Are these magical powers real? My interest was caught by an article talking about the mundane and supermundane powers which are mentioned in the Samaññaphala Sutta (The Fruits of the Contemplative Life,  DN 2):

The first five mundane powers: (can be attained through perfection of samādhi)

Supranormal powers

  With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from
  defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and
  inclines it to the modes of supranormal powers. He wields manifold supranormal
  powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes
  one.  He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and
  mountains as if through space.

Clairaudience

  With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from
  defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and
  inclines it to the divine ear-element. He hears -- by means of the divine ear-element, purified and surpassing the human -- both kinds of sounds: divine and human, whetever near or far.

Mind Reading

  With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from
  defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and
  inclines it to knowledge of the awareness of other beings. He knows the
  awareness of other beings, other individuals, having encompassed it with his
  own awareness.

Recollection of Past Lives

  With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from
  defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and
  inclines it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He
  recollects his manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand,
  many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many
  aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had such a
  name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance.

The Passing Away & Re-appearance of Beings

  With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from
  defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs and
  inclines it to knowledge of the passing away and re-appearance of beings.

One supermundane power (Can be attained through Vipassana):

The Ending of Mental Fermentations

  With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from
  defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, the monk
  directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations.

However, the Buddha emphasized to attain only the last through the realization of Arahatship. It might be unfair to ask for scientific proof, but is there any backup for the first five supposedly attainable powers, any personal experiences maybe?

Some of these have been actively researched in Parapsychology. The Wikipedia link directs you to research efforts around this subject.

If you are skeptical of what others have to say you can verify your self by developing the Jhanas. Also keep in mind more you long for these powers more further it becomes so your practice should be very diligent with strong sense of equanimity through out the practice. Once you see for yourself (Ehipassiko) your doubts and skepticism will disappear.


Ignoring thoughts vs. understanding them Every day I struggle with an onslaught of negative thoughts (perfectionists with a huge ego). I came upon two different schools of thought in Buddhism teaching.

One would be to try to ignore the thoughts, not give them energy, not identify with them, be present and in time they would go into the background. Basically they are just thoughts; they are not you.

Another approach would be to sit down, meditate and try to go deep inside to find the root of those thoughts (I suspect I have myself deep down :P). Try to see clearly the constant river of thoughts that is happening inside (things I notice is just a small surface of things).

I was never sure which one was correct.

These are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the latter method contains the 1st method you mentioned as the last resort. So do both in tandem as needed:

OP: One would be to try to ignore the thoughts, not give them energy, not identify with them, be present and in time they would go into the background. Basically they are just thoughts, they are not you.

You can try "ignoring" thoughts by focusing on a particular object hence developing some level of Jhana to reduce mental chatter through the Jhana factors like initial and sustained application:

When, bhikshu, this samadhi has been cultivated, well cultivated by you, then you should train yourself thus:
“I will dwell exertive, clearly aware, mindful,
observing [contemplating] [body | feeling | mind | dhamma] the in the [body | feeling | mind | dhamma],
removing covetousness and displeasure [discontent] in regard to the world.”
Thus, bhikshu, you should train yourself.
When, bhikshu, this samadhi has been cultivated, well cultivated by you, then, you, bhikshu,

THE 1 ST DHYANA:

should cultivate this samadhi with initial application, with sustained application;
should cultivate this samadhi without initial application, with only sustained application;

THE 2 ND DHYANA:

should cultivate this samadhi without initial application, without sustained application;
should cultivate this samadhi with zest;

THE 3RD DHYANA:

should cultivate this samadhi zest-free;
should cultivate this samadhi attended by comfort;

THE 4 TH DHYANA:

should cultivate this samadhi attended by equanimity.

Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta
in the 2nd Jhana and beyond there is no mental chatter.

OP: Other approach would be to sit down, meditate and try to go deep inside to find the root of those thoughts (I suspect I have myself deep down :P). Try to see clearly the constant river of thoughts that is happening inside (things I notice is just a small surface of things).

Thought proliferation is due to the following process:

“Bhikshu, as regards the source from which proliferation of conception and perception assails a person: if one were to find nothing there to delight in, nothing there to welcome, nothing to cling to—this is the end of

the latent tendency of lust,
the latent tendency of aversion,
the latent tendency of views,
the latent tendency of doubt,
the latent tendency of conceit,
the latent tendency of desire for existence, and
the latent tendency of ignorance.

This is the ending of the taking up of the rod and the sword, quarrels, disputes, mayhem [strife], slandering and lying —here these evil unwholesome states cease without remainder.”
…
Avuso, dependent on the [eye | ear | nose | tongue | body | mind] and [form | sound | smell | taste | touch | mind-object], [eye | ear | nose | tongue | body | mind]-consciousness arises.

The meeting of the three is contact.

With contact as condition, there is feeling.

What one feels, one perceives.

What one perceives, one thinks about.

What one thinks about, one mentally proliferates.

From that as source, proliferation of conception and perception assails a person regarding past, future and present [forms | sounds | smells | tastes | touch | mind-objects] cognizable through the [eye | ear | nose | tongue | body | mind].

Madhu,piṇḍika Sutta
There 3 crucial points in this process:

feeling/sensation
one perceives then thinks and finally build views
mental chatter resulting in thought proliferation (papañca)

There are 3 things to be done at each juncture:
Feeling/sensation
Feeling/sensation result in perception (Madhu,piṇḍika Sutta above), craving (see Dependent Arising), 3 unwholesome roots (Pahāna Sutta). So one has to break the progression beyond feeling/sensation by:

i. On seeing a form with the eye,

one investigates the form that is the basis for mental joy,
one investigates the form that is the basis of mental pain,
one investigates the form that is the basis of equanimity.

ii. On hearing a sound with the ear,

one investigates the sound that is the basis for mental joy,
one investigates the sound that is the basis of mental pain,
one investigates the sound that the basis of equanimity.

iii. On smelling a smell with the nose,

one investigates the smell that is the basis for mental joy,
one investigates the smell that is the basis of mental pain,
one investigates the smell that is the basis of equanimity.

iv. On tasting a taste with the tongue,

one investigates the taste that is the basis for mental joy,
one investigates the taste that is the basis of mental pain,
one investigates the taste that is the basis of equanimity.

v. On feeling a touch with the body,

one investigates the touch that is the basis for mental joy,
one investigates the touch that is the basis of mental pain,
one investigates the touch that is the basis of equanimity.

vi. On cognizing a mind-object with the mind,

one investigates the mind-object that the basis of mental joy,
one investigates the mind-object that is the basis of mental pain,
one investigates the mind-object that is the basis of equanimity.

...
If he feels a pleasant feeling,

he understands that it is impermanent;
he understands that it is not to be clung to;
he understands that there is no delight in it.

If he feels a painful feeling,

he understands that it is impermanent;
he understands that it is not to be clung to;
he understands that there is no delight in it.

If he feels a neutral feeling,

he understands that it is impermanent;
he understands that it is not to be clung to;
he understands that there is no delight in it.

If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it in a detached manner.
If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it in a detached manner.
If he feels a neutral feeling, he feels it in a detached manner.

Dhātu Vibhaṅga Sutta
To prevent your mental reaction to sensation becoming unwholesome you can try:

“Nothing is worth clinging to”
When this was said, the venerable Mahā Moggallāna said this to the Blessed One:
“In what way, bhante, in brief, is a monk freed through the destruction of craving, that is, one who has reached total perfection, the total security from bondage, the total holy life, the total consummation, the highest amongst gods and humans?”
“Here, Moggallāna, the monk has learned that nothing is worth clinging to. And, Moggallāna, a monk has learned that nothing is worth clinging to, thus: he directly knows all things [he directly knows the nature of the all]. Having directly known the nature of all things, he fully understands all things.
Having fully understood all things, he knows whatever feelings there are, whether

pleasant,

painful or

neither painful nor pleasant.

As regards to those feelings, [Section on Disillusionment and Revulsion (Nibbida) follows]

he dwells contemplating impermanence in them;

he dwells contemplating dispassion [fading away of lust] in them;

he dwells contemplating ending (of suffering) in them;

he dwells contemplating letting go (of defilements).

When he dwells

contemplating impermanence in them,

contemplating dispassion in them,

contemplating ending in them,

contemplating letting go,

he does not cling to anything in the world.
Not clinging, he is not agitated; being not agitated, he himself surely attains nirvana.

Pacalā Sutta
One Perceives then Thinks and Finally Build Views
At this point, cravings and unwholesome would have arisen which also gives rise to perversions. For a worldly person perceptions, thoughts, views that arise are subjected to the 4 perversions (vipallasa), which are:

what is impermanent is taken to be permanent;
what is painful is taken to be pleasurable;
what is not self is taken to be a (or the) self; and
what is impure [unattractive or repulsive] is taken to be pure [attractive or beautiful]

One should try to break this train also when feelings arise. The method to deal with preception is also as in the previous part, hence I will not repeat it here.
If

perceptions,
thoughts, or
views

do arise one should straighten them by contemplating:

Impermanent as impermanent
Painful as painful
Not-self as not-self
Impure [unattractive or repulsive] as impure

See Vipallasa Sutta
Mental Chatter Resulting in Thought Proliferation
If one could not stop the progression of events at feeling/sensation, perception and thinking then this results in mental chatter which is through proliferation. This results in latent tendencies (Madhu,piṇḍika Sutta) and is the last point one can stop this train of events progressing further but by this time craving, unwholesome roots and perversion (vipallasa) of perception, thoughts and view would have already arisen.
Metal proliferation can be cut out thought Jhana as from the 2nd Jhana onwards there is no thinking and pondering (vitakka-vicāra).
According to Dantabhūmi Sutta one should abandon thoughts with regard to the Sathipattanas namely thoughts regarding or originating from the body, feeling, mind and dhammas:

(1) dwell observing the body in the body,
and do not think (any) thought regarding the body;
(2) dwell observing feelings in feelings,
and do not think (any) thought regarding feelings;
(3) dwell observing the mind in the mind,
and do not think (any) thought regarding the mind [thoughts];
(4) dwell observing dharmas in the dharmas,
and do not think (any) thought regarding dharmas [realities].
With the stilling of initial application and sustained application,
by gaining inner tranquillity and oneness of mind,
he enters and dwells in the second dhyana, free from initial application and sustained application, accompanied by zest and joy, born of concentration.
And with the fading away of zest,
he dwells equanimous. Mindful and clearly comprehending, he experiences joy with the body.
He enters and dwells in the third dhyana,
of which the noble ones declare, ‘Happily he dwells in equanimity and mindfulness.’
With the abandoning of joy and abandoning of pain,
and with the earlier disappearance of pleasure and displeasure,
he attains and dwells in the fourth dhyana that is neither painful nor pleasant,
and with mindfulness fully purified by equanimity.

