Curiosity

Explore the ancient language of the Tipitaka and Theravāda commentaries
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egon
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Curiosity

Post by egon »

Curiosity

vimhaya (m.)
kutūhala (nt.)
abbhutavatthu (nt.)

can anyone tell me if any of the above words could be used to reference an overall open-minded eagerness to learn? If not, is there a better Pali word for this?
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Dhammarakkhito
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Re: Curiosity

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

perhaps chanda, interest
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

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Re: Curiosity

Post by DooDoot »

perhaps chanda, enthusiasm
There is always an official executioner. If you try to take his place, It is like trying to be a master carpenter and cutting wood. If you try to cut wood like a master carpenter, you will only hurt your hand.

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paul
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Re: Curiosity

Post by paul »

You have to be careful about openness. A practitioner who doesn't have an awareness of the hindrances is vulnerable.
"the Buddha prescribes an attitude toward experience that arises from carefully wrought judgments, employs precise discriminations, and issues in detachment and restraint. This attitude, the classical Buddhist counterfoil to the modern program of openness, might be summed up by one word found everywhere in the ancient texts. That word is heedfulness (appamada)."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... ay_17.html
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Sam Vara
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Re: Curiosity

Post by Sam Vara »

:goodpost: Thanks, Paul. A good reminder, and an excellent article by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
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egon
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Re: Curiosity

Post by egon »

paul wrote: Thu Jun 07, 2018 8:53 am You have to be careful about openness. A practitioner who doesn't have an awareness of the hindrances is vulnerable.
"the Buddha prescribes an attitude toward experience that arises from carefully wrought judgments, employs precise discriminations, and issues in detachment and restraint. This attitude, the classical Buddhist counterfoil to the modern program of openness, might be summed up by one word found everywhere in the ancient texts. That word is heedfulness (appamada)."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... ay_17.html
This is a very interesting concept. My practice is in its infancy so I appreciate the reference.

This is some heavy food for thought. Being open-minded to new thoughts and concepts has brought me to this idea, which is now telling me that the very thing that brought me here can be a problem in itself.

This might be corny, but I've written a short haiku

curious minds are
vehicles best driven while
alert, with seatbelts

I know this thread is going off-topic here, but I can certainly identify many experiences that I've had in my life that wise people would have avoided. However, I'm still not sure I regret many of them, even though they didn't reduce my suffering in the long run.
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Re: Curiosity

Post by Sam Vara »

ScottPen wrote: Thu Jun 07, 2018 1:51 pm
paul wrote: Thu Jun 07, 2018 8:53 am You have to be careful about openness. A practitioner who doesn't have an awareness of the hindrances is vulnerable.
"the Buddha prescribes an attitude toward experience that arises from carefully wrought judgments, employs precise discriminations, and issues in detachment and restraint. This attitude, the classical Buddhist counterfoil to the modern program of openness, might be summed up by one word found everywhere in the ancient texts. That word is heedfulness (appamada)."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... ay_17.html
This is a very interesting concept. My practice is in its infancy so I appreciate the reference.

This is some heavy food for thought. Being open-minded to new thoughts and concepts has brought me to this idea, which is now telling me that the very thing that brought me here can be a problem in itself.
One way of looking at this might be that you have got hold of a concept or attitude (curiosity, or openness) which is extremely beneficial under certain circumstances, but is not a panacea. Like any tool, you have to use it properly. That doesn't mean being open to thoughts of hatred, envy, lust, etc.; and there is no advantage about being curious about that type of porn we haven't yet seen, or curious as to what happens when we lie to people. Be open to thoughts and ideas and impulses as they arise (i.e. don't get angry with them, or pretend to yourself that you haven't had them - be truthful about them) but don't allow them all to take over your mind. Just allow the ones which you think are wholesome.

A good analogy is somebody standing guard at a door. They are "open" to the experience of each person who approaches them: they are curious in that they scrutinise them with honesty, and recognise each one. But they don't allow them all in.

This is one of several suttas which deal with this idea:
I thought: ‘Why don’t I meditate by continually dividing my thoughts into two classes?’ So I assigned sensual, malicious, and cruel thoughts to one class. And I assigned thoughts of renunciation, love, and kindness
to the second class.
https://suttacentral.net/mn19/en/sujato
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