Yawares Daily Dhamma Thread

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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yawares
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Daily Dhamma 14:The Root of All Virtues

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

Daily Dhamma 14:The Root of All Virtues :candle:
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @ SD/JTN Groups]

In the Sallekha Sutta (MN 8) the Buddha talks about 44 kinds of effacement for removal of the corresponding defilements(kilesas). The very first effacement is harmlessness; this wholesome quality is most important since it is the root of all other virtues.

"But herein, Cunda, effacement should be practiced by you:
(1) Others will be harmful; we shall not be harmful here — thus effacement can be done."
...
(42) Others will be lacking in mindfulness; we shall be established in mindfulness here — thus effacement can be done.
(43) Others will be without wisdom; we shall be endowed with wisdom — thus effacement can be done.
(44) Others will misapprehend according to their individual views, hold on to them tenaciously and not easily discard them; we shall not misapprehend according to individual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease — thus effacement can be done.

Commentary: "Harmlessness is called 'effacement,' because it effaces harmfulness, i.e., it cuts it off (chindati). ...
It has the characteristic mark of making one refrain from immorality which, on its part, has the mark of harming. Hence harmlessness is an especially strong productive cause of morality; and morality, again, is the basis for concentration of mind, while concentration is the basis for wisdom. In that way harmlessness (non-violence) is the root of all virtues."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... -mn-008-17" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

***********
:heart: Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
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Dhamma 15: Meditation for Purification of Mind

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

Daily Dhamma 15: Meditation for Purification of Mind
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @ SariputtaDhamma Group/JTN]

This short Buddha's discourse sums up the practice for guarding mental faculty in everyday living.
"Whether walking,
standing, sitting,
or lying down
��" his mind inwardly restrained ��"
he arrives right at peace." {Iti 3.37; Iti 81}
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... ml#iti-076" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
...................
Tep: Puification of mind, the inward cleansing, is impossible in the presence of mental defilements (even when they exist in small amount). The above verse essentially states that the goal of guarding against mental defilements is to establish a peaceful mind within. It also shows that 'peace' is a present-moment dhamma; with mind inwardly restrained, one can be at peace in any body position, day or night.

Talking about purification of mind, I think the following Dhamma talk by the venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi :candle: is priceless :

"Purification of mind as understood in the Buddha's teaching is the sustained endeavor to cleanse the mind of defilements, those dark unwholesome mental forces which run beneath the surface stream of consciousness vitiating our thinking, values, attitudes, and actions. The chief among the defilements are the three that the Buddha has termed the "roots of evil" ��" greed, hatred, and delusion ��" from which emerge their numerous offshoots and variants: anger and cruelty, avarice and envy, conceit and arrogance, hypocrisy and vanity, the multitude of erroneous views."

"The defilements, the Buddha declares, lie at the bottom of all human suffering. Burning within as lust and craving, as rage and resentment, they lay to waste hearts, lives, hopes, and civilizations, and drive us blind and thirsty through the round of birth and death. The Buddha describes the defilements as bonds, fetters, hindrances, and knots; thence the path to unbonding, release, and liberation, to untying the knots, is at the same time a discipline aimed at inward cleansing.

"The work of purification must be undertaken in the same place where the defilements arise, in the mind itself, and the main method the Dhamma offers for purifying the mind is meditation."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ay_04.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

**************
Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
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DailyDhamma 16: Contemporary Buddhist Attitudes

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

Daily Dhamma 16: Contemporary Buddhist Attitudes
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @ SariputtaDhamma/JTN/Mult]

The venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi's comment below is both interesting and entertaining.

"Contemporary attitudes do not look favorably upon such notions as defilement and purity, and on first encounter they may strike us as throwbacks to an outdated moralism, valid perhaps in an era when prudery and taboo were dominant, but having no claims upon us emancipated torchbearers of modernity. Admittedly, we do not all wallow in the mire of gross materialism and many among us seek our enlightenments and spiritual highs, but we want them on our own terms, and as heirs of the new freedom we believe they are to be won through an unbridled quest for experience without any special need for introspection, personal change, or self-control.[/color]

"However, in the Buddha's teaching the criterion of genuine enlightenment lies precisely in purity of mind. The purpose of all insight and enlightened understanding is to liberate the mind from the defilements, and Nibbana itself, the goal of the teaching, is defined quite clearly as freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion. From the perspective of the Dhamma defilement and purity are not mere postulates of a rigid authoritarian moralism but real and solid facts essential to a correct understanding of the human situation in the world.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ay_04.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In my humble and sincere opinion , neither a "torchbearer of modernity" nor an "authoritarian moralist" of "prudery and taboo" has any clue about the Buddha's middle-path dhamma principle.

