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Hi Lal, I’d like to thank all your effort you are doing in the internet for the Dhamma.
I’ve been studying Buddhism for two years. I must rely on English source, which is a big source of troubles. From the very start, I assumed that the main teachings of Buddha has been somewhat preserved – although maybe with some posterior corruptions in the Suttas here and there. Yet, I got the feeling than the current understanding of Buddha’s teaching was a bit lacking or missinterpreting some issues. After all, even among those who call themselves Theravada Buddhists, there’s a wide range of interpretations.
At the beginning of the year I discovered “Authentic Dhamma” youtube channel, which eventually lead me to your website. Your articles have helped me to clarify some doubts I had. For instance, I’ve never felt anatta as not-self or non-self made sense in the way such word is used in some Suttas. I asked my doubts in some forums and didn’t got any meaningful reply. Once I read about the proper rendering of anicca, dukha, and anatta those Suttas make sense and the whole picture feels completed. You can progress on the path with the limited impermanent, suffering, not-self, but… it way harder to get a proper deep understanding for a wordling like me, that needs to rely on their mind to derive meaning.
Another thing I felt was really off was the “only seven more rebirths after one attains sotapanna”. The samsara is so vast, the difference between a sotapanna and arahant is so large, it didn’t feel natural than all sotapanas would always need only seven more rebirth – it felt kinda narrow, short, and over deterministic, while the samsara is bast, endless, and impossible to phantom. Given that this is not really a issue to practice the dhamma I never thought about it. I thought was a kind of symbolic number that does not need to be taken literal, like when they talk about large quantities with 84000, and so.
If possible, Lal, could you tell me if there is some important piece of key information to understand the Suttas that Venerable Waharaka Thero taught, but you haven’t been able to put into the website?
Again, thanks Lal for your good deeds.
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Hello Skywander!
Regarding what you wrote: “Another thing I felt was really off was the “only seven more rebirths after one attains sotapanna”. The samsara is so vast, the difference between a sotapanna and arahant is so large, it didn’t feel natural than all sotapanas would always need only seven more rebirth..”
- You are right. The suttas refer to a maximum of seven “bhava,” which differs from “jati” or births. See “Bhava and Jāti – States of Existence and Births Therein.”
- More technical information in “Aṭṭha Purisa Puggalā- Eight Noble Persons” where the topic is discussed in #5.
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You asked: “If possible, Lal, could you tell me if there is some important piece of key information to understand the Suttas that Venerable Waharaka Thero taught, but you haven’t been able to put into the website?”
- I don’t understand this question. Why wouldn’t I write about anything that would be important? All the fundamental/critical concepts Waharaka Thero discussed are on the website.
- If you are asking whether I have understood Waharaka Thero’s explanations, I think so.
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You are right. The suttas refer to a maximum of seven “bhava,” which differs from “jati” or births.
Yes, I read that sections about the difference of bhava and jati. I was just giving another example of things I have learned from this website.
I don’t understand this question. Why wouldn’t I write about anything that would be important? All the fundamental/critical concepts Waharaka Thero discussed are on the website.
I was just asking whether all those things that Waharaka Thero discovered, and commonly ignored by most Buddhists, were all covered in this website. Thank you for your confirmation. I just wanted to be sure.
So far, I have read about twenty of your posts of puredhamma. Now, I will be systematically read all of the puredhamma posts in the next one or two months.
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