20
votes
Accepted
Logic of Emptiness still unconvincing. Please help explain
Your confusion is clear as day to me. :) As is the true meaning of "emptiness". The challenge is how to explain it to you in a way you can understand. :)
You are stuck on this idea of "...
- 58.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Sleep - What about it?
What are the proper relax / Sleep practices for a practitioner of meditation methods?
If you do Metta meditation before sleeping you are better off, as one benefit of Metta is you sleep well. ((Aṭṭha)...
10
votes
Accepted
What are the suttas in which the Buddha provides instruction on how to meditate?
To straighten view before meditation: Samma,ditthi Sutta
Anapana
Anapanasati Sutta
Satipatthana
Satipatthana Sutta and Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta
Kayagatasati Sutta
Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta
Elements / ...
9
votes
Can anyone explain Sanskara / Sankara in depth?
There's an article in English titled Anicca Vata Sankhara in which Bhikkhu Bodhi describes the various meanings of the word. Here are very brief extracts from that article, a summary:
The word ...
- 46.3k
8
votes
Does mind ever stop?
The mind occurs in both passive and active modes. The passive gives
way to the active when a stimulus is received through one of the sense
doors. The passive state of mind is called bhava"nga, ...
- 25.7k
8
votes
Accepted
How should one be mindful of death?
Oh, this is easy. This one I was taught many many times. Here is how it goes:
Regular untrained people live their life as if they will live forever. They 1) worry about small unimportant stuff, get ...
- 58.3k
8
votes
Invalid logic pertaining to karma in sutta AN 5.129?
The way my first teacher explained karma, it works like a matching machine, it just puts the "victim" in the situation when the odds of encountering a certain kind of people are increased. It's like, ...
- 58.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Buddhism on We are all one
OP: Is it right from a Buddhist point of view to say that you and me are the same because there is only one consciousness playing
different minds (egos, personalities, psychologies, etc) and bodies ...
- 37.4k
8
votes
Accepted
How to practice “In the seen will be merely what is seen”
This topic is famously developed in Vajrayana's highest tantras such as Mahamudra and Dzogchen.
The point is to shift the focus of experience from the samsaric mind with its constant judgement of ...
- 58.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Were different parts of the Pali Canon intended for different audiences?
Each Sutta was intended for a specific audience to address a specific issue. This is one of the reasons why there was a need for an Abhidhamma that consolidated the messages from all of the Suttas ...
- 1,378
7
votes
Can anyone explain Sanskara / Sankara in depth?
The Pali word ‘sankhara’ has multiple meanings dependent on the context. It can mean:
(i) a conditioned thing (formed from various causes or parts);
(ii) something that conditions another conditioned ...
- 40.5k
7
votes
How does one become a "Māra"?
Abhisankhāra-māra - The Karmic force
Kleśa-māra, or Ma̋ra as the embodiment of all unskillful emotions.
Mṛtyu-māra, or Māra as death, in the sense of the ceaseless round of
birth and death....
- 1,705
7
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
Maybe because Clinging/Upadana is such a powerful destructive force, even advanced practitioners still have a tough time dealing with. So the non-clinging theme reflected through insight into ...
- 9,707
7
votes
"The Blessed One", is it bad translation?
A couple of dictionary translations:
Bhagavā: venerable, fortunate, blessed, sublime. Generally designates the Buddha.
Bhagavant (adj. n.) [cp. Vedic bhagavant, fr. bhaga] fortunate, illustrious,...
- 46.3k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the phantom in the conclusion of the Diamond Sutra?
No phantom, no...
The Diamond Sutra in Classical Chinese, wherein one of the verses instantly enlightened the 6th Patriarch Huineng, the corresponding verse to your quote is this:
一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，...
- 2,291
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 ...
- 37.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Does the Buddha deny genetic differences?
MN 98 is about "jati" or "social identity". The Buddha says physical birth or "ancestry" is unrelated to jati; that the jatis are verbal designations assigned due to kamma (actions).
For example, ...
- 40.5k
7
votes
Among 9 jhanas which is deep sleep?
I've got a simple answer for you: Sleep is not a jhāna. The Buddha never says, not in Pāli not in Chinese not in Sanskrit, that sleep is a jhāna. Sleep is also not nibbāna. Sleep is also not nirodha. ...
- 1,140
7
votes
Why did the Buddha contradict about His teachings in these two different suttas?
The key phrase, I think, is: "those things that I have known with direct knowledge..." (emphasis mine).
Some things must be experienced as direct knowledge. Teaching or discussing them with ...
- 5,015
7
votes
Accepted
What's the role of "conceit" in the Dhamma?
Conceit in Buddhism is a technical term, referring to the deep-rooted habit or tendency of self-expression or self-clinging.
It's different from self-view or identity-view, which is more like a belief,...
- 37.4k
6
votes
Accepted
Beings who are not aware of their own existence?
In some realms there are some beings who are not aware of their own existence (Some place in Brahma realm). How do their aggregates work when they themselves aren't aware of their existence?
...
6
votes
Accepted
What is Buddhism "for" (in favor of)?
In one of the teachings I received, there is this concept of Five Joys:
The joy of having your basic needs satisfied (food, shelter, safety).
The (higher) joy of material comfort and sensual ...
- 58.3k
6
votes
How does one become a "Māra"?
The current Mara was Mara Dusi's nephew back in the days of Buddha Kakusandha. So it seems that there's a waiting list in the Paranimmita-vasavatti heaven.
There are some people in the world who do ...
- 25.7k
6
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
So I posed this question to my teacher at the temple yesterday, and the answer floored me!
I asked her what is the meaning of "No suffering, origination, cessation of suffering, path" in the Heart ...
- 1,705
6
votes
Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?
The Heart Sutra is of utmost importance in Mahayana because it declares the key realization that makes Mahayana distinct from a superficial "Sutra-Yana":
That in the ultimate sense all ...
- 58.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Sutta with firefly simile
Ud 6.9 - Adhipataka Sutta: Like Moths to the Flame
translated from the Pali by Andrew Olendzki
“The insects are drawn irresistibly in the dark night to the shining
lamps, but in their zeal to ...
- 9,695
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible