[raj]

Sir, I did read the posts, but it seems I am reading, listening to talks and trying to memorize suttas and my brain is not registering certain things (too much input).
I think I need to read and contemplate on what I read. I read and then I listen to a talk immediately after that, or do something else.
Thanks for the clarifying the matter, I seem to have missed something very important.

[raj]

Sir, I was reading the reverse process of PS (avijja nirodah shakhara nirodho) and was wondering if the process works only after one has gained stream entry or it can happen to anyone trying to follow the noble 8 fold path.
I was thinking it is probably being activated while doing vipassana, because when in meditation, one is stopping vaci shankhara from arising, and I presume the old shankhara rise up to fill in the void, and by simply watching them and not indulging in them, they go away, and other old one arise, and the process of purification starts.
I had also heard of a preliminary stage of sotapanna called chullu sotapanna (may be I probably misspelled it). Is there such a stage?

[raj]

This is an attempt to share my positive experiences and hear from other meditators so that we can all progress on the 8 fold noble path.
I am a vipassana meditator (Goenka school) and was struggling to maintain my daily quota of meditation, which is a qualification requirement to sit for the long courses (20,30 days) and they also have 45,60 and 90 days. But for the past few days I look forward to doing it!
I was a dedicated follower of the Vedic school from my early 20’s and had learnt hundreds of hymns for the next 30 years or so, and I don’t see any use in chanting them, now that I have started to follow the teaching of the buddha.
So I decided to start learning some basic suttas and started with Karaniya metta sutta. It probably took me a couple of months and after hearing it many times every day, I have almost memorized it.
I decided to do the Rattna sutta next. I listen to it at least 5 times a day and sometimes more.
All these positive vibrations are helping me with the meditation.
There was a plague or epidemic in the city of Vaishalli and the Buddha visited the city out of his causeless mercy. He taught this sutta to the Ven. Ananda, who travelled to various parts of the city and chanted this sutta, and city got rid of the disease.
If this sutta can rid a city of a plague, imagine what it can to us!
Also for the past one week or so, I don’t listen to any current politics on news ( I realized these people just throw dirt on each other, and it is a contribution to wrong speech, so I just read headlines and just hear news on health issues). I spend my time listening to spiritual talks and different chanting.
The reduction of material vibration and the increase of spiritual vibration has done the trick.
Hopefully I will be able to maintain it, because this is a wonderful experience and the other was just boring and same old thing.
The pandemic is an added bonus, because I don’t know if and when I will end up in the daily stats and how much time I have in this life to practice the Dhamma. It has had a good positive effect on me.
I think, this past week has been more spiritually productive than attending a long retreat!
If I could manage to maintain this, or replicate this when I find myself unable to meditate, it would be great. I wont have to depend on retreats. This past few years, it has been so difficult to go to retreats. Either they were closed, or they have all kinds of requirements and conditions (vaccines, masks, quarantine rules, PCR reports, etc.)
I don’t think I would have managed, if it was not for Puredhamma website, and also the Y tube videos on Buddhism available these days.
Metta to all!

[raj]

This is an attempt to share my positive experiences and hear from other meditators so that we can all progress on the 8 fold noble path.
I am a vipassana meditator (Goenka school) and was struggling to maintain my daily quota of meditation, which is a qualification requirement to sit for the long courses (20,30 days) and they also have 45,60 and 90 days. But for the past few days I look forward to doing it!
I was a dedicated follower of the vedic school from my early 20’s and had learnt hundreds of hymns for the next 30 years or so, and I don’t see any use in chanting them, now that I have started to follow the teaching of the buddha.
So I decided to start learning some basic suttas and started with Karaniya metta sutta. It probably took me a couple of months and after hearing it many times every day, I have almost memorized it.
I decided to do the Rattna sutta next. I listen to it atleast 5 times a day and sometimes more.
All these positive vibrations are helping me with the meditation.
There was a plague or epidemic in the city of Vaishalli and the Buddha visited the city out of his causeless mercy. He taught this sutta to the Ven. Ananda, who travelled to various parts of the city and chanted this sutta, and city got rid of the disease.
If this sutta can rid a city of a plague, imagine what it can to us!
I have also heard a lecture by the Ven. Bhikku Bodhi on the 4 types and aid to meditation. It was a while back, and I think it was 1. Metta bhavana, 2. Buddhanusati (meditating on the qualities of the Buddha) 3. Marananusati (the temporary nature of the body) and one more.
Also for the past one week or so, I don’t listen to any current politics on news ( I realized these people just throw dirt on each other, and it is a contribution to wrong speech, so I just read headlines and just hear news on health issues). I spend my time listening to spiritual talks and different chantings.
The reduction of material vibration and the increase of spiritual vibration has done the trick.
Hopefully I will be able to maintain it, because this is a wonderful experience and the other was just boring and same old thing.
The pandemic is an added bonus, because I don’t know if and when I will end up in the daily stats and how much time I have in this life to practice the Dhamma. It has had a good positive effect on me.
This past week has been more spiritually productive than attending a long retreat!

