Layman interpretations needed: Non-attachment VS Human needs
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Dear Isis, your views are consistent with that of AEN. However, let me reiterate that what I have said is not just whiny stuff, blaming people. I was wondering what I could do for others and myself.Originally posted by Isis:Just my some cents. Read with your own wisdom.
Also try insight meditation. You will see alot of things.
cheers
The things you have just said are for personal cultivation. However, to others, saying things like that, will not help them to want to listen to the Dharma. We must be able to meet their human needs for love instead of telling them that they should not cling on their needs as this will be greed and will thus bring suffering.
Let us not be hasty in telling or wanting people to understand and change. For not all are Buddhists. Even Buddhists like me don't find it easy to understand and accept. For not all can accept such ultimate formula for attaining true happiness. We have to constantly see from the layman's perspective, and not just from that of Buddhist practitioner.
But thanks for sharing with me.
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Did your dharma teacher encourage you to see things in meditation?Originally posted by Isis:Just my some cents. Read with your own wisdom.
Also try insight meditation. You will see alot of things.
cheers -
I have no dharma teacher at the moment. My knowledge comes from books and audio-visual recordings of various Buddhist Masters.Originally posted by justdoit77:Did your dharma teacher encourage you to see things in meditation? -
Justdoit77 is replying to Isis lahOriginally posted by Spnw07:I have no dharma teacher at the moment. My knowledge comes from books and audio-visual recordings of various Buddhist Masters.
Justdoit77: I think Isis's 'see things' refers to insights wisdom more than literally 'things', as Vipassana is 'Insight Meditation' and usually does not produce the sort of 'visions' that may come from Shamatha. -
Naturally in insight meditation, you will naturally 'see' things as they come.. as they arises and passes away. It can be a physical sensation, a thought, feeling, mental imagine based on causes and condition.Originally posted by justdoit77:Did your dharma teacher encourage you to see things in meditation?
I don't think my dharma teacher encourages me to see things. I practise the usual kind of insight meditation. -
Dear Spnw07,Originally posted by Spnw07:Dear Isis, your views are consistent with that of AEN. However, let me reiterate that what I have said is not just whiny stuff, blaming people. I was wondering what I could do for others and myself.
The things you have just said are for personal cultivation. However, to others, saying things like that, will not help them to want to listen to the Dharma. We must be able to meet their human needs for love instead of telling them that they should not cling on their needs as this will be greed and will thus bring suffering.
Hi, to preach the dharma required skillful ways and wisdom. Different people see things differently and require different medicine. If you want help others, you have to understand yourself first. I have friends who are very good at giving dharma advices and they don't associate their advices with buddhism. They give very wise advice in disguse of Dharma. Dharma is about reality. You have to understand what is this reality before you seek to change others. Frankly, you can't change others and only others can change themself. You can only lead them to see the options, to have a glimpse of things. Buddha and enlightened beings have the ability to see the condition that could lead to the right awakening.
Other than giving advise, you can help others in other ways, for example volunteerism. You are also cultivating in action. Through helping others, you are helping yourself too.
Let us not be hasty in telling or wanting people to understand and change. For not all are Buddhists. Even Buddhists like me don't find it easy to understand and accept. For not all can accept such ultimate formula for attaining true happiness. We have to constantly see from the layman's perspective, and not just from that of Buddhist practitioner.
Yup. You can read books where venerable speak from the layman's perspective. There are such books around. My favourite dharma books to date is Ajahn Chah.
But thanks for sharing with me.
Different people and even buddhist ( not just layman) have different views.
For buddhist, they have different level of understanding, what do u not understand? -
I understand what you're trying to say.Originally posted by Isis:Dear Spnw07,
Hi, to preach the dharma required skillful ways and wisdom. Different people see things differently and require different medicine. If you want help others, you have to understand yourself first. I have friends who are very good at giving dharma advices and they don't associate their advices with buddhism. They give very wise advice in disguse of Dharma. Dharma is about reality. You have to understand what is this reality before you seek to change others. Frankly, you can't change others and only others can change themself. You can only lead them to see the options, to have a glimpse of things. Buddha and enlightened beings have the ability to see the condition that could lead to the right awakening.
Other than giving advise, you can help others in other ways, for example volunteerism. You are also cultivating in action. Through helping others, you are helping yourself too.
How to help others? You can join volunteerism to help the needy and cultivate the four immeasurables. You can also try practise the six perfection.
Buddhism deals with the mental affliction.
Indeed, preaching the dharma requires skilful ways and wisdom. And to help others, I have to understand myself first.
The fact is, I don't understand myself and yet I can't understand myself if I cannot understand the theory explained enough to practise that theory. It's a catch-22 situation.
I've thought of volunteering many times, but as I know I'm rather short-tempered and impatient, I fear that I may cause trouble than help others in any way at all.
