The World Around Us, Arising and Falling Away...

[christopher:::]

We seem to be living in highly chaotic times right now. Though i wonder, if its ever been that different. Nations, economies, communities come together and thrive. Then there is decline, difficulty, challenges. Always the dharma seems to point a way to greater ease and freedom, if we are able to practice successfully.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Christopher,

Extract from SN 22.95 - Phena Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

Form is like a glob of foam;
feeling, a bubble;
perception, a mirage;
fabrications, a banana tree;
consciousness, a magic trick —
this has been taught
by the Kinsman of the Sun.
However you observe them,
appropriately examine them,
they're empty, void
to whoever sees them
appropriately.

Metta,
Retro.

[Element]

I can only speculate but significant change could be possible for some. America, as a nation, has reached a maturity, now appearing to be replete with excesses. Buddha said there eight vicissitudes of life. Unsatisfactoriness and failure. These are part of the conditioned realm.

Gain/loss,
status/disgrace,
censure/praise,
pleasure/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
& rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
Knowing the dustless, sorrowless state,
he discerns rightly,
has gone, beyond becoming,
to the Further Shore.

Lokavipatti Sutta

[Ben]

We seem to be living in highly chaotic times right now. Though i wonder, if its ever been that different. Nations, economies, communities come together and thrive. Then there is decline, difficulty, challenges. Always the dharma seems to point a way to greater ease and freedom, if we are able to practice successfully.

Hi Chris

Absolutely. I would say that the Dhamma points to a greater ease and freedom within the individual and gives the practitioner the wisdom necessary to deal with the turbulence of life in samsara.
Alternatively, there is a passage in Bhikkhu Bodhi's 'A comprehensive manual of the Abhidhamma' where he describes the 31 planes of existence and how they correspond to citta. It prompts the question how the development of jhana and vipassana conditions the external world we experience.

The compendium of process-freed consciousness opens with a survey of the topograpgy of the phenomenal world, charting the planes of existence and the various realms within each plane. The author (Acariya Anuruddha) undertakes this survey before examining the types of process-freed consciousness because the external universe, according to the Abhidhamma, is an outer reflection of the internal cosmos of mind, registering in concrete manifest form the subtle gradations in states of consciousness. This does not mean that the Abhidhamma reduces the outer world to a dimension of mind in the manner of philosophical idealism. The outer world is quite real and possesses objective existence. However, the outer world is always a world apprehended by consciousness, and the type of consciousness determines the nature of the world that appears. Consciousness and the world are mutually dependent and inextricably connected to such an extent that the hierarchical structure of the realms of existence exactly reproduces and corresponds to the hierarchical structure of consciousness.

-- Vithimuttasangaha, Bhikkhu Bodhi, 2000, Abhidhammatthasangaha: A comprehensive manual of Abhidhamma, Pariyatti

Kind regards

Ben

[appicchato]

The compendium of process-freed consciousness opens with a survey of the topograpgy of the phenomenal world, charting the planes of existence and the various realms within each plane. The author (Acariya Anuruddha) undertakes this survey before examining the types of process-freed consciousness because the external universe, according to the Abhidhamma, is an outer reflection of the internal cosmos of mind, registering in concrete manifest form the subtle gradations in states of consciousness. This does not mean that the Abhidhamma reduces the outer world to a dimension of mind in the manner of philosophical idealism. The outer world is quite real and possesses objective existence. However, the outer world is always a world apprehended by consciousness, and the type of consciousness determines the nature of the world that appears. Consciousness and the world are mutually dependent and inextricably connected to such an extent that the hierarchical structure of the realms of existence exactly reproduces and corresponds to the hierarchical structure of consciousness.

I admire anyone who can make heads or tails out of the above...way over my head...and the thought of seeing/comprehending thirty one planes of existence equally as daunting...my plate seems to be overloaded on this plane alone... oh well, in the immortal words of the Wise One...'Strive on'...

[christopher:::]

Thank you all for your insightful quotes, verses and responses. Indeed, Venerable...

in the immortal words of the Wise One...'Strive on'...

Peace

[Ben]

Dear Venerable,

I admire anyone who can make heads or tails out of the above...way over my head...and the thought of seeing/comprehending thirty one planes of existence equally as daunting...my plate seems to be overloaded on this plane alone... oh well, in the immortal words of the Wise One...'Strive on'...

I try. I consider myself just a beginner on the path.
Kind regards

Ben

[stuka]

The compendium of process-freed consciousness opens with a survey of the topograpgy of the phenomenal world, charting the planes of existence and the various realms within each plane. The author (Acariya Anuruddha) undertakes this survey before examining the types of process-freed consciousness because the external universe, according to the Abhidhamma, is an outer reflection of the internal cosmos of mind, registering in concrete manifest form the subtle gradations in states of consciousness. This does not mean that the Abhidhamma reduces the outer world to a dimension of mind in the manner of philosophical idealism. The outer world is quite real and possesses objective existence. However, the outer world is always a world apprehended by consciousness, and the type of consciousness determines the nature of the world that appears. Consciousness and the world are mutually dependent and inextricably connected to such an extent that the hierarchical structure of the realms of existence exactly reproduces and corresponds to the hierarchical structure of consciousness.

I admire anyone who can make heads or tails out of the above...way over my head...and the thought of seeing/comprehending thirty one planes of existence equally as daunting...my plate seems to be overloaded on this plane alone... oh well, in the immortal words of the Wise One...'Strive on'...

I have my doubts about anyone who claims they "make heads or tails" about monkey-chatter for the sake of holding up a long-dead speculative view. Much more relevant to work on the cessation of suffering in the here-and-now.