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
758
questions
0
votes
0
answers
11
views
What is adaptation knowledge?
How to recognise adaptation knowledge during personal practice? If Someone experiences,breath is impermanent by seeing it's quick ,gap between inbreathe and out breathe can it be taken as ...
- 505
0
votes
1
answer
44
views
What is stream entry?
While doing meditation I had experienced sudden stop of mind for a second. Then restart again reflecting that is peaceful. What was that experienced?is it stream entry?
- 505
1
vote
2
answers
62
views
What is access concentration?
When sit for the meditation ears were blocked. Just like sink into the water. But sounds were heard. With the time it's heard in less intensity. Is that access concentration? Before this developed ...
- 505
1
vote
2
answers
69
views
What is the different between first path attainer from a meditative commoner?
During meditation can path attainment be identified? How ? Is it gradually progressing of the path in first path attainers?how this is differ from a meditative commoner?
- 505
0
votes
1
answer
32
views
Is repeating words in mind necessary to some meditations in Theravada? Why or why not?
According to Visuddhimagga, focusing on breath does't require repeating "inhalation, exhalation..." in mind (at least it seems that the book doesn't explicitly tell that) . However, the 10 ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
60
views
Looking for the source of a story about the Buddha and a lady who looked the other way
I'm searching for a Sutra (or possibly a commentary) but it has escaped me. My recollection is hazy, but it is about one of the Buddha's monks (most likely Ven. Ananda or Ven. Sariputta) asking the ...
- 11
2
votes
4
answers
82
views
Is the Pali Canon the final authority in the Theravada tradition?
In the Theravada tradition is the Pali Canon viewed as the final truth? In other words, are the Buddha's teachings viewed as the final authority which cannot be revised or are his teachings subject ...
- 21
0
votes
0
answers
26
views
Walking meditation which has happened automatically
After meditation practice experience there is no thoughts as a I.Is it a stage of a samadhi or insight lead in to enlightenment?This has happened after experience of automatically happened of ...
- 505
0
votes
0
answers
45
views
Does the rebirth process apply for viruses, bacterias, fungi and plants? [duplicate]
What does Buddhism tell us about the microscopic organisms and plants? Does our kamma dictate us to a plant, or a bacterial rebirth after our demise? Where is the line drawn as to what is a sentient ...
- 146
1
vote
1
answer
57
views
Proper way of offering
I'm trying to clarify something I believe I heard a while back. I think I heard the monk instruct the lay person to say "Bhikku Sanghassa Demi" which I believe was later translated as "...
- 1,224
2
votes
3
answers
290
views
Why do Sotapannas need faith?
I have read that the Stream Enterer needs to develop all the 5 faculties order to become enlightened. One of these facilities is faith. It is also said that they are beyond skeptical doubt of the ...
1
vote
4
answers
88
views
Unwholesome Sankharas Emerging From Dhamma Practice
What unwholesome sankharas can be created from too much focus on dhamma concepts, reading and intellectual pursuits, and practice?
What kind of results do those sankharas produce?
What blockades are ...
- 1,250
3
votes
1
answer
59
views
Why and how is Theravada and Mahayana Abhidha(r)(m)ma different?
I know this could potentially be a huge question: if abhidhamma/abhidharma differs in Theravada and Mahayana, how does is it differ and why?
- 520
1
vote
6
answers
167
views
Can reincarnation be proved with using a mixture of logic, science, and philosophical belief?
Let's go through the logic first. The following statements are suppositions that must be chronologically accepted.
Matter is neither created nor destroyed.
Matter is made up of atoms.
I am made up of ...
1
vote
1
answer
35
views
Spirits and heaven
My two pet cats recently died in my rental house. Long story short, we sold our old home but we have no where to move yet so we rented a property while our new house is being built. Before I ask my ...
- 11
0
votes
3
answers
38
views
Multiple meditation practices
Would there be a conflict if I were to practice meditation from various schools? For instance mahasi insight meditation, Tibetan Samantha meditation, as long as the skills are kept separate?
- 81
3
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Mindfulness in lay work
Mindfulness requires being non judgemental, but what should one do when the work requires judgement where a standard needs maintained? Is there a form of objective judgement that that can be used like ...
- 81
2
votes
3
answers
48
views
Theravadian encyclopedia/ dictionary
Is there a reference text for the theravada tradition that contains a lists of concepts for quick reference? Such as a text that allows for reference of ideas found in the pali canon when reading, ...
- 81
1
vote
3
answers
76
views
Can i be reborn having my father again?
I lost my father when I was a kid. Can I be reborn with the same father?
I didn't know him well, as I was very young, but from people's words, he was a great man, and I'm dying to know him, to love ...
2
votes
5
answers
126
views
Starting buddhism in the Theravada tradition
I am not entirely new to Buddhism, but I am new to it from a perspective of an academic path. I have an academic background in another field (Ph.d level) and where I live there is zero buddhists ...
- 81
2
votes
1
answer
72
views
Complex lifestyle and leads us to get on the correct path
Today, we are living in very complex world. Various lifestyles inspire us greatly. So as being a modern layperson, it is difficult to know good karma and bad one. How would I will be on good path and ...
- 21
4
votes
3
answers
203
views
Can someone be literally reborn in lower realms due to unskillful thoughts and emotions?
I often wonder myself if the buddhist teachings says that realms are mental states, realities based on external conditions or a combination of the two. Why is that? For example:
"There's the ...
- 43
2
votes
1
answer
69
views
If the chain of dependent origination (Pratītyasamutpāda) ends, then isn't the last part independent?
Dependent Origin or Pratītyasamutpāda is defined as
It states that all dharmas (phenomena) arise in dependence upon other
dharmas
And then there are these 12 causes one after another, each depending ...
user20787
1
vote
2
answers
53
views
Does the dependent origination leads to becoming? If so, will then the reversal of the same i.e Dependent cessation brings the cessation of becoming?
Buddha talks of becoming have a cause, is dependent on something other. Like Lamp's flame and light, shadow and real object, The sun and it's aura, object and mirage.
The dependent origination ...
2
votes
3
answers
161
views
How difficult is it to be a foreign monk in Asia?
I wonder about the practicalities of being a foreign monk in Asia, especially Theravada-majority countries.
In particular;
About the Visa arrangements, can this at all be handled without much stress ...
user8527
2
votes
1
answer
83
views
I am trying to find the correlation between theravada jhana, rupa/arupa and the 9 levels of calm abiding in tibetan buddhism
Title really.
I am reading the tibetan lamrim version of the 9 mental abiding and trying to correlate it to the theravada 8 jhanas, I can't seem to find which jhana/abiding is which in regards to the ...
- 192
2
votes
2
answers
96
views
Why did Sakka steal the Visuddhimagga three times?
Why did Sakka steal the Visuddhimagga three times according to the legend -- was it because Visuddhimagga erroneously stated that it couldn't be done by a sotapanna??
Quoting from the Introduction to ...
user8527
2
votes
3
answers
91
views
What is the difference between Theravada "papanca" with regard to objects and Mahayana "selflessness of phenomena"?
In a previous question I asked whether the Theravada posits the selflessness of phenomena?
Where the best answer I understood to essentially state that it does not. At least, it did sound like there ...
- 4,173
2
votes
4
answers
194
views
After right concentration, how does right view change?
After right concentration, how does right view change?
Do you become completely convinced by right view, or was that already the case? Is right view in some other sense more pervasive? Or is it just ...
user21635
2
votes
1
answer
72
views
Questions Regarding Venerable Ānanda's Overview of Meditation
I SUGGEST & REQUEST THAT YOU READ DN 10 (LINKED) BEFORE READING AND/OR ANSWERING THIS POST.
After contemplating DN 10, several questions have arisen in me pertaining to the clarification of the ...
user21588
3
votes
3
answers
165
views
What were the Original Methods of Meditation and their Instructions as Expounded by the Buddha?
In Theravada, I know there is union in understanding that the Buddha taught two types of meditation: vipassana (insight) meditation and samatha (tranquility) meditation. However, I have come across ...
user21588
3
votes
3
answers
119
views
Is Anagarika procedure a necessity in Thai Forest Tradition?
I wonder if the Anagarika period is always a pre-requisite to samanera & bhikkhu ordinations in this TFT tradition?
user8527
2
votes
1
answer
53
views
Who was Anuruddha's father?
In the Pali commentaries, there is a contradiction regarding the name of Thera Anuruddha's father. Somewhere he is said to be the son of Sukkodana, and somewhere of Amitodana. Both Sukkodana and ...
- 642
1
vote
1
answer
100
views
Different types of vipassana meditation?
I am interested in vipassana meditation.
What are the different types of vipassana meditation?
user21580
2
votes
4
answers
192
views
Why Become Buddhist?
I am interested in Theravada Buddhism.
What are some concrete reasons as to why one should become a Buddhist?
user21580
2
votes
3
answers
108
views
How do we perceive pitch-dark?
According to Abhidhamma, following four conditions must be satisfied for the arising of eye-consciousness.
Eye-door should be good
Visible object must be present
Light must be present
Attention must ...
- 1,221
4
votes
2
answers
59
views
What are the prescription regarding a bhikkhu or a monastery having a lay-attendant?
I am curious about vinaya regulations & accounts otherwise relevant to a householder's attending to the bhikkhusangha.
Of interest are lay attendants in particular, how far one can go in being ...
user8527
2
votes
2
answers
99
views
Are there stories in the suttas of people experiencing the fruits of their karma in their lifetimes?
In my reading of the suttas in the Pali canon, I've only found one story that's an example of someone experiencing the results of deeds committed in the life they are currently living, in that same ...
- 338
0
votes
4
answers
427
views
Is kasina meditation based on the suttas or was it invented in the Visuddhimagga?
Is kasina meditation and other such meditation techniques not found in the suttas (i.e. not taught by the Buddha) and only invented in the Visuddhimagga?
Or does it have basis in the Pali suttas?
- 33.7k
3
votes
1
answer
355
views
Was Sariputta alive during the time of Buddha's death?
I have found two Suttas and I am a bit confused about Sariputta's death.
In DN 16, there is a part about Sariputta being alive at the time of Buddha's death. (look at 4. Sāriputta’s Lion’s Roar in DN ...
- 185
2
votes
4
answers
147
views
What is the meaning of the word 'Emptiness' as it was used in the oldest texts?
Want references/excerpts and inference pertaining to the references & etymology for the designation[s] of "Emptiness" as it is used in the Pali Sutta.
user8527
4
votes
4
answers
126
views
How can the Buddha (after he was enlightened) reflect that he was not at ease and then became at ease in seclusion?
This is from the Theravada Vinaya:
While he was staying by himself, the Buddha thought, “When I was
previously surrounded by people, I was not at ease because of those
monks at Kosambī who were ...
- 4,173
2
votes
3
answers
332
views
The Buddha spoke to many individuals. Did the Buddha ever tell an individual who did not believe in rebirth, that they must in order to be liberated?
I have yet to read the entire Pali canon, but I've read a lot of it. It is a source I trust is fairly accurate. I'm still looking for an anecdote from the Buddha's life where he tells a non-believer ...
- 338
0
votes
3
answers
98
views
Was Devadaha a Sakyan town and were the Buddha's maternal relatives Sakyans?
In the literature we generally read that the Koliya clan, a neighbouring clan of the Sakyans, had two capitals - Devadaha and Ramagama. Moreover, the Buddha's mother Mayadevi and foster mother ...
- 642
1
vote
4
answers
169
views
How should Buddhism be introduced to a country?
What has historical precedent to teach and what is your opinion?
user8527
2
votes
3
answers
191
views
Why did the Buddha not answer Vacchagotta (SN 44.10), but did answer the monks (MN 140)?
It has been said that the reason the Buddha did not answer Vacchagotta was because the discussion was not about the doctrine & terminology of the Buddha, but rather about the illogical doctrine of ...
- 4,173
2
votes
2
answers
101
views
What did the Buddha mean in MN 140 about what happened to clansman Pukkusāti after a cow killed him?
Bhikkhu, ‘I am’ is a conceiving; ‘I am this’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall
be’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall not be’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be
possessed of form’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be formless’ is a
...
- 4,173
0
votes
2
answers
64
views
What is the real meaning of the Pali-word adukkhamasukham in the Mahasatipatthana-Sutta?
In the Mahasatipatthana-Sutta are mentioned three kinds of sensations: pleasant sensations (dukkha vedana); unpleasant sensations (sukha vedana) and adukkhamasukha vedana.
What is the meaning of ...
- 2,234
1
vote
3
answers
136
views
After the Buddha's enlightenment, did he receive any teachings?
There's not much background to this question. Did the Buddha ever receive a teaching after his enlightenment; a teaching that he accepted and made use of, either his own or another - or perhaps a ...
- 1,250
1
vote
1
answer
73
views
What is the origin or history of the concept of 'Buddha Sasana"?
There is some information here at wikipedia
I am curious to know if that came from Buddha himself or mentioned in any suttas. The 'sasana' concepts restricts appearence of solitary buddhas or ...