the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

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Spiny Norman
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by Spiny Norman »

cappuccino wrote:
Spiny Norman wrote:
cappuccino wrote:One should think in terms of not self.
Rather than no self.
What about "sabbe dhamma anatta"? That seems pretty clear.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
Ananda Sutta: To Ananda
(On Self, No Self, and Not-self)
So the Buddha didn't want to confuse Ananda by telling him he didn't have a self. OK.

But "sabbe dhamma anatta" is saying there is no self anywhere, not even "in" Nibbana. It's not like the aggregates aren't self, but something else is self - that would be more like Atman/Brahman in Hinduism.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by theY »

Spiny Norman wrote:
cappuccino wrote:
Spiny Norman wrote:...

What about "sabbe dhamma anatta"? That seems pretty clear.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
Ananda Sutta: To Ananda
(On Self, No Self, and Not-self)
So the Buddha didn't want to confuse Ananda by telling him he didn't have a self. OK.

But "sabbe dhamma anatta" is saying there is no self anywhere, not even "in" Nibbana. It's not like the aggregates aren't self, but something else is self - that would be more like Atman/Brahman in Hinduism.
In vinaya pitaka 5 Samuṭṭhānasīsasaŋkhepo:
Aniccā sabbe saŋkhārā dukkhā'nattā ca saŋkhatā,
Nibbānañc'eva paññatti anattā iti nicchayā
Translation: all saŋkhatā is anicca dukkha anatta, but nibbāna and paññatti are just anatta.
Last edited by theY on Sun Sep 17, 2017 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Above message maybe out of date. Latest update will be in massage's link.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by cappuccino »

Spiny Norman wrote:But "sabbe dhamma anatta" is saying there is no self anywhere, not even in Nibbana.
No self is flawed, it hints at annihilation.

The correct, is not self. Body isn't self, consciousness isn't self, etc.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

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cappuccino wrote:
Spiny Norman wrote:But "sabbe dhamma anatta" is saying there is no self anywhere, not even in Nibbana.
No self is flawed, it hints at annihilation.
I don't see how. "No self" is just a description of the way things are. We don't "have" a self, soul or core, we are just a process.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by cappuccino »

If I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self — were to answer that there is no self, that would be conforming with those brahmans & contemplatives who are exponents of annihilationism [the view that death is the annihilation of consciousness].

And if I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self — were to answer that there is no self, the bewildered Vacchagotta would become even more bewildered: 'Does the self I used to have now not exist?'
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by cappuccino »

If I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is a self — were to answer that there is a self, would that be in keeping with the arising of knowledge that all phenomena are not-self?"
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by stentoriusmaxim »

The no-self remains but the material stuff extinguishes... is it death or is it birth?
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by Spiny Norman »

cappuccino wrote:If I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self — were to answer that there is no self, that would be conforming with those brahmans & contemplatives who are exponents of annihilationism [the view that death is the annihilation of consciousness].
And if I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self — were to answer that there is no self, the bewildered Vacchagotta would become even more bewildered: 'Does the self I used to have now not exist?'
I think the Buddha's point here is that all such views and positions should be abandoned:

"When those recluses and brahmins who are speculators about the past, speculators about the future, speculators about the past and the future together, who hold settled views about the past and the future, assert on sixty-two grounds various conceptual theorems referring to the past and the future — that too is only the feeling of those who do not know and do not see; that is only the agitation and vacillation of those who are immersed in craving."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .bodh.html

I'm still not clear why you object to "no-self". Do you think there is a self lurking somewhere?
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by cappuccino »

Spiny Norman wrote:I'm still not clear why you object to no-self.
No self is an extreme view. Buddha rejects the extremes.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by Spiny Norman »

cappuccino wrote:
Spiny Norman wrote:I'm still not clear why you object to no-self.
No self is an extreme view. Buddha rejects the extremes.
Buddha rejected the extremes of existence and non-existence and taught dependent origination, ie conditionality ( paticca-samuppada: "When this is, that is...."). Conditionality excludes the possibility of a self or soul. And of course self-view and the conceit "I am" are fetters to be overcome.

I'm still not clear on what your position is here. Are you saying that there is a self, or that Buddha taught there is a self? If so, some sutta support for this view would be appreciated.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by Saengnapha »

Spiny Norman wrote:
cappuccino wrote:If I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self — were to answer that there is no self, that would be conforming with those brahmans & contemplatives who are exponents of annihilationism [the view that death is the annihilation of consciousness].
And if I — being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self — were to answer that there is no self, the bewildered Vacchagotta would become even more bewildered: 'Does the self I used to have now not exist?'
I think the Buddha's point here is that all such views and positions should be abandoned:

"When those recluses and brahmins who are speculators about the past, speculators about the future, speculators about the past and the future together, who hold settled views about the past and the future, assert on sixty-two grounds various conceptual theorems referring to the past and the future — that too is only the feeling of those who do not know and do not see; that is only the agitation and vacillation of those who are immersed in craving."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .bodh.html

I'm still not clear why you object to "no-self". Do you think there is a self lurking somewhere?
This is a very subtle subject that often gets overlooked. Of course, the Buddha taught impermanence and with that the idea that there is an existent someone was erroneous. Yet, taking the position of there being no self, can be contrasted with the position of self existing. Since self neither exists or doesn't exist is something to be debated only when dependent origination is not established. Those who do establish it, do not think in terms of is or isn't, and so forth. This is an insight much debated and very difficult to experience.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by cappuccino »

Spiny Norman wrote:I'm still not clear on what your position is here.
No self is an extreme view to be rejected. Self is an extreme view.

