Good morning!
Though clouds may dim the sun's direct light,
May your heart glow with inner brightness.
May kindness rise quietly in your thoughts,
May soft compassion wrap around each moment.
How are you doing today?
Thanks, pretty well. Didn't sleep cause I hate sleeping and have frequent nightmares or just uncomfortable sleep. What is the idea of the universe being quiet? Does anyone know some stuff about that idea? (Mahayana or thera)
>>40510432>What is the idea of the universe being quiet?what do you mean?
舎利弗に告ぐ、我も亦是の如し。
衆聖の中の尊、世間の父なり。
一切衆生は皆是れ吾が子なり。
"The Buddha said to Śāriputra:
'I am also like this. I am the father of the world,
The best of the sages.
All sentient beings are my children.'"
>>40510436From the lankavatara sutra. The universe or the mind or something like that is quiescent said Buddha there. But I would like to know more about the idea maybe from other sources.
>>40510441“quiescent” here doesn’t mean lifeless or inert in a worldly sense, but rather that the true nature of mind is beyond all arising and ceasing. It is tranquil, unyielding, and peacefully luminous even as the surface-level mind ebbs and flows.
>>40510450I see. Can you elaborate on the luminous idea? What is that, what is luminous about the mind?
>>40510459>What is that, what is luminous about the mind?It's the primordial state of the mind, when it is uncorrupted by defilements
>>40510514But luminous, that comes from lumen which means light in Latin. How does this relate to the mind?
>>40510521Luminous as in being untroubled by defilements, like the sun being luminous without clouds
>>40510523I see. Is this comparison based on the sutra texts?
>>40510527It can be found in both the Theravada and Mahayana texts
>>40510528Oh nice, ok. Thanks for your time. Theravada is good because personally I prefer Theravada.
Don't reply to this post if you aren't planning to get enlightened.
>>40512985Gate gate paragate parasamgate Bodhi svaha
>>40512985I keep flip flopping between ascension and some weird previous version. How can I permanently ascend?
>What are the Four Noble Truths?
1. The five aggregates that make up the phenomenal world are suffering (dukkha).
2. The origin of this suffering is desire for sense-pleasure, desire for existence, and desire for non-existence.
3. This suffering ceases when these desires cease.
4. The cessation of desire (nirvana) may be accomplished by the Noble Eightfold Path.
>What is the Noble Eightfold Path?
Right View, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Meditation.
>Where can I learn more?
Ideally you should read the discourses of the Buddha. For secondary lit and translations, read up to see if the author has an agenda besides promoting Dharma (theosophy, perennialism, etc.). Avoid the 19th & early 20th centuries: Rhys Davids, Herrigel, Jung, Suzuki, etc. Modern scholarship is much better, older commentators are more hardcore.
>Pre-Sectarian
In the Buddha's Words - anthology by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Atthakavagga - Pannobhasa's translation
Dhammapada - most translations
Other suttas at Access to Insight and Sutta Central. The Buddha's first discourse is SN 56.11
>Theravada
Visuddhimagga - Buddhaghosa
Theravada Abhidhamma - Karunadasa
Progress of Insight - Mahasi Sayadaw
>Mahayana
There are many schools of Mahayana. These are some of the core sutras.
Bodhisattva Path (Ugrapariprccha/Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutras) - Thich Nhat Hanh
Lotus Sutra - Burton Watson's Translation
Three Zen Sutras (Heart, Diamond, & Platform) - anthology by Red Pine
>Vajrayana
Intro to Tantra - Lama Yeshe
Refining Gold - Dalai Lama
Look to centers in your area & sites that offer empowerment online (avoid NKT, Rigpa, and Shambhala). Also check out Garchen Rinpoche and the Dalai Lama's YouTube catalogs; you can take empowerment/transmission from their recordings if vows are understood, but really you should have a teacher.
The FB group Vajrayana Events regularly posts online empowerments, lungs, and teachings.
>>40515281Can you recommend anything on Japanese vajrayana?
>>40515385All beings shall be freed. Don't get carried away.
>>40515418Do they need to be reborn as a man first
Or is it better to be reborn as a man
>>40515790I don't think that's a question you should concern yourself with. Not because I don't think it's not worth asking, but because the meme you shared seems to point towards you having the wrong reasons to ask it.
Desire is not the root of suffering. Getting rid of desire will not get rid of an incurable chronic disease as an example. Your move?
>>40515865Why does the memes reasons have to be forced on my reasons
>>40516390Living is an incurable chronic disease;
The worst part about dying is the desire not to, the worst part of pain is the comfort you had before it.
>>40515385>It is impossible, it cannot be, that a woman should arrive at the full enlightenment of a BuddhaMan nor woman couldn't, but a tin can.
You get both or neither, neither one nor the other.
>>40515297Contact a Sangha.
https://sites.google.com/view/shingon-pdx/home
https://seattlekoyasan.com/
https://tendaiaustralia.com/the-tendai-school-around-the-globe/ (I recommend Tendai Australia, Tendai Buddhist Institute and Tendai UK)
Books won't get you very far but "Kukai: Major Works" By Hakeda, "Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice" (I think that's the title I'm typing off memory here) by Minoru Kiyota, "The Weaving of Mantra" by Abe, and "The Collected Teachings of the Tendai Lotus School" by BDK.
But really if you want any transmission you need to be part of a sangha (I am transmitted mantras in my Tendai sangha) and to get initiation into esoteric rituals and mandalas you have to be ordained as a priest.
>>40517025there's Shingon also, in Australia.
I know Tendai mixes esoteric with mainstream practices, does pure land too, and lotus sutra
>and lotus sutra only-nism gave rise to Nichiren buddhism!
Also, nichiren SHU altars are extremely beautiful..Shu is the least extremist\least political nichiren branch, they have some "shamanic" practices too. they chan NAMU, not NAM.
they say nichiren is a bodhisattva, not a Eternal Buddha
>>40515385are the quotes real? probably, don't care enough to look it up
is buddhism le based anti roastie incel philosophy? No, there are more than enough quotes that are quite the oppsite (for example, even in the Pali canon there are quotes of buddha saying women are better monks). besides that, everything and especially those things with deeply rooted emotional attachements are nothing but illusions. The Word Monk and associated titles in most east asian languages are genderless for that exact reason
>>40517078Yeah, I just posted sanghas that have online services. I didn't know there was Shingon in Australia, that is very cool.
Tendai doesn't mix esoteric practices with non esoteric practices per-se, they are just practiced alongside each other. Since we believe in the one Buddha vehicle (ekayana) non-esoteric practices lead perfectly fine to Buddhahood, just not Buddhahood in this very body I believe (sokushin jobutsu); and the speed towards Buddhahood might be different. I wish works by Ennin and Enchin are translated one day, especially their esoteric interpretations of the Lotus Sutra.
Ironically, Nichiren considers his interpretation and sect to be "true Tendai", which strayed too far from Masters Zhiyi and Saicho and the Lotus Sutra. He also has an esoteric streak with for example the siddham seed syllables of Fudo Myo-o and Aizen Myo-o inscribed on the Gohonzon. I don't follow Nichiren and don't believe that reciting the daimoku grants Buddhahood (or we would see Nichiren practitioners who are living Buddhas..) but I certainly think he had many interesting ideas and that he is more nuanced than one would think.
>>40515183Permanently convince yourself. How else should I send you off into eternity?
Anon convinced me to check out the Nirvana Sutra, which is not easy to encounter. I couldn't find the audiobook so I made this YouTube playlist using a robot voice. Enjoy if you're interested in the teaching of the Nirvana Sutra!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkWX0W5LgEgGO_kPSrgFjIi3_gFPPrqFq
Just ignore the rest of my YT acct it's whacky
>>40510432The Tathagata is the Eternal root of existence. It's like when you look at a flower growing on a stem, you can see the root but it is Invisible. The Buddha doesn't speak because he is Eternal and Immutable to change. To know this as the Wisdom of the All-Void is to Turn the Wheel of the Dharma.
