Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
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”?“
1 user thanked author for this post.
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.”
Be careful when dealing with Buddha Dhamma. It needs to be handled with respect. The Budha compared learning Dhamma to “handling a snake.” If handled in the wrong way, it can lead to bad consequences. I know you didn’t mean it. Don’t worry about it.
As for the writings by Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda:
I read most of his writings a long time ago. He had a sharp mind. If he had listened to Waharaka Thero, that could have made a big difference.
He tried very hard to make sense of the Tipitaka. As you can see, he had read most of the suttas. But he could not make a coherent picture because he was not exposed to the fundamental teachings of the Buddha (anicca and anatta, among others). As you pointed out, he could not distinguish between phassa and samphassa either.
– His writings provide a good source of references. But I wouldn’t try to make sense of his explanations because of those reasons.LayDhammaFollower wrote:
“This is quotations from English translation of “law of dependent arising” digital library edition, page. 49,Whatever pertains to the ‘abhisaṅkhata-viññāṇa’ comes to cease in that all lustrous consciousness (sabbatopabha-viññāṇa). When light comes from all directions, consciousness becomes non-manifestative (‘viññāṇaṁ anidassanaṁ anantaṁ sabbatopabhaṁ’).”
Like many people in discussion forums today, he was intrigued by the verse viññāṇaṁ anidassanaṁ anantaṁ sabbatopabhaṁ. But his discussion does not make sense.
– That verse is explained in the post: “Anidassana Viññāṇa – What It Really Means”
– More information in “Pabhassara Citta, Radiant Mind, and Bhavaṅga“LayDhammaFollower wrote: “It was just that, I couldn’t see the connections between sakkāya diṭṭhi and NamaRupa discussion and also, between previous life progress and this discussion. Nothing else.”
It is for your benefit to understand the connection. That is why I gave the links. Don’t make dismissive statements without looking into issues. If you read them and the connection is not clear, you can ask questions. There is a limit to what I can write in a comment or even a regular post.
