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Gandhabba can certainly generate vaci sankhara.
A gandhabba, in general, can hear.
– But there is no mention in the Tipitaka about a gandhabba being able to attain a magga phala.Thus, it could be either that a gandhabba would not listen to Dhamma.
– Another possibility: A deeper point is that since a gandhabba does not have a physical body and a brain, citta can just flow “without control”.
– The brain needs time to process sensory data, and thus slows down the whole process. That gives us (those with brains) to take a bit of time and contemplate the consequences.
See, “Brain – Interface between Mind and Body”“It is mentioned in the first talk that once one reaches sakadagami stage one will not experience
any physical discomfort because of the nature of their subtle bodies in the deva realms.
I am wondering if these entities out of compassion, able to help and guide those in the lower stages to come out of their predicament?”– Yes. Devas do not feel physical discomforts.
– No. Devas cannot help humans. Only humans (especially those with magga phala) can help other humans by teaching Dhamma. Devas cannot teach Dhamma to humans.“Can an arhant guide humanity if he/she wishes to do so, or do they cease to exist?”
– An Arahant is not reborn in this world.
– Of course, an Arahant can help others attain Nibbana (by teaching Dhamma) until their death.Yes. This topic could be confusing. The following are key points to remember.
1. The perception of “me” and “mine” are GOING TO BE THERE in everyone below the Arahant stage.
– This is exactly why all living beings go through the rebirth process.
– So, don’t try to lose upadana by force. It is a long process to get there.
– The first thing is to get rid of bad habits by seeing the bad consequences of such bad habits.2. In brief, that perception (innate feeling) of a “me” CANNOT be removed by willpower.
3. Instead, we first need to realize that it is UNFRUITFUL to take things as “mine” especially if we tend to do immoral things to get hold of them.
– When one starts comprehending the anicca nature, one will first realize the truth of the above statement. However, to understand the “anicca nature” one needs to first calm one’s mind by stopping activities like playing video games, watching too much TV, etc.
– That “seeing” happens at the Sotapanna Anugami stage, and one gets there by learning Dhamma.
– But even after “seeing that truth” the perception of a “me” WILL NOT go away. It is a step-by-step process to get rid of the “me”/”mine” mindset. That process is completed at the Arahant stage, and there are very few Arahants living today. So, we all are trying to “get there” gradually.So, I think you picked one of the deeper/complex posts to start.
– I would recommend starting learning more basic concepts first in the “Living Dhamma” section.
– In particular, read the post “Is It Necessary for a Buddhist to Eliminate Sensual Desires?”Now, to get rid of the habit of playing too many video games, you can use a simple approach.
– Just think about the bad consequences of continuing that habit. You are wasting valuable time on an activity that does not lead to any real benefit.
– Furthermore, activities such as playing video games and watching too much TV lead to an agitated mind. I guess you have realized that.
– Try to break that habit by switching to a better activity like reading or exercising (even walking is beneficial).
– When you start calming the mind, you will be able to learn Dhamma easier.I do not know the background of you or anyone else. Some people have had some exposure to Buddha Dhamma (Buddhism) and some may not have any background. The post that you referred to is suited for someone with a good background in Buddha Dhamma.
– So, one needs to look at different sections on the website decide “where to start”.Hi,
In Buddhism, it is rebirth, not reincarnation. There is a difference but it is not critical for someone starting to learn Buddhism.
Things of this type cannot have absolute “proof” but there is evidence to support rebirth:
“Evidence for Rebirth”Regarding my comment above, see, “What Reincarnates? – Concept of a Lifestream”
Please feel free to ask questions on any of these posts. It would be easier if you refer to the post particular bullet number in question (unless it is a general question).
Yes. This is a question that comes up a lot these days.
The Buddha allowed one to declare attainment of magga phala in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
However, he also noted that there are 4 types of people who declare such attainments:
1. Those who genuinely have them.
2. Those who think they have attained magga phala and thus unknowingly declare as having them.
3. Those who declare so because they have mental problems.
4. Those who do that for their personal benefit.It is only those in category 4 that commit a bad kamma. If an upasampada bhikkhu does that he would have committed a parajika deed. Thus, even if he keeps on wearing a yellow robe, he would not be a bhikkhu. It would be a serious issue.
But the Buddha never officially expelled any bhikkhu due to such deeds. Even though Devadatta committed worse deeds (including an anantariya kamma), he did not expel Devdatta from the order of the bhikkhus officially.
Furthermore, the issue of “delivering wrong Dhamma” was even there at the time of the Buddha. One time he was told by Bhikkhuni Pajapati Gotami that there are bhikkhus who deliver the wrong Dhamma.
– The Buddha said people should listen to all types of Dhamma and decide which versions to reject.It is easy to discern who is delivering the wrong Dhamma. My main assessments are:
– Labeling Anapanasati as “breath meditation.”
– Interpreting anicca as “impermanence” and anatta as “no-self.”I have listened to the bhikkhu in question and just suffice to say that he is delivering the wrong Dhamma in some cases.
– I listen to various types of discourses just to get an idea.Aniduan wrote: “I try to think of Anatta in terms of Anartha which is a word in several Indian languages which means No-Artha(No-Meaning) i.e. futile, useless. It makes it easy for me to understand as I have sanna of that Hindi word. Also, when someone says “Anarth ho gaya” in Hindi it means a disaster has happened. The samsaric process is basically a Anartha (disaster). For me it’s just another way of understanding the Trilakshna.”
