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Hello, Cat,
We have had many discussions about Goenka Vipassana retreats in this forum.
- One key point was that he uses breath meditation to calm the mind before engaging in Vipassana. Is that correct?
- We can discuss this further after your reply.
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Thank you for the update, Dawson!
- We are glad to hear about your progress. Keep it up. Things can move fast under the right conditions. Try to maintain this mindset. Even if you lose it, you can regain it if you keep trying. Eventually, it becomes easier to get back to it. It is indeed a samādhi.
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Yes. That is a good description.
- The automatic reaction to “distorted saññā” will reduce as the number of samyojana (or anusaya) reduces.
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Yes. Arahants feel physical suffering but not mental. For example, they will feel the pain of an injury; however, unlike a puthujjana, they will not keep worrying about it and generate domanassa vedana, which is mind-made.
- But they will also feel “distorted saññā,” like the yucky taste of rotten food or the unpleasant smell of feces. Again, they will not worry about it generating domanassa vedana. They fully understand that such “distorted saññā” will arise as long as they have the human physical body.
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“Bhante mentioned that when a person becomes an arahant, even their traumas disappear. For instance, someone who is claustrophobic , fears animals, or has experienced personal traumas such as rape and intimidation—along with paranoia and various fears—will no longer experience these issues at the arahant stage. Do you agree with this perspective?”
- It is hard to say. We can only guess. It is possible that memories of trauma may not bother them.
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” I ask because there are cases where some attitudes seem to persist even among arahants. For example, there was an arahant who spoke inappropriately to others; I can’t recall his name or story. “
- It was Ven. Pilindavaccha: “Pilindavaccha Sutta (Ud 3.6).”
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“If I am not mistaken only the Lord Buddha is completely devoid of all idiosyncrasies. “
- Yes. That is correct.
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“Bhante also said that taste is a useless sense. Is that true for science?”
- I don’t think that is entirely correct. Our bodies are made to provide that “saññā.” As we have discussed, taste is a “saññā.” However, it is not discussed that way in the suttas because Abhidhamma was not developed during the Buddha’s time. Per Abhidhamma, only “bodily vedanā” are real vedanā. But in the suttas, saññā and vedanā are clumped together as “vedanā.”
- Even Arahants experience “manāpa/amanāpa” or a sense of “like/dislike” generated by that “distorted saññā.” See “Nibbānadhātu Sutta (Iti 44)“: “Tassa tiṭṭhanteva pañcindriyāni yesaṁ avighātattā manāpāmanāpaṁ (“manāpa/amanāpa“) paccanubhoti, sukhadukkhaṁ paṭisaṁvedeti.” The English translation there is correct: “Their five sense faculties still remain. So long as their senses have not gone they continue to experience the agreeable and disagreeable, to feel pleasure and pain.” Also, note that “sukhadukkha” (sukha and dukkha) means “pleasure and pain,” and those are the genuine vedanā per Abhidhamma. Agreeable and disagreeable (“like/dislike”) arise due to saññā. In this sutta, at least those are separated, as in Abhidhamma.
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Claude seems to be able to extract insights from the post. Thanks for sharing it!
- You may get a better analysis by feeding Claude the first seven posts in this section: “Worldview of the Buddha.” The other posts in the section are old posts that require revision; feeding Claude those old posts may lead to confusion.
I watched for about 30 minutes after 37 minutes. It is good. Our bodies are “prepared” to provide color perception, etc.
- Animals, for example, don’t see many colors. They see everything in black and white only. They don’t get to “enjoy” vivid colors!
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No Problem. It is better to have its own thread. That way, it would be easier to find in a search with a keyword.
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I am not sure about what happens there. It is possible that a Human gandhabba can only see the immediate environment that they are interested in seeing. It is a mechanism that we cannot visualize/imagine. It involves only cakkhu pasada rupa and hadaya vatthu.
- When we see using our physical eyes, anything that reflects (or self-generates) light can be seen.
This is an interesting aspect that we can glean more insight into with the current scientific knowledge about star formation. Also, at the time of the Buddha, Abhidhamma was not taught to the general public, so the details about the manomaya kaya with hadaya vatthu/pasada rupa were not taught.
1. The “first humans” on the newly-formed Earth did not have dense physical bodies like ours, as discussed in “Aggañña Sutta Discussion – Introduction” and “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27).” They only had the manomaya kaya, just like the Brahmas in the pabhassara Braham realm. They could see without eyes (they did not have eyes or a brain). Let us look at markers 10.5 and 10.6 ( “Aggañña Sutta (DN 27).”), which describe the first batch of humans born on Earth upon leaving the pabhassara Braham realm. @marker 10.6: “Tedha honti manomayā pītibhakkhā sayaṁpabhā antalikkhacarā subhaṭṭhāyino ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ tiṭṭhanti.” OR “They have mind-made bodies, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, traveling in the air, and they remain like that for a very long time.” Thus, even though “sayaṁpabhā” literally means “self-illuminating,” in this context, it means they did not need sunlight to see. Human gandhabbas, as well as Brahmas, can see without light.
