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Is consecration of holy water based on this principle? Infusing good intention and metta into the water as a form of consecration for lay people to bring home and consume.
I’m more impressed with the lady presenter at 11:42 of the video when she said “you can’t have a solution when you don’t even know there is a problem”.
Hi y not,
I also think that the Paccekabuddha is not inclined to teach rather than being unable to teach. Which then leads me to another question: How does a Paccekabuddha lead a blameless livelihood if he does not teach dhamma after receiving alms food? Just wondering.
Lal mentioned: “After “completing” Samma Samadhi, one goes through two more stages to attain the Arahanthood: Samma Nana and Samma Vimutti.”
This is mentioned in The Great Forty discourse in MN 117.
“Therein, bhikkhus, right view comes first. And how does right view come first? In one of right view, right intention comes into being; in one of right intention, right speech comes into being; in one of right speech, right action comes into being; in one of right action, right livelihood comes into being; in one of right livelihood, right effort comes into being; in one of right effort, right mindfulness comes into being; in one of right mindfulness, right concentration comes into being; in one of right concentration, right knowledge comes into being; in one of right knowledge, right deliverance comes into being. Thus, bhikkhus, the path of the disciple in higher training possesses eight factors, the arahant possesses ten factors.
One way to infer the possibility of non-human existence is to observe those medium who could summon spirits and communicate with the dead. Some are eerily accurate in assessing the issue at hand faced by the client. Ghosts and spirits have abhinna powers too! The medium might not be summoning the actual dead family member or relative, but some lowly spirits or peta who are severely deprived of merits. They are in such a pitiful state of deprivation that they are willing to possess a filthy human body to make the medium enter a trance and convey message to the client, thinking that they could make merits this way. The higher devas would never want to even come close to our filthy bodies. We smell too badly for them.
Paranormal accounts related from family members, relatives, and friends help too. Since young I am intrigued by stories of the supernatural world. My late maternal grandmother and my mother saw deities before. I don’t think I have any reason to doubt them. I personally have encountered some strange happenings/sightings which really led me to strongly believe that non-human is not a figment of our imagination.
There is a mistake in the first article by Bhante Suvanno. It was mentioned that the highest 4 realms (28-31) are the Pure Abodes. Pure Abodes should be in the 23-27 realms.
Lal mentioned: “9. Khammakkhayāya kamma (or kamma that lead to kammakkhaya) or kusala kamma do not directly remove existing kamma beeja. They lead to a state of mind where existing kamma beeja are UNABLE to bring vipāka.”
Does it imply that during the last moments of death of an Arahant, he/she would not see any nimitta? Or does he/she still see nimitta but is unfazed by it? I would think the former is what is meant by existing kamma beeja unable to bring vipāka.
I would like to elaborate a bit on In the Pure Abodes, is there no possibility of a living Arahant there since one who has attained Arahanthood would immediately enter Parinibbana?. I’m referring to an Anagami who has attained Arahanthood in the Pure Abodes. So, the question is will this Anagami-turned-Arahant take a very long vacation in the Pure Abodes until his lifespan there is fully exhausted and then enters Parinibbana.
Hi Lal,
“If one did not have a solid body, one attaining the Anagami stage would be instantaneously born in the rupavacara realms reserved for the Anagamis…”
Is this the case of a deva or rupavacara brahma who has attained Anagami fruition?
“and one attaining the Arahant stage would immediately undergo Parinibbana (i.e., cease to exist in the 31 realms and immediately get to Nibbana)”
In the Pure Abodes, is there no possibility of a living Arahant there since one who has attained Arahanthood would immediately enter Parinibbana?
Thanks.
Hi Lal,
You mentioned: “Nibbatti lakkhana is basically the blueprint for the building up of any sankata.”
I contemplated on this topic of Nibbatti Lakkhana again and would like to pen down some thoughts. Since Nibbatti Lakkhana defines the blueprint for any sankata, it would appear that it also defines what we are capable of doing and achieving. For example, a cat, no matter how hard it tries and imagines itself to be an eagle flying in the sky, can never become an eagle in this lifetime. An eskimo no matter how aspirated he is to become a NBA basketballer is never going to realise his dreams. In simple words, Nibbatti Lakkhana is in a way, genes, genetics. Heredity passed on from our past kamma, not only in the form of DNA, but also our blessings and mishaps (vipaka). It defines (and determines to a certain extent), what we are capable of achieving and the potentiality of the type of vipaka that can be unleashed onto us when certain conditions are fulfilled. A person born poor can only associate with the poor like sticking around with his/her own family members whereas the rich and powerful can network with the rich and powerful. Not only because they can, but also because they are having the right genes to perform to a certain level of competency (or lack thereof). Now comes the crucial part. A person with some background on Tilakkhana will know the futility of pursuing worldly stuffs. So naturally, he/she sees the worthlessness of worldly things and will ease off the throttle instead of trying too hard in life. Whereas for the case of a worldly person who has yet to give some serious thought on Tilakkhana, might fall into serious depression when things do not go their way.
Maybe the Body Farm can help you cut back on sexual lust. Imagine the most beautiful humans you are attracted to are left out there to rot just like any corpses in the farm. Will they be any different?
Viewer discretion strongly encouraged.
“Earthlings” is some strong Dhamma medicine to remind us on the intense sufferings animals had gone through, are currently going through, and will be going through in future. I often reflect on this…why is it that I can be born a human in this life whereas an animal has to be born an animal? Which god in this universe will create animals to go through such horrific sufferings? I felt really sorry for the animals. In the documentary, the part where it was mentioned that 8.5 million chickens are culled every week in the United States, and that’s chicken alone in one country, let alone the massive varieties of animals out there roaming on Mother Earth. If we were to normalise all beings (say from the smallest ant to the largest whale) to the size of a human being and put everyone on the same level playing field, obviously we need a planet much much larger than our Earth to contain everyone of us! Imagine a mighty creator god were to give us a chance to reborn as a human. All we have to do is to throw a baseball into the crowd and see whether we get to hit on a human being. If we do, bingo, we get to be reborn as a human being again. Otherwise, we will be reborn as an animal. Just by using logical evaluation, from a probability point of view, we can see that the chance of us hitting on a human being is almost zero.
Embodied,
I am also brought up in a Taoist family and been exposed to esoteric practises if Taoism. Actually, Taosim and Hinduism share some commonalities.
Anyway, my reply to this thread is not directed at you, for accusing you of not having a firm belief in rebirth. If I had given you such an impression, please accept my sincere apologies. I have read your other posts and you have clearly stated that you do not not believe in rebirth.
Hi Embodied,
I have no qualms about people believing in rebirth or not. I’m just saying, validating Tilakkhana against our current life experience is essential, but not good enough. We cultivate the path in accordance to Buddha Dhamma because we want to end suffering. Otherwise, learning philosophy from Lao Tze or Confucius would be a good enough option for us to cultivate an ethical lifestyle that ensues our current life unsatisfactoriness is kept at bay. But this alone can at most warrant a heavenly rebirth. Both Lao Tze and Confucius are deities in Taoism. Lao Tze being the founder of Tao (The Way).
