Levitation and a Simple Bhikkhu

[vesak2014]

Western thought always made me curious. Can I know, do you have faith in Nibbana?

Dear Venerable Bhikkhu, if you don't mind a couple of questions,
How do you explain Nibbana? How do you explain in detail and specific why Noble Eightfold Path is the path to Nibbana?
Thank you.

[Aki]

Western thought always made me curious. Can I know, do you have faith in Nibbana?

Dear Venerable Bhikkhu, if you don't mind a couple of questions,
How do you explain Nibbana? How do you explain in detail and specific why Noble Eightfold Path is the path to Nibbana?
Thank you.

One day a person asked several questions similar to yours from Venerable Webu Sayadaw, Sayadaw humbly replied why trouble me, much text written by scholars about these matters, you can easily read them.

[vesak2014]

Western thought always made me curious. Can I know, do you have faith in Nibbana?

Dear Venerable Bhikkhu, if you don't mind a couple of questions,
How do you explain Nibbana? How do you explain in detail and specific why Noble Eightfold Path is the path to Nibbana?
Thank you.

One day a person asked several questions similar to yours from Venerable Webu Sayadaw, Sayadaw humbly replied why trouble me, much text written by scholars about these matters, you can easily read them.

No problem if you do mind the questions, I'll ask no more.

[Mr Man]

I'm not sure if this goes against the notion of faith as taught through Theravada but my perception of faith is that faith not born of experience will always remain fragile.

Western thought always made me curious. Can I know, do you have faith in Nibbana?

Hi Aki, you have stated you question with false premise - that my thought is western. To answer your question I think we would have to establish what you mean by faith and what you mean by nibbana and remove the notion that we are exploring this from a particular angle (other than Buddhist possibly). I think a new thread would be needed.

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

Western thought always made me curious. Can I know, do you have faith in Nibbana?

Dear Venerable Bhikkhu, if you don't mind a couple of questions,
How do you explain Nibbana? How do you explain in detail and specific why Noble Eightfold Path is the path to Nibbana?
Thank you.

One day a person asked several questions similar to yours from Venerable Webu Sayadaw, Sayadaw humbly replied why trouble me, much text written by scholars about these matters, you can easily read them.

As a Bhikku, many people will ask you similar questions.
As a Bhikku, laypersons will look to you for opinion based on much study and understanding, they will look for teaching, guidance and influence.

To respond to a genuine question from one wishing to perhaps gain insight into a topic of their curiosity, with ...

...why trouble me, much text written by scholars about these matters, you can easily read them.

...Is to my ignorant yet curious mind, dismissive and unconstructive.

if you are going to continue contributing on this forum as a member and ordained, then expect much more of the same.
If however, such questions and queries are not to your liking, then I don't see how your time with us would be constructive for you, to the extent it could be.

With much metta.

[Aki]

As a Bhikku, many people will ask you similar questions.
As a Bhikku, laypersons will look to you for opinion based on much study and understanding, they will look for teaching, guidance and influence.

To respond to a genuine question from one wishing to perhaps gain insight into a topic of their curiosity, with ...

...why trouble me, much text written by scholars about these matters, you can easily read them.

...Is to my ignorant yet curious mind, dismissive and unconstructive.

if you are going to continue contributing on this forum as a member and ordained, then expect much more of the same.
If however, such questions and queries are not to your liking, then I don't see how your time with us would be constructive for you, to the extent it could be.

With much metta.

Someone suggested to me to look into the previous posts by the member before replying to his/her question, so I did. I think my answer is better than vesak2014's answer (http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 35#p295335):

In other suttas (of the four main nikayas) the Buddha explains nibbana in technical way so it is invulnerable to such attack, brilliantly genius I'd say.

For example?

Do your homework to find the example.

vesak2014 is already very knowledgeable (http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 51#p295344) and his other posts:

Knowing nibbana as the end of lust hatred and delusion (kids know this theory) doesn't mean you know or understand the suttas more than me.
Anyway, you don't have to do the homework.

And if I answer differently, then Mr Man might ask How do you know this? (http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 80#p295195). We all know how it went for ArkA.

I don't see how your time with us would be constructive for you, to the extent it could be

Thank you, I humbly accept your wise advice and implied suggestion.

Kind wishes,
Akiñcana

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

I'm honestly surprised you would base your responses on the types of answers given by one other member of the forum...
Why would you not base your responses on the types of answers given by other Bikkhus...? Surely that would be a better avenue to pursue...

And believe me, I'm aware that there are many people who may well benefit from being told 'do your own research', but then again, that advice could apply to well over half the membership of this very forum...!

[beeblebrox]

The Buddha gave the same answer when asked the second time. At
the third request, the Buddha told him about the three kinds of
miracles which he had known and realized by his own insight. The
first was the miracle of psychic power (iddhi patihariya) consisting
in the ability to become many and pass through walls, to fly through
the air and walk on water, and even to visit the Brahma world. It was
rejected by the Buddha because it could be mistaken as the black art
called Gandhari magic. The second, the miracle of mind reading
(adesana patihariya) was also rejected because it might be mistaken
as practice of cintamani or ‘jewel of thought’ charm called Manika
magic. He recommended the performance of the third miracle, the
miracle of the power of the Teaching (anusasani patihariya) as it
involves the practice in Morality, Concentration and Wisdom
leading finally to the extinction of defilements (Asavakkhaya ana)
and the realization of ibbana, the cessation of all suffering. This is
the greatest miracle that can only exist during a Buddha sasana.

http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/PDF_Budd ... havana.pdf

SarathW, I read somewhere that the Buddha exhibit psychic powers to a large gathering of his relatives to change their mind. How can it be justified according to what you wrote above?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Denisa,

In the sutta that the above was based on (Kevatta Sutta), the Buddha still counted the psychic powers and mind-reading as miracles... but pointed out for us their drawback, which was that it would be easy for a skeptic to discredit them as tricks, or even a lie.

