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Sirs, Good Evening…I would like to thank Ariyaratna Sir for the patient reply. Sir, I do not expect a easy way out, at the same time , I have to act now. Burning Burning……Anyway, Sir Pls comment Add, Improve
The Link to the sutta https://suttacentral.net/sn12.66/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=sidebyside&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
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Pinnaduwage Sir Thanks a lot! Your energy and drive are something to be truly jealous of. If you were in India, I would be roaming about your house, to learn from you. And I would have kept nagging you a lot , because it’s a lot easier to nag in person than online.
By the way many Srilankan Cricketers seem to be Pinnaduwage Sir? Aravinda de silva , the Mad Max of cricket, Hasaranga, Chaturanga De Silva……hmmmm.
Anyway Sir, Venerable Waharaka Thera says, in one of the videos with English subs, that the Lord had the power to quickly identify the technique most suitable for a person depending on his or her inclinations/strengths (shradda, virya, sati, pragna). He used to preach to that person accordingly and they attained Magga Phala instantly.
For instance, Sanna Vipallasa Or Adinava( as elucidated by you as Health Issues), should be sufficient for those with high Pragna perhaps, to overcome the habit/desire. I do not have faith, nor wisdom , nor virya. But I can “sense”, somehow as though as I have done it (known it) before.
Obviously , we cant expect everyone to get connected to everything, in toto.
However Is there a broad or a standard framework prescribed by the Vaijja (the Great Doctor) for those who are willing to learn and work on it? Not just cigarette but breaking free of Sensual Pleasures as such?
From that template as a platform, perhaps one can proceed, progress, internalize.
Of course I am not expecting any spoon feeding Sir (not that I will complain if provided), but a Standard Framework? Is it there Sir?
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Sir(s) I have revised my draft of Dhamma Chakka Pavatta (DCP) Sutta. (I will be revisiting it, for it is giving me great joy) . And once it is in good shape I will post it here, if I continue to feel that it will have some utility and of assistance to others.
More importantly,
I studied Ariyaratna Sir’s concept of Ichha, Niccha and Aniccha. I had to !, because I got stuck in the sutta. Especially at the start of the Four Noble Truths. I now understand , why some scholars mistakenly thought , it was not an original part of the sutta and was inserted later.
It was followed by some serious homework, based on Ariyaratna Sir’s lesson on these 3 terms .
The following is to present the basic framework , within which I will try and revise DCP
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Icca/Iccha is Desire.
Nicca/Niccha is our belief that Iccha or Icchas in Life can be fulfilled.
This is the basic outlook on Life. We are sure (100%, nay a 1000%) that Life “is”, there to enjoy, and it is an avenue to fulfil our Desires. To us, “Suffering”, is an unfortunate event , which sometimes happen. But, even with these sporadic events of Suffering (minor or major) our belief in Life , that it is meant for fulfilling our desires, remains unshaken. To us, Life( as we know and live it) is one Biiiiig Iccha!
From hence forth I will not attempt to try and explain in detail, for I am finding it difficult to articulate in logical terms, the facts I experience, but as all of you are in advance stages when compared to me(already traversed these), it shouldn’t be a problem.
- If Nicca/Niccha was a fact (in Life- as we know it & live it) then life should end as soon as an event is completed. For instance I am sleeping and in the middle of the night I turn that way to change the sleeping position.
- If Life ( as we know & live) was nicca/niccha , there should have been an ending (ending with a capital E) as soon as the turn was completed. A full stop Sirs. Are you with me?
- But it doesn’t , I continue to sleep , wake up and life ( as we know& live)goes on, because it is Anicca/Aniccha. It is not in its own hands. It can never stand fulfilled. (Dhammapada 186, 187- there is no satisfying desires….).
- If this View of Anicca is applied to our own “sense of being” then amazing doorways open.
- The whole structure(me, my sense of being, My being or Being, – call it whatever), while it stands with lots and lots of promise, in fact, it is Anicca, can never ever be fulfilled. Like Hunger, a wound, it is always open.
- In contrast to these facts, my life( as I know and live it) involves investing a lot of Ichha in my own being and Life as a whole. In fact, to me, Life( as I live it) is One Biig Iccha, while in reality, along with not being in its own hands, its nature is Aniccha.
And that’s it sir, – Tampichham na labati Dukkham.
Sirs, please correct/add/improve.
Sirs this will be the last but one post to continue my meditation on the sutta
This small post will be followed by table 3 where the 4 Aryan truths will be submitted, thereby completing the “engine” of the sutta.
Why do we want to live a life that follows the Eightfold Way, sir? Why do we take up dhamma?