*************
Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
Last edited by yawares on Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gavesako
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Re: DailyDhamma 16: Contemporary Buddhist Attitudes

Post by gavesako »

All too often, we are following our cultural conditioning without being aware of it, or reacting against it, when we approach the Buddhist teachings. A lot also depends on the words which are chosen to translate Buddhist terms and their cultural connotations.
Ajahn Sumedho often spoke about this, how he was conditioned by his childhood Christian upbringing to see the world in black & white terms only, Good/Bad, Right/Wrong. There was no middle way approach at all.
Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)

Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
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yawares
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Re: DailyDhamma 16: Contemporary Buddhist Attitudes

Post by yawares »

gavesako wrote:All too often, we are following our cultural conditioning without being aware of it, or reacting against it, when we approach the Buddhist teachings. A lot also depends on the words which are chosen to translate Buddhist terms and their cultural connotations.
Ajahn Sumedho often spoke about this, how he was conditioned by his childhood Christian upbringing to see the world in black & white terms only, Good/Bad, Right/Wrong. There was no middle way approach at all.
Dear Bhikkhu Gavesako,

Tep volunteered to give you his reply as follows:

Tep: I think one's prior religious belief and attachment to 'me and mine' most strongly affect a person's ability to accept extreme views as wrong and the midle-way as right.
Once the five ascetics were given the teaching of the Dhamma-cakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11) about the middle way that "produces vision and knowledge" that lead to self-awakening, they rightly followed the path. After that they only needed to listen to the Anattalakkhana Sutta(SN 22.59) in order to break through to Arahantship.

Yawares: I always love your comment. :candle:
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Re: DailyDhamma 16: Contemporary Buddhist Attitudes

Post by Cittasanto »

I was talking about this not long ago here
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 20#p195759" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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yawares
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Re: DailyDhamma 16: Contemporary Buddhist Attitudes

Post by yawares »

Cittasanto wrote:I was talking about this not long ago here
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 20#p195759" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Dear Cittasanto,

Yes, I did read them all...I like your views/comments :candle:
yawares
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Daily Dhamma 17:Becoming Stream-winner

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

:candle: Daily Dhamma 17:Becoming Stream-winner :candle:
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @ SariputtaDhamma/JTN/Mult]

Udakupama Sutta (AN 7.15) emphasizes the utmost importance of five kinds of wholesome (kusala dhammas) that are necessary for successful self-awakening (beginning at Stream-entry) -- not "falling away" in the Dhamma again. Falling away in the Dhamma is comparable to sinking down into a deep water.

"There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, seeing:
'Conviction(saddha) in skillful qualities is good, conscience(hiri) is good, concern(ottappa) is good, persistence(viriya) is good, discernment(pa~n~naa, right understanding) with regard to skillful qualities is good.' His conviction neither remains nor grows, but simply wanes away. His conscience, his concern, his persistence, his discernment neither remain nor grow, but simply wane away. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, sinks down again.

"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, open his eyes & look around? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, seeing:
'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of [the first] three fetters, he becomes a stream-winner, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, opens his eyes & looks around."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
................

The three fetters that must be eradicated in order to become a stream-winner are: 1. self-identity views, 2. uncertainty, 3. grasping at precepts & practice.

****************
Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
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Daily Dhamma 18: Non-return Attainment

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

Daily Dhamma 18: Non-return Attainment
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @SariputtaDhamma/JTN/Mult]

After becoming a stream-winner, eradication of two more fetters, i.e. sensual desire and ill will, will lead to Non-return.

The 'Simile of the Cloth' discourse(Vatthupama Sutta) of Majjhima Nikaya 7 describes the Non-return path attainment as follows.

"Knowing, monks, covetousness and unrighteous greed to be a defilement of the mind, the monk abandons them. [Note4]
"Knowing ill will to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing anger to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. Knowing hostility to be a defilement of the mind, he abandons it. ... etc.
"When in the monk who thus knows that covetousness and unrighteous greed are a defilement of the mind, this covetousness and unrighteous greed have been abandoned. When in him who thus knows that ill will is a defilement of the mind, this ill will has been abandoned; ... etc.
"When he has given up, renounced, let go, abandoned and relinquished [the defilements] in part,[Note7] he knows: 'I am endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha... in the Dhamma... in the Sangha; and he gains enthusiasm for the goal, gains enthusiasm for the Dhamma, [Note8] gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. When he is gladdened, joy is born in him; being joyous in mind, his body becomes tranquil; his body being tranquil, he feels happiness; and the mind of him who is happy becomes concentrated.[Note9]
......................................

