lifeforce

Maybe you should read it. I found it to be a remarkable expedient in awakening. It has the potential to enlighten beings who are ready for it. 'Let your mind be unattached, clinging to nothing" from The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra by the Buddhist Text Translation Society. The activities in this declension are precisely intentional or "determinative" action, of speech, body, or mind (AN III 415, PTS Vol III pg 294 and SN II 3, PTS Vol II pg 4), and this is what ceases, gradually, in the meditative states. In the unusual declension up above, Gautama moves directly from intentional or willful activity to a station of consciousness, to suffering. I would say a station of consciousness is the opposite of a mind that is present without abode. In my writing, I put forward a practice for engaging the experience of the mind that is present without abode: The practice I have in mind is a practice that everybody is already familiar with, even if they don’t think of it as a practice. What I’m referring to is waking up in the morning, or falling asleep at night; if you’ve ever had a hard time waking up or falling asleep, then you know that there can indeed be a practice! In my experience, the practice is the same, whether I am waking up or falling asleep: when I realize my physical sense of location in space, and realize it as it occurs from one moment to the next, then I wake up or fall asleep as appropriate. ... Just before I fall asleep, my awareness can move very readily, and my sense of where I am tends to move with it. This is also true when I am waking up, although it can be harder to recognize (I tend to live through my eyes in the daytime, and associate my sense of place with them). When my awareness shifts readily, I realize that my ability to feel my location in space is made possible in part by the freedom of my awareness to move. ("Waking Up and Falling Asleep", A Natural Mindfulness pg 5, yours truly) Here's koun Franz talking about the same thing: “Okay... So, have your hands in the cosmic mudra, palms up, thumbs touching, and there's this common instruction: place your mind here. Different people interpret this differently. Some people will say this means to place your attention here, meaning to keep your attention on your hands. It's a way of turning the lens to where you are in space so that you're not looking out here and out here and out here. It's the positive version, perhaps, of "navel gazing. The other way to understand this is to literally place your mind where your hands are--to relocate mind (let's not say your mind) to your centre of gravity, so that mind is operating from a place other than your brain. Some traditions take this very seriously, this idea of moving your consciousness around the body. I wouldn't recommend dedicating your life to it, but as an experiment, I recommend trying it, sitting in this posture and trying to feel what it's like to let your mind, to let the base of your consciousness, move away from your head. One thing you'll find, or that I have found, at least, is that you can't will it to happen, because you're willing it from your head. To the extent that you can do it, it's an act of letting go--and a fascinating one.” ("No Struggle (Zazen Yojinki, Part 6)", by Koun Franz, from Koun's "Nyoho Zen" site: https://nyoho.com/2018/09/15/no-struggle-zazen-yojinki-part-6/) Is "let the mind be present without an abode" actually from the Diamond Sutra?--as I said, I've never actually read the Diamond Sutra. I know a lot depends on the particular translator/translation. Yes. Translations differ but the meaning doesn't. It is very much in line with the Pali Nikayas. Something I've posted about recently. Yes, but regular sitting can be a catalyst for awakening, especially when combined with direct teaching methods such as found in the Nikayas and Ch'an/Zen. Best wishes.

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books2/Maha_Boowa_The_Path_to_Arahantship.pdf

The late Luangta Maha Bua, sometimes referred to as Ajaan Maha Boowa. He wrote and lectured quite a bit on the nature of Citta. This is a very emotionally charged Dhamma talk and well worth watching. "Q: Please teach me how to investigate to reach the basis of death The basis of death exists right there in the citta. Death and birth are both present within the citta. The citta itself is never born and never dies. Rather, the defiling things that infiltrate the citta lead us to repeated birth and death. Do you understand? Look at the citta. If you do not see the poisonous nature of the citta, you will fail to see the poisonous nature of those things. Right now it is the citta which is the real danger. So don’t think only of how precious the citta is, for danger is lurking there. If you can view it in this way, you will see the harmfulness buried deep inside. Do you understand what I mean? So long as you continue to hold the citta in high esteem, you will remain stuck. It’s as simple as that. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When the time comes, you must sweep aside everything until nothing remains. Preserve nothing. Whatever you leave untouched – that is the Ultimate Danger".

