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Congratulations, y not!
Looks like you are doing well with Satipatthana (being mindful). Catching oneself even saying a catchphrase is a good indication.
I found a sutta where the Buddha says it is hard to find any phenomena in this world that changes faster than the mind: “Aṅguttara Nikāya (1.48)“.
The short sutta says: “Nāhaṃ, bhikkhave, aññaṃ ekadhammampi samanupassāmi yaṃ evaṃ lahuparivattaṃ yathayidaṃ cittaṃ. Yāvañcidaṃ, bhikkhave, upamāpi na sukarā yāva lahuparivattaṃ cittan”ti.”
Translated: “I consider, bhikkhus, that there is no phenomenon that comes and goes so quickly as citta. It is not easy to find an analogy (a simile) to show how quickly citta can change.”
Modern science says there are many things that occur in the femto-second time scale. That is million billion times per second. So, citta could change faster than that, and therefore those quotations are correct regarding how fast citta can arise.
Eric said: “Most of this (especially the physical issues) wasn’t much of a problem before I really started trying to find the Path. Almost like all my kammic creditors noticed my intentions and came knocking!”
This is true. I am glad to see that you made the connection.
These obstacles must be overcome with determination. They will go away.I just revised #5 of of this post to make it clear why a fully-developed brain is needed to recall the memories: “The Amazing Mind – Critical Role of Nāmagotta (Memories)“.
As long as the gandhabba is inside the physical body, memories come to the mind via the mana indriya in the brain.
Thanks, Siebe, for quoting that sutta. I had forgotten the name of the sutta. I just revised the post to cite it.
You asked: “Do i understand it correctly, Lal, that those anusaya can only be triggered after a certain period when the brain is ripened to a certain degree?”
Yes. As I explained in the previous post, these anusaya start getting triggered gradually as the baby grows. By age 7, that process is complete.
There are some other subtle points involved here too. For example, being able to taste the sweetness of sugar is not the same as having craving for it. An Arahant tastes the sweetness of sugar, but does not form any attachments; see, “Kāma Guna, Kāma, Kāma Rāga, Kāmaccanda“.
Hello Eric,
You may want to read the recent post: “The Amazing Mind – Critical Role of Nāmagotta (Memories)“, and the related posts.Yes. A baby is not an inert log. It can feel certain sense inputs.
But the point is that those sensations cannot be IDENTIFIED with the baby’s set of anusaya. That is why thoughts of hate and greed does not arise in a baby that is a week old, but could develop slowly over the first few years as the “brain wiring” takes places gradually (initially showing up as likings and displeasure and gradually intensifying).
The development of the brain starts in the womb, but is not completed for a few years (brain is not fully formed and neural wiring is not complete for several years). So, it is a gradual process.
I watched 30 minutes of the video.
As one can see, Ven. Abhya’s English is not that good. However, he was an Engineer in Sri Lanka, and was married with a teenage girl, when I met him about 4 years ago in Sri Lanka. He made sure that there was enough money to sustain the family, and became a bhikkhu about 2-3 years ago. I believe he is an Ariya (with magga phala), but do not know which stage.
Did you understand what he was trying to convey in the first 30 minutes? For example, boys like action movies with violence. But girls normally don’t like that type of movies and those movies that girls like are too boring for most boys.
– So, can happiness be in a movie? If so, everyone should be happy to see it.
– It appears that this desana was done in a Western country for the benefit of the children of Sri Lankans there, who did not understand Sinhala. Normally, Ven. Abhaya’s desanas are in Sinhala.Pleasures are made up by the mind, and are based on two main factors: One’s gati (character/habits) and the sense object.
– I recently explained this in the posts, “Amazingly Fast Time Evolution of a Thought (Citta)” and “Do I Have “A Mind” That Is Fixed and “Mine”?”
– Please read those posts and then watch the video again to see whether you can understand what he was trying to say.
– I do not have time to watch the whole video. If the example about the “mother” is still not clear, please let me know about what time it comes in the video. I can watch that part and see.I encourage others to watch the above video too.