Yes. That is fine. Anatta has several related meanings. “Useless” (engaging/bonding with this world) is one of the meanings. This is what I mean by “fruitless” in several of my posts.
Raj asked: “Are there more talks on other subjects or it is just these five talks recorded so far?”
Those are the only talks specifically on Tilakkhana.
– There are several others in the section on, “Living Dhamma” highlighted in blue.Raj wrote: “I just want to clarify and hope that I have correctly understood it now.
Anicca means we act in a certain way to achieve a certain result based on our desires/iccha, but the law of nature is such that our desires are not satisfied and don’t produce our expected results (especially if we act out of ignorance) which results in the experience of Dukkha or dissatisfaction (ranging from minor irritation to severe suffering, in this life or in future lives) and Anatta means we have no control over this phenomenon. Anatta is our helplessness in our inability to stop our wanderings in the 31 realms, and anatta also means the whole process is
useless or not worth our effort and in the Buddha’s teachings, the term Anatta has nothing to do with nonself.”That is great, Raj. You have the correct ideas.
– Keep on listening to that set of audios.
– Also read the posts in the new series: “Basic Framework of Buddha Dhamma”Those two activities will help solidify your understanding.
I took a quick look at the sutta.
Here is the relevant verse:
” bimbisāro ahaṁ, bhagavā; bimbisāro ahaṁ, sugatāti. Idaṁ sattamaṁ kho ahaṁ, bhante, vessavaṇassa mahārājassa sahabyataṁ upapajjāmi, so tato cuto manussarājā bhavituṁ pahomi. Variant: manussarājā bhavituṁ pahomi so ito cuto manussesu rājā bhavituṁ pahomi”I would translate that as:
“I am Bimbisara, Bhagavā; I am Bimbisara. I will be born 7 times in the company of the Great King Vessavaṇa where I am now. After passing away from here, I will be able to become a king of humans 7 times.”So, it seems to me that he had not even gone through the 7 births in the Deva realm at the time he stated that.
– He expects to attain the Sakadagami stage during one of those 14 lives.He is referring to the lives he had AFTER he died as King Bimbisara.
– He is just stating that to the Buddha, to let him know that he is a Sotapanna in a lower Deva realm (which could have many jatis within that Deva bhava) and hopes to attain the next stage of Nibbana, Sakadagami phala, soon.I don’t know about other people’s translations. You need to ask him.
– Bhikkhu Sujato has done so many bad translations. Of course, translating anicca as impermanence and anatta as “no-self” are the worst.
– Another is the translation of bhikkhu as “mendicant” or “begger”. That is very bad too!I have explained the difference between births (jati) and existences (bhava):
“Bhava and Jāti – States of Existence and Births Therein”Bimbisara had 14 births (jati), NOT 14 bhava.
– A Sotapanna can have at most 7 BHAVA before attaining Arahanthood.Yes. You are correct Lang. They are both niyata micchā diṭṭhi.
It is too bad that many people don’t seem to be able to understand these critical issues.
This is why I have tried to explain this in several different ways.
– At least you and several other people seem to be able to understand the importance of these issues.This is why I also revised an old relevant post and posted it today:
“Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga – A Focused Analysis“Thank you for your input, Flower.
Yes. I don’t see how this legislation, even if passed, can affect the puredhamma.net website or any other website, let alone me personally.
It could affect bhikkhus and lay people who live in Sri Lanka. They could be subjected to various types of harassment.
– Let us see how the revised version reads. Hopefully, they will stop this nonsense altogether.
– As the Buddha admonished, mishandling Dhamma can be dangerous. I hope that there are enough sensible people within the government to stop the legislation at the proposal stage.Raj wrote: “it is inconceivable that the rupakkhanda has all the rupa that it has ever experienced (considering the countless lives one has taken in samsara) and very scary that there is every possibility of one being very pure at one stage and being completely polluted at some stage..”
Yes. Rupakkhandha includes RECORDS OF all past rupa. The same is true for vedanakkhandha, sannakkhandha, etc. But we don’t remember the five aggregates separately. A given past event has all five aggregates associated with it and we MAY remember them together (or some parts of them).
– But that does not mean we remember all that. Most people don’t even remember many things that happened even a few days ago.
– But some of those events mold our character/habits. That is how our character (gati) evolves over time. Of course, over long times our character can change back and forth many times (good to bad and vice versa).Just try to get the basic idea. The current series of posts are important:
“Basic Framework of Buddha Dhamma“1) Is Dharmayai Obai run by Ven. Waharaka Thero’s students?
– Yes.2) If this law gets passed are there going to be any problems for Dharmayai Obai?
– As I understand the Bill is under revision. We need to wait to see the revisions.3) Are there any other monasteries associated with Ven. Waharaka Thero?
– Yes.4) What are the names of monasteries that are trying to pass the bill?
– Many. Before Waharaka Thero, virtually all monasteries followed the “wrong interpretations”. They were just passing down the same distorted teachings that have come down for many centuries dating back to Buddhaghosa and even before that. One needs to spend some time to get a good idea of the degradation of Buddha’s teachings over many centuries: “Historical Background“As I understand, the idea came from a group of “traditional bhikkhus” who are losing their audience due to the increasing popularity of Waharaka interpretations. They are the established bhikkhus with name recognition and thus the politicians are afraid of them.
Sutta Central actually has objected to the proposed legislation. Even they can see the dangers of such actions by governments.
