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P.S. It may be better to read #5 first. That gives the main idea.
1. I read through the discussion on this thread. I made two long comments on April 20, 2022, at 7:51 pm (Comment 1) and April 23, 2022, at 6:35 am (Comment 2). It is a good idea to read those again, Yash.
2. Also, read “Craving for Pornography – How to Reduce the Tendency”
3. As we have discussed repeatedly on this website, the way to remove future suffering (Nibbāna) has three critical steps. It may be hard to believe, but the first two steps are about getting rid of the wrong views!
(i) Cultivate the mundane path and remove the ten types of micchā diṭṭhi. It would be impossible to cleanse a mind without getting rid of the first layer of wrong views. Any doubts about the rebirth process will be eliminated at this step.
(ii) The second layer of wrong views is the mindset that future suffering can be eliminated by seeking births in Deva or Brahma realms. The uniqueness of Buddha’s teachings is the following. Suffering is present at various levels in all the realms of this world, and until escaping (or transcending) this world, it will not be possible to stop the worst suffering in the apāyās in the future. Those wrong views (mainly sakkāya diṭṭhi) are removed at the Sotapanna stage with lokuttara Sammā diṭṭhi (comprehension of Four Noble Truths/Paṭicca Samuppāda/Tilakkhana. This is only a change of mindset, but it requires a dedicated effort.
(iii) Even though our wring views about this world are removed by the Sotapanna stage, our perceptions (sanna) about sensual pleasures available in this world will still be there. The third layer is to follow the vision (Noble Path) gained by cultivating the correct versions of Ānāpānasati (same as Satipaṭṭhāna) and to remove those wrong perceptions. That leads to Arahathood via the Sakadagami and Anagami stages. Read through the new post carefully: “Mahārāhulovāda Sutta and Ānāpānasati.”
4. The point of all the above is that getting rid of cravings for sensual pleasures (especially sex) is not easy.
– Again, to emphasize, the Buddha taught Ānāpānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna to those at or above the Sotapanna stage.
– If it was easy, why would the Buddha go to such lengths?5. Don’t think that kama raga (including cravings for sex-related activities) can be overcome by just reading posts or listening to discourses.
– It requires a determined effort.
– The key is to avoid engaging in activities that feed the craving! Let us consider the specific example of watching porn (pornography).
– There is a specific “kamma vinnana” (an expectation) that keeps asking to be fed. What does that vinnana need? Its food is activities that would satisfy its need: “(abhi)sankhara paccaya (kamma)vinnana.” Those abhisankhara are watching more porn”! Any related activities like watching TV/movies/videos with similar visuals will also feed that vinnana.
– Staying away from those activities is the ONLY way to reduce that tendency. Consider the following analogy: In the old days, people captured wild elephants and trained them for work. Before starting the training, they needed to be tamed. As long as that elephant was energetic, it would not obey any commands. It needed to be weakened by depriving its food intake. However, they had to be persistent in not giving food for days to make the elephant weak enough to obey them. If they did not feed it for two days in a row and let it eat all it wanted for even an hour, the elephant would regain its strength. The trick was not to feed until the elephant was so weak that it could not stand up.
– The same principle applies here. One may abstain from watching porn for many days, but even one session of watching porn can get one back to square one.
– What I described above holds for ANY habit. If you really want to break a habit, you HAVE TO abstain from related activities, not just intermittently but persistently. In the Ānāpānasati language, this is the “dīghaṁ vā passasanto ‘dīghaṁ passasāmī’ti pajānāti” step. Those “deeply embedded” gati require a lengthy and concerted effort! See “How Habits are Formed and Broken – A Scientific View”6. Making a new GOOD habit works the same way, but the other around. You would engage in related activities as often as possible.
– That is “Dīghaṁ vā assasanto ‘dīghaṁ assasāmī’ti pajānāti”
– If one wants to cultivate good habits that will last a long time, one needs to engage in activities for long durations!7. Of course, the process can be guaranteed to work only if one has comprehended the fruitlessness/dangers of remaining in the rebirth process. At the end of the “Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22)” the Buddha promised that one would attain at least the Anagami stage in two weeks if one practiced it incessantly; at a slower pace, one would attain Anagami stage at least in seven years. But, of course, that holds only if one is at least a Sotapanna Anugami.
– Otherwise, one would want to focus more on learning Dhamma and attaining the Sotapanna stage. Of course, even then, one MUST cut down on activities like watching porn or excessive sensual activities. Instead of porn, others may crave delicious foods, watch movies, play video games, etc. All these activities are not conducive to learning Dhamma and getting to the Sotapanna stage.“I am no one to be able to spot errors in translation, since I do not know Sinhala. Best I can do is remark on places of inconsistency with Dhamma where it appears so to me purely in the English translation in itself.”
– Yes. Those are the same. Any inconsistency would arise due to a problem with the translation. That is what happened last time.
I am not sure how good the translation is since I have not listened to any of the videos in this series. I remember we ran into some issues with a previous translation. Please point out any possible errors or questions about the translations, and I can look into them.
– Please make sure to provide the time stamp regarding any questions. I don’t have the time to watch the whole video.That sentence is not correct.
