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1. All Buddhās teach in the Māgadhi language.
- Māgadhi= “maga” + “adhi” where “maga” is “path” and “adhi” means “superior.”
- Thus, it means the language used to explain the “Noble Path.”
- That is also the “language” of the Brahmas. Of course, there is no spoken language in Brahma realms. However, that is the “natural way” they communicate via thoughts.
- When “Brahmakayika humans” first populate the Earth, they also don’t have dense bodies and thus do not “speak to each other.” They use the same “language,” and when they gradually acquire dense bodies, Māgadhi becomes a spoken language.
- Pāli is derived from Māgadhi, and Sinhala is derived from Pāli. As I mentioned before, all the terms in Paticca Samuppada are the same in the Sinhala language as in Pāli.
- Tipiṭaka was written in Pāli with Sinhala script. Pāli is a version of Māghadhi suitable for writing down oral discourses in a summary form suitable for transmission.
2. In the “Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN 14),” Buddha Gotama provides the lifetimes of humans (lifetimes of the physical bodies, not the duration of human bhava“).
- As stated where I linked to above, it varies from 80,000 years (Vipassī Buddha’s time) to around 100 years (Gotama Buddha’s time.) It is expected to increase again by the time Buddha Maitreya appears on this Earth (last Buddha on this Earth.)
- The environment for a given Buddha adjusts naturally; those are details we cannot expect to understand. I guess languages evolve to become Māgadhi , at least in the region where a Buddha is to be born.
- Just like the lifetimes, many things move up and down with the passage of time.
3. Regarding: “Q. What language do they speak in heavens and hells? A. Pali,..”
- That is not correct. We don’t know how communication happens in Deva realms or hells (apayas). I don’t think animals have “languages.” They have limited capabilities for communication.
In any case, those are issues that are not critical to cultivating the Noble Path.
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I just posted: “Vedās Originated With Buddha Kassapa’s Teachings.”
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It is a good question.
The main ideas to resolve that puzzle are the following:
7. Since dhammā have energies, they can “come to a mind” on their own. That is how kamma bijās bring their vipāka. For example, suppose you hit someone and injured him last year. It was an incident, and a memory of it is in viññāṇa dhātu. But besides being a memory, it has kammic energy associated with it so that it can bring vipāka at some point. They bring vipāka under suitable conditions, and we have some control over that by being aware of that; see “Anantara and Samanantara Paccayā.”
- Nāmagotta (records of memories) are also in viññāṇa dhātu, but they don’t have any energy. Therefore, they don’t come to our minds randomly. But we can willfully recall them. For example, consider another incident that also happened last year, say meeting a famous person and shaking his hand. That is only a memory because there is no kammic energy associated with it. But you can probably recall that incident. If someone tells you, “Didn’t you meet that person last year?” you take a moment to recall it, and that memory comes back to your mind. That is a nāmagotta that came back as a dhammā when you tried to recall it.
The above is from the post “Rupa, Dhammā (Appaṭigha Rupa) and Nāmagotta (Memories).” You need to read the post to understand it fully.
- “Nāmagotta” are not “entities” in the sense of a “material thing” or “energy.” Thus, it is not a sankhata but a “record of a sankhata.”
- For example, consider the “seeing event” of looking at a tree. It registered in the mind as a sankhata (cakkhu vinnana, which is only a vipaka vinnana.) That sankhata arose and passed away; only its “record” is saved as nāmagotta, and no energy is associated with it. To recall that memory, one needs to spend some energy, as explained in that post.
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We are all sorry to hear about your situation, y not. Thank you for your participation in discussions over the years.
- Every one of us will face the same situation. It is even possible that I may encounter the end before you. Life is unpredictable. All we can do is to be “ready” to face the eventuality at any time by making our best effort to progress a little bit more on our path.
- I believe you have done your part.
By the way, there is no need to thank me, but thank you all for your thoughts. I started this website to express my gratitude to the Buddha, Waharaka Thero, and several others (I don’t want to name any more names because I will inevitably leave out a name or two) who helped me start understanding how to avoid this situation in the future.
- The best way to pay our gratitude to the Buddha and those other Noble Persons is to help others understand this profound Dhamma by participating in discussions and (whenever possible) letting others know about the “previously unheard teachings of the Buddha.”