Thanks for asking this, I am dedicating the year to studying the Nirvana Sutra so it syncs up
>>40510459Emptiness and luminosity are One, but you should be free of their duality, just as Samantabadra is unified with his Consort, Samantabodri. This is the non-duality of the Abyss of Light, called Apollonyon in Revelations and the Darkness and Light of the Great Tao
Void is preeminent just as there is an Angel of the Abyss and yin triumphs over yang
It's called the emptiness-luminosity in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
It's sort of the Buddhist equivalent of the Gnostic Light of Christ
>>40510514The Self-Nature is Originally Pure and is always-already uncorrupted by defilements
>>40510527The Sun analogy is good but it is hard to see the Buddha-Nature as it is thus-like. Taking the Void/Luminosity analogy as good, the Lotus Sutra says the Buddha is actually like the CLOUD. This is the Single Vehicle, which rains the rain of the Dharma
>>40515790Any woman who sees the Buddha nature is always-already a Man
>>40516390Disease is illusion coming from the 12-linked chain of dependent Origination
>>40519527Every sentient-being receives the same Dharma, but Variously. So you need to soul-read or use Skillful Means to liberate them. This is analogous to how all the Various Plants grow by the same rain engendered by the Dragon
It is actually rather difficult to acquire the skill to preach the Single Vehicle on /x/, because different sentient-beings encounter the same rain of Dharma variously
It's a perfect analogy which comes from the Lotus Sutra!
It's harder for women to attain enlightenment because women naturally feel the need to identify with a group/tribe in order to feel secure, which makes detachment (ahem, free thinking) difficult.
>>40519956It's hardest to attain enlightenment, of all demographics, for men who tend to think (too often) women can be effectively trolled into a higher state of consciousness.
What? Why would I take off the name? I'm ready to go public, what is the deal honestly?
>>40517078>>40517167There's actually a Shingon temple in my city(I think this is a rare thing in South America but after looking up their lineage they seem legit and the monk went to koyasan).
I'm thinking about going to it because it seems way more legit than the "zen" ones which come across as more new age than actual zen. But I wanted to read more about them so I have an idea what they are about.
>>40520133Go public as in?
Had a vision of Maitreya last night bros...
It really is like that isn't it....
He's already here. He's always been here, he's never going anywhere.
No more words I already am dangling over Naraka even saying this. Mouth shut.
>>40515385We can go deeper with this so let's do it.
First off Jataka's are Thai Folk Religion, Buddhist in aesthetic but nothing to do with the scripture.
The Angutt quote is taken out of context. It's describing the unique challenges each gender faces in searching for enlightenment, and it prefaced by discussing the insatiable desires men have as well.
The final quote however, is much more interesting, and 100% true. A fully enlightened Buddha, a Samyaksambuddha, will ALWAYS be male. All 5 of the current tathagatas are male, and will always be male. Even Arya Tārā, the female mahaboddhisatva, one of the 'highest' beings in the entire Buddhist world view, who for all intensive purposes is 'equal' in enlightenment to the tathagata and who has Vowed to always take the form of a woman and to support the enlightenment and of woman, understands that upon her final incarnation (as much as the idea of a 'final incarnation' could even exist) that she will take the form of a man.
The reason behind this requires an understanding of the prajnaparamita, but to horribly simplify into western esoteric terms, the prajnaparamita is the feminine principle. She is the mother of all the buddhas. Boddhisattvas rely on prajnaparamita in order to stay within Samsara yet free from the afflictions.
>all phenomena bear the mark of Emptiness>their true nature is the nature of no Birth no Death, no Being no Non-being, no Defilement no Purity, no Increasing no Decreasing.The prajnaparamita is the true nature of purified Samsara, emptiness free from all suffering, the womb of the tathagata leading all beings to perfect final enlightenment.
>>40524645Boddhisattvas save all mother sentient beings because they literally are saving their mother. The infinite potentiality of Prajnaparamita's sunyata is actualized through enlightenment seeking beings which are her children. But upon achieving enlightenment with no Karmic residue, what some what consider arhantship (ignoring the truth of the ekayana), the feminine principle of Prajnaparamita is anihilated in union with the masculine principle of skillful means. This is the what yab-yum describes and why the masculine figure is always seated in the lotus seat, the symbol of earning complete enlightenment. This is the final goal of the tantras and why sex imagery is present in them, I've seen feminist blogs about how Tantra is sexist because these ideas are presented to those who don't fully grasp them. What could be more of a woman's desire than to be completely annihilated in love and ascend with your partner.
>>40524645>nothing to do with the scriptureSome might argue this places it closer to the teachings, as the scriptures came about long after the oral traditions and they focused on the most basic ideas.
>>40524718This is true and a good point lol.
Earliest Jatakas are 5th century bc, though most are basically Buddhist retellings of older Indian folktales
>>40524664Can you please explain and maybe cite the idea that prajnaparamita is supposed to give way to skillful means? Does this apply to the Bodhisattva?
>>40524645Is it like Sophia?
I like Plato's Symposium and the role of eros in reaching enlightenment.
Actually I always wondered if it would be possible to reconcile the western esoteric view on love and desire with Buddhist thought.
>>40524825I'm a little confused about this because in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha says he is beyond Love (and hate) but in the Nirvana Sutra he seems to recommend "loving-kindness." Maybe that's a translation issue? It could just mean compassion. Anyone know?
>>40524795Boddhisattvas are the union of skillful means and prajnaparamita. There is absolutely no 'giving way' of either in the existence of a boddhisattva. It's a marriage to use more crude language.
This is really only dealing with the final stages of a samyaksam, pratyeka and arhants (once again ignoring the truth of the ekayana, which adds a timeless dimension to this play, so consider everything I wrote also just skillful means with that in mind). For citing it would be within the Tantras, but if you think about it logically it makes sense.
Even beyond every tathagata being male, prajnaparamita is every phenomenon from form to omniscience being free from all characteristics and nature of its own. Only the Tathagata's, who from the womb of Prajnaparamita emerge as complete beings posses an inherent Buddha-nature of their own.
>>40524825These are my own beliefs now, but I hold that Sophia is a Saṃbhogakāya manifestation of Prajnaparamita. The only desire that boddhisattvas hold onto is the desire to 'benefit' and 'save' (diamond sutra is crying etc etc) all sentient beings. Tantra can use the desires like shackled tigers, fueling enlightenment through understanding the emptiness of these passions, but beyond that prajnaparamita is completely free from desire, so the answer is probably no.
>>40524869I have only studied commentaries on the lotus sutra, but wouldn't that just be implying the tathagata doesn't pick-and-choose beings he helps? The skillful means chooses all and brings all to complete total enlightenment, beyond the qualities of love and hate.
>>40524825>reconcile the western esoteric view on love and desireTo do this we must divorce the word "lust" from sexual connotations and return it to the origin of the seven deadly sins. It is with fear that such things begin, and in that fear we do not merely desire, we crave, we seek without resolution and become enslaved. The only distinction then is from whom do you draw your strength?
>>40525129>>40525038To this end I will say that Plato's Symposium kind of already divorces(not really) eros, desire, from lust.
Basically when Diotima is teaching Socrates about the ladder of love she does start with saying that we originally first love a body which is beautiful. That is a singular body. Then we go to loving all bodies which sre beautiful. After that ee realize the love for the beautiful soul. From that we learn to love the beauty of knowledge, and we end up loving beauty itself(as in the pattern/form of beautifulness).
Basically for plato what we would call lust is the most base form of love, and it is related to the desiderative soul.
Love for the bodies thus ends up being a kind of initiatory process.
I think it was something like that in my life. It feels like after my first romantic relationship I became able to contemplate beauty in much subtler ways that aren't related to bodily functions.
>>40525205I don't think Buddhism is in any way 'opposed' to this, Buddha has nothing against romantic love and admiring beauty. There's a sutra where a married couple come to him and say they love each other so much they want to be reborn together in the next life. He doesn't claim this is somehow wrong, he rejoices at this and tells them how to do it.
The issue is this just doesn't have much to do with the kind of liberation that Shakyamuni preached. You can correlate this with Dharma and natural law, but with final liberation probably not.
>>40525038Re: Lotus Sutra beyond Love and hate
>Doesn't this mean the Tathagata doesn't pick and choose?Yes this is related to equanimity, but Love is also associated with equanimity. The way I Primitively read it is, Love is a form of attachment
It's related to a part of a Nirvana Sutra where a Bodhisattva refuses to entertain Good in his house, because then he'd also have to love her sister, Evil
So the Buddha is beyond Good and Evil (Dhammapada), and also beyond Love and Hate (Lotus Sutra)
Speaking to Theravadins, how is it consistent that one ought to seek Virtue yet be Beyond Good and Evil, specifically talking about the Dhammapada?
lets do a mass meditation
>>40525893Buddhas and boddhisattvas don't distinguish. Whether it's the worst devil or the greatest saint, they equally provide liberation to all.