I revised that bullet point (in #15) as follows:
– The kammaja kāya has all the kammic potentialities (kamma seeds) acquired up to any given time; see “Saṅkhāra, Kamma, Kamma Bīja, Kamma Vipaka,” and “Saṃsāric Habits and Āsavas.” But one of those seeds (which embeds matching gati) becomes operative for the “new bhava” and becomes the “bhavaṅga” for that life. The remaining kamma seeds will retain their gati; each kamma seed embeds the gati at the moment of its creation. One of those will rise to the next bhava or existence; that would be the one best matching the mindset at that paṭisandhi moment. Thus, different “gati” are in different kamma seeds. That is why an Arahant’s mind would not grasp any kamma seed with any gati.Thanks for pointing that out, Jorg!
Welcome to the forum, Samma Ditthi!
Thank you for sharing your experience. Yes. Hojanyun is doing a great job on the Korean website.
I am also glad that some of you are participating in both forums. All of you can express your thoughts clearly. So, no worries about English.
It is good that you have grasped the true meanings of “sankhara,” samsara,” “samphassa,” etc., by comprehending “san.”Please don’t hesitate to ask questions and comment on the posts by others. That will help your English as well as Dhamma knowledge.
I am glad that you understood the deeper aspects, Lang!
We can look at this from many different angles. I will briefly discuss two.
1. The density of matter is highest in kama loka. That is where pathavi, apo, and tejo are strongest.
– As we go to higher realms (six Deva realms), those births arise with much less lobha, dosa, and moha; thus, the density of their bodies and environment is much less. That is why scientists can’t see those realms.
– Births in Brahma realms are possible at even smaller lobha, dosa, and moha levels.2. When an average human attains the Sotapanna stage,lobha, dosa, and moha reduce substantially to raga, patigha, and lower levels of avijja. Thus, pathavi, apo, and tejo in the suddhatthaka generated by the Sotapanna is much less in proportion. Accordingly, any anger, greed, and ignorance arising in a Sotapanna are not enough to engage in highly immoral deeds. That is how a Sotapanna avoids rebirth in apayas.
– By the Anagami stage, that trend will lead to the disappearance of kama raga and patigha. Thus, an Anagami would not act with anger or kama raga. Thus, pathavi and tejo in the suddhatthaka generated by an Anagami would be much less proportioned. That is why an Anagami would be born only in a Brahma realm.
– By the Arahant stage, no gati is left to generate any kamma bija (or hadaya vatthu) with even a trace of suddhatthaka. No rebirths for an Arahant.That is a very brief outline.
Thank you, Lang, for bringing up this question on the “air element” or “vāyo.”
First, I moved Lang’s post from the “Questions About Puredhamma Posts” to the “Posts on ‘Elephants in the Room’” because the post in question is in the “Elephant in the Room 3 – Ānāpānasati” section. Of course, Lang could not see that because for this first week of posting as the “Home page” the breadcrumbs at the top of the post does not show the section.
Regarding the main question on “vāyo:”
There is a bit deeper explanation of the terms pathavi,āpo, tejo, and vāyo.
I just revised #7 of the post “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka” as follows.– The word āpo comes from the tendency to “attach or get attracted to worldly things” (“bandena gatiya” or “බැඳෙන ගතිය” in Sinhala means the “bind together,” which leads to liquidity in science). Tejo comes from “fiery or energetic” (“théjas gati” or “තේජස් ගතිය” in Sinhala), and vāyo refers to “motion/vacillation” (“salena gatiya” or “සැලෙන ගතිය” in Sinhala). They are all created in javana citta that arise in mind in minute quantities that cannot be detected. However, yogis with abhiññā powers can generate large amounts of matter like a flower.
– Added October 29, 2022: There is a deeper explanation: According to the above explanations, āpo, pathavi, and tejo can be attributed to lobha, dosa, and moha. Vacillation in vāyo represents uncertainty; that represents mundane alobha, adosa, amoha, or the ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. See “Six Root Causes – Loka Samudaya (Arising of Suffering) and Loka Nirodhaya (Nibbāna).”Thus, we can say that vāyo is the “better element” compared to āpo, pathavi, and tejo. The latter three can be attributed to the “kāma loka” and vāyo can be taken to represent rupa loka lying above the kāma loka.
– P.S. Thus, we can indirectly connect to anariya yogis getting into anariya jhāna with breath mediation (by overcoming lobha, dosa, and moha, temporarily, i.e., without removing anusaya.)Thanks.
I tried to use Notion, but it didn’t work out. I just watched a bit of a Youtube video, and Obsidian seems to take a different approach than Notion. Have you been using it for a while? If you have a helpful video on it, please post it. Otherwise, I am sure I can search Youtube and find more information.Sorry. I am not familiar with the website. If you can send me ([email protected]) a link to a selected post with English subtitles, I can post it.
It is fascinating to read the ongoing discussion at Sutta Central mentioned in the above post.
First, if semen is gandhabba, how do births in Deva and Brahma realms arise? Those are opapatika births without sexual intercourse. Furthermore, how do memories of previous lives (as the Buddha had) propagate through semen?
