Saturday, October 30, 2010

Some Questions from and answers to a friend haunted by doubt

Hey Friend:

Some Questions from and Answers to a Friend haunted by Doubt (Vicikicchā):

Question:
>
I usually rely on myself to solve problems.  

Answer:
Buddha would agree on that one, since he said.
“No one can purify another”
Attã hi attano nãtho: Let self be the helper of self.
“For self is the master of self.
For self is the protector of self.
For self is the saviour of self.” Dhp 380


Question2: > I often suffer from low grade, long term depression
Answer2: Do daily Metta meditation on Universal Friendliness, which will elevate the mind:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Advantageous_is_Friendship.htm Study the links.
This is the right tool and medicine here, since it substitutes with the opposite state.

Question3: > I watch my mind cave in and indulge in the object of those cravings.
Answer3:
Do daily Asubha meditation on Disgust, which will cool down & avert the mind:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Bluish_Victory.htm Study the links.
This is the right tool and medicine here, since it substitutes with the opposite state.

Question4: > but I still am struggling with other forms of abuse. I fail on the fifth precept.
Answer4: If it is ganja/grass/marijuana, then know that it is mind searching for a CALM
it has known before…! Often ganja-smokers have been meditators in prior lives,
which make them addicted to a similar, yet now easy “Chemical Calm” unfortunately
not without the side-effects of: Laziness, neglect, memory, ability and learning loss etc.
If it is coke/ecstasy and other ‘speedy’ drugs: There are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS,
not because of biological health hazard, but because of long-term addiction to behaviour,
which results in subhuman often excessively painful rebirths… So Nix to the Barbeque Fix!
Making a firm resolve and heavy doses of meditation (10 day retreat) is the antidote to both.

Question5: > Is the truth ultimately knowable by our human brain?
Answer5: First: Absolute Truths can only be known about some and not all objects!
Any material object eg. a door cannot be known absolutely, since it is basically not
a finite, but infinite object (both microscopically and macroscopically)…
Since it is infinite, then there will always remain unexplained aspects of the object…
Therefore can an explanation of a door and other material objects never be absolute!
However: How to pass out of a given door CAN indeed be explained absolutely!
Just imagine the closest door to you now. You can easily devise many different
explanations, which all ALWAYS unambiguously leads to passing out of the door,
and which therefore are absolute truths about that particular PURPOSE!
So Purposes CAN be explained absolutely. How to End Suffering => Noble 8-fold Way
is such an ABSOLUTELY TRUE EXPLANATION, which if followed ALWAYS succeeds.

Question6: > What constitutes Right View?
Answer6: Know there are 2 forms of right view. Mundane and supramundane. For Mundane Right view see:
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/What_is_Right_View.htm
Study the links.
The supramundane right view of a Noble is not communicable to any non-noble ordinary person.
They would not be able to understand it and often find such radical views absurd… Hehehe ;-)


Question7: > Whether or not the Buddha actually taught literal re-birth
Answer7: Many times did the Buddha teach literal rebirth see eg:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.135.than.html
The skillfulness of one's actions in life determine one's destination after death: Dhp 17, Dhp 18, Dhp 240
Causes of favorable or unfavorable rebirth: MN 135, AN 3.65, Dhp 310, Dhp 316
How to gain rebirth as an elephant or a horse: AN 10.177
The laws of kamma and rebirth are as inviolable as the law of gravity: SN 42.6
What's so bad about being reborn?: SN 5.6
Why not just settle for rebirth among the devas?: SN 5.7
The preciousness of our human birth: SN 20.2, SN 56.48
Rebirth witnessed by Buddha on the night of his Awakening: See Buddha's Awakening.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rebirth.htm

Question8: > I try not to get too hung up on the issue of re-birth
Answer8: Believing in Annihilation is a fanatic religious view, which cannot be substantiated experimentally,
since no-one can ever return from annihilation and deliver a direct witness account of it…
Rebirth may IMHO (both as a medical doctor and as scientist) now be regarded as scientifically
underpinned by 60 years of unfortunately largely ignored research mostly by the late professor

Ian Stevenson Virginia University: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies/
The research was difficult to publish, since it was not conferring to the conventional
paradigm of our quite ignorant, yet very proud times. This “Keeping Out” is standard
for new discoveries and very unscientific, unfortunately also very human…
Not so long ago people was decapitated for pointing out the earth was not flat,
but in fact: round… Life is -in fact- not a single shot, but a chain-reaction of rebirths…!
J
EXAMINE this crucial issue by WATCHING: Eg.
The Rutherford Institute:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RutherfordInstitute#p/search/0/YLKT5UsKoqM
http://www.ial.goldthread.com/interviews.html
The Information is there USE & EXAMINE IT!