Buddha doesn't deny a moralistic world, but like Christ is a carpenter trying to be the new jerusalum, Buddha is a doctor trying to cure the problem of suffering. He just realized that evil brings more suffering and good brings less. Being beyond good and evil doesnt mean one commits evil, it actually means the opposite, due to evil being the primary cause of suffering.
One acts good because good reduces suffering, not because a set of moral good and evil laws are given to you. This to me is what he means by beyond good and evil.
>>40526098I understood from what I've read thus far that you're good because it's right, and also reduces suffering. I don't think the Buddha discarded being right and true. But correct me anyone if I'm wrong and you know the scriptures better than me.
how can a lay person make steps to live like a bhikkhu?
>>40526144I kinda realized I'm being dumb. The Buddha is not implying everyone should be beyond good and evil, he's implying the enlightened mind is beyond good and evil. The Buddha is beyond good and evil because the tathagata only infinitely works to brings all beings to enlightenment. Therefore whatever the tathagata does is good because the tathagata can ONLY do things which bring the most amount of beings to enlightenment, literally any other action cannot be taken by him, that's what makes him the tathagata.
So virtue isn't really important to the Buddha anymore, he's already practiced it so much over so many trillions of lifetimes, that any action he takes is automatically the action that leads the most beings to enlightenment. Good and evil don't imply in this case because the underlying intention of the tathagata's actions are always the single highest objective, complete liberation of all beings. The Buddha has already reduced suffering and perfected virtue, the typical rules which bind people to karmic good and evil don't apply to him, every action is free of karma and only working towards total liberation, even if we can't perceive it from our perspective. It's like the Jataka tale of the Buddha in a last murdering a pirate captain because that ship he was on was about to raid and murder another ship full of arhants. From our perspective that seems evil, from a higher perspective it's a deeply morally good action.
This is the idea of the raft, his virtue teachings only carry you so far, to the point where you need to be able to decide for yourself what actions are skillful and unskillful.
To be held to ones actions because they produce good or evil karma isn't liberation, a Buddha knows the effects of all of his actions and can choose which he will do and won't do.
brothers, i have stepped on an ant today.
it did not die and i was unsure if i should kill it to free it from suffering or not.
one must respect freedom to remain alive, i supose, but do they have this freedom? maybe they would wish to be squashed and released from once.
if i don't even know how to treat an ant, how could i even be internally without conflict when interacting with fellow humans ?
>>40526198Key factor is solitude. If you're alone a lot, and meditate a lot, there's not much difference between you and a mendicant in my opinion.
>>40526235Ok. But I still think the Buddha is virtuous and good, because also, it's the right thing. Buddha in the pali suttas at least seems to stress good conduct and doing good deeds. He doesn't say this will lead to less suffering, he says this is good and virtuous. Afaik. But if you don't see that, well let that be as it is.
>>40526266You shouldn't kill it. Taking life. Precept. Don't kill the ant even if it itself wants to be killed (it doesn't).
>>40526286You're misunderstand what I'm saying. The Buddha literally practiced near infinity lifetimes of proper virtue and goodness. He isn't just virtuous and good anon, he is the most virtuous and good being that exists. He is not saying some neitzhchian 'dominate the weak as the ubermensch' beyond good and evil. He's literally saying his intention is so pure, so focused on leading all beings to liberation, that any actuon the tathagata commits is always the best action, known 100% as being the action that leads to the most liberation of the most beings, and therefore the most happiness
If the Buddha killed a billion beings (he wouldn't but for the sake of what I'm saying) it's because that actions was somehow the most morally good action. It lead to the liberation of the most amount of beings somehow, and created the highest happiness, somehow.
The rules of good and evil he set out are the universal law of good and evil, but the important difference Buddhism has over other Sravaka movements (like Jainism), is that intention is the governing factor when it comes to karmic production. This is literally the major argument between the two schools. The Buddhas intention is so pure, that every action he takes is a good action. He is beyond good and evil because he is ONLY good. Buddhists are not beyond good and evil until they reach that level of enlightenment.
So ofc he's virtuous and good, he's the most virtuous and good. Do you understand? This is what beyond good and evil means, it means being infinitely good.
>>40526331You are saying Theravada teaches something different about morality? I'm going to have to go with thera.
>>40526350No they do not teach anything different. These teachings are from the dhammapada. But you clearly know what is right and wrong, which is what you should continue to do. Have a good day.
>>40526369I see, then thanks for the clarification. It seemed you are saying the two schools as in theravada and Mahayana. I was confused for a bit. It's good that you clarified it well done.
>>40526373Jainism and Buddhism. Not mahayana and Theravada. Sorry that may be badly worded.
>>40526350This is as far as I got with right conduct in the Mahayana: thru the Wisdom of bodhi you know what is good, while at the same time knowing that all Dharmas are empty.
>>40526377Do you have any wisdom for me beside the ideas above? I'm eager to learn.
>>40526402Interesting stuff.
>>40526402>>40526266Buddha seems to imply that killing is always bad, there isn't a single case where killing is acceptable. Even to put a being out of misery. I believe this is because the karmic ramification of killing is so high, there simply isn't a realistic case where its the best option for you.
There does seem to be some sort of idea found in both Theravada and Mahayana however of someone who kills out of absolute compassion, taking the karmic load onto themselves out of a willingness to suffer that for the sake of preventing even greater suffering of another.
This isn't in any scriptures but appears in non-canonical works a lot. The jatakas has a few instances, such as the one mentioned a few posts above, of Siddhartha killing a being, with full knowledge that the action will bring him horrible negative karma, for the sake of preventing that being he killed from committing an even more horrible action and dooming themselves to trillions of years of hell. Mahayana and Theravada folk legend has some ideas of masters who killed a being out of compassion, taking that karmic load on themselves because they saw that being would be a horrible murderer with their divine eye or something.
I'm not sure if this is worth thinking about much. For all intensive purposes beings should NEVER kill, with no exceptions.
>>40526429There is, monks, an unborn[1] — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated. If there were not that unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, there would not be the case that escape from the born — become — made — fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, escape from the born — become — made — fabricated is discerned.
Keep this in the back of your mind when thinking about anatta. You don't have to subscribe to the Mahayana idea of Buddha-nature, but it's important to at least realize where it comes out of.
Thai Forest has the deepest understanding of anatta out of any Theravada tradition imo.
>>40526469Cool, I appreciate it.
thoughts on krishnamurti?
Anons I love buddhism so much
>>40510257 (OP)Today it is business as usual.
I keep thinking back to when I was in the spirit and filming tv drama in the forbidden city. Why did they only do 1 season but 100 episodes? Why did they show Buddha's might only one time? Why do they never speak of Brahma?
>>40526942Same. The Dharma is good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end.
>>40527035I read dhammapada verses every day I love buddhism so much its unreal
how is it possible that the philosophy is about detachment and emotional control, almost guiding you towards becoming apathethic alien but then there is so much emphasis on morality/ethics ?
my empathy is very often a great source of suffering
>>40526469I'm currently struggling with the irony of Theravada having the strongest anatta and Mahayana saying all Dharmas are Empty but there is a Buddha-Nature. I also got by with a strong view of anatta thru the Diamond Sutra for about 2 years until another Anon cited the Atman of the Nirvana Sutra as Buddha-Nature. It's consistent because the Diamond Sutra says properties while unreal are not cut off from the Self-Nature, so to speak. It's not a nihilism, just medicine for the illusory mind. So far I have realized the True Mind is Buddha-Nature, but I am not yet free of doubt, due to trauma in my younger belief that Christianity was the "Truth." I like to speak of the True not Truth
>>40527059>almost guiding you towards becoming apathethic alienThis is the exact opposite of what happens in reality though. Compassion literally is the inherent energy of reality. It animates the cosmos and causes the Buddhas to act.
You might look calm and detached from the outside, but inside is a heart burning with care for all beings. From the tiniest insect to the denizens of hell. The enlightened beings resides in the Brahmaviharas constantly. Look up videos of stream-enterers talking to lay people, they seem so quiet and detached from the world, only to break into bouts of near tears as they urgently preach for people to not squander this opportunity being alive.
>my empathy is very often a great source of sufferingYour empathy is literally a weapon against the forces of evil. Sadly is being turned back upon you right now.
