in my meditation practice. Any suggestions?
Replies: 9
Views: 2558

Re: I am stuck in my meditation practice. Any suggestions?

If you want to practice Metta meditation here's a really good video with lots of instructions on how to practice it. If you want to practice Anapanasati, Ajahn Thanissaro has some good talks here. He also has talks on Metta there. He put together a very good manual on meditation called With Each and...
by Bakmoon
Wed Sep 28, 2016 4:32 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Orthodox Hindu proofs of Self/critiques of Buddhist views
Replies: 28
Views: 6955

Re: Orthodox Hindu proofs of Self/critiques of Buddhist views

I think that the fundamental error of the Mimamsa and Vedanta critiques of the doctrine of anatta is their failure to take into account the fact that Buddhist presentations present things from both a conventional perspective and an ultimate one. Although there isn't any particular entity called a se...
by Bakmoon
Tue Sep 27, 2016 1:17 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Yogacara Vijñapti-mātra
Replies: 17
Views: 6397

Re: Yogacara Vijñapti-mātra

One extremely good original source on Yogacara is the often overlooked Mahayanasamgraha of Asanga. It is a very thorough overview of the Yogacara system although it can be challenging if you aren't already familiar with basic Yogacara terminology and concepts. I think that after studying Vasubandhu'...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 24, 2016 6:23 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread
Replies: 2423
Views: 595422

Re: Is Nibbana a transcendent reality, or just a state of mind?

"There is, monks, an unborn[1] — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated. If there were not that unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, there would not be the case that escape from the born — become — made — fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn — unbecome — unma...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 24, 2016 6:19 pm
Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
Topic: Beginning the Suttas.
Replies: 17
Views: 4954

Re: Beginning the Suttas.

Thank you all for your helpful answers! What I'm beginning to understand - and please correct me if I'm wrong - is that the suttas are not really organized linearly in the same way most "books" are. That does make it a bit more challenging to find my way through the Tipitaka, but I'm goin...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 24, 2016 6:09 pm
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: Secular Vipassana?
Replies: 7
Views: 2609

Re: Secular Vipassana?

That being said, does anyone know of a book or books that explain Vipassana in a secular way? Pretty much every text on Vipassana or Mindfulness that I've looked at, both modern and traditional, would fit this bill because they usually don't get involved in the aspects of Buddhism that are more exp...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:35 pm
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: Nibbana according to Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw
Replies: 5
Views: 2819

Re: Nibbana according to Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw

So then the only time there is the total cessation of consciousness upon entering Nibbana is at the time of an Arahants death when they enter Parinibbana? Other than this there is always, without exception, lokattura citta when Nibbana is experienced? Is there a detailed distinction explained betwe...
by Bakmoon
Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:34 pm
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: Nibbana according to Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw
Replies: 5
Views: 2819

Re: Nibbana according to Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw

I am perplexed as to how this could be "experienced" other than as a retroactive viewing. If there were any experience of the event as it was happening then the mind has not ceased. Is it that one would be experiencing phala samapatti and so ones normal mind that notes has ceased but loku...
by Bakmoon
Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:28 pm
Forum: Classical Theravāda
Topic: Breath as concept vs breath as touch and movement?
Replies: 22
Views: 6644

Re: Breath as concept vs breath as touch and movement?

Thanks. In addition to this idea, I'm trying to figure out specifically: Isn't the Visuddhimagga instruction to stay with the touch and movement of the breath until the second tetrad of anapanasati and then leave it for a nimitta? The nimitta would be a conceptual and non-physical representation of...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 17, 2016 4:24 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: What is Nihilism according to Buddhist teaching?
Replies: 35
Views: 4245

Re: What is Nihilism according to Buddhist teaching?

What is Nihilism according to Buddhist teaching? It appears there are two meanings. 1)the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. 2)the belief that nothing in the world has a real existence. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=nihilism&gws_r...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:09 am
Forum: Abhidhamma
Topic: Difficulties understanding difference citta, cetiska
Replies: 4
Views: 2748

Re: Difficulties understanding difference citta, cetiska

How does the Abhidhamma view of mind compare to the 3rd frame in the Satipatthana Sutta, where the mind is described as having various qualities? See the "C. Mind" heading here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.than.html Sometimes the term citta is used in a technical sen...
by Bakmoon
Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:54 am
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: Questions on "Manual of Insight"
Replies: 5
Views: 2223

Re: Questions on "Manual of Insight"

Is this saying that mind, mental factors, matter and nibbana are all eternal and unchanging? Or is the author clearing up the view that they are eternal and unchanging by pointing out that the word mistaken for "unchanging" actually is a different word meaning "not false"? The s...