Despite what some people think, Nanavira Thera was not being malicious when he said the following in the preface to Notes On Dhamma... he was being incisively accurate on the state of play. These books of the Pali Canon correctly represent the Buddha's Teaching, and can be regarded as trustworthy t...

It was discussed in this thread: Mahayana split.

Interesting that people use various terms for that goal, each of which has a slightly different connotation. "Enlightenment" implies some sort of knowledge. "Awakening" is more like an experiential state. "Enlightenment" and "awakening" are both translations of the term bodhi . "Nibbana", the Buddh...

Remember the old library card catalog?

The "something" he describes has exactly the same properties as nibbana: cessation, peace, non-clinging, not dependent on anything in the world. The something he describes refers to the postmortem arahant. As such, it is conceptual proliferation maintaining a view of partial eternalism. Again, he s...

My understanding is that the consciousness associated with nibbana is without feature, radiant, timeless, dimensionless, and not based on the six senses. Where does this consciousness that is independent of the six senses originate from? Surely it doesn't emerge ex nihilo? Where does nibbana origin...

My understanding is that the consciousness associated with nibbana is without feature, radiant, timeless, dimensionless, and not based on the six senses. Where does this consciousness that is independent of the six senses originate from? Surely it doesn't emerge ex nihilo? I don't see this as some ...

I would suggest that the notion of consciousness existing outside the realm of time is itself meaningless. Consciousness is designated according to the particular condition dependent upon which it arises. If there are no such conditions, there is no basis for designating the existence of any consci...

But this passage suggests that seeing with wisdom (i.e. seeing noble truths) and elimination of taints happen because of cessation of perception and feeling. In other words I disagree that in this passage what is refered to as ‘nibbāna’ is only seeing with wisdom and destruction of taints. There ar...

Also how can you comment this definition of the Buddha in Brahma-nimantanika Sutta and the following commentary: "'Consciousness without surface, endless, radiant all around, has not been experienced through the earthness of earth ... the liquidity of liquid ... the fieriness of fire ... the windin...

The great Mahayana Buddhas -- Amitabha, Vairocana and so on -- have not reached parinirvana, correct? Could you say something about their ontological status? When do they enter paranirvana and what causes them to arrive at that (non)state? What keeps them in the universe to teach beings? According ...

Where does Venerable say that? In the passage provided by EmptyShadow: "The second level of unbinding, symbolized by a fire so totally out that its embers have grown cold, is what the arahant experiences after this life." The only things I have read are that the consciousness of an arahant is outsi...

But why to equate non-percipient attainment with cessation of perception and feeling in the first place? I haven't equated the two. According to Theravāda commentary, they are different attainments. A non-percipient attainment can be entered from a jhāna, the cessation of perception & feeling can b...

According to the Theravāda commentators, it's possible for even commoners to enter into a non-percipient attainment (asaññasamāpatti) from the fourth jhāna, but such an attainment is not sammāsamādhi. Sorry, but was this my point? I don't understand why you mention this. I mention it because non-pe...

It seems to me that it's plausible to think that one can reach cessation of perceptions and feelings right after attainment of fourth jhāna. For me cessation looks like further step from fourth jhāna. According to the Theravāda commentators, it's possible for even commoners to enter into a non-perc...