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Thank you hojan and Lvalio. I see your comments.
If anyone else submitted a response and it does not show up, please email me at [email protected].
AxelSnaxel had been unsuccessful in posting the details on his visit to Sri Lanka. I have mentioned this problem with the forum for the past week or so. My apologies again for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, I will leave tomorrow on a two-week trip and may not be able to do much about this issue until I get back.
– But I plan to post the weekly posts and keep up with monitoring emails and also forum issues.The following is the message from AxelSnaxel. He is still in Sri Lanka on his visit, and my thanks to him for providing us with a detailed report.
Here’s an update after 2 months in Sri Lanka!
I have been incredibly blessed with my stay so far. I’ve been hosted by numerous Dhamma friends on the way and been taken good care of at every monastery i have visited. So far i practically haven’t spent any money, only on bus tickets and mobile data, which is ridiculously cheap. And i must say everyone I’ve met so far have been very nice and it’s a lovely culture.
And if anyone is interested in changeing ones livelihood towards Dhamma practice, I highly recommend coming to Sri Lanka and living as a lay person at a monastery. And there’s nothing binding, so you can do so for a few weeks during vacation or stay for how long you’d like, the head monks will happily help you get a residence visa. So if anyone is interested, again please contact me on whatsapp +4794164658, And i will help you out with finding a monastery and help you find accommodation with fellow Dhamma friends.
I’d like to make it very clear though, if you really want to become a monk. I advice to wind down a little bit, allow things to unfold naturally and begin with just being a lay person in a monastery. And then just see where that takes you. Because if you are coming into this with a lot of expectation on yourself, then you can make it something that’s easy and nice into something difficult. I certainly went in with a lot of determination and forcefulness with regards to: “I’m going to become a monk!” which made my have a lot of internal struggles with myself. It’s really important for this path to accept oneself fully, everything, and not but up any walls towards life.
So when it comes to my journey:
First i visited Dharmayai Obai and i stayed there for 11 days.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/JbXzCs8RxPoTTRLbA
Here’s a good video of the place, although a little idealized https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AKyKczBP6k
There’s about 40 monks there and 12 anigarikas. The place is still under construction and is a quite busy, with little time for meditation. Out of all the places, this one is the most “formal”/ritualistic. What’s very nice about the place is that there’s a very strong brotherhood among everyone there and everyone is always willing to help.
There’s about 4 Anagarikas and 5 monks that speak well English, so it’s easy to get around. Every Sunday there is held a english sermon by Amadassana Thero, which is very special to attend in person. This is definitely the highlight of being there. You can find the sermons here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV-UaXBFLCA&list=PLGrCtt8wuHbOz67iBmmtrI2rGfj-uoYfQ
you can definitely attain sotapanna by listening to those.
I was also very lucky to be able to talk to Amadassana Thero personally 4 times, which was very good.
During my stay i was provided a 2m x 1m metal shed kuti, which was actually quite nice.
Overall i had a nice stay, but the place was not for me due to the rigidity, busyness and lack of time for meditation. Still i would highly recommend visiting the place.Secondly i took a half a day visit to the branch monastary of Waharaka Temple in Anarudhapura
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2g8o7TkCCsu1UptF8
Sadly when i visited there most the monks where away for a special event, and only 2 where left. None of which spoke English. It’s quite a small place, but quite peaceful and conducive to mediation.Thirdly i visited a monastary called Kaludiya Pokuna for 2 days
https://goo.gl/maps/pjnC3hdiXpdSDgyx7
It’s located right next to a very old historical monastery where there used to be many Arahants. There i was provided with a kuti. Sadly the place is not an Ariya Monastery, but there were two monks who secretly practiced the real path to Nibbana and spoke decent English. The downside with this place is that there’s a lot of mosquitoes.Then i stayed at Waharaka Temple for 12 days
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2g8o7TkCCsu1UptF8
The energy at that place was very special and i had some first jhana experiences due to it. there’s about 8 monks there. 2 of them speak good english and 3 of them speak it decently. I was given my own room and was given a lot of time for meditation and Dhamma study. However this place is not really for meditative practice, and the monks don’t meditate that much there. And since it is a Temple it is a little busy sometimes. Sadly the Monk who could speak the best english was very energy sensitive and for whatever reason my aura would make him trip and behave a little strangely, which made my stay quite confusing at times. Overall it’s a nice place to visit for some time, but since it is a temple it’s not optimal long term.Then i went to Abhaya Theros mediation center for a retreat
https://g.page/nirapekshathwayemaga?share
I definitely recommend attending one of those, I have gone to one in Italy and one in the UK before this and it gives a very big boost to ones path. Generally Abhaya Thero is traveling around a lot so if your able to catch him near you i highly recommend going to such a retreat (given that you’re already sotapanna). He will be in Australia coming december and january, and will be holding several retreats there. Please message me if anyone is interested.
