Then Mara the
Evil One, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in the
Bhikkhuni Vajira, desiring to make her fall away from concentration,
approached her and addressed her in verse:
By whom has this being been created?
Where is the maker of the being?
Where has the being arisen?
Where does the being cease?
Then it occurred to the bhikkhuni Vajira: "Now who is this that recited the verse — a human being or a non-human being?"
Then
it occurred to her: "This is Mara the Evil One, who has recited the
verse desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in me, desiring
to make me fall away from concentration."
Then the Bhikkhuni Vajira, having understood, "This is Mara the Evil One," replied to him in verses:
Why now do you assume 'a being'?
Mara, have you grasped a view?
This is a heap of sheer constructions:
Here no being is found.
Just as, with an assemblage of parts,
The word 'chariot' is used,
So, when the aggregates are present,
There's the convention 'a being.'
It's only suffering that comes to be,
Suffering that stands and falls away.
Nothing but suffering comes to be,
Nothing but suffering ceases.
Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, "The Bhikkhuni Vajira knows me," sad and disappointed, disappeared right there.
Vajira Sutta
Daily Buddhist Verses
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Association with people of integrity is a factor for stream-entry.
Listening to the true Dhamma is a factor for stream-entry.
Appropriate attention is a factor for stream-entry.
Practice in accordance with the Dhamma is a factor for stream-entry. — SN 55.5 -
Staying at Savatthi. "Monks, there once was a time when the Dasarahas had a large drum called 'Summoner.' Whenever Summoner was split, the Dasarahas inserted another peg in it, until the time came when Summoner's original wooden body had disappeared and only a conglomeration of pegs remained.
"In the same way, in the course of the future there will be monks who won't listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness — are being recited. They won't lend ear, won't set their hearts on knowing them, won't regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering. But they will listen when discourses that are literary works — the works of poets, elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of disciples — are recited. They will lend ear and set their hearts on knowing them. They will regard these teachings as worth grasping & mastering.
"In this way the disappearance of the discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness — will come about.
"Thus you should train yourselves: 'We will listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness — are being recited. We will lend ear, will set our hearts on knowing them, will regard these teachings as worth grasping & mastering.' That's how you should train yourselves."~ Ani Sutta
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AN 1.45-46
PTS: A i 9
I,v,5-6
Udakarahaka Suttas: A Pool of Water
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 2006–2012
45. "Suppose there were a pool of water — sullied, turbid, and muddy. A man with good eyesight standing there on the bank would not see shells, gravel, and pebbles, or shoals of fish swimming about and resting. Why is that? Because of the sullied nature of the water. In the same way, that a monk with a sullied mind would know his own benefit, the benefit of others, the benefit of both; that he would realize a superior human state, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision: Such a thing is impossible. Why is that? Because of the sullied nature of his mind."
46. "Suppose there were a pool of water — clear, limpid, and unsullied. A man with good eyesight standing there on the bank would see shells, gravel, & pebbles, and also shoals of fish swimming about and resting. Why is that? Because of the unsullied nature of the water. In the same way, that a monk with an unsullied mind would know his own benefit, the benefit of others, the benefit of both; that he would realize a superior human state, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision: Such a thing is possible. Why is that? Because of the unsullied nature of his mind."sulliedpast participle, past tense of sul·ly (Verb)
Verb:
Damage the purity or integrity of; defile.
Make dirty: "she wondered if she dared sully the gleaming sink".
More info »Answers.com - Merriam-Webster - The Free Dictionary -
AN 4.179
PTS: A ii 167
Nibbana Sutta: Unbinding
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 2003–2012
Then Ven. Ananda went to Ven. Sariputta and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Sariputta, "Friend Sariputta, what is the cause, what is the reason, why some beings do not become totally unbound in the present life?"
"There's the case, friend Ananda, where beings do not discern, as it actually is present, that 'This perception has a share in decline'; 'This perception has a share in stability'; 'This perception has a share in distinction'; 'This perception has a share in penetration.' [1] This is the cause, this is the reason, why some beings do not become totally unbound in the present life."
"And what, friend Sariputta, is the cause, what is the reason, why some beings do become totally unbound in the present life?"
"There's the case, friend Ananda, where beings discern, as it actually is present, that 'This perception has a share in decline'; 'This perception has a share in stability'; 'This perception has a share in distinction'; 'This perception has a share in penetration.' This is the cause, this is the reason, why some beings become totally unbound in the present life."
Note
1.
