nowheat wrote:
But I am not asking what you are saying. I am asking if you disagree with the Buddha. The Buddha says that even if there is no rebirth, following the dhamma is a good thing. I am asking if you disagree with the Buddha. It's actually a "yes or no" question.
- "And who is the individual who goes against the flow? There is the case where an individual doesn't indulge in sensual passions and doesn't do evil deeds. Even though it may be with pain, even though it may be with sorrow, even though he may be crying, his face in tears, he lives the holy life that is perfect & pure. This is called the individual who goes against the flow." http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Why would a person lives the holy life that is perfect & pure that brings in this life: pain, sorrow and tears.
Isn't Dhamma supposed to stop suffering? Not add pain, sorrow and tears?
It is perfectly understandable to suffer in this life so that there will not be much greater amount of suffering in next lives. But to live the holy life that is perfect & pure that brings in this life: pain, sorrow, tears - is just self inflicted deprivation and hardship.
“Bhikkhus, suppose there was a man with a lifespan of a hundred years, who could live a hundred years. Someone would say to him: ‘Come, good man, in the morning they will strike you with a hundred spears; at noon they will strike you with a hundred spears; in the evening they will strike you with a hundred spears. And you, good man, being struck day after day by three hundred spears will have a lifespan of a hundred years, will live a hundred years; and then, after a hundred years have passed, you will make the breakthrough to the four noble truths, to which you had not broken through earlier.
“It is fitting, bhikkhus, for a clansman intent on his good to accept the offer. For what reason? Because this saμsåra, bhikkhus, is without discoverable beginning; a first point cannot be discerned of blows by spears, blows by swords, blows by axes. And even though this may be so, bhikkhus, I do not say that the breakthrough to the four noble truths is accompanied by suffering or displeasure. Rather, bhikkhus, the breakthrough to the four noble truths is accompanied only by happiness, accompanied only by joy. What four? The noble truth of suffering … the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of
suffering. “Therefore, bhikkhus, an exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is suffering.’ … An exertion should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’” BB Transl. - SN 56.35 (5) A Hundred Spears
If there is one life only, why accept the deal of being tortured for hundred years in order to realize 4NT? It works only if we consider multi-lifetimes where suffering can be much greater than in this one.