From the comments section: "This is totally wrong, if you have common sense Pali must be the oldest language. Reason is, it is very clear all written languages come after a dialectical language. The reason you can’t find the age of ‘Pali’ language is just because it was not written in any old books. If you compare the two languages, you can clearly see all ‘Pali’ words are in ‘Sanskrit’ language. ‘Sanskrit’ was developed from ‘Pali’ for the rich people to enjoy the literature. It’s very clearly in Buddha’s teaching when some monks ask to write down Buddha’s teaching in ‘Sanskrit’ he told them not to do, because it will destroy the content, simply because ‘Sanskrit’ is an extracted language and doesn’t have the basic qualities of a proper understandable language. The words in Pali have a very special quality that is the sound it self explain the quality of what it refer. This is exactly same as the normal English and the English of people like ‘William Shakespeare’, they just shapes the language by destroying the simple but valuable qualities". "Yes you are correct and that is the home truth. It is visible in both languages that the Sanskrit words have no original sense at all. Sanskrit has formed from pali by stupidly defacing original pali words. Sanskrit is totally unusable language roughly fabricated from pali. You can see every pali word has its original pure meaning and smooth pronunciation which can sound even without tooth. Pali is the eternal language use in heavens and brahmas in higher planes of gods… Languages of all Buddhas speaking is Pali". "You are absolutely right sir, pali language and literature was destroyed purposefully. The reason why nalanda University library’s were burnt (3) time by different Kings. 1st by white huns 2nd by gouda(sena Kings) of bengal, 3rd by bakhtiyar khilji after completing expedition of bengal ruled by Hindu sena Kings". "It is true that Pali language is much older than Sanskrit. There are genuine evidences in favour of Pali where as there are no such evidence in favour of Sanskrit. Scriptures on ancient monuments, Stambhlekh, Silalekh, Bhittilekh, Guhalekh etc. where all the oldest texts are written in Pali language only. Sanskrit is forcefully added at some places at a very later stage under Pali text, that too after 185 BC after tratorship of Pushyamitra Shunt with his noble king who had full faith on such a sick person, Even not a single monument was created by the people using Sanskrit language. Everybody knows that languages are developed in a long time and in early stages these are in Very primitive stage and at later stages grammar and vocabulary rich sofisticated language is developed. Sanskrit is developed from Pali language and as such Pali is older than Sanskrit. Lot of coins(Karsapan) were found in various excavations are also strong evidence in favour of Pali language bring the older language. I think foregoing evidences are much more sufficient to prove that Pali language is much older than Sanskrit. Merely saying or fraudulently righting in any book that Sanskrit is crore years old can not be believed by anybody else as now almost every literate person know when papers and ink are invented".

A lovely written post silent thunder. Ken is most certainly a genius, literally. His knowledge of so many languages, physics, light, metaphysics, logic and even his expertise in cameras and photography is beyond 99% of humans. The traditions known today as 'Buddhism' are not lost yet though. Buried within belief, rituals, cultural and geographical folk religions and plain old dogma, are folks who know what Ken describes. That's my focus now. On the real message of Gotama, and the people who have, and who still to this day, propagate those teachings.

I just checked that link. When I scrolled down to the comments on that rather short article, everything I read was in agreement with Pali being much older.

Some thoughts from the video: Tathagata = Arrived at the Absolute. No denying of the soul in the Nikāyas. Not one instance. The soul is the only refuge. The soul is charioteer. The psycho-physical is not the soul. Gotama did not teach Buddhism, he taught Brahmayana. Transcendence from the psycho-physical. Buddhism today is most famous for everything it originally NEVER taught. The original texts are the point of reference, NOT translations or commentaries. Buddhism is now a bastardisation of the original teachings. The original 5 Nikāyas are NOT Buddhist. They are teachings of a Neo-vedantic movement. Pali is older than Sanskrit.