A perception with a share in decline is one that causes the mind to fall from concentration. A perception with a share in stability is one that helps to maintain concentration. A perception with a share in distinction is one that leads to higher stages of concentration. A perception with a share in penetration is one leading to liberating insight. -
AN 2.5
PTS: A i 50
Appativana Sutta: Relentlessly
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 2006–2012
"Monks, I have known two qualities through experience: discontent with regard to skillful qualities[1] and unrelenting exertion. Relentlessly I exerted myself, [thinking,] 'Gladly would I let the flesh & blood in my body dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if I have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing my persistence.' From this heedfulness of mine was attained Awakening. From this heedfulness of mine was attained the unexcelled freedom from bondage.
"You, too, monks, should relentlessly exert yourselves, [thinking,] 'Gladly would we let the flesh & blood in our bodies dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if we have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing our persistence.' You, too, in no long time will reach & remain in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for yourselves in the here & now.
"Thus you should train yourselves: 'We will relentlessly exert ourselves, [thinking,] "Gladly would we let the flesh & blood in our bodies dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if we have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing our persistence."' That's how you should train yourselves."
Note
1.
In other words, not allowing oneself to rest content merely with the skillful qualities developed on the path. In the Buddha's biography, this point is illustrated by his refusal to rest content with the formless absorptions he mastered under his first two teachers. See MN 36. -
AN 2.21
PTS: A i 59
II,iii,1
Bala-pandita Sutta: Fools & Wise People
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 2002–2012
"Monks, these two are fools. Which two? The one who doesn't see his transgression as a transgression, and the one who doesn't rightfully pardon another who has confessed his transgression. These two are fools.
"These two are wise people. Which two? The one who sees his transgression as a transgression, and the one who rightfully pardons another who has confessed his transgression. These two are wise people." -
Snp 4.6
PTS: Sn 804-813
Jara Sutta: Old Age
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 1994–2012
Alternate translation: Ireland
How short this life! You die this side of a century, but even if you live past, you die of old age. People grieve for what they see as mine, for nothing possessed is constant, nothing is constantly possessed.[1] Seeing this separation simply as it is, one shouldn't follow the household life. At death a person abandons what he construes as mine. Realizing this, the wise shouldn't incline to be devoted to mine. Just as a man doesn't see, on awakening, what he met in a dream, even so he doesn't see, when they are dead — their time done — those he held dear. When they are seen & heard, people are called by this name or that, but only the name remains to be pointed to when they are dead. Grief, lamentation, & selfishness are not let go by those greedy for mine, so sages letting go of possessions, seeing the Secure, go wandering forth. A monk, living withdrawn, enjoying a dwelling secluded: they say it's congenial for him he who wouldn't, in any realm, display self. Everywhere the sage independent holds nothing dear or undear. In him lamentation & selfishness, like water on a white lotus, do not adhere. As a water bead on a lotus leaf, as water on a red lily, does not adhere, so the sage does not adhere to the seen, the heard, or the sensed; for, cleansed, he doesn't construe in connection with the seen, the heard, or the sensed. In no other way does he wish for purity, for he neither takes on passion nor puts it away.[2]
Notes
1.
"Nothing possessed is constant, nothing is constantly possessed" — two readings of the phrase, na hi santi nicca pariggaha.
2.
Nd.I: An arahant has put passion totally away once and for all, and so has no need to do it ever again. An alternative explanation is that, as Sn 5.6 points out, the arahant has gone beyond all dhammas, dispassion included. -
Buddhism is nothing but replacing the 'Self' in Hinduism with Condition Arising.
Keep the clarity, the presence, the luminosity and eliminate the Ultimate 'Self', the controller, the supreme.
Still you must taste, sense, eat, hear and see Pure Awareness in every authentication.
And every authentication is Bliss.
~ Thusness (2005)
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"“Hey, hey, apparent yet non existent retinue: listen well! There is no object to distinguish in me, the view of self-originated wisdom; it did not exist before, it will not arise later, and also does not appear in anyway in the present. The path does not exist, action does not exist, traces do not exist, ignorance does not exist, thoughts do not exist, mind does not exist, discriminating knowledge does not exist, samsara does not exist, nirvana does not exist, vidyÄ� itself does not even exist, totally not appearing in anyway.”
-- The Unwritten Tantra -
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All fortune is the cause of other misfortune.
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It is certain that all of the diverse characteristics of things are liberated into their own condition,
Like clouds in the atmosphere that are self-originated and self-liberated.
You should look at your own mind to see whether it is like that or not.~ Padmasambhava
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KYEHO!
Intelligent being, listen!
If you practice the dharma according to the real situation, all becomes virtuous.
The instant presence of your primordial state
Is self - perfected in its very nature.
This is marvelous!
~ Ugyen Tendzin -
Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others. I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can. Dalai Lama ..•*¨*•.. .(^_^).. .._/l\_..å�� (Daily Dharma) æ¯�日法è¯
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The self-controlled person, moving among objects, with his senses free from attachment and malevolence and brought under his own control, attains tranquility.
