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“Therefore, unlike the other five abhiññās, asavakkhaya nana seems to be achievable without jhana.”
– Yes. As I have mentioned in various posts/comments, cultivating jhanas is not necessary to attain any stage of Nibbana, even though they may be realized at various stages of Nibbana.
– That is clear, for example, from the two types of citta vithi involved in getting to jhana and magga phala at the end of the following post:
“Citta Vīthi – Processing of Sense Inputs”– What are the “other five abhiññās” you mentioned?
Yes. Exactly right!
Tanha and avijja arise together. That is why four of the eight entities in a suddhatthaka are from avijja, and the other four are from tanha.
“The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka”
– That is also why both “mohakkhayo Nibbanam” and “tanhakkhayo Nibbanam” describe Nibbana. As we know, avijja is a reduced version of moha.I have revised the post in question to make your points easily seen with a chart:
“Key Steps of Kammic Energy Accumulation“Yes. That captures the essence.
– Dukkha dukkha (births in the apayas and injuries, sicknesses, etc in human bhava) arise as kamma vipaka resulting from kamma done with abhisankhara.OK. I did revise the post to include it. Good suggestion. Thanks!
Buddha Jayanthi Tipitaka edition has the original Pali Tipitaka (in the Sinhala alphabet) and a translation in the Sinhala language. It was published around 2005, I believe.
– But that translation is not correct in most cases, just like the English translations at Sutta Central. Incorrect interpretations of anicca and anatta appear, for example.1. The verse in the video is not in the Tipitaka, as far as I can see. It is possibly one composed to aid in attaining jhana. There is nothing wrong with that approach if one is interested in cultivating jhana.
– Abhaya Thero’s discourses are not only focused on jhana. He recommends going through an extensive set of instructions (also on YouTube, mainly in the Sinhala language).2. Yes. The quote from my posts explains how proper breathing (possibly together with such recitals) can help get to “passaddhi,” possibly leading to jhana.
3. However, the main focus in Anapanasati/Satipatthana MUST BE the removal of “bad gati” that perpetuates the rebirth process.
– See, “How Habits are Formed and Broken – A Scientific View”
– The following chart explains the basis:
P.S. The critical point is that when we attach to an arammana (tanha), that happens automatically. We don’t have control over that step.
– But we become aware “that the mind got attached” when we start generating vaci sankhara based on that arammana. At that point, we can stop generating more vaci sankhara.
– But if we “remain attached (because we like that arammana),” then we go to the beginning of the PS cycle (avijja paccaya sankhara). Then that will proceed to bhava and jati in Idappacayata PS, where one will be “born” in a corresponding mental state and continue generating more PS cycles. That will lead to strengthening that “bad gati.”
– It takes an effort to get rid of such “deeply ingrained gati” (digham assasanto…) discussed in #3 above.
– “Paṭicca Samuppāda During a Lifetime“The verse Tobias quoted comes at the beginning of the web page.
– Part of that verse is missing and also the commas are in the wrong places. The following is the same verse in the Buddha Jayanthi Tipitaka edition, which is correct:“Tattha tīṇi saṅkhatalakkhaṇāni tisso dukkhatā: uppādo saṅkhatalakkhaṇaṁ saṅkhāradukkhatāya dukkhatā ca, vayo saṅkhatalakkhaṇaṁ vipariṇāmadukkhatā ca, aññathattaṁ saṅkhatalakkhaṇaṁ dukkhadukkhatāya dukkhatā ca, imesaṁ tiṇṇaṁ saṅkhatalakkhaṇānaṁ..”
Translation:
“Three saṅkhata lakkhaṇa correspond to three types of suffering (tisso dukkhatā):
(i) uppāda is a saṅkhata lakkhaṇa that corresponds to saṅkhāra dukkhatā. A saṅkhata arises due to (avijja paccaya) saṅkhāra. That itself takes effort (suffering). Furthermore, it will also lead to future suffering.
(ii) vayo is a saṅkhata lakkhaṇa corresponding to vipariṇāma dukkhatā. Any saṅkhata is destroyed (vaya) and that leads to vipariṇāma dukkhatā.
(iii) aññathatta is a saṅkhata lakkhaṇa corresponding to dukkha dukkhatā. Any saṅkhata undergoes unexpected changes (aññathatta) during existence and that is dukkha dukkhatā.Yes. This is a good point. Those verses are about how to practice Ānāpānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvanā to get rid of bad habits that lead to perpetuating the rebirth process.
I just re-wrote one of those posts in the section mentioned below:
“How Habits are Formed and Broken – A Scientific View”It is one in a series of old posts:
“9. Key to Ānapānasati – How to Change Habits and Character (Gati)”Please comment on any of those posts. I will revise them as needed.
