Buddhism in a nutshell

[befriend]

Can anyone sum up the theory of Theravadan Buddhism in a nutshell? It's all so complex.

[Aloka]

Can anyone sum up the theory of Theravadan Buddhism in a nutshell? It's all so complex.

Hi befriend,

I enjoyed reading this .."Theravada Buddhism in a Nutshell" by Ajahn Amaro:

https://www.abhayagiri.org/books/469-th ... a-nutshell

[DNS]

4NT & 8FP

(6 letters, that's all you need. )

[cappuccino]

When one sees, 'All formations are impermanent, all are suffering, everything is not self,'
one turns away from suffering: this is the path to purity.

[Nicolas]

To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

‘All conditioned things are impermanent’ — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.
‘All conditioned things are unsatisfactory’ — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.
‘All things are not-self’ — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

Whether or not there is the arising of Tathāgatas, this property stands—this steadfastness of the Dhamma, this orderliness of the Dhamma: ‘All fabrications are inconstant.’ [...] ‘All fabrications are stressful.’ [...] ‘All phenomena are not-self.’

Our teacher, friends, teaches the removal of desire and lust for form, the removal of desire and lust for feeling … perception … volitional formations … consciousness.

The sort of doctrine, friend, where one does not keep quarreling with anyone in the cosmos [...]; the sort (of doctrine) where perceptions no longer obsess the brahman who remains dissociated from sensuality, free from perplexity, his uncertainty cut away, devoid of craving for becoming & non-. Such is my doctrine; such is what I proclaim.

As for the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to reclusiveness, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome’: You may categorically hold, ‘This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’

Here, bhikkhu, a bhikkhu has heard, ‘Nothing is worth adhering to.’ When a bhikkhu has heard, ‘Nothing is worth adhering to,’ he directly knows everything. Having directly known everything, he fully understands everything. Having fully understood everything, he sees all signs differently.

Formerly, Anuradha, and also now, I make known just dukkha and the cessation of dukkha.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view … right concentration.

And what, bhikkhus, is the Noble Eightfold Path? Right view … right concentration.

And what, bhikkhus, is right view? Knowledge of suffering, knowledge of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the cessation of suffering, knowledge of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: this is called right view.

And what, bhikkhus, is right intention? Intention of renunciation, intention of non-ill will, intention of harmlessness: this is called right intention.

And what, bhikkhus, is right speech? Abstinence from false speech, abstinence from divisive speech, abstinence from harsh speech, abstinence from idle chatter: this is called right speech.

And what, bhikkhus, is right action? Abstinence from the destruction of life, abstinence from taking what is not given, abstinence from sexual misconduct: this is called right action.

And what, bhikkhus, is right livelihood? Here a noble disciple, having abandoned a wrong mode of livelihood, earns his living by a right livelihood: this is called right livelihood.

And what, bhikkhus, is right effort? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu generates desire for the nonarising of unarisen evil unwholesome states; he makes an effort, arouses energy, applies his mind, and strives. He generates desire for the abandoning of arisen evil unwholesome states…. He generates desire for the arising of unarisen wholesome states…. He generates desire for the maintenance of arisen wholesome states, for their nondecay, increase, expansion, and fulfilment by development; he makes an effort, arouses energy, applies his mind, and strives. This is called right effort.

And what, bhikkhus is right mindfulness? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating feelings in feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating mind in mind, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world. He dwells contemplating phenomena in phenomena, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world. This is called right mindfulness.

And what, bhikkhus, is right concentration? Here, bhikkhus, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. With the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters and dwells in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and unification of mind, is without thought and examination, and has rapture and happiness born of concentration. With the fading away as well of rapture, he dwells equanimous and, mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences happiness with the body; he enters and dwells in the third jhana of which the noble ones declare: ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells happily.’ With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and displeasure, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhana, which is neither painful nor pleasant and includes the purification of mindfulness by equanimity. This is called right concentration.

When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn’t, that isn’t.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.

In other words:

From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness.
From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form.
From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media.
From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact.
From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling.
From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of suffering & stress.

Now from the remainderless fading and cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form. From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/ sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress.

[befriend]

That was a very good explanation of DO, thank you Aloka.

[befriend]

Thanks Nicolas I like the first one, avoid all evil, cultivate good, purify the mind.

[equilibrium]

Morality.....concentration.....wisdom.

Escape.....from samsara.
Everything else is worthless!

[form]

This thread is good question and good answers.

[paul]

The Buddha's opinion was that the path is difficult to understand, but it is possible through striving for those who are committed:

"This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. -—-SN 6.1

"And they, Ananda, pierce what is even harder to pierce, those who pierce, as it actually is present, that 'This is stress'; who pierce, as it actually is present, that 'This is the origination of stress'... 'This is the cessation of stress'... 'This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.'

"Therefore, Ananda, your duty is the contemplation, 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress.' Your duty is the contemplation, 'This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.’”—SN 56.45

[SarathW]

"I teach only suffering and the cessation of suffering.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... el277.html

Suffering arises and perishes immediately.
What ever the other suffering is comming from your own make up of your mind.

[DNS]

"I teach only suffering and the cessation of suffering.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... el277.html

Suffering arises and perishes immediately.
What ever suffering is come from your own make up of your mind.

Bhikkhu Bodhi has since corrected this. He has stated the word "only" was added by some translators. See his article here:
https://tricycle.org/magazine/i-teach-o ... suffering/

I have to confess that I am one of the perpetrators of this literary faux pas, for in several of my own past writings I authoritatively cited the wrongly rendered version of the statement as proof that the Buddha’s entire teaching was only about suffering and the end of suffering. But I’ve since learned otherwise. This experience has enabled me to see how linguistic misreadings of Buddhist texts can give rise to wrong doctrinal interpretations and even promulgate modern myths about the meaning of Buddhism. Our contemporary environment of thought, which relishes reducing complex systems of ideas to simple catchphrases and slogans, has also contributed to the distortion.

[SarathW]

Thanks.
I like to know how Ven Sujato translate this.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/i- ... ring/12017

[cappuccino]

I teach only suffering and the cessation of suffering.

Swimming in the sea, fishes think nothing of water……

The sea of stress……

[DNS]

Thanks.
I like to know how Ven Sujato translate this.
https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/i- ... ring/12017

I just looked it up at his site. It's MN 22 and here is how he translated it:

In the past, as today, what I describe is suffering and the cessation of suffering.
https://suttacentral.net/mn22/en/sujato

He did not use the word "only."