~ Bhagavad Gita II.64 -
Devadatta bribed the royal elephant keepers to let loose a fierce elephant, Nalagiri, intoxicated with toddy, on the road along which the Buddha would go, begging for alms. The Buddha was warned of this but disregarded the warning, and when the elephant appeared, Ananda, against the strict orders of the Buddha, threw himself in its path, and only by an exercise of iddhi-power (psychic power), including the folding up of the earth, could the Buddha come ahead of him. As the elephant approached, the Buddha addressed it, pervading it with his boundless love, until it became quite gentle. (This incident, with great wealth of detail, is related in several places - e.g., in J.v.333ff). quoted
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The recognition is recognizing, no 'recognizer'.
We are moulded to think in terms of subject and object division;
we partition, divide what that cannot be divided and behave and react as if reality is really made up of such division. Mindfulness enables us to return to this pre-symbolic mode and 'see' reality as it is. This is the whole purpose.
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Look! The formation of the cloud, the rain, the color of the sky, the thunder, all these entirety that is taking place, what is it? It is Pristine Awareness. Not identify with anything, not bounded within the body, free from defintion and experience what is it. It is the entire field of our prestine awareness taking place with its emptiness nature.
If we fall back to 'Self', we are enclosed within. First we must go beyond symbols and see behind the essence that takes place. Master this art until the factor of enlightenment arises and stablizes, the 'self' subsides and the ground reality without core is understood.
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Do not dwell into the extraordinary, the mystical....the only transcendental experience worth dwelling is the living presence with the total subsiding of the 'self' until you are able to become Mr. Transparent finding everything truly is consciousness with emptiness nature. That is the only dwelling place for you....the transparent extraordinary clarity that everything is.
The key is Spontaneity, Naturalness and Self-Arising.
It takes place by itself. All mystical path will speak about this as the final. It is the depth of clarity before true spontaneity arises. This is just for your knowledge. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:dunno leh.. wats lacking?
I have written the post I send you yesterday, do tell me what iI intend to convey.
It can be repeated a million times but we cannot be so unwise to think that we have understood the profound meaning of it. The very fact that it is non dual, it is not within fabrication. Not between two moments of thought; not between two moments of arising before thought.
Meditate earnestlyÂ…Try to fuse into everything that comes into contact, every authentication. Experience the ultimate block as we move along, as we delve deeper, the witnessing consciousness, the center of all, becomes more obvious. When practices gain ground, it dissolves but in no time, it re-appears. Are we able to come so close to it and see it?
There is absolutely no observer; the experience of the Witnessing Consciousness must face its ultimate challenge. Only when a practitionerÂ’s mind is tremendously attentive, vivid, sharp, alive and clear can he then be ready. Ready to see each and every single moment of arising that makes up the stream and how each moment succeeds to the next moment; how the Witnessing Observer that we have treasured so deeply is in essence an illusion. This is not an intellectual quest; a gross mind cannot touch the true nature. The entire purpose of the doctrine of Anatta and Emptiness is to prepare us, ready us for this moment to come. To bear witness of the precious teachings of the Blessed One the truth of the instantaneous moment of arising and ceasing that makes up the stream. With this awakening, one sees the truth that the ultimate purpose of all practices is to lead us to the insight that enlightenment has no attainment. -
I wrote a pm to longchen, think it is good for u too.
Just to share some of my opinions. What you said is one aspect of Emptiness -- the emptiness of self (doctrine of Anatta). There is another aspect of Emptiness you might want to explore further (meditative experience), but before going into it, I would like just to highlight the importance of the experience of Anatta as a 'nature' rather than as a stage having an entry and exit point.
The sense of 'Self' must dissolve in all entry and exit points. In the first stage of dissolving, the dissolving of 'Self' relates only to the thought realm. The entry is at the mind level. The experience is the 'AMness'. Having such experience, a practitioner might be overwhelmed by the transcendental experience, attached to it and mistaken it as the purest stage of consciousness, not realizing that it is only a state of 'no-self' relating to the thought realm.
The experience of the dissolving of the 'Self' must ultimately be extended to the other 5 entry and exit points (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body) so that in no moment Anatta is not experienced, it must be thorough. Pure sound is radically different from pure seeing. All experiences are equally pure; non is purer than the other. The condition differs. (This, I believe we have already discussed.)
