1. You wrote: “The main goal is to maintain a state of equanimity.”
- I have no issue with that. I believe many people attending Goenka retreats attain a “state of equanimity.”
- One can attain a “state of equanimity” by focusing the mind on a fixed object, such as the breath or a ball of clay. That is not hard.
2. I (and several others) tried to explain that achieving a “state of equanimity” is not the goal of the Buddha Dhamma. Of course, it helps to achieve a “state of equanimity” to engage in insight meditation.
- To understand the goal of the Buddha Dhamma, one must believe in the following: (i) There is a rebirth process, (ii) most rebirths are in “suffering-filled realms,” (iii) the rebirth process cannot be stopped until the “sansāric bonds” (bonds to the rebirth process) are broken by cultivating Satipaṭṭhāna.
- Therefore, until the four states of magga phala (Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami, Arahant) are attained, one would not be free of future suffering.
- Do they teach how to cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna? If so, please outline what is taught regarding Satipaṭṭhāna.
3. The worst suffering in the lowest realms would be stopped by reaching the Sotapanna stage. One must at least see the anicca nature to be a Sotapanna.
- You wrote: “The teaching is to see the anicca nature in every moment.”
- Can you explain what you understood by that statement? The anicca nature of what specifically?