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Hi,
I was re-reading the below post, with the new chart which is tremendously helpful! I am delighted and would like to share a few thoughts which are most closely related to something in a sotapanna forum, so I post them here.
“What is Unique in Buddha Dhamma?”
In another thread, I recently mentioned that I am using PD to guide someone in learning Buddha Dhamma, and with a chart like this one can have an idea where one is on the path.
With this chart, we can also easily explain various stages of liberation or enlightenment; they are no longer too abstract.
In my native language, there is a generic word for “enlightenment” which literally means “awakening”. Actually, in English as well, most people take this meaning; they say that “The Buddha” means “The Awakened One” because the word “Buddha” has a root that means to “wake up”. Thinking of “Buddha” as “bhava + uddha” makes much more sense to me.
Regardless of the breaking down of “Buddha“, the explanation of “awakening” that follows tends to be vague, and gives the impression of an all-or-nothing event, not a gradual, step-by-step process.
However, if we can apply this chart to what “awakening” is, I’d propose that it is the sotapanna anugāmi stage, and it is the stage where most of the work of the Noble Path takes place.
At this stage, although sotapanna magga phala has not occurred, one has seen anicca, dukkha, anatta to a strong enough degree to never go back to the mundane path, i.e. one has “awakened” to the Noble Path.
We have learned that a sotapanna sees the path to arahanthood, and that it takes at most 7 bhavas to get there, and that’s why we have some radical similes as to how much defilement a sotapanna has left to remove compared to that of a normal being, such as the amount of dirt stuck to one’s fingertips compared to the amount of dirt of the earth. This is also why Lal had a post about how a sotapanna is better off than a king or a billionaire.
Just like a sotapanna sees the path to arahanthood, a sotapanna anugāmi sees the path to a sotapanna, except there is no guarantee of how much time to get there. Hence this is where most effort takes place.
Thank you for the post and the chart, and curious to see everyone’s inputs.
Best,
LangI took a quick peek, and my guess is that these videos may be “too much reality” for most of us. They may indeed bring out patigha, like you warned us, which could be why you couldn’t sleep for a day or two.
Another point, although you probably did not mean it, is that I know of people who practice “asubha bhavana” in a way similar to this. They took some passages, perhaps from the Tipitaka, that describe the different decaying stages of a corpse and imagine them in their mind as a way of contemplating the ugliness/foulness of the body. With videos like these, nowadays who even need imagination?
I remember that Lal has explained that asubha bhavana was not about the foulness of the body, that it was about the unfruitful nature of sensual things. Again, I am sure you did not mean this; I am raising this since I often see asubha bhavana described incorrectly this way.
Best,
LangHi,
In the above-mentioned post:
Sotapatti Aṅga – The Four Qualities of a Sotāpanna
We have:
3. …The Buddha asks: “Catūhi, bhikkhave, dhammehi samannāgato ariyasāvako sotāpanno hoti avinipātadhammo niyato sambodhiparāyaṇo. Katamehi catūhi?”
Translated: “Bhikkhus, the ariyasāvaka Sotapanna, free of the apāyā, has four qualities. Which four?”
Does “avinipātadhammo” mean “free of the apāyā”?
Thank you!
“āpo, pathavi, and tejo can be attributed to lobha, dosa, and moha…”
“– By the Anagami stage, that trend will lead to the disappearance of kama raga and patigha. Thus, an Anagami would not act with anger or kama raga. Thus, pathavi and tejo in the suddhatthaka generated by an Anagami would be much less proportioned. ”
Is this the right connection:
apo — lobha
pathavi — dosa
tejo — mohaThank you, Lal. This is profound!
When these words are translated into another language, such as my native language of the equivalent of earth, water, fire, air, it gives the impression of very distinct entities from mind.
Yet, there is an intimate connection between “matter” and mind (rupa and nama), fueling each other:
We know that cittā (with their accompanying cetasikā) come from the vibration of hadaya vatthu (which is rupa), and that vibration (in javana cittā), in turns, create rupa based on lobha, dosa, moha, alobha, adosa, amoha.
So, that’s why lobha, dosa, moha, alobha, adosa, amoha are the six root causes.
Let’s say we look at an arahant “at this level”. The six root causes are no more, so there is no fuel for another hadaya vatthu when the current hadaya vatthu perishes.
Just want to share something related to this topic. Very recently, someone asked me to guide him in learning Dhamma. After some thought I decided to get started with him with this section as the framework:
We are working through the “Moral Living and Fundamentals” section.
He is new to Buddha Dhamma, or at least to true Buddha Dhamma, so this seems a suitable way to get started. More importantly, however, it was because how I approached it myself — first getting on the mundane path and gradually transitioning to the noble path.