I also wish to clarify that I don't really consider myself as giving advice here as I'm merely a beginner Buddhist. I had used the word 'advice' cos I don't know what other words I can or should use.
I can at most say I'm sharing my personal feelings and experiences in life and practising Buddhist teachings, from the perspectives of a middle/low-rooted Buddhist.[Posted by Isis] Yup. You can read books where venerable speak from the layman's perspective. There are such books around. My favourite dharma books to date is Ajahn Chah.
I will search for books by this Venerable.
Thanks for your advice and recommendation. Please feel free to recommend me more books that explain Buddhism in layman terms[Posted by Isis]Dear Spnw07,
Too many lah, paiseh ah...
Different people and even buddhist ( not just layman) have different views.
For buddhist, they have different level of understanding, what do u not understand?
Don't want to waste your time typing lah. But appreciate for asking. -
For this compassion without attachment, personally I think since most of us are practicing the bodhisattva path, we should keep a little bit attachment in order to understand the suffering of sentient being.
This attachment refer to the desire to save the sentient being out of samsara, feel sad when seeing them suffer, feel happy when seeing them happy. Some bodhisattvas in wrathful form may even show anger when seeing sentient beings commit in bad deeds.
If not, one may go to the extreme of emptiness, you may think that everything is empty, suffering also empty, no need to do anything or help others, karma also empty, no need to accumulate good karma. -
More questions on non-attachment:
If you have attained non-attachment, does it mean..
1. You don't need anathestic when being operated on on the surgical table?
2. You wouldn't mind pledging your organs to be taken out after your death?
Note: For those who don't know, most or some Buddhists believes that the consciousness does not leave the body immediately after the last breath due to karmic debts incurred by the deceased when alive and/or during previous lives. It can at the same time be due to the individual being very attached to his/her physical body.
2 exceptions: One who has done exceptionally good deeds while alive and has died with his last thoughts being pure and kind. This person must at least has had practised the upper ten good deeds; which is the five precepts plus no greed, no anger and hatred, and no false or wrong views. Such a person goes to heaven directly and his consciousness leaves the body immediately after death.
Another is the complete opposite of the exceptionally good man. Such a person goes to the 3 evil realms immediately after his last breath. His consciousness does not stay long in the body.
3. If you are held by gansters and they break or cut off your limbs, leaving you to bleed on your own, but yet you do not harbour any anger or hatred towards them? You also don't allow others to call the police, for they may have to be hanged?
Hands up, please, for those who think they can do all the above. I will hands up for not being able to do. -
Yes, this is mainly what I'm trying to say, let's keep a little bit of attachment in order to empathise fully with the sufferings of sentient beings while we are still in the early steps of walking the Bodhisattva path.Originally posted by justdoit77:For this compassion without attachment, personally I think since most of us are practicing the bodhisattva path, we should keep a little bit attachment in order to understand the suffering of sentient being.
This attachment refer to the desire to save the sentient being out of samsara, feel sad when seeing them suffer, feel happy when seeing them happy. Some bodhisattvas in wrathful form may even show anger when seeing sentient beings commit in bad deeds.
If not, one may go to the extreme of emptiness, you may think that everything is empty, suffering also empty, no need to do anything or help others, karma also empty, no need to accumulate good karma. -
Jia You!Originally posted by bohiruci:its okie , i guess the past 2 years is tough , but i have never stop , i think Buddhism give me the strength to overcome life's adversity
Amituofo. -
Hello, i happen to flip a dharma book on the Four Noble Truth and find this page may be able to answer some of your questions about desire.
Grasping is suffering
Usually we equate suffering with feeling, but the feeling is not suffering. It is the grasping of desire that is suffering. Desire does not cause suffering; the cause of suffering is the grasping of desire. This statement is for reflection and contemplation in terms of your individual experience.
You really have to investigate desire and know it for what it is. You have to know what is natural and necessary for survival and what is not necessary survival. We can ve very idealistic in thinking that even the need for food is some kind of desire we should not have. Once can be quite ridiculous about it. But the Buddha was not an idealist and he was not a moralist. He was not trying to condemn anything. He was trying to awaken us to the truth so that we could see things clearly.
Once there is that clarity and seeing in the right way, then there is no suffering. You can still feel hunger. You can still need food without it becoming a desire. Food is a natural need of the body. The body is not a self; it needs food otherwise it will get very weak and die. That is the nature of the body - there is nothing wrong with that. If we get very moralistic and high-minded and believe that we are our bodies, that hunger is our own problem, and that we should not even eat - that is not wisdom; it is foolishness.
When you really see the origin of suffering, you realise that the problem is the grasping of desire not desire itself. Grasping means being deluded by it, thinking it's really 'me' and 'mine'. 'These desire are me and there is something wrong with me for having them'; or, 'I have to get rid of something before i can become what i want to be.' All this is deisre. So you can listen to it with bare attention not saying it's good or bad, but merely recognising it for what it is.
