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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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
92 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
40 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
82 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
53 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
67 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
257 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
65 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
29 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
88 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
270 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 ...
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3answers
166 views
Did Ledi Sayadaw teach that Vipassanā should be practised by observing bodily sensations with equanimity?
A very short summary of the Vipassanā technique taught by S.N. Goenka would be: "observe your bodily sensations with equanimity". The role of physical bodily sensations is the key aspect of the ...
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1answer
63 views
What are great forty?
What are great forty?
What are the great forty according to following Sutta.
I can identify 30.
Noble tenfold path with mundane and supermundane account for 20
Wrong tenfold path account for ...
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4answers
341 views
is cessation of perception and felling the Nibbana?
Furthermore, take a good person who, going totally beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enters and remains in the cessation of perception and feeling. And, having seen with ...
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2answers
342 views
What is knowledge and vision?
I just wonder whether the translation of the following is correct.
And what are those things that are better and finer than knowledge and vision?
Katame ca, brāhmaṇa, dhammā ñāṇadassanena ...
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2answers
90 views
Is the concept of Gandhabba Brahmanical teaching?
Is the concept of Gandhabba Brahmanical teaching?
I just wonder the teaching of Gandhabba is not a Buddhist teaching.
‘But do you know
‘Jānanti pana bhonto—
how an embryo is conceived?’
yathā ...
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1answer
71 views
What is the destination (rebirth) of a person with Vibhava Tanha?
What is the destination (rebirth) of a person with Vibhava Tanha?
There are three kinds of Tanha. (Kama, Bhava, Vibhava)
some description of Vibhava Tanha:
“And how do some slip right past? Some, ...
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1answer
56 views
What is the duration of Jhana?
What is the duration of Jhana?
How long the duration of each Jhana.
For instance, what is the duration of the first Jhana?
Say if I have first Jhana only for one minute, can I say that I was in the ...
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4answers
66 views
What is the meaning of Pali word “Apannaka”
his question is based on the sutta translation of MN60.
What is the Pali translation of “apannaka”
https://suttacentral.net/mn60/en/sujato
Ven. Sujato translate it as “guaranteed”
Bhikkhu Bodi ...
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3answers
89 views
How to reconcile Mahayana ideas of “nama-rupa” with the Pali definition?
I read the following ideas on the internet by Mahayana faithful:
Namarupa means "name-form" - meaning "a concept of form", "an idea of
form" - referring to our subjective representations of ...
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1answer
48 views
Are eating raw oysters a violation of the first Precept? [duplicate]
The first Precept is to abstain from Killing a "living being".
Is there a consistent definition of Living Being that we should not kill to avoid violating the first Precept?
I have heard of a ...
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2answers
83 views
Other types of consciousness (viññāṇa) in Theravada?
There are the six types of consciousness (viññāṇa) based on MN 38, namely those related to the six sense media: eye, ear, nose, tongue, touch or mind.
In MN 49, there was a "consciousness without ...
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2answers
57 views
What is the meaning of ditthi visuddhi?
The third visuddhi of the Satta Visuddhi is "ditthi visuddhi". But what is the exact meaning of it ?
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4answers
111 views
Is Papanca (i.e., hindrance) always unwholesome?
Is Papanca always unwholesome?
The above question is based on MN 18 the honey cake --
https://suttacentral.net/mn18
Ven. Thanissaro has given a detailed explanation in his translation --
https://...
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3answers
249 views
Is there a major translation error in MN 10?
I have noticed the following translation in MN10:
And again, monks, a monk, when he is walking, comprehends, ‘I am walking’; or when he is standing still, comprehends, ‘I am standing still’; or ...
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2answers
62 views
What are the merits (results) of giving fearlessness (abhaya danna)
And also need to know, where it includes in tipitaka..
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2answers
115 views
What is the Buddhist Perspective on Dreaming?
I met my family who has already died in my dream. He told me something bad about my partner.
Should I believe him?
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1answer
72 views
Do all words belong to conventional truth (Sammuti Sacca)?
"Sanketa vacanam saccam - loka sammuti karanam
Paramattha vacanam saccam - dhammanam tathalakkhanam"
According to the above quote, all the words (cenventional truth) made by living beings using any ...
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7answers
331 views
Does Sotapanna have the fear of death?
Does Sotapanna have the fear of death?
Recently I spoke to a monk about Sotapanna. He said the best test to understand whether someone is Sotapanna is to see whether he has fear of death.
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2answers
166 views
About the compatibility between meditation methods, guides, trainings and teachers, and other questions regarding Samadhi
Being acquainted with Buddhism (although in a pretty shallow and intellectual fashion) since a few years now, I've just realized that I had almost no experience in meditation at all. It was only ...
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3answers
115 views
How do you meditate with a blocked nose?