Commentarial Notes:

Note 4: Abandons them (pajahati). "He abandons the respective defilement through (his attainment of) the noble path where there is 'abandoning by eradication' (samucchedappahana-vasena ariya-maggena)," which according to Sub.Comy. is the "final abandoning" (accantappahana). Before the attainment of the noble paths, all "abandoning" of defilements is of a temporary nature.

Note 7: Bhikkhu Ã`anamoli translates this paragraph thus: "And whatever (from among those imperfections) has, according to the limitation (set by whichever of the first three paths he has attained), been given up, has been (forever) dropped, let go, abandoned, relinquished. etc.

Note 8: "When reviewing (paccavekkhato) the abandonment of the defilements and his unwavering confidence, strong joy arises in the non-returner in the thought: 'Such and such defilements are now abandoned by me.' It is like the joy of a king who learns that a rebellion in the frontier region has been quelled." etc.

Note 9: The Pali equivalents for this series of terms are: 1. pamojja (gladness), 2. piti (joy or rapture), 3. passaddhi (tranquillity), 4. sukha (happiness), 5. samadhi (concentration). Nos. 2, 3, 5 are factors of enlightenment (bojjhanga). The function of tranquillity is here the calming of any slight bodily and mental unrest resulting from rapturous joy, and so transforming the latter into serene happiness followed by meditative absorption. etc.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .nypo.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

***************
Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
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Daily Dhamma 19:A Brief Nibbana Formula

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

This Uposatha Day I proudly present:

:candle: Daily Dhamma 19:A Brief Nibbana Formula :candle:
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @SariputtaDhamma/JTN/Mult]

The following short excerpt of MN 144 is about a brief advice for the permanent cessation of suffering(dukkha): for attainment of arahantship. It may be worthwhile to compare this advice with the famous Bahiya instruction : "In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself." [Ud 1.10 Bahiya Sutta].
...................

MAJJHIMA NIKAAYA III (5.2) Channovaadasutta.m
144. Advice to Venerable Channa.

I heard thus. At one time the Blessed One lived in the squirrels' sanctuary in the bamboo grove in Rajagaha. At that time, venerable Sariputta, venerable Mahacunda and venerable Channa lived on the Gijjha peak.

At that time venerable Channa was seriously ill. Venerable Sariputta getting up from his seclusion in the evening approached venerable Mahacunda and said. `Friend Chunda, let's approach venerable Channa to inquire about his health.' Venerable Mahacunda accepting venerable Sariputta's suggestion, both approached venerable Channa.

After exchanging friendly greetings with venerable Channa they sat on a side and venerable Sariputta said. ` Friend Channa, how are you feeling? Would you survive? Are the unpleasant feelings decreasing or increasing? Do the feelings show the increasing end or the decreasing end?'

`Friend Sariputta, I do not feel well, will not survive. My unpleasant feelings are severe and increasing, not decreasing. ... Friend Sariputta, I will take a weapon to end life.’ etc.

Then venerable Mahacunda said to venerable Channa: `Friend Channa, constant attention should be given to this too in the dispensation of the Blessed One. To the settled there is change, to the not settled there is no change.
When there is no change, there is delight.
When there is delight, there is no inclination.
When there is no inclination, there is no coming and going.
When there is no coming and going, there is no disappearing and appearing
When there is no disappearing and appearing, there is no here or there, or
in between.
That is the end of unpleasantness.
...................

The "unpleasantness" here is a rendition of 'dukkha' (the most well-known rendition of dukkha is "suffering"). The end of unpleasantness is Nibbana! Thus this Arahant Mahacunda's 'formula for Nibbana' is a brief advice for the cessation of suffering.

[Please read the Sutta commentarial notes (1) - (6) that explain Mahacunda's advice in layman's terms. Click here: http://www.dhammaweb.net/Tipitaka/read.php?id=178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]
*****************
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Daily Dhamma 20: Desire Originates the World

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

:candle: Daily Dhamma 20: Desire Originates the World :candle:
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri @SariputtaDhamma/JTN/Mult]

We have read in Mulaka Sutta [AN 10.58] that 'sabbe dhamma' means "all phenomena" or "all things". It further states that the origin of 'sabbe dhamma' is 'chanda' (desire, interest) and that 'all things arise with contact'. Here, contact(phassa) is the coming together of three things: a sense-object, a sense medium("sense door"), and a consciousness.