By Venerable Ajahn Sumedho -
quote:
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Originally posted by Isis:
Dear Spnw07,
Hi, to preach the dharma required skillful ways and wisdom. Different people see things differently and require different medicine. If you want help others, you have to understand yourself first. I have friends who are very good at giving dharma advices and they don't associate their advices with buddhism. They give very wise advice in disguse of Dharma. Dharma is about reality. You have to understand what is this reality before you seek to change others. Frankly, you can't change others and only others can change themself. You can only lead them to see the options, to have a glimpse of things. Buddha and enlightened beings have the ability to see the condition that could lead to the right awakening.
Other than giving advise, you can help others in other ways, for example volunteerism. You are also cultivating in action. Through helping others, you are helping yourself too.
How to help others? You can join volunteerism to help the needy and cultivate the four immeasurables. You can also try practise the six perfection.
Buddhism deals with the mental affliction.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hihi,
btw i'm not there wise.
I'm still learning.
Just to add. It is really easy to help someone. It all in your heart. You don't really need to understand yourself to help others as i have said. You just need to have a bit of generousity and compassionate.
You can help your mother to do her house chores. You can help some old lady to carry their heavy groceries. You can donate some money ( $1 or less.. it all adds up ) to charity or a poor beggar on the roadside. You can give a smile to a stranger. You can give a simple gift to your friend to thank them. You can always do something to help others, no matter whether it is big or small. It isn't there difficult. -
Hey hey,Originally posted by Spnw07:More questions on non-attachment:
If you have attained non-attachment, does it mean..
1. You don't need anathestic when being operated on on the surgical table?
2. You wouldn't mind pledging your organs to be taken out after your death?
Note: For those who don't know, most or some Buddhists believes that the consciousness does not leave the body immediately after the last breath due to karmic debts incurred by the deceased when alive and/or during previous lives. It can at the same time be due to the individual being very attached to his/her physical body.
2 exceptions: One who has done exceptionally good deeds while alive and has died with his last thoughts being pure and kind. This person must at least has had practised the upper ten good deeds; which is the five precepts plus no greed, no anger and hatred, and no false or wrong views. Such a person goes to heaven directly and his consciousness leaves the body immediately after death.
Another is the complete opposite of the exceptionally good man. Such a person goes to the 3 evil realms immediately after his last breath. His consciousness does not stay long in the body.
3. If you are held by gansters and they break or cut off your limbs, leaving you to bleed on your own, but yet you do not harbour any anger or hatred towards them? You also don't allow others to call the police, for they may have to be hanged?
Hands up, please, for those who think they can do all the above. I will hands up for not being able to do.
i can't do there because i'm not enlightened yet. -
how do you practise openly accept everything when you are awared that you are also shrinking away. It is like flinching when someone hit you.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I do not see that as a goal but the practice itself. If one practices, then things become easier and the struggle dissolves gradually... only because of lack of 'openness', 'space', we are constantly in a struggle with ourselves. Practice in Buddhism (as I heard that Yamizi heard it from my dharma teacher himself) is supposed to be blissful rather than a struggle. If we practice correctly it is liberation, not struggle. Then we just keep integrating this practice with our lives. It is a process of liberation.
So the key is learning to live in an open acceptance of whatever arises in the moment. As Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche said in the article,
The everyday practice of dzogchen is simply to develop a complete carefree acceptance, an openness to all situations without limit.
We should realize openness as the playground of our emotions and relate to people without artificiality, manipulation or strategy.
We should experience everything totally, never withdrawing into ourselves as a marmot hides in its hole. This practice releases tremendous energy which is usually constricted by the process of maintaining fixed reference points. Referentiality is the process by which we retreat from the direct experience of everyday life.
Being present in the moment may initially trigger fear. But by welcoming the sensation of fear with complete openness, we cut through the barriers created by habitual emotional patterns.
When we engage in the practice of discovering space, we should develop the feeling of opening ourselves out completely to the entire universe. We should open ourselves with absolute simplicity and nakedness of mind. This is the powerful and ordinary practice of dropping the mask of self-protection. (continued in URL)
So should i also accept there shrinking and flinching kind of thing as it comes and goes ? -
Yes. By 'accepting' everything including the contraction, shrinking and flinching, you are no longer creating more aversion/resistance to that moment of experience... no longer 'fixated' on being hit by someone, no longer holding on tightly (for 'self' defense) to the 'shrinking away' (i.e. 'contraction'), not further reacting or following the content, but simply allow whatever thoughts and physical sensations to arise and pass by itself. This is also related to the 'leaving no trace' I was talking about earlier. It is linked with non-fixation.Originally posted by Isis:how do you practise openly accept everything when you are awared that you are also shrinking away. It is like flinching when someone hit you.
