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That is not quite correct. I just revised it as follows:
3. Tihetuka means kusala kamma done with alobha, adosa, amoha.
– Dvihetuka means kusala kamma done with alobha/amoha or adosa/amoha.
– Here, amoha means one would have wisdom at least at the minimum level, i.e., one would be aware of the laws of kamma.
– Ahetuka means kusala kamma done with alobha/adosa, but without comprehending the laws of kamma (i.e., one’s actions would have consequences in the future.)Thanks, Tobias!
Hello earthdweller,
You asked: “why in dvihetuka the root mentioned only alobha and adosa without amoha”
Actually, dvihetuka is defined as alobha/amoha OR adosa/amoha.
– Amoha MUST be there.That is because in order to understand Buddha Dhamma (to a basic level or to a deeper level) one must at least understand that one’s actions WILL HAVE consequences.
– That basic level of “wisdom” is needed for both dvihetuka and tihetuka.Then to understand the deeper dhamma and get to magga phala, one must have a tihetuka birth with amoha/alobha/adosa.
Since this is an important subject — and there have been many questions — I thought of re-writing an old post to clarify things a bit more.
See, “State of Mind in the Absence of Citta Vithi – Bhavaṅga”
Please feel free to ask questions. I can revise the post as needed to make it better.
P.S. Note that the “formatting panel” is available again.
I slightly revised (removed a sentence from my comment above). Answers to Tobias’s questions are below.
“Cakkhunca paticca rupeca uppajjhati cakkhu vinnanam”
– ‘Rupa” or “rupayanata” involve external visual objects.
– “Cakkhu” or “cakkhayatana” requires cakkhu pasada rupa.“Mananca paticca dhammeca uppajjhati mano vinnanam”
– “dhamma” or “dhammayatana” involve namagotta, kamma bija, etc and involve vinnana dhatu. Vinnana dhatu is present in all 31 realms.
– “mana” or “manayatana” is present when citta can arise.With those fundamental facts, we can address Tobias’s questions.
1. In Asañña realm, only physical bodies (inert) with hadaya vatthu of those beings are present. Of course, dhammayatana is also present but those “dhamma” are prevented from contacting hadaya vatthu. Thus, manayatana is not present.
– Hadaya vatthu is in the bhavanga state. As I explained before, those are NOT bhavanga citta.2. In arupa realms, only the manayatana and dhammayatana present.
3. Tobias’s final comment: I don’t see a problem with the following:
asanna satta – “Body only; no mind”I may have misunderstood some questions. If so, ask again.
Tobias:
Asañña satta has a hadaya vatthu.
– However, “mananca paticca dhammeca uppajjati mano vinananam” cannot take place because that is prevented by kammic energy for an asañña satta.
– So, the mind is effectively inactive, i.e., no citta can arise.Ekaja kaya is the first kaya (kammaja kaya) that arises at cuti-patisandhi. For an asañña satta that is the only kaya that can arise, since no citta can arise (no cittaja kaya, and hence no utuja kaya either).
I don’t see those formatting buttons either. Will try to see what the problem is.
Hello Lair,
Meditation can be at many levels. However, we can just take the two major types.
1. The commonly used “breath meditation” gives only temporary relief. The calming of the mind does not last long. This is practiced as a “formal meditation”, i.e., one needs to be sitting down and focusing on the breath.
2. The Buddhist Anapanasati meditation can be done at different levels in different postures.
– The primary type practiced at all waking moments is to watch for greedy, hateful/angry/ignorant thoughts/actions/speech and to avoid them.
– At the deepest level, one can do a formal meditation (sitting down in a quiet place). Here one can meditate on Dhamma concepts. For example, one can meditate on the unfruitful nature of attaching to worldly pleasures (anicca, dukkha, anatta nature). But one first needs to understand those concepts.The methods in #2 will lead to a permanent reduction of agitation of the mind. But it takes time.
See, “Bhāvanā (Meditation)”:
P.S. For some reason, the “formatting feature” is not working. I am unable to link to the page. I will try to figure out why.
Raj wrote: “I was wondering, if a gandhabba is a mental body, and if a person happens to die in Europe, but has a lot of attachments to his or her home continent ( family, friends, property, etc) then the gandhabba will tend to go to that area where the attachment is, and the mind can travel instantly to that area. ”
It is true that a person dying may be born in a faraway location.
– But it is not correct to say that the “mind travels.”
– It is better to say that the rebirth will take place in a “matching location.”For example, if a human is to be born a Deva, he would be born instantly in a Deva realm (located far away).
– The “place of birth” is according to the “gati” of that birth.Thanks for letting us know, Aniduan.
I don’t have any issue on my end, but I use the Microsoft Edge browser.
– If anyone else has that issue, please post.OK. Let me clarify that.
There are two facts verified by Tipitaka references:
1. The Buddha stated that his Buddha Sasana would FLOURISH only in the first 500 years. That means there will be abundant Arahants at any time during that period.
2. However, his Buddha Sasana will not completely disappear until the Ariya lineage is maintained.The above statements are also confirmed by the following:
– There were 1000 (or 500, I don’t remember the exact #) Arahants present at the Fourth Buddhist Council held about 500 years after the Prinibbana of the Buddha. That was the last Council conducted by Arahants.