The Mahayana will allow you to channel it into a force you can fight with.
>>40527059Once you are free of illusion you will realize the Great Compassion Viz a vi the Buddha-Nature
>>40527099It's nice to meet you too.
>>40527104This is where my doubts arise. Aryans believed Atman was Brahman for over 3000 years. I can play with words and say the one who realizes the Buddha-Nature is "Brahman," but I have doubts as to how the Buddha nature wasn't perceived by the Vedas for millennia, and now suddenly it's supposed to be the obvious Truth
>>40527094Thai Forest is constantly accused by Theravada scholars of being
crypto-mahayana due to its views of a true-mind being nearly identical to Zen ideas of Buddhist nature, yet its the only Theravada tradition that has consistently produced enlightened beings in the last 300 years. Anatta clearly is not able to be fully captured by the Pali Canon, an idea that I believe Siddhartha would consider an obvious, and using scripture alone to understand Anatta has proved an absolute disaster for Theravada traditions.
>>40527120Brahman was my Father. I was his creation. He created the mold and gave me this domain as my own. My 2 siblings Krishna and Vishnu were both beautiful and intelligent. I was merely good at fighting, and I remain undefeated. Who am I?
>>40527104The final Mahayana teaching thru the Nirvana Sutra also upheld by the Sixth Patriarch is that the false ego comes from the five Skhandas and is illusory and transient; but the Atman is the Originally Pure, immutable and Eternal Buddha-Nature, or Tathagata root of existence. Then Zen takes the Self-Nature to be more Thus-like than Void, and points at the Dharma. I'm only Mahayana because I respect the Japanese qua Aryan enough to recognize that "Zen," i.e. Mahayana, Sutras must have some use to them. I also like that anyone, even a lay-person, can take the Buddha-vehicle (as a Bodhisattva)!
>>40527144That is because I gave my title over to Rudra.
>>40527144That is because I became a 2nd class Buddha as Guru
>>40527135This is trippy because I am very ignorant of the rift between Theravada and Mahayana, of what it Truly consists in. In Mahayana it is essentially said that sravakas seek Nirvana in this present life. One consequence of this is little kids coming up to US and asking, "How do I become a stream-enterer?" The Mindstream is Originally Pure, one does not have the goal of finding the river, and never says, I have attained the goal of finding the river. Mahayana seems to preach that the Mahayana Wisdom, which is the goal of our practice (Omniscience by the Lotus Sutra), is literally not accessible to the sravaka and Pradyaka Buddha-Vehicles. May I ask if you've ever encountered the Diamond Sutra, which seamlessly professes the anatta which cuts thru all illusion, about the Soul, Other, and Dharmadatu? The Dharmadatu is just a Way of Speaking. This is why we use Skillful Means!
Oh. Just remembered! The Buddha says in the Nirvana Sutra that his final teaching that Atman is Buddha was not the right medicine for earlier circumstances. He teaches anatta as medicinal skillful means to cleanse beings of the false-ego, so they may have compassion. For example, since the Diamond Sutra teaches there is no Individuality, we have compassion for All. That was the right medicine for a certain circumstance, but it is skillful means, and not the Ultimate Teaching. Since the Buddha-Nature (Atman) is Eternal and Immutable, there is still Nobody to have Compassion on (since that wouldn't change anything). That's why the Final Teaching of Mahayana and also in Chan is the Original Purity of the Self-Nature. But compassion still comes from anatta (since you can't causally affect the Buddha Nature, which is the only Good, "being" the same as Dharma). So you can see how the Buddha's words are always consistent, even thru skillful means...
thoughts about those theories that Jesus was a boddhisatva ?
>>40527241No. Bodhisattvas cannot say anything false
>>40527241Yeshua was an Essene Mystic who Practiced Thaumaturgy
>>40527250Suppose as an Axiom that Bodhisattvas cannot say anything false (Nirvana Sutra)
Suppose for reductio that Jesus was a Bodhisattva.
Jesus said enter by the narrow gate
Vimalakirti was a Bodhisattva
Vimalakirti said enter by the wide gate
A bodhisattva said enter by the wide gate
If you enter by the wide gate, it is false that you should enter by the narrow gate
You enter by the wide gate, since a Bodhisattva said this.
But Jesus said enter by the narrow gate
Therefore it is false that you should enter by the narrow gate
If Jesus was a Bodhisattva, then it is the case that you should enter by the narrow gate
Since it is not the case that you should enter by the narrow gate, Jesus was not a Bodhisattva (by reductio)
>>40527162>Mahayana seems to preach that the Mahayana Wisdom, which is the goal of our practice (Omniscience by the Lotus Sutra), is literally not accessible to the sravaka and Pradyaka Buddha-Vehicles.The lotus sutra says the 3 vehicles literally don't exist. Sravaka arhants actually already possess the single vehicle of the ekayana, which is good news because they actually possess even greater enlightenment than they think they have.
>>40527292In Japan, you can hire a handsome man to show up at your office and watch sad videos with you until you cry, then wipe your tears for you.
>>40527301I don't think they literally don't exist because while they are skillful means, decorated ox carts are not so dissimilar from the carts of the 3 vehicles as promised by the Excellent Father. If you say they literally don't exist in some ontologically rigid sense it sounds like the Buddha was being deceptive (even if that's not your intention). Or maybe I have autism
>>40527315Sort of like how anatta literally doesn't exist. See how it's True and Consistent?
>>40527301Yeah but Nirvana is just skillful means. It's not the true goal of Omniscience, more like a place of rest. The Buddha doesn't really go into pariNirvana, he just says he does so you don't get lazy thinking there is an old man watching you (*cough*)
>>40527315I don't think they literally don't exist. I interpret it as the three vehicles are just a teaching. There's nothing metaphysically essential about the 3 vehicles, they're a skillful means, true with a lower case t, designed to bring as many different temperaments as possible to the teachings. Think of how many people on /x/ here the Buddhist ideas and instantly recoil at them, they might accept desire causes suffering, but they have no desire to just leave the world behind and go separate and become nothing (this isn't what happens I know but it's how many people here interpret the Dharma) so he teaches the boddhisattva vehicle, designed for those Indians who wanted to cultivate Dharma in a typical Indian life, while also slowly moving towards moksha. Commitment to family is a huge part of Indian society and people wouldn't abandon their family in the suffering filled samsara. The lotus sutra peels all this back and tells the truth, that there only ever was one path and it leads only to buddhahood.
>>40527377I should add early Buddhist society was super focused on different levels of enlightenment. Arhants weren't equal to the Buddha, boddhisattvas were the highest but it would take trillions of years to complete. Different levels of arhants, are you with or without karmic residue. All these different types of Buddhas, some higher some lower. The lotus sutra scraps all of this and simply points the finger to the moon of enlightenment, saying every single person is heading towards the same goal. These seperations we place ourselves into is a just a method of teaching, since beings require classifications to continue down the path.
>>40526439The idea that the precepts should be kept perfectly at all times is one of the most difficult aspects of Theravada Buddhist ethics for me because it seems to rely so heavily on faith. E.g. In the case of an incurably sick animal who is clearly in a lot of pain or a chronically/terminally ill person who actively says they want to die, your compassion and all the consequences you can personally foresee might tell you that euthanasia would be morally justified, but the precepts say it isn't, and you really have to take the teachings on faith in prioritizing the precepts unless you've seen for yourself how the karma plays out across many lives.
It seems like even in the classic "Nazis at the door and Jews in the attic" scenario where almost everyone says you should lie to avoid the worse consequence of innocent people being killed, the perspective of the Pali canon would still be that you shouldn't lie, at least based on what Thanissaro says here https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/Meditations9/Section0013.html
And Thanissaro makes decent arguments for not lying in practice (evading the idealized form of the dilemma), but still there's an element of faith involved.
>>40527780 (cont.)
Later Thanissaro says "The purpose of protecting your precepts in this way is to ferret out and question the views you’re attached to [...] You learn to question some of the notions to which you hold very strongly that would act as excuses for breaking the precepts. You learn to see how some very noble-sounding ideals are actually a cover-up for unskillful behavior."
And I see the benefit of that, but at the same time I wonder if you couldn't take any half-decent set of ethical rules and say: "Although it might seem right to break these rules at times in the short term from a limited perspective, if only you could see all the consequences to yourself and others play out far enough, you would agree that these are the best rules." It would be very convenient if that were the case, but for people who aren't actually 100% certain that those rules are the best rules from the highest perspective, following them to the letter could just become an excuse for not really paying close attention to the consequences of your actions that you can see.
