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It is also important to understand the following:
“There is a difference between suffering (the feeling or vedanā) and the ability to understand the causes of it (paññā or wisdom.) The latter can lead to future suffering, and that is what the First Noble Truth explains.
- Pāli word for suffering is dukha. On the other hand, dukkha (with two “k”) is dukha + kha or the “removal of dukha” in the sense that there is dukha in the world, but it can be overcome. Thus, in most places in the Tipiṭaka, dukkha conveys “suffering” but implies that it can be overcome.
- Dukha (suffering) is the opposite of sukha (pleasure). That is in several suttās. For example, in the “Bhāra Sutta (SN 22.22)“:
“Bhārā have pañcakkhandhā,
bhārahāro ca puggalo;
Bhārādānaṃ dukhaṃ loke,
bhāranikkhepanaṃ sukhaṃ”.Translated: “The five aggregates are burdens,
The burden-carrier is the person;
Carrying the burden is suffering in the world,
Laying the burden down is blissful“.- Of course, the word dukkha appears in most suttā because that is what Buddha Dhamma is all about, i.e., the removal of suffering.”
The above is extracted from the post “Does the First Noble Truth Describe only Suffering?“
Rewritten Post:
Pāli Words – Writing and Pronunciation
Revised:
Jhāna – There Is No Separate Category of “Ariya Jhāna”
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“Can someone die and born on another planet where life is possible?”
- Yes. That is possible, but the other planet must be in the same “cluster” as the Earth.
“And if a Brahma from “Earth 1” goes to “Earth 2” to meet a Buddha there and dies, on which planet will it be born?:
- To answer both questions correctly, one must first understand the broad picture. I suggest reading the following post/discussions and asking questions afterward: “31 Realms Associated with the Earth.”
- Related discussions: “Rarity of Buddha Ministry?” and toward the end in the discussion on “Permanent effect of magga citta.”
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Indeed!
- To make it much worse, we use this dense body to chase after “mind-made pleasures” based on “distorted sanna.” Those “pleasures” are not even real.
- “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)“
Good.
- Also, it is critical to note that bhava and jati take place at every Paticca Samuppada cycle within a lifetime.
- See “Idappaccayātā Paṭicca Samuppāda – Bhava and Jāti Within a Lifetime” and other posts in “Paṭicca Samuppāda During a Lifetime.”
1. Paṭisambhidā comes from “paṭi” + “san” + “bhidā.” Here, “bhidā” (or “bhi”) indicates “to dissect into parts.”
- Thus, it means “the knowledge (or the ability to explain in detail) of how “san” (raga, dosa, moha) binds a mind to the sansaric process or “the world of 31 realms.”
2. Paṭisambhidā Ñāna is a special status attained by very few Arahants. It encompasses four components:
(i) attha paṭisambhidā ñāṇa, (ii) dhamma paṭisambhidā ñāṇa, (iii) nirutti paṭisambhidā ñāṇa, (iv) paṭibhāna paṭisambhidā ñāṇa
I have not read Seng Kiat’s reference. It is also described in “Paṭisambhidāmagga” (a Tipitaka Commentary): “Paṭisambhidāñāṇa niddesa.”
- Those four ñāṇa are developed in that order. When one has some idea about what is for one’s benefit or “atta/attha” (Nibbana) and what is unfruitful or “anatta/anattha“, one would have a bit of attha paṭisambhidā ñāṇa.
- When one starts comprehending dhamma/adhamma and also Paticca Samuppada, one starts cultivating dhamma paṭisambhidā ñāṇa.
- When one can start seeing the meanings of crucial Pali words (pada nirutti), one starts developing nirutti paṭisambhidā ñāṇa.
- If one can explain in detail the meanings of such words and related concepts, one would have paṭibhāna paṭisambhidā ñāṇa’
3. Therefore, all Ariyas have the first two to some extent. Only a Buddha would have all four perfect. Arahant Mahā Kotthita was only second to the Buddha in that aspect.
4. Someone with that ñāṇa has a complete understanding of (i) what is attha/anattha: “Attha Sutta (AN 10.181),” (ii) what are dhamma/adhamma: “Dhamma Sutta (AN 10. 138)“, (iii) pada nirutti (how meanings of keywords come about, and (iv) can fully explain concepts in detail with examples, analogies, etc.
- Regarding “pada nirutti,” see #1 of “Kilesa – Relationship to Akusala, Kusala, and Puñña Kamma.”
- I will try to write a post on it in the future. Many other concepts need priority; knowing about Paṭisambhidā Ñāna is not critical.
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Those five realms are in “rupa loka.” I just revised #8 to say that specifically:
“8. Anāgāmis who have “burned” kāma rāga saṁyojana and thus permanently severed their connection to kāma loka will be reborn in five realms in rupa loka RESERVED for them: Aviha, Atappa, Sudassa, Sudassi, and Akanittakha. These realms are called “Suddhāvāsa” or “pure abodes.” See a description in the “Saṅgīti Sutta (DN 33)” starting with “Pañca suddhāvāsā—avihā, atappā, sudassā, sudassī, akaniṭṭhā.”