Question9: > I often feel like a failure and an outsider to those who are more diligent. Basically not worthy.
Answer9: ANY BEING is EQUALLY WORTHY. The ‘value’ of a single ant is the same as the ‘value’ of ‘God’…
Why so? They, We, All beings have all been both ants and gods and whatever one can ever become:
The Thirty-one Planes of Existence
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html
     
Question10> Did the Buddha ever answer the question of what makes sentient life, sentient?  
Answer9: No not formulated as such. Yet sentient life is just a CONSEQUENCE of a FORCE
pushing nature into this form. This force is craving for sensations and sensing…
Remember: Consciousness is a form of non-local wave energy which has non-local ‘material’
effects just like any other electro-magnetic-radio-wave form of energy has effects!
(Which makes your mobile-phone work even far away from the speaker both in time and space)

Yet on a deeper dhamma note:
Sentient life is a not an individual but a process or activity of mere sensing.
The causality if this process of sensing contacts goes like this:
The condition of Ignorance causes Mental Construction to arise.
The condition of Mental Construction causes Consciousness to arise.
The condition of Consciousness causes Name-&-Form to arise.
The condition of Name-&-Form causes The 6 Senses to arise.
The condition of The 6 Senses causes Sentient Sense Contacts to arise.
This is Dependent Co-origination! A chain of conditioned effects that causes new events!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Cohesive_Co-Origination.htm

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the
Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

My Mind is My Home & Best Friend

Friends:
My mind is my Home & best Friend:

To overcome loneliness, first learn to meditate, and to live in the moment!
Living like this, your mind becomes very peaceful, very calm, & very strong.
Mindfulness makes you very strong. You will develop serene inner strength...

I have no parents. I make heaven and earth my parents.
I have no home. I make mindfulness my home.
I have no life and death. I make breathing in-&-out my life and death.
I have no divine power. I make honesty my divine power.
I have no friends. I make my mind my friend.
I have no enemy. I make carelessness my enemy.
I have no sword. I make absence of ego my sword!



Source: Sayadaw U Jotika from Burma. His Book: Snow in the Summer
is published by DMG Books (www.dmgbooks.com)
Have a nice homeless day!
 
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

What is a good Lay Buddhist Disciple?

Friends:
What is a Good Lay Buddhist Disciple?


The Sakyan Mahānāma  once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, What is a
Lay Disciple?
Having taken refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha, one is a
Lay Disciple!

Venerable Sir, What is a
Pure Disciple?
Avoiding all killing, stealing, sexual abuse, lying, and neither drinking any
alcohol nor taking any drugs causing neglect, one is a
Pure Disciple!

Venerable Sir, What is a
Faithful Disciple?
Placing
faith in the Enlightenment of the Tathāgata thus:
Worthy, honourable & perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha! ... teacher &
guide of gods and humans, exalted, & awakened ...  one is a
Faithful Disciple!

Venerable Sir, What is a
Generous Disciple?
Living mentally devoid stinginess, liberal, open-handed, delighting in donation,
devoted to charity, enjoying all giving & sharing, one is a
Generous Disciple!
Venerable Sir, What is a Disciple who Understands?
One who understands the cause of arising & ceasing, which is Noble, decisive,
& which enables eradication of Suffering is a wise
Disciple who Understands! 

The Buddha Gotama's first five disciples (Pañcavaggiyā)

Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya. [V:395]
Section 55 on Stream-Entry: Sotāpattisamyutta. Thread 37: Mahānāma.
Have a nice & noble day!
 
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Neglect Looses all ,While Careful Alertness Wins All!

Friends:
Neglect Looses All, while Careful Alertness Wins All!

At Savatthi the Blessed One once said this:
I will teach you, friends, about the one who lives negligent, and about
the one who lives alert. Listen cautiously and pay full attention to it!