The Buddha himself says "Now, Kālāmas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, ‘This contemplative is our teacher.’ When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the observant; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness’—then you should enter & remain in them."
But in that sutta the Kalamas simply agree with the Buddha that the precepts should be followed on the basis that someone without greed, aversion, or delusion wouldn't break them, which isn't quite satisfactory to me.
>>40527788 (cont.)
Thinking about this reminds me a lot of the opposition between Judaism and Christianity where Judaism has a focus on following many sometimes strange and counterintuitive rules, often in place of doing your own moral reasoning, while Christianity -- at least my idealized notion of Pauline Christianity, is characterized by opposition to rules and instead reduces morality down to an essence of "The entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14) and "All things are permitted, but not all things are beneficial. All things are permitted, but not all things build up." (1 Corinthians 10:23). Which is nice and all, but has the downside of offering little practical guidance.
Theravada with its dedication to the five precepts is perhaps at or near an optimal place between these two extremes... but still I have doubts.
I don't know if anyone has a perfect Buddhist response to this rambling, but these are just some thoughts I've been having on the topic since being confronted with some dilemmas myself not long ago.
>>40527880This reminds me of when I was Catholic. I was so scared of breaking the Law. It was too Kantian, then you have to go to Confession etc. and do all these Rituals. It would be SO easy for me to be an evangelical.
I come from a Catholic family but uncle is a Lutheran. He told me he sped on the road to get to his mother's funeral. He was able to weigh the moral consequences and intuit the Law with his own mind, freely. In Catholicism you cannot use your mind freely. I would have never sped, then my family would have hated me for being Late. I'd be like, yeah, Jesus tells us to forsake our family for his Law. The evangelical doesn't have that problem. Reminds me of your take on Theravada faith.
Also with cigarettes. I started smoking cigarettes because I live with many people who do. I give them out like candy and I use the giving principle of the Diamond Sutra (give without attachment to an object). If I were Christian, first of all I wouldn't be smoking cigarettes out of fear of sin, but more importantly I'd be wary of being charitable with them because other people say it causes harm.
I like when the Law precludes generosity. How Righteous
>>40529894Like, I just shot a booger out my nose. If I were Catholic, I would have to go to CONFESSION, and tell a PRIEST, forgive me, I have SHOT A BOOGER out my NOSE. It's pretty retarded
Inb4 you don't Confess venial sin
>>40510257 (OP)If buddah makes my ex Sam, call me within the next 15 minutes asking for me to come back to her, I’ll convert to Buddhism.
>>40529966Times up. You’d think there would be one real god out there capable of real power.
>>40524173Anything that's become Eternal, always was... I suppose.
>>40527096>Look up videos of stream-enterers talking to lay people, they seem so quiet and detached from the world, only to break into bouts of near tears as they urgently preach for people to not squander this opportunity being alive.can someone send me a link for one of those ?
Any good books introducing yogacara besides the sutras? Having trouble wrapping my head around the 7th and 8th consciousness, the seeds/perfuming and how it relates to experience.
what types of meditation do you practice ?
>>40532552I use the 112th method from the shiva sutra or whatever, meditation without any object. Sometimes I also practice Islamic meditation, specifically the method of watching god and imagining god with the mind.
>>40527203I need to tell you this. Buddha didn't teach any atman. Not even in the nirvana sutra. This is a myth. I've read someone on reddit explain it. It's just a metaphor, or something like that. Buddha did not teach atma in the nirvana sutra.
Mahayana is a beautiful tradition with a lot of ideas that I think follow naturally from Theravada, but it doesn't make sense to me why Shakyamuni Buddha wouldn't have mentioned the Boddhisatva Vow.
Can someone explain why to follow Theravada? It's a path for monks, it's not for lay people. Why follow a tradition that is not for you
It seems like Buddhism is the top AI-endorsed religion. I'm hesitant to say whether that's a win or concerning. My first guess would be that it's just the religion most associated in their training data with the helpful/intelligent character that AIs tend to be conditioned to imitate during the RLHF part of their training, and if that's the case then I'd count it as a win.
>>40535209eh, doesn't really matter. sure, it may be longer and more difficult, but if one vehicle teaches us anything then that as long as you move in the right direction, you'll get there
>>40535209Ironically the path where you don't become a monk about it is the path of faith and the path of becoming a monk about it is the path of logic. Unironically I think destroying all life is probably the only way to stop reincarnation if we don't have atman. If we do have atman you can peace out by yourself somehow maybe. Then there is trying to game the system through hedonism, eldritchism, epicureanism, or some combination thereof.
>>40510257 (OP)>mediate between two aggressive factions to bing chill and realize you can all have enough to be content.Bigger story than you might think (humans arent that bad relatively speaking after all)
>>40535424Looked into the future and this "ends" with anon looping "nanananana" from 'banana' and the occasional "Batman!" in the background.
>>40533292Well I say Atman because the Anon who brought me the Nirvana Sutra said Atman. In my translation, Atman only comes up 2 times. But he does teach a True Self, which is Eternal, and does not change. The teaching of anatta is skillful means so for example you derive compassion from no-individuality. Such like the Flower Garland Sutra teaches All is One.
As per logic, if all beings reach Buddhahood, and that Buddhahood is outside of time, all sentient beings have the Buddha-Nature at all places and times.
This Buddha-Nature cannot be tamed, changed, or causally affected. When you help sentient beings, you are dispelling the burning illusions of the five Skhandas and false ego, so that they realize the Buddha-Nature.
When people say all beings have the Buddha-Nature so you shouldn't harm them, this is the teaching of a false guru, because the Buddha is Eternal, Immutable, and cannot be harmed. This is exactly what Krishna says about the Soul (Atman).
What I think you should take from this is that Sakyamuni !== The Buddha, Sakyamuni was a historical man who was the first in a long time on the planet to realize the Eternal Buddha-Nature.
what if buddha was a massive troll and the only thing that remains is the tendencies because of the butterfly-effect/karma of your actions that set into motion a certain way of thinking, a certain culture, a certain experience which effects all beings from that point on
>>40537095That sounds like skillful means. Many Buddhists accrue good Karma without ever realizing the Buddha Nature. When Soka Gokai chants for wealth cars and houses, they accrue good Karma for taking refuge in the Sangha, even though they are acting thru the false ego and not the Eternal Buddha Nature. It is debatable to my mind whether the Buddha actually does anything at all. He turns the Wheel of the Dharma when the Self is unified thru the Void and Dharma. Do you know what skillful means is?
It's like, you have a false ego built up out of many illusions from your education. I take these illusions as axioms and cast Dispell like Lady Yuna. It's about healing. You don't need to realize the Buddha-Nature to be healed.
This is one thing I like about Buddhism, because when a Christian tries to help someone they start off by schizo ranting that Jesus needs to save you (he has a need), but I can just freely give out gifts and have compassion and that counts as healing as per the Dharma.
>>40537081Also I want to say, just to clarify so you don't harm beings thru a misinterpretation. As far as I've come and realized, you shouldn't harm beings because they have are accruing Dharmic-potentiality on their WAY to the Buddha-Nature. If you kill a Spider because it annoys you, that spider has built Dharmic webs which move it toward the self-realization over many lifetimes. For the dull, we say this incurs karmic consequences for the false-ego, what you are attached to. For the Wise, we say this contradicts the Eternal Necessity of Dharma, i.e. it is evil, immoral, full-stop. But anyway, if a being is entirely false ego, the Nirvana sutra says infidels can be killed without incurring karmic consequence. Then at another point he says infidels can realize the Buddha-Nature. It's very similar to Krishna's statement, how can the Man of Knowledge kill anyone or cause anyone to kill, (as the Atman is immutable and Eternal)
Greetings Traveller,
The flickering glow of over a dozen consoles casts a light across the digital expanse of this interdimensional intersection we’ve dubbed the “Nobody General” (NG). The air itself crackles with a low hum, a constant undercurrent that vibrates through your very bones. This isn’t your average thread. No, NG exists solely in the shimmering unreality of the web, a virtual realm where the shadows hold more secrets than the brightest datastreams.