This way latent tendencies (anusaya) and further vipallasa and sankhā through the papañca-saññā-sankhā process will not arise. The method of practice is given above and also found in the Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta quoted above.
Also one can use another object of mentation like Ānâpāna,sati Sutta.
Essentially this is bringing one's focus to a given object and repeatedly refocusing on the object again to sustain one's focus on the particular object so one is not distracted by unwholesome trains of thoughts. Also, to get into Jhana in the moment of need requires greater length and effort in pratice through.


My explanation of six realms of existence The six realms states of mind

This is my graphical interpretation of existence of six realms by Buddha.

I have attempted to decode the great concept of Buddhist teaching consider the state of mind as all beings possess the mind:

X axis represent the level of mind or level of happiness and suffering which can’t be measured by scientific apparatus.
Y axis represents time which only feels by mind and time can’t be measured. (Absolute time)

White paper represents space.

God’s realm

Here is it. Gods are always in happy mind and maintain it effortlessly long time and happiness is stable.

Time is very fast as they are in happiness and pleasure. Their physical body has been evolved to feel and maintain the happiness and pleasure. Human can’t measure anything on this realm except feel the state of mind just a few seconds or minutes.

No 1 represent this in graphical way e.g. poor, financially oppressed human has collected the bundle of 1 million dollar notes. So his happiness suddenly reached his climax and enjoy the pleasure and overflow his happiness for few seconds or few minute etc……. and once he feel the fear of robbers, hesitations of the future and thinking about what to do in future and he is collapsed on human level of human mind again. If he is with cardiac problem then he is dropped down to hell being as suffer cardiac pain or death as can’t control his thought and overflow of happiness. Time is extremely fast on this realm.
Demi gods or Asura

Normally Demi-gods are below the gods. They are confident on their power of fighting nature. Intelligent and born to fight. Physical body has been designed for it. Muscular, strong body, intelligent and master on weapon usage and create new weapons. They are born to survival and they normally not possess for survival. But someone on craving and try to possess in front of Asuras, they will fight for grab it even though the object is useless for them. Once they possess the object they are in climax of happiness and fade it gradually with time. E.g. this can be experienced with kids some time neglected toy get the attention child the second child also come with desire for same toy and they will fight for it.

Time is fast and varies in this realm.
Humans realm

They can think the middle way. That’s the reason Buddha specially states about Human realm. Any psychiatric can explain the human mind. Time is average in this realm
Animal realm

Driven by instincts and ever one know range of physical appearance. No spiritual vision, no religion, no art, no science and only they have well adapted to physical environment by evolution of physical body.just big fish eat little fish is the only law.

Animals never use apparatus to measure time and they synchronise the time with environment. Animals fight for survival not for possess anything. Animals fight, flight, eat, drink, sleep etc…….are the purpose of their existence. Time is passing slowly in this realm
Hungry ghosts.

They always overflow with craving and desire. Mind is driven to fulfil craving and desire and they are not fulfilled by achievements. Time is very slow as they are always in overflow by non-satisfaction.
Hell being

Always suffer from intensive, extreme and unavoidable pain both physically and mentally. But mental pain is the most. (As modern psychiatry says mental suffering is difficult than physical pain) and it is extremely difficult to escape from this realm and time is very very slow in this realm. E.g just imagine a person who is wounded badly and has to suffer intensive pain in hospital ICU units.

Is my explanation of the six realms of existence consistent with common Buddhist explanation?

Yes this is correct this is the way a mahayana views reality. And this is the reason a theravedan disagrees! LOL.

To the theravedan the six realms are not visible in the human world. Or rather with human eyes the six realms are not visible on earth.


Is the Mahayana shunyata same as the Theravada papanca? I originally wondered whether the Mahayana shunyata (emptiness) is same as the Theravada sankhara (conditioned and compounded phenomena). The problem here is that Mahayana shunyata says even Nibbana is empty, but Theravada's sankhara does not include Nibbana. So, this does not match.

But after a lot of discussion here, I find that the Mahayana shunyata (emptiness) could be equivalent to the Theravada papanca (objectification-classification or reification), as found in MN 18 and Sutta Nipata 4.14. And Sutta Nipata 4.14 states that the root of papanca is "I am the thinker".

I could say that all papanca is empty of essence or substance.

How somebody (who is not an ariya) imagines Nibbana to be, is the papanca of it in his mind. In that sense, the papanca of Nibbana is empty of essence or substance.

How somebody (who is not an ariya) imagines a chair to be, is the papanca of it in his mind. In that sense, the papanca of a chair is empty of essence or substance.

Even the papanca of papanca itself is empty of essence or substance. This corresponds to Mahayana shunyata's emptiness of emptiness.

So, does it make sense to say that the Mahayana shunyata is same as the Theravada papanca?

Thanissaro Bhikkhu's explanation of papañca in MN 18:

  Translating papañca: As one writer has noted, the word papañca has had
  a wide variety of meanings in Indian thought, with only one constant:
  in Buddhist philosophical discourse it carries negative connotations,
  usually of falsification and distortion. The word itself is derived
  from a root that means diffuseness, spreading, proliferating. The Pali
  Commentaries define papañca as covering three types of thought:
  craving, conceit, and views. They also note that it functions to slow
  the mind down in its escape from samsara. Because its categories begin
  with the objectifying thought, "I am the thinker," I have chosen to
  render the word as "objectification," although some of the following
  alternatives might be acceptable as well: self-reflexive thinking,
  reification, proliferation, complication, elaboration, distortion. The
  word offers some interesting parallels to the postmodern notion of
  logocentric thinking, but it's important to note that the Buddha's
  program of deconstructing this process differs sharply from that of
  postmodern thought.

From Sutta Nipata 4.14:

  "I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
  about seclusion & the state of peace.
  Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
  clinging to nothing in the world?"
  "He should put an entire stop
  to the root of objectification-classifications (papañca):
  'I am the thinker.'

  Commentary (Thanissaro):
  On objectification-classifications and their
  role in leading to conflict, see Sn 4.11 and the introduction to
  MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at the root of
  these classifications in that it reads into the immediate present a
  set of distinctions — I/not-I; being/not-being; thinker/thought;
  identity/non-identity — that then can proliferate into mental and
  physical conflict. The conceit inherent in this perception thus forms
  a fetter on the mind. To become unbound, one must learn to examine
  these distinctions — which we all take for granted — to see that they
  are simply assumptions that are not inherent in experience, and that
  we would be better off to be able to drop them.

Yes, more or less.

Although, strictly speaking you are making a category error.

Shunyata refers to the fact that everything is an abstraction, simplification, subjective observation, and that in fact everything appears from interaction of a bunch of processes (known in this context as "causes and conditions") - including the process of perception. Shunyata and Sankhara are closely related.

While Papanca refers to the process by which we take that empty stuff, those appearances, and because of ignorance assign to them the status of real, objective, clearly delineated things.

Papanca is something that can be stopped through Buddhist education. But Shunyata cannot be stopped, it's a fundamental law.

In one sense they are opposite: Papanca is "bad" (because when mind does Papanca - it's confused) - but Shunyata is "good" (because when mind sees Shunyata - it's enlightened).

You are right about Nirvana. It's empty when you think about it as the object of your mind. But when you actually realize that everything is Shunyata and stop clinging to things because of that (including clinging to the concepts of Nirvana and Shunyata) - now that's real Nirvana which is not empty.


Apologetics and Upanishads Are there good apologetic resources (books, audios, sites, etc.) that give the buddhist answer to advaita vedanta and/or hinduism in general? To the substantial model of the atman-brahman or purusha/prakriti of Patanjali yoga.

I understand that in the West, Whitehead's criticisms were quite close.

There's the Milinda Panha. It records a dialogue between the Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the Indo-Greek king Menandernda_Panha). English Translation available here. It's not considered a core text by all Buddhist disciplines, but it is one of the oldest surviving apologetic dialogues between Buddhism and Hinduism.

Another interesting text is the Buddhist critique of the Advaita Vedanta as explained in Michael Myers' Comparative Theology


What's the "wise" answer when the epistemic distance is important? When someone needs my help, I try to answer their questions as best as I can. Sometimes, the questions make no sense (from my perspective) and from there I struggle. For some things, the person is just too far away to get it.

Sometimes I come up with great metaphors, simple explanations for complex situations, but unfortunately this doesn't always happen. What am I supposed to do when it does not happen, when I know what to reply, but that would be too much for the person to understand? Should I just ignore them?

It is for this reason that upaya, skillful means, exists. Sometimes you have to trick people onto the right path by appealing to what makes sense in their subjective universe. Perception is subjective (~illusory), so creating the right perception can be very effective. This is the true meaning of the "rainbow body".


Is there a Tantrayana (Tibetan Buddhism) training related to "burning" past bad karma? I heard (only heard) a couple of times somewhere that there is a training in Tantrayana that can purify you, by deleting or burning your own past bad karma.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of this training -- but I lived in Indonesia and sometimes a Tantrayana monk came and offered something like this (again, if I remember correctly)

Is there some kind of training like this?