Anyways, this mediation center is also a place where you can stay whenever and as long as you’d like. There’s always a couple of monks there and the caretaker is very nice and speaks good English and knows some people that can explain dhamma well in English.Lastly the place where I’m currently at and where i have stayed for 2 weeks now is this place
https://goo.gl/maps/Ajak1fWqghj9Xfcp6
It’s a small monastery with 4 monks. 2 of them speak very good english and the other 2 speak it decently. This place is the best i have found so far and is really the perfect place for practice. It’s calm and quiet, the climate is perfect for a European and there’s almost no mosquitoes. The monks here are incredibly kind and give me a lot of space for my own practice and help me practice my Sinhala. So i think i will settle down here. There’s also more rooms available if any of you wish to come to Sri Lanka one day :)I will say that there are more Ariya monasteries that i have not visited. But one of the monks here visited most of them and found this place the best for personal practice and being duty free. Having said that here’s a quick list if anyone is interested:
https://goo.gl/maps/gQ36EdHwqMubQPfAA
https://goo.gl/maps/Tr56gvWsiCDwvpyXA
https://goo.gl/maps/iLxSGZgFPAnvfFxt5
https://goo.gl/maps/QRDTs5s5ffNNxAcK8
https://goo.gl/maps/adSeWXuHnYNVU1We6And this one which i will visit shortly next week
https://goo.gl/maps/f14geEQfe1PAyfV4AWe are still experiencing difficulties with submitting new questions/comments to the forum.
The following comment is from Vassil, who says his comment was not published. So, he emailed me the following comment.
Hi everyone!
Yeos, you might be new to Buddha Dhamma in this jāti (in this birth/life) and thus many words used directly and without explanations in Buddhistic contexts might be unfamiliar.
When I first encountered Tathāgata I wasn’t sure what it means. Later I’ve learned it’s how the Buddha himself referred to himself on several occasions. It is also how others might refer to Buddha.
Apart from Lal’s explanations, I would like to add a little bit of information about the etymology of the word. In the English-speaking world, one of the first textbooks on Pāli was written by A. K. Warner (A. K. Warder). He wrote a book called “Introduction to Pāli” first published in 1963. Prior to that, the Pāli Text Society has published numerous translations of texts (and dictionaries), but not really a “coursebook” or a “manual” of the language. However, according to Justin Meiland, some of Warder’s translations of Pāli words weren’t satisfactory. In his book “Pali Language Course” Meiland notes:
Tathāgata is another problematic word. A common epithet of the Buddha, it is sometimes translated as ‘thus-gone’ (tathā meaning ‘thus’ and gata ‘gone’). However, at the end of a compound, ‘-gata’ often simply means ‘is’ and so tathā-gata appears to mean ‘is thus’ (i.e. the Buddha has reached a state which can only be described as ‘thus’). It is perhaps best to leave the word untranslated.
Siebe asked: “When underlying tendencies activate, do you reckon this to be vaci and kaya sankhara or mano sankhara?”
Yes. Vaci and kaya sankhara arise DUE TO underlying tendencies (asava/anusaya). We can also say that Vaci and kaya sankhara arise DUE TO our gati.
I have talked about this briefly in recent posts. I will refer to this, again briefly, in the upcoming new post. It will be elaborated on in upcoming posts.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Vilas.
This seems to be one way to do Kāyānupassanā. To look at and contemplate on how the physical body functions, “frame-by-frame.”
This is relevant to what I tried to explain with the post, “Vision Is a Series of “Snapshots” – Movie Analogy.”
sumbodhi wrote: “At one point I thought it would be impossible for a “simple human” to discover such deep reality, but then I reminded to myself he’s worked on it for tens of millions of jātī. So it is possible, it just takes a lot of dedication.”
Yes. A Buddha is a very special person. It is hard to explain how “special” a Buddha is. The appearance of a Buddha is very rare too. We are lucky to be human during a time when access to Buddha Dhamma is possible.
I discussed this a little bit in the post “Pāramitā and Niyata Vivarana – Myths or Realities?”P.S. There seems to be a problem at the forum main page. It is not updating to show new comments. I am trying to fix the problem.
– If anyone has a problem with publishing a post, please send me an email: [email protected]sumbodhi wrote: “Saññā seems to be helpful. Does the Canon mention about such communication and why it happens. What reason would they have to do so? To help someone??
You seem to be referring to communications that happen without “talking”, but with saññā.
– There are many living beings who do not have physical bodies ours. So, there are no mouths, tongues, etc for talking.
– Those beings include some lower beings in peta realms as well as Brahmas in Brahma realms. For example, when Sahampti Brahma communicated with the Buddha right after his Enlightenment, that is how they communicated.
– Such communications are not common, especially with Brahmas. But some lower beings seem to communicate with people with “bad gati” and get them to do immoral things. Also, there could be devas in lower realms trying to help people with good gati. I personally have had no such experiences.
– Did you read about it in a post? I do not remember the name of such a post. If you know what it is, please post the name (with a link if you know how to). That will help others.
– One post with some relevance is, “What Does Buddha Dhamma Say about Creator, Satan, Angels, and Demons?”sumbhodi asked: “why would gandhabbā communicate with humans?”
I am not aware of specific cases of human gandhabbas communicating with humans.
My apologies, Siebe.
I somehow did not see your post until now.