[raj]

After thinking a little more about it, I am wondering if this particular chain of PS got initiated
when the sound contacted my ears, and my ignorance helped initiate the whole process.
On the other hand, if someone was in deep meditation, that sound would not have initiated the process because that individual would not identify with the sound.
Is my understanding correct that the chain can be initiated from any point, and in my case it started at phassa, and my avijja contributed to the completion of the process, and it ended with the passing away of the sound (the marana/ceasing of this particular PS process) and my next PS got initiated when the next thought got generated in my mind.
Also when one chain of PS is happening, can a another event initiate another PS and overlap this one? In other words, if a person is very agitated does he have a whole bunch of PS happening and multiplying and aiding each other like team effort to make that person extremely agitated which make him/her go in a rage?

[raj]

I was doing my routine vipassana meditation this morning (a requirement to qualify to sit for long courses in the Goenka centers), and was trying to understand Paticca Samuppada (PS) and how it works.

I usually have a white noise to avoid distractions (the apartment complex is not ideal for meditation). It was 2.30 am so I decided not to use the white noise (ocean waves) because it was quite. The distractions started with someone driving past with loud music. I started to analyze and try to understand the 12 links of the PS process.

(1)I have avijjaa (since I am not liberated), (2) my volition was to sit and meditate and

attemept to cleanse my mind (3) my srota vinnana were activated with the music (4) I was

thinking about the car and the driver (nama rupa) and trying to send metta to him (5) salayatana (6) phassa had

already happened when I heard the noise (7) vedana took place in some parts of the body (8) tanha and

(9) updana was desiring the absence of the music and may be there was clinging for a few seconds.

My question is, is it necessary for all 12 links in the process to happen at all the times, or in this case the music faded away and bhava, jati, jara/ marana, shokha and paridev did not take place? and did I kind of understand the PS process correctly?

Goenkaji, in his talks makes the following statement:
He mentions how a river is constantly flowing and changing, and the entire section of a river is completely different after a given period of time.
Then he makes another statement of a man dipping in the water and coming out, and he says the man
who took a dip some seconds ago is completely different from this current person. That our body is constantly undergoing change.
Is the body or the gandabha which is constantly changing or is it both?
And is the PS process happening continuously as we are changing continuously 24/7 or does it cease happen sometimes (especially when we are in a deep sleep)

[raj]

Hi Lang,
Thanks for the tip, I am planning on doing an online course on metta meditation in the near future.
I am happy to hear that you have also heard the same talk from Bhante Vimalarasi several times.
Which other monks you listen to?
I used to listen to Bhikku Yuttadhammo a lot, but I don’t follow his meditation technique. I have heard hundreds of talks by him. Just on the Dhammapada topic, I have heard him about three to four hundred times. He has give 200+ talks on the Dhammapada, and some of them I have heard it 5 to 10 times, I enjoy repeated hearings. Some of those stories are excellent and uplifting!
Some of the other monks I listen to are Ajhan Brahmali, Ajhan Amaro, Ajhan Cha and several others.
I listen to whatever pops up on my sidebars. I must have heard at least 30 to 40 monks.
Please share your realizations when you get a chance.
I had shared my yahoo mail, I also just created a new gmail. Some people like gmail for some reason.

< [email protected] >

Wish you all the best,
Raj

[raj]

Sorry, made an attempt to just paste the link, but the whole thing got copied. Still have not figured out how to just paste the link!
I am aware of the disadvantage of doing it this way , because once you pause it, it comes up with other videos which could be enticing and distracting.
Would be nice if it could be deleted and replaced by just the link.

