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Of course that teacher will get merits for some of his teachings. Even teaching moral values — as done by those “secular Buddhists” (who don’t believe in rebirth or Nibbana as stopping the rebirth process) –, is a meritorious deed and thus will be “good kamma”.
So, I am not saying that such teachers will always generate bad kamma. But there will be times, when such teachers will (inadvertently) teach incorrect Dhamma (or adhamma), because of a lack of understanding of Dhamma, for example in the interpretation of Tilakkhana.
The Buddha has specifically said that sorting out exactly how laws of kamma work is not possible for anyone but a Buddha. We can only deduce general trends.
By the way, there is a fundamental connection between adhamma and anatta. Those who are not aware of true Dhamma (i.e., follow adhamma) will become anatta or helpless in the rebirth process. This is a basic, but deeper explanation of anatta, as explained in the post:”Dasa Akusala and Anatta – The Critical Link“.
In particular, see #7, #8 in that post.Welcome to the discussion forum, Lang!
This is a good question that requires some thinking.You asked: “Suppose a person is stating adhamma to be dhamma, but he believes that what he’s saying is dhamma. Is that an offense?”
- Yes. Think about it this way. Even in common law enforced in the courts, “not knowing about a law” is not an excuse.
- Micca ditthi is the reason that we all are still in this rebirth process. We all have had wrong views about the world going back to an untraceable beginning for each of us. Until one clearly sees adhamma as adhamma, one cannot escape the rebirth process.
You asked about that same person spreading adhamma as dhamma: “This person’s cetana is pure in the sense that he believes he’s spreading dhamma.”
– His/her cetana is NOT pure. It is contaminated by micca ditthi. This is a straight forward explanation. However, it may need some thinking to become clear.
– We need to remember that cetana is universal cetasika that basically “put together all sobhana (good) or asobhana (bad) cetasika that arise AUTOMATICALLY due to our gati”. In this particular case, those asobhana cetasika that arise include moha and micca ditthi is a big part of that.
– Also, remember that sobhana and asobhana cetasika CANNOT arise together in a citta. As soon as micca ditthi is there, no other sobhana cetasika can arise in that citta. One may “feel good” teaching adhamma as dhamma unknowingly, but that does not negate the fact that it is still a akusala. In the language of Abhidhamma, it is a “Somanassa sahagata ditthi sampayutta citta“, an akusala citta done with wrong views and joy.
– So, cetana is NOT what we commonly take as “intention”. This intention could (unknowingly) have bad cetasika embedded in it. This is why it is VERY IMPORTANT to learn correct Dhamma.Hopefully, this will answer rest of your questions as well.
This is also discussed from a different angle in the post, “What is Intention in Kamma?“.
Quoting from #3 of that post:
There are two key factors to be remembered in evaluating how to assess a kammā vipāka:
1. Which of the dasa akusala is the intention? For example, it could be taking a life, stealing, or harsh speech. Who is affected is not involved in this step. The “cetana” in “cetana ham bhikkhave kamman vadami”, is just which dasa akusala is in one’s mind; that is all.
2. Then the strength of the kammā vipāka is based on the “level of consciousness” or “qualities” of the living beings affected by that kammā. For example, killing a human will bring stronger kamma vipaka than killing an animal.Applying these rules to your question, the intention involved is contaminated by micca ditthi as we saw above. The strength of the kamma done with that intention involves to whom one is “teaching adhamma“. Of course one is harming oneself by not getting rid of adhamma too.
Hi Johnny,
Yes, asañña beings are like living things. They don’t have citta arising at all until the end of that existence. The jivitindriya rūpa is maintained by kammic energy.
– When that bhava ends, then citta start arising in the new bhava.You said: “Understand from your posts that there are some beings in certain realms who behave in this manner and it is very difficult for them to change their gathi and attain liberation.”
Yes. Basically, those beings in the four lowest realms (and of course in the asañña).1 user thanked author for this post.
@Johnny:
Living things have jivitindriya rūpa.Living beings have jivitindriya rūpa AND jivitindriya cetasika; they also have 6 more universal cetasika in addition to jivitindriya cetasika: phassa, vedana, sanna, cetana, manasikara, ekaggata.
To commit an akusala kamma, the 7 universal cetasika AND a combination of asobhana cetasika must arise.
To the question: “Do carnivorous plants arise in this world to become conditions for some sentient beings to meet their kamma vipaka?”. Yes. Very likely.