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Revised:
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Yes. However, Ven. Sariputta was only next to the Buddha in wisdom (paññā.)
- He conducted the first “Dhamma Sangāyanā” (Recital of the Teachings) by himself.
- When Nigaṇṭhassa Nāṭaputta (the leader of the Jains) died, his followers started quarreling about who should take over the leadership. Ven. Sariputta told a gathering of bhikkhus that they would not need a leader after the Parinibbana of the Buddha and he was going to summarize the teachings of the Buddha.
- That was the first recital of the Buddha’s teachings in one sitting!
- The background and the summarized teachings are in the “Saṅgīti Sutta (DN 33).”
Yes. Thank you!
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Yes. Even Ven. Sariputta did not have that capability. Another sutta (I forget the name) describes how Ven. Sariputta was giving instructions to a bhikkhu, and the Buddha told Ven. Sarputta that the bhikkhu had attained Arahanthood.
Each Arahant is different and may have varying capabilities. Only a Buddha has all possible capabilities.
- In another sutta, the Buddha explained to Ven. Sariputta that in a congregation of 500 bhikkhus, all were Arahants but had varying attainments: “Of these five hundred monks, sixty have the three knowledges (tevijjā), sixty have abhiññā powers, sixty are freed both ways (ubhatobhāgavimutta), and the rest are freed by wisdom (paññāvimutta).”
- See “Pavāraṇā Sutta (SN 8.7).”
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“However Is there a broad or a standard framework prescribed by the Vaijja (the Great Doctor) for those who are willing to learn and work on it? Not just cigarette but breaking free of Sensual Pleasures as such?”
That is what I described in the comment above.
- The only way to get rid of “bad practices” (not only smoking but other cravings also) is to see their drawbacks.
- It helps a lot to understand that all those cravings are rooted in “distorted saññā” i.e., those cravings are “mind-made.”
- It is necessary to understand the ideas described in “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)” and “Mūlapariyāya Sutta – The Root of All Things“ and other posts.
- I don’t seem to be making that point clear. I am not sure what it would take to get this idea across. There are no other “easy ways out.”
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Things to think about:
1. Do all beings have DNA? Brahmas in 20 realms (and most likely Devas in 6 realms) don’t have DNA. Even human or animal gandhabbas don’t have DNA. So, trying to sort out things by looking at DNA is not a good idea.
2. All lifeforms ALWAYS have a manomaya kaya. That manomaya kaya defines/determines not only the realm of existence but even minor variations within a given realm. For example, no two humans are the same.
3. The total number of “beings” in our cakkavāla centered around the Earth remains constant, except when Arahants attain Parinibbana at their death and leave this world.
4. By the time this cakkavāla is destroyed, all beings in the realms below the pabhassara Brahma realms migrate to that pabhassara Brahma realm. But the realms above that are not destroyed.
5. When the Earth is re-formed, most of those Brahmas in the pabhassara realm migrate back to Earth. Then their “old gati” gradually come back and over billions of years they are reborn in various realms. Of course, those gati keep changing too. Nothing is fixed.
6. Births are always according to gati, not according to DNA.
- You wrote: “There are similarities between the birds and extinct flying dinosaurs.”
- Birds and dinosaurs are two different species. Their manomaya kaya (or gandhabba kaya) are different. Birds did not “evolve” from dinosaurs. The fact that dinosaurs went extinct possibly due to a meteor impact which made conditions unsuitable for their survival. As the Earth recovered, conditions became suitable for “bird gandhabbas” to be born with physical bodies. Even now, there could be some “dinosaur gandhabbas.” But conditions are not suitable for them to thrive.
- In the same way, humans and apes have different gati. Darwin’s “evolution theory” is already showing signs of weakness. Evidence is emerging that humans have lived much earlier than believed at the time of Darwin.
I suggest re-reading the post “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)” with those facts in mind.
Yes. Your craving for smoking can easily be broken since it is not an addiction yet.
Regarding your statement, “The Pleasure vanishes away. Of little taste and utility- Alpa Swada -Anityata (Dhammapada 186).”
- Alpa Swada in Pāli is “appassada” or “appa” “assāda” where “appa” means “little” and “assāda” is (mind-made) pleasures.”
- That verse is discussed in “Dhammapada Verses 186 and 187.”
In the “Dutiyayodhājīva Sutta (AN 5.76)” the Buddha says: “‘appassādā, āvuso, kāmā vuttā bhagavatā bahudukkhā bahupāyāsā, ādīnavo ettha bhiyyo” OR “‘Reverend, the Buddha says that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks.”
- While some people crave smoking, most people do not like the smell. Thus, it is mind-made, i.e., a basic example of “distorted saññā.”
- See “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)” and “Mūlapariyāya Sutta – The Root of All Things“
- You can contemplate the ādinava (health issues) of smoking and give it up.
- That is an easy thing to give up compared to other cravings.