[raj]

I have listened to many of Thannissaro Bhikku’s talks in the past few years. Some of them multiple times.
Generally his theme is how to breath and make one feel comfortable in the meditation process, and I presume it is to be able to get into Jhana.
I understand and agree with Lalji that our goal is get out of samsara and not to experience the pleasure of jhana.
But I was thinking for those of us who cannot make significant progress in this lifetime, the time and the process of death would be great opportunity. I have heard that death can be a painful experience. But if we are good at and have learned the process (by Thanissaro Bhikku) to ignore the pain, we can have a clearer mind and leave the body with the intention of making further progress on the path, which will give us a birth which will be favorable to continue the 8 fold noble path.

I have also listened several times to Bhante Vimalaramsi, in one particular talk he teaches how to get into the first Jhana. He says that the Buddha gave great emphasis to Jhana and that is because it is the path to Nibnanna.
It is an hour and 16 minutes talk, but in the 1st 25 minutes itself he talks about all these points.
I have given the link below, I hope others will listen and give their input.

Bhante Vimalaramsi teaches Metta meditation. I attended a 10 day retreat in Missouri last year
because Goenka Vipassana centres were closed due to the pandemic.
I was not sure what it was but went anyway to break my addiction to watch tv on presidential polictics.
I wanted to leave on the 1st day because it was very different from vipassana. I liked the peace and quite, so I stayed but did his technique partially. In my sessions I would do 90% vipassana and 10% metta. By doing that, it would not disqualify me to do the 30 day vipassana course which I had planned to do in 2021.

With all the limitations and travel restrictions due to the pandemic, I am extremely grateful to
be able to participate in the puredhamma forum.

[raj]

Hi Ynot,

I thought of the privacy issue, then felt its no big deal. I am retired now and have plenty of free time, and if I don’t like a message I can delete it and learn to practice metta. By the way I have several email accounts, worst case scenario, I can close the account.

This email I have is just for dhamma related topics. <[email protected]>
(but I don’t check my mail everyday, and take a few days to reply, especially if I happen to be travelling or in the Indian subcontinent).

I also want to be able to communicate with serious vipassana students because I have lost all contact with them because I have not been able to go there since Sept 2019 due to covid restrictions. I had planned to live there as a longterm server after retirement, but covid changed everything. But it is a blessing in disguise because I would have not got the full benefit and guidance of the puredhamma site, because over there you get very limited internet access.

I would have not understood anicca is not the same as anitya and there is no such pali word! and anatta has nothing to do with nonself! That in itself outweighs all other considerations.

I have realized that being too loyal to any one organization and not getting exposed to other views can have adverse effect to ones progress. Believe it or not I was very closely connected to another organization for 33 years and by providence got in touch with Buddhism and we were preached to stay away from the Buddha’s teachings!
The minute someone says don’t listen to other views, should raise a red flag!
It is like being restricted to one diet, one season or being restricted to one small county or zipcode (as was the case last year due to covid). I feel that I have been very fortunate to be guided by benevolent spiritual guiding force all through my life. In hindsight even all my failures were a blessing in disguise!

Metta

[raj]

Thanks Y Not for the tip. I have duckduckgo as my search engine and it did not produce the same result. But I copied and pasted directly from Ytube.
I am not sure if we are allowed to share email info on the forum, that way I can contact you if I run into other computer issues.
My son used to help me but he has gone overseas.

[raj]

Sir, this is in reference to comment 35534 where you mentioned that devas cannot help humans.
I was thinking about the story of Mattakundali in the dhammapada story. His father was a miser
and the son died after being ill and due to lack of care by his miserly father, and became an angel because he saw the Buddha just before he was going to die and paid homage to the Buddha in his mind.
He came back as a angel and guided his father who was grieving for his dead son.
Is the angel a different category and not considered a deva?

[raj]

this the link to the talk by Thannissaro Bhikku on the above subject

[raj]

Sorry I am not not sure how to do it, but will try to figure it out

I sent it from my phone to [email protected]

[raj]

Please go to you tube and search for the following:

170311 the three dangers \\ Thanissaro Bhikku\\ Dhamma Talk

the talk duration is 21:32 mts this particular reference starts 18:30 mts

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