To me, a thorough experience has 3 distinguishing characteristics:
1. Signlessness, a realm without thought, labels and symbols.
2. An ever changing process
3. Consciousness as everything, not as thought, but as everything.
(I believed by now u should have experienced why everchanging can lead us to a non-dual experience)
The ultimate challenge is the witnessing consciousness that stands in the midst of experiencing. The point of elimination comes when attention reaches the minutest moment of experience and 'see' that a moment of experience is nothing but an instance of 'luminous light of emptiness nature', instantaneously it is gone and the next moment of 'luminous light of emptiness nature' arises with differing conditions and again in lightning flash moment it is all together different...ad infinitum. Consciousness is a momentary stream. Because it is momentary, knowing that it as a stream itself is not sufficient but 'how' it arises from moment to moment is most crucial. This brings us into the other aspect -- arising without origination, without a point of centricity. Without certain stability in the experience of Anatta in all entry and exit points, this aspect of Emptiness can only be appreciated conceptually; it will not be understood intuitively. -
SN 12.38
"But when one doesn't intend, arrange, or obsess [about anything], there is no support for the stationing of consciousness. There being no support, there is no landing of consciousness. When that consciousness doesn't land & grow, there is no production of renewed becoming in the future. When there is no production of renewed becoming in the future, there is no future birth, aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, or despair. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress." -
Ted Biringer:
"Discerning the intention of that teaching, I realize that sitting meditation is only one meaning of the profound teaching of zazen. In true zazen, meditation and ordinary activities are originally not two. In true zazen, meditation and ordinary activities are originally not two. Whether sitting, standing, walking, or lying down, nothing is apart from the still-still state. I prune the trees, the trees prune me, the trees prune the trees, I prune myself, pruning prunes pruning."
"The truth of Zen, how marvelous, how extraordinary!
The myriad things are void; the void is the myrad things.
Enlightenment is the void's own self-awareness.
Zazen is the void's awareness within all the myriad things."
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Althought it has a past and a future, the past and the future are cut off.
Here Dogen makes the point from the relative perspective (the particular, the individual, etc.). When you look at today's firewood from this perspective, today's firewood is unique. That is, today's firewood is distinctively today's firewood. It is, always has been, and always will be today's firewood.
This aspect is demonstrated philosophically by the Huayen doctrine of "principal and satellites." When any particular thing, time, or event is posited as the "principal," all other things, times, or events are seen as "satellites." For instance, look at an apple that has fallen from a tree. As the "principal" everything else in the univese can be seen as its "satellites," including the apple that was on the tree, the apple falling through the air, and the rotten apple of next month. Now if you shift your focus and take the rotten apple as the "principal" the fallen apple is now a "satellite" of the rotten apple. In this way, each thing, time, and event can be seen to include every other thing, time, and event. This applies to apples, firewood, ash, or any other particular thing, time, or event, including you at this very moment.
Next, the Genjokoan says:
Ash exists in the dharma position of ash. It has a past and it has a future.Here, Dogen makes the same point with ash that he just made with firewood. Since both ash and firewood "abide" or "exist" in their own particular "place in the dharma," their own unique "place" in all of space and time, one cannot become the other.
~ Ted Biringer
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One should not blame another nor despise anyone anywhere for any reason. Do not wish pain on another out of either anger or rivalry. - Sutta Nipata.149 -
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Ven Master Xing Yun's commentary on the Diamond Sutra's beginning related to the six Paramitas...
http://www.blpusa.com/download/bies20.pdf
Now, I will talk about the prajna in the Buddha's daily living.
This is the prajna spoken of in the Diamond Sutra. The Diamond Sutra opens with the following statement:
"Then the Blessed One at mealtime, put on His robes, took the alms bowl, and entered the city of Sravasti.
Having begged for alms there in due order, He returned to His place. Having taken His meal, He put away His robe and alms bowl, washed His feet, and sat in a cross-legged posture. . ."
This is the beginning of the Diamond Sutra, which I think all of you have read. Such a famous and precious Buddhist Sutra starts with a description of the Buddha washing His feet, putting on His robes, and eating His meal.
What do such simple daily activities have to do with prajna and emptiness as explained in the Diamond Sutra?
In fact, if you understand the Diamond Sutra, just these few lines can enable you to become enlightened. These few lines completely capture the spirit of prajna in the Diamond Sutra.
For example, putting on the robe and taking up the alms bowl signifies the paramita of precepts.
Entering the city of Sravasti to beg for alms is an illustration of the paramita of generosity.
To beg for alms in due order exemplifies the paramita of patience.
Taking his meal, putting away His robe and alms bowl, and washing His feet explains the paramita of diligence.
Sitting in a cross-legged position refers to the paramita of meditative concentration.
In this way, the Buddha integrated the Six Paramitas in His daily life. Because He had lived a life of the Six Paramitas, He was able to realize nirvana and be in harmony with prajna. Therefore, we should practice the Six Paramitas in our daily lives.