So should i also accept there shrinking and flinching kind of thing as it comes and goes ?
As Aaron said -- contraction is not the problem, but the fixation that brings us out of the state of pure awareness. Fixation have different expressions but all stems from our egoic identification, in this case, the (perceived) 'need' to 'defend' a (perceived) 'separate self'. Do look carefully and try to understand the differences between contraction and fixation from the article.
As long as there is still 'reacting' it means the fixation is still there, just observe with acceptance. This acceptance is a non-fixated open awareness that is aware of whatever mental states, physical sensations that is arising, and also the space of pure awareness.
This is similar to what Aaron explained: Choiceless Awareness and Non-Fixation
...When there is an arising, the lawnmower going by, and there is a momentary contraction around the lawnmower, if there is mindfulness, you note that contraction almost immediately, as it arises. The contraction around the hearing is not the hearing itself. That contraction, also, does not pull you out. Now this is a tough one. I'm going to be more specific. What really pulls you out is fixation on the contraction. Here is the delusion. The hearing was not "other-than," but the arising of contraction, like or do not like, and the energy contractions therein, are judged and experienced as "other-than." I want you to think about the difference between contraction itself and fixation on the contraction. I'm going to ask Barbara to make a loud noise. I want you to watch any contraction around that noise, and then, whether you simply note the contraction around it and let it go, or whether there's judgment or wanting to hold on to the contraction for defense Let's just observe. (There's a long pause, and then Barbara gives a sudden, loud shout. And again.)
Could you feel that shift? Of course the body startled from the surprise of hearing and there was a contraction of energy. The energy contraction is simply a conditioned arising, just as was the physical sensation of hearing. Fixation on any conditioned arising pulls you out of that state of pure awareness. By "fixation" I mean a self-identity with, a move to change, prolong or control it which is movement of the small ego-self.
What if you see the fixation after a time, and then release it? Then, yes, you do come back to that state of pure awareness again. The body may still be reverberating from that contraction. There is a distortion, a warp of sorts, in the energy field. In my book, Path of Natural Light, I have delineated practices with which you can work with that distortion and release it. I'm not going to speak to that here. What I want you to begin to see is how easily you can come back home. As soon as you catch it, whether it's a fraction of a second or ten minutes later, as soon as you catch it and re-open, you are home.
You are not denying the arising of fear, anger, desire or any mind state. If those arise, then you work with them skillfully, simply being aware that they are present until they begin to soften or dissolve. To be aware of a mind state is not to fixate on it. It is not to hold the anger, not to have aversion to the anger. It's simply to be aware of it. It is not the mind state, any more than it is the arising of any thought, that pulls you out of that state of pure awareness. Anger is just another cloud, another arising of conditioned mind. It is harder to make space for the anger than simply for a thought like "planning," but it certainly can be done. You are not denying anything in your experience but observing the fixation around each contraction that follows the thought or sensation. Observe how that contraction seems to have an "other-than" quality.... -
Hah.. just realised Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche said the same things about fixation and self-protection as Aaron
The everyday practice of dzogchen is simply to develop a complete carefree acceptance, an openness to all situations without limit.
We should realize openness as the playground of our emotions and relate to people without artificiality, manipulation or strategy.
We should experience everything totally, never withdrawing into ourselves as a marmot hides in its hole. This practice releases tremendous energy which is usually constricted by the process of maintaining fixed reference points. Referentiality is the process by which we retreat from the direct experience of everyday life.
Being present in the moment may initially trigger fear. But by welcoming the sensation of fear with complete openness, we cut through the barriers created by habitual emotional patterns.
When we engage in the practice of discovering space, we should develop the feeling of opening ourselves out completely to the entire universe. We should open ourselves with absolute simplicity and nakedness of mind. This is the powerful and ordinary practice of dropping the mask of self-protection.
(continued: http://www.nyingma.com/dzogchen1.htm)
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Perhaps this is why Thusness lists 'Fearlessness' as one of the 3 qualities of self-liberation (the other two are 'non-duality' and 'non-attachment') -
Like Isis, I can't speak in definite terms for enlightened beings because I myself am not an Arya. So I only speak of what I learnt and heard from others.Originally posted by Spnw07:More questions on non-attachment:
If you have attained non-attachment, does it mean..
1. You don't need anathestic when being operated on on the surgical table?
2. You wouldn't mind pledging your organs to be taken out after your death?
Note: For those who don't know, most or some Buddhists believes that the consciousness does not leave the body immediately after the last breath due to karmic debts incurred by the deceased when alive and/or during previous lives. It can at the same time be due to the individual being very attached to his/her physical body.