- Even though Waharaka Thero initiated this resurgence, we are collectively making even more progress. I believe the recent series of posts on “distorted sanna” is an aspect of the deeper Dhamma. Specifically, it shows that our cravings are based on a mirage (false value of sensual pleasures) built into our bodies via Paticca Samuppada. That idea came to me with insights from a few others (I must mention Dr. Chandana Jayasinghe specifically, even though we don’t know each other). I got the idea while thinking about the concepts of “purana kamma” and “nava kamma” stages he discussed; see #4 of “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
- Future generations will make even more progress, and hopefully, there will be living Arahants, too, in the near future.
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Yes. These are subtle but critical points to be understood.
- The arising of the “distorted kama sanna” compels most people to engage in papa kamma (immoral deeds).
- This concept about the arising of the “distorted sanna” in general (in all realms) and specifically the “distorted kama sanna” in the kama loka realms is not understood by many.
- Most people try to suppress “kama raga” by willpower. But that can lead to agitation in mind (patigha.)
- It becomes much easier to control “kama raga” if one can see that “kama raga” arises due to “distorted kama sanna” built into our bodies! See “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā).”
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No. Pancakkhandha (absent of distorted or defiled rupa, vedana, sanna, sankhara, vinnana) arise only in an Arahant while in “Arahant phala samaptti.” Only then do all those five entities arise in their “pure form.”
- While living day-to-day life, an Arahant also receives the “distorted kama sanna” (the sweetness of sugar, etc.) in the “distorted” bahiddha vinnana stage.
- For a puthujjana, that “distorted kama sanna” instantly turns into a “defiled” ajjhatta vinnana. That is because of the attachment to pancupadanakkhandha, which has been accumulated and still affects their minds.
- That is explicitly stated in the “Mahāpuṇṇama Sutta (MN 109)“: “Yo kho, bhikkhu, pañcasu upādānakkhandhesu chandarāgo taṁ tattha upādānan’ti” OR “The desire and greed for the five grasping aggregates is the grasping there.”
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Jittananto wrote: “In this sermon, the Bhante explains that animals are capable of committing anantariya kamma. This is correct because in nature we see animals killing and devouring their parents.”
That is not correct. Animals cannot generate javana citta to create the necessary javana power to generate anantariya kammic energy. Abhidhamma explains this clearly, but let me try to explain it in simple terms.
The types of cittas that can be generated vary from realm to realm.
- We have discussed that even anariya Brahmas are inherently incapable of engaging in most akusala kamma since their kama raga anusaya remains hidden during that existence. They do not get the “distorted kama sanna” and thus are indifferent to mind-pleasing sights, tastes, etc. Of course, they do not have physical bodies to experience taste, smell, or body touches (including sex). They also cannot engage in kaya kamma (killing, stealing, etc) because they do not have “dense bodies.” “Brahma bodies” (subtle mental bodies) are generated to experience “distorted jhanic sanna” because they had cultivated anariya jhanas as humans, thinking that “distorted jhanic sanna” is of value.
- In the same way, animals are incapable of generating strong javana citta because their births (and bodies) are designed to experience suffering due to specific akusala kamma. They cannot engage in accumulating punna or papa kamma with strong kammic energies that can bring rebirth.
- In particular, they cannot engage in anantariya kamma to the “good side” (cultivating jhana/magga phala) or to the “bad side.”
- One way to understand this is to see that animals have no sense of “wrong views” (just like a newborn human baby.) Both cannot engage in the strongest types of akusala kamma, which are done with wrong views. See “Akusala Citta and Akusala Vipāka Citta.” This is an old post that needs to be expanded. I just revised it a bit for now.
- Primarily, humans are capable of engaging in strong kamma generation on both sides. Only a human can become a Buddha, and only humans who engage in the worst papa kamma (with tanhā, ditthi, māna) to be reborn in the worst apayas.
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Yes. Hojan is right. I just revised it as follows. Thank you both, and much merit!
2. About the first fourth of the “Chachakka Sutta (MN 148)” discusses the following steps: “Cakkhuñca paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjāti cakkhuviññāṇaṃ, tiṇṇaṃ saṅgati phasso, phassa paccayā vedanā, vedanā paccayā taṇhā.” (repeated for all six sense faculties.)