" Friends, the origin of all things is interest, its beginning is attention, all things arise with a contact, they move with feelings, the foremost for all things is concentration, the authority for all things is mindfulness, all things are ennobled in wisdom, and the essence for all things is release. ..." [Metta.net's translation of AN 10.58]
...........

From the cessation of contact through the Noble Eightfold Path ("the way") five other dhammas also cease: sensuality, perception, taints (cankers, asava) and, importantly, kamma! [See AN 6.63 Nibbedhika Sutta
...........

All phenomena are also called 'the world' (see Loka Sutta, SN 35.82). Since desire, which is the origin of 'the world', no longer arises in arahants; therefore, conditioned phenomena do not originate in their unconditioned mind. It should be noted that wholesome ordinary people can abandon desire, but only temporarily.
***************
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Daily Dhamma 21:How to Transcend Bad Kamma

Post by yawares »

Dear Members,

Daily Dhamma 21:How to Transcend Bad Kamma
[Presented by Dr.Tep Sastri@Sariputta/JTN/Mult]

There is a nice sutta, the Sankha Sutta, that explains, in black-and-white, that one's past kamma, no matter how unwholesome(akusala) it seems, can be transcended <undone> by upholding the precepts, developing right view, and practicing awareness-release(ceto-vimutti) that is imbued with good will, compassion, appreciation and equanimity.
.................

[Excerpt, SN 42.8 Sankha Sutta:]

"A disciple has faith in that teacher and reflects: 'The Blessed One in a variety of ways criticizes & censures the taking of life, and says, "Abstain from taking life." There are living beings that I have killed, to a greater or lesser extent. That was not right. That was not good. But if I become remorseful for that reason, that evil deed of mine will not be undone.' So, reflecting thus, he abandons right then the taking of life, and in the future refrains from taking life. This is how there comes to be the abandoning of that evil deed. This is how there comes to be the transcending of that evil deed.

"Having abandoned the taking of life, he refrains from taking life. Having abandoned stealing, he refrains from stealing. Having abandoned illicit sex, he refrains from illicit sex. Having abandoned lies, he refrains from lies. Having abandoned divisive speech, he refrains from divisive speech. Having abandoned harsh speech, he refrains from harsh speech. Having abandoned idle chatter, he refrains from idle chatter. Having abandoned covetousness, he becomes uncovetous. Having abandoned ill will & anger, he becomes one with a mind of no ill will. Having abandoned wrong views, he becomes one who has right views.

"That disciple of the noble ones, headman � thus devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will, unbewildered, alert, mindful � keeps pervading the first direction [the east] with an awareness imbued with good will, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth. Thus above, below, & all around, everywhere, in its entirety, he keeps pervading the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with good will � abundant, expansive, immeasurable, without hostility, without ill will. Just as a strong conch-trumpet blower can notify the four directions without any difficulty, in the same way, when the awareness-release through good will is thus developed, thus pursued, any deed done to a limited extent no longer remains there, no longer stays there.
[Repeat by replacing ill-will(metta) by compassion(karuna), appreciation(mudita) and equanimity(upekkha).]http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
.................
The above excerpt gives one explanation why Angulimala, who had killed 999 people before meeting the Buddha, turned around and later became an arahant.
************
Love Buddha's dhamma,
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Re: Daily Dhamma 21:How to Transcend Bad Kamma

Post by johnny »

Beautiful. Is there anything the Dhamma doesn't cover? love it!
The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only the electronic clocks but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again.
There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling I had to believe whatever clocks said -and calendars.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
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yawares
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Re: Daily Dhamma 21:How to Transcend Bad Kamma

Post by yawares »

johnny wrote:Beautiful. Is there anything the Dhamma doesn't cover? love it!
Dear Johnny,

Me too...I love this article/Thanks for your comment,
yawares
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Re: Daily Dhamma 21:How to Transcend Bad Kamma

Post by waimengwan »

I love the story of Angulimala!

The articles sounds like if we abandon negative actions and I sense there is regret in it as well then we will overcome our negative karma? Am I getting it right? If i get that right then just with regret and not doing those actions again I will purify my karma?

Coz Angulimala though he regret and stopped completely at some villages he was beaten to pulp. Do share if I have gotten it wrong.
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