[HugoZyl]

Namo Buddhaya ☸️

Dear followers of Dhamma and noble ones in the Sangha.

I realized that I was wasting other people’s time by sharing my wrong views and thus I stopped communicating here for about 2 months. I am extremely grateful that I can say that during that time, wrong views have been replaced with right views. And I wish to now apologize for having expressed my wrong views here. Please forgive me.

Truly the greatest thing is to have a right thought and a right action and a right view and a right understanding of the Dhamma.

In Chinese it is said, 天上天下无如佛, meaning, above in heaven and below on the earth there is nothing comparable to the Buddha.

Thank you 🙏

Namo Buddhaya ☸️

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Jittananto

[Lal]

I’m glad to hear that you have gotten rid of some wrong views. That is called “making progress.” We all started with many wrong views.

• You wrote: “In Chinese it is said, 天上天下无如佛, meaning, above in heaven and below on the earth there is nothing comparable to the Buddha.”
• Indeed! That is “real saddhā”  or “faith that comes with understanding”! 

 

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Jittananto

[Christian]

I would say it’s natural for ignorance to “think” we are right or feel right in situations when we are wrong. Nothing to feel sorry about, it’s a condition of all people and we’ve all been there. Even in a mundane way, we know when somebody is wrong yet they feel sure about it and then life bites back. It happens the same with a world view.

[Lal]

Here is another way to look at it.

• Only a Buddha can discover the “correct worldview.”
• All others have wrong views until they learn the “correct worldview” from a Buddha or a true disciple of the Buddha (Ariya).
• Those Ariyas below the Arahant stage may have minor wrong views (but not the three samyojana of sakkaya ditthi, vicikiccha, silabbata paramasa).

[taryal]

Lal wrote:

Those Ariyas below the Arahant stage may have minor wrong views (but not the three samyojana of sakkaya ditthi, vicikiccha, silabbata paramasa).

In my country (Nepal), people are heavily influenced by silabbata paramasa. This includes my family members who tried to spam me with rituals as soon as I came to visit. While they probably don’t have bad intentions, I think I am educated enough to know that visiting a land rumored as “sacred” or taking a bath in a lake doesn’t wash anyone’s “sins”. I get told logicless statements like “let’s do this pooja, your income will improve” or “don’t travel in these specific days, it can cause misfortune”, etc.

This has made think it would be utterly difficult for me to effectively share the Dhamma in my home community. While I am a bit saddened to see my country infected with the business minded Pundit culture, I would like for my family members to enter the Noble stream. But I don’t know if I am capable of doing so right now (I am not an Anagami). Is there any specific approach that Buddha recommended in situations like these? I am little hesitant to wait as well since there is no certainty of when death will transpire. Any advice here would be appreciated.

[Dawson]

In my opinion, the best way that you can benefit your family is by commiting yourself to progressing as much as possible. In the early stages of the path, your progress won’t be very noticeable (if at all) to others. However, as you continue to progress, people who know you well will start to pick up on the fact that you are calmer and have fewer desires. They can subsequently be more inclined to listen to what you have to say. No guarantees though. 

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taryal

[Lal]

Yes, this is a common problem. Although it may be a bit more pervasive in Nepal and Tibet, following rituals or having ingrained wrong views can be seen everywhere. 

• We must be careful when handling such situations, especially those with magga phala, who must be cautious. Putting too much pressure on those with wrong views could make them angry with you, which could trigger bad vipaka for them (Ariya upavāda.) 
• A good example is Cundasukara’s account. He was a butcher who killed pigs every day. He lived next to Jetavanaramaya, and the bhikkhus could hear the painful yelping of pigs being killed. They asked the Buddha why he would not try to teach Dhamma to Cundasukara. The Buddha explained as follows: Cundasukara is destined to be reborn in a bad realm, but if the Buddha tried to explain Dhamma and he got angry with the Buddha, he would be reborn in an even worse realm.
• This is why I stopped engaging in debates in online forums a few years ago. I could do more harm than good if I “trigger” anger in some people. 
• So, we need to try to balance the two aspects. Of course, we must help others learn, but we must also be mindful of specific situations.
• Here is a related post: “Right Speech – How to avoid Accumulating Bad Kamma“

P.S. Good comment by Dawson.

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Yash RS, taryal

[Author]

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