Questions tagged [theravada]
The oldest of the two big branches in Buddhism. Theravada tries to follow the original teachings of Gautama Buddha as closely as possible
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questions
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3answers
59 views
Is suffering always present?
I'm reading Thich Nhat Hanh's "The heart of the Buddhist teaching". When discussing the three dharma seals he talks about misconceptions of suffering. He says that teachings where suffering is ...
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2answers
47 views
Right Livelihood Monastics
Since we know (in some traditions) monks and nuns can't work, what is meant by right livelihood for them?
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9answers
148 views
simplest possible teaching on the four Satipatthana
I have read about
The Satipatthana Sutta, the Discourse on the Foundations of
Mindfulness, is generally regarded as the canonical Buddhist text with
the fullest instructions on the system of ...
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2answers
60 views
Important Commentaries?
Q:
1) Can someone name the most important commentaries, sub-commentaries,
etc. I should read while reading the Tipitaka?
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1answer
74 views
Arguing of Buddhists?
Q:
Do Buddhists argue over topics? Wouldn't that be unwholesome and view
clinging?
2
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0answers
47 views
Monastics & Hygine
I had questions on Monastic hygiene in Theravada:
1) Do monks/nuns brush their teeth and put on deodorant etc
2) If monks/nuns are only allowed to bathe every 2 weeks, how do they
deal with ...
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4answers
107 views
The Complex Abhidhamma
I have been having trouble analyzing the Abhidhamma.
Can someone explain all or the main points of the Abhidhamma, but
simply, just so I can understand it better as I continue my studies?
Thanks!...
2
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2answers
173 views
Permission of parents to be a Monk
I already know this much https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/35802/17220
Still ,there is a particular case where ,I have no experience/knowledge which is below.
Person with 27 yrs. of age and ...
3
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5answers
177 views
Is it in line with the pali cannon suttas to accept other scriptures?
According to the suttas
Are human beings capable of discerning what dhamma is outside of the suttas?
Is it possible to know enough from the suttas and then make use of the Abhidhamma?
What about ...
3
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5answers
67 views
Difference between buddhasasana and buddhadhamma
Is it correct to say that the buddhasasana (the teaching of the Buddha) is conditioned and impermanent in contrary with Dhamma itself which is unconditioned and permanent.
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2answers
62 views
Have I invented this statsitic on Theravada enlightenment?
A solitary Buddha occurs in one in a million of the human population: please correct me if that's how often the vehicle occurs -- though I struggle to completely understand the concept of a "solitary" ...
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4answers
67 views
Can we use Piti as a meditation subject?
Can we use Piti as a meditation subject?
There are 40 meditation objects are given in Visuddhimagga as follows.
Ten recollections; ten foul objects; ten kasinas; four sublime abidings; four formless ...
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0answers
70 views
Can Mahayana and Theravada learn from eachother?
What can those following the Theravada learn when studying the Mahayana as the Mahayana see it?
What can those following the Mahayana learn when studying the Theravada as the Theravada see it?
Is ...
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8answers
511 views
Theravada and Mahayana - The Crucial Differences
I struggle with the idea that Buddhism has two warring schools and wonder why they cannot make peace.
What are the issues on which Theravada and Mahayana cannot agree?
Just bullet points would be ...
3
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3answers
78 views
Satori and stream entry
Is Satori like a stage of stream entry? Is Satori only an intellectual knowing or something deeper than that?
3
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4answers
172 views
Are there Theravada practitioners that aspire to be Buddhas?
As far as I know, most Theravada followers practice according to the Pali Canon even though they accept the Bodhisattva vehicle as well. So, the main focus is to attain Arahantship for most people. My ...
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2answers
57 views
What does Anusaya Kilesa means? How to remove them completely?
(2000 years old Buddhist cave near my village)
Anusaya kilesa is lying dormant karmic influence after attaining Nirvana. I am putting various views as under;
SN goenka told in his speech that it ...
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3answers
100 views
Purpose of cessation or Nirvana!
What is the purpose or cause of cessation or extinction or Nirvana. Did Buddha ever talk about it?
