Search found 13 matches

by lament
Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:49 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Pharmacological Aids to Enlightenment
Replies: 72
Views: 14576

Re: Pharmacological Aids to Enlightenment

The real problem tho is the view that this kind of question betrays. If your view is that enlightenment, or whatever you want to call it, is a simple matter of brain/body chemistry, that world view, that the self is just the brain/body, is called materialism and is one of the major stumbling blocks...
by lament
Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:40 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Being aware of being aware
Replies: 14
Views: 4288

Re: Being aware of being aware

When you would realize it is all a dream, then who are you? The space in which the dream happens, the awareness of what happens. Then, what can you still do? Nothing more than watching. The space in which the dream happens is anatta (not you) The awareness of what happens is anatta Watching is anat...
by lament
Wed Sep 05, 2012 5:21 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?
Replies: 18
Views: 3513

Re: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?

Dear lament, I am quite confident in using modern concepts and science to shake people's faith in annihilation, if people are serious about it. This trick I was learned and developed myself when I was converted to Buddhism. But most people are atheists by feelings, traditions or faith, when hearing...
by lament
Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:12 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?
Replies: 18
Views: 3513

Re: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?

Well, speaking as an annihilationist... 1) My belief in annihilationism is quite unshakable. I can't really see any way I could change or destabilize it. If there was anything in the suttas that could do it, I would probably have found it by now. 2) I can testify that meditation on death does not ma...
by lament
Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:48 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?
Replies: 18
Views: 3513

Re: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?

Oh sorry, didn't realize they were not the same thing and didn't actually read the sutta :|
Still, awareness of death seems better than ignorance of it, for anyone. Why promote ignorance?
by lament
Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:36 pm
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?
Replies: 18
Views: 3513

Re: How to teach Mindfulness of Death to atheists?

I thought the purpose of death meditation was to help realize the impermanence of the body, so that the meditator is forced to stop identifying with it and clinging to it. This seems beneficial regardless of one's beliefs.
by lament
Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:23 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: How to deal with expectations of other people
Replies: 15
Views: 4061

Re: How to deal with expectations of other people

puppha wrote:What about if she is unhappy because I don't drink alcohol? I have been reproached that many times...
This sounds like the story of a certain Adam and Eve...
by lament
Sun Sep 02, 2012 12:13 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: David's List VS Schindler's List
Replies: 18
Views: 2557

Re: David's List VS Schindler's List

From Wikipedia, it seems Ginsberg was really a Buddhist and his teacher was none other than Trungpa. Hesse, I remember reading somewhere that he actually spent time meditating trying to become enlightened. Presumably it didn't work. I doubt he ever thought of himself as a Buddhist. Siddhartha is par...
by lament
Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:35 pm
Forum: Pāli
Topic: Pali training rules
Replies: 24
Views: 6236

Re: Pali training rules

Most street drugs today were not around at that time and fermented drinks were the more common intoxicant. Is it a reasonable assumption that marijuana was so uncommon as to not be worth mentioning in the precept? According to Wikipedia, it's been in use for Hindu rites since 1000 BC, and legally u...
by lament
Thu Aug 23, 2012 3:23 pm
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: Goenka retreat- aversion towards Chanting
Replies: 144
Views: 40271

Re: Goenka retreat- aversion towards Chanting

I've been on a 10-day Goenka retreat and chanting was my biggest annoyance. The problem is that they expect you to meditate through the chanting. I'm a musician. Few things make me distracted and lost in content as easily as music does. It's like trying to meditate while having sex - sure, it can be...
by lament
Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:38 am
Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
Topic: Any Theravada branches compatible with annihilationism?
Replies: 8
Views: 2877

Re: Any Theravada branches compatible with annihilationism?

Thanks everyone. I'll look into all those suggestions.
by lament
Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:36 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: I am sure there is a lesson in this somewhere
Replies: 36
Views: 6863

Re: I am sure there is a lesson in this somewhere

The lesson I took from that is that an animal's life is incredibly unpleasant at times.
by lament
Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:33 pm
Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
Topic: Any Theravada branches compatible with annihilationism?
Replies: 8
Views: 2877

Any Theravada branches compatible with annihilationism?

Hello everyone. I'm wondering to what extent my beliefs could be compatible with Buddhism. Raised with the scientific worldview, I believe very strongly that a mind is conditional on a complex physical system (e.g. a brain); that it is in some sense secondary to the physical world in which it arises...