Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hello Iodonyo,
Based upon what you’ve written, it’s difficult to assess where you feel you are (on the path). With that being said, the single most important thing is ensuring that you are in fact on the noble path. All efforts made should be to that end. I once heard Wallasmulle Thero liken it to having insurance; a) it’s much better to have it than not have it, and b) you want the best insurance you can get.
A mistake that can be made is believing that once on the path, one’s focus shifts to some more esoteric aspects of Dhamma. On the contrary – the fundamentals (The four noble truths, the three characteristics, etc) will always be one’s northern light.
The path is an iterative process; you go around and around with these fundamentals and appreciate their implications with greater depth and clarity. So regarding anicca, dukkha, anatta, and asubha, that might result in a sense of ‘complete disinterest’ right now, but contemplating this aspects will result in a resounding letting go.
I’d go as far to say that Anapanasati and Satipatthana provides everything an Ariya needs to ‘get the job done’.
Good luck and I hope you’re able to progress smoothly.
The more bandwidth we devote to wrong things (in any given moment), the less likely it will be that we’ll have insights, the likes of which are necessary to progress along the path.
Therefore, it’s in our interest to ensure that we don’t apply this bandwidth to the wrong things, and do apply it to the right things. In very broad brushstrokes, this seems to be what anapanasati and satipatthana are concerned with.
So then we can see that when this is done successfully, we will be getting closer and closer to Samma Samadhi. In other words, the closer we get to that, the more likely insights become.
You can observe this in your own immediate experience – let your mind run wild for a few minutes. Then, practice true mindfulness (as described at Pure Dhamma) and within moments, you’ll notice an increase in clarity. That trend will continue as you continue to successfully practice ‘mindfulness’. In so doing, you are walking the eightfold noble path in that moment.
I may be missing something here, but that’s how it seems to me so far.
Imagine if someone were to propose that 2+2=4.3. In support of their argument, they say “the professors who say that 2+2=4.3 graduated from Ivy League schools, have taught for decades, have done peer reviewed research and are published authors”.
Then in response, someone systematically goes through the maths problem, giving evidence that the value of 2 is in fact 2 and that therefore, the answer could only possibly be 4. Would the appropriate response be to take issue with their ‘strong views’? No. Sadly though, that’s what many Buddhist seem to do.
Getting onto and progressing along the path involves the opposite of cognitive dissonance; someone makes a claim that challenges your understanding. You then investigate the premises of their claim to see if it has any validity. If it does, you adjust your understanding accordingly. If their claim doesn’t have any merit to it, you’ll understand precisely why that’s case by having identified the contradictions and inconsistencies.
The suttas share countless examples in which The Buddha corrected people’s wrong views in this fashion. All of this is to say that I hope you don’t perceive this as an attack but rather, an opportunity. We’re all trying to achieve the same thing here.
Is Dhamma one or many? It is one. In other words, the world is a particular way and it is only that way. Therefore, either someone will have a correct understanding of Dhamma or they won’t. In the event that they have the correct understanding, they will be on the noble path and eventually attain Nibbana. If they don’t have an accurate understanding of Dhamma, it will not be possible for them to attain Nibbana (you can’t solve a problem if you don’t understand what the problem is).
As such, I can’t help but feel that discussions about specific traditions, lineages and teachers often miss this critical point. So as pedantic as this may sound, if a tradition or teacher claims their tradition or teachings can lead to Nibbana, strictly speaking, they are wrong – only an accurate understanding of Dhamma does that.
This isn’t to suggest that there will be no traditions with practitioners who are ariyas, rather, if they are, it’s because they’ve comprehended Dhamma.