@Embodied:
OK. I see that I have failed to communicate something that is VERY important.One is born a dog MOST LIKELY because one had cultivated “dog gati” as a HUMAN. In fact, most animals and other beings were born as humans (with very fine bodies) at the beginning of a “world cycle”. It is a very long, but interesting account.
I actually did not want to get into this discussion yet, because it involves some deep Dhamma. The key is that javana power of a citta of a human is MUCH STRONGER than that of a being in any of the lower realms. Therefore, the kammic power generated in a human mind is FAR HIGHER compared to the javana power of a citta of such being.
We can look at it this way. When a human does bad deeds suitable for a dog (say, by sexually misbehaving), that can lead to a “dog bhava”, where one can be born a dog for thousands of years (that means thousands of dog births). Whatever bad kamma that dog does during that time is not that powerful. But still they do accumulate, and that is why it is hard to get another “human birth” easily.
This is a deep subject. But in a way, this is the kind of thinking that gets one to seriously think about the dangers of the rebirth process, and to realize the “anicca nature”.
Embodied said: “What about highly trained dogs? Or dolphins…? Are they accumulating good kamma ?”
They can accumulate good kamma to some extent too. But again, those kammic powers are very low.I had indeed stated in a post, “But not all animals are the same. Those “higher up” animals like monkeys can accumulate kamma than “lower ones” such as worms, and cats and dogs are somewhere in between”.
Here are some key factors:
– Any animal’s javana power is MUCH LOWER compared to a human.
– Javana power decreases even more from monkeys to dogs to worms to amoeba (to give some examples). Their ability to express emotions also go down in that order.
– That is why amoeba show hardly any sign of being conscious.
– As I said, this is a deep subject that requires lot of contemplation AND some knowledge of Abhidhamma can be helpful too.1 user thanked author for this post.
This question was again asked by @firewns. So, let me put it in another way:
An Arahant is not reborn anywhere in the 31 realms of this world when the physical body of the Arahant dies. Then the suffering (that is mostly experienced in the lower realms) ends permanently. The problem with the higher realms (where there is mostly happiness), is that they have finite lifetimes. One ALWAYS ends up in a lower realm, where there can be unimaginable suffering (the animal realm is one of the better ones).
One is born in this world because one has the wrong perception that one can enjoy those material things that are available in this world and become happy.
It is just like a fish thinking that the bait on the hook looks delicious and will bring happiness to it. The fish does not see the hook and that it will be subjected to much pain (hook tearing its mouth), and eventual death.
In the same way, we (all living beings) think that those rupa in this world can bring us happiness. But just like the fish cannot see the suffering hidden in the bait, we cannot see the suffering hidden in sense pleasures. It is only to the purified mind of a Buddha the true nature of this wider world of 31 realms becomes clear. When one fully grasps that real anicca (and dukkha and anatta) nature of this world, one will not crave for those “pleasurable things” anymore.
That understanding leads to the Arahanthood (via three stages of Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami). When one attains Nibbana, one’s mind will not crave for those rupa which have anicca nature. Thus one’s mind will become FREE. In the language of Abhidhamma, nama (or mind) will stop craving for rupa, and thus namarupa formation will stop. A somewhat deep analysis is at: “Nāma & Rūpa to Nāmarūpa“.
Nibbana can be experienced at various levels before one gets to the ULTIMATE RELEASE at the Arahanthood. Nibbana exists, just not in this world; see, “Nibbana“.
@firewns: Welcome to the discussion forum!
#1. There are two ways to attain Nibbana (which means stopping the rebirth process):
- In both, one MUST realize the unfruitfulness and danger (because of the unavoidable future suffering in the lower realms) in staying in the rebirth process.
- For that, one needs to understand the real nature of this world of 31 realms. That real nature is expressed in Tilakkhana (anicca, dukkha, anatta).
#2. Now, if one figures out the true nature by oneself, then one is a Samma Sambuddha, like Buddha Gotama or Buddha Kassapa before him.
-It is much easier to LEARN the true nature of this world FROM such a Buddha or a true disciple of a Buddha. These are Arahants.
– Of course, a Buddha or an Arahant attain the same Nibbana.#3. Attaining the Buddhahood is not an easy process; see, “Paramita and Niyata Vivarana – Myths or Realities?”
– Since a Sotapanna has learned (and comprehended) Tilakkhana to some extent FROM either a Buddha or a true disciple (Ariya) of a Buddha, he/she would NOT become a Buddha.
