13
votes
Is low self-esteem a Western phenomenon?
I recall around 20 years ago an Australian university psychology professor wrote a local newspaper article about what he regarded as superior self-esteem in Thai children. I have lived in traditional (...
- 39.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Is low self-esteem a Western phenomenon?
1- You are right. The first stage is meant to be (if not easy) at least easier than the others. It is why it is the first, because it is supposed to be what we can do from where we are.
3- It is true....
- 5,206
12
votes
Is making art bad or sinful?
Art can be a continuation of samsaric inertia, or it can be an expression of the enlightened mind. What message are you sending with your art? What impulse does it carry forward into the future?
- 57.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Who said "cease to do evil learn to do good purify the heart"?
It's verse 183 of the Dhammapada.
- 45.7k
10
votes
What is the meaning of the Zen quote: "Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water"?
I am not sure about the origin of this quote but possibly as it used as a Zen message it may have come from Bodhidharma. I am sure about its meaning however. It relates both to Enlightenment and ...
- 184
10
votes
Searching for a Pali sutta where Buddha said "Enough!" to rebirth speculations
SN 42.3 (To Yodhajiva The Warrior) and SN 42.2 (To Talaputa the Actor) both contain the phrase,
"Enough, headman, put that aside. Don't ask me that."
The reason why he says "enough" seems to be ...
- 45.7k
9
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of the Zen quote: "Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water"?
Before Enlightenment, you hate your life. You chop wood and carry water, but secretly wish to get out of it all. You bear with these activities through habit and out of hopelessness, but you really ...
- 57.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Returning to the marketplace - examples
Does the Theravada canon have such ideas anywhere at all?
This is a far-fetched example which barely answer your question but IMO the Buddha himself kind of returned to the market-place: not as a ...
- 45.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Where does it say Siddhartha Gautama mastered all types of meditation?
In the Maha-Saccaka Sutta it describes his learning some meditation types/techniques, from teachers, before he sat and was enlightened:
Alara Kalama ... the dimension of nothingness.
~~~
Uddaka ...
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8
votes
Accepted
Where can I find a reference for someone becoming a sotapanna through meditation?
I've come across many stories in the Tipitaka where people attained arahanthood or became non-returners through meditation.
The different doors through with you can get liberation are given in Vimutt’...
8
votes
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Don't teach Dhamma to those who can't appreciate it or aren't interested
The Buddha not only stressed the importance of right speech but also the right time and occassion to say it:
"So too, prince, such speech as the Tath›gata knows to be untrue, incorrect, and ...
- 9,707
7
votes
Accepted
Arahants and suicide
There might be something along those lines in SN 4.23 Godhika Sutta.
Page 85 of The Patimokkha Rules
Translated & Explained says,
Case (b) is apparently derived from SN 4.23, where Ven.
...
- 45.7k
7
votes
Recommendation - Book for beginner
I would recommend:
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi (alternate download link)
Art of Living by William Hart
7
votes
Saying Grace before meals
In the monastery I live, we are taught to bless the food by way of offering it, before each meal (or even before simply drinking a glass of water, tea, coffee or so).
The short Tibetan version goes:
...
- 5,206
7
votes
What is the origin of the Buddhist expression "Practice as if your hair is on fire"?
Tissa (Thag 1.39) {Thag 39}
As if struck by a sword,
as if his head were on fire,
a monk should live the wandering life
— mindful —
for the abandoning of sensual passion.
Source: ...
7
votes
Law of Karma in the Buddha's own words
Ven Bodhi discusses this matter and quotes relevant suttas in his "In the Buddha's Words" chapter V "THE WAY TO A FORTUNATE REBIRTH".
The following list, which was posted on SuttaCentral, is a ...
- 1,683
7
votes
Is low self-esteem a Western phenomenon?
I suppose the key point here is that, from Buddhist perspective, low self-esteem is considered high self-esteem in disguise -- I've heard numerous gurus' statement's to that regard.
If you look up ...
- 57.6k
7
votes
What is the meaning of the Zen quote: "Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water"?
It means your liabilities are before and after the enlightenment the same ones. You have to live a life, to meet responsibility and to master challenges. You still have to follow the Path.
Edit
I ...
- 469
7
votes
What is the meaning of the Zen quote: "Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water"?
"Chop wood and carry water"
This was first told to me as a story. Here is an abbreviated version.
A young boy became a monk. He dreamed of enlightenment and of learning great things. When he got to ...
- 71
7
votes
Monks who are not worthy and worthy
From the Ajañña Sutta (AN 8.13):
"In the same way, a monk endowed with eight qualities is worthy of
gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect,
an incomparable field ...
- 36.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Will working for a company that engages in animal experimentation to alleviate suffering of humans be wrong livelihood?
The commentary to Dhammapada 124 reads:
Then the Buddha returned to the monastery and told Thera Ananda and
other bhikkhus about the hunter Kukkutamitta and his family attaining
Sotapatti Fruition in ...
- 36.9k
6
votes
Introductory books to Buddhism
As mentioned in a some comments I would highly recommend In the Buddha's Words - An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (The Teachings of the Buddha) by Buddha Shakyamuni as compiled by Bikkhu ...
6
votes
Where did the Buddha speak of his difficulty in eating almsfood as a Bodhisatta?
I found it in the introduction to the Jatakas, which seems to be the original source:
Now the Great Being, after collecting a number of scraps, sufficient, as he judged, for his sustenance, left the ...
- 24.1k
6
votes
Where is the mind referred to as being luminous?
The earliest reference is from the Pali Tipitaka, AN 5.49-50:
49. “pabhassaramidaṃ, bhikkhave, cittaṃ. tañca kho āgantukehi upakkilesehi upakkiliṭṭhan”ti.
50. “pabhassaramidaṃ, bhikkhave, cittaṃ. ...
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6
votes
Accurate translation of "Satipatthana Sutta"
In my opinion, one of the best translations is the one in Analayo Bhikhu's "Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization".
see https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/direct-...
- 57.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Recommendation - Book for beginner
I higly reccomend H. H. The Dalai Lama's "How to See Yourself as You Really Are". A wonderful and easy to read introducion to Buddhist philosophy and practice. His Holiness is mahayana, but this book ...
- 2,653
6
votes
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Thoughts in Daily Life
This is restlessness, or the mind being scattered by many thoughts coming and going. Refer to the suttas on the hindrances, e.g.: (Nīvarara) Sangarava Sutta, Nīvarana,pahana Vagga. This is aggravated ...
6
votes
What is the "nature of reality" according to the Buddha?
Realities are called Paramattha Dhamma in Buddhism. There are 4 such realities.
Citta(consciousness)
ex: Vipaaka-citta, Karma, Kiriya-citta.
Cetasika(mental concomitants)
ex: Vedana, Sanna, Sankhara
...
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6
votes
Accepted
Jhāna, seeing the welfare of self and other
Sangaravo Sutta: Sangarava -- The Hindrances (SN 46.55) says that.
It says that ...
he cannot know or see, as it really is, what is to his own profit, nor can he know and see what is to the ...
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