The Five Dullabha (Rare Things)

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    • #46120
      Gad
      Participant

       

      I found this on the site of my teacher. I writting the explanations of the 5 dullabha.

      Dullabha: Here, the expression “difficult to” is to be understood in the sense “difficult to achieve”.)

       

      1. It is very difficult for an omniscient Buddha to awaken.

      2. It is very difficult to be born human.

      3. It is very difficult to develop saddhā (faith) towards Dhamma .

      4. It is very difficult to be a monk.

      5. It is very difficult to hear the teaching of a ariya (a being accomplished in the Dhamma ).

       

      1. In the first point we already know how many maha kappa that takes to Lord Gotama to becomes a sammasambuddha. He even fall in the apayas during his journey. That duration depend also of the principal quality. For Lord Gotama the wisdom was the principal quality. Lord Metteya takes 4 times more longer than him and is viriya (effort) the principal quality. He actually in Tusita heaven. Became a Lord Buddha is the most difficult tasks for an living being. We can compare them to the diamond. A diamond takes billions of years to be pure and precious 

       

      2. In the second point we can just look how bad our world is. The animals are more than us to and they all was humans in the past. The others apayas are more fullied. The majority of human beings are heavily involved in the 10 dasa akusalas. Is very sad but the majority of the 8 billions will fall in the apayas.  The human world is also the best to achieve magga phala besides the 5 pure lands of anagamis.

       

      3. In the third point we can see how Micchādiṭṭhi runs the world with all this religions and wrongs views. Some believe in a omnipotent god, some think is the void after our lifes. The official number of buddhists didn’t reach one billion on the 8 billions of humans beings. The number of true buddhists(those who really understand the pure dhamma) are below the official number. Developp faith in the Dhamma for a regular human is like climb the Himalaya mountain for a non mountaineer. Before we learn the Buddha Dhamma that was our case. We can says we was non mountaineer before we learn how to climb. Of course some already had the basis. Some even are jati sotapanna (they didn’t know they already destroys micchādiṭṭhi). They probably learn the Dhamma in their past lifes so is easy for them to became sotapanna or other states.

       

      4. In the fourth point. I was monk for three weeks in thailand the last year i was 21 years old. I can tell you it was really difficult to be a real monk. That’s one of the reasons why i disrobe. I didn’t want to put dirt on the robe. My mind was torture by kāma ragā and Dosa. I was also in a bad place to be a monk. Maybe if i was in a good place i will be better. In this place the monk didn’t care about the vinaya they breaks many rules. I can tell you nowdays the sangha is really corrupt. For example is forbidden to a monk to accept money. The lay support us already with the donation in objets. Accept money will eventually lead a monk to the avidity and be a obsctacle on his path. That’s why the Lord Buddha put this rules in the vinaya. But many monk nowdays accept this and breaks the vinaya. They didn’t care the most of the time. I can tell many other thing the monks do wrong nowdays but that will be to long !! Unfortunetly this issues touch all the Theravada country. Is not an suprise if the pure Dhamma are in decline. How this kind of monks who can’t preserves the vinaya will preserves the two other baskets?? They use the donation of the lays just for the comfort. The Buddha himself predict this and said this type of monks will fall in the apayas and they own the lays. For example this type of monk can be reborn as a pet. Even in the Lord Buddha time this problem was there. The 227 rules are there to give the best environement for the practice of the Dhamma and increase the chance to achieve magga phala.

      The next time if i ordain i will be more ready and stays more longer thanks to Pure Dhamma site. Technically a real monk (even if he still puthujunas)  try to respect all the 227 rules, learn the pure Dhamma, try to achieve it, stays away from Kāma ragā and teach that to the others. That’s why i disrobe i understand this point in the third weeks. One month later i discover Pure Dhamma site. I was shock but happy at the same time. I was shock because i was taught sir Lal was a monk but is a layman and he explain the Dhamma with faith and better than many monks. My teacher told me is better to be a good layman than a bad monk. A monk who didn’t recognize his mistakes can’t progress.