– This is why a Bodhisattva will never become a Sotapanna even if he learns Dhamma from a Buddha. One who is making paramita to become a Buddha will not able to learn (and comprehend) Tilakkhana from anyone else.
– Furthermore, an Arahant has already stopped the rebirth process, and is also called a Buddha sometimes (Buddha means “bhava” + “uddha“, or someone who has stopped future bhava, and thus future rebirths). But an Arahant is not a Samma Sambuddha; that title is reserved for one who attains Nibbana via his own efforts, like Buddha Gotama.#4. Your other question has been discussed here:
“What happens to an arahant after death”
P.S. I just added another comment to that topic.@drs8
1. Those statements sound like those intriguing Zen verses. Basically no one really understands them, but they sound deep and important!
For example, “The mind sent outside is the origination of suffering”. What does that mean? “Mind sent outside” of what?- Buddha Dhamma is simple at the core. Our sufferings arise because we engage in dasa akusala. We just need to get rid of them gradually, BUT that involves learning Dhamma. The most important one of the dasa akusala is micca ditthi, and that is removed in two stages: (i) getting rid of 10 types of micca ditthi, and (ii) comprehending Tilakkhana, in that order.
When one takes care of micca ditthi, that will greatly help reducing the tendency to do those types of akusala done by the body and speech.
- Buddha Dhamma, however, can go to very deep levels; see, for example, “Abhidhamma” and “Nāma & Rūpa to Nāmarūpa“
Furthermore, unlike Zen or those statements above, such deep Dhamma CAN BE understood if one’s mind is relatively free of dasa akusala (especially micca ditthi).
4.Regarding the issue of following teachers who may not be teaching the true version of Dhamma (of course inadvertently): It is best to attend to them as before as time permits, and may be even discuss some of these issues and see what they think about “other (possibly better) explanations”. I have tried to do that to some extent, but don’t do that anymore. I just leave it for anyone interested to visit the website and take whatever things they find useful.
The bottom line is that one should focus on making progress on the Path (we have only a limited time in this life to make use of, before we get too old). One should take whatever useful information one can get from anyone or anywhere. However, it could be waste of time to try to listen to “everyone”. Somethings you can definitely rule out and not worry about any more. Otherwise, one will be stuck at the same place. If one path seems to accelerate the progress (yes, one should be able to see that one is making progress), one should spend more time on that. And that could be different for different people.
One is born a dog because one had “dog gati” and had done actions suitable for “a dog”. For example, dogs don’t pay attention to civility or “good behavior”. They pee and poop anywhere they like. They have sex with their family members, etc.
On the other hand, one with “deva gati” or “human gati” will be disciplined. They enjoy giving, helping others, doing good deeds.
Birth (jati) is within a given existence (bhava), and bhava is due to one’s gati. This is very important to understand.
It can be seen at various levels.
Those who are born in “good realms” (deva and brahma) had “good gati”. Those born in “bad realms” (peta, asura, animal, hell) had “bad gati”. Human realm is a “good realm”, but humans can CULTIVATE both good and bad gati. Then their next bhava is according to their cultivated gati.
There is a lot to think about what is stated above. See:
“Gathi and Bhava – Many Varieties”
“Gati to Bhava to Jati – Ours to Control“1 user thanked author for this post.
@Johnny:
Kalala – first cell (zygote) with gadhabba; see, “What does Buddha Dhamma (Buddhism) say about Birth Control?“.
Abbuda – fetus in the second week after conception
Pesi – fetus in the third stage
Ghana – fourth and final stageOf course, the Buddha knew all these well-before modern science.
Scientists still do not know how “life” comes to the zygote that is formed by the fertilization of an egg by a sperm. Until a gandhabba takes hold of the zygote, there is no life there.
There is a nice Pali-English dictionary that has many of those words above:
“Concise Pali-English Dictionary by A.P. Buddhadatta Mahathera”
This is a better dictionary than most I have come across.Inflib asked, “What is vatthu kama?”.
It means cravings to own material things that provide sense pleasures. “Vatthu” means basically “one’s property”.
For example, going to an art gallery and looking at famous paintings is not enough. One with vatthu kama for paintings would like to own such paintings.
When one gets to the Sakadagami stage, one would lose vatthu kama, but one still likes to enjoy sense pleasures. So, one may not desire to own paintings in the above case, but one still likes to look at them and enjoy them. That desire or craving is also lost when one gets to the Anagami stage.