In the Theravada pali cannon:
In this Devadaha Sutta , the Buddha refutes the theories of the Jains — here called the Niganthas — and heaps ridicule on the idea of trying to burn kamma by asceticism. First he notes that none of the Niganthas have ever come to the end of pain by trying to burn it away in this way;

"Going to Niganthas who teach in this way, I have asked them, 'Is it true, friend Niganthas, that you teach in this way, that you have this view: "Whatever a person experiences — pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain — all is caused by what was done in the past. Thus, with the destruction of old actions through asceticism, and with the non-doing of new actions, there will be no flow into the future. With no flow into the future, there is the ending of action. With the ending of action, the ending of stress. With the ending of stress, the ending of feeling. With the ending of feeling, all suffering & stress will be exhausted"?'
"Having been asked this by me, the Niganthas admitted it, 'Yes.'
"So I said to them, 'But friends, do you know that you existed in the past, and that you did not not exist?' (*basically, have you seen your own past lives?)
"'No, friend.'
"'And do you know that you did evil actions in the past, and that you did not not do them?'
"'No, friend.'
"'And do you know that you did such-and-such evil actions in the past?'
"'No, friend.'
"'And do you know that so-and-so much stress has been exhausted, or that so-and-so much stress remains to be exhausted, or that with the exhaustion of so-and-so much stress all stress will be exhausted?'
"'No, friend.'
"'But do you know what is the abandoning of unskillful mental qualities and the attainment of skillful mental qualities in the here-&-now?'
"'No, friend.'
"'So, friends, it seems that you don't know that you existed in the past, and that you did not not exist... you don't know what is the abandoning of unskillful mental qualities and the attainment of skillful mental qualities in the here-&-now. That being the case, it is not proper for you to assert that, "Whatever a person experiences — pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain — all is caused by what was done in the past. Thus, with the destruction of old actions through asceticism, and with the non-doing of new actions, there will be no flow into the future. With no flow into the future, there is the ending of action. With the ending of action, the ending of stress. With the ending of stress, the ending of feeling. With the ending of feeling, all suffering & stress will be exhausted."


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, can we postpone the time which kamma gives its result by doing a strong opposite kamma?

Bad kamma once sown cannot be erased completely, but by cultivating Sila, Samadhi, Panna, the suttas say it's possible to lessen the intensity/severity of it. See the case of Ven. Angulimala in MN 86 and the Buddha's famous quote:

  Bear with it, brahman! Bear with it! The fruit of the kamma that would have burned you in hell for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, you are now experiencing in the here-&-now.

Also see the Lonaphala Sutta - AN 3.99


Showing anatta from modern psychology or neuroscience? I have heard Ajahn Brahm say in a talk, if I recall, that modern science or psychology has demonstrated anatta in some way.

It seems unnecessary to invoke science to validate any of Buddhism, but until one can see no self from direct experience, looking at science may be beneficial for the purpose of gaining an intellectual understanding.

Is there any useful research or writing is there that shows anatta from the perspective of modern psychology or neuroscience?

I'd think something like this would be produced by the Mind & Life Institute. All I could find is this blurb crediting Evan Thompson. It doesn't say much.

Yes. Please see Quartz article dated February 9, 2018 by Ephrat Livni, entitled "Scientists studying psychoactive drugs accidentally proved the self is an illusion". Research papers are linked in it.

Also, please see the TED Talk by neuroscientist Anil Seth entitled "Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality" which was published on YouTube on July 18, 2017.


Can We give any value to anything in truth? Isn't everything in this world equal in value? Can we say that the value of a human being is greater than the dust?

Your question reminded me of this Zen koan

Dead Cat Treasure
There once was someone who asked Ch'an master Ts'ao Shan, "What is the most expensive thing in the world?"
"The head of a dead cat," was the answer.
"Why?"
"Because nobody gives it a price."
Commentary: By using the image of a dead can, Ts'ao Shan tried the destor the common virtues of the ordinary mind. On the other hand, [etc.]

That might be memorable or striking -- but I didn't find it easy to understand when I first read it.
There appears to be some explanation of it here (but beware that people say that explaining a koan will spoil its effect on the reader). This explanation seems to criticise the master:

In his book Pointing at the Moon , Alexander Holstein offers an explanation to the  above mentioned answer of Zen master, as being his attempt to teach his disciple to “destroy the common values of ordinary mind”.
As it is evident in this teaching, the answer to “what is valuable?” - was answered here  based on “what is not valuable” in the ordinary view of people. Zen master of this koan does not know how to answer a question on what is valuable in Buddhism, and takes what is regarded as not-valuable (in the mind of common people) as a reference to say something.
Additionally, the master’s aim to “destroy the values of ordinary mind”  - is non-Buddhist in essence. Nichiren teaches, that the ordinary mind of ordinary people (of the Nine Worlds) contains within it the Buddha mind (Buddhahood) as well.

I think that's saying that to ask "What is expensive?" or "What is valuable?" is ordinary and unenlightened thinking -- i.e. what I might think of as, "the wrong question to be asking".

There is incidentally a proverb or idiom in English (not Buddhist), "The best things in life are free."
What Does The Best Things in Life Are Free Mean?

Someone might say, “The best things in life are free” to celebrate something that he enjoys that has no monetary value [...] for example, after spending a day on a hike through nature
Someone can also use this phrase as a warning, [to] indicates that a person is forgetting about the things that truly matter in life.
The phrase the best things in life are free expresses that happiness comes from places other than money and objects.

I think that may normally be non-Buddhist if it involves delighting in and attaching to experiences, but even so.

I'm not sure whether this is inline with Oyamist's answer, but here's another Zen story:

Inch Time Foot Gem
A lord asked Takuan, a Zen Teacher, to suggest how he might pass the time. He felt his days very long attending his office and sitting stiffly to receive the homage of others.
Takuan wrote eight Chinese characters and gave them to the man:
Not twice this day
Inch time foot gem.
This day will not come again.
Each minute is worth a priceless gem.

The suttas tend to talk about what's "praiseworthy" rather than about what's valuable -- virtues like harmlessness, generosity, ethics, good will, discernment, right speech, wisdom.
Perhaps we should also consider as "valuable" that which is "instrumental" -- for example, a hammer is valuable (a useful or essential instrument), when you want to hit a nail.
Similarly the noble eightfold path is valuable; the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha); or see for example AN 11.1.


Do Buddhas have precognition? Do Buddhas have precognition? Do they know what events are going to happen before they do?

Obviously, the Buddha knows that he will not be reborn, and he knows what will generate a good rebirth, and what a bad. Are any of these destinies both assured and knowable?

According to Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita, By Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, p84, the Buddha "seems" to have claimed that he does not have "unlimited" knowledge of the future.

But I wondered if Buddhas had any certain knowledge of the future, aside from their not being reborn. Or perhaps, though the future is not fully predetermined (ibid), they can have certain knowledge of events aside from not being reborn.

Apologies for stating this, because users of the site may have noticed that I ask many similar questions, but, from wikipedia...

  Think not of the past but of the future. Constantly maintain the
  future thoughts to be good. This is what we call the Sambhogakāya.

  Just one single evil thought could destroy the good karma that has
  continued for one thousand years; and just one single good thought in
  turn could destroy the evil karma that has lived for one thousand
  years. If the future thoughts are always good, you may call this the
  Sambhogakāya. The discriminative thinking arising from the Dharmakāya
  (法身↔fashen "Truth body") is called the Nirmanakāya (化身↔huashen
  "transformation body"). The successive thoughts that forever involve
  good are thus the Sambhogakāya.

if they don't, and the Buddha-nature is identical to the body, then maye it could be said (likely not) that rebirth has no phenomena whatsoever?

Do Buddhas have precognition?

Some Buddhist may have precognition if they develop abhiññā. Precognition is not limited to Buddhism. Hindus also have meditation techniques which develop these kind of powers. Though not frequent there are cases outside Buddhism also which such phenomena has been seen. See studies in parapsychology.

Having said this only a handful of people even among Buddhist have precognition as an ability.


What to focus on in the practise of sati? Recently, I started to be aware of my actions as stated in Sathipattana sutta.
Today, I was aware about my movements when I moving a object. And I placed it in a wrong place. This happened multiple times.
Before this practise, I aware about where to put the object but not movements. But today, the opposite.
What am I doing wrong here?

The Satipatthana Sutta does not instruct to be aware of bodily movements.
Instead, the Satipatthana Sutta instructs to know what you are doing according to the Dhamma when there are bodily movements. The Satipatthana Sutta says:

Furthermore, a monks acts with situational wisdom when going out and
coming back; when looking ahead and aside; when bending and extending
the limbs; when bearing the outer robe, bowl and robes; when eating,
drinking, chewing and tasting; when urinating and defecating; when
walking, standing, sitting, sleeping, waking, speaking and keeping
silent.
Puna caparaṃ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu abhikkante paṭikkante sampajānakārī
hoti, ālokite vilokite sampajānakārī hoti, samiñjite pasārite
sampajānakārī hoti, saṅghāṭipattacīvaradhāraṇe sampajānakārī hoti,
asite pīte khāyite sāyite sampajānakārī hoti, uccārapassāvakamme
sampajānakārī hoti, gate ṭhite nisinne sutte jāgarite bhāsite
tuṇhībhāve sampajānakārī hoti.
MN 10

For example, if you are perfectly aware of your bodily movements during the act of keeping silence and preparing a rifle to murder another person, this is not the practise of situational wisdom (sampajāna) because the bodily movements and actions are contrary to the path of Dhamma.
Again, if you are perfectly aware of your bodily movements during the act of taking drugs, engaging in sexual misconduct or maintaining the perfect quiet of a burglar robbing a rich man's house at night, this is not the practise of situational wisdom (sampajāna) because the bodily movements and actions are contrary to the path of Dhamma.
What the Satipatthana Sutta is instructing is meditating upon the body to ensure the body is engaged in wholesome dhammic bodily actions.


