Timeline for In short, what is the path to enlightenment? Where to begin?
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| Jun 17, 2020 at 9:56 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Aug 10, 2016 at 11:30 | comment | added | ChrisW♦ | @Yinxu You could work that into an answer of your own: i.e. answer that the path starts with "the pursuit of merit", and say how (and maybe why) ... basing the answer on references and/or personal experience. | |
| Aug 10, 2016 at 8:41 | comment | added | OidaOudenEidos | @Yinxu Have you read the whole teaching? (The Satipatthana Sutta) | |
| Aug 9, 2016 at 7:58 | comment | added | Yinxu | "Yet the Buddha repeatedly warns that the higher levels cannot be practiced in a stable manner unless they develop on a strong foundation. The pursuit of merit provides that foundation. To paraphrase a modern Buddhist psychologist, one cannot wisely let go of one's sense of self until one has developed a wise sense of self. The pursuit of merit is the Buddhist way to develop a wise sense of self." | |
| Aug 9, 2016 at 7:58 | comment | added | Yinxu | accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/merit.html "Of all the concepts central to Buddhism, merit (puñña) is one of the least known and least appreciated in the West. This is perhaps because the pursuit of merit seems to be a lowly practice, focused on getting and "selfing," whereas higher Buddhist practice focuses on letting go, particularly of any sense of self. Because we in the West often feel pressed for time, we don't want to waste our time on lowly practices, and instead want to go straight to the higher levels." | |
| Aug 9, 2016 at 7:54 | comment | added | Yinxu | "Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was living among the Kurus, at Kammasadamma, a market town of the Kuru people. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhu thus: "Monks," and they replied to him, "Venerable Sir." The Blessed One spoke as follows:" Usuallly the suttas begin with the audience, if it is a lay person the Buddha will give a simpler lecture on morality or basic practice. He only talk about difficult to grasp concepts to the advanced monks. | |
| Aug 8, 2016 at 19:07 | comment | added | OidaOudenEidos | @Yinxu I don't know what you mean by 'something meant for monks'? | |
| Aug 7, 2016 at 13:18 | comment | added | Yinxu | This is the wrong place to start, in the scriptures the sutras begin with saying who the audience were, to indicate the level of difficulty and the prior skills and experience required, for a beginner to try to practice something meant for monks will be very difficult. You need to start with more basic foundational practices. | |
| Aug 5, 2016 at 6:54 | history | answered | OidaOudenEidos | CC BY-SA 3.0 |