akaliko -timeless

Explore the ancient language of the Tipitaka and Theravāda commentaries

Moderator: Mahavihara moderator

akaliko -timeless

Postby pilgrim » Sun Mar 06, 2011 7:56 am

Dhamma is described as "akaliko" which is translated as timeless but i've read 2 different meanings
1. immediatly effective
2. true in all three times (past, present and future)

Which is correct?
User avatar
pilgrim
 
Posts: 670
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:56 pm

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby BlackBird » Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:05 am

pilgrim wrote:Dhamma is described as "akaliko" which is translated as timeless but i've read 2 different meanings
1. immediatly effective
2. true in all three times (past, present and future)

Which is correct?


Personally I would say neither - and with gusto.

A - negative prefix
kalika - time

akalika - not-time, not-to-do-with-time, not concerned with time.
"But, Udāyi, let be the past, let be the future, I shall set you forth the Teaching: When there is this this is, with arising of this this arises; when there is not this this is not, with cessation of this this ceases." - Majjhima ii,32

Nanavira Thera's teachings - An existential approach to the Dhamma:
http://bit.ly/LDsGHg
User avatar
BlackBird
 
Posts: 1386
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:07 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby cooran » Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:08 am

Hello pilgrim,

Hope this helps:

From Great Virtues of the Dhamma by Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda

(3) Akaliko
Akaliko implied that the beneficial effects to be derived from the practice of the Dhamma would not be delayed. The Dhamma, despite the length of time that has elapsed since its pronouncement, remains ever fresh and unchallenged. It runs parallel even with the latest scientific thought. If there is truth, that truth can never become old. Dhamma is that Truth which cannot grow old with age since it depicts the reality underlying all phenomenal existence in Samsara. Briefly, the Dhamma states that the world is unsatisfactory and that greed happens to be the inevitable cause of this state of affairs. The remedy for this unsatisfactoriness is the eradication of greed to be achieved through the practice of eight skilful factors known as the noble Eightfold Path.
http://www.purifymind.com/Introduction.htm

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
User avatar
cooran
 
Posts: 6044
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby tiltbillings » Sun Mar 06, 2011 8:37 am

BlackBird wrote:
pilgrim wrote:Dhamma is described as "akaliko" which is translated as timeless but i've read 2 different meanings
1. immediatly effective
2. true in all three times (past, present and future)

Which is correct?


Personally I would say neither - and with gusto.

A - negative prefix
kalika - time

akalika - not-time, not-to-do-with-time, not concerned with time.
Pali idiom very often uses negative constructions to say something positive

What is the use of his knowledge
pertaining to the number of insects in the whole world?
Rather, inquire into his knowledge of
that which is to be practised by us

-- Dharmakirti

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

Níl sa saol seo ach ceo
There is naught in this life but mist
Is ní bheimid beo ach seal beag gearr.
And we will not be alive but a short hard time.
User avatar
tiltbillings
 
Posts: 16718
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am
Location: Turtle Island

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby plwk » Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:04 am

Bhikkhus, if you develop and make much this one thing,
it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction.
What is it? It is recollecting the Enlightened One.
If this single thing is recollected and made much,
it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction.

Anguttara-Nikaya: Ekanipata: Ekadhammapali: Pañhamavagga
WBB TBHT HBM AC My Page
plwk
 
Posts: 967
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:14 am

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby pilgrim » Sun Mar 06, 2011 1:33 pm

plwk wrote:Without delay

Thanks.. that settles it
User avatar
pilgrim
 
Posts: 670
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:56 pm

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby kirk5a » Sun Mar 06, 2011 4:29 pm

Ever heard a really big bell? It doesn't just have a single tone actually. It resonates on several levels.
"When one thing is practiced & pursued, ignorance is abandoned, clear knowing arises, the conceit 'I am' is abandoned, latent tendencies are uprooted, fetters are abandoned. Which one thing? Mindfulness immersed in the body." -AN 1.230
User avatar
kirk5a
 
Posts: 1434
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:51 pm

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby PeterB » Sun Mar 06, 2011 4:38 pm

BlackBird wrote:
pilgrim wrote:Dhamma is described as "akaliko" which is translated as timeless but i've read 2 different meanings
1. immediatly effective
2. true in all three times (past, present and future)

Which is correct?


Personally I would say neither - and with gusto.

A - negative prefix
kalika - time

akalika - not-time, not-to-do-with-time, not concerned with time.

:namaste: Correct
PeterB
 
Posts: 3844
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:35 pm

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby PeterB » Sun Mar 06, 2011 4:39 pm

plwk wrote:Without delay



Not incorrect but conventional.
PeterB
 
Posts: 3844
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:35 pm

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby piotr » Sun Mar 06, 2011 9:41 pm

I think we should also contemplate what the term ‘dhamma’ refers to in this context. This may sort out some puzzles.
Bhagavaṃmūlakā no, bhante, dhammā...
User avatar
piotr
 
Posts: 332
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:33 pm
Location: Khettadesa

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby Dmytro » Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:38 am

pilgrim wrote:Dhamma is described as "akaliko" which is translated as timeless but i've read 2 different meanings
1. immediatly effective
2. true in all three times (past, present and future)

Which is correct?


From the Margaret Cone's dictionary:

akālika,
1. not dependent on time; not limited to a particular time; immediate, immediately effective;
2. not at a usual or expected time; unseasonable;
Critical Pali Dictionary:

a-kālika, mfn., 1. out of season, exceptional; Mil 114,7 (~aṁ kadācuppattikaṁ). —
2. immediate, present, at hand; Ja III 394,19'; in the formula:
sanditthiko, ~o, ehipassiko, etc., DN II 93,32 (Vism 216,16); AN I 156,28 (Mp), 227,13 (Mp); — Sn 567 (Pj) = MN ch. 92 (Ps), Sn 1137 (Nidd II, Nidd-a, Pj) (sandiṭṭhikaṁ ~aṁ); SN II 58,4 = IV 328,21 (dhammena ditthena viditena ~ena pattena pariyogāḷhena) (Spk).

http://pali.hum.ku.dk/cpd/search.html

Best wishes, Dmytro
User avatar
Dmytro
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:24 pm
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine

Re: akaliko -timeless

Postby piotr » Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:00 am

Hi,

BTW There's interesting article on this by Johannes Bronkhorst: http://my.unil.ch/serval/document/BIB_74F9A3157D8D.pdf

:reading:
Bhagavaṃmūlakā no, bhante, dhammā...
User avatar
piotr
 
Posts: 332
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:33 pm
Location: Khettadesa


Return to Pali

Who is online

Registered users: Ben, Bing [Bot], fig tree, Google [Bot], kmath, Majestic-12 [Bot], Majjhima Patipada, marc108, mikenz66, Modus.Ponens, onaquest, rahul3bds, thaijeppe, Will