2 exceptions: One who has done exceptionally good deeds while alive and has died with his last thoughts being pure and kind. This person must at least has had practised the upper ten good deeds; which is the five precepts plus no greed, no anger and hatred, and no false or wrong views. Such a person goes to heaven directly and his consciousness leaves the body immediately after death.
Another is the complete opposite of the exceptionally good man. Such a person goes to the 3 evil realms immediately after his last breath. His consciousness does not stay long in the body.
3. If you are held by gansters and they break or cut off your limbs, leaving you to bleed on your own, but yet you do not harbour any anger or hatred towards them? You also don't allow others to call the police, for they may have to be hanged?
Hands up, please, for those who think they can do all the above. I will hands up for not being able to do.
My Taiwanese teacher for instance, once stepped on a nail while trimming his plants (if I remember correctly) in his garden. It stuck right in the middle of his toe nail and there is no easy way to get it out. So, he decided to simply pull that nail out right from the spot... and blood gush out from his toe. The students that witnessed it were horrified... they even asked him 'You didn't feel pain?' to which he answered humorously 'Of course I felt pain! It's not like I'm dead yet.' Pain as he said is an expression of the awareness/clarity of our Buddha Nature. Like I said, pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
He decided to pull that nail out because short term pain is better than long term pain... so as long as he just pull it out without much further thinking, grasping, less suffering will be felt.. rather than keep thinking about 'I am feeling pain' that goes along with the aversion and resistance. That is definitely going to cause much more suffering.
There was another instance, and this is real... my taiwanese teacher got admitted to the hospital to perform an operation. When he was administered one dose of strong anaesthetic (the type that will make you go fully unconscious), he still remain completely aware and conscious. When he was administered the second dose, he still continue to remain fully conscious... and the doctors were damn surprised. Then one of the helper suggested a third dose, the surgeon say cannot, third dose will kill him. Then my Taiwanese teacher told them please continue with your operation, no amount of anesthetic can have effect on me. And so the surgeon continued with their operation, and cut up his body. He looked up with his head, and stared at the surgeon and watched the entire medical procedure. The surgeon even told him 'hey stop looking, it will scare you to death!'
This whole incident is real, he even told us the names of the surgeons. Several students of his also witnessed the whole incident as they were waiting outside looking through a window. They were there because if anything wrong happens, there isn't enough time to instruct his last words. And at the end, the surgeons say were very sorry and said they were afraid they were unable to save his life because during the operation they couldn't find out the cause of his illness. Then my teacher said as if it is nothing big, "Oh don't worry, I've waited that (death) for a long time already." Of course the surgeons were shocked, who on Earth would have 'waited for it'? And without any fear and hesitation.
The way my Taiwanese teacher recalled the whole episode was kind of humorous. BTW, my taiwanese teacher died and revived 4 times in this life. He had also undergone many near death experiences and visited the bardo states. He told us how some scientist has wrongly misinterpreted the tunnel of light and explained in terms of Buddhism's understanding of consciousness in the bardo state.
Anyway the above story also reminds me of the story of the 16th Karmapa,
http://www.karmapa.org/history/karmapa_16/16ka3_9.htm
As death approached, he had taken a half-dozen deadly diseases upon himself. Using his yogic power, he removed much of their harmfulness, at least for those in his powerfield. He also allowed the physicians to test their medicines on him. Some of their findings were amazing: even the highest doses of sedatives had absolutely no effect on him. He cared for their well-being and never talked about himself.
As for organ donation..
My Master doesn't mind pledging his organs for donations... and he thinks donating organs, blood etc (and this also has scriptural support in Buddhism) is something that a Bodhisattva will be very happy to do. He says if one is willing and have the Bodhisattva vows can go ahead with organ donation. But on the other side (I came up with this, my Master didn't mention) of course if one is unwilling and attached to the body then one may have to endure some suffering. My Master said that if one has such compassion perhaps at the time of death Amitabha would have delivered him to pure land immediately after his death.
Of course, I have not decided on this issue yet... and I still have my doubts on this. My mom still did not dare to pledge her organs.
As for third, you may recall that Shakyamuni Buddha had in previous lifetimes as a Bodhisattva gave up his body to save others' life, gave his body to a tiger to save the cubs from being eaten, and many other cases. Shariputra had in a previous life gorged out his eyes for the devas who disguised as a pitiful couple requiring his eyes to cure a disease. To an enlightened being, mind and body is completely dropped off. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Now, I truly believe your Taiwan teacher is an enlightened man. For not all monks or nuns can achieve such a complete state of non-attachment. If we were to speak in terms of Cause and Effect, your teacher has practised deep meditation during many of his past lives and has achieved some form of deep samadhi. Only that can explain how he experienced surgery in full consciousness during this lifetime. Or in addition your teacher is a Bodhisattva or Arahant in manifestation or has been practising the Bodhisattva way for many lifetimes. To most layman, they would think that he is not very human, even if he is able to feel pain.