Thank you, Dosakkhayo, for bringin up this issue.
– Don’t hesitate to comment/ask questions. It is good to look at issues from different angles.Dosakkhayo asked: ” Does jīva mean life-stream? Or just life in the sense of ‘being’?”
Whether jīva means just “this life” or a “lifestream” depends on the type of the wrong view.
– Those with uccheda diṭṭhi believe that life (jīva) is associated with the physical body (sarīra) in this life. When the body dies, that is the end of jīva.
– Those with sassata diṭṭhi refer to jīva as a “lifestream that continues without end” because it has a permanent entity (ātman) associated with it.I have added a bit more — including the above — to the post:
Misconceptions on the Topics the Buddha “Refused to Answer”Dosakkhaya wrote: “I think that “Sassato loko and asassato loko” means “not to have the remotest idea of paticca samuppada”
1. That is correct since “loka” means the five aggregates in Buddha Dhamma.
– Those with “Sassata ditthi” have the wrong that there is something in the five aggregates that can and will continue perpetually.
– Others with “asassata/uccheda ditthi” have the wrong view that the five aggregates started at birth (in this life) and will end with the body’s death.But five aggregates will continue to grow until the root causes for its continuance (i.e., arising of hadaya vatthu/pasada rupa) are stopped.
– That happens via PS.
– P.S. Of course, there are many ways to express the above. The main thing is to realize that as long as one has the wrong view that worldly things are of value (i.e., do not comprehend the anicca nature), there is no end to suffering. Anicca nature inevitably leads to dukkha (suffering), and one will end up without refuge (anatta). Human birth is when one can use the opportunity to “seek refuge” in Buddha Dhamma and get to the refuge (Nibbana).2. On the other hand, scientists consider the physical world out there (cosmos) as the “world” or “loka.”
– Even if an infinite number of beings attain Nibbana and dissociate with their “lokas” there will be an infinite number left to sustain the cosmos.I have re-written the post to address your valid questions. It is getting late here, so I just finished a rough draft. Please feel to ask questions so that I can add to that post.
“Misconceptions on the Topics the Buddha ‘Refused to Answer’“Jorg wrote: “Maybe I could provide some more useful input then.”
Please do. Thanks for the other comments too.
– Yes. VPN can additionally slow down website loading.Seng Kiat Ng has created a free website with the “Pure Dhamma ebook published as web pages”:
“Pure Dhamma: A Quest to Recover Buddha’s True Teachings”
As you may know, Seng Kiat maintains an eBook in pdf format, which is updated regularly as posts are updated:
“Pure Dhamma Essays in Book Format”
– It can be read with eBook readers like the Kindle.Much merits to Seng Kiat and his family for all his efforts!
Ayubowan…Tobi
(“Ayubowan” in the Sinhala language means “long life to you.”)Thank you for all your suggestions.
Regarding the technical stuff, we know them and have done our best. But thanks for pointing them out. The need to use plugins is good and bad.
“I was wondering: How do you think the Buddha would have created a website?”
– I don’t think he would get involved in such tasks. There would be many lay people doing such tasks in the time of a Buddha.“After starting the website, a cookie query with the option to set it to Beginners, Sōtapanna, Anāgāmi and Monks maybe.”
– Yes. That would be equivalent to displaying a few appropriate sub-menus on the home page.“1. A classification as is customary in
Home // Forum // Members Area // Video………………………………Search function
The Practice of the Dhamma // Abhidhamma // Dhamma and Science // Meditation // Tables and Summaries
Something like that, that’s just an example of a directory structure/folder structure.”– I think each post page has breadcrumbs showing exactly that.
If breadcrumbs do not show up on pages, please let me know.
For example, “Home » Historical Background » Key Problems with Mahāyāna Teachings” should show up on top of the post “Key Problems with Mahāyāna Teachings.”
– Breadcrumbs indicate the root sections and subsections for a given post.
– P.S. Thanks to Dosakkhayo for the suggestion to revise that post. I have re-written that old post.P.S. I have been making some adjustments to the menu bar. While doing a few other changes, I also included a “slider” to adjust the level of “Dark Mode.” But I think the “on/off Half Moon” at the bottom of the page may be better. The slider would not show up on Mobile.
Thank you, LayDhammaFollower.
We can keep the main menu if the website loading is acceptable/fast enough.
– But we will keep thinking/working on other possible improvements (two websites, arranging menus in order of difficulty, etc).If anyone finds loading too slow, please comment here or email me at [email protected].
– Please mention the device (desktop or mobile).Occasionally, the website could be slow due to a temporary issue (normally lasting less than 30 minutes). Please disregard those.
