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1. Yes. What Dawson called “transcendent truths” (Four Noble Truths//Paṭicca Samuppāda/Tilakkhana) are Nature’s laws.
- Those laws never change and apply anywhere in the universe at any time. They are “universal truths.”
- All Buddhas discover those laws through their efforts. Any given Buddha does not invent them; they merely re-discover the hidden truths.
- After a Buddha passes away, those teachings will be lost over the years. Then, until the next Buddha is born, they disappear.
- Some of these are discussed in “Pāramitā – How a Puthujjana Becomes a Buddha.”
2. Mundane laws apply to geographic locations, cultures, etc., as Stacy pointed out.
- They can evolve as the societies evolve. Interactions with other parts of the world can influence such changes, as we can see today.
- Since they change over time, such laws/rules/customs are not based on “universal truths.”
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Rewritten Post:
Revised:
Sandiṭṭhiko – What Does It Mean? | Pure Dhamma
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I don’t know whether it’s “Vijānanti” or “Vinānanti.” I can’t find a sutta with either.
- But Pitā means father, and Mātā means mother. “Pitā ca Mātā” means “father and/or mother.”
- The rough meaning is probably “Dhamma is better than father or mother.”
Stacy asked: “Regarding Jhana, do we must stay away from all heavy sensual activities like sex, substance, etc.?”
- When following Buddha’s teachings, one must take a step-by-step approach.
- One starts living a moral life first. Staying away from sensual activities like sex comes later with an understanding of their adverse consequences. See “Is It Necessary for a Buddhist to Eliminate Sensual Desires?“
- Cultivating jhana is not necessary. See “Samādhi, Jhāna, Magga Phala – Introduction.”
Stacy asked: “I still find myself often conflicted on whether pure materialism is correct (that consciousness is an emergent property of neuronal activities of the brain) or if there is something else going on. I don’t want to adamantly reject any possibility but I’m desperate to know how it works.”
- There is an extensive series of posts in “Origin of Life.”
- I suggest scanning them to see whether any posts interest you.
Stacy asked: “I’ve seen videos online where people talk about flying out of their bodies and moving to places after immersing in deep breathing & body scanning meditations. This is often referred to as “Astral Projection.” Is it recommended to try something like this?”
- No. The Buddha did not ask people to practice “astral projection” or “astral travel.”
- However, there are times when the “mental body” (or the gandhabba) can separate from the physical body and come out of the physical body. (i) Some people have the natural ability to do that. (ii) When cultivating the Noble Path or even mundane jhana, some develop the ability to come out of the physical body. Once out of the physical body, the gandhabba can travel at high speed and reach far-away places instantly.
In the post “Out-of-Body Experience (OBE) and Manōmaya Kāya,” I gave examples of (i) in #10.
- The other possibility is also discussed there.
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Stacy wrote: “What made me curious is that this is often recommended online for people who think consciousness is limited to the physical body. They contend that it is not a hallucination and there is only one way of figuring that out for yourself.”
- Both physical and mental bodies are not hallucinations.
- But in the Brahma realms, the physical body is absent, and they have only the mental body.
Rewritten post:
Free Will In Buddhism – Connection To Sankhāra | Pure Dhamma
Revised:
Mūlapariyāya Sutta – The Root of All Things
1. I have linked to the place (in your comment) where the Buddha tells Sandha, “Sandha, for a fine thoroughbred person, the perception of earth has vanished in relation to earth. The perception of water … fire … air has vanished in relation to air. The perception of the dimension of infinite space has vanished in relation to the dimension of infinite space…”
- That is a critical point to understand.
- A Noble Person (Ariya) does not meditate with the focus on a worldly object like breath, a ball of clay, a water bowl, etc., as is done by anariya yogis.
- For that, an Ariya must release the mind from any “perception (saññā) about the world” because they are all “distorted saññā.”
In another thread, I listed the steps needed to get the mind off of “distorted saññā.” They are:
- It is necessary to understand the “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages because the “distorted saññā” arises AUTOMATICALLY in the “purana kamma” stage.