Different people may explain the same thing in different ways. So, it is good to listen to different people (of course it is a waste of time to listen to those who do not have a good knowledge of Dhamma).
– We also see in this forum cases where some people understand a concept when it was described by another person in the forum, better than the way it was described by me.
– That is part of the benefit of having a discussion forum.It may also be worthwhile to read the experience of Tien in the following discussion:
How can I achieve Anatta Sanna and get rid of Kama Raga via Metta
– Meditation does not necessarily mean formal meditation with chanting. It is more about contemplating, as clearly seen by the experience of Tien.
– Just learning concepts by reading or listening is not enough, even though it is critically important to understand key concepts.Welcome to the forum, lodonyo!
I am sorry to hear about your situation. I hope you two will find a solution.
Regarding your comment, “Venerable Walasmulle Thero and the absolution movement of sri-lanka describe “emptiness” with the example of the 3 children and mother. Child A, B, C ..”: If you post a link to that audio or video, I can take a look.
– Normally, Ven. Abhaya is very good in explaining concepts. It is likely that you misunderstood. Can you understand Sinhala? Ven. Abhaya explains mostly in Sinhala.Regarding meditation, you said: ” I have enough practice to be aware and catch my subconscious motions.”
One is not aware of subconscious or even initial mano sankhara when they first arise. Only when one starts generating vaci sankhara (talking to oneself), that one becomes aware of the thoughts and that is when one CAN stop any bad thoughts; see, “Correct Meaning of Vacī Sankhāra“.The best way to improve meditation is to first understand the goals: “Bhāvanā (Meditation)“.
I do not know anything about your meditation experience. If you can read a few of the posts in that section and comment, may be we can make some suggestions.We are already distracted from the relevant discussion, but I want to make clear why I delete some comments.
The goal of this website is to uncover the true teachings of the Buddha, based ONLY on the Tipitaka (and the 3 original commentaries included there). I want this site to be a place where people can come and learn true and pure Buddha Dhamma. I do not want these discussions to veer off to philosophical discussions.
I don’t want even to refer other websites that also are based on Waharaka Thero’s interpretations, because I find that they also have some discrepancies (those are mainly Sinhala websites anyway): “Parinibbāna of Waharaka Thēro“. I do not want to get into a situation where I have to defend their statements on some topics.
However, I do rely on sound scientific findings to show that Buddha Dhamma is compatible with many of those solid findings. I have pointed out some that are not consistent with Buddha Dhamma, and I have explained why. Time will show that Buddha Dhamma is right, as it has for the past 2600 years.
– When I say science, I mostly include physical sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, etc. and of course mathematics.
– Those other branches of science, such as psychology which are related to the human mind, are mostly speculations at this point. Same is true for philosophy: mostly speculations. Buddha has analyzed the mind in great detail, and no psychologist or a philosopher can even come close. To quote them is useless most of the time.So, I do welcome any comments on whether what is at the website is inconsistent with the Tipitaka or findings from physical sciences/mathematics. This is why I allow some comments on those areas, and even welcome them.
– But psychology and philosophy are off limits IF they are not consistent with Buddha Dhamma. As I have pointed out, there are a few psychologists who are using the same methods that the Buddha advised.P.S. Once attaining the Buddhahood (perfect mind), a Buddha becomes unequal to any being (human, deva, brahma) in this world: “Buddha Dhamma: Non-Perceivability and Self-Consistency“.
– Realizing this happens when one attains a magga phala. Until then it is just “blind faith”. It is called “Buddhe aveccappasada“, or “unbreakable faith in the Buddha, which is based on understanding”, and similarly in Dhamma and Sangha. By the way, Sangha includes only those with magga phala (one of the Eight types of Noble Persons or Ariyas), not bhikkhus.Good questions, but they cannot be answered in a single response. They have been already discussed here. You may be able to find them by scanning through. If someone remembers, please post the link(s).