He then went on to state that the instruction (or teaching) would be the greatest of these miracles. I don't think it's difficult to see why.

That in itself wasn't to say that the psychic powers or mind-reading were discredited by the Buddha... it was just that he didn't consider them to be the greatest.

Even the most stubborn of the skeptics could be convinced (or at least acquiesce to it) if a "mere" teaching was just given to them, related to the practice.

Aki, "western" is a false construction. Seems like it has become a part of your worldview, now... welcome to it. You could learn how to practice with it, or not.

[mikenz66]

Western thought always made me curious. Can I know, do you have faith in Nibbana?

Dear Venerable Bhikkhu, if you don't mind a couple of questions,
How do you explain Nibbana? How do you explain in detail and specific why Noble Eightfold Path is the path to Nibbana?
Thank you.

...
As a Bhikku, many people will ask you similar questions.
...

I think the Venerable has shared some interesting thoughts with us on on this and other threads.

That particular question is effectively demanding an exposition of the entire Buddhist path.

In my opinion is is wise to ignore such questions and focus on useful, specific issues.


Mike

[Sea Turtle]

I think the Venerable has shared some interesting thoughts with us on on this and other threads.

That particular question is effectively demanding an exposition of the entire Buddhist path.

In my opinion is is wise to ignore such questions and focus on useful, specific issues.

And many thanks, Venerable, for continuing to share your time and wisdom with us. Much respect.

In kindness,
Helena

[Mkoll]

I think the Venerable has shared some interesting thoughts with us on on this and other threads.

That particular question is effectively demanding an exposition of the entire Buddhist path.

In my opinion is is wise to ignore such questions and focus on useful, specific issues.

And many thanks, Venerable, for continuing to share your time and wisdom with us. Much respect.

In kindness,
Helena

Yes. The life story you generously answered my questions with was inspiring to me, especially in regards to patient endurance.

Patient endurance: the foremost austerity.

~~~

Please don't be put off by the more gnarly responses that you've gotten here. Online communication allow us to communicate things that we couldn't say in real life to another person. This power is easily abused.

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

...
As a Bhikku, many people will ask you similar questions.
...

I think the Venerable has shared some interesting thoughts with us on on this and other threads.

There is no disputing that, and I never implied the contrary...

That particular question is effectively demanding an exposition of the entire Buddhist path.

Brevity may be a challenge, but not impossible. Some posts on this forum would shame a novel...

In my opinion is is wise to ignore such questions and focus on useful, specific issues.
Mike

Maybe for the person who poses such a question, that's what it is, for them....

[vesak2014]

As a Bhikku, many people will ask you similar questions.

I think the Venerable has shared some interesting thoughts with us on on this and other threads.

There is no disputing that, and I never implied the contrary...

TheNoBSBuddhist, please do not demand answer anymore from the monk since I don't wish him any more (unintentional) embarrassment caused by my questions. Besides, from his name, Akiñcana, which means "having nothing", it's quite clear he has nothing to say. For your curiosity I think you can PM him.
I thought ArkA and Aki are the same person. They are both monks, I thought ArkA uses another username, Aki. After reading their introduction I found they are not the same person. Aki (which I thought the same as ArkA) asked about faith. From ArkA's signature:

"Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation."
– Rumi

"God" in a monk's signature, his faith is highly questionable to me. My questions was intended for ArkA (not Aki) for a reason, i.e. I just wanted to hear what he has to say, from a monk with "God" in his signature. I thought that could be interesting to hear.

Edited: something to add:
So let this matter to be responded by ArkA. In his signature he says: I'll restart my yearlong meditation retreat on 15th June 2014, hence will not be here. It means I have to wait until he comes back from retreat.

[beeblebrox]

Aki, "western" is a false construction. Seems like it has become a part of your worldview, now... welcome to it. You could learn how to practice with it, or not.

Dear Aki,

I would like to apologize for this part of my post. It was inappropriate, and uncalled for... so I'm sorry about it. I appreciate your presence here on the forums.

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

... From ArkA's signature:

"Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation."
– Rumi

"God" in a monk's signature, his faith is highly questionable to me. ..... I just wanted to hear what he has to say, from a monk with "God" in his signature. I thought that could be interesting to hear.

To be honest with you, HH the DL also speaks of God, although I'd be willing to bet he does not hold the same views as a christian. He has written a book on the similarities between the teachings of the Buddha and the teachings of Christ.
Thich Nhat Hahn also speaks often of Jesus, and has similarly written a book inclusive of both Christian and Buddhist teachings.

It is perfectly reasonable to respect, admire and take note of a 'christian God' and the example thereby set, without adhering to the tenets and principles of that religion.
Furthermore, the quotation in ArkA's signature is in itself a quotation from someone else, speaking of 'God'....

And Rumi was a Sufi Mystic.
He saw God more as a Divine Light of infinite and unconditional Love, rather than any solid 'human-like' image one might suppose is intended....

Hope this helps.

Much Metta to you.