You can apply it to anything that provide sense pleasure.
Hi Johnny:
Yes. Laws of kamma are too complex to be sorted out. We can only see the general trends.Johnny said, “ Could Einstein’s work explain how the Buddha, His great disciples, and the Brahmas, astral-travelled from one place to another in less than the time taken for a strong man to flex his arm? This knowledge just does not lie in our domain of conventional wisdom. Light is simply too slow for Brahma to reach earth.”
1. Gravity and QM work in two separate domains. Gravity takes time (at the speed of light), while QM effects are instantaneous.
– In other words, if the Sun moves off its track, it will take several minutes for the Earth (us) to feel the effects of that; that is because gravity travel at the speed of light.
– However, if we have two entangles quantum particles, and if we disturb one on the Earth, the other one will feel that instantaneously even if it is located at the other end of the universe.
– These are accepted facts by science today.2. Dhamma (which include kamma beeja) in the mind plane (in “mananca paticca dhammeca uppadati mano vinnanam”) come instantaneously to our minds. Also, trija kaya of brahmas (and of gandhabbas) is smaller than an electron or a photon and thus obey quantum rules of instantaneous interactions.
– However, electrons and photons have finite speeds.
– I cannot discuss details yet, but it is the “instantaneous application of quantum rules” that makes it possible for brahmas and gandhabbas to travel “instantaneously”. So, that is the basic idea.Yes, Johnny. Quantum mechanics (QM) is actually simple.
The problem today is that QM has been “overtaken” by mathematics. Most physicists today just use the Schrodinger’s equation and calculate outcomes of experiments. They do not understand the underlying physics. It is like faithfully following a recipe to make a cake; it works. The underlying physics and philosophical issues remain unanswered. This is why QM is treated as “mysterious” today.
Richard Feynman died in 1988. Most of the key experiments on quantum entanglement (that clearly show the nonlocality of Nature, which is the basis of our new interpretation) were conducted after that and the final confirmation came in 2015. Professor Feynman would have of course made the connection well before 2015 if he was alive. I am amazed that no one has been able to figure it out so far. Even when we submitted the paper, those reviewers could not understand; they apparently do not “get the basics”. The advantage of the website is that I can explain things in more detail here.
With this section, an undergraduate physics student, or even a good high schooler, should be able to understand QM. One needs to know things like vector addition and the concept of phase angle. If you know anyone who is interested in understanding QM, please ask them to study this section. If they can understand the posts there right now, they should not have problem in understanding the upcoming posts.
By the way, I came up with this interpretation because I have been thinking about the connection between quantum entanglement and the laws of kamma for a while.
Having a separate space for meditation can be helpful for many people. It is just to setup the “right background”.
People’s gati can be in one or more of the following five:
The five mental faculties (indriya) are saddha (faith), viriya (effort), sati (mindfulness), samadhi (concentration), and panna (wisdom); see, “Panca Indriya and Panca Bala – Five Faculties and Five Powers“.Each person has one dominant and others to varying degrees. I would say having a meditation space could be really beneficial to those with dominant saddha the most.
Here is another possibly useful post that I just found on the web:”Create A Meditation Space in Your Home“.
Johnny said: “Do hormonal changes affect consciousness, or the other way round, or both support each other?”
We can look at it this way: Can the body affect the mind and/or can the mind affect the body? It is both, but the power of the mind is much more dramatic.
The body can affect the mind in the sense if one does not take care of the body, one can get obese and face health problems. That will affect the mind, even for a person who is trying to make progress in the Path. So, we must exercise and eat well to stay healthy. Furthermore, the body (especially the brain) naturally degrades as one gets old, so one must strive on the Path before getting old.
When one makes progress on the Path, one starts realizing the above and will act appropriately. Learning Dhamma and contemplating on deeper concepts will help brain function too. Furthermore, when one attains magga phala, one’s brain will definitely undergo drastic changes. It would be interesting if there is an study on one’s brain (and body) as one go through higher stages of magga phala.
For example, an Arahant’s bones (at least some) will crystalised and become “dhatu”, that will last until the end of this Buddha Sasana. I discussed this briefly and have pictures of dhatu in the post: “Parinibbāna of Waharaka Thēro“. Furthermore, an Arahant is not afraid to die (fear of death is there because one has so many things in the world that one values). So, there will be dramatic changes in the hormonal system.
More information at, “Truine Brain: How the Mind Rewires the Brain via Meditation/Habits“.
