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Hi y not,
I listened to some desana from a bhante. He often mentions that the arahants don’t really sleep and that they are mindful 24/7. They just recharge themselves in jhanas. This idea of arahants not being able to dream has been a suspicion at the back of my mind when I understand more about the Dhamma. I merely speculate it and never give it much thought until I listened to another desana from the same bhante. It is in this desana that he mentioned the arahants do not dream.
For some reason I edited this post and saved it but did not appear. Shall repost it here…
The illusive nature of bhūta as mentioned by Lal in his post made me think further on the Temperature-born materiality (utuja-rūpa).
It is said that all inanimate materiality is born of and maintained by temperature, which contains of the fire element (tejo-dhātu). The fire element in minerals and metals are very powerful and could produce many generations of materiality. There are also soft objects that have weak fire element that are not long-lasting. When materiality deteriorates, it is because the fire element no longer produces new materiality but instead consumes itself. I think this is the reason why fruits will get over-ripen, electronics will fail, and corpse will rot. At this juncture, we can relate this to the anicca nature of things. The illusive nature of bhūta is also of anicca nature, which essentially conveys a sense of unpredictability. The above examples of fruits over-ripening and rotting of a corpse are pretty much predictable. But I am sure we all have encountered things that failed on us in the least expected ways (viparinama nature).
So, if the most fundamental bhūta has this illusive, anicca, and viparinama nature, what else can be said for the denser dhātu? It is like saying a car that is made up of constituents that are of anicca nature…can we expect a car not to be of anicca nature? Finally, when one sees anicca, dukkha, or anatta, one would be able to comprehend the transitive relationship with the other 2 characteristics of existence.
“This is a difficult personal decision for the one who has the authority to initiate the “shutdown process”
That’s why it is better not to ‘encourage’ people to give up living even if our intention is good. A filial son who pains to see his gravely-ill mother on the death bed might tell her to let go of everything and pass on. Big mistake. This act of ‘encouragement’ is instrumental to ending one’s life.
Hi Lal,
I read a bhante’s book which says materiality has one of the 4 origins:
1. Kamma-born materiality (kammaja-rupa)
2. Consciousness-born materiality (cittaja-rupa)
3. Temperature-born materiality (uttuja-rupa)
4. Nutriment-born materiality (aharaja-rupa)Did the Buddha teach about these stuffs or is this the work of contemporary monks?
Hi Lal,
If someone who is doing sitting meditation could contemplate on deep dhamma concepts like Tilakkhana and Paticca Samuppada for an hour or more, with little to no other stray thoughts, is he considered to be in Samadhi? Sort of like delivering a dhamma lecture to oneself in that meditation session. And after the meditation, one feels recharged.
Embodied,
Interesting analogy. That’s why we have to strive hard on this spiritual path to emerge as a blossomed lotus from muddy water.
Embodied,
If I did not recall wrongly, the Buddha mentioned that existence is like spittle, and that sankhara should be seen like urine and excrement.
Hi Embodied,
If Bhaudhdhayā feels that there is a need to do self-defence, then he still has a sense of self. A self that still cherishes life to a certain extent, for whatever reason.
Hi Lal,
“Some gandhabbas can become more dense by inhaling aroma. Then they can be seen by those with supernormal powers, or even by some normal humans (there are very few with such capabilities). So, those “ghost like” figures shown in cartoons depict such “dense gandhabbas”.”
I strongly believe in this. Many years ago, one of my family members had some problem with her health. Doctors could not do much about the situation. So, through someone’s recommendation, we brought this person to see a guru. This guru could see the gandhabba of a young girl without any clothes on. He said that the little girl is causing health problems to our family member because she was aborted by her, and that she needs to do merits and transfer to her for the issue to be resolved. We were shocked! This guru knew the cause of the problem and the details without us telling him! So, how did the aborted foetus grew to a full sized adult if not for taking in ahara? How did the guru know about these undisclosed family secrets if he does not have supernatural abilities? These things helped me boost a lot of confidence in Buddha Dhamma. True enough, after merits were done and transferred, my family member’s health recovered tremendously.
Lal,
“Suffering by itself cannot be the best teacher, unless one is aware that a solution exists. So, if one who is suffering is exposed to Buddha Dhamma, that could be a huge opportunity for that person. Most people who are suffering do not realize that there is a solution; they are just not aware of Buddha’s correct teachings.”
Agreed!
Hi Donna,
“Just exploring here…Although, without “me’ness”, who or what are we without characteristics or cravings (i.e., lifestream)? Or put another way, what’s left of the lifestream after removing characteristics/habits, cravings? Or is it just mind that’s left? Or are there gati left just no attachments?”
Even for the arahants, there will still be some personality traits in them. This is evident in the suttas. Believe the arahant’s lifestream is sustained by their kammic energy or their Ayusankhara. 3 months before the Buddha’s Parinibbana, He declared to his disciples that He would give up Ayusankhara and enter Parinibbana. Maybe this Ayusankhara is the will to live?
Hi Lal,
A puthujjana who has not been exposed to the Tilakkhana would not see the worthlessness of worldly things, not even to mention the danger of them. But I believe most people would have in some point of their lives experienced a sense of emptiness and loneliness after or even while enjoying sense pleasures. And because they are not exposed to Buddha Dhamma, they continue to do more of those worldly things which they think can ‘fix’ their problems. But very often they would end up in greater disappointment. They do feel suffering or at least a sense of unsatisfactoriness that lies behind these sense pleasures. But they couldn’t quite make out the reason for such feelings. Instead of finding a more fundamental approach to rectify their issues, they just find another sense pleasure to fill in the void in their heart. Is it appropriate to observe this phenomenon using the doctrine of Udayavaya nana and viparinama dukkha, which are essentially the DNA of the Annica nature?
We often forget that suffering is our best teacher. It is like the entrance ticket to Nibbana.
Hi Embodied,
As long as we still have ignorance on Tilakkhana and the Four Noble Truths, we will continue to have a sense of self, a self that has aspirations for worldly things and thus will crave for worldly sense pleasures (sankhara paccaya vinnana). And when we crave and acquire sense pleasures, we further accentuate the belief of this self. i.e. we would value highly of this physical body of ours and marvel at our creativity and accomplishments (namarupa paccaya vinnana, vinnana paccaya sankhara). The more we do this back and forth back and forth, the more future existences we are pro-creating for ourselves. The more sankhara we do, the more ignorant we become. The more ignorant we are, the more sankhara we do. It is like a dog going around in circles trying to catch its own tail to no avail.
