Lal

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  • Lal
    Keymaster

    Assāsa passāsa” has TWO meanings:

    1. “Breathing in and out”
    – That applies to “assāsa passāsā kāya saṅkhārā“, i.e., that is how the mind moves the body in the simplest way.
    – That is in the “Cūḷavedalla Sutta (MN 44)“: “Assāsapassāsā kho, āvuso visākha, kāyasaṅkhāro

    2. “Assāsa” is to “take in the Noble Path” and “passāsa” is to dispel/reject the “wrong paths” with “wrong views”.

    See, for example, “Assāsappatta Sutta (SN 38.5)” , “Paramas­s­āsa­p­patta Suttta (SN 38.6)”

    Those translations are not that good.

    – Basically, “Assāsappatto” is someone who has become a Sotapanna Anugami and thus has started “taking in” the Noble Path (First sutta)

    – “Paramassāsappatto” is an Arahant who has completed the Path OR “completed taking in” (Second sutta)

    P.S. : “patto” is “someone who got to that stage/level” AND “parama” is “ultimate”
    – Assāsappatto = Assāsa + patto
    – Paramassāsappatto = parama + assāsa + patto

    P.P.S. Of course, it is the second meaning that pertains to Ānāpānasati meditation.

    in reply to: Dhammapada book #36880
    Lal
    Keymaster

    Yes. Those are good. Thanks, Lang.

    The second one is online and I use it often:

    The Dhammapada: Verses and Stories

    Lal
    Keymaster

    Lang’s (cubibobi) questions:

    (1) Yes.

    (2) I am not certain that those commentaries were actually written or just composed (just like the rest of the Tipitaka). I have revised that in the post as:
    “.. Furthermore, three commentaries were composed in Pāli during the time of the Buddha. Per the Sinhala version of those three commentaries, one was the work of Ven. Sariputta and the other two attributed to Ven. Mahākaccāna (or Mahākaccāyana.)

    #3, #4: Yes. Those certainly qualify as “distorting Buddha Dhamma.”
    – I am not sure whether they qualify as anantariya kamma. But it is a serious offense.
    For example, “AN 2.25” is a short sutta that says: “Dveme, bhikkhave, tathāgataṃ ­nābbhā­cik­khanti. Katame dve? Yo ca neyyatthaṃ suttantaṃ neyyattho suttantoti dīpeti, yo ca nītatthaṃ suttantaṃ nītattho suttantoti dīpeti. Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve tathāgataṃ ­nābbhā­cik­khantī” ti.
    Translation (to provide the idea): “Monks, these two people slander the Tathagata. Which two? One who briefly explains a deep discourse when it needs a detailed explanation. The other explains a discourse in detail whose meaning is already clear. These are two who slander the Tathāgata.”
    – Two perfect examples of the first type of slander say that the words anicca and anatta are fully explained by “impermanence” and “no-self.” Those two concepts require detailed explanations.

    in reply to: SN 15.20 / DN 26 reverse/forward evolution #36796
    Lal
    Keymaster

    I would not call it “human evolution.”

    1. “Human existence” is determined by the lifetime of the gandhabba, the “mental body.”

    2. The “physical body” is just a shell that allows a human to experience gandha (odors), rasa (tastes), and phottabba (touches). The duration of that physical body is subjected to environmental conditions.
    – Even now, in some poor countries, “physical-body lifetime” is around 50 years, while in some others it is around 100 years.
    – Over long times it can change from around 10 years (when the environment is bad) to around 80,000 or so years when the conditions are optimum.
    – However, the lifetime of human existence DOES NOT depend on such environmental conditions.It depends solely on the kammic energy.

    Lal
    Keymaster

    Yes. A viññāṇa (future expectation) becomes stronger via aññamañña PS: “nāmarūpa paccayā viññāna” followed by “viññāna paccayā nāmarūpa” followed by “nāmarūpa paccayā viññāna”, …
    – It is a feedback loop that makes both nāmarūpa and viññāna grow.

    It is discussed in “Viññāna Paccayā Nāmarūpa

    Yes. It can work for a “mundane task” like a shopping list too.

    Now, something else can come up to break that viññāṇa (future expectation).
    – In the case of the shopping list for tomorrow, for example, if it turns out that you had to leave home immediately to go to a different city, that viññāṇa can “break” and you may not recall the shopping list anymore. Your mind then “knows” that there is no more need for that particualr shopping list.

    P.S. Also see, “Āsēvana and Aññamañña Paccayā

    Lal
    Keymaster

    Yes. That is right.

    What you called a “non-kamma vinnana” is a namagotta. ALL our actions are recorded as namagotta, whether or not they may have kammic consequences.
    – Those events with kammic consequences (i.e., kammic energy) are “dhammā“. In other words, namagotta with kammic energies are dhammā.

    Now, dhammā can bring vipaka on their own, when conditions are right.

    But if we need to recall anything (namagotta with or without kammic energy) we need to make an effort to recall them. The brain sends a “cittaja ray (kirana)” to the vinnana dhatu and it comes back (reflected) with that memory.

    I hope you can get an idea. Ask questions if not clear. I think I wrote about this in one post, but I cannot remember which post.

    P.S. The following analogy may help with how we recall namagoatta.
    Suppose, there is a chair in a dark room. If we walk into the room, we would not see the chair. But if we direct a flashlight to it, the light will reflect off the chair and we will see it.
    – In the same way, we need to send a “beam of light” to the vinnana dhatu (nama loka), and only then it will reflect back with the memory.
    – Our nama loka is very different from the rupa loka. We can recall memories (in nama loka) from anywhere. More in the next post.

    in reply to: A question about second jhana #36752
    Lal
    Keymaster

    Please give the bullet # when quoting, so that I don’t have to read the whole post to find it.

