Mt. Sineru

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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DhammaDan
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Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:19 am

Mt. Sineru

Post by DhammaDan »

Hello all,

I have recently been reading the Visuddhimagga and have once again come across the very confusing description of Mount Sineru. As I have limited experience in studying mythology and symbolism, I will save my interpretations. However, I am curious as to what others think of the mountain, especially our Venerables. Is it to be read literally? Symbolically? What is the true meaning behind Sineru?

For the record, my friend's father is a Hindu Brahman and he has told me he views it as a metaphor for the human body and the "axis mundi" in which the chakras are aligned. Once again, might those in more advanced Buddhist studies also have an interpretation? Thank you for your time.
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retrofuturist
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Re: Mt. Sineru

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Dan,

I've read someone somewhere suggest that Buddhaghosa's insistence on listing and depicting all these cosmological objects (I know the section you're talking about - it perplexed me on initial inspection too!) is because he misinterpreted what "knower of worlds" means... taking it to be literal rather than referring to the "world" of the Buddha's teachings as defined by the Buddha in suttas such as SN 12.44, SN 35.82 and AN 4.45.

Interesting theory.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Element

Re: Mt. Sineru

Post by Element »

retrofuturist wrote:I've read someone somewhere suggest that Buddhaghosa's insistence on listing and depicting all these cosmological objects (I know the section you're talking about - it perplexed me on initial inspection too!) is because he misinterpreted what "knower of worlds" means...
:alien:
DhammaDan
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Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:19 am

Re: Mt. Sineru

Post by DhammaDan »

That is an interesting point. It seems many Theravadans see the Visuddhimagga as canon/a proper evaluation of the Dhamma and I am sorry to say I may have fallen into that trap for a short time. Haha, well, I guess that's to be left to the professionals.
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mikenz66
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Re: Mt. Sineru

Post by mikenz66 »

Greetings DhammaDan,

As far as my understanding goes the Visuddhimagga is mostly a summary of Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma, and Commentary relevant to the development of sila samadhi and panna. Rejection of the Visudhimagga is therefore actually a rejection of Commentary and/or Abhidhamma, i.e. a "Vinaya-Sutta" approach.

Of course, there's still plenty of this "cosmological" stuff in the Suttas, e.g. DN27 Aganna Sutta: On Knowledge of Beginnings...

Nevertheless

Metta
Mike
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Re: Mt. Sineru

Post by Element »

:alien: :alien: :alien:
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