– Soon after that the true and correct teachings started fading away in the MAINSTREAM. That was due to the rise and spread of Mahayana.
– However, there have been infrequent Arahants and people with various stages of magga phala within the past 2000 years. During this period, there could have been “small bursts of resurgence” due to the birth of Jati Sotapannas. We are in such a “burst of activity” right now, thanks to Waharaka Thero.
– I have discussed some of that in the recent post, “Yoniso Manasikāra and Paṭicca Samuppāda.”The 5000 years number is a limit to how far such “small bursts of resurgence” can go into the future.
– I have read accounts in various places (I cannot remember where; it may not be the Tipitaka) that the absolute limit of the duration of the Buddha Gotama’s Buddha Sasana is 5000 years. Waharaka Thero has mentioned that too, without giving a reference.
– However, Wahraka Thero also mentioned that at the end, all the “dhathus” of the Buddha (remains of his body parts like teeth) will disappear. Furthermore, the number of bhikkhus will drastically reduce and they will gradually start living as householders. By that time, they will only wear a “yellow band” on their arm instead of wearing the yellow robes.
– That is happening even now in Japan to some extent, I have heard. But I am not certain.
– However, we are not even close to that worldwide.Therefore, I think it is OK to leave that “5000-year” number as the duration of this Buddha Sasana (i.e., 2500 more years as the absolute limit). It just gives the idea that it is far from over.
Tobias: I am not sure which post(s) you are referring to and why. You need to be more specific.
– What is “2500 years”?
– Which posts refer to that number?Hello Aniduan,
I don’t think Sotapannas (or any others with certain magga phala) have similar capabilities for explaining dhamma concepts to others.
– Understanding and explaining are two different things.For example, a Sammasambuddha (like Buddha Gotama) discovers Buddha Dhamma on his own and can also explain it to others.
– On the other hand, a paccekabuddha discovers Buddha Dhamma on his own but CANNOT explain it to others.Thanks, Tobias.
Here is a detailed description of the account in the Vinaya Pitaka where the Buddha says Buddha Dhamma will FLOURISH only for 500 years:
“20. Nuns (Bhikkhunī)”
– There is also the “Gotamī Sutta (AN 8.51)” that summarizes the above account.But that does not mean Buddha Dhamma would have disappeared after 500 years.
– As the reference given by Tobias points out, the Buddha said that “the Buddha Sasana will survive in the human realm as long as the Noble lineage survives (meaning as long as there are Sotapannas).
– That is in the “Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16)” toward the end: “Yasmiṁ kho, subhadda, dhammavinaye ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo na upalabbhati, samaṇopi tattha na upalabbhati. Dutiyopi tattha samaṇo na upalabbhati. Tatiyopi tattha samaṇo na upalabbhati. Catutthopi tattha samaṇo na upalabbhati. Yasmiñca kho, subhadda, dhammavinaye ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo upalabbhati, samaṇopi tattha upalabbhati, dutiyopi tattha samaṇo upalabbhati, tatiyopi tattha samaṇo upalabbhati, catutthopi tattha samaṇo upalabbhati. Variant: ca → idheva (mr)Imasmiṁ kho, subhadda, dhammavinaye ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo upalabbhati, idheva, subhadda, samaṇo, idha dutiyo samaṇo, idha tatiyo samaṇo, idha catuttho samaṇo, suññā parappavādā samaṇebhi aññehi.
–Ime ca, subhadda, bhikkhū sammā vihareyyuṁ, asuñño loko arahantehi assāti.”That means: “Subhadda, in whatever teaching and training the noble eightfold path is not found, there is no true Sotapanna, no Sakadagami, no Anagami, and no Arahant found. In whatever teaching and training the noble eightfold path is found, there is a true Sotapanna found, a Sakadagami, an Anagami, and an Arahant found. In this teaching (Buddha Dhamma) and training (Vinaya) the noble eightfold path is found.
– As long as bhikkhus maintain the Ariya lineage, this world will have Arahants.”“Is “purisa” just “male”?”
– No. That is what I stated above.““Puggala” is “a person”, right?”
– Yes. That is right.From those two, we can see that a “purisa puggala” is a “person with purisa gati.” That can mean “higher or dominant qualities.”
– Then, “attha purisa puggala” means specifically the eight types of Noble Persons.
– Therefore, women who are at or above the Sotapanna Anugami belong to that category.“Where is that described in the Tipitaka?”
There may not be a direct description like that in the Tipitaka.
– We need to understand that Tipitaka provides only the basic framework.
– We need to make sure that anything that we derive is NOT contradictory to the Tipitaka.
– If anyone can present contradictory evidence, we can discuss that. That is how we sort out issues like this.“Can the gender change during a bhava, so one jati as female, another as male?”
– Yes. I specifically stated that above.
– In fact, there is a direct Tipitaka reference for that. One time, a wealthy person saw a young Arahant taking a bath in a river. That Arahant had an attractive physique and immoral thoughts about that Arahant came to the mind of that person. His sex changed instantaneously. He lived the life of a woman for several years and had a couple of babies too. Later on, he met that Arahant again was able to switch back to become a male.
– I don’t remember the Tipitaka reference. If anyone knows, please post.
