Maddie

Yes I'm super reclusive. I spent most of Sunday just sitting and watching my emotions. They can tend to be pretty loud so it makes it easy but also provides me with so much insight into the mind. The plus side of all of this is I have changed a lot since I began.

Interesting I take spironolactone, but don't seem to have these side effects fortunately.

Sure. I think the primary reason that I even got into any kind of cultivation of the mind was because of problematic emotions. Since then they have improved a lot but I still experience most of my objects of mindfulness as strong emotions that pop up and I observe them, and by observing the emotions I tend to often eventually get insight into the factors behind them, the delusion surrounding them, how they leave the suffering and so on and so forth. The way I had mindfulness explain to me was that you pay attention to whatever it is the loudest and that's almost always the loudest.

I guess so but I guess I'm appreciating it more than I did before LOL

But this is just metaphysical speculation and even if it were true which I don't think it is this wouldn't be helpful for ending suffering or liberating the mind.

I wanted to revive this thread because I definitely feel in my case that emotions are absolutely the path. At least they seem to be the thing that I spend my time being mindful of the most.

The problem with these invisible non-confirmable external higher powers it's not only is there no way to prove they exist, even if they do who says they have things figured out any better than anybody else?

So who or what is this on high?

Here's a question about stream entry. Let's say one became a streamer in a past life. How would they know it in this life?

Yeah I'm not sure which one it's from but I heard a monk speaking of it during a talk but I really wish I had a source. I also don't give the fifth one as much weight for the same reason.

Except that's not the Buddha's definition of enlightenment at all.

No it's not that that one's too obvious this one's more obscure. It was different ways to become enlightened.

Is anyone familiar with the different methods that the Buddha mentioned for obtaining enlightenment? Like I think you said one way people do it is through faith and another way is through mindfulness and another way is to concentration but does anybody know what I'm talking about or what the sutta is?

The Buddha didn't worry much about metaphysical questions. He was more concerned about suffering and the end of suffering.

Sand mandalas

This is so satisfying as one time I was on a retreat and I started to think about the connection with karma and self and when I tried to talk to the monks about this they did not seem to understand what I was saying. I think most people see karma as a big reward and punishment system in the sky or something, when in actuality it is made by the Sankhara khanda and thus not only is conditioned by the mind, but in turn conditions the mind. We don't just make it with our decisions but it informs our decisions and preferences as well. A classic example is "why do girls only like bad boys?", would be better explained that "girls with bad karma like bad boys".

Well if the Lipika Lords say so that's good enough for me 😏

This is not how karma worked according to the Buddha. The Buddha said everyone's the owner of their own deeds not someone else's.

"Hatred is not ended by hatred. Hatred is ended by love" -Dhammapada Annihilation and elimination sound very aggressive and this does not seem to be the way of the Buddha.

Speaking of the stages of enlightenment how can one objectively gauge themself? Sometimes there's reasons that I think I may be at a certain place but then again I'm always wary of delusion.

A sage indeed lol

I think Ananda isn't not the only one that can't understand that LOL

Agreed 🙂

When asked if there is or is not a self the Buddha never answered either question.

That's still assuming that it is something. If I say my house is not a unicorn, and my car is not unicorn, and my wardrobe is not a unicorn, and my dinner is not a unicorn, that just states what is not a unicorn but says nothing about what a unicorn is or if a unicorn exists at all.