Like Isis, I can't speak in definite terms for enlightened beings because I myself am not an Arya. So I only speak of what I learnt and heard from others.
My Taiwanese teacher for instance, once stepped on a nail while trimming his plants (if I remember correctly) in his garden. It stuck right in the middle of his toe nail and there is no easy way to get it out. So, he decided to simply pull that nail out right from the spot... and blood gush out from his toe. The students that witnessed it were horrified... they even asked him 'You didn't feel pain?' to which he answered humorously 'Of course I felt pain! It's not like I'm dead yet.' Pain as he said is an expression of the awareness/clarity of our Buddha Nature. Like I said, pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
He decided to pull that nail out because short term pain is better than long term pain... so as long as he just pull it out without much further thinking, grasping, less suffering will be felt.. rather than keep thinking about 'I am feeling pain' that goes along with the aversion and resistance. That is definitely going to cause much more suffering.
There was another instance, and this is real... my taiwanese teacher got admitted to the hospital to perform an operation. When he was administered one dose of strong anaesthetic (the type that will make you go fully unconscious), he still remain completely aware and conscious. When he was administered the second dose, he still continue to remain fully conscious... and the doctors were damn surprised. Then one of the helper suggested a third dose, the surgeon say cannot, third dose will kill him. Then my Taiwanese teacher told them please continue with your operation, no amount of anesthetic can have effect on me. And so the surgeon continued with their operation, and cut up his body. He looked up with his head, and stared at the surgeon and watched the entire medical procedure. The surgeon even told him 'hey stop looking, it will scare you to death!'
This whole incident is real, he even told us the names of the surgeons. Several students of his also witnessed the whole incident as they were waiting outside looking through a window. They were there because if anything wrong happens, there isn't enough time to instruct his last words. And at the end, the surgeons say were very sorry and said they were afraid they were unable to save his life because during the operation they couldn't find out the cause of his illness. Then my teacher said as if it is nothing big, "Oh don't worry, I've waited that (death) for a long time already." Of course the surgeons were shocked, who on Earth would have 'waited for it'? And without any fear and hesitation.
The way my Taiwanese teacher recalled the whole episode was kind of humorous. BTW, my taiwanese teacher died and revived 4 times in this life. He had also undergone many near death experiences and visited the bardo states. He told us how some scientist has wrongly misinterpreted the tunnel of light and explained in terms of Buddhism's understanding of consciousness in the bardo state.
Anyway the above story also reminds me of the story of the 16th Karmapa,
http://www.karmapa.org/history/karmapa_16/16ka3_9.htm
As death approached, he had taken a half-dozen deadly diseases upon himself. Using his yogic power, he removed much of their harmfulness, at least for those in his powerfield. He also allowed the physicians to test their medicines on him. [b]Some of their findings were amazing: even the highest doses of sedatives had absolutely no effect on him. He cared for their well-being and never talked about himself.
As for organ donation..
My Master doesn't mind pledging his organs for donations... and he thinks donating organs, blood etc (and this also has scriptural support in Buddhism) is something that a Bodhisattva will be very happy to do. He says if one is willing and have the Bodhisattva vows can go ahead with organ donation. But on the other side (I came up with this, my Master didn't mention) of course if one is unwilling and attached to the body then one may have to endure some suffering. My Master said that if one has such compassion perhaps at the time of death Amitabha would have delivered him to pure land immediately after his death.
Of course, I have not decided on this issue yet... and I still have my doubts on this. My mom still did not dare to pledge her organs.
As for third, you may recall that Shakyamuni Buddha had in previous lifetimes as a Bodhisattva gave up his body to save others' life, gave his body to a tiger to save the cubs from being eaten, and many other cases. Shariputra had in a previous life gorged out his eyes for the devas who disguised as a pitiful couple requiring his eyes to cure a disease. To an enlightened being, mind and body is completely dropped off.[/b]
Sometimes I wonder if we encounter people who has attained such high levels of non-attachment, should we even bother to help them? For they can at any time, control how the pain affects them.
I have opted out of the body organs donation scheme and my mum did the same. Master Chin Kung has advised that we need not force ourselves to walk the Bodhisattva path of donating organs in this life. All we need to do is to concentrate on strengthening our vows to be reborn in Pureland during every hour of being alive and during our last few breaths. When we are reborn into Pureland, we will be Bodhisattvas who have great wisdom and deep samadhi to withstand without fear nor attachment to all types of physical pain and any type of humiliation when we come down as human beings.
We need to be very clear and yet flexible on such practical issues. I feel there is an important need to discuss such matters on a consistent basis. Concerns about chronic or terminal illnesses and death and dealing with them in accordance with the best and most flexible Buddhist guidelines should not be neglected in our daily discussion and cultivation of Buddhist teachings, especially when world trends point to a fast ageing world population and resultant strains can be observed for each country's healthcare system. -
Originally posted by Isis:
Good one. Roughly can understand a bit. But still very deep for me. ^^;
Hello, i happen to flip a dharma book on the Four Noble Truth and find this page may be able to answer some of your questions about desire.