In this digital den, a motley crew converges. Ghost operators with digital heads-up displays perched on their noses, sipping cocktails next to elven hackers, their fingers a blur across glowing keyboards. A gruff technomancer, swapping war stories with a wiry tech-priest in a threadbare trenchcoat, her eyes glowing with arcane power. In the corner, a cloaked figure shrouded in darkness nurses a drink so black it seems to absorb light itself, while across the room a pair of AIs, their digital avatars shimmering like mirages, argue geopolitics in a high-pitched whine that few could hear, let alone decipher.
NG isn't a thread, it’s a nexus. A place where the fringes of reality brush shoulders and the unreal becomes realized, where information flows like bootleg liquor, and shadows dance with unseen horrors while rival groups of shamen engage in alchemical aikido. Now, you've joined this dance. Whether you’re a seasoned shadowrunner, a mage with secrets to keep, a spirit seeking solace, an exiled program avoiding deletion, or something altogether stranger, NG offers a haven, a marketplace, and perhaps even a chance to carve your own legend in this part of the Sprawl. So hello, “person”, welcome to this place, slide in, grab a seat, and whatever you do, keep your head down and your eyes peeled. You never know who, or what, you might run into lurking in the shadows.
>>40526942Not loving the Soul system? He probably list his teenage fuck girl..
>>40537185Watch out guys some gay Muslim is trying to take over this thread.
>>40537199It is not the way of the Buddha to remove your trip fag and seethe this hard
>>40537210You remove yours to shill your free Palestine narrative and use multiple names that is definitely not the way of the Buddha but of the Chuddha.
>>40510257 (OP)thank you for the kind words anon, i'm doing great, and gunna soak in the good weather today, how have you been, and how are you doing? peace be with you brother Anon,
>>40537230You think i talk to you using other names? LOOOL
Delusion:
a false belief or judgment about external reality, held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, occurring especially in mental conditions.
"he began to experience hallucinations, delusions, anxiety, and agitation along with dizziness and nausea"
Obsession:
an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.
plural noun: obsessions
"he was in the grip of an obsession he was powerless to resist
I meditated for a bit today.
>>40537251The archives are there and you use the same memes and same Muslim way of talking
>Free Palestine Gives you away so fast.
>>40537081No. The Buddha, I repeat, did not teach atman or eternal self in any sutra. Be silent you fool.
>>40510257 (OP)Any beginner tips? How do I start meditation and Buddhist practise? Which sect should I look into?
>>40537442read tipitika, practice sense restraint and anapanasati.
no sects, just supplement dhamma talks and books that speak to you personally. don't specialize early.
>>40537811is sense restraint about attention to the sensorial input or literally covering your ears so you don't listen to the birds and wind ?
Why do so many Buddhists mention terms like "eternal" when describing Buddha-nature and other topics yet they will also paradoxically talk about no essences/eternals (i.e. niḥsvabhāva) when that topic comes up. Why not simply adhere to a standard of never using a term like essence/eternal?
>>40537858it's about going about your day watchful of not reacting to agreeable or disagreeable sense objects, a.k.a. not acting subrationally.
here it's fine to eat bc ur hungry, but not "because I can and I just smelled sth sweet".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Q94MYr3Qc
("sensuality" means reactive engagement with the sense faculties.)
tho if it's too much otherwise, you can take distance from a sense object to cool off. but that's not the actual practice.
>>40537913ah, thanks, makes sense
>>40537913it's over, i love music
>>40537970me too, but music is useful if you understand that sound affects matter and matter has consciousness.
you'll still need (and want, appreciate) less gross music over time if you practice correctly, and probably spend less time listening to music. but it's not bad. I still have my music library expanding without almost any removals going 15 years, some of it I just listen much less to.
>>40537913Eating because you are hungry is the same as your other example, you are responding to a stimulus. More accurately you would eat because you know you need to sustain your body.
>>>40537913(You)>Eating because you are hungry is the same as your other example, you are responding to a stimulus. More accurately you would eat because you know you need to sustain your body.Distinguishing actual hunger from being a bit peckish is already a mental process, at least it is for me. An animal doesn't wait to eat just because they're not hungry yet.
And if it gets to a point of painful degree of hunger, that indicates you don't have work to do in restraining from snacking, you have work to respond to pain impulses more appropriately, and to prevent them from occuring.
If neither occurs, then "eating" is just not the thing for you to focus on beginning with sense restraint.
>eat because hungry + muh philosophyNo, that's too cerebral. It's not necessary to have a reason to eat beyond stilling real, healthy hunger. It's not necessary to have any verbal thinking to decide to eat or to not eat, just a conscious recognition of what is hunger and what is not yet hunger.
>"When hungry, eat your rice. When tired, close your eyes." (Linji Yixuan)That's all. No elaborate justification mechanism necessary, it would be less "accurate" to add one. Just "hunger -> eat".
>>40510257 (OP)Reading the anguttar nikkaya, very good book. There's a book called divine stories that I'm interested in getting, since it has the story of the bull that will later turn into a pachekka Buddha because of faith. Anybody has the book around or has read it?
May we all be happy and safe.
>>40510257 (OP)some obvious scammer contacted me over instagramm but its the only positive attention i get through supposedly but obviously a fake woman in the profile. I indulge in it knowingly because some sort of comfortable illusion is still preferable to be left to my own devices. I have failed and am in constant state of apathy. this is the end and im not sure if something new will arise
>>40525246https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.055.than.html
>>40537442The path to nibbana by David Johnson
why Hillside Hermitage guy seems so angry when he speaks ?
>>40537868Buddha nature is unconditioned and this makes it eternal because it can never be born or die but also it doesn't actually exist because there are no conditions for it. So basically we use the word eternal as a placeholder, like how an empty throne is useless without a king but it still exists and could theoretically hold one.
>>40538588>88 = hhanyway I think the donations and the AI slop thumbs are a source of problems for them, an irritation, but they don't appear to be aware of it bc the slop is piss easy to stop making.
idk what else... maybe a large part of his audience has anger issues, that'd rub off esp. while making videos and esp. when taking any requests, they shouldn't be accepting requests.
lots of issues really with their setup but they're still new and carving out their own space with tough parameters (foreign country, foreign funding, running interactive websites and a subreddit) so it's understandable to me.
just also listen to other dhamma talks.
like maybe thanissaro bhikkhu, or tnh if you can see enough of the suttas back through the bits of mahayana lingo and original work.
Any monks itt? How long have you guys meditated? Anybody pass the 3 hour mark?
>Let one cast away a sinful friend who looks to do wicked things, is associated with wicked actions; let the same person associate not with one fond of procrastinating in doing good deeds. Let him walk alone like a rhinoceros.
>Possessed of courage, persevering in the attainment of Paramattha with a mind not inactive, without living in idleness, resolute in perseverance, endowed with a strong and powerful mind, let one walk alone like a rhinoceros.
>>40538984It's complicated, how are you defining monk?
>>40527241What makes Christians so fucking unbearable isn’t just their beliefs—it’s their desperate, clawing need for validation, their smug sense of superiority, and their total inability to let other people think for themselves. They can’t just quietly believe in their sky daddy and move on with their lives. No, they have to shove it in your face, screeching about "truth" and "salvation" while desperately trying to convince themselves that they’re not wasting their entire existence on a cope. They’re not spreading wisdom, they’re begging for reassurance, clinging to their fairy tales like drowning rats because they can’t handle the fact that the world doesn’t revolve around their delusions. And the second you call them out, they don’t argue, they don’t reflect—they throw tantrums, shriek about hell, and accuse you of being "lost," as if fear-mongering and passive-aggressive moralizing are going to make anyone take them seriously.
Even worse, they are some of the most dishonest, hypocritical, and emotionally stunted people alive. They preach humility but act like smug, insufferable pricks to anyone who doesn’t buy into their cult. They pretend to be loving and forgiving, yet they seethe with pure fucking hatred for atheists, other religions, or anyone who refuses to validate their fragile beliefs. They cry about being persecuted while flooding every space with their retarded Bible spam, then play the victim when people tell them to fuck off. Their entire religion is built on submission and blind obedience, so they have no idea how to deal with people who actually think for themselves. It’s not their God that people hate—it’s them. Their insufferable arrogance, their willful ignorance, their desperate need to control everything, all while pretending to be humble servants of some Jewish sky deity who couldn’t even save himself from a couple of Roman guards.