    Where does the quote appear?

    P.S. I later saw that TGS has sent me an email too.

    I think the confusion arose because of the following.

    1. In the Suttas, there are only four jhana mentioned.
    2. In Abhidhamma, the second jhana is split into two: “avitakka vicāramattaṃ samādhi (absence of vitakka with a trace of vicāra left)” AND “avitakka AVICARA samādhi (absence of BOTH vitakka and vicara)”

    P.P.S: Most suttas have just one (second one in the suttas) with “avitakka AVICARA samādhi (absence of BOTH vitakka and vicara)”.

    The verse that TGS quote appears in #13 in the post “Vitakka, Vicāra, Savitakka, Savicāra, and Avitakka, Avicāra
    – So, it appears that different suttas describe jhanas a bit differently.
    – But the main difference is whether there are 4 or 5 rupavacara jhanas, as mentioned above.

    Feel free to ask questions if this is not the issue.

    in reply to: A question about second jhana #36738
    Lal
    Keymaster

    cubibobi is quite right.

    To make it easier, I must have copied the English translation somewhere else and made revisions to it. You can see that at the start of #4:
    “Further, great king, with the removal of vitakka/vicāra (but savitakka/savicāra remain),..”

    At the second jhana, you get rid of any kāma and akusala thoughts.
    But nekkamma and kusala thoughts remain. Those will remain from that point on.

    See, “Vitakka, Vicāra, Savitakka, Savicāra, and Avitakka, Avicāra

    I need to revise the original post to make this clear. Thanks to TripleGemStudent for pointing that out.

    TripleGemStudent wrote: ” In the end though, I would like to cease all sankhara’s because . . .

    Sabbe sankhara anicca
    Sabbe sankhara dukkha..”

    That is right. All sankhara are anicca nature. But we need to cultivate “punnabhisankhara” and “kusala-mula sankhara” until we get to the Arahant stage.
    – Note that punnabhisankhara AUTOMATICALLY BECOME kusala-mula sankhara as one comprehends Tilakkhana/Paticca Samuppada/Four Noble Noble Truths.

    P.S. I just revised #4 of the post, “Jhānic Experience in Detail – Sāmañ­ña­phala Sutta (DN 2)

    in reply to: 32 Parts Meditation #36717
    Lal
    Keymaster

    Hello Alfalco!

    I have not yet written a separate post on 32 Parts of the Body meditation or “patikulamanasikāra.”

    It is, of course, part of the Satipaṭṭhāna bhavana.
    – I discussed it briefly in the post, “What is “Kāya” in Kāyānupassanā?

    I am not sure how much you have learned about the Satipaṭṭhāna bhavana.
    Here is a link to the posts on that:
    Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta

    There is also a separate section on Meditation:
    Bhāvanā (Meditation)

    in reply to: Proposed Tipitaka Conservation Bill in Sri Lanka #36683
    Lal
    Keymaster

    Sorry, Aniduan. I somehow did not see your post.

    I heard that the government has stopped pursuing that legislation. However, I don’t know whether the government made an official statement.

    in reply to: How one becomes sammasam buddha? #36610
    Lal
    Keymaster

    C. Sacket has sent me an email saying that he was unable to add the following to the above comment.

    No other sentient being in our universe can be compared to a Samma Sambuddha. He surpasses all other beings in knowledge and power!!!

    But still for the sake of curiosity, here is a good article:
    SIX UN-SHARED SUPER-NORMAL KNOWLEDGES (ASADHARANA NANA) OF LORD GAUTAMA BUDDHA

    in reply to: How one becomes sammasam buddha? #36608
    Lal
    Keymaster

    Thanks for the insights, C. Saket.

    Good to see you back in the forum!

    in reply to: Post on Rebirths Take Place According to Abhisaṅkhāra #36607
    Lal
    Keymaster

    That is right.
    – Kamma done with the mundane versions of alobha, adosa, amoha just have miccha ditthi as akusala.”

    Yes. In mundane versions of alobha, adosa, amoha, there can also be “raga for good deeds.”
    – Also, we remember that “raga” means ” to give priority to goals in this world” or “to perpetuate the rebirth process.” See #3 of, “Lōbha, Rāga and Kāmacchanda, Kāmarāga
    – Beneath there is the view/perception that this world has permanent happiness to offer. That is there until Tilakkhana/Paticca Samuppada/Noble Truths are understood.

    in reply to: How one becomes sammasam buddha? #36602
    Lal
    Keymaster

    Have you read the following post? It may explain some of your questions. Please feel free to ask any unanswered questions.

    Pāramitā and Niyata Vivarana – Myths or Realities?

    in reply to: Did the Buddha Discriminate Against Women? #36598
    Lal
    Keymaster

    I am not sure, Tobias.

    Since that section is in the Tipitaka, there must have been a reason to include them.

    However, SOME accounts that I have seen IN TRANSLATIONS (either in English or Sinhala) seem unreal.
    But I have not tried to look at the Pali version to confirm the translations.
    – There is enough to read in the Tipitaka outside that section!

    By the way, I have also not heard Waharaka Thero mention that section except in a couple of instances. It seems that he had also not allocated any significant time to that section.

Viewing 15 posts - 2,326 through 2,340 (of 4,368 total)