What's the karmic cause for shyness? What did we do in our previous lives to become a shy person in this life?

There are different types of shynesses.

shyness towards doing evil: This is a result of understanding that evil deeds are undignified and demeaning. It's an aspect of wisdom.
stage shyness or shyness to talk to people: This is a result of inferiority complex. It's caused by ignorance and aversion.


Does Buddhism have a concept of blasphemy? Considering this definition of blasphemy

  the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a
  God, to religious or holy persons or things, or toward something
  considered sacred or inviolable

Does Buddhism have this kind of concept of blasphemy in the canonical texts and associated commentaries. I appreciate that there are now cultural sensitivities in certain countries around Buddhism and Buddhist iconography but I'm interested in references from the texts about this rather than modern interpretations.

There are a few sources that suggest the importance of reverence for holy persons. It seems, however, that in the Buddhist context the sense of 'inviolability' usually attached to the idea of blasphemy in Western culture is not present in the same way. That is, all of the passages explicitly link the action to a negative result, either in future existences or, as in the final example, in the here and now; it is the fact that they cause suffering for oneself which makes them wrong.

'Reviling the Noble Ones' is part of a list of actions that are associated with rebirth in lower realms--i.e., animal, hungry ghost, and hell realms. The opposite, not reviling the Noble Ones, is listed as one of the elements associated with favorable results:

  'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech &
  mind, who reviled noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions
  under the influence of wrong views — with the break-up of the body,
  after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad
  destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings — who were
  endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who did not revile
  noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the
  influence of right views — with the break-up of the body, after death,
  have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.'

A few texts where this can be found are the Devaduta Sutta, the Potaliya Sutta (from which the above passage is taken), and the Sekha-patipada Sutta

There are also some texts that discuss the results of not being respectful:

  "Here, student, some woman or man is obdurate and haughty; he does not
  pay homage to whom he should pay homage, or rise up for whom he should
  rise up, or give a seat to whom he should give a seat, or make way for
  whom he should make way, or worship him who should be worshipped, or
  respect him who should be respected, or revere him who should be
  revered, or honor him who should be honored. Due to having performed
  and completed such kammas, on the dissolution of the body, after
  death, he reappears in a state of deprivation... If instead he comes
  to the human state, he is low-born wherever he is reborn. This is the
  way that leads to low birth, that is to say, to be obdurate and
  haughty, not to pay homage to whom he should pay homage, nor rise up
  for..., nor give a seat to..., nor make way for..., nor worship...,
  nor respect..., nor revere..., nor honor him who should be honored. -- from the Cula-dammavibhanga Sutta

Further, according to the Garava Sutta, even a Buddha would suffer because of not having appropriate reverence:

  I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly
  Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara
  River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree. Then, while he was
  alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness:
  "One suffers if dwelling without reverence or deference. Now on what
  brahman or contemplative can I dwell in dependence, honoring and
  respecting him?" (Note: According to the text, the Buddha determines that there is no one more worthy/accomplished than he and so resolves upon revering the Dhamma.)

I hope this helps somewhat.


Looking for a teacher in Australia If you live in Australia and can be my teacher please get in touch. I feel I'm at a stage where I need one. Or perhaps you can recommend someone for me?

If you're in Western Australia, and interested in Theravada, the best teacher for you would be Ajahn Brahm. You can find videos of his talks on the Youtube channel of the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA) and also here. I don't reside in Australia, but I've attended Ajahn Brahm's talks when he visited my city. The next most senior monks at BSWA after Ajahn Brahm seem to be Ajahn Appichato and Ajahn Brahmali who may also be helpful.

Although I am not familiar with him, if you stay in Victoria, Ajahn Kalyano of the Buddha Bodhivana Monastery can be your teacher. Here's a Youtube video of one of his talks.

In New South Wales, there's the Bodhisaddha Forest Monastery (although I do not know who are the teachers there) and Wat Buddha Dhamma (whose abbot seems to be Ajahn Khemavaro). Perhaps, Ajahn Khemavaro can be your teacher. Here's a Youtube video of his talk. Here's another talk from him.

The teachers and monasteries above are all from the Thai Forest Tradition, of the lineage of Ajahn Chah. There may be other monasteries from this tradition in other parts of Australia.


Is equanimity more sublime that an excellent act? What might be more or real "cool"?

For example (in practice), seeing a spelling error or a typo:

Would the one "not touched", ignoring the error (even he would have the possibility, skill and means) be regarded as higher?
Or the one taking on a correction (even if not having best possibilities, skills and handicapped ways, nevertheless by skillful means)?

In summary, is equanimity more sublime that an excellent/skillful and beneficial act?

Side question: if beneficial help is more sublime, to what extend would a seemingly beneficial help be actually unskillful, lower than equanimity?

[Note: This is a gift of Dhamma, not meant for commercial purpose or other kinds of low wordily gains by means of trade and exchange]

'Equanimity' is the last of the four brahmavihara (metta, karuna, mudita & upekkha) & is practised together with the other brahmavihara. For example, if there is good-will (metta) & the wish to help (karuna) but no possibility to help then equanimity (upekkha) is practised.

Therefore, in Buddhism, there is no such thing as practising equanimity as an alternative to performing a beneficial act. Equanimity is only practised when a beneficial action cannot be performed due to another person not capable or not willing to change or benefit.

For example, AN 4.100 says speaking praise &/or blame in the right situation is more advanced & exalted than equanimity. However, as said, the situation must be the right appropriate situation. For example, preaching & proselytizing dhamma when not asked & to people who don't want to listen is not a "right situation" to perform unwanted "beneficial acts". AN 9.5 says Dhamma, as a gift of benevolence, is only taught to those who wish for it and who listen attentively.


How to achieve consciousness in nirvana? If achieving “nirvana” means that we will be liberated from the illusion of consciousness, how then will we know (be conscious of) our achieving this “nirvana”? How can we be “conscious” of this, if “consciousness” will no longer exist?

At the point of Nirvana consciousness ceases momentarily and starts again when you come out of the Phala Samapatti. At this point you see the the collapse and reforming of the links of Conditional Relations / Dependent Origination.

how then will we know (be conscious of) our achieving this “nirvana”?

You have seen the cessation of the 5 aggregates and start of it through full experiential knowledge of seeing the working of cause and effect.

How can we be “conscious” of this, if “consciousness” will no longer exist?

You need not be conscious about Nirvana but you insight into cause and effect will make a paradigm shift in your outlook about the 5 aggregates.
Also see: How does stream entry occur?
Also following quote might be of interest. This is slightly explained in more detail during the 20 day course.

What do you think is the ultimate goal of Vipassana?
SNG - The ultimate aim is to clean the mind. Nirvana is beyond mind and matter. It can come to you anytime depending on how pure you are. In that state, all your senses stop functioning. It could be for a second, a minute, or longer, but for that brief period, you are beyond all sensation, all thought.
-S N Goenka, from interview published in the 'life positive' magazine.


Slander and Avici Hell? I read about how instead of believing if slander is done then that person will goto Avicii Hell. I don’t see this discussed much when researching Buddhism, it seems mainly mentioned by Nichiren?

Does anyone have more information about what this means? What is everyone’s thoughts on this? Why isn’t there more information on something so big?

For bikkhus, You can look at the vinaya, Monks’ Pācittiya 3,
https://suttacentral.net/pli-tv-pvr1.2/en/horner-brahmali

the buddha says that you go to hell when you slander the buddha or the noble ones, like here https://suttacentral.net/sn6.9/en/sujato

https://suttacentral.net/t211.30/en/beal

but for slander of a puthujjana by another puthujjana, that's seems to be the usual harsh speech, so no explicit direct destination.


Odd Experience in Meditation I feel that when I sit down to meditate, when I am completely still and just sitting, my mind tends to be not very pliable. It's like I cannot do anything, just be conscious without the ability to direct my attention. However, when I am on a bus, or walking, my attention is easily directed; it is only when I am in sitting posture that something seems to freeze my mind and attention, or make it less pliable. In sum, it feels, sitting, that I cannot do anything. Could this be something with the energetic body? Something with the inner channels? I dunno.

Also, this tendency towards lack of pliancy makes my static meditations very difficult. Should I just sit consistently in this non-pliant state and just wait it out?

Thanks for any feedback.

Look where you mind goes. If it jumps to a pain know you attention is on the pain. If it is a thought know that it is with the thought. If your attention is on a ___ just know that your attention is with ____.

With each object your mind jumps to there is a sensation attached. If it a pain it is unpleasant. If it is sweet memory it is pleasant. If it is a birds chirping it can be neutral. What ever that grabs your attention just know the sensation.

In all these cases for each sound you experience though through your physical senses there is a metal reaction also which is also either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. You should maintain equanimity so you do not get the mental reaction. In addition try to see in impermanence of each experience. All experience has a start, middle and and end. Also if you diver the sensation into smaller areas and examine them, large sensation is made up of smaller sensations clusters which shorter lived than the affected area. You can continue this division seeing more subtler and subtler clusters until you come to a level it is indivisible and changes seem unimaginably rapid. In addition you will see because of stimuli at the sense faculty only the some sensation started and when that simply subsides the stimuli the sensation disappears. You are not in control of the stimuli nor the pleasant experiences which you might want to prolong or unpleasant which you might want to shorten or get rid of.

Also developing the Jhana factors of:

bringing the mind to the object
sustaining the mind on the object

may help you develop more focus.

Also your meditation is not entirely in your control, i.e. it is non self, hence having expectation will be counter productive. Also getting attached to these expectation can be more counterproductive and it will cause unsatisfactoriness with the meditation. So practice the meditation techniques to the best of your ability without expectation or attachment to the expectation.


