Viscid wrote:While the nondual view is certainly interesting.. I never could figure out why it even matters. How does nonduality relate to our practice? What value does it have to a Theravadin? Why is it important?
This is either Advaita Vedanta or Heart Sutra stuff, else it's an oblique reference to anti-cognition from Zen or perhaps Nagarjuna's Two Truths doctrine.
None of that applies to the Dhamma, as far as I can tell.
Yeah, there seems to more than one form of non-duality: one can be cognizant of the unity between subject and object, or they can remove the subject through non-cognition and attend solely to objects of experience..
Though the latter seems similar to the advice given to Bahiya, so perhaps there is some relevance to be had. Attending non-reflexively to objects of experience as recommended could be seen as a form of non-dualism.
"What holds attention determines action." - William James
This looks altogether very familiar, especially the double spaced sentences.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Your world is very similar to what is, but not exactly. You do the best you can. Your body moves in the real world using your thinking as a map, so now and then it bumps it's head on what is not on the map. When you bump your head it is a wake up call and an opportunity, but you give it a name and file it away instead.
It is like the mathematics that man invented, just another thought, he tries to make models of the real world with it, he lays it in front of his eyes and tries to use it as a guide. When he runs into a problem he changes his math a little and tries again instead of seeing it is the math that is between what is real and his eyes.
Yes your world is part of the real world, but it is the only part you know. The buddha simply is able to move through all worlds.
You were born free and given a toy to play with. For a short while you could put the toy down and pick it back up at will, but somebody told you that the only time you existed was when you were holding it, so you never put it back down and now you are stick in a house of mirrors. Where is the door?
The buddha can still put the toy back in the box and look at it from the outside.
Thinking is terrified of putting the toy down, to quit playing the game, of ending for even a second. So it learns intricate ways to continue, like when it wakes from a dream inside another dream, then awakes again, is it awake now or not?
For thinking buddhism is just another game, a searching or becoming. It creates a goal but is not interested in reaching it, only pursuing it. It is thrilled with rolling around for years in old texts, ceremony, tradition and hierarchies, but when it is actually faced with the possibility of the game ending it is terrified and runs away or invents a new game. It is okay for thinking to have a goal, but it is not part of the world the goal is in so it is impossible to reach with that tool, like boring an automobile's cylinder block with a paint brush.
The buddha helps you bump your head. You will either see what you actually bumped your head on and say thank you, or you will nail him to a cross.
The buddha does not tire of you as he is not using energy to think, you are spending the energy thinking, you will get tired bouncing thoughts off walls you can not see in between breaks.
You will not be punished FOR your 'emotions'; you will be punished BY your 'emotions'.
Pay attention, simplify, and (Meditation instruction in a nutshell) "Mind - the Gap." ‘Absit invidia verbo’ - may ill-will be absent from the word. And mindful of that, if I don't respond, this may be why....
gben wrote:The original buddha knew what he was and so did every buddha before him and since.
Jesus knew what he was and so did every Jesus before and since.
Socrates knew what he was and so did every Socrates before and since.
Free men know they are free.
Only a buddha can talk about buddhism, the rest talk about the history of buddhism. Only a free man can talk about freedom, can see what is free and what is not. The rest talk about a freedom that does not exist outside themselves.
Following someone who is not free to freedom is a waste of time.
All hierarchies are false, do not participate in them. There are no steps to freedom,there is only freedom and self.
All culture is false, all ceremonies are false, all appearances are false, all traditions are false. the past and future are false, what is repeated by word or ink is false.
This has never been before and never will again for it is dead.
You will either spend your short life free, or spend it wallowing in hope.
I know! it begs the question, what to believe....?
(But that's )
You will not be punished FOR your 'emotions'; you will be punished BY your 'emotions'.
Pay attention, simplify, and (Meditation instruction in a nutshell) "Mind - the Gap." ‘Absit invidia verbo’ - may ill-will be absent from the word. And mindful of that, if I don't respond, this may be why....
SDC wrote:An awakened being would have no use for such a charade. In fact they would know it would do more harm than good.
What set and dead definition of "enlightenment" are you using? Post it here and I will tell you how it appears from the real world. Or has it already been posted here?
Nothing is going to be physically harmed by these words. That leaves only some ego? Then you are saying these words are a positive force in the world.
SDC wrote:An awakened being would have no use for such a charade. In fact they would know it would do more harm than good.
What set and dead definition of "enlightenment" are you using? Post it here and I will tell you how it appears from the real world. Or has it already been posted here?
Nothing is going to be physically harmed by these words. That leaves only some ego? Then you are saying these words are a positive force in the world.
Do give us your definition, since you are the one making the claim about yourself.
>> Do you see a man wise[enlightened/ariya]in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12
This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723