Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

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Mojo
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Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Mojo »

I already have Breathe! You Are Alive by Thich Nhat Hanh. Would I be better served to buy someone else's interpretation of the Anapanasati Sutta?

Thank you.

Mojo
Last edited by Mojo on Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good translation?

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

From what I've read, his writings on anapanasati are more "interpretation" than "translation." Helpful stuff, but it definitely lacks the nuance of a more scholarly approach.


This is a strictly line-by-line, word-by-word examination of the sutta by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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Aloka
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good translation?

Post by Aloka »

Hi mojo,

There's the sutta itself:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

There's an Anapanasati pdf book by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu:

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/anapanasati.pdf

An article about Anapanasati by Ajahn Sumedho:

http://www.buddhanet.net/nowknow2.htm

with kind wishes

Aloka
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Mojo
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good translation?

Post by Mojo »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:From what I've read, his writings on anapanasati are more "interpretation" than "translation." Helpful stuff, but it definitely lacks the nuance of a more scholarly approach.
Thank you for helping me to clarify my question. I edited the topic to reflect interpretation instead of translation.

I'm no scholar and would not know the nuances of Pali to discern what certain expressions really mean in a literal translation.

I suppose I just really want to make sure that I have an easy to follow guide to practicing Anapanasati that I can practice and be confident that I'm actually practicing Anapanasati and not some other form of meditation.

Namaste
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Mojo
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Mojo »

I should like to note that I'm going start sitting with a Thich Nhat Hanh group on this week. They are the only group around that doesn't burn incense - incense I'd a deal breaker for me. I suppose I'm a tad bit apprehensive of following ESL instructions.
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good translation?

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Mojo wrote:I suppose I just really want to make sure that I have an easy to follow guide to practicing Anapanasati that I can practice and be confident that I'm actually practicing Anapanasati and not some other form of meditation.

Namaste
It depends on what you mean by "anapanasati." If you mean general meditation where you follow your breath with mindfulness, then I'm sure TNH will be fine.

However, "capital-A" Anapanasati can refer to the specific set of sixteen steps the Buddha laid out in the eponymous sutta. I don't know if TNH will be accurately representing those specifically.

Why is incense a problem for you?
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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Mojo
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Mojo »

It bothers my breathing and I've seen reports stating it is as dangerous as second hand cigarette smoke.
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Mojo wrote:It bothers my breathing and I've seen reports stating it is as dangerous as second hand cigarette smoke.
I have trouble with incense too, it's probably best to avoid it.
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
danieLion
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by danieLion »

That's the question that propelled me to start studying the suttas, and I'd say no, it's not a good interpretation.

In addition to being in the Anapanasati Sutta, all four of the aforementioned core instructional tetrads can also be found in the following canonical discourses:

-the "Greater Exhortation to Rahula Discourse" (Maha-Rahulovada Sutta, MN 62);[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html]
-sixteen discourses of the Samyutta Nikaya's (SN) chapter 54 (Anapana-samyutta): SN 54.1, SN 54.3–SN 54.16, SN 54.20;[http://www.accesstoinsight.org /tipitaka/sn/sn54/sn54.006.than.html; http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]
-the "To Girimananda Discourse" (Girimananda Sutta, AN 10.60); and,[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html] the Khuddaka Nikaya's Patisambhidamagga's section on the breath, Anapanakatha.

The first tetrad identified above (relating to bodily mindfulness) can also be found in the following discourses:

-the "Great Mindfulness Arousing Discourse" (Mahasatipatthana Sutta, DN 22)[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... 0.than.htm] and, similarly, the "Mindfulness Arousing Discourse" (Satipatthana Sutta, MN 10),[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .nysa.html] in the section on Body Contemplation; and,
-the "Mindfulness concerning the Body Discourse" (Kayagatasati Sutta, MN 119) as the first type of body-centered meditation described.[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html]
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Cittasanto
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Cittasanto »

if I remember the Book propperly his has the only english rendering of the Chinese Agama versions that are freely & readily available in English, so it has some worth from that perspective. But I have never really liked the lovey dovey approach or the realigning of sanghadisesa rules that his community has done so.
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.
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Spiny Norman
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Spiny Norman »

Mojo wrote:I should like to note that I'm going start sitting with a Thich Nhat Hanh group on this week.
I'd be interested to hear how you get on, and if there is any meditation instruction. I was involved in an Interbeing Sangha for a number of years.
Buddha save me from new-agers!
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Mojo
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Mojo »

I'm leaning toward getting Larry Rosenberg's Breath by Breath.
lojong1
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by lojong1 »

porpoise wrote:I'd be interested to hear how you get on, and if there is any meditation instruction. I was involved in an Interbeing Sangha for a number of years.
I sit with interbeings once in a while here as the only group sit on that night. Bell rings and we sit 20mins, walk 10mins, sit 20 mins, and then about an hour of reading or chants or whatever thingy for the week, finishing with a tea circle. There hasn't been any sitting instructions but we are free to ask. Walkng is super slow with attention mostly on foot sensations and matching step to breath.
I enjoy the company but wouldn't want it to be my only source for buddha-dhamma-vinaya.
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LonesomeYogurt
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by LonesomeYogurt »

Mojo wrote:I'm leaning toward getting Larry Rosenberg's Breath by Breath.
Larry Rosenberg was influenced heavily by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. You may find his introduction to Anapanasati, which I consider to be one of the best ever written, helpful:

http://what-buddha-taught.net/Books3/Bh ... athing.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.

Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.

His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta

Stuff I write about things.
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Aloka
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Re: Breathe! You Are Alive - good interpretation?

Post by Aloka »

LonesomeYogurt wrote: . You may find his introduction to Anapanasati, which I consider to be one of the best ever written, helpful:

http://what-buddha-taught.net/Books3/Bh ... athing.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I also gave a link to the Buddhadasa pdf booklet #3.

_/\_
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