The sutta describes the automatic and instantaneous response to a new ārammana. In several posts, we discussed all those steps in detail. Very briefly, those steps are (just focusing on the cakkhu viññāna):
- With the coming together (contact) between cakkhu (or cakkhu pasāda rūpa) and a rūpa (which is a “snapshot” of that external rūpa created in the mind according to one’s samyojana/anusaya), cakkhu viññāna arises. Cakkhu is NOT the physical eyes, and rupa is not the “external rupa.” See “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation” and other posts in the “Sotapanna Stage via Understanding Perception (Saññā)” section.
- If that rūpa triggers kāma guna, one may become interested in it (if one has the corresponding “san gati“). The next step only occurs if one has such matching gati for that rūpa or that ārammana. See “Kāma Guṇa – Origin of Attachment (Tanhā)” in the same section.
- If one has matching “san gati,” a corresponding “samphassa-jā-vēdanā” arises AUTOMATICALLY. See “Vipāka Vēdanā and “Samphassa jā Vēdanā” in a Sensory Event.“
- The next step, “vedanā paccayā taṇhā,” happens if that “samphassa-jā-vēdanā” is strong enough to take further action. We discussed that last step in “Kāma Guṇa – Origin of Attachment (Tanhā).”
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You are right. I just revised it as follows:
(ii) Once the “distorted views” are eliminated, the next step is to eliminate the tendency to attach to the “distorted saññā” or “saññā vipallāsa.”
- Thank you!
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Jittananto started the thread by asking: “The Bhante says that a deaf person cannot reach the sotāpanna stage. Do you agree?”
1. There are three types of humans: (i) tihetuka births, (ii) dvihetuka births, and (iii) ahetuka births.
- Those with a tihetuka birth (meaning the birth was due to a past kamma done with mundane alobha, adosa, amoha) can attain magga phala in this life.
- Those with a dvihetuka birth (meaning the birth was due to a past kamma done with mundane alobha and adosa) cannot attain magga phala in this life. However, they can accrue “good kamma” and may even get a tihetuka birth next time.
- Those with an ahetuka birth (meaning the birth was due to a past kamma done without akusala kamma but not with strong enough mundane alobha and adosa) are born with apparent mental and or physical deficiency. They cannot do either of the above. Note that ahetuka does not mean “without causes”; it just means not enough “potent good causes, even if no bad causes.)
2. It is not easy to determine whether a person is a tihetuka or a dvihetuka.
- However, it is fairly easy to identify an ahetuka. They are typically born with (i) a physical handicap (especially with one or more of the sensory faculties missing) or (ii) an apparent mental deficiency (very low IQ.)
- Even in case (i) above, there could be complications. For example, a baby may be born without the ability to see or hear. Still, the baby’s mental body may have cakkhu and sota pasada rupa intact, but one or both of those two senses may not work due to damage to the physical body parts (e.g., eyes, optical nerve, eardrum, etc.) while in the womb. In that case, it is still a tihetuka birth.
________
The next question is whether one can attain the Sotapanna stage by reading the correct Buddha Dhamma.
3. The four requirements for someone to attain the Sōtapanna stage of Nibbāna are Sappurisasaṃsevo, saddhammassavanaṃ, yonisomanasikāro, dhammānudhammappaṭipatti“. See #3 of “Four Conditions for Attaining Sotāpanna Magga/Phala.”
- As explained there, “To fulfill the first two requirements, it is necessary to associate with (Sappurisasaṃsevo) and learn from (saddhammassavanaṃ) a Noble Person (Ariya).”
- However, the translation of saddhammassavana (saddhamma savana) means “learn from that Noble Person by listening to his/her explanations.” Of course, in the days of the Buddha, that was the only way since written texts were not available.
- Thus, even though we cannot be definite about it, it is reasonable to assume that one could learn by reading texts, provided they are correct and written by an Ariya.
__________
Now, to the last question by Pathfinder: “However, if the last ariya dies while this site is still available, does it make sense that this site magically becomes unreadable? Yet we cannot comprehend the dhamma without a living ariya!”
- That question was addressed in the following thread: “How the Meanings Got Lost and How to Interpret.”
- See the comment by Taryal on July 28, 2024, at 1:05 am and my response to it.
