Stories of tudong and pindapata

Discussion of ordination, the Vinaya and monastic life. How and where to ordain? Bhikkhuni ordination etc.
alan
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by alan »

I like to walk on the beach, and do so every day. It helps clear my mind. But I can't see any reason to go on this overly long walk in bare feet. Seems pointless.
daverupa
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by daverupa »

For those "delicately nurtured" - which probably includes most urbanites - shoes with one lining are allowable. So it must be some sort of dutangha...?
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
alan
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by alan »

Pointless self-punishment is not the Buddha's teaching.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by tiltbillings »

alan wrote:Pointless self-punishment is not the Buddha's teaching.
What are you referring to?
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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gavesako
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by gavesako »

Nice inspiring video slideshow:

The Thai Buddhist Forest Tradition, Thudong: Forest Monks and Hermits of Thailand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJi3u_KmQQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)

Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
Dhammatalks.org - Sutta translations
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Bhikkhu_Jayasara
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by Bhikkhu_Jayasara »

alan wrote:I like to walk on the beach, and do so every day. It helps clear my mind. But I can't see any reason to go on this overly long walk in bare feet. Seems pointless.
I'm a barefoot runner, so far I'm up to running 7 miles barefoot, so that wouldn't bother me much. Going through an experience/adventure of hardship and meeting people I'm not sure if I could ever think is pointless.


I also don't see this as self punishment or extreme in any way. It is quite similar in my mind to a lot of the survival wilderness experiences I've put myself through for training and knowledge, but for an even greater purpose then my own ego.



Thank you for that video Bhante
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Bhikkhu Jayasāra -http://www.youtube.com/studentofthepath and https://maggasekha.org/
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gavesako
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by gavesako »

Forest as Challenge, Forest as Healer: Reinterpretations and Hybridity within the Forest Tradition of Thailand
Brooke Shedneck

"The forest has held an ambiguous and ambivalent place in Buddhist history. It is featured prominently in major moments of the Buddha’s life story as the place of his birth, enlightenment, and death. It is also perceived as a place of fear, resistance, escape, sickness, spirits, danger, and temptation. In contrast to these negative attributes, the forest has been described as a place to encounter nature free from distractions; it embodies solitude, peace, and tranquility. How can one resolve these differing notions? Why does this ambivalence exist? How have all of these meanings changed over time?
This essay looks at the rhetoric of the forest in Buddhist thought by tracing the ambivalent attitudes of the forest within the Pāli canon, to meanings of the forest as described in popular Thai forest biographies, and finally to contemporary Buddhist writings, both from Thailand and Western countries. The Pāli canon suggests the best place to practice is the natural world; it is isolating and challenging at first but soon can help transform the mind. The forest tradition of Thailand depicts the forest as more than just isolating, but rather dangerous and fearful. In contemporary times there is hardly any trace of the forest as a fearful place because it is instead depicted as sacred, and there is a feeling of merging with the natural world that aids awakening."

http://www.shin-ibs.edu/documents/pwj3- ... edneck.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Another similar article:

http://www.wiseattention.org/blog/2012/ ... ed-nature/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)

Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
Dhammatalks.org - Sutta translations
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Bhikkhu_Jayasara
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Re: Stories of tudong and pindapata

Post by Bhikkhu_Jayasara »

Bhante that first link doesn't seem to work for me.

and as for the forest, I have lessened extremely my fear while in one. This came from actual practice being in forests without tents and sleeping over night etc. When I go to Bhavana Society I often walk around the forest monastery at night without a flashlight. The last time I was up there I found a trail going up the mountain deeper into the forest and I went up there two nights in a row. Whenever I felt scared I gave metta to the area, and felt better. Fear is all mental, and 99 times out of 100 you have nothing to fear in the forest. I am reminded of the fourth sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya -


"Yes, brahman, so it is. It's not easy to endure isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration. Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me as well: 'It's not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not attained concentration.'

"The thought occurred to me: 'When brahmans or contemplatives who are unpurified in their bodily activities resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings, it's the fault of their unpurified bodily activities that they give rise to unskillful fear & terror. But it's not the case that I am unpurified in my bodily activities when I resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings. I am purified in my bodily activities. I am one of those noble ones who are purified in their bodily activities when they resort to isolated forest or wilderness dwellings.' Seeing in myself this purity of bodily activities, I felt even more undaunted about staying in the wilderness."

so the Forest is all of these things, a wonderful place to meditate during the day ( My meditation practice seems to flow much much better outside then inside) and a place for our wildest imaginations to live at night.
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Bhikkhu Jayasāra -http://www.youtube.com/studentofthepath and https://maggasekha.org/
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