| | This post is not specifically directed towards Not Tao, Beoman , and Felipe, though that may be implied, but also to anyone in general, yes even my brother Sawfoot. Note: This is the DHO Battleground, so no emotionless crying I can't hand you a tissue, well you can cry if you want, I'll understand.
What do you see wrong in the Buddha's teaching, what is unwholesome, what is incorrect, why do you think you are an emotion, why is a peaceful jhana wrong, why is Bare Attention wrong? Why is karuna, mudita, metta, and uppekha wrong? Why is Right and Wholesome Livelihood wrong? Why is understanding there is dukkha wrong? Why do you believe believe or not believe in permanence? Do you understand Craving? What is wrong with practicing Right Speech?
I realise nor all of these questions pertain to anyone, just throwing out some ideas, to stir up some thoughts.
Did you not then practice Right Effort, specifically the right effort formula? And why not, has this never been explained? Buddhist practice isn't just meditation, that is a misunderstanding on a drastic scale. It isn't just noting(that is a method) Vipassana isn't noting either. It means to see things the way they are. If someone has the literal translation, that would help.
If you fully understood Right Effort, you may already understand it, you would see, this is probaly one of the missing ingredients to any practice. It effectively deals with Unwholesome Mind States and should be used each and every time Unwholesome minds states arise, it is a re-training of the mind.
This is the same with Jhanas, the insight gained from jhanas is invaluable, one sees that joy can arise from within, independent from external triggers or conditions, and that Jhana is no permanent escape from reality, but that to be able to maintain a non-suppressive entry in to Jhana, one will have a peaceful , happy and contented mind for the majority of their daily living, for a trained mind sits down and is in jhana in a breath or two. Jhanas are a support system, I am not sure if one that maintains Jhana could get depressed or remain so for long, How could they, they just have to arouse joy from within, BUT jhana is not an end, it is JUST a helpful means.
I am just explaining a few things from what I know directly, and understand that you are a very advanced practioner, whilst I might be just a novice, Still Buddhism is:
ONE PATH that has Eight Folds to it, if just one of the folds is not practiced then the whole of one's practice falls short, likewise, one can not expect to practice one fold of the patn only and expect to be on the full path.
Even yoga has eight limbs, it is not just about postures. One leads to the other and they are intertwined and when intertwined it makes a strong rope.
And it seems, that if one concentrates too much one fold only, say Jhanas only , or Mindfulness only, there can be progress, but only in a warped fashion. Instead of a tree growing straight, it would grow to one side only, or perhaps put roots down in only one or two directions instead of all eight.
I think people read MCTB and start Noting and blow off the other chapters, Daniel kind of leaves it up to us to study and practice the other aspects of the path, his great expertise being Insight, BUT he has pointed the finger towards the other aspects of the path, and I have only been on the board a short while and seen him mention this several times.
I think this is the same with the Buddha not specifically teaching Jhana methods, that is not what he taught. But this can be easly found elsewhere, dhyana, samadhi, there are tomes of Jhana methods. Same with energy, arousing energy is very important on the path, but , not many how to methods in the Suttas, yet elswhere there is an abundance.
I am just a common spiritual practioner and I am curious as to why I see things others do not see, not all others , of course, I am curious as to other viewpoints.
I do stay within the direct words of the Buddha, (as close as it can get barring there were no electronic recordings back then) But, I do also recognize other Enlightened People and respect their teachings as well, Dhamma is Dhamma, Phenomenon is Phenomenon.
And, lastly to start off, if you can't find anything unwholesome in the buddha's teaching, what is wrong with it?
Forget about the Dogma, please look directly to the teaching itself, forget the people the temples and the myths, what about the teachings??
Psi Phi |