Hey silent thunder, it's our friend Ken Wheeler with his latest video. No punches pulled. He's gone for the jugular ! The final nail in the 'official Buddhist' coffin for me. Enjoy.

I must add that I know several people who practice in more than one Buddhist tradition and they have no issues whatsoever. Forgetting labels and just practicing what the Buddha taught, suffering and its cessation, is a very worthwhile endeavour. We as humans love to categorise things which often causes division and conflict.

Very interesting video and is 100% relevant to the subject matter. "Buddhism teaches us what reality is not. It is a via-negativa"

I'll always help where I can of course, if people ask, or if I come across a situation that needs action, but I don't go out of my way to help others. So, I don't feel drawn to that form of behaviour. I've tried, countless times. Trying to make myself a more compassionate, empathic person. It doesn't work. It's something I've lived with in all my 50 years. I'm not wired up that way unfortunately. So I have to make do with what I've got. Meditation wise, the zen and Theravada aren't much different. Even some of the direct teaching methods in the Suttas sound zen-like. Luang Por Munindo spoke about his experience with the huatou method of Ch'an master Xuyun, which he used to breakthrough a difficult stumbling block he encountered in his meditation. There is much crossover in the traditions, both recent and further back in time.

Thanks Fa Xin. I've practiced within the Thai Forest Theravada tradition and Soto Zen. Though I love the literature of Ch'an/Zen, and it's ability to 'turn the mind' through a few words, I don't jive well with the Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana. I think it's not very practical in real terms, to not gain enlightenment until every sentient being is liberated. To be quite frank and honest, I don't want everyone to gain liberation. Utopian realms, to me, are not possible. But that's just me. It's the way I've always been. What works for others is different.

"I am the existential ground [gnas chen] of all Buddhas" and "... the root of all things is nothing else but one Self ... I am the place in which all existing things abide." http://www.nirvanasutra.net/theallcreatingking.htm

The Zhentong Meditative View According to the Great Madhyamaka tradition, there is sutra zhentong and tantra zhentong. In accord with sutra zhentong, the Great Madhyamaka system of the Jonang emphasizes Shakyamuni's 3rd "turning" or final set of discourses. This understanding of mind and reality seeks to reconcile the paradox of a lack of any permanent essence (sunyata, emptiness), and that of an ever-abiding permanent enlightened essence (tathagatagarbha, buddha-nature). "Zhentong," (gzhan stong, "shentong") "extrinsic emptiness" or "other-emptiness" is a view of how the ultimate nature of reality is free from or empty of everything "other" than its absolute nature. In other words, a zhentong view understands how one's own enlightened essence is empty of everything false in superficial relative reality. Zhentong as a view for meditation practice regards relative reality as empty of its own intrinsic existence. This emptiness of inherent substance or "rangtong" is considered to be solely the nature of relative reality while ultimate reality is understood to be empty of everything other than itself. Accordingly, transient tangible experiences remain devoid of inherent substance as the boundless luminous nucleus of Buddhahood within all beings remains intangible and invariant. This enlightened essence is regarded as an indwelling permanently pure nature of awareness. It is the mind devoid of its distorted perceptions. Likened to an embryo or a womb, this essence (garbha) provides the potentiality for living beings to be reborn into completely awakened Buddhas. Primary Sutra Sources The most important sutras or scriptural discourses of the Buddha for understanding tathagatagarbha or Buddhanature are the ten "Essence Sutras." These ten sutras serve textual basis for zhentong. The Sanskrit names of these sutras are: Tathagatagarbha Sutra Arya-dharanish-vararaja Sutra [also known as the Tathagata-maha-karuna-nidesha Sutra] Maha-pari-nirvana Sutra Anguli-malya Sutra Shri-mala-devi-simha-nanda Sutra Jnana-loka-lamkara Sutra Anuna-trapur-natva-nirdesha-parivarta Sutra Mahab-jeri Sutra Avi-kalpa-prave-sha-dharani Sutra Samdhi-nirmochana Sutra Among these Essence Sutras, the Tathagatagarbha Sutra appears to be the earliest occurrence of the Buddha's teaching on Buddhanature. The Maha-pari-nirvana Sutra, Shri-mala-devi-simha-nanda Sutra, and Samdhi-nirmochana Sutra were highly influential though appear to be rather late. In addition to these Essence Sutras, the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra also explain Buddhanature. https://jonangfoundation.org/views-practices

"It does not arrive or leave; and has no location: neither inside nor outside, nor in the middle. Unborn, undying, it's essence and appearance is 'just so; as it really is'. It is permanent and unchanging. It is called 'the Way' (Dao)". -Huineng. The Sixth Patriarch of Ch'an. He must also be an 'idiot', as he speaks of the same subject as the OP video.

Thank you.

Question: “I understand that you maintain only one rule instead of the full 227 monastic rules that all other monks keep. Is that true?” Ãcariya Mun: “Yes, I maintain only the one rule.” Question: “Which one do you maintain?” Ãcariya Mun: “My mind.”

What an idiot ! "Although all conditioned phenomena without exception are governed by the three universal laws of anicca, dukkha, and anattã, the citta’s true nature is not subject to these laws". - Venerable Ãcariya Mun Bhýridatta Thera

"Good friends, see for yourselves the purity of your own natures, practice and accomplish for yourselves. Your own nature is the Dharma Eye and self-practice is the practice of a Buddha; by self-accomplishment you may achieve the Buddha Way for yourselves". -Huineng

The truth of reality and the human condition does not depend on 'breath meditation'

I seek only the truth, wherever that takes me.

On the contrary, I came to similar conclusions before I came across this guy's work, through decades of meditative practice.

"Of foremost importance is the citta, the mind’s essential knowing nature. It consists of pure and simple awareness: the citta simply knows. Awareness of good and evil, and the critical judgements that result, are merely activities of the citta. At times, these activities may manifest as mindfulness; at other times, wisdom. But the true citta does not exhibit any activities or manifest any conditions at all. It only knows. Those activities that arise in the citta, such as awareness of good and evil, or happiness and suffering, or praise and blame, are all conditions of the consciousness that flows out from the citta. Since it represents activities and conditions of the citta that are, by their very nature, constantly arising and ceasing, this sort of consciousness is always unstable and unreliable". - Venerable Ãcariya Mun Bhýridatta Thera

These pesky Thai Forest Theravadin 'idiots' "The citta that is absolutely pure is even more difficult to describe. Since it is something that defies definition, I don’t know how I could characterize it. It cannot be expressed in the same way that conven- tional things in general can be, simply because it is not a conventional phenomenon. It is the sole province of those who have transcended all aspects of conventional reality, and thus realize within themselves that non-conventional nature. For this reason, words cannot describe it". - Venerable Ãcariya Mun Bhýridatta Thera

Luckily for me I don't judge people on appearances and attitude, and what the hell have tattoos got to do with the subject matter. I have lots of tattoos, does that make me less enlightened or spiritual ? You are trolling this thread with your judgemental attitude, just because you don't agree with what is being said. Believe it or not, there are free-thinkers out there that don't take things on blind faith. You know, people who actually put in the hard work and do research, study and practice. Thats the problem with organised religions and traditions, group think and the herd mentality. The authority figures at the top of the chain don't encourage questioning, scrutiny and criticism and want everybody to believe in the same way. That is not freedom, it is totalitarianism and produces nothing apart from robotic clones. Another 'idiot' who dared question the validity of translation. http://www.forestdhammatalks.org/en/ajahn_martin/dhamma/Ajahn Martin_Is the citta atman or anatta.pdf