davidbrainerd wrote:pegembara wrote:
To be out of the cycle of "birth and death" requires that one fully realise the fact of anatta. If there truly isn't a person there, that means there isn't really an entity that gets born, ages and dies.
So to get out of the cycle means realizing there is actually no cycle because nothing actually exists? That's plain illogical....and not what Buddha taught.
There is a difference between nothing exists and no-thing exists. Anatta means there are no-things.
"Exactly so, lord. As I understand the Dhamma taught by the Blessed One, it is just this consciousness
[entity] that runs and wanders on, not another."
"Which consciousness, Sāti, is that?" [1]
"This speaker, this knower, lord, that is sensitive here & there to the ripening of good & evil actions."
"And to whom, worthless man, do you understand me to have taught the Dhamma like that? Haven't I, in many ways, said of dependently co-arisen consciousness, 'Apart from a requisite condition, there is no coming-into-play of consciousness'? [2] But you, through your own poor grasp, not only slander us but also dig yourself up [by the root] and produce much demerit for yourself. That will lead to your long-term harm & suffering."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
" . . . . . . . Suppose, monks, a magician or a magician's apprentice
should hold a magic-show at the four cross-roads; and a keen-sighted
man should see it, ponder over it and reflect on it radically.
Even as
he sees it, ponders over it and reflects on it radically, he would find it
empty; he would find it hollow; he would find it void of essence.
What essence, monks, could there be in a magic show?
Even so, monks, whatever consciousness --- be it past, future or
present, in oneself or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior,
far or near -- a monk sees it, ponders over it and reflects on it
radically. And even as he sees it, ponders over it and reflects on it
radically, he would find it empty; he would find it hollow; he would
find it void of essence. What essence, monks, could there be in a
consciousness ? . . . . . . ”
Form is like a mass of foam
And feeling--but an airy bubble.
Perception is like a mirage
And formations a plantain tree.
Consciousness is a magic-show,
A juggler's trick entire.
All these similes were made known
By the 'Kinsman-of-the-Sun.
S. III 142.
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
