Search found 952 matches

by davidbrainerd
Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:45 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Consciousness and no-self (explained in drawings)
Replies: 22
Views: 11436

Re: Consciousness and no-self (explained in drawings)

Twilight wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:43 am
The "Assumed to be self ->" arrow should be pointing at the yellow stuff rather than the red circle.
by davidbrainerd
Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:48 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Self in Animanls and Humans
Replies: 27
Views: 4592

Re: Self in Animanls and Humans

Some animals do have a sense of self, but most don't. Why do human brains create the sense of self? Is it just something that comes with increased intelligence? Does intelligence reach a point where it is able to detect what it perceives as a self? Define sense of self before proceeding. If by sens...
by davidbrainerd
Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:21 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Are we dead now?
Replies: 12
Views: 2656

Re: Are we dead now?

In the sense that this current body is not your first body, you're dead many times over.
by davidbrainerd
Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:16 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Self in Animanls and Humans
Replies: 27
Views: 4592

Re: Self in Animanls and Humans

Some animals do have a sense of self, but most don't. Why do human brains create the sense of self? Is it just something that comes with increased intelligence? Does intelligence reach a point where it is able to detect what it perceives as a self? Define sense of self before proceeding. If by sens...
by davidbrainerd
Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:17 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: New Translation: Suttas from the Suttanipāta
Replies: 28
Views: 4823

Re: New Translation: Suttas from the Suttanipāta

How can this be relevant to us, living in the world? If one wants to live in the world and of the world, as a womanwhore or manwhore, then it has no relevance. If one is forced to live in the world but does not want to be of the world, and especially intends to peruse a celibate life, then it has r...
by davidbrainerd
Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:50 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?
Replies: 134
Views: 26189

Re: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?

:focus: This thread is not about the re-birth. The question is is it necessary to believe in Kamma and re-birth to attain enlightenment. How do you practice if there is no Kamma and re-birth? It is definitely not necessary to believe in kamma and rebirth to attain enlightenment. Somewhere in the 10...
by davidbrainerd
Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:27 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: New Translation: Suttas from the Suttanipāta
Replies: 28
Views: 4823

Re: New Translation: Suttas from the Suttanipāta

How can this be relevant to us, living in the world? If one wants to live in the world and of the world, as a womanwhore or manwhore, then it has no relevance. If one is forced to live in the world but does not want to be of the world, and especially intends to peruse a celibate life, then it has r...
by davidbrainerd
Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:17 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?
Replies: 134
Views: 26189

Re: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?

:focus: This thread is not about the re-birth. The title is literally "If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?" The question is is it necessary to believe in Kamma and re-birth to attain enlightenment. How do you practice if there is no Kamma and re-birth? If there's...
by davidbrainerd
Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:10 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Suttas that repeat in different Nikayas - is there a list online?
Replies: 1
Views: 909

Suttas that repeat in different Nikayas - is there a list online?

I've noticed that some suttas repeat in different nikayas. For example, Selasutta which is #7 of Sutta Nipata's Mahavaga book, is also in Majjhima Nikaya as sutta 92.

Does anyone know of a list anywhere online that lists which suttas repeat and where?
by davidbrainerd
Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:00 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?
Replies: 134
Views: 26189

Re: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?

Sankharas (breath) arising and sankharas (breath) ceasing. No one is doing the breathing which is/are a process or processes. I'm holding my breath right now and therefore its not just a process that takes place without a will. Does "your" breathing stop when you fall asleep? What happens...
by davidbrainerd
Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:13 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?
Replies: 134
Views: 26189

Re: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?

Good point. How can belief in rebirth end dukkha? Because rebirth is ultimately the very definition of dukkha (as the Dhammapada quote below will show) and is what you're supposed to be trying to end. If you merely live once and then die, then dukkha just ends with death and you don't need to do an...
by davidbrainerd
Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:07 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?
Replies: 134
Views: 26189

Re: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?

Why do we need to look at before death and after death I wonder, we can just look between just two "breaths"!. The one who breaths the next breath, is not the one who took the previous one!. Curious? for if it were the same, we would never have grown old! There are countless breaths we've...
by davidbrainerd
Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:31 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?
Replies: 134
Views: 26189

Re: If I am reborn it is not me. So why I care about the rebirth?

Hence all the threads and questions and not moving from the spot for years. Agree. I hit a brick wall and I need your help to remove it. But do not tell me that there is no brick wall. :anjali: The brick wall is the claim that Buddha said there is no self. He didn't. He said the body is not the sel...
by davidbrainerd
Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:15 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Sakkaya Ditthi is not self-view!!
Replies: 75
Views: 17314

Re: Sakkaya Ditthi is not self-view!!

The distinction is between the conventional self and the metaphysical self. The conventional self is this body and its processes (emotions, etc.) called in Buddha's terms the khandas. But he is trying to teach people how to get their metaphysical self out of the cycle of rebirth, and thinking that ...
by davidbrainerd
Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:55 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Sakkaya Ditthi is not self-view!!
Replies: 75
Views: 17314

Re: Sakkaya Ditthi is not self-view!!

There is a difference between myself and self in the context . The present body is "our self" . I take this body to be myself Note : The present body is "the self" . I take this body to be a "self" . The distinction is between the conventional self and the metaphysical...