What effect does social media, mobile gaming and watching movies have on my meditation practice? I use FB and Instagram quite a lot. I also play a mobile game called Genshin Impact which is an RPG-game where one can level up ones heroes and gain new abilities and weapons to defeat monsters and other creatures. It's a huge open-world game with tons of stuff to do.
The movies I watch are usually horror movies such as Hereditary, Midsommar, The Conjuring, Sinister or science fiction movies such as Arrival, Interstellar, Moon etc.
Will I be better served without these activities?
What effect will the absence of those activities have on my meditation practice?

If you are regularly practising meditation, you should know for yourself how various activities affect your meditation.
For example, if desires & thoughts about various activities pop into your mind regularly when meditating then obviously these activities are hindering the development of meditative concentration.
In summary, if the quality of your social media, mobile gaming and watching movies is related to lust, violence & restlessness then they will inevitably hinder concentration meditation.
But if social media & movies are of a more wholesome quality then they will not hinder meditation.
Note: I am too old to know what mobile gaming is.


Upostha Sila in normal daily life I'm thinking of taking the upostha sila for 7 days targeting for a Pooja. And I am employed in a software engineering company so I'll be working for 5 days out of 7.

Can you give me any advices on how to take the 8 preceps and how to protect them avoiding obstacles that could harm them during these working days? Some Sutta references are appreciated as well (if any)

-Metta

You might not be able to do this the traditional way.

But Sila is a promise to abstain. The promise can be to the Triple Gem of another person. Best is to make the promise to the Triple Gem.

Throughout the day recall the promise and see if you have broken it. If so take it again. If not make a determination to keep the posimie recollecting which precepts you have taken.

The skillful karma from the Sila is in the initial taking, recollection and retaking as well as the determination. So do the recollection retaking often with strong determination.

Also Sila has many level. Initially this can be like a rite or ritual. At an intermediate level it is based on Brahmavihara as breaking the precepts will harm or make other or oneself unhappy can cause negative karma for oneself, and at a higher level it is at level of sensation. The sensation is what gives arise to the unwholesome roots. So abstain from action which are unwholesome triggered by the respective sensation. More on this see: Kīta,giri Sutta.


Is there an established monastic order, with the beleifs and practices same as the Goenka school of meditation? Let me clarify,what I want to know is

(a) 'An established monastic order' - This the Goenka school is not.

(b) With principles and beleifs and aims as close to the Goenka school as possible?

(a) 'An established monastic order' - This the Goenka school is not.

There is no Goenka School. Generally this is referred as the linage of Saya Gyi U Ba Khin and Ledi Sayadaw U Ñanadhaja. Also it is influenced by Webu Sayadaw

Ledi Sayadaw U Ñanadhaja and Webu Sayadaw are Buddhist monks. Also there many teachers who are Buddhist Monks who are particle according to S. N. Goenka.

  (b) With principles and beliefs and aims as close to the Goenka school as possible?

Many of the references in the disclosure are meticulously referenced from the Tipitaka. So any monastic order which practices which is close to the Tipitaka would share the same beliefs.


How many hours of Meditation in single sitting during Vipassana? I was wondering its not much difficult to sit for one hour in meditation, but i want to know in Vipassana 10 days course, How long one will have to meditate, i mean do they do split meditation of 1 hour several times a day or 3-4 hours of continuous meditation ?

Each session is about 1 hour in courses organised in groups. E.g.

4:00 am             Morning wake-up bell
4:30-6:30 am        Meditate in the hall or in your room
6:30-8:00 am        Breakfast break
8:00-9:00 am        Group meditation in the hall
9:00-11:00 am       Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions
11:00-12:00 noon    Lunch break
12noon-1:00 pm      Rest and interviews with the teacher
1:00-2:30 pm        Meditate in the hall or in your room
2:30-3:30 pm        Group meditation in the hall
3:30-5:00 pm        Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions
5:00-6:00 pm        Tea break
6:00-7:00 pm        Group meditation in the hall
7:00-8:15 pm        Teacher's Discourse in the hall
8:15-9:00 pm        Group meditation in the hall
9:00-9:30 pm        Question time in the hall
9:30 pm             Retire to your own room--Lights out

Source: https://www.dhamma.org/en/about/code

4:00 am          Wake up
4:30             Meditation in hall
5:30             Morning discourse
6:30 - 8:00      Breakfast and rest
8:00 - 9:00      Group meditation in hall (for all)
9:30             Individual instruction (for all)
11:00 - 1:00 pm  Lunch and rest
1:00 - 1:45      Meditation
2:00 - 3:00      Group meditation in hall (for all)
3:30 - 5:00      Meditation, and interviews for new students
5:00 - 6:00      Tea and rest
6:00             Evening discourse
7:30 - 8:30      Group meditation in hall (for all)
9:00             Retire

Source: http://www.internationalmeditationcentre.org/uk/guidelines.html

MORNING SESSION

03.30 – 04.00 a.m.                 –         Wake-up / Dress-up

04.00 – 05.00 a.m.                 –         Walking Meditation

05.00 – 06.30 a.m.                 –         Sitting Meditation

06.30 – 08.15 a.m.                 –         Breakfast dana, cleaning common areas, toilets and dorms etc.

08.15 – 09.15 a.m.                 –         Sitting Meditation

09.15 – 10.15 a.m.                 –         Walking Meditation

10.15 – 11.15 a.m.                 –         Sitting Meditation

11.15 – 12.00 p.m.                 –         Lunch Daana

AFTERNOON SESSION

12.00 – 01.00 p.m.                 –         Walking Meditation

01.00 – 02.00 p.m.                 –         Q&A / Dhamma Discussion (Every Day)

02.00 – 03.00 p.m.                 –         Walking Meditation

03.00 – 04.00 p.m.                 –         Sitting Meditation (Except the Last Day)

04.00 – 05.00 p.m.                 –         Walking Meditation

05.00 – 06.30 p.m.                 –         Dhamma Talk (Except the Last Day)

06.30 – 07.00 p.m.                 –         Mindfullness Gilanpasa (Tea) Break

07.00 – 08.00 p.m.                 –         Walking Meditation

08.00 – 09.00 p.m.                 –         Sitting Meditation

09.00 p.m.                         –         End of Day’s Program

All the access doors to the meditation premises should be closed and the lights should be turned off by 10.00 p.m.

Source: http://www.nissarana.lk/meditate-with-us/retreat-timetable/

If you are tailoring a private course for yourself maybe you can have longer sessions.

The time tables are set so both new and old students can meditate in reasonable comfort. There is nothing to worry about the time of the session lengths as many meditators do not find this an issue.


Who said 'if you haven't started on the Buddhist path then don't start at all'? I recall a story that goes something like this

  A Buddhist monk was giving a lecture on Buddhism. At the start he said
  'Who hasn't yet started on the Buddhist path?' Half the audience
  stands. He continues 'To those people I say if you haven't started
  then do not start. Please go to the entrance and your entrance fee
  will be refunded'. Half the audience then leaves. He says 'to those of
  you who are left who have started on the path I say you must continue.
  Do not stop.'

This is paraphrased but that's the essence of it. Has anyone heard of this and get the reference, the exact story and who said it. Is it true at all?

Many Thanks as always

The book Meditation for Everyone: a 12 Step Guide attributes it -- without any certainty -- to the Dalai Lama.

That's all I found, via a quick Google search.

I guess the attribution is plausible, compare it with this quote for example, and so on.

But "plausible" doesn't mean "true", and that may be only a paraphrase.


What kind of meat Guan yin believer are allowed to eat? My girlfriend is from a Thai / Chinese familly.
They are buddist and they follow the Guan Yin precepts.

I know they can't eat beef, but this is not the only meat they refuses to eat.

They basicly eat only chicken and pork.

However her mother tried to eat some sheep meat just by curiosity.

I would like to know what kind of meat are you allowed to eat when you follow the Guan Yin precepts and which one are strictly prohibited.

I have only heard that laymen followers of Guan Yin would pursue to not eat the five pungent vegetable such as Onions, Garlic, Scallions, Chives and Leeks. On the meat side, I have only heard that it is just Beef.


Is 'Just Sitting' the same as zazen? In the Triratna Buddhist Community we do a practice that we call Just Sitting. It's described as

  Just Sitting is a space of non-action in which anything can emerge.
  Often the fruit of the previous practice only emerges when you stop
  ‘doing’ it. And Just Sitting is the non-doing space in which that may
  (or may not) happen. Just Sitting also allows assimilation of what has
  just been done, and provides the necessary counterpoise to activity
  and effort. Just Sitting is a matter of simply ‘being’ with whatever
  happens in awareness, without attaching to it or rejecting it.

Link to quote is here.

I've always wondered if this is something that we've just kind of invented or adapted or is it common to other Buddhist traditions? Is it the same as zazen practice perhaps?

The term Zazen (Chinese 坐禪, zuò chán) just means seated meditation. It doesn't itself specify what kind of meditation is being practiced.

Just Sitting refers to Shikantaza, which is the type of meditation taught by Dōgen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Japanese Zen. He famously explained it in the Fukanzazengi saying :

  Once you have adjusted your posture, take a breath and exhale fully,
  rock your body right and left, and settle into steady, immovable
  sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking-what kind of thinking is
  that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen.

There are similar practices in other schools of Zen in China and Korea, but it is less prominent as Koan practice is more common.


Does accepting duality lead only to nondual skillfull qualities? This question can seem contradictory but form my understanding ,duality is inherent in reality and accepting reality in all its dualities leads to more conscious actions. But if the person as a result acquires ONLY positive qualities then isn't this dual and not in accord with nature?

Buddhism lays emphasis that qualities like ,jealosy ,hate,pride and anger are unskillful and qualities like love,peace,contenmtent and compassion are. Don't we kill animals and plants to eat ,don't we fight in wars in self defense, these are negative but right actions to take and underlie negative qualities of brutality .

Can we cry consciously can we kill consciously ?

This question is a wonderful one. What should be defined and addressed in order to clear up your confusion is this:

What defines a “skillful” quality?

