lifeforce

It is definitely a shocking revelation. But when looking deeper, you find it scattered throughout the various Buddhist traditions, buried under the no self/soul doctrine. There is nothing wrong with the practice of Buddhism, it is only that it becomes just another vehicle (yana) for realisation of the Absolute.

"Because wisdom is innate, we can all enlighten ourselves". -Huineng

"To be bigoted & argue with others, is to subject one's essence of mind to the bitterness of mundane existence". -Huineng

"Our real problem, our one fundamental problem—which is also the citta’s fundamental problem—is that we lack the power needed to be our own true self. Instead, we have always taken counterfeit things to be the essence of who we really are, so that the citta’s behavior is never in harmony with its true nature. Rather, it expresses itself through the kilesas’ cunning deceits, which cause it to feel anxious and frightened of virtually everything ... As a result, the citta is forever full of worries and fears. And although fear and worry are not intrinsic to the citta, they still manage to produce apprehension there. When the citta has been cleansed so that it is absolutely pure and free of all involvement, only then will we see a citta devoid of all fear. Then, neither fear nor courage appear, only the citta’s true nature, existing naturally alone on its own, forever independent of time and space. Only that appears—nothing else. This is the genuine citta". (from "A Compilation of Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa’s Dhamma Talks about His Path of Practice", translated by Bhikkhu Silaratano)

Are you for real ? He's an expert on ancient Pali as I keep repeating.

I don't think he sees it that way at all.

"Being intrinsically bright and clear, the citta is always ready to make contact with everything of every nature. 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. The citta is conditioned by anicca, dukkha, and anattã only because things that are subject to these laws come spinning in to become involved with the citta and so cause it to spin along with them. However, though it spins in unison with conditioned phenomena, the citta never disintegrates or falls apart. It spins following the influence of those forces which have the power to make it spin, but the true power of the citta’s own nature is that it knows and does not die. This deathlessness is a quality that lies beyond disintegration. Being beyond disintegration, it also lies beyond the range of anicca, dukkha, and anattã and the universal laws of nature". (from "A Compilation of Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa’s Dhamma Talks about His Path of Practice", translated by Bhikkhu Silaratano)

What on earth are you talking about ?

I'd hardly call the guy a moron, or lazy and stupid. He's spent over 20 years researching and translating ancient Prakrit Pali. Only a handful of people on earth can do this. He gives citations and references for all his work, which just so happens to be 100% correct.

If you have watched all of the videos in this thread, then it becomes obvious. Again, in the videos, he points out that there is no word for 'monk' or 'nun' in the original Pali. Hinduism is a name for a people in the Indus Valley region of India. Sanatana Dharma is the correct term. Indeed this is correct. It is a continuous practice. I totally agree with this. It is a corruption. Unfortunately the masses are gullible and will hand over huge amounts of money for speeches given by some self appointed 'guru', who sits on a platform, usually with vases of flowers and pictures of saints in the background But if these traditions are built upon mistranslations, and mistranslations added hundreds of years later, themselves built upon previous mistranslations, the very core of the teachings are then buried within copious amounts of false doctrine. Can you see how problematic that is ? Buddhism is 'not wrong', it's just that it's a Neo-Vedantic movement, a Brahmayana, not an original religion.

There is no getting away from this. The whole foundation of Buddhism is built on sand.

Yes. The end of suffering. The Buddha said "I teach only two things; suffering and the end of suffering" Now that the true nature of the goal has now been revealed, the Absolute, Brahman, doesn't mean that the whole of Buddhism collapses. On the contrary, it points to a shift, but still relevant to the teachings on impermanence, suffering and not-self. 'All that arises must pass away' still applies, only the one thing that doesn't arise or pass way, the Citta, is not subject to this. It's like being in a movie theatre. The screen is the Citta, on which the various movies, our life circumstances, come and go but it's essence never changes. It knows no good or bad, right or wrong, it just is.

"Absolute, Eternal True Self: Many venerable saints and scholars have argued for the Self in the past and do so in the present. Great teachers of the Tibetan Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya schools have and do argue that such a view [i.e. the reality of an essential, deathless Self] is fundamental to the practice of the Buddhist path and the attainment of Enlightenment". and: "The essential feature of a Shentong interpretation of tathāgatagarbha doctrine is that the Buddha is figuratively within all beings as their unchanging, permanent, non-conditioned nature... Buddha is by all [tathāgatagarbha-sutra] accounts considered to be non-conditioned, eternal, unchanging, bliss, compassion, wisdom, power, and so on. For Shentongpas [i.e. the adherents of a Shentong understanding of scripture] the fact that Buddha is non-conditionedmeans the essence of Buddha is complete with all the Buddha Qualities in a timeless sense". - Hookham, Susan K. (1991). The Buddha within: Tathagatagarbha doctrine according to the Shentong interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0791403587.

Just as you would any other Buddhist practice, meditate and inquiry into the human condition. Inquire into the citta. The practices are the same, and the goal, release from suffering. Only there's the realisation of the permanent, unchanging, eternal Brahman.

Such as ?

Huineng speaks of the essential nature. The original mind. The Citta. 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)

A quote from my favourite Ch'an sutra, The Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra : 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) It doesn't come any clearer than that. Ch'an is chockfull of similar quotes. More to follow.

I know. This makes the original teachings of Buddhism as just another branch of Sanatana Dharma. The implications of such a revelation are truly mind-boggling.

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "There is, monks, an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated. If there were not that unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, there would not be the case that emancipation from the born — become — made — fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, emancipation from the born — become — made — fabricated is thus discerned." The born, become, produced, made, fabricated, impermanent, composed of aging & death, a nest of illnesses, perishing, come from nourishment and the guide [that is craving] — is unfit for delight. The escape from that is calm, permanent, beyond inference, unborn, unproduced, the sorrowless, stainless state, the cessation of stressful qualities, the stilling of fabrications, bliss. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.2.028-049.than.html#iti-043

''Buddhism is a way of life based on the training of the mind. Its one ultimate aim is to show the way to complete liberation from suffering by the attainment of the Unconditioned, a state beyond the range of the normal untrained mind. Its immediate aim is to strike at the roots of suffering in everyday life''. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullen/bl042.html

You really have to wonder why these terms in the original Pali were mistranslated in the first place ? Is it because a so-called authority wanted to control the way people practiced and conducted themselves ? If there was no monk or nun word mentioned, then why the big monastic movement ?

My first meditation teacher was Luang Por Munindo of the Thai Forest Theravada tradition. I had the good fortune of spending a couple of hours in his company, just myself and him, where we talked and shared thoughts on cultivation, Buddhist meditation, and life in general. He advised me to take up the meditation word Buddho, and to use it in my sitting practice as well as in every aspect of daily life. Being the stubborn headed person I was at the time, I thought I knew better and never put his advice into practice and went on to other methods of practice and study. Funnily enough, when I pushed him on the no-self doctrine, he mentioned that not all Theravadins were of the same thinking. I thought no more of it, until now as my search has led me back to the original source of Buddhist thought.

"Citta: That underlying essence of mind where Dhamma and the kilesas dwell. In its pure state it is indefinable and beyond samsara. It controls the khandhas and does not die when the kilesas die". http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books/Maha_Boowa_Wisdom_Develops_Samadhi.htm