Sirs, one day, I saw a lady feeding leftover rice to some street dogs. Until then, it was all fine. Suddenly, she pulled out a phone and started taking selfies with the feeding dogs in the background. It would obviously end up on Facebook or some other tube. Is it vulgar? But that’s our value system now, sir.
Why do we take up Dhamma sirs?
Perhaps then, I am “ more” than the average person. I feel “ good”?
Or may be I will become Sotapanna, next that, next something more…
Like, I will become a millionaire, next billionaire, next top ten.
One year back, a girl was stabbed in my country 16 times, sir. No one intervened. Why should I sir? What if I die? Who will feed my children?
Last week, however, in Delhi, two men intervened sir and helped a victim.
These two men are Aryans, sir.
Every grain we eat is cultivated by this society. Our eyes look into galaxies and distant stars, but not into what’s happening around us.
We have programmed ourselves to live with contradictions, suffering, and conflict. Somehow, if we can live this life, like this way and that way, and die peacefully….we feel we have done it. However, even pigs do the same. Sirs, haven’t we seen little piglets already practicing mating? That is us, sir.
Aryans (elders) are those who are able to see the disorder, conflict, and contradictions in our lives. What a meaningless rut they have become: filled with fears, desires, hurts, loss, suffering, and the same in the world out there.
And that’s why Aryans take up dhamma, sir. Aryans genuinely see it. Like the two men who helped the victim. It comes from the inside, from their bones.
For Aryans, it’s their duty, sir, to win back order and end the cycle of dukkha, not just for themselves but also for the society that has fed, clothed, and housed them.
The four truths section explains how Aryans see and act upon the four truths. It reveals how deep and serious our servitude to the 2 extremes(disorders) is, which we are amazingly unaware of and sometimes refuse to see. The section also elucidates further the mechanism of suffering. Eventually, it explains how serious the eightfold path is and why it is the Duty of the Aryans.
Table 2:Further meditation on the Dhamma Chakka Pavattana
I apologize for certain spelling and grammatical mistakes in the first table. I will revise(keep revising) , which will more importantly include your suggestions. The following is from the point where we left at table 1.
Table 2
Sn
Lines in Pali
Translation with Notes
5
Ete kho, bhikkhave, ubho ante an·upagamma majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhu·karaṇī
ñāṇa·karaṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya
nibbānāya saṃvattati.
Now bhikkhus , there is a path which steers clear (anupagama) from servitude to pleasure as well as servitude to pain. This path discovered and traversed by Buddhas of the past , present and to come, generates (for those who follow suit), a light – on to oneself (abhinaya), understanding and eventually culminates in nibbana.
As tathagatha I assure you, that every step taken in this path (prati pada) instils and deepens(samvattati) ones vision , knowledge. Each Step on this path , powers up new found freedom(upasamaya) in Life, from which confidence, and morality and countless merits flow.
Note: Tatagatha is the Lord who speaks as it actually is.
Note 2: Here in these lines, the Wheel of Dhamma is perhaps introduced – counter positioning it against the Wheel of Suffering constituted by the two extremes. Each step in the Wheel of Dhamma – generates purities as much as each step in the cycle of suffering generates defilements. Could this be what Thera Anna Kondanna Saw? Just as there exists a cycle of suffering- there exists the wheel of dhamma? As common men we are blind to existence of such a rich life.
6
Katamā ca sā, bhikkhave, majjhimā paṭipadā
tathāgatena abhisambuddhā
cakkhu·karaṇī ñāṇa·karaṇī upasamāya abhiññāya
sambodhāya nibbānāya saṃvattati? Ayam·eva
ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, seyyathidaṃ:
Ayaṃ kho sā, bhikkhave, majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā
cakkhu·karaṇī ñāṇa·karaṇī upasamāya
abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṃvattati.
Now bhikkhus comes the practise. It is eightfold.
1. Do not let your perspective be blinded by enslavement to pleasure and pain.
2. Do not let your intention and thoughts be subservient to pleasure and pain.
3. Do not let your speech be hijacked by passion and attachment to pleasure or pain
4. Do not let your actions spring from servitude to pleasure and pain
5. Ensure your living is not entrenched in constant pursuit of pleasure and hidden subjugation to pain
6. Ensure your efforts are not wasted nor dissipated in constant pursuit of pleasure or running away from pain
7. Be mindful , alert and guard all of the above, in body and mind, against being enslaved by Pleasure and pain.
8. With the above 7 you fall in the “Zone”, sharpen and develop that “Zone” by which all the 7 are further developed and so on – the Cycle (Wheel of Dhamma) goes on until one reaches Nibbana.
This is the practise , this is the contemplation, this constitutes the meditation and practise. These 8 are the pistons which fire up and move (samvattati) the wheel of dhamma.
Please correct/add/improve
Namo Sugata.