In classical Buddhism, something is skillful if it leads you closer to enlightenment. But why are experiences such as jealousy, pride, hate, and anger unskillful? All of these emotions enhance and reinforce a belief in duality. When you are jealous, you (someone separate) desire something they (someone separate) wants. Every unskillful experience arises because of a belief in separateness. It is only through observing first hand that the belief in duality is an illusion that we can be truly free.

It seems from your question, you believe that actions can be positive or negative. It is important to remember positive and negative are born from desire. No action or object is inherently “good” or “bad”. What makes something positive or negative is our own desires and orientation towards those experiences. Here are two examples to illustrate this.

The sky is blue. Most would say the sky being blue is neutral. If I wished more than anything in the world the sky was always orange, I would suffer most of the time, but find some peace during sunsets. If I desired the sky to be blue, it would bring me much joy most of the time, but I would suffer during sunsets.

All things are inherently neutral. Killing an animal for food is only a negative action if you don’t want to kill animals. If you are a vegan, you suffer while doing it. If you are a hunter, it brings you joy while doing it.

  Can we cry consciously can we kill consciously ?

This is exactly what enlightenment is. Right now, because you believe yourself to be a separate entity observing the world, you see many things that are not. Killing and crying are illusions. To someone who has not yet observed Nirvana, killing and crying are interpreted as painful actions that cause suffering. But when you see beyond the illusion, you will find that very same suffering doesn’t arise from killing and crying, but from the belief that there is someone present that is being harmed. Once you experience Nirvana first hand, it becomes clear that the only thing here is Nirvana. There is no you. There is no I. There is no killing. There is no crying. There is only peace.

I hope these words have been helpful to you on your path. I pray for nothing more than your liberation this lifetime.


Is "the mind is without feature or surface, limitless, ..." in the Pali canon? in John Haspel's book, 'Becoming Buddha', the following quote is attributed to MN 11:

“Magandiya, when you hear the true Dhamma, ... When released from
clinging the mind is without feature or surface, limitless, outside of
time and space, freed from the six-sense base.”

Here's a larger quote:

While meditating with tranquility, allow insight to arise and have a direct experience of the Buddha’s teachings leading to abandoning clinging and the cessation of suffering. Experience awakening through unbinding the Five Clinging-Aggregates.

“Magandiya, when you hear the true Dhamma, you will practice the Dhamma correctly. When you practice the Dhamma correctly, you will know & see for yourself: ‘This is where confusion and suffering ceases without trace. With the cessation of my clinging comes the cessation of becoming. With the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. With the cessation of birth then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress.” (Majjhima Nikaya 11)

The Buddha describes a mind free of clinging and freed of association to the five clinging aggregates:

“released from clinging the mind is without feature or surface, limitless, outside of time and space, freed from the six-sense base.” (Majjhima Nikaya 11)

(This text was copied from Becoming-Buddha.com. If you found this helpful, please visit our website for more Dhamma articles. All content is copyright 2017 by John Haspel and is distributed under a Creative Commons 4.0 license. Here is a link to the full article: The Five Clinging Aggregates | Becoming Buddha)

However I don't see this phrase, that verse about the nature of the mind, in translations of MN 11.
Because the quote mentions Magandiya, I looked in MN 75 as well, but don't see it there either.
Is that verse anywhere to be found in the Pali Canon?
Thanks for your much appreciated help.

There's a similar phrase (not an exact match) in DN 11:

  This is how the question should be asked:
  Evañca kho eso, bhikkhu, pañho pucchitabbo:

  85.11 “Where do water and earth,
  ‘Kattha āpo ca pathavī,

  85.12 fire and air find no footing;
  tejo vāyo na gādhati;

  85.13 where do long and short,
  Kattha dīghañca rassañca,

  85.14 fine and coarse, beautiful and ugly;
  aṇuṃ thūlaṃ subhāsubhaṃ;

  85.15 where do name and form
  Kattha nāmañca rūpañca,

  85.16 cease with nothing left over?”
  asesaṃ uparujjhatī’ti.

  85.17 And the answer to that is:
  Tatra veyyākaraṇaṃ bhavati:

  85.18 “Consciousness that’s invisible,
  ‘Viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ,

  85.19 infinite, radiant all round.
  anantaṃ sabbatopabhaṃ;

Maybe that it's it: if MN 11 was mistaken for DN 11; but it's not an exact match.

Even so I think that may be the Pali phrase you're looking for --

  Viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ, anantaṃ sabbatopabhaṃ

For example this (The Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path) translates these words as:

  Nirvana is a realm where corporeality and all the pairs of opposites - long and short, great and small, pure and impure - disappears and the mind is signless (anidassanam), boundless (anantam) and all-radiant (sabbato pabhamn). It is unchanging state (nibbanam accutam) of purity (suddhi), freedom (vimitti)  and  supreme happiness  (nibbanam paramam sukham).

... although that doesn't say which sutta[s] these words come from.

Another place that phrase appears is in MN 49 (but also not an exact match, i.e. "freed from the six-sense base" isn't part of the phrase there).


Heart Sūtra root in Pali Canon? It's hard not to think of the Heart Sūtra when reading the Kassaka Sutta (Saŋyutta Nikāya 4:19), part of which runs as below (Thanissaro Bhikkhu's translation, emphasis added).

Is there any scholarship or commentary on a connection between these two texts, one from the Pali Canon and the other a major Mahayana scripture?

Googling -- kassaka heart sutra -- turns up two references -- here and here -- but I'd say those are more contemporary popular literature than scholarship or traditional commentary.

  Then Mara the Evil One, taking on the form of a farmer with a large
  plowshare over his shoulder, carrying a long goad stick — his hair
  disheveled, his clothes made of coarse hemp, his feet splattered with
  mud — went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said, "Hey,
  contemplative. Have you seen my oxen?"

  "And what are your oxen, Evil One?"

  "Mine alone is the eye, contemplative. Mine are forms, mine is the
  sphere of consciousness and contact at the eye. Where can you go to
  escape me? Mine alone is the ear... the nose... the tongue... the
  body... Mine alone is the intellect, contemplative. Mine are ideas,
  mine is the sphere of consciousness and contact at the intellect.
  Where can you go to escape me?"

  "Yours alone is the eye, Evil One. Yours are forms, yours is the
  sphere of consciousness of contact at the eye. Where no eye exists, no
  forms exist, no sphere of consciousness and contact at the eye exists:
  there, Evil One, you cannot go. Yours alone is the ear... the nose...
  the tongue... the body... Yours alone is the intellect, Evil One.
  Yours are ideas, yours is the sphere of consciousness and contact at
  the intellect. Where no intellect exists, no ideas exist, no sphere of
  consciousness of contact at the intellect exists: there, Evil One, you
  cannot go."

Here is a lovely chanting of the relevant section of the Heart Sūtra by Allen Ginsburg, in his own translation.

Not quite on the topic of Kassaka Sutta, but regarding Heart Sutra roots in Pali Canon, one line of thinking traditionally connects the prajna-paramita genesis with Shrenika the Wanderer, also known as Vacchagotta of Pali Canon. Here I will post a couple of relevant quotes:

(from Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra)

  ...
  Also, not of body, nor feelings, nor thoughts, nor volitions,
  Nor of consciousness, position even a little do not bother him.
  Thus, to all dharmas not getting stuck, not getting caught into traps of abstractions (aniketacari)
  Not clinging, he attains awakening of the Lucky Ones.

  As venerable Shrenika the wandering beggar,
  Realization acquired, without precisely grasping the skandhas,
  Just so bodhisattva, intuits real nature of things (dharmas).
  And does not seek cessation (nirvritti) but abides in wisdom.

(from Conze's notes on Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra)

  Shrenika Vatsagotra was a “Wanderer,” i.e. a non-Buddhist ascetic, whose conversations with the Buddha form one section of the Samyuktägama of the Sarvastivadins. On one occasion (SA 105, MN 72, SN 44.8) Shrenika raised the question of the “true self,” which he identified with the Tathagata. The Buddha told him that the Tathagata could not be found in the skandhas, outside the skandhas, or in the absence of the skandhas. In a supreme act of faith Shrenika was willing to accept the Tathagata in spite of the fact that he could not be related to any of the skandhas.

(from MN 72)

  "Does Master Gotama have any position at all?"
  "A 'position,' Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has done away with. What a Tathagata sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is perception… such are mental fabrications… such is consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance.' Because of this, I say, a Tathagata — with the ending, fading out, cessation, renunciation, & relinquishment of all construings, all excogitations, all I-making & mine-making & obsession with conceit — is, through lack of clinging/sustenance, released."
  ...
  "Even so, Vaccha, any physical form [Any feeling... Any perception... Any fabrication... Any consciousness] by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Freed from the classification of form [feeling, perception, fabrication, consciousness], Vaccha, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea.

Some thoughts and bibliography on Shrenika can be found in THE BRAHMACĀRIN ŚREṆIKA: EARLY SŪTRA SOURCES OF THE PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ work by M.B. Orsborn (釋慧峰) here (I hope the link works).

Another work connecting this topic (of skahdhas/conceit/I-making/anatta/non-abiding) with the roots of Prajna-Paramita and Shunyata in early texts, is "The Concept of Emptiness in Pali Literature" by Medawachchiye Dhammajothi Thero. You can download it here (scroll down for the Download button). Here is what it says in conclusion:

  It has been shown that "Anatta" as used in early Suttas, did not merely mean the absence of an individual soul, but meant also the absence of any entity in both compounded (Samkhata/Samskrta) elements as well as in uncompounded (Asamskhata, Asamskrta) elements, that is Nibbana. Thus, it has been clearly shown that Anatta means "emptiness" of everything, including Nibbana (Nirnvana).
  ...
  A chapter was denoted to the study of various meditational practices recommended in early Buddhism, that lead to the realization of Sunna. Special focus was laid on two suttas namely Cula-Sunnata and Maha-Sunnata, both of the Majjhimanikaya. These while showing that the Buddha emphasized internalization of the understanding of the voidness of everything describes also how this could be done. This chapter will be of interest to those who wish to understand how meditative practice could be utilized to personally experience the voidness of all phenomena.

