Search found 105 matches
- Tue Jan 04, 2022 8:03 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Constant change
- Replies: 89
- Views: 2746
Re: Constant change
And the remedy might be to try to see your clinging as being based upon another mental "template". You think that sunsets are better than whatever is coming next, but that's just your view. Owls and other nocturnal creatures beg to differ! We are running programmes in our head about the f...
- Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:57 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Question wrt the Buddha telling Potthapada "...such a life is blissful."
- Replies: 3
- Views: 286
Re: Question wrt the Buddha telling Potthapada "...such a life is blissful."
This is where I get confused - he mentions that, at this point, Potthapada may believe that abiding in this state is still "dukkha." In Pali: dukkho ca kho vihāro’ti Poṭṭhapāda may have difficulty imagining a happiness that doesn’t involve any of the three kinds of appropriation of a self...
- Wed Nov 24, 2021 2:46 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: How do you hold yourself accountable?
- Replies: 33
- Views: 1484
Re: How do you hold yourself accountable?
Just a note, and this goes for some other posters as well: don't get me wrong, please, this thread is not necessarily about me and my spiritual hurdles...It's about the lack of accountability (particularly in the lives of some rogue Buddhists, with no real life sangha and maybe no spiritual-minded ...
- Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:17 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: How do you hold yourself accountable?
- Replies: 33
- Views: 1484
Re: How do you hold yourself accountable?
Accountability is perhaps not the best framework imo. Nobody hired you to practice, and kamma will hold you accountable without you having to do anything special. You are only accountable to your own desire for happiness. In pursuing that desire, which is what we are all doing, kamma is the one thin...
- Thu Oct 07, 2021 11:50 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Is anatta the highest attainment?
- Replies: 94
- Views: 3712
Re: Is anatta the highest attainment?
It is common, not uncommon that anatta is believed to be the highest attainment in the Buddha's teachings... "It’s like climbing the stairs up to our house: the first step, the second step, all the way up to the last step of the stairs. Then we step into the house. Once you’re in the house, th...
- Sun Sep 26, 2021 3:02 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Overindulgence in Dhamma Talks
- Replies: 11
- Views: 619
Re: Overindulgence in Dhamma Talks
I've found that listening to talks from pretty blunt no-nonsense teachers like Thanissaro Bhikku and Luang Por Chah helps in keeping me motivated to practice. Any other thoughts about this or personal experiences? Most of Ajahn Thanissaro's talks, as you may know, are given at the start of the even...
- Wed Sep 01, 2021 11:47 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Emotional/mental toughness
- Replies: 16
- Views: 920
Re: Emotional/mental toughness
What are some good suttas to read and contemplate that help with killing mental and emotional weakness? I am trying to get over a breakup but still have strong feelings for the person. This is more of a "broad picture" sutta than a specific antidote to what you're describing, but maybe yo...
- Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:03 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
- Replies: 119
- Views: 4066
Re: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
In my view, the difference between attachments to worldly conditions/pursuits and the path are not structural. The path itself has its ups and downs with possibly no end game except through faith. People do have faith in their worldly pursuits where failure in certain aspects is not the end of the ...
- Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:38 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Is it bad Kamma if I tell a lie to a tree?
- Replies: 27
- Views: 1104
- Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:46 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
- Replies: 119
- Views: 4066
Re: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
I'm having trouble understanding this. Do you mean to say, why is it OK to welcome insight and rebel against that which isn't insight, when this welcoming and rebelling are said to lead to suffering when done in other contexts (gain/loss, etc)? Yes, apart from calling it "insight", the di...
- Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:47 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
- Replies: 119
- Views: 4066
Re: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
It seems you want to know what makes Buddhist insight special, but you put aside both the content of the insight and the effect it has on the one who experiences it. I’m not sure I see the utility in that line of thinking. A verbal description of the insight and the effect it has on the one who exp...
- Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:25 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
- Replies: 119
- Views: 4066
Re: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
Insight is also described as difficult to see and goes against the grain of the world. It is difficult to see deeply enough to bring about lasting change. That’s part of what concentration is for. It does go against the grain of the world — the world “delights in attachment” and insight leads to le...
- Sun Aug 29, 2021 6:57 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
- Replies: 119
- Views: 4066
Re: Buddhist insight vs ordinary experience
There is a lot of disagreement about all kinds of concepts and teachings both inside and outside of Buddhism. They are due to a many factors, but the disagreements do not invalidate the importance of some of these concepts and teachings. Perhaps they even underscore it. The disagreement does not in...
- Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:29 pm
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: The underlying meaning of the five precepts
- Replies: 79
- Views: 3169
Re: The underlying meaning of the five precepts
Have you encountered any work that approaches the precepts as the relationship between the following concepts: Life, money, sex, truth and mind? Not Theravāda, but Thich Nhat Hanh’s reformulation of the precepts as the five mindfulness trainings is the closest I can think of. There is a condensed v...
- Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:48 am
- Forum: General Theravāda discussion
- Topic: i am struggling with lust...
- Replies: 49
- Views: 3180
Re: i am struggling with lust...
It’s possible you might benefit from reading the Saññoga Sutta (Bondage - AN 7:48).