[b]Grasping is suffering
Usually we equate suffering with feeling, but the feeling is not suffering. It is the grasping of desire that is suffering. Desire does not cause suffering; the cause of suffering is the grasping of desire. This statement is for reflection and contemplation in terms of your individual experience.
You really have to investigate desire and know it for what it is. You have to know what is natural and necessary for survival and what is not necessary survival. We can ve very idealistic in thinking that even the need for food is some kind of desire we should not have. Once can be quite ridiculous about it. But the Buddha was not an idealist and he was not a moralist. He was not trying to condemn anything. He was trying to awaken us to the truth so that we could see things clearly.
Once there is that clarity and seeing in the right way, then there is no suffering. You can still feel hunger. You can still need food without it becoming a desire. Food is a natural need of the body. The body is not a self; it needs food otherwise it will get very weak and die. That is the nature of the body - there is nothing wrong with that. If we get very moralistic and high-minded and believe that we are our bodies, that hunger is our own problem, and that we should not even eat - that is not wisdom; it is foolishness.
When you really see the origin of suffering, you realise that the problem is the grasping of desire not desire itself. Grasping means being deluded by it, thinking it's really 'me' and 'mine'. 'These desire are me and there is something wrong with me for having them'; or, 'I have to get rid of something before i can become what i want to be.' All this is deisre. So you can listen to it with bare attention not saying it's good or bad, but merely recognising it for what it is.
By Venerable Ajahn Sumedho[/b] -
Well, I think you are wise enough to help beginner Buddhists like me and I'm sure you will progress in time to come.Originally posted by Isis:quote:
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Originally posted by Isis:
Dear Spnw07,
Hi, to preach the dharma required skillful ways and wisdom. Different people see things differently and require different medicine. If you want help others, you have to understand yourself first. I have friends who are very good at giving dharma advices and they don't associate their advices with buddhism. They give very wise advice in disguse of Dharma. Dharma is about reality. You have to understand what is this reality before you seek to change others. Frankly, you can't change others and only others can change themself. You can only lead them to see the options, to have a glimpse of things. Buddha and enlightened beings have the ability to see the condition that could lead to the right awakening.
Other than giving advise, you can help others in other ways, for example volunteerism. You are also cultivating in action. Through helping others, you are helping yourself too.
How to help others? You can join volunteerism to help the needy and cultivate the four immeasurables. You can also try practise the six perfection.
Buddhism deals with the mental affliction.
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Hihi,
btw i'm not there wise.
I'm still learning.
Just to add. It is really easy to help someone. It all in your heart. You don't really need to understand yourself to help others as i have said. You just need to have a bit of generousity and compassionate.
You can help your mother to do her house chores. You can help some old lady to carry their heavy groceries. You can donate some money ( $1 or less.. it all adds up ) to charity or a poor beggar on the roadside. You can give a smile to a stranger. You can give a simple gift to your friend to thank them. You can always do something to help others, no matter whether it is big or small. It isn't there difficult.
Frankly speaking, I am very worried about my intentions when helping people in any way. Cos I'm concerned that I may be pretentious or manipulative, to gain favour, to look 'good' in the eyes of others. I'm worried that I may be a Jekyll and Hyde without being aware of it at all.
Sure, good deeds need not be big ones and we always need to start small and progress upwards. However, we have to be careful not to become another Mr Durai, who was at first a very dedicated and caring volunteer before he became a full-time staff at NKF.
Anyway, probably no one would understand why I'm such a worry-wort cos the more I read up on Buddhist teachings and other books on self-reflection, the more I feel burdened to be on 'high alert' all the time. Occasionally I would jokingly say to my mum, I think I would need to be admitted to IMH if I don't succeed soon in finding the right balance in maintaining high awareness and letting go of my various feelings at the same time. -
I hv a simple DIY method for u if u don't mind. It is to just do whatever is right and good to others, and don't do whatever is wrong and harmful. Then u don't hv the chance to be Jekyll and Hyde.Originally posted by Spnw07:Well, I think you are wise enough to help beginner Buddhists like me and I'm sure you will progress in time to come.
Frankly speaking, I am very worried about my intentions when helping people in any way. Cos I'm concerned that I may be pretentious or manipulative, to gain favour, to look 'good' in the eyes of others. I'm worried that I may be a Jekyll and Hyde without being aware of it at all.
Sure, good deeds need not be big ones and we always need to start small and progress upwards. However, we have to be careful not to become another Mr Durai, who was at first a very dedicated and caring volunteer before he became a full-time staff at NKF.