How, friends, does one live Negligent?
In him, friends, who lives with an uncontrolled ability to see, the mind is
agitated and warped by the objects recognizable by the eye. In him whose
mind is agitated and warped, there is no satisfaction! Without satisfaction,
there is no joy! Where there is no joy, there is no contentment, no calm, no
tranquillity, and no mental peace! Without this calm, one thus lives in sorrow,
frustrated, urging, and searching! Such sorrowful person’s mind is neither
composed, nor collected, nor confident. When the mind is not composed, one
has neither any clarity, nor any certainty! By not having any clear thinking,
one is reckoned as one, who lives negligent. One is regarded as confused...
So also it is for one who lives without any control over the ability to hear,
smell, taste, touch and without any control over the ability to think…


And how, friends, does one live Alert?
In him, who lives with a fully controlled ability to see, the mind is neither
agitated, nor warped by any object recognizable by the eye. In one, whose
mind is neither agitated, nor warped, satisfaction is born! In one satisfied,
joy is born. When one is joyful, the body is calmed down. He, whose body is
calmed, feels at ease. Composed is mind of one, who is at ease. When mind is
composed, one’s ideas are clear. One gains certainty & assured confidence!
By having clear ideas and thinking, one is reckoned as one who lives alert, &
as one, who is alert! So also it is for any one, who lives with full control over
the ability to hear, smell, taste, touch or controlling the ability to think.
Thus, friends, is one, who lives ready and aware in alertness.





Comments: 
Not seduced by the mere glitter of sensation of any kind, not running after
fancy dreams, driven by hopes or compelled longing. By not yearning after
pleasant sensations, satisfied by whatever there is, thus at ease, stilled,
one remains just calm, cleared and cooled... Like a Smiling Mountain :-)
Have a nice & noble day!
 
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

A Simple way to Establish True Awareness

Friends:
A Simple Way to Establish True Awareness:
Friends, this highly advantageous praxis can be undertaken by anyone,
at any time, all day long, in all situations, and at all locations! Therefore
Do it!, Repeat it!, and Remember it!:
When walking, one understands: "I am walking.."
When standing, one knows: "I am standing.."
If sitting, one notes: "I am sitting down now.."
While lying down, one reflects: "I am lying down.."
When moving forward or returning, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When looking forward or away, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When bending or extending a limb, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When dressing or carrying things, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When eating, drinking, or chewing, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When defecating or urinating, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When walking, standing or sitting, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When falling asleep or waking up, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
When talking or dwelling in silence, one clearly comprehends exactly that..
Rational and alert attention is thus a cause of ultra clear comprehension!
When continuous Awareness is established, it can prevent all mistakes,
and their painful after-effects... In this way do clear comprehension lead
reduced frustration and gain of new satisfaction! If correctly cultivated,
and made much of, this praxis will be for all beings welfare and happiness
for a long, long time... Why so? Clear comprehension purifies the purpose,
the suitability, the domain, and the unconfused focus of any activity!

More on Comprehension (
Sampajañña): Clear_and_Aware_Comprehension

Have a nice & noble day!
 
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ Sri Lanka ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Buddhist Cultural Centre Celebrated Ashoka Vijayadhasami


Palakkad: Buddhist Cultural centre Celebrated Ashoaka vijayadhasami on 16th October 2010 at Palakkad..Anapanasadhi meditation,Documentary presentation,also conducted .

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Running up & down the beach delays any crossing!

Friends:
Running up & down the beach delays any crossing!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, these 8 things, when cultivated and refined, lead to going beyond
from this near shore, right here, to the far shore beyond all... What eight? 
Right View  (sammā-ditthi)
Right Motivation  (sammā-sankappa)
Right Speech  (sammā-vācā)
Right Action  (sammā-kammanta)
Right Livelihood  (sammā-ājīva)
Right Effort  (sammā-vāyāma)
Right Awareness  (sammā-sati)
Right Concentration  (sammā-samādhi)
These 8 things, when cultivated and refined, lead to going beyond from this near
shore, right here, to the far shore beyond. This is what the Blessed Buddha said.
The Well-Gone-One, this supreme Teacher, then added this:
Few humans cross to that sublime far shore beyond all being.
Mostly, people just run up & down along this barren bank!
Those whose praxis is like this even and exact Dhamma,
Will pass beyond the State of Death in quiet harmony!
Having left all the dark and evil doing, any intelligence
Seeks the luminous bright light by leaving this turmoil,
and by going forth into solitary & silent homelessness.
Secluded from lust, he experiences an unworldly bliss!
Owing nothing, the wise & clever man thereby cleans
himself of all these mental pollutions and defilements...
Mentally well evolved by the 7 links to enlightenment,
Delighting in non-clinging and relinquishment of all,
Such luminous ones having quenched fermentation,
Are fully released even right here in this world.


Crossing...

To the Other Side...
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:24] section 45: The Way. 34: Gone to the other side ...

http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice & noble day!
 
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net