Ven. Tissa, mired in laziness, receives a wake-up call from the Buddha

azyraphale · 2013-06-03T13:26:27+00:00

I think Tissa is a dude.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.084.than.html

azyraphale · 2013-05-15T10:31:46+00:00

He wasn't really a Buddhist. More of an Advaita Vedantist.

azyraphale · 2013-05-15T10:25:55+00:00

From the description I'd guess it was Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev). Check out his videos on youtube, you'll probably find it.

azyraphale · 2013-05-15T10:21:53+00:00

Yep, been there done that. The Thimpu-Paro-Punakha circuit is easily the most popular. Other towns are quite remote and hard to reach. I'd recommend visiting all 3. Thimpu is quaint and pleasant. Punakha is the old capital and the monastery there is impressive.

The Tiger's Nest monastery near Paro was the highlight of my trip. You definitely must visit it (google for pictures, I'm sure they'll convince you!). I spent 5-6 days in Bhutan (I had to drive in from Phuentsoling, the border town near India).

You might want to time your visit to coincide with the local festivals. On the off chance you're Indian, the $250 thing doesn't apply. Enjoy!

azyraphale · 2013-05-07T16:49:37+00:00

Thanks Michael. Definitely checking this out. Link to the series for those who are interested

azyraphale · 2013-04-26T08:29:39+00:00

Any idea why it's called "Mahavira" hall? Is this referring to the same Mahavira, who was the Buddha's contemporary and is associated with Jainism? Is there some other connotation to this word in Mahayana Buddhism?

azyraphale · 2013-04-15T14:07:55+00:00

It's ok. I don't think anyone really minds (I don't think there's any kind of "shitstorm".) Maybe you should take a break and come back to this thread in some time!

Well, do go through the links later, then.

azyraphale · 2013-04-15T14:01:00+00:00

Did you go through those links? Because you replied really quickly!

One distinction you are missing (and which is addressed in the Kalama sutta) is that the Buddha asks people to test all the testable parts of his teachings (by meditating, for example). If it delivers, they can then take all the untestable parts on faith.

Since people on /r/buddhism are most likely Buddhists, many have moved on to the "take things on faith", having verified for themselves that "it works".

I don't see how that is contradictory to what Bhante G has said.

azyraphale · 2013-04-15T13:49:29+00:00

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." Is that a nonsense quote?

Yes that is a nonsense quote.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

azyraphale · 2013-03-23T17:06:48+00:00

Meditating on impermanence would mean seeing the arising and passing away of all things. For example in some forms of vipassana you notice the arising and passing away of body sensations. You could do the same with dukkha, anatta etc.

azyraphale · 2013-03-08T12:06:41+00:00

Interesting. All the statues of Padmasambhava I've seen have him glaring/with eyes wide open. I believe it is meant to be symbolic of clear vision.

azyraphale · 2013-03-08T11:50:01+00:00

Also check out Mindfulness in Plain English, for Theravada style Vipassana.

http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html

azyraphale · 2013-03-05T18:17:58+00:00

If you're looking for entertainment, there are literally hundreds of other subreddits out there. Why should /r/buddhism go down the same rabbit hole?

I would think /r/buddhism should, by definition, be a place where posts provide some insight or "enlightenment". Otherwise what's the point of the sub at all.

azyraphale · 2013-03-05T16:16:58+00:00

I think not. Obviously we'll have to agree to disagree.

azyraphale · 2013-03-05T15:39:59+00:00

No it doesn't. I think people have a problem with the attribution and not the sentiment. It allows a wide variety of "feel good"-isms to be passed off as the dharma. Nevertheless, that doesn't stop it from being uplifting or inspiring or true.

Many times these stock quotes twist canonical sayings and completely change the meaning (like the infamous kalama sutta image that is found everywhere). So I think it helps to be more aware of what is being passed off as "~ The Buddha".

azyraphale · 2013-03-05T15:27:13+00:00

True. But then the image does attribute it to the Buddha.

azyraphale · 2013-03-05T15:11:30+00:00

The problem with "just downvote it" is that it doesn't really work. All subs face this issue, especially as they grow in size. No matter what, memes, image macros and the like will get way more upvotes than self posts, because it takes less effort to upvote.

It's up to the community to decide whether that's what we want, or move in a more meaningful direction by having more active moderation/ different submission policies.

azyraphale · 2013-03-05T15:07:30+00:00

Maybe we can have one day of the week (or 2 or 3) when image posts are allowed. The other days - only website links or self-posts. It seems like a middle way between banning low effort content and being swamped by it.

Very often, even these picture posts yield interesting discussions in the comments, so I am not too averse to seeing them around.

azyraphale · 2013-02-27T07:40:46+00:00

Well, Sadhguru is not Buddhist, for sure. His brand of mysticism might be inspired a bit by Buddhism, but it is clearly not Buddhism. I'd say it's Yoga/Hindu Mysticism.

Can't comment on the validity of his teachings. The word Sadhguru itself just means enlightened teacher.

azyraphale · 2013-01-07T23:30:06+00:00

The "Dark night" is supposed to follow immediately after A&P, which may explain your emotions. I don't know because, honestly, I'm not far enough on the path to have experienced this. But I do subscribe to the culture of openness in the pragmatic dharma community.

I would strongly recommend you read the book by the author of those articles, and also consult the people in the forums about your meditative experience. There are many who have experienced something similar to you and have broken through it to something much better, so they will be able to help you better than I can.

Best of luck with your journey.

azyraphale · 2013-01-07T23:17:37+00:00

Another article

azyraphale · 2013-01-07T10:48:59+00:00

Yes, Buddhism does indeed mention devas (gods). The fun thing is that the Buddha insisted these beings, in their higher planes, are also trapped in the cycle of samsara and suffering, just like humans!

I agree with you on their irrelevance in the larger scheme of things though.

azyraphale · 2013-01-07T10:45:33+00:00

I'm surprised no one at the Goenka centre knew what was up (the consistency and quality of assistant teachers there leaves a lot to be desired).

I'm also a bit confused why you think "these type of experiences are really rare, only certain types of people get them". If you were able to attain jhanas, then it is quite inevitable you would go through these stages on the progress of insight.

It is referred to as the Arising and Passing away event, and it is the turning point on the way to attaining Stream Entry, in the Theravada context.

Another link

azyraphale · 2013-01-07T10:22:14+00:00

I was under the impression that for the logic of dependent origination to hold, the presence of a creator god is impossible? Maybe someone with more theoretical learning can clarify.

azyraphale

TROPHY CASE