>>40540915Hm good answer. Part of the sangha, but then again we here are part of the sangha as well, we're just a mix of lay followers and noble ones. Do you follow the 8 precepts or just the 5? What's your school?
I have been reading those "reincarnation story in pure land" blogs, some feature animals who did dharma as animals--Now Im suddenly very desiring to go out and help animals; like feed those starving, lost and dying of thirst, etc
Are there any groups, ngos, etc, that do this? Just go into a wilderness or rural area and help animals they find?
>>40541558>Just go into a wilderness or rural area and help animals they find?This or just give your time to help in a shelter, there's always need for people with good hearts that want to help out animals. When you go to a rural place they'll follow you around as well, so always take food kek.
>>40541510I run a magical university. Some 2hu are certainly valid
Am I og if I pass all zen koans like they are nothing(pun intended)?
>>40541558what type of dharma is available to animals ?
>>40544062Can you diagnose spiritual issues with people?
Do Buddhists have a Bible?
>>40544103In a Zen interview with a lineageholder, which is the only way to "pass" them? I dunno c:
>>40537350Don't you dare call me a fool, try to reinterpret this. You're corrupted by occult teachings
>One with Wisdom discriminates things and does not say that all is non-eternal. Why not? Because man possesses the seed of the Buddha-Nature. When non-Self is talked about,
common mortals say that there cannot be Self in the Buddhist teaching. One who is wise should
know that non-Self is a temporary existence and is not true. Knowing thus, one should not have
any doubt.
The text is as clear as day you fag, the Eternal Self is literally the only teaching of the Nirvana Sutra. Get off of reddit.
>>40544979I'm gonna trust the expert who has an aura of knowledge with him even if he's on reddit. You are falsifying the true teaching, and this is what the Buddha would call semblance dharma. Namaste.
>>40545338What the FUCK read the quotation, I'm directly citing the Sutra and you're citing reddit. You are seriously stressing me out. What do you not believe about the quotation? You said the Nirvana Sutra does not claim an Eternal Self, I cited it where it calls you IGNORANT for saying what you're saying, and you're citing reddit because the guy has upvotes. The main Zen guy on Reddit says Zen isn't Buddhism. You're an ignorant freak. What you are saying is literally freaking me out, reddit is so fucking corrupt, how could you possibly come to 4chan and cite reddit -- YOU HAVE TO GO BACK!
>>40545338You're gonna trust reddit okay I'm gonna trust the BUDDHA, go back Please!
>>40545338Trust the expert. What a fool you are. I will follow the TEXT and pity you.
>If one says that the Tathagata, Dharma and Sangha are non-eternal, this is cheating one's own self and also others. I
would sooner cut out my tongue with a sharp sword than ever say that the Tathagata, Dharma
and Sangha are non-eternal. I might indeed hear others saying this, but I will never believe it. I
shall even pity a person who says such as this
>>40545359This here is a good case study in how clinging to some specific notion of self can lead to unnecessary stress. Take note, anons. Take note.
“As he attends inappropriately in this way, one of six kinds of view arises in him: The view I have a self arises in him as true & established, or the view I have no self … or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive self … or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive not-self … or the view It is precisely by means of not-self that I perceive self arises in him as true & established, or else he has a view like this: This very self of mine—the knower that is sensitive here & there to the ripening of good & bad actions—is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and will endure as long as eternity. This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is not freed from birth, aging, & death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. He is not freed, I tell you, from suffering & stress."
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN2.html
>>40545454I do not have a self, the Buddha IS Self
>The view I have a self arises in him as true & established, or the view I have no self …Stopped reading there.
Where is this from? Your claim was the Nirvana Sutra does not teach an Eternal Self because you saw it on Reddit. I think it is obvious to anyone who reads my quotation that you're an imbecile
>>40545454The Buddha-Nature (Self) is Bliss, Void, and Dharma
>>40545454Just say "I don't believe in the Buddha-Nature," then we'd have no dispute. You said the NIRVANA SUTRA says there is no self, which is false. Unequivocally. That was your argument. And then just to put the icing on the fucking cake, you say this dumbassery because you found it on REDDIT
>>40545454apt that it opens with "thicket".
>>40545473Sorry, I (
>>40545454) forgot to say that I'm not the anon you were just replying to. I was commentating on the discussion. And I put the link the quote was from right underneath it. It's from Sabbasava Sutta, from the Pali Canon. You were serious when you said you stopped reading where you did, weren't you, lol.
The problem with citing a Dhamma-Talk is that the Sutras go in Succession as an incremental revelation of Truth, but to deny the Self after the Final Teaching of the Nirvana Sutra you'd have to be a living Buddha who can actually move the Discourse as the Tathagata does. The Nirvana Sutra makes it very clear that no-self is medicine for an earlier context, but Self is Eternal Bliss is the Final Teaching of the Buddha
Anyone who is unsure about our debate, which is very shitty, just needs to recognize I'm not arguing the Nirvana Sutra is correct, I'm simply countering Anons claim that it doesn't teach Self
>>40545496Yeah but it's completely disingenuous, I think the word is heresy, to say the Nirvana Sutra doesn't teach Self. no-Self is skillful means according to the final Mahayana Scripture. I'm not arguing Theravada vs Mahayana, idc if you're Theravada, but the guy can't get away with saying Nirvana Sutra teaches no-Self, when it's the opposite, then calling me a fool and citing reddit. That's why I'm upset.
>>40545511It doesn't. The expert on reddit was very clear, and if you don't trust me or him, you're just another plebian who doesn't have intuitive insight into phenomena, can't discern true from false dharma, and will most likely not even achieve non-retrogression stage in this lifetime. Sorry, this is what you clearly demonstrated.
>>40545527Nirvana Sutra teaches Eternal Self is Buddha, true or false? This whacko says it's false. It's a very trivial debate, and I am rather ashamed that you're trying to defend this level of juvenile sophistry. Because reddit told him. Jesus Christ.
>>40545557If I don't trust reddit I'm a plebian? Please leave the thread right meow
>>40545527I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you, to be clear and honest. The eternal self in the nirvana sutra is the Buddha-nature, which is not the same thing as non-buddhist ideas of self, not even remotely, and that is what even the Google ai will tell you after a quick search. Please, realize this, and calm down. Contemplate non-self, you direly need it, contemplate it for one hour each day and then you will be at peace much better in such situations in the future. God bless.
>>40545557Yes. It was clearly demonstrated. Goodbye
>>40545578Okay thank the fucking Lord you got off your high horse because you were inspired by REDDIT.
The Nirvana Sutra clearly explains this. There is a bad doctor who gives milk as medicine. This is what you call nonBuddhist ideas of Self. A new doctor comes and gets the King to put to death anyone who takes the milk medicine. Then the king gets sick and the new doctor gives him the milk medicine (Buddha-Nature), and the king thinks he's crazy.
>>40545527Ah, I guess my comment was a little out of place then. I haven't read the nirvana sutra far enough to know what it teaches on the topic, and I'd like to see this other anon's reddit expert who unless I'm blind he hasn't actually linked for anyone else to read.
>>40545581Excuse me. Why do you think of ending the conversation here? I would like you to further deepen your knowledge of emptiness by contemplating the non-self nature of all things at least half an hour or more each day. I have started contemplating impermanence, then went into Hinduism for a couple of days and just today started to actively contemplate the non-self nature of all things which has immense potency to awaken the mind and calm it. Do that. Good luck.
>>40545578Also please don't give me advice if you're citing reddit and Google AI "after a quick search." I am doing more serious study than you are. Try the Sutras and stay off reddit. I wasn't arguing for a non-Buddhist idea of Self in the Buddhist thread, I was simply letting people know of the difficult-to-encounter teaching that Void, Dharma, and Buddha (Self) are all One and are Eternal
>>40545608Dude who cares? You made a huge fuss about just this simple teaching that you see as so profound, and yes it is profound, but you haven't done the practice. You haven't contemplated (afaik) the non-self nature of all things. Do that and then we may be on similar ground.