Ariyaratna Sir has given a superb homework.
In one of the jataka Tales, when Buddha was still a Bodhisattva in previous births, He used to camp every year , at a Kings Garden for one of the seasons (at the Kings request).
He used to come out of his seclusion , when the season started, and used to camp there, to address laymen, philosophers and so on, till the season was completed, and then he used go back to his seclusion in the Mountains. He was well equipped with iddhis, super human powers and so on.
During one visit, when the King was away on war, the queen had to serve the Bodhisattwa. At one in-appropriate moment, the Bodhisattwa sees her beauty inadvertently, and gets mentally disturbed. He immediately retreats to his Hut.
When the King comes back, he sees the Bodisattwa lying down, sick. Alarmed the King rolls him over this side and that side to see if there are any wounds. To the king, the Bodhisattwa replies “King I have been wounded by the arrow of Sensual Desire”.
Saying so , the Bodhisattwa gets back into his Meditation Posture , and there and there itself , puts an end to the defilement which has arisen and blessing the King and Queen, flies back to the Mountains.
Sir(s) , the story also says when such great mountains are moved by winds of desire and simply get rolled over, how much more so, in the case of common minds like ours? – The Jataka itself gives a simile: just like old leaves which have already fallen down from the trees – they simply get blown away!
Jhana Helps , me thinks , to enable us not to get blown or flown away.
Jhana which helps us to “fly away” ( super human power in this sense) is not the Jhana which our Lord taught,
But rather the Jhana which gives one the real super power of “not getting flown/blown away” , till magga is reached , is what was taught by Sugata. Samma sati and samma Samadhi.
regards Sir(s). Pls correct/improve
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Yes Sir. Now that you say sir, I find the scripts matching to a degree as well!
బర is my telugu for ba and ra sounds while.
බර is Sinhala!
Any ways, Thank you sir, I have just started reading your new post and going through the side headings, it looks like a treasure trove.
For any doubts I will certainly ask sir. Regards
Ariyaratna Sir, I would like to add, that only after reading your post on “pilana” i could trace back and co relate the concept and the actual word to our own “peeda”.
Many times, I am amazed of how some words and their lingusitic settings/contexts , passed down from generations, can be potent, provided, we are well aquianted with them and their correct contextual usage etc.
Society seems to preserve certain “truths” it has seen, through language.
Regards and Thanks Sir. Hope all is sound and well with you.
Yes sir , by bhara i meant burden and pilana by peeda.
Both are words from my local language. Bhaarya (wife), Bhartha(Husband), Bharinchadam (to Bear), Bharuvu (Weight), Bhaaramu(Burden) all these are words built on “Bhaara” , in our language. Siimilalry Peeda is like Pilana.
I will study the new posts .
Regards Sir.
Noted Sir. Will go through the link. Will Study and come back.
My wish was the table can be used by those interseted to look and relook at the critical passage.
The row headings and Notes will change obivously.
Like memorizing the 32 body parts , in the straight order and the inverse order , 5 this way and 5 that way , I felt that one can go through the 3 sections of the passage again and again , this way and that way, as an exercise.
There is a deep meaning, embedded, which cannot be so easily grasped by Laymen like me.
Yes Sir. I will be more careful next time. Will first edit in MS word and post here. It will also help me articulate things better.
More importantly, I would like to thank you sir, for correcting my misunderstandings and a completely wrong take of the gatha.
I think it only shows lack of sincerity and hard work on my part. I will try and be careful on this front as well.
Regards Sir. It was a terrific Sunday for me. Hope the same was with you all. I am really enjoying learning here.
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Sir thank you. Then is my following revision of what constitutes Atthi Sanna is now in line( as follows):
Aniccha is the truth that
(1) all ” iccha” s ( likings) are futile in the end. expressed in the sign of bones as in Dhammapada verse 149 referred to above. which is atthiyati in one of its aspects
(2) jiguchhati: blinding us for we are even prepared to do wrong for what we like and we are carried away by the flood.
(3) They have no real value. Here too the mataphor of bone can be used.
Sir, then atthi sanna is anicca sanna, which consists of being sure that all likings and getting stuck in them are futile, lead to blindness, and have no real value, just like bones.
So, seeing these bones( anicca), how can one still hold on to strong desires and likings? Is that it, sir? Please correct and also further elucidate harayati in the context of anicca. Regards, sir.
Sir the translation given by you is like majestic. Then would it be that in the following verse ( reference below)
Dhamma pada 149 yani imani verse
When Lord was saying about bones being strewn about , it is meant, that by looking at the bones, to grasp the futility of likings and cravings? And not devolop a sense of bones or skeleton, as such, as a counter sign to lust etc,which is a wrong interpretation?
Regards.
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