Some suttas mention “patisandhi vinnana” descending to a womb, and others “gandhabba” descending to a womb.
– But one must understand a given concept depending on the context. A “patisandhi vinnana” is a (kamma)vinnana arising at the moment of cuti-patisandhi; a split second later, a gandhabba with five aggregates arises. Technically, a (kamma)vinnana cannot “descend to a womb” without a rupa made of at least a suddhatthaka.1. “Patisandhi vinnana” does not belong to the rupa aggregate. It belongs to the vinnana aggregate.
2. At the cuti-patisandhi moment, a “patisandhi vinnana” gets more energy and is converted to a suddhatthaka (with kammic energy), i.e., hadaya vatthu. That hadaya vatthu belongs to the rupa aggregate. That is the “rupa aggregate” of the gandhabba.
3. Thus, technically, it is a rupa (not a vinnana) that descends to a womb. That may happen even years after the birth of the gandhabba at the cuti-patisandhi moment.Several suttas in SN 22 clearly state “coming and going of (kamma)vinnana, its passing away and reappearing, its growth, increase, and maturity” cannot happen in the absence of other four aggregates (rupa, vedana, sanna,sankhara).
– “Upaya Sutta (SN 22.53)” I have linked to the specific verse.
– Only a gandhabba (with five aggregates) can survive the time between the cuti-patisandhi moment and “descending to a womb.” By the time “descending to a womb,” that kamma vinnana which gave rise to the gandhabba with the five aggregates, is no longer there.If anyone at this forum has any questions to clarify, please don’t hesitate to ask. These concepts need to be fully clarified and understood.
November 4, 2022: I wrote a post with the same title, critiquing the essay at Sutta Central: “Does Gandhabba Mean “Semen”?“
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Yes. There are eight Noble Persons (aṭṭha purisa puggalā), two at each stage of Nibbana.
– Thus, both Sotapanna and Sotapanna Anugami are Noble Persons at the Sotapanna stage.Sometimes I specifically write Sotapanna Anugami to emphasize that it is the first Noble Person. But both uses should be OK.
Thanks for bringing it up for clarification.I went through LayDhammaFollower’s chart posted above and filled the slot that was open with “Kusala-mula
saṅkhāra (puñña abhisaṅkhāra with comprehension of Noble Truths).”The same link above points to the revised chart.
P.S. @Dosakkhayo: The “ultimate two supersets” I commented on may not be what you had in mind. I was also thinking about whether that approach could be “too deep” for beginners. Please proceed the way you planned.
LayDhammaFollower has the following chart to be shared with Dosakkhayo and others on the forum:
“Loka and Nibbana – LayDhammaFollower”
Much merits to LayDhammaFollower for his efforts!
First of all, Dosakkhayo, we are glad to hear that you are working well with the Korean Pure Dhamma Community. I can sense the high level of interest in the community.
I think those are fresh ideas that can be and should be tested out. We need to use all the tools available to bring back the true teachings of the Buddha.
The following are some thoughts cam to my mind, without thinking much about it.
There are two supersets.
1. This world of 31 realms with recurring and incessant rebirth process, where physical sukha/dukkha and mind-made somanassa/domanassa vedana exist. The level of sukha is optimum in the highest Deva realm, and the level of somanassa (or the absence of domanassa) maximum in the highest Brahma realm. On the other hand, any given living being spends most of the time in the lower realms (apayas) with unbearable dukkha/domanassa during the time when the realms in the kama loka exist. LayDhammaFollower’s recent chart explains that well: “Vedanā Vibhanga”
2. The second superset is Nibbana. A lifestream makes a transition from “this world” to Nibbana at Parinibbana.The two supersets are “mutually exclusive” meaning there is no direct overlap. There are no words to describe Nibbana in terms of terminology available to use in “this world.” But the Buddha emphasized that dukkha/domanassa is completely absent in Nibbana.
Furthermore, one can sense the definite decrease in dukkha/domanassa as one makes the transition from “this world” to Nibbana in four steps (eight stages). After the Sotapanna stage, the possibility of rebirths in the apayas will go away, and so on. A living Arahant would only have “vipaka vedana” that can bring both sukha and dukha until Parinibbana (death of the physical body).
– Thus even though the two supersets do not overlap directly, a Buddha figures out how to make that transition while in “this world.”
– That requires understanding how this world sustains itself with the akusala-mula Paticca Samuppada process. Only a Buddha can figure out how to go backward on that process with the kusala-mula PS and stop that cyclical forward akusala-mula process.Anyway, Those are some thoughts that came to my mind as I was reading your post.
– I am sure we will be able to make suggestions as we see details of your approach.
– But don’t deviate from your approach if it does not address those at the outset.May the Blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all in your efforts!
There are mainly two types of “Māra.”
– One is “kilesa Māra”. These are one’s own defilements.
– The other is “Devaputta Māra”. He is a Deva in the highest Deva realm.Those have been discussed in detail in the thread “Arahanthood Without Purpose.”
You can start with my comment on September 17, 2018, at 1:47 pm, where the discussion turns to “Māra.”
