Right Understanding

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Sort of a long intro to the thread, hoping to have an interesting conversation on the way that society perpetuates Delusion and Suffering through its actions or saṅkhāra-khandha.

 

 

In Words of the Buddha, Selections From Pali Sources when explaining the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, the Buddha speaks about Right Understanding and Delusion. This chapter reads very similar to the writing of Nagarjuna on dependent origination, and how the "I" and "Mine" just arise of the mind which just arises with what it perceives.

 

Delusion is also said to be perpetuated by craving and down the line of it's causes.

 

Some quick wikipediizing (so who's givin' out the new-word badges here? ) showed me an elaboration on saṅkhāra-khandha from Buddha's words in the (Pali) Samyutta Nikaya sutra:

 

'What one intends, what one arranges, and what one obsesses about: This is a support for the stationing of consciousness. There being a support, there is a landing [or: an establishing] of consciousness. When that consciousness lands and grows, there is the production of renewed becoming in the future

 

I'm seeing that if you look at the series of Delusion to Rebirth in the reverse order, then one can see how the mind arises merely by the things it perceives:

 

 

Below is a Paul Carus' translation of the chapter on Right Understanding. I have a different translation in which Karma-formations is termed "(life-affirming) activities [sankhara, probably the saṅkhāra-khandha meaning]"

 

 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/buddha2.htm

On Delusion depend the Karma-Formations. On the karma-formations

depends Consciousness (starting with rebirth-consciousness in the

womb of the mother).- On consciousness depends the Mental and Physical

Existence.-On the mental and physical existence depend the Six

Sense-Organs.-On the six sense-organs depends the Sensory

Impression.-On the sensory impression depends Feeling.-On feeling

depends; Craving.-On craving depends Clinging. On clinging depends the

Process of Becoming.-On the process of becoming [here: karmaprocess]

depends Rebirth.-On rebirth depend Decay and Death, sorrow,

lamentation, pain, grief and despair. Thus arises this whole mass of

suffering. This is called the noble truth of the origin of suffering.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Harmonious Emptiness

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I just realized as I'm writing this, that this is exactly what ion was talking about in some previous comments which I wanted to start a new thread about... Well, sometimes things just come together I suppose, like some macro-cosmic countrapuntal symphony.. ha ha ha

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/20515-music-that-increase-consciousness/page__p__291302__hl__counterpoint__fromsearch__1entry291302

 

In our societies where things are much more departmentalized there are selfs and others and our definition of survival is looking out for number one and our way of life is not for or of others, its about pursuing self interest.

 

...

 

The nature of reality and its natural way is selfless, yet because of the parameters of the human mind, the ego is an inevidable by product of our itemzing and conceptualizing nature. Our awareness of things is such that conceptualizing the self is unavoidable.If, knowing that and respecting that, humanity lives according to another design then the ego may not be an issue at all.

from

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/20539-do-we-require-guidance-to-reach-enlightenment/page__st__96

[C T]

found an interesting illustration today -

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T6WW-N-nfpI/TMt3sLDB-bI/AAAAAAAAB7M/W_mUfTSTk-Y/s1600/Mind+Works-Application+of+Mindfulness:Insight.jpg