adventitious
adventitious
i was reading the sutta the removal of distracting thoughts and was wondering when it says "when an adventitious thought that is unwholesome arises one should replace it with a skillfull one. my question is what if someone was thinking lustful thoughts earlier in the day on purpose (not adventitious) then when they sit down to meditate the lust that was thought of earlier makes lust pop up, is it still adventitious?
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
Re: adventitious
adventitious means accidental.
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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Re: adventitious
The meaning here is: "happening as a result of external factors" — not by chance.
Oxford Dictionary
Its not by chance that lustful thoughts appear when they are cultivated intentionally.
Oxford Dictionary
Its not by chance that lustful thoughts appear when they are cultivated intentionally.
Blog • Pāli Fonts • In This Very Life • Buddhist Chronicles • Software (Upasampadā: 24th June, 1979)
Re: adventitious
Hi Bhante,
it doesnt say not chance it says or chance. "happening as a result of an external factor or chance rather than design or inherent nature"
would that make it impossible to switch an unwholesome state with a wholesome one in this scenario?
apacayana,
Befriend
it doesnt say not chance it says or chance. "happening as a result of an external factor or chance rather than design or inherent nature"
would that make it impossible to switch an unwholesome state with a wholesome one in this scenario?
apacayana,
Befriend
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
Re: adventitious
i mean what if you purposely thought lustful thoughts in the morning then at night because of that line of thinking the lustful thoughts came up.
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Re: adventitious
I'm thinking that, if you purposely think lustfully at any time whatsoever, you are inviting it into your mind. When it comes in and it pees all over your furniture to the point where the smell is noteworthy even hours later (that night), I don't think there is anything accidental about that. I'd just call that kamma...befriend wrote:i mean what if you purposely thought lustful thoughts in the morning then at night because of that line of thinking the lustful thoughts came up.
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Re: adventitious
Dhammapada verse 1 & 2 spring to mind here.befriend wrote:i mean what if you purposely thought lustful thoughts in the morning then at night because of that line of thinking the lustful thoughts came up.
these thoughts came about through design through promoting such thoughts.
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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
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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Re: adventitious
Though it may seem that many things happen by chance, because we don't know the causes, nothing happens without a cause. That's not fatalism either, but conditionality. When past kamma bears fruit, we can react to it in different ways — making fresh wholesome or unwholesome kamma that will bear fruit in the future. If it was not possible to change our destiny by modifying our present kamma, then the Buddha would not have bothered to teach the Dhamma.
If we think lustful thoughts it is the unwholesome mental kamma of covetousness (abhijjhā), and that has consequences. Old habits die hard, so the more that we follow unskilful thoughts, the more vulnerable we are to following unskilful speech and action when conditions conspire to make it likely.
The Sutta in question gives methods how to replace unwholesome reflections with wholesome ones.
A certain monk was in the habit of contemplating bones in the cemetery. One day, while walking for alms, he met a woman on the road who had left the house, having quarrelled with her husband. On seeing the monk, she entertained wicked thoughts, and laughed. The monk looked up, but instead of seeing a beautiful woman and being overpowered by lust, all he saw was a skeleton walking along the road. He then gained Arahantship. What do you think would have happened if the monk was in the habit of entertaining lustful fantasies?
If we think lustful thoughts it is the unwholesome mental kamma of covetousness (abhijjhā), and that has consequences. Old habits die hard, so the more that we follow unskilful thoughts, the more vulnerable we are to following unskilful speech and action when conditions conspire to make it likely.
The Sutta in question gives methods how to replace unwholesome reflections with wholesome ones.
A certain monk was in the habit of contemplating bones in the cemetery. One day, while walking for alms, he met a woman on the road who had left the house, having quarrelled with her husband. On seeing the monk, she entertained wicked thoughts, and laughed. The monk looked up, but instead of seeing a beautiful woman and being overpowered by lust, all he saw was a skeleton walking along the road. He then gained Arahantship. What do you think would have happened if the monk was in the habit of entertaining lustful fantasies?
Blog • Pāli Fonts • In This Very Life • Buddhist Chronicles • Software (Upasampadā: 24th June, 1979)
Re: adventitious
Sadhu, Bhante, that was such an inspiring and helpful post.
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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Re: adventitious
Enlightenment is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
The first 1 % is not too difficult.
The first 1 % is not too difficult.
Blog • Pāli Fonts • In This Very Life • Buddhist Chronicles • Software (Upasampadā: 24th June, 1979)
Re: adventitious
Then I will try harder not just to feel inspired by the Dhamma, but to more consistently put it into practice, even if this seems to grate sometimes.Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:Enlightenment is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
The first 1 % is not too difficult.
Thank you for your advice Bhante.
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
Re: adventitious
The Buddha says that whatever thoughts one frequently cultivates and ponders upon will become the basis of ones mind. So, if your cultivating thoughts of lust, naturally they are going to arise later on more often than not.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB