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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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 ...
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1answer
58 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
41 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
157 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
160 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":
...
2
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1answer
66 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 ...
4
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5answers
223 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
637 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
63 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
145 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. ...
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6answers
119 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
100 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
45 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
89 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
69 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
403 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
68 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
31 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
89 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
325 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
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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
64 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
346 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
352 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
100 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
77 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
58 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
68 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
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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
50 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
87 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
62 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
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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
122 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
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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
347 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
170 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
144 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
83 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
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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
135 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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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
176 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
110 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,...
3
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2answers
151 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 ...
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2answers
159 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?
...