Not self is different in a subtle way. Body isn't self, mind isn't self, etc.
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by theY »

cappuccino wrote:
Spiny Norman wrote:I'm still not clear on what your position is here.
No self is an extreme view to be rejected. Self is an extreme view.

Not self is different in a subtle way. Body isn't self, mind isn't self, etc.
All self that you said, is included in 20 sakkayaditthi.
Above message maybe out of date. Latest update will be in massage's link.
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Tipitaka memorization is a rule of monks. It isn't just a choice. They must done it.
bahussuto nāma tividho hoti – nissayamuccanako, parisupaṭṭhāpako, bhikkhunovādakoti.
http://UnmixedTheravada.blogspot.com/20 ... monks.html
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Re: LP Sumedho "consciousness is permanent" - thoughts?

Post by aflatun »

Sam Vara wrote:
JMGinPDX wrote:Hello all -
As mentioned in a previous post, LP Sumedho visited our local center last month and I was able to shoot video and audio of the event and post it to our YouTube channel.

One statement Ven. Sumedho made in the Q&A session surprised me, and I wanted to get input from those more familiar than I am with his teachings and the Dhamma in general.

Go to 26:45 in this video:
https://youtu.be/1aRgIERpX3U

In the question, the woman asks if it's true that "consciousness is continuous but not permanent."
Luang Por responds by saying "no, I'm saying that consciousness is permanent."
There's an audible reaction from the audience (I think we had upwards of 200 people there), many of whom, like me, were a bit surprised by this statement.
He expands on his statement in the remainder of his answer, but I wanted to extract this for contemplation and discussion to see what others think and what your understanding is of what he said.
I've attended a lot of L.P. Sumedho's dhamma talks, and this did seem to be a recurring theme. He didn't ever state it so bluntly, but there was a frequent reference to "awareness", "present moment awareness", "consciousness", etc., as if understanding it was somehow the goal of the practice. This is in line with his talks in the book "Intuitive Awareness". Consciousness is happening in the present moment, but is presented as unchanging - as if the contents of the consciousness are subject to change, but not the consciousness itself. There is an older tradition, stretching back at least as far as Ajah Chah, of the "poo roo" - the "one who knows".

Context is everything, of course (I haven't had time to view the video yet) and he might have meant that consciousness is permanent in terms of our experience of this life (i.e. it is the one factor which persists throughout our entire lives, from birth to death). If he meant, though, that there is an everlasting consciousness which is uncaused and which persists after our death, then I think he is at odds with what the Buddha taught.

I seem to recall earlier threads when this aspect of L.P. Sumedho's teaching has been raised.
Woah, this thread ended up in here? :?:

Just stumbled upon this, seems to be a similar theme:

https://youtu.be/Y4LcEcTbc9g?t=26m4s
"People often get too quick to say 'there's no self. There's no self...no self...no self.' There is self, there is focal point, its not yours. That's what not self is."

Ninoslav Ñāṇamoli
Senses and the Thought-1, 42:53

"Those who create constructs about the Buddha,
Who is beyond construction and without exhaustion,
Are thereby damaged by their constructs;
They fail to see the Thus-Gone.

That which is the nature of the Thus-Gone
Is also the nature of this world.
There is no nature of the Thus-Gone.
There is no nature of the world."

Nagarjuna
MMK XXII.15-16
Spiny Norman
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Re: the great Nibbana = annihilation, eternal, or something else thread

Post by Spiny Norman »

Saengnapha wrote:This is a very subtle subject that often gets overlooked. Of course, the Buddha taught impermanence and with that the idea that there is an existent someone was erroneous. Yet, taking the position of there being no self, can be contrasted with the position of self existing. Since self neither exists or doesn't exist is something to be debated only when dependent origination is not established. Those who do establish it, do not think in terms of is or isn't, and so forth. This is an insight much debated and very difficult to experience.
But as previously discussed, "sabbe dhamma anatta" clarifies that there is no self to be found, not even "in" Nibbana. And paticca-samuppada ( "When this is, that is..", ie conditionality ) isn't compatible with an abiding self, soul or essence. I don't "no-self" as taking a position here, I just see it as the logical conclusion from teachings like these. The difficulty I see with "not-self" is a sense of ambiguity, ie the aggregates are not self, but something else might be. The view that there is something else which is a self would be Hinduism, not Buddhism.
Last edited by Spiny Norman on Wed Sep 20, 2017 8:24 am, edited 2 times in total.
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