- The “purana kamma” stage happens automatically due to unbroken samyojana. the mind goes through this stage in a split second.
- The “nava kamma” stage is where we have free will to control our thoughts, speech, and actions.
- We have to start the “cleansing process” in the “nava kamma” stage and gradually take the mind toward the “purana kamma” stage.
- At the same time, one must learn the the details of the “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages. That means learning about “distorted sanna“, Paticca Samuppada, etc.
- At some point in this process, one will become a Sotapanna Anugami, and the mind will get the ability to bypass the “purana kamma” stage and move into the “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi, ” allowing the mind to be free of the “distorted sanna.” Here, one can contemplate Dhamma concepts without being hindered by the “distorted sanna.“
- That is when one becomes a Sotapanna by breaking three of the ten samyojana.
- Once becoming a Sotapanna, one must make the effort to get into the “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi ” as often as possible. “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi ” is where one can engage in Satipaṭṭhāna effectively and start breaking the remaining seven samyojana
- Once all ten samyojana are eliminated, the “nava kamma” stage will not be initiated based on ANY sensory input.
- The basic process is in the chart in #1 of “Pāth to Nibbāna – Learning Dhamma to Become a Sotapanna.”
I discussed the “Sandha Sutta” in “Sammā Samādhi – How to Define It?.”
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2. An Arahant is not bothered by any situations like wildfires, earthquakes, etc.
- They have been freed from suffering, except for the suffering associated with the physical body they are born with.
- They know that ALL suffering will end upon the death of the physical body and look forward to that event.
- They live only for the benefit of others, i.e., to teach Dhamma to others.
- That is why a few Arahants who had come down with terminal illnesses committed suicide (and the Buddha approved it).
This is why it is necessary to understand the “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages.
- The “purana kamma” stage happens automatically due to unbroken samyojana. the mind goes through this stage in a split second.
- The “nava kamma” stage is where we have free will to control our thoughts, speech, and actions.
- We have to start the “cleansing process” in the “nava kamma” stage and gradually take the mind toward the “purana kamma” stage.
- At the same time, one must learn the the details of the “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages. That means learning about “distorted sanna“, Paticca Samuppada, etc.
- At some point in this process, one will become a Sotapanna Anugami, and the mind will get the ability to bypass the “purana kamma” stage and move into the “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi, ” allowing the mind to be free of the “distorted sanna.” Here, one can contemplate Dhamma concepts without being hindered by the “distorted sanna.“
- That is when one becomes a Sotapanna by breaking three of the ten samyojana.
- Once becoming a Sotapanna, one must make the effort to get into the “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi ” as often as possible. “Satipaṭṭhāna Bhumi ” is where one can engage in Satipaṭṭhāna effectively and start breaking the remaining seven samyojana
- Once all ten samyojana are eliminated, the “nava kamma” stage will not be initiated based on ANY sensory input.
- Those are the steps involved.
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The basic process in the chart in #1 of “Pāth to Nibbāna – Learning Dhamma to Become a Sotapanna.”
Yes. Many activities/professions fall under that category.
- However, there are many professions that are much better: For example, the health industry (doctors, nurses, researchers, etc.), education (teachers, etc.), and those professions that make life livable by providing essential services like farmers, delivery services, etc. But they also are engaged in inadvertent “immoral activities.” For example, in medical research, scientists need to perform experiments on living animals.
- Mainly bhikkhus can live a life (mostly) devoid of such complications.
Let me describe the sutta in simple terms.
Once Tālapuṭa, the dancing master, came to the Buddha and asked, “Bhante, I have heard that those who entertain people with dancing, acting, comedy, etc., are bound to be reborn in the Deva realm called pahāsā devās. What is your opinion on that?”
The Buddha told Tālapuṭa not to ask him that question.
But Tālapuṭa insisted.
