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Christian, what you describe is the follow up thoughts which can be somanassa or domanassa vedana. That is mind made, agreed. I mean the inital vipaka vedana. The ear-piercing sound will cause unpleasant vedana even in an Arahant and his body will probably automatically react. How can this be neutral?
Hi Lodonyo,
What you describe here was also a big part of my world view in the past. So I can understand you at least a bit. Let me answer your questions as good as I can.Questions:
1. Is it a good idea to just “admit” the reality of merit giving, despite any thoughts of it being contrived or “selfish”. Should I make a concerted effort every day to simply accumulate and dedicate merit however I can as a general gathi-cultivator??? Should I strive against any behavior that says otherwise?One should learn the Buddha Dhamma and contemplate about it so that one can really feel joy related to giving. One needs compassion and a good heart. That comes with the understanding of the true nature of this world or Tilakkhana. You should do Satipattana and therefore act with sati all day. Whatever comes to the mind must be seen with sati, whether it is good/moral, neutral/functional, bad/unmoral. Discard all unmoral thinking, stop it with force if nothing helps. After a certain time your mind will know right from wrong.
Is giving mental/physical offerings on a personal altar any good at all? Do beings in paralowa/loka or upper realms really benefit from such things and what about a sotapanna abandoning religious activities? My wife claims to have (siddhi)powers of sight and while I act & believe in the spirit realms/deva realms I don’t know enough about it to live as if i’m interacting with it?
As long as one cannot perceive the other realms as real there is no need to force oneself to offer something. But you could train it, just a little offer every day, offered with compassion.
3.Is it a good idea to create a bhavana(?)/meditation that is something like “is what i’m doing right now something I want to happen again and again?” according to pati-icca samu-upada?
This is what we have to do. We cultivate our gathi in a way that there is no future bhava. This gathi is cultivated by understanding the true nature of this world. In this way one will lose all attachments. You do it with anapana and satipattana every day. You should do it in stting meditation as well as in daily activities. It need an effort or better it needs the satara iddhipada.
4.Is it a good idea to generate energy focusing on creating a gathi-character that “meditates often” despite the nuance of supramundane/mundane objects. and…
Is it a generally good idea to think of “creating a gathi” as a kind of useful tool in general, with the thought of ‘future’ jati and other births in mind? For instance with my worldly concerns it could be something like “I’m shifting my gathi to helping people with x-problem and by using -x solution as a gifts to my future births”???Same as in #3 above. The habit of meditation brings a calm mind which can lose attachments easier. If you follow the 8fold path there is no need to cultivate another “rescuer-bhava”, instead you should cultivate Samadhi towards Nibbana, hence a bhava that drifts to total release. Maybe you should read (again) the Bhavana section on Lals website. I do not know which of the five hindrances (pancanivarana) is blocking you most. It only feels like thina middha and vicikicca. I really do not want to offend you in any way. Excuse me, if you feel uneasy because of anything I write.
There is a contradiction to the post Does the First Noble Truth Describe only Suffering?, where it is said:
In the first part it says, “jathi pi dukkha, jara pi dukkha, vyadhi’pi dukkha, maranan pi dukkha…….”. Most people translate this incorrectly as, “birth is suffering, getting old is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering”.
Does one suffer when a baby is born to the family? Do we not celebrate births (of loved ones), and even celebrate birthdays? So it is incorrect to interpret “jathi pi dukkha” literally as “birth is suffering”.
But in the post Essence of Buddhism – In the First Sutta it is said:
jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byādhipi dukkho, maraṇampi dukkhāṃ, appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho, yampicchaṃ na labhati tampi dukkhāṃ—saṃkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā.Translated: Bhikkhus, What is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
“Birth is suffering, getting old is suffering, getting sick is suffering, dying is suffering. …”
…We may not remember, but birth is a traumatic event, just like the dying moment. Coming out of the birth canal is a traumatic event for both the mother and the baby.
Thus my question: “birth is suffering” or “birth of something not liked is suffering”?
How do you understand the “love”-thing he is talking about?
Also this “…we are here in the soul school … you have nothing to fear…you are a devine creature”Lal, so you say a Sotapanna Anugami must have the mindset for grasping the Tilakkhana and this requires tihetuka birth.
Can a dvihetuka person be a sotapanna anugami? Such a person cannot attain magga/phala citta in that bhava. But for a sotapanna anugami no magga citta are required. But a sotapanna anugami belongs to the sangha.
When I get the discussion on AN 7.52 right, getting to the Anagami stage by dana still requires the understanding of Tilakkhana or the futility of this world. With this understanding one will do punna/kusala kamma, because this is the only kamma which should be done.
Hi y not,
it is from Lals post Kukkuravatika Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya 57) – Kammakkhaya in section Sutta Interpretationsthe sutta link: https://suttacentral.net/mn57/en/sujato
In this sutta 4 kinds of actions (kamma) are mentioned, but only #4 leads to magga phala (neither dark nor bright with neither-dark-nor-bright result), which is abandoning of all other 3 kinds of kamma.
This fulfillment of duties is part of the endless PS cycles within sansara. If one sees this as the purpose, then one should remain in sansara forever. These debts are sky high and very painful to pay back. Angulimala never paid back all his debts and left as Arahant.
People have this feeling that there is a purpose or that something happened in life for a reason. Sure, there is enough reason for vipaka. This we experience every day. If some event triggered a big change in life it happened because of attachment or because of PS cycles related to this event. But still all happens in the realms of sansara and is rupa based. Attachment to rupa is the problem, not the solution.
All what is needed, is to stop the mistake of attaching to anything in this world. That requires the development of panna. Nothing more, nothing less.
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A „purpose“ requires a creator or thinker to set the goal or purpose. From my experience sometimes women have this view. I think this is a ditthi. As per Buddha Dhamma all happens because there are causes which lead to results if conditions are good enough.
There is also a common view in Christian communities, that we all have to come back to our Father (God) and we are now as a human being in search to fulfill this purpose. This is also a ditthi which does not take into account the animal realm. If you ask a Christian believer: What type of beings are animals? Do they also have a “soul”, feelings, perceptions …? They will hardly understand your question and what do you want. The world view of the Buddha is missing.
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Hi Vilas,
thank you for the links. I will definitely listen all desana.
Also thank you for the invitation to the desana via skype. Unfortuantely I am at my workplace at that time (in Germany). But I guess you will publish them on YouTube.Thank you Vilaskadival for the desana! Again your analysis is very clear in explaining how we perceive the world and based on that how we act according to the gathi. I will listen to the desana again and also recommend it to some of my friends.
Would be good to have the link to the Girimananda Sutta. What are you chanting at the beginning (in Pali?)?