I have a blocked nose and I can’t feel the breath sensations. Should I put my finger to feel the breath? Is it ok if I focus on other things like finger touching each other? How do I feel the breath ...
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1answer
81 views
Latent tendencies, memories of this life and brain damage, dementia
This question is from the Theravada perspective only.
How are memories of this life stored and recalled? Is it stored in the physical brain?
There is the concept of latent tendencies (anusaya). ...
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1answer
113 views
Various types of death
In this answer, Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu wrote about various types of death (quoted below).
Where can I find references to and more info on the various types of death that is mentioned - khaṇika-maraṇa, ...
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1answer
128 views
Are there other things like life?
In this text SN 56.46 Andhakara Sutta: Darkness, the Buddha seems to say, in my opinion, that life is much more stressful than black holes.
And I think life is an anomaly in this universe just like ...
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2answers
104 views
Within Theravāda tradition, what are the differences in doctrine and practice between schools and sects around the world?
I'm considering spending some time in the future in retreats to have a taste of what monastic life is like.
It seems that Theravāda is the current tradition most related and compatible to my moral ...
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1answer
73 views
Have Matreiya ever meet the present buddha?
I know that the Buddha went to tusita heaven or tavatimsa heaven to teach the dharma or Abidhamma to his mother. Matreiya is in tusita heaven so did he ever come down to tavatimsa heaven to hear the ...
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2answers
143 views
What is Vibhava Tanha?
What is Vibhava Tanha?
What is the destination (rebirth) of a person with Vibhaba Tanha?
Is the view non-existence considered Vibhava Tanha?
What is the Sutta reference relating to this teaching?
Why ...
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2answers
103 views
Can we cancel out a kamma by doing a strong opposite kamma?
Can a bad kamma be cancelled out by doing a strong good kamma?
If the answer is no, at-least can we reduce the effect of that bad kamma by doing so?
If the answers are no for the above two questions,...
4
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2answers
142 views
Does an Arahant accumulate kamma in his/her life?
Cetana (Intention) is a universal mental factor which can be seen in every consciousness even in Arahants'.
Kamma is the intention in one's consciousness.
I have thought about the below statements ...
3
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2answers
148 views
Why is Nanavira considered controversial?
Why is Nanavira considered controversial?
I've overheard conversations about Nanavira Thera, and people seem to be in three groups:
1) He's a heretic.
2) He's a genius sotapanna.
3) Nyana-who?
...
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6answers
175 views
If we consider 'kamma' as intention and habits, how are these transferred from a brain to next life when the brain breaks-up and cease to function?
According to the Pali Canon, how are intentions and habits passed on from one existence to another without any material support?
What do the texts tell us about rebirth and the transference of these ...
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5answers
152 views
How do we help people who have wrong views?
There are lot of wrong views in other religions but there are even some Buddhist who have wrong views. They don’t believe in rebirth and karma. And they say that they are metaphors. They seems to be ...
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3answers
49 views
How does killing bear consequences?
How can I explain to a non follower of the dhamma that killing living beings intentionally has mental and physical consequences?
This person started saying: "old hunter-gatherers, had no consequences ...
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1answer
60 views
Did Buddha ever say how to overcome shyness?
In AN 9.5, the Buddha said that whoever is endowed with the four powers has left behind the fear of embarrassment in assemblies. Is this the same as shyness? If not then did the Buddha ever say how to ...
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8answers
287 views
Why don't some buddhists believe in karma and rebirth?
According to MN 60 and other suttas, believing in karma and afterlife is right view and believing that there is no karma and afterlife is unskillful and a wrong view because there is actually karma ...
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2answers
157 views
Four Analytical Knowledges
Is it still possible to attain the four analytical knowledge? Bare insight seems to be the lowest attainment among arahants.
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3answers
98 views
Benefits of five precepts
I believe in karma and rebirth but I don’t understand one thing. How does five precepts give you merits? Isn’t it only preventing bad karma? If you don’t kill any living beings or don’t steal anything ...
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4answers
92 views
Did Gautama Buddha endorse the caste system?
Did Gautama Buddha endorse the caste system?
Buddhism: An Atheistic and Anti-Caste Religion?
Modern Ideology and Historical Reality of the Ancient Indian Bauddha Dharma
by Edmun Weber
Hans ...
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6answers
190 views
Is there any God or Satan in Buddhism? Is there any heaven or hell in Buddhism?
Every religion has a God and Satan, heaven and hell. Religion by definition means deification of a Supreme Being or worship of any deity. Monotheistic religions, like Islam and Christianity, have a ...
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1answer
61 views
According to Theravada tradition, was Siddharta Gautama illuminated after meditating under the Bodhi tree?
I just found out what seems to me as a contradiction under Theravada tradition:
When Siddharta Gautama meditated under the Bodhi tree, I understand ho achieved illumination, he reached the Nirvana.
...