The Buddha explained to Tālapuṭa that such “entertainers” are bound to be reborn in the animal realm or hell, not in a Deva realm.
You can read the English translation in the link at marker 2.5 to learn about Buddha’s explanation of why they are bound to be reborn in the animal realm or hell.
- People are already ignorant about the adverse consequence of attachment to “pleasurable activities.”
- “Entertainers” such as dancers, actors, and comedians only help perpetuate that ignorance. Also, people waste their valuable time on such things instead of learning about the true nature of the world (such as how the “distorted saññā” makes them think/believe there are pleasurable things in this world: “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)“).
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There is no “editing capability” to correct grammar while writing in the forum. You need to use a word-processing software like Google Docs or Word, and there are free versions of them. I have corrected some of the grammar in your comment.
1. Attaching to anything not only with raga but also with dosa or moha (avijja) will eventually lead to suffering.
- The main point is that the suffering does not end until attachment to worldly things stops.
- Suffering ends when a mind fully understands the above statement. That understanding comes in four stages: Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami, and Arahant.
2. Your second question, “Does having pleasure cause pain after a period of time?” is also explained with my answer in #1 above.
- By “suffering,” the Buddha meant something more profound than physical pain.
- Each act of attachment may not lead to pain or suffering in the sense that the average human understands.
- The simplest way to look at it is as follows: Until we stop attachment to worldly things (worldly pleasures and anything in the world), Paticca Samuppada cycles run. That will perpetuate the rebirth process. Every birth, regardless of even in a Deva or Brahma realm) ends in death. Thus, suffering does not end until that attachment stops.
- The key point is that attachment cannot be stopped by willpower. It has to come through understanding how the rebirth process takes place via Paticca Samuppada.
- Paticca Samuppada stops in four stages. Those that lead to rebirths in the apayas (including the animal realm) stop when one becomes a Sotapanna. Those that lead to rebirths in the kama loka (human and Deva realms) stop when one becomes an Anagami. Rebirth in all 31 realms stops when no Paticca Samuppada process can operate, which happens at the Arahant stage.
- The key point, again, is that if there is a birth, it ends with death; that means each birth starts with guaranteed suffering!
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Amin asked:
“However, for anyone below an Arahant, due to Avijjā (ignorance) regarding the true nature of reality (Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta), a false sense of self (“I”) is added to this experience.
This creates the illusion of an “I” that is experiencing the sight.
Is this correct? If so, does that mean all our experiences are always contaminated by ignorance? In other words, do we always experience Pañcūpādānakkhandha rather than Pañcakkhandha?
In this context, how does a Sotāpanna perceive the sense of “I”?“
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The “distorted saññā” makes one think certain sensory inputs are “valuable/enjoyable,” i.e., they are of icca, sukha, and atta nature.
- That leads to the following three results: (i) one attaches to it with tanhā thinking, “this is suitable to be mine” (etaṁ mama), (ii) One generates a sense of “me/mine” or asmi māna (esohamasmi), and (iii) One generates the wrong view or “diṭṭhi” that such things are beneficial.
- A Sotapanna only removes the third one, specifically sakkāya diṭṭhi.
- The next one to be removed is tanhā, which is removed in three stages. Kāma tanhā is lessened at the Sakadāgāmi stage and removed at the Anāgāmi stage. Rupa tanha and arupa tanha are removed at the Arahant stage.
- The last one to be removed is asmi māna, which is the sense of a “me/mine.” That is removed only at the Arahant stage.
See “Etaṁ Mama, Esohamasmi, Eso Me Attā’ti – What Does It Mean?” and “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā).”
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I have been traveling the whole day and just saw Amin’s post. I have not watched the video.
- A puthujjana has never experienced pañcakkhandha (which is free of defilements). It is also called pabhassara citta.
- It is pañcaupadanakkhandha that arises for a puthujjana with any sensory input. Then they always attach to it in the “purana kamma” stage with at least avijja.
I would like to see this discussed. It is a critically important issue.