You can also read relevant posts from the following. If you have questions, you can quote from any of those posts, and we would be happy to discuss.
You can get the answer to the third question, when you understand the first two.
Hello Donna,
People may get confused by your statement on “One Infinite Creator”. Can you elaborate on what you meant? There is no “Creator”; one is one’s own Creator.
That is the key to Buddha’s message. One creates one’s own bhava (and jati or future births) by doing (abhi)sankhara with ignorance (avijja). That inevitably leads to suffering at the end. Thus one creates one’s own future births and one’s own future suffering.
That is described in Paticca Samuppada: “avijja paccaya sankhara“…leading to “upadana paccaya bhava” and “bhava paccaya jati“, which in turn leads to suffering: “jati paccaya jara, marana, soka,..”.
P.S. This is a CRITICAL point. If one is to understand Buddha Dhamma, one needs to understand what is meant by key words like sankhara and vinnana; see, “Nāma & Rūpa to Nāmarūpa“.
Donna (inflib) probably knows this, but I just wanted to point it out for the general audience.
Thank you, y not.
I have deleted your second post where you quoted someone else. That does not add anything useful to the discussion. There are so many “theories” made up by people out there. I just don’t want people to waste time reading those here.
You had mentioned the source for that quotation above, so anyone interested can look it up there.
We need to realize that gandhabba can have many varieties: human (good and bad), animal (bad) are major types. By “bad”, I mean they have “bad gati” and are likely to “smell bad” if they have dense enough bodies.
In addition, there are some peta gandhabbas (bad) and deva gandhabbas belonging to the lowest deva realm (good).
Gandhabbas can inhale and have fairly dense (still mostly unseen by normal humans). Bad gandhabbas inhale “bad odors” of waste and even feces. Good gandhabbas inhale scents of flowers, leaves etc.
As is the general rule, good gandhabbas are attracted to good environments and bad ones to bad and dirty environments. This makes some dirty environments even more “smelly”. That is one reason why we need to keep our living environments clean.
So, when one is in the gandhabba state, one can feel really good (like in the case of Vilas). They don’t have the burdens associated with a heavy physical body AND their minds are not burdened with defilements.
On the other hand, “bad” human gandhabbas (which is the case for even some human gandhabbas) have “smelly bodies” and their minds are defiled too.
Gandhabba has a bad connotation due to misconceptions. A Brahma‘s body is essentially the body of a gandhabba (without even a trace of the karaja kaya or the physical body). One who cultivates jhana and can come out of the physical body (like Vilas), essentially has a “Brhama body”.
– When such a person dies, he/she is born in a Brahma realm (unless of course attain Nibbana before death). Even in the case where one has cultivated anariya jhana, the next birth is in a Brahma realm (corresponding to the particular jhana cultivated).
– But of course, those with anariya jhana come back to the human realm and can be born in the apayas in the future.P.S. Those who get to the Anagami stage (i.e., remove kama raga and patigha anusaya) also are born in Brahma realms even if they have not cultivated jhana.
You are right! It is a Mahāyāna sutra that was written in Sanskrit (not a Pali sutta).
About three hundred years after the passing away (Parinibbana) of the Buddha, Mahāyāna emerged in India, when they started writing their own sutras.
One way to check whether it is a sutra or a sutta is look for Sanskrit words in the sutras. For example, the one you quoted starts with:
“Thus I have heard, at one time, the Buddha dwelt at Shravasti, in the Jeta Grove, in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary, together with a gathering of great Bhikshus, twelve hundred fifty in all and with all of the Bodhisattvas,..”The Pali words for those highlighted Sanskrit words are: Savatti, bhikkhus, and Bodhisattas.
Some other prominent Sanskrit words are: dharma (for dhamma), karma (kamma), nirvana (Nibbana).
So, it is not hard to distinguish between Pali suttas of Theravada and Sanskrit sutras of Mahāyāna.
This and other historical facts are discussed in the section: “Historical Background“.