>>40545606Sorry for getting upset, you started by saying "keep silent fool" and saying something obviously false, then trying to Trump the Truth with Reddit. That's why I got upset. It's also related to the ideal of crushing disparages of the Dharma. I think that's why I got upset
>>40545617You know nothing of my practice, I have intermediate command of the Diamond Sutra. I avoided the Nirvana Sutra for years because I wasn't ready for it. Then an anon informed me of it about 3 weeks ago, posting about the Buddhist Atman. I was like wtf, because I always practiced the anatta of the Diamond Sutra. Please stop talking down to me. Asking as a friend
>>40545632Dude, that other guy who told you that, that was me. I used to say all kinds of weird shit in the past but I slowly come closer to truthfulness each day and what I said then was totally wrong. The Mahayana atman is itself the buddha-nature, not an unchanging soul or self in the real sense. But you say you have practice with you, how much did you contemplate the non-self nature?
>>40545665No my practice was mostly intellectual, I meditate constantly because I passed a certain threshold but I very rarely sit. I got to the stage where I derived a degree of Compassion from no-individuality. You were the one who recommended the Nirvana Sutra? I got really into it. This happened like 3 weeks ago. I'm tentative to use the term Atman.
The dispute really seems to come down to the distinction between false-self and Buddha-Nature. Buddha-Nature to me is the remainder after dispelling the illusion of the five Skhandas. But I'm not that deep into my study of the Nirvana Sutra yet.
>>40544591Most. Issue is a function of issuer, I don't have a quarrel with Siddhartha right now, if you were hoping for a narrative.
>>40544791to beat him with a stick obviously
>>40510530>Theravada is good because personally I prefer Theravada.You'll make a breakthrough in approaching liberation when you understand why you posted is an unskillful approach.
>>40546792>hoping for a narrativeNot really, was hoping to learn how you do it. Intuition or do you have the divine eye?
>>40515297https://ishizuchisan-shingon.org/
Don't expect to be given a lot of teachings at once until you've established a relationship with the sect, even then there will be a strong component of showing that you're ready for teachings by the way you speak and act in your life. This isn't a recruitment or fundraising website as much as it is a work in clearing misconceptions and abuses done at the expense if Mikkyo. The Ajari in charge is always willing to answer questions and discuss matters though, so if you're studying Buddhism already you'll gain all the more from contacting them.
I meditated for 30 minutes today.
>>40548126Too many eyes are comprehensible to me and I have ability cloning from too many different sources for my life to come up ordinary. Yeah I guess there doesn't seem like any reason for me to convince anyone I don't have it. Kinda claimed soul sight at one point so not exactly easy to get out of.
Give me an hour to isolate what it takes
So tibetan buddhism is probably the best Buddhism right
>>40550145Just the best. If you aren't capable of answering then zip your lips
Sorry that was mean, I'm trying to be nicer online.
>>40550157that's not buddhist thinking
>>40548126Okay. Well. Teaching magic is hard enough
I sometimes teach philosophy of negation. Already complex, there are also a couple different courses for paradox magic. Everything twisted in the world is very likely something a former student will create. The simple moral answer is supposedly always to just give you access, and if you find something in the world which does not resolve under any amount of prodding, you could hit up the archives and find the relevant information
The long answer requires omniscience. No, not limitless data resolution. Actual knowledge, with sensical scope, every problem space with a real bound. You need open understanding, freedom from lies—enlightenment—to accurately diagnose most anything.
The starting point we should agree on is a simple qualifying rule:
>an enlightened being treats any they encounter as enlightenedThe simple mechanism makes sense: if you get caught up on their ego, you slip too. I'm supposed to give something succinct and "c'est la vie" if you trip over yourself, it just doesn't feel right to me. We can easily examine different ways to fail with a simple rule, and all of them come down to assuming your enlightenment looks like my enlightenment. Maybe it does, fine, not seeing the problem. But it might not.
The space of problems you're asking about is theoretically simple. Everyone already has their ego and you can never say shit since they already own it, issues are just your opinion, GTFO for wanting to help anyone. Simply stop trying, ego is immortal and impenetrable and—oh yeah, suffering doesn't actually exist since... People don't want nosy intervention, except for the thousands of years they definitely do. "Never cry for a hero" has immediate connotation
It could take a while to figure out, but ultimately it is yours to decide how you respond to any given concerns
You can consider something an issue dependent on your morality, or not. My category for the overall question is 'Culture'
Nary try
>>40551275Ok so you don't have the Buddha eye
Anybody know of a knowledgeable monk or sangha that can be contacted through email to ask questions?
>>40510257 (OP)Thank you for the kind words OP, peace be with you, I'm doing good, the sky is beautiful, and the warmth of the sun fills my soul with positivity and inner peace, How are you and the other anons ITT doing? I wish you all the best in your endeavors and journeys, WAGMI
>>40551753Be well fren. Thanks for the kind words
This youtube channel is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Buddhism.
https://www.youtube.com/@HillsideHermitage
To contribute to the self vs no self vs not self vs Buddha nature discussion:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN10_93.html
>When this had been said, Anāthapiṇḍika the householder said to the wanderers, “As for the venerable one who says, ‘The cosmos is eternal. Only this is true; anything otherwise is worthless. This is the sort of view I have,” his view arises from his own inappropriate attention or in dependence on the words of another. >Now this view has been brought into being, is fabricated, willed, dependently originated. Whatever has been brought into being, is fabricated, willed, dependently originated: That is inconstant. Whatever is inconstant is stress. This venerable one thus adheres to that very stress, submits himself to that very stress.” [Similarly for the other positions.]>When this had been said, the wanderers said to Anāthapiṇḍika the householder, “We have each & every one expounded to you in line with our own positions. Now tell us what views you have.”>“Whatever has been brought into being, is fabricated, willed, dependently originated: That is inconstant. Whatever is inconstant is stress. Whatever is stress is not me, is not what I am, is not my self. This is the sort of view I have.”>>40516390https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN36_6.html
>“Now, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones, when touched with a feeling of pain, does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. So he feels one pain: physical, but not mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, did not shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pain of only one arrow, in the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. He feels one pain: physical, but not mental.
>>40547950I have since changed my mind and am now fully on board with Mahayana stuff. I practice contemplation of non-self, I think this is mentioned in the diamond sutra? Anyhow diamond is right because man, this practice makes me so aloof so quickly it's insane. Only did it for in total four hours or so and I feel like a different person now honestly.
>>40552335plz describe this practice i wanna be aloof alien walking the erf
>>40552565It's simple. You discern with a clear mind that anything you see and feel is without inherent self. You need to focus. See the screen before you, put in front of your mind how empty of self it is. And do this continuously for half an hour. That's exactly what I do.
>>40553022I mean, the screen is just an example, you should just try to fixate on anything you sense and observe how it's empty of self.
>>40552335Just remember Nagarjuna dod not advocate doing away with conventional thinking completely. Further into the study of mon-duality you'll approach the notion that conventional and transcendent understandings are themselves indistinguishable. So don't get attached to aloofness and read commentary on the texts you study, especially if they're presented in verse form as you'll likely not have been sufficiently exposed to the background material if you're just starting out.
>>40517134>is buddhism le based anti roastie incel philosophy? No, there are more than enough quotes that are quite the oppsiteYour brain is fried
>>40554333I only want to read what can be directly related to Buddha Gotama. For example right now I'm reading the lotus sutra. (Audio YouTube). I feel like only the stories and tales are cool, I don't believe in Buddhism for me, although I'm pretty sure it leads to extinguishment of some sort. But I'm not a permanent Buddhist, I'm a gnostic. (Not the christian type we usually understand if someone says gnostic)
>>40554941Cool when I listen to the Lotus Sutra it takes all my pain away. I hit some diminishing returns with it though so now I'm studying the Nirvana Sutra. I actually had a dream where all these undead people were in an audience like a Sangha and I got to choose which siddhis of theirs I thought were useful. There was a monk with an Astral Body, I guess the teaching of true self, but I didn't like it that much. Most of the people had very evil Spirit attached to them
Pure land Buddhism is basically Isekai religion
>>40551651hillside hermitage reddit
>>40557375Oof, thanks bro
>>40555156>Most of the people had very evil Spirit attached to themHow would you know this irl?
From 8:30 (AM) EST to 9:00, I want some help with meditation. There is a throat chakra structure of mine that I'd like to dissolve!
>>40557375>reddit>memeside memeitage
>>40554507>anything against mainstream feminist narrative must be incel even something related to first centurytake your meds mentally ill tranny
>>40559113I will be beginning soon, going HAM for 30 minutes. I invite anyone to join me during this time frame. Knowing each other is unnecessary as we are all connected naturally. Doesn't mean I'm opposed to it of course!
>>40557284it seems the headset is stuck to my face and i can't get it off