For example, see how SN 23.1 ends:
“But sir, what is the purpose of extinguishment?”
“Your ...
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1answer
41 views
Where can I find Nagita Thera Apadana
I searched in the Apadāna part of Tripitaka..But couldn't find it...This includes a story of Nagitathera's previous life, and merits Nagitathera got for the god-deeds done in that life...
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2answers
63 views
Is discussing bad practices of monks a sin?
I've heard in several dhamma deshana that discussing the bad practices practiced by monks is a sin. But I feel that if we don't discuss such with our family & just continue giving, we won't have ...
1
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1answer
49 views
Explanation of the six temperaments
Greedy, hating, deluded, faithful, intelligent, speculative
I know they may seem self exploratory on the surface, but I'm looking for an understanding to more properly determine how one is to know ...
1
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1answer
51 views
Categories of Dhammanupassana (Satipatthana)
What are the components, the categories (the dhammas)that have to be observed in dhammanupassana (the 4th field of satipatthana)?
1
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1answer
60 views
Arahants, Precepts, Monasticism, & Worldly Things [closed]
Namo Buddhaya!
I had four questions pertaining to conduct & the Buddha:
(I am Theravāda Buddhist)
How could the Buddha have been on this Earth as an Arahant if Arahants can only be reborn in a ...
3
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5answers
68 views
The Animal Plane & Evolution?
(Please Theravada perspective if possible)
NAMO TASSA BAGAVATO ARAHANTO SAMMA-SAMBUDDHASA (I am not fluent, forgive errors)
These are my following questions:
Do animals feel emotions just like ...
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4answers
125 views
What are the different meditation types & how to do them?
I know there are many types of meditation, but can someone help clarify the following questions on meditation:
- What types of meditation is essential for the practice & why?
- How do those types ...
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2answers
44 views
Does emptiness & no-self work together?
Emptiness seems to be very prevalent in Dhamma after Theravada.
But I have seen that it still exists in Theravada, it has just been ignored compared to other teachings.
Why is emptiness ignored so ...
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1answer
108 views
Can a Sikh enter a buddhist temple with a turban?
As I went to worship at one of the most famous & sacred temples in Sri Lanka a Sikh person entered with his turban. As per the religious traditions we are not allowed to wear any head coverings ...
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1answer
61 views
How do monks live with medical conditions that require regular meals?
Theravada monks are supposed to eat only one or two meals per day, only between dawn and noon. For the rest of the day, they can drink water or fruit juices. The exception to this rule is if they are ...
2
votes
5answers
97 views
How does the exterior is suffering?
How does the exterior is suffering?
In this Sutta series from SN35.140 it says the following.
Eye etc and its objects are impermanence, notself, and suffering.
I understand all except that eye etc ...
3
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6answers
892 views
Is there such a thing as craving for enlightenment and would it be unwholesome?
I was wondering if for example an obsession or craving that someone has for attaining Nirvana would be considered something unwholesome. On one hand it seems to me like it would, since that person ...
1
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1answer
60 views
What are the 4 wheels and 9 doors in Snp 1.29?
What are the four wheels and nine doors mentioned in the sutta below?
Why is it "born from a bog"?
What is the meaning of the sutta?
From the Four Wheels Sutta (Sutta Nipata 1.29):
“Having four ...
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2answers
42 views
What is the difference between approaching the idea 'no-self' and the act to 'depersonalize'?
In modern days, 'de-personalization' is seen as negative and in some cases, a symptom of an emotional disorder.
In Buddhism, seeing through no-self/identity view is the minimum criteria to attain the ...
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4answers
189 views
How to identify Pada Parama Persons?
As preached by Buddha there are four types of people in the world, they are ugghaṭitaññū, vipañcitaññū, neyya and padaparama. The last person is definition is here. Can anyone please guide me how how ...
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7answers
217 views
Is “impermanence” a bad translation of “anicca”?
This article explains Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta -- and in this question I'd like to ask about Anicca.
The article says that Anicca doesn't mean, or shouldn't be translated as, "impermanence":
...