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Good information. Thank you!
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They are related.
- All types of “bodies” (kaya) of living beings in various realms arise based on pancupadanakkhandha (PUK).
- Humans and animals have a dense physical body as well as a mental body. Devas have less dense physical bodies, and Brahmas have mostly the mental body.
- Kayagatasati Sutta points out that all types of “bodies” (kaya) have their origin in PUK.
- Satipatthana Sutta describes the way to stop the arising of any type of such bodies because none of them can provide a refuge from suffering in the rebirth process.
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Since I have the figure in my comment on July 30, 2024 at 10:07 am above, this is a good opportunity to point out a few things about that figure.
1. When a sensory input (arammana) comes in, the mind first experiences “bahiddha vinnana.” The term “bahiddha” means “bahira + iddha” where “bahira” means external and “iddha” means ” to get established.”
- A human mind (or vinnana) is first established in the “dhatu” or “initial stage,” where a “set of distorted kama sanna” is automatically experienced regardless of whether or not one has any magga phala.
- That is what gives the “sweetness of sugar,” “beauty/handsomness” of a woman/man, etc.
2. That “kama sanna” then triggers “kama sankappa” (mainly mano abhisankhara) based on one’s samyojana/anusaya.
- For example, since all ten samyojana are intact in a puthujjana, they generate the strongest “kama sankappa.“
- A Sotapanna has removed three samyojana, and hence the attachment will be less, etc..
- Since this “attachment” is based on one’s ditthi, tanha, and mana, it is called “ajjhatta” (“ajjha” for “oneself” and “atta” for “taking it to be fruitful.”
- Since an Arahant has no samyojana (or ditthi, tanha, and mana) left, that mind will not get to this stage, i.e., no pancupadanakkhandha (PUK) gets started.
3. The “ajjhatta vinnana” is the beginning of the accumulation of a PUK.
- In the next step, the mind makes its own version of the “external rupa” received. This is the “cakkhuvinneyya rupa” for visual input (as indicated in the figure.)
- In most suttas, by “rupa” it is meant the “cakkhuvinneyya rupa.” P.S. This is the rupa that is of “anicca nature,” not the “external rupa.” This “rupa” (it is related to the “namarupa” in PS) arises in the mind only because that mind has not fully grasped the “anicca nature” (of course, that happens at the Arahant stage).
4. In the next step, “kama guna” arises based on one’s gati at that moment.
- Thus, the same person may be attracted to a sensory event while drunk, for example, but may not while in a “good mindset.”
5. The mind gets to the “tanha paccaya upadana” stage only if the attachment is strong in the above step.
- This is really the time the PUK (pancupadanakkhandha) starts. This is the “upadana” stage where “new or nava kamma” are accumulated, as indicated at the top of the figure.
- Thus, the stage before that is called the “upaya stage.” No significant kamma is accumulated in this stage, as indicated by the narrow expansion of the “cone.”
- Strong kamma are accumulated in the “nava kamma stage” with kaya, vaci, and mano abhisankhara. That is indicated by the “widening cone” starting at the “tanha paccaya upadana” stage.
- Also, the “expansion” indicates “punna kamma” and the downward indicates “apunna kamma” or immoral kamma.
6. The “purana kamma” (or “upaya“) stage arises automatically according to one’s samyojana/anusaya. We don’t have direct control over that stage.
- However, in the “nava kamma” (or “upadana“) stage, kamma is accumulated consciously.
- The mind gets increasingly contained as it goes through the steps shown.
- In the “cleansing process” (or cultivating “sila” or “indriya samvara“), one needs to start at the rightmost stage.
7. I have provided more information in the comment above the one with the figure.
- As discussed there, the removal of samyojana/anusaya, (as well as one’s gati) happens by cultivating mindfulness/sila/indriya samvara AND understanding the details of this kamma accusation process, i.e., how a PUK arises with an arammana.
- Reading the links given will help you understand the process.
- Also see “Ārammaṇa (Sensory Input) Initiates Critical Processes.” (especially #11). However, one will eventually need to read posts in the time sequence given in “New / Revised Posts” from around 7/29/23.
8. That is a brief overview. Feel free to ask questions.
- You can ask questions on the above comments or any old post by referring to the specific post.
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