2. The other aspect is the formation process of a star. It happens gradually over millions of years. The star does not “ignite” until its mass reaches a critical density. You can search for “star formation” to find more information. Thus, in the early Earth, our Sun had not yet become a star; it was a giant gas cloud, and due to gravity, it started collapsing into a smaller size gradually. Eventually, it reaches a critical density needed for nuclear fusion and becomes a star.
- By the time the Sun ignited, the humans had developed denser bodies with eyes, brains, etc.
- Please ask questions if anything in the above is not clear.
Yes. I remember this account now. Thank you!
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Jittananto has provided an interesting aspect to the account of Tambadathika: “Bāhiya, Pukkusāti, Tambadathika – All Killed by the Same Cow.”
- Thank you, Jittananto!
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I didn’t realize Taryal had closed the thread because I posted my above comment.
- Pathfinder just emailed me saying he could not post. I have now re-opened the thread.
Pathfinder also emailed me saying it is Dhammapda verse 100: “Dhammapada Verse 100“
- I could not open the link Pathfinder emailed me, but the above should give the idea. Thank you, Pathfinder!
As I thought, that person, the executioner (Tambadathika) had attained anuloma nana before he died, i.e., Sotapanna Anugami. That is why he was reborn in a Deva realm.
- We also remember that Angulimala killed almost a thousand people but attained Arahanthood before death. See “Account of Angulimāla – Many Insights to Buddha Dhamma.”
- Thus, as long as it is not an anantariya kamma, it can be overcome.
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Taryal does not want to participate in the discussion, but we can continue it because it may yield some insights.
- In particular, I like to see the sutta reference relevant to the last part of Yash’s comment. I believe there is more to that account.
Let me address Taryal’s comment regarding my comment. By analyzing that last part of Taryal’s comment, I think we can clarify a few issues.
Taryal: “Yes, but would you say that the “intention” here is the same as murdering a human who is already living independent of the mother and poses no harm to her?”
- Here, “intention” is a critical word. The Pali word is “cetanā.” However, as in many cases, we must understand that by “cetanā” the Buddha always referred to “sañcetanā” or “intentions with raga, dosa, moha embedded.” See, for example, “Sattaṭṭhāna Sutta (SN 22.57).” Also see “Nibbedhika Sutta (AN 6.63)“: “Cetanāhaṁ, bhikkhave, kammaṁ vadāmi. Cetayitvā kammaṁ karoti—kāyena vācāya manasā.” OR “with (defiled) intention, one does kamma by way of body, speech, and mind.”
- Most people do not even know that taking a life can lead to harmful consequences, i.e., kamma vipaka. They don’t believe in kamma/kamma vipaka. That does not mean they did not have (defiled) intention!
- Therefore, ignorance is not an excuse. These are nature’s laws. Kamma vipaka happen not because the Buddha says so, but because it is how nature works. The Buddha only discovered nature’s laws.
- As I said many times above, living life is not easy. That is why we need to get out of the rebirth process. If one is born an animal, they have no way to rationalize why they can be eaten alive by a bigger animal. Some women say, “It is unfair that only women have to carry a baby in the womb.” But it is not a question of fairness; things happen due to causes and conditions.
Trayal wrote: “For instance, a policeman killing a criminal does so with a different intention than the opposite.”
- The policeman will bear the consequences of taking a life. He would also benefit from it if the criminal were about to kill another person. This is why sorting out kamma vipaka is impossible. Most actions involve both aspects.
Taryal wrote: ” If a wild animal kills its parent, that would not be an anantarika kamma, would it?”
- We don’t know with certainty because that has not been discussed directly in the Tipitaka, especially in the suttas. But it is unlikely to be.
- An animal’s mental states are very different from a human’s. Certain types of cittas cannot arise in an animal. So, it is likely from Abhidhamma analysis that an animal cannot do an anantarika kamma.
- Yet, we are talking about humans on this topic.
Taryal wrote: “..since there is no such thing as “absolute morality” (as I understand it)”
- Again, not knowing about kamma/kamma vipaka is not an excuse for humans. They have the capability to understand that taking a life is going to its consequences. People are trapped in the rebirth process because they are unaware of how nature works. Until a Buddha explains, and until one hears and comprehends it, no one would know.
- One could say that is unfair. But this world (nature) does not play by superficial “fairness.” There is a set of rules (Paticca Samuppada), and things happen according to those rules.
- Understanding Paticca Samuppada can reveal “absolute morality.” This will lead to the cessation of this world with all its conflicts and suffering.
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