      The fourth point concern also the layman and laywoman who atleast at the anagami state or those who follows the 8 or 10 precepts on daily basis with the right comprehension. We know Sotāpanna and Sakadagamin didn’t eradicate kāma ragā yet. They can be engage in sexual activity and other things (execept the lays who follows the 8 precepts truthfully everydays with the right comprehension of the Dhamma and those who at anagami state.) Those who follows the 8 precepts everydays truthfully stay away from kāma ragā, dasa akusala and can achieve more easily the magga phala so they are technically some monks in their mind. The mains rules for a monk is to avoid all sexual activity, not kiling a human being, not stealing and not lying about his personnal achievement. For example a monk know perfectly is not true what he will said  and said he obtain the Jhanas and abhinnas or he becames sotapanna. If a monk breaks one of this rules he will be banish for life from the samgha. He can’t be ordain again and he will wait for a next lifes to takes the robe again. An ariya monk can’t do this 4 things. A monk sotapanna and sakadagamin will never breaks this 4 rules if he ordain. Even for the sexuality. For example a sotapanna or sakadagamin will never had sexual activity while he still monk. He will disrob before he do that. But he will never break that rules as a monk. The other rules to.

      There is a story of a sotapanna who was ordain 6 times and even had a child during after he quit the sangha. When Kāma ragā was strong he disrob and return as a simple lays. He do that for sixth time. After the sixth time he becames anagami and arahant. The Lord buddha said that takes him so long to achieve the path because in a past lifes during a past sasana he told someone to disrobe just to show other he better than this persons because he stays monk no matter what. Some sotapanna or sakadagamin never quit the robe even if kāma ragā are strong. Venerable Ananda are the perfect example. Even a bhikkhuni try to seduces him and she fail. Venerable Ananda give her a discourse and she acknowledge his mistakes.

      We can see that depend of the gati of the persons to. Some sotapanna have more kāma ragā than other.

      An arahant bhikkhu will never breaks the 227 rules or quit the robe. An anagami bhikkhu to will never quit. But a anagami can choose to do not ordain for the benefit of other.For example to stays take cares of his parents. If an arahant not ordain like the lays arahant that’s mean they will enter parinibbãna soon. Most of the time arahant automatically ordain.

      Many people nowdays becames monk just because is a tradition in many theravada country not for the real purpose. Some even didn’t  respect the wordly version of the 5 precepts like abstain from drinking alcohol. That’s why the Lord Buddha said it is very difficult to be a monk.

       

      5. The last point are obvious for this forum. We cannot be sure if someone is a ariya or no. Especially in this period where the pure Dhamma are in decline. Learn the Dhamma from an ariya is a blessings. 

       

    • #46124
      Lal
      Keymaster

      Thank you. That description is in the “Piṅgiyānī Sutta (AN 5.195).”

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      Gad
      • #46125
        Gad
        Participant

        Thank you for the reference Sir🙏🏿.

        For the fourth point i want to complete. At the beginning of the sasana the Lord Buddha didn’t makes rules. The first monks was already ariya they didn’t need somes rules they already knows what is wholesome and unwholesome. Lord buddha added gradually the rules at varied occasion and when puthujunas with varied behaviors joined the sangha.

         

    • #46156
      Gad
      Participant

      I found the sutta of venerable Bhikkhu Citta called Hatthirohaputta. The bhikkhu sotapanna who ordained 6 time before he became arahant. Some versions are little bit different.

      Here is the link to his story:  “Citta called Hatthirohaputta (Hatthisāriputta)

      The sutta: “With Hatthisāriputta (AN 6.60)

      This sutta is very useful to understand how even someone who has the anariya jhanas can still have kama ragā. Arahant Mahākoṭṭhita explains it clearly in this story. Bhikkhu Citta was a Sotapanna and he possessed the anariyas Jhanas. Arahant Mahākoṭṭhita said he would eventually disrobe. (In this story, it is not explicitly said that venerable citta was a Sotāpanna) In another version, it was stated that’s why I posted two links.

       

       I also have a question Sir Lal what is the signless immersion of the heart??

    • #46163
      Lal
      Keymaster

      Thank you, Gad, for finding the sutta, AN 6.60.

      I have re-formatted your reference to AN 6.60, so the original and the translation are side-by-side.

      Your question refers to the verse at marker 8.1: “Idha, panāvuso, ekacco puggalo sabbanimittānaṁ amanasikārā animittaṁ cetosamādhiṁ upasampajja viharati” which is translated there as, “Take the case of another person who, not focusing on any signs, enters and remains in the signless immersion of the heart.”

      Before that, the sutta explains how Ven. Citta attained anariya versions of the jhanas up to the fourth jhana. Those anariya jhanas are attained by focusing on a nimitta (worldly objects such as breath or kasina.) Then, one can go to higher samapatti states, and the above verse refers to such a samapatti state (corresponding to arupavacara samapatti states).

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      Gad
      • #46168
        Gad
        Participant

        Thank you for the response Sir. If i understand well the signless immersion of the hearth refers to the arupavacara samapatti states. 

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