Anyway, probably no one would understand why I'm such a worry-wort cos the more I read up on Buddhist teachings and other books on self-reflection, the more I feel burdened to be on 'high alert' all the time. Occasionally I would jokingly say to my mum, I think I would need to be admitted to IMH if I don't succeed soon in finding the right balance in maintaining high awareness and letting go of my various feelings at the same time.
It may sounds very boring, old fashioned or preachy, but frankly speaking I think it is the most basic n simple guideline for ppl like us. Cos this method actually helps us to just set our mind on doing the right thing and stop thinking too much unneccessarily on how our actions may be judged or perceived by others later. If it is right n good to others, then as the Nike slogan goes: "Just do it!" Then forget about it n move on.
But of cos if we hv done bad, cannot just forget it, must repent n correct the mistake, then move on.
What i wanted to say is we shouldn't put ourselves in a fix all the time over whatever we do, even over the good things we do. To do good is always right, but don't be too harsh on ourselves. If not really must go IMH liao. -
If we r not, we r not. Don't worry about what others think. About not wanting to be Jekyll n Hyde, just " do good, stop evil".Originally posted by Spnw07:Frankly speaking, I am very worried about my intentions when helping people in any way. Cos I'm concerned that I may be pretentious or manipulative, to gain favour, to look 'good' in the eyes of others. I'm worried that I may be a Jekyll and Hyde without being aware of it at all.
Good luck. -
Thanks for your concern, cycle. If only life were so easy...But I really appreciate you taking the effort to express your concern. Thanks.Originally posted by cycle:I hv a simple DIY method for u if u don't mind. It is to just do whatever is right and good to others, and don't do whatever is wrong and harmful. Then u don't hv the chance to be Jekyll and Hyde.
It may sounds very boring, old fashioned or preachy, but frankly speaking I think it is the most basic n simple guideline for ppl like us. Cos this method actually helps us to just set our mind on doing the right thing and stop thinking too much unneccessarily on how our actions may be judged or perceived by others later. If it is right n good to others, then as the Nike slogan goes: "Just do it!" Then forget about it n move on.
But of cos if we hv done bad, cannot just forget it, must repent n correct the mistake, then move on.
What i wanted to say is we shouldn't put ourselves in a fix all the time over whatever we do, even over the good things we do. To do good is always right, but don't be too harsh on ourselves. If not really must go IMH liao. -
Hi,Originally posted by Spnw07:Well, I think you are wise enough to help beginner Buddhists like me and I'm sure you will progress in time to come.
Frankly speaking, I am very worried about my intentions when helping people in any way. Cos I'm concerned that I may be pretentious or manipulative, to gain favour, to look 'good' in the eyes of others. I'm worried that I may be a Jekyll and Hyde without being aware of it at all.
Sure, good deeds need not be big ones and we always need to start small and progress upwards. However, we have to be careful not to become another Mr Durai, who was at first a very dedicated and caring volunteer before he became a full-time staff at NKF.
Anyway, probably no one would understand why I'm such a worry-wort cos the more I read up on Buddhist teachings and other books on self-reflection, the more I feel burdened to be on 'high alert' all the time. Occasionally I would jokingly say to my mum, I think I would need to be admitted to IMH if I don't succeed soon in finding the right balance in maintaining high awareness and letting go of my various feelings at the same time.
I have encountered similar type of problem. Occasionally, i could have some unhealthly thought that come into my mind. There is a cause of it.
One can practise repentence when one face this problem I used to fear eye contact with venerable. If i have done/think nothing wrong, i could have nothing to fear. For me, I could silently repent to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha for any aversion/any unwholesome thought that arise.
When one has right thought, one's consciousness/liang zhi could be upright and at ease and one could not have worry.
You simply accept these unwholesome thought and let it go. It is when "it" becomes me and u react on it, believing that i am evil or good blah.
This is a delusion. No one is truly evil or good or not so good or bad.
U can try > Metta meditation to purify any mental and emotional uneasiness.
"Monks, for one whose awareness-release through good will is cultivated, developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken, eleven benefits can be expected. Which eleven?
"One sleeps easily, wakes easily, dreams no evil dreams. One is dear to human beings, dear to non-human beings. The devas protect one. Neither fire, poison, nor weapons can touch one. One's mind gains concentration quickly. One's complexion is bright. One dies unconfused and — if penetrating no higher — is headed for the Brahma worlds.
"These are the eleven benefits that can be expected for one whose awareness-release through good will is cultivated, developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, and well-undertaken."
Refer to the green highlight: Greed isn't our nature. They are merely defilement that comes and goes. Thus we do not need to fear as they are not permanent.
What does it means by comes and goes? Observe the emotion: anger or any other feeling. This feeling come and drop away. No one can feel constantly angry.
And if you look at your worries, probably 90% does not come true in reality.