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1answer
94 views
Have the copies of original Tipitaka written in Aluvihara Sri Lanka now been lost?
Have the copies of original Tipitaka written in Aluvihara Sri Lanka now been lost?
It appears that the Tipitaka used in Sri Lanka an import from Thailand or Myanmar.
I ask because in this essay, The ...
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5answers
257 views
Sakkāya-Ditthi and Self-View
It's mentioned in many references that when someone becomes Sotāpanna (= stream-entrant = Person-who-has-seen-Dharma) then the first three fetters (saŋyojana) are dropped.
My question is, if the ...
4
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4answers
653 views
What do Birth, Age, and Death mean in the first noble truth?
Below is from Ariyapariyesana Sutta
"Monks, there are these two searches: ignoble search & noble search.
And what is ignoble search? There is the case where a person, being
subject himself ...
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3answers
66 views
Right knowledge and right relase or right release and right knowledge
In ten Noble path the sequence is right knowledge and right release. (Samma Nana and samma vimutti)
In SN 12.23 it says:
Dispassion is a vital condition for freedom.
virāgūpanisā vimutti,
Freedom ...
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9answers
153 views
Escaping alone is not enough
I am attached to my parents, children and other close family members quite heavily. Me alone escaping the suffering is not enough. I want to make sure they are on track to escape suffering as well. ...
3
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6answers
130 views
What additional ethics you find in Buddhism which are not found in other religions?
What additional ethics you find in Buddhism which are not found in other religions?
Other religions mean Abrahamic religions, Hinduism, Taoism or any other religion you know.
I also like to know ...
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5answers
106 views
Do I get more merits if I give more?
Do I get more merits if I give more? What is considered a reasonable donation?
Please give some examples.
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2answers
47 views
How many types of Buddhism exists in this world?
many times, I stumbled to start to dig something towards teaching of Buddha and at some point want to make focus on Buddhism. During my journey of looking bird eye of view, I passed through Vipassana, ...
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4answers
106 views
Vipassanā Without Samatha?
I have heard it stated that vipassana can be practiced without samatha. Since samatha leads us to the early jhana factors of vitarka and vicara, how is it possible to do vipassana with wandering ...
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1answer
54 views
What are the main differences — in meditation practice and discipline — between different schools of Theravada?
Wikipedia lists schools in this section ...
Schools of Buddhism (Theravāda subschools)
... but, those pages which describe each school focus on doctrine or philosophical aspects (and don't always ...
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1answer
71 views
Dependent Origination in terms of conventional truth or teaching (Vohara Desana) and Ultimate truth or teaching (Paramattha Desana)?
It appears many of my doubts and questions about Buddhism is the result of not being able to marry the teaching of conventional truth and the ultimate truth. For instance, when we take Jati in ...
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5answers
445 views
Why do you have sadness in the first Jhana?
Why do you have sadness in the first Jhana?
It appears you still have the sadness in first Jhana.
What sort of sadness it is?
The Vitakka and Vicara in First Jhana are wholesome. That is loving ...
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4answers
80 views
Reference for the teaching of not-self
I have heard in the past a kind of argument to show that there is no self along the lines of: are you your body? No, your cells regenerate all the time. Are you your emotions? No, they come and go. ...
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2answers
32 views
Sutta request: dedication of offerings in another ones name
This is a request for sutta references.
I'd like to know the sutta's that describe how one can dedicate offerings in the name of a dearly departed one so that (s)he can, hopefully, have a better ...
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4answers
94 views
Given that Buddhism could accommodate people's prior religious beliefs, why is Buddhism itself now described as a religion?
Read somewhere that Buddhism does not advocate to go away from the beliefs of a person. Or in a way accommodate one's rooted beliefs from childhood. The main objective of following the path of Buddha ...
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6answers
602 views
Sutta jhana vs. Visuddhimagga jhana
In the paper "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhāna in Convert Theravāda", Natalie Quli compares what the following teachers have taught about jhana: Ayya Khema, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Pa-Auk ...
