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I would say it is wrong to think about the world in absolute terms, as in this question “So it means that we have never really experienced the external world in its absolute form? ” – Dhamma may be absolute. Still, sansara is not at least in terms of the physical world, as something we can experience in an absolute way; this adds a layer that is not needed. Therefore, one should not think or see that as there is a point in trying to experience an absolute external world because it’s not there.
Absolute in Dhamma = Nibbana, Absolute in Sansara = Ignorance
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It’s like learning to ride a bike by yourself; first, pre-Sotapanna bhavana is listening to the teachings until you have access to Nibbana and see “the way”. Once Nibbana is seen and understood, you bring that experience and understanding until all hate, greed, and lust disappear gradually
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I feel I’m quite open to others teachings and interpretations of the dhamma and can benefit from what others may say, but it doesn’t necessary mean I will take in other’s teachings and interpretations easily without some form of discernment. I looked into some of the links and discussions on Ven. Buddhaparayana teachings that was shared / provided and one of the comments that caught my attention was from this discussion:
teaching of ven. buddhaparayana 31 planes of existence and 32 marks of the Buddha! Dhammawheel
I can’t verify / confirmed the comments made by others on Ven. Buddhaparayana teachings or what was said since I don’t know Sinhalanese and the comments was based on a Sinhalanese video. But a comment that caught my attention was someone saying Ven. Buddhaparayana said that the Buddha did not talk about the four stages of sainthood and a comment that was most surprising to me and would be interested in hearing the explanation to as how the tilakkhana is not part of the Buddha teachings, “he also mentioned that Anicca, dukkha and anatta as three units also not a part of Buddha’s teaching.”
We need an explanation for that. I don’t want to assume, but there are plenty of “monks” talking their “ideas” in an extreme way to grab attention, and you can see the effect even here. What he said (if it’s true) is impossible because those teachings can be realized and experienced.
It’s much deeper than that, but it is a good start – kinda. Anicca Dukkha and Anatta are the focal point, applying it to hair makes no sense because you can still have your hair the way you want it/like (at least to the extent it is possible), but have no problem with it. If you try to apply it to everything, you will get tired easily. It applies to everything, as long as you can understand it you do not need to go one by one.
One thing may lead to all things too – there are certain examples in suttas when bhikku could not understand Dhamma so Buddha used example so he can grasp the nature of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta and this is important to understand to focus on nature of it, not hair.
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“I have seen bhikkus say that it’s a mental world and out there are only the four great elements ” – Yes, but this is the wrong way to understand the world in the sense that people can say “world or the material world is just atoms”, so what? It doesn’t take away other things because they are results of that. People cope this way by giving up on things and misunderstanding the world’s nature.
Don’t fall into trap, “this is like that, so the rest makes no sense or it’s irrelevant because of so and so”. Seeing things are they all need to be on all levels.
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I felt I could do that, but didn’t want it because I felt complete and content in that state and didn’t want or need to do anything.
Jhanas change your existence, it does not work like hallucination or as just a simple state of mind. You can not pass experience in words (especially arupa jhanas); one needs to experience it and know by experience. For me, it’s like asking if you take something under a microscope and say, “How do you convince that you are not seeing a hallucination?”. It’s good to be skeptical, especially if you lack your own insight/experience, so nobody will cheat you, but I have no way of proving it to anybody. What I can say hallucinations do not bring wisdom and insight on that level. Hallucinations make you weird and more stupid in general; you just bubble words nobody understands and act weird.
It can not be an altered state of the brain, if you put MRI on me when in arupa jhanas it should show nothing, while in experience, you will feel extreme bliss that is beyond anything you can physically experience, which would prove it’s non-physical. I generally don’t like to talk about it simply because there aren’t people who can relate to it.
I will try to explain from my experience, but it is very hard as it goes beyond what the human mind can imagine. Time in Brahmas is neither slow nor fast nor kinda both. In relative to humans, yes – it is fast in that relation, but Brahma itself feels neither how fast it is nor slow, the time kinda stops there. I would say it moves so fast that it feels like it stopped.
You will experience suffering as you, but not as your actual “me”.
You got the wrong idea about “no self” because Buddha did not teach that. Whatever this “self” or “no self” exists is not the problem, but ignorance. When ignorance is dispelled, the problem with “self” does not appear – it does not mean there is “no self”.
What he says is not correct, even based on my personal experience. He got the hint, though, because what he says applies to arupa jhanas, which he probably mistakes for rupa jhanas, as it is true for arupa jhanas. For example, when I was going through arupa jhanas, they were the same experience, and the difference between them was only knowledge about their nature.
Imagine that you go into water, the initial experience is like the first arupa jhana but once you stay a while in that water you start noticing more things about the fluidity, how it feel and you experience more and more knowledge about nature of it thru that experience as you become more simmered but the experience per se does not change.
For me, all arupa jhanas are the same; the difference is only the depth of knowledge you get from them as time goes on.
My theory is that arupa jhanas are different “roads” of jhanas rather than rupa. Normally, you see that you need to go “one by one” from rupa to arupa. I think it is not true, as you can go directly to arupa, bypassing the first 4 rupa jhanas. Some sources I checked (later commentaries), like that you can go “really fast” that you are not aware of doing so, I can not confirm that because if things like that happened obviously I was not aware.
A guy in the video seems to be misinterpreting his own experience. That’s why I don’t like to talk about jhanas a lot, because some fake teachers may find this post and act like they have achieved something. In my long journey of meditation, I didn’t find anyone, I think, who actually attained jhanas and properly described them as the real thing. Only Abhaya Thero students explained their jhana properly. (rupa jhanas only though)
There are stories in the sutta that the Arahant feels so much unbearable pain because of disease or some bodily issues that he took his life.
The aim of Dhamma, especially early on, is to leave a “state of confusion” and to have a stable existential base, which is the result of understanding aspects that create confusion in your worldview and on which you build experience that is Sotapanna and above
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Those questions appear in mind because you do not understand Dhamma and they reflect your desires towards the world.
“Why do I exist?” because of Paticca Samupadda
“Why isn’t everything parinirvana?” because world is Anicca not Icca
” Why am I in this Sansara” because of Paticca Samupadda and your actions
“Why haven’t I attained parinirvana in this infinte sansara?” because you didn’t meet conditions like that. The infinity of Sansara is not the infinity we can think of.
It’s very easy to answer those questions for yourself as long as you can see true nature of the world and understand basic Dhamma concepts. Those answers need to be known on an existential level, not just on a conceptual.
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The law of kamma is like the law always at work, bypassing the cultural/social laws. A society built on ignorance will suffer one way or another, sooner or later, as we have plenty of examples in history. Because of cause and effect, certain immoral actions may be an “optimal strategy” for a mundane result. It’s much more efficient (sometimes) to kill a king and take over a throne rather than compete on the same footing.
https://franpritchett.com/00ambedkar/ambedkar_buddha/04_04.html#05_05 – Here some good information that may showcase insight on those matters