Yes. Those are three important suttas. Unless we “get stuck” on an arammana and “start thinking and doing things” (generating vaci and kaya sankhara), that vinnana WILL not grow.
– Then one would not accumulate vaci kamma or kaya kamma.I will be discussing more on this in the next couple of posts. Thanks for pointing out the suttas.
P.S. There seems to be a problem at the forum main page. It is not updating to show new comments. I am trying to fix the problem.
– If anyone has a problem with publishing a post, please send me an email: [email protected]sumbodhi wrote: “My opinion is that even tho QM has probably made the most precise measurements (and predictions) ever done in science it’s not enough to give the complete picture. To draw in Buddhism it seems that QM might be governing reality only up to and including suddhātthaka levels.”
You are correct.
What happens below the suddhātthaka level is all MENTAL.
– QM or science, in general, has no idea of the power of the human mind.
– Suddhātthaka are created by the mind.At the suddhātthaka level, “everything and every living being” is inter-connected.
– This is called “quantum entanglement” in QM and you are likely to familiar with that. See, “Quantum Entanglement – We Are All Connected”This is a very broad subject. I have discussed it at: “Quantum Mechanics and Dhamma.”
You can get an idea about my thoughts in the post, “Quantum Mechanics and Dhamma – Introduction.”
I have discussed the “observer effect” in that section.
“Does jivitindriya belong to the gandhabba? But what/where is jivitindriya in the gandhabba? Is it part of citta or is it part of pasada rupa?”
This is explained in the post (especialy #8), “Gandhabba Sensing the World – With and Without a Physical Body.”
What I stated above is essentially correct.
In the analysis of rupa in the post, “Rupa (Material Form) – Table” everything is put into “fundamental categories.”
Everything in our physical body (except for the pasada rupa and hadaya vatthu) are made exclusively from the four great elements (maha bhuta): patavi, apo, tejo, vayo.
Five pasada rupa and hadaya vatthu are made of the smallest units of patavi, apo, tejo, vayo, vanna, sadda, gandha, and rasa PLUS the energies imparted by the kammic energy (Those are the only “live” things in the body). See, “The Origin of Matter – Suddhātthaka.”
– That is why the physical body becomes inert when the gandhabba leaves at the death of the physical body.
– As Tobias pointed out, it is the jivitindriya that gives “life” to body parts in a “live person.” There are few other elements like jivitindriya that also contribute (itthi/purisa, and oja). All those are in the manomaya kaya or the gandhabba and created at the beginning of the human bhava (cuti-patisandhi moment) by kammic energy. Those are also listed in that post on the analysis of rupa.That the pasada rupa are the “real” sensory elements (and not the physical eyes, ears, etc) is discussed in #12 of “Buddhist Worldview – Introduction.”
OK. I had a bit of time to think about it. Here are two things to think about:
1. The categorization of rupa in the post, “Rupa (Material Form) – Table” is at the fundamental level.
– On that level “internal rupa” are in a category by themselves. Those are the pasada rupa responsible for actual sensing.
– Our physical bodies are made of the four great elements (maha bhuta): patavi, apo, tejo, vayo. Those “elements” do not belong to “us”.2. However, a live person has control over his/her body IN CERTAIN aspects.
– For example, we can use our bodies to moral deeds or immoral deeds.
– Therefore, in Kāyānupassanā, for example, “Iti ajjhattaṃ vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati” refers to one’s physical body. That means stopping it for immoral deeds and to use it for moral deeds.So, it depends on the context.
– In the absolute categorization, internal rupa would be pasada rupa.
– But in the context of Kāyānupassanā, for example, ajjhatta kāya refers to ones’s own physical body.Good point. May be that is why I had it that way.
But we need to take time and review the case for both sides. If anyone has ideas, please post.
Tobias asked: “Is the physical body external rupa?”
The physical body, as well as pasada rūpa, are internal rupa.
– Pasada rūpa (cakkhu, sōta, ghāna, jivhā, and kāya) cannot function without physical eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and the physical body.I see your point. I need to revise the post. Thanks.
sumbodhi wrote: ” I think it’s still worthwhile to explore connections between the ‘newest’ science and Dhamma as it might be easier to explain to wider public using “modern” terminology.”
Yes. I do that whenever possible. New findings of science are compatible with Buddha Dhamma in many cases. The exception is “mental phenomena.” Science is clueless in saying that thoughts arise in an inert brain.
See, “Dhamma and Science”sumbodhi: “Of course such comparisons are only helpful as an introduction but still helpful to some. I have only been reading about Buddha Dhamma for 3 months now and at first your web-page seemed very technical, especially with so many Pāḷi words.”
Yes. I struggle with trying to find middle ground. You are on one end of the spectrum. At the other end are those ask for Tipitaka references and explanations.
In any case, one NEEDS to learn the meanings of the key Pali words, if one is truly interested in learning Buddha Dhamma. Some Pali words like anicca, anatta, sankhara, vinnana DO NOT have exact translations to English. The first sub-sections in the following section could be helpful:
“Living Dhamma.”Also, “Moral Living and Fundamentals“