After all, it’s best to guide people through what we actually did.
Best,
LangThere is also “musā“, as in musāvāda, that is also a candidate, ie. iccha for the wrong thing, or in the wrong way.
Yes, this is very enlightening, and we are very fortunate. You won’t see this kind of explanation anywhere else, at least not in English, as far as I can see.
Not too long ago, I heard a very common explanation from a long-time “vipassana meditator” of kāyānupassanā as being mindful of bodily movements, and the formal practice of it is walking meditation:
One walks slowly, is mindful of one foot lifting the ground, moving forward, touching the ground again. The meditator does this over and over, walking up and down a meditation trail.
I suppose this does calm the mind down, and this calmness is often mistaken to be removal of defilements.
Finally, @Jorg, if you haven’t read this old post, you will enjoy it:
Anussati and Anupassanā – Being Mindful and Removing Defilements
Here, Lal delved into the word anupassanā (and also anussati).
Best,
LangJust want to share a tip about learning Dhamma: my experience is that if I spell out the niddesa versions for my own notes then I grasp concepts better.
We are fortunate to have Lal elaborate the uddesa versions of various verses and terms for us, such as:
vipapka vedana vs samphassa ja vedana
Mere saṅkhāra vs abhisaṅkhāra
vipaka viññāṇa vs kamma viññāṇa
etc.I haven’t seen this level of explanation anywhere else!
Take paticca samuppada as an example. Using Lal’s explanation of the terms, when I write out different PS cycles in niddesa forms they make a stronger impact in my mind. Hope the same is true for you.
In the following thread, I wrote out a couple of PS cycles:
Best,
LangIs it correct to think of pañcupādānakkhandhā in the following way:
pañcupādānakkhandhā is pañcakkhandha such that:
vedanākkhandha comprises samphassa ja vedanā,
saññākkhandha comprises avijja, or saññā of nicca, sukha, atta,
saṅkhārakkhandha comprises abhisaṅkhāra,
and viññāṇakkhandha comprises kamma viññāṇa.Thank you,
LangAjahn Punnadhammo and Ajahn Sona have a series of discussion on Buddhist cosmology, starting with:
Buddhist Cosmology (1): Space, Time and Being
I don’t know if their discussions are based on the Agganna Sutta, but it’s fascinating nonetheless.
Lal said:
“Of course, I have unshakeable faith in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. Otherwise, I would not be spending essentially all of my time dedicated to this effort of sharing what I have gained.”
Thank you very much for this comment since it clarifies for me something in my mind not too long ago, after I had a discussion on Dhamma with someone.
I was telling someone about the Buddha Dhamma I learned here, and he brought up something I had not thought of before. The argument was something like this (and I am using “he” in the sense of a gender-neutral pronoun below):
If what you are saying were true then people who had seen Dhamma would be distant and aloof toward life.
(1) Take the case of a sotapanna
He had seen the fruitlessness, and even dangers, of mundane life, and thus he would not spend extra effort to make the mundane world a better place.If he had a job then he would do the minimum to get by, and then contemplate Dhamma. He would not strive to be excellent at his job. Such a person would never be someone like a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs whose technology made the world a better place.
Socially, he would likely not be an activist, fighting for social justice — civil rights, gay rights, etc. Again, he would likely spend his time meditating toward the next magga phala.
(2) Take the case of a sakadagami
If he were seriously ill he may not even seek treatment since the sooner he dies as a human the sooner he is reborn a deva where he experiences no more illness. Furthermore, if a sakadagami family member dies he may even be happy about it.I now firmly believe that when someone becomes an ariya he has a strong wish to share what he’s gained with others. It’s what Lal is doing here. The purpose of this site is to help get people to the sotapanna stage; I remember reading this somewhere. And for that we are forever grateful.
Best,
LangSpeaking of “hell”, you may want to check out this book, an interesting read:
Bercholz, Samuel
A Guided Tour of HellLal mentioned it briefly in:
In my native country, there are accounts of people who “dozed off” and “drifted” to “hell”. Their description of the experience is very vivid.
They also said that they now firmly believed in the law of kamma. Thus, such an experience can help people get on the mundane path.
Best,
LangThat is why in parentheses it says “Sotapanna through Anāgāmi”.
ariyas below the arahant stage still take births.
Thank you, LayDhammaFollower.
Also, you said:
“This above single video is about AnulōmaSanthiya and SammathaNiyama. I do not know what that is, as of writing now.”
I assume that they are the Sinhala words for the Pali words Anuloma Khanti and Sammattaniyāma, which are the prerequisites for the sotapanna stage.
See:
Anuloma Khanti and Sammattaniyāma – Pre-requisites for a Sotapanna
Best,
Lang