(from Cula-Sunnata Sutta)

  "Further, Ananda, the monk — not attending to the perception of the dimension of nothingness, not attending to the perception of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception — attends to the singleness based on the theme-less concentration of awareness.

(from SA 926, which explains Shrenika's meditation)

  He meditates not leaning on Earth, Water, Fire, Air, the place of
  Infinity of Space, the place of the Infinity of Consciousness, the
  place of Nothingness, the place of Neither-Perception-nor-non-Perception;
  he meditates not leaning on this world, the world hereafter, the sun or moon, on whatever is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, obtained, sought after, followed
  after by mind, without leaning on them he meditates, because he has un-done the notion of Earth, Water... etc. -- he meditates not leaning on anything at all (na sarvam sarvam iti nisritya dhyayati).

(from Cula-Sunnata Sutta)

  "He discerns that '[Even] This theme-less concentration of awareness is fabricated & mentally fashioned.' And he discerns that 'Whatever is fabricated & mentally fashioned is inconstant & subject to cessation.' For him — thus knowing, thus seeing — the mind is released from the effluent of sensuality, the effluent of becoming, the effluent of ignorance. With release, there is the knowledge, 'Released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'

(from Maha-nidana Sutta)

  This is the extent to which there is birth, aging, death, passing away, and re-arising. This is the extent to which there are means of designation, expression, and delineation. This is the extent to which the sphere of discernment extends, the extent to which the cycle revolves for the manifesting of this world — i.e., name-and-form together with consciousness.
  ...
  Having directly known the extent of designation and the extent of the objects of designation, the extent of expression and the extent of the objects of expression, the extent of description and the extent of the objects of description, the extent of discernment and the extent of the objects of discernment, the extent to which the cycle revolves: Having directly known that, the monk is released.


What is the meaning of *suffering*? What is the meaning of the word suffering or (pali) dukkha when it is referred to in topics around Dhamma and Vinaya or Buddhism?

Dukkha is the characteristic of all human experiences (or what is felt) either pleasant, painful or neutral. Pain is Dukkha in it's own right. Parting with pleasantness is Dukkha. Also any conditioned existance is Dukkha even in the neutral experiences as becoming is present which has inherent suffering like birth, aging, painful life experiences and death .


The word Dhammanusati. I received an email invite from a local Buddhist group that's holding a "Dhammanusati practice". In part it stated "Of the meditation practices, one of the most important practices is called Dhammanusati, the Contemplation of the Dharma". It was described as an ancient form of deep listening.

Dhammanusati looked to me like a typical Pali word and I thought I'd have no problem googling it and getting more information. But the only things that came up were a few blogs and videos and no results at all on the sites I usually rely on.

Is this a Pali word? Is it more commonly known by a different name? From the email I have a pretty good idea of what the practice involves. It's actually the word itself that is curious to me due to the lack of information online about it. Thanks for any information. :)

There's a word Anussati

Anussati
Anussati (f.) [Sk. anusmṛti, fr. anu + smṛ, cp. sati] remembrance, recollection, thinking of, mindfulness. A late list of subjects to be kept in mind comprises six anussati -- ṭṭhānāni, viz. Buddha˚, Dhamma˚, Sangha˚, sīla˚, cāga˚, devatā˚, i. e. proper attention to the Buddha, the Doctrines, the Church, to morality, charity, the gods. Thus at D iii.250, 280 (cp. A i.211); A iii.284, 312 sq., 452; v.329 sq.; Ps i.28. Expanded to 10 subjects (the above plus ānāpāna -- sati, maraṇa -- sati, kāyagatā -- sati, upasamânussati) at A i.30, 42 (cp. Lal. Vist 34). For other references see D i.81; S v.67 = It 107 (anussaraṇa at latter pass.); A iii.284, 325, 452. Ps i.48, 95, 186; Pug 25, 60; Dhs 14, 23, 1350 (anussati here to be corr. to asati, see Dhs. trsl. 351); Sdhp. 225, 231, 482. See also anuttariya (anussat -- ânuttariya)


Non Buddhist can say Hello to Buddha or Monk? I understand this hand sign is to respect and say hello to Buddha or greeting to monks.
Ques 1: Where is this written in Sutta exactly what the hand sign means?
Ques 2: Can non Buddhist bow to Buddha when they visit temple? Most articles says no.
If no, then what other hand sign more standard or more acceptable widely to greet Buddha or Monk from Buddhism perspective?
Post note: Buddha is not for Worship

Then the monks, delighting in & approving of the Blessed One's words, rose from their seats and — bowing down to the Blessed One and circumambulating him, keeping him to their right — went to Ven. Sariputta. On arrival, they exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, they sat to one side.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.002.than.html
Perhaps it was a very old tradition to respect the elders and worthy people or even people with power.


How does Enlightenment feel like Finally everyone who meditate comes to a single point "Enlightenment". So anybody have any idea about how the enlightenment feels like. How it helps a man. How their mind works and reacts to the situations.

How important is enlightenment to a man. Do we need to meditate more hours to gain enlightenment or Meditate effectively to get enlightened.

Here is you can get a clue how it like the enlightenment. Reading this sutta superficially will not guarantee  the total realization of Nirvana. But surely get clue.

The heart sutta;

Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence --
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness --
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases.

(So anybody have any idea about how the enlightment feels like)The question is how you imagine the feeling of this kind. you have to think,meditate and find the wisdom to realization. Its like explain color to born blind. Also you get full enlightment after parinibbana or death of person who attained Nirvana through realization.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.

Note: After reading above phrase you have to think deeply what is this "condition or state" , can anybody "feel" the above condition, and most important thing is we can assure there is no suffering or pleasure ultimately to feel and so on.......

There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:

Gaté,
gaté,
paragaté,
parasamgaté.
Bodhi!
Svaha!
Which means...
Gone,
gone,
gone over,
gone fully over.
Awakened!
So be it!
* Emptiness is the usual translation for the Buddhist term Sunyata (or Shunyata).  It refers to the fact that no thing -- including human existence -- has ultimate substantiality, which in turn means that no thing is permanent and no thing is totally independent of everything else.  In other words, everything in this world is interconnected and in constant flux.  A deep appreciation of this idea of emptiness thus saves us from the suffering caused by our egos, our attachments, and our resistance to change and loss.


Reconciliation of Past Sins If a person has murdered someone: ie. A fellow human being (eg. By directly attacking someone; or by indirect attack- by speech/action ; or by other means such as abortion) , what methods are available for such a person for personal reconciliation? It is inevitable that the Law of Karma is in direct effect, but how can such a person attain peace of mind and repay for his sins truly? Many patients I meet in surgery wards have serious past histories of attacking/assaulting others and murder is inevitable sometimes. Please offer your advice. It will greatly help me when consoling such persons in the future.
Thank You!

Buddhism doesn't have the concept of sin. It's more of a concept of unskillful or unwholesome action (Akusala Kamma). There is no God to please. There is no "thing" that needs to be done to gain approval. What there is, is bad karma and that the person will experience that karma and the worsening spiral of those problems until they let go of the attachment that caused them to enter that karmic state in the first place.

In my humble view, the best way to help someone caught in a difficult situation is to talk through the boundaries of the box they find themselves in. It's not the killing that's the problem. It's the "why" they killed that's the problem. Until the seed is removed, the plant can grow back again and again.

They are the ones who have to break out of the box, but most don't realize they're in the box to begin with. Listening, compassion, time: Almost always the best medicine for tough karma.


Do we "deserve" our bad fortune? If I recall correctly, the term karma is used to explain the concept of dependent origination and how one thing leads to another, consequently creating every event that happens in our lives. It is also emphasized in Buddhism that we should conduct wholesome deeds to obtain good karma, which will lead to good things as a result.

However, when we face unfortunate events like natural disasters and terrorist attacks, can karma explain the causes of these events and why seemingly innocent people suffer because of it? Furthermore, if we accept the notion that karma is behind everything in our lives, is that equivalent to saying those who die in these unfortunate events DESERVE it?

Much appreciated.

In the Sivaka Sutta (quoted below), the Buddha stated that some events that happen to us are a result of karma. But other things are caused by other causes including bile disorders, phlegm disorders, wind disorders, change of climate, careless behaviour, assault etc. The belief that all that happens to you is due to past karma is contradictory to Buddhism.

Elsewhere in the suttas, we find the Jain belief that in order to become liberated, one has to do penance to "burn" accumulated bad karma. This is contradictory to Buddhism.

Another belief that is contradictory to Buddhism is that karma is a system of universal justice, whose purpose is to mete out punishment on the wicked and reward the good.

In Buddhism, karma is the expression of our volition. Basically, by the expression of our thoughts, words and deeds, we try to fulfill our craving towards sensual things (of the six senses including the intellect), and to fulfill our craving towards becoming something. This is our response to greed.

However, if we do not receive what we crave after, or if what we are enjoying is suddenly taken from us, we may become angry or unhappy. In this case, we may express our thoughts, words and deeds as a reaction to our aversion.

In general, how we think, talk and act, would somehow influence our future. It's not hard to see how that works. If we act virtuously, the world responds to us positively and vice versa. It's not like if I donate exactly 10 dollars, in future, somebody will give me exactly 10 dollars in return (or the equivalent future value). Rather, it's like if I am a kind person who likes to help people, this will attract other kind and helpful people to trust me and help me too. And similarly for bad karma.

If you intentionally knock your head on the wall, you will feel pain. That's karma too.

If a change in climate causes you to catch a cold, that's not karma. That's just caused by a change in climate.

The result of karma and the result of other causes, based on the Sivaka Sutta, seem to be quite "natural" and in accordance with our experience of the world.

Of course, the "supernatural" aspect of the result of karma is rebirth. But we should not care too much about how we were born into our present life. That's not skillful or useful. What is skillful or useful is to use our volition to minimize suffering and increase happiness in future.

Also, it's useful to think of rebirth not as the rebirth of a person, but rather, as the continuation of suffering that can be ended only by Nibbana, and not by physical death.

As written by Thanissaro Bhikkhu in "To Suffer Is an Active Verb":

  This is one of the reasons why the Buddha doesn’t have us try to go
  back into the past and ask, “What did I do to deserve an illness, a
  mental state, a situation in life?” He said that if you tried to trace
  all those things back, you’d go crazy. In fact, he said, you can’t
  trace back and find a beginning point for the ignorance that underlies
  suffering. But you can see what you’re doing to sustain it now.

The Sivaka Sutta:

  Moḷiyasīvaka:
  “Master Gotama, there are some ascetics and brahmins who hold such a
  doctrine and view as this: ‘Whatever a person experiences, whether it
  be pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, all that is
  caused by what was done in the past.’ What does Master Gotama say
  about this?”

  Buddha:
  “Some feelings, Sīvaka, arise here originating from bile disorders:
  that some feelings arise here originating from bile disorders one can
  know for oneself, and that is considered to be true in the world. Now
  when those ascetics and brahmins hold such a doctrine and view as
  this, ‘Whatever a person experiences, whether it be pleasant or
  painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, all that is caused by what
  was done in the past,’ they overshoot what one knows by oneself and
  they overshoot what is considered to be true in the world. Therefore I
  say that this is wrong on the part of those ascetics and brahmins.

  “Some feelings, Sīvaka, arise here originating from phlegm disorders …
  originating from wind disorders … originating from an imbalance of the
  three … produced by change of climate … produced by careless behaviour
  … caused by assault … produced as the result of kamma: that some
  feelings arise here produced as the result of kamma one can know for
  oneself, and that is considered to be true in the world. Now when
  those ascetics and brahmins hold such a doctrine and view as this,
  ‘Whatever a person experiences, whether it be pleasant or painful or
  neither-painful-nor-pleasant, all that is caused by what was done in
  the past,’ they overshoot what one knows by oneself and they overshoot
  what is considered to be true in the world. Therefore I say that this
  is wrong on the part of those ascetics and brahmins.”


Dependent Origination, 'here-&-now' & 11th & 12th link On this site there are some users who claim that birth & death are mental phenomena, while other people argue that it's something physical.

Contextually, the Buddha lived in a time where other sects believed in some sort of an afterlife and/or 'soul transmigration', so perhaps Buddhism borrowed these principles as well, due to social & cultural conditioning?

Today, 'Atheists' & 'secular Buddhists' read the suttas with their modern 21st century understanding, which is not open for speculative, unverifiable things.They don't put the Buddha's context into account, where these things might have been quite important.

On the other hand, the Buddha invites us to see for ourselves & to experience the teachings in the here-&-now.

Since DO is about the origination of dukkha, how do we both see & stop literal birth, death & aging? Wouldn't this be completely in conflict with the here-&-now principle mentioned above?

The aging & death part in the sutta is straightforward. To quote:

  "Now what is aging and death? Whatever aging, decrepitude, brokenness, graying, wrinkling, decline of life-force, weakening of the faculties of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called aging. Whatever deceasing, passing away, breaking up, disappearance, dying, death, completion of time, break up of the aggregates, casting off of the body, interruption in the life faculty of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called death.

In the quote above I cannot see any 'self-views' are subject to aging & death. Instead, I extrapolate from that quote that indeed something physical is happening (aging, decreptitude, casting off of the body, interruption in the life faculty).

So my question is: How do we really reconcile "Here-&-now" teachings with speculative, unverifiable theories, such as repeated rebirths, agings & deaths?

In the quote above I cannot see any 'self-views' are subject to aging
  & death.

The quote about 'aging-&-death' only includes one word in common with the definition of 'birth' ('jati'). This one common word is "beings" or "satta". A "satta" is literally defined in the suttas as a "self-view", as follows:

  'A being,' lord. 'A being,' it's said. To what extent is one said to
  be 'a being'? Any desire, passion, delight or craving for form, Radha:
  when one is caught up there, tied up there (visatta), one is said to be 'a
  being.'... Any desire, passion, delight, or craving for feeling...
  perception... fabrications... consciousness... when one is caught up
  there, tied up there, one is said to be 'a being.' SN 23.2

  visatta: adjective: strongly attached; entangled.

  Why now do you assume 'a being'? Mara, have you grasped a view? This is a heap of sheer constructions: Here no being is found.

  Just as, with an assemblage of parts, The word 'chariot' is used, So, when the aggregates are present, There's the convention 'a being.'

  It's only suffering that comes to be, Suffering that stands and falls away. Nothing but suffering comes to be, Nothing but suffering
  ceases.

  SN 5.10

This answer to the question is not 'atheist' & 'secular'. It is what the Buddha literally taught.


Eight wordly winds, tanha or upadana? In essence, the concepts of

eight worldly winds
tanha
upadana

seem to describe the same phenomena.

Is there a specific reason that they are described separately?

To me, these are three entirely different things.

Eight Worldly Winds are an allegory for a list of egoistic concerns, like being obsessed with fame, blame, etc.

Tanha (thirst) is a metaphor for craving something unattainable, in other words an inner conflict between "is" and "should".

Upadana (fuel) is a metaphor for "feeding" an unhealthy state of mind by repeatedly thinking about topics that sustain the state.

While in some situations they may occur closely together, they refer to three entirely different phenomena.


Detachment in breathing meditation I read this answer, and it made me wonder something deeply; the answer seemed to imply strenuous or volitional attention was inferior to watching the mind for breath meditation, and that merely observing was more effective. I have heard such a statement many times elsewhere, that too much 'expecting' or 'grasping' inhibits concentration.

If this is so, how does a practitioner loosen their grip on the mind? How does one observe the breath with detachment?

Hahaha! Excellent question! What if the body did the breathing for the mind?
The biorhythm attached to the breath has its own tempo, as does the heart, the viscera, etc. When you exercise, fatigue accrues when there are disharmonies in those biorhythms - you don't get tired from being at rest.
The premise is enveloping one biorhythm in another, centralising your potential constant energy output. In other words your breathing is a result of your actions, therefore taking the conscious energy input (the mind) is on the action and not the breath.
To help wrap your head around this here is a practical exercise:

Find a quiet place.
Plant your feet comfortably wide apart, parallel.
Knees and hips remain stationary.
Tighten the belly.
Hands in 'prayer' comfortably above your heart (doesn't need to be touching the chest).
Following the movement of your latissimus dorsi muscles compress one side of your spine as if you were attempting to make your shoulder and your hip meet.
Gently shift that compression to the other side, and then back and forth. This will lead to a rocking motion which imitates two accordions working in tandem.
For those who know how to open the throat doing so may result in being able to hear your breath while your diaphragm remains stationary...
If you you do not know how to open your throat, continue the exercise while you think of other people yawning.
Listen for the gasping sound and experiment with the amount of movement required keep yourself going.

I have called it Bi-valve breathing and the benefits of the technique would be more clearly useful for martial artists however there are many applications.
Cultivate in harmony


simplest possible teaching on the four Satipatthana I have read about

  The Satipatthana Sutta, the Discourse on the Foundations of
  Mindfulness, is generally regarded as the canonical Buddhist text with
  the fullest instructions on the system of meditation unique to the Buddha's own dispensation.

there is four types

Cittanupassana
Vedananupassana
Dhammanupassana
Kayanupassana

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html

Can anyone give clarification in simple words?
I want some clarification on how to start and how to do it.

One of the simplest renderings of the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness is:

And what, bhikshus, is right mindfulness?
Here, bhikshus,
a monk dwells  exertive, clearly knowing, mindful, observing the body in the body,
   removing covetousness and displeasure in the world;
a monk dwells exertive, clearly knowing, mindful, observing feelings in the feelings,
   removing covetousness and displeasure in the world;
a monk dwells exertive, clearly knowing, mindful, observing the mind in the mind,
   removing covetousness and displeasure in the world;
a monk dwells exertive, clearly knowing, mindful, observing dharmas in the dharmas,
   removing covetousness and displeasure in the world.
This, bhikshus, is called right mindfulness.

(Magga) Vibhaṅga Sutta similar passage in Sacca Vibhanga Sutta

"removing covetousness and displeasure in the world" means you are to be equanimous without getting attached to the pleasant or averse to the unpleasant. You have to see impermanence also to remove ignorance.


Was the Buddha a vegetarian? Was Sakyamuni Buddha a vegetarian? I've heard that he ate some pork and got poisoned by it when he died? Yet the precepts say that he was vegetarian.

Which one is correct?

The Buddha was not a vegetarian.

The precepts call for no killing, but it does not say that meat cannot be eaten.

A clarification on this can be found in MN55:

  Thus have I heard: At one time the Lord was staying at Rājagaha in
  Jīvaka Komārabhacca's Mango Grove. Then Jīvaka Komārabhacca approached
  the Lord; having approached, having greeted the Lord, he sat down at a
  respectful distance. As he was sitting down at a respectful distance,
  Jīvaka Komārabhacca spoke thus to the Lord:

  “This is what I have heard, revered sir: that they kill living
  creatures on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and that the recluse
  Gotama knowingly makes use of meat killed on purpose and specially
  provided for him. Those who speak thus, revered sir: ‘They kill living
  creatures on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and the recluse Gotama
  knowingly makes use of meat killed on purpose and specially provided
  for him’, now, are these quoting the Lord's own words, revered sir,
  not misrepresenting the Lord with what is not fact, are they
  explaining in conformity with Dhamma, and does no reasoned thesis give
  occasion for contempt?”

  “Jīvaka, those who speak thus: ‘They kill living creatures on purpose
  for the recluse Gotama, and the recluse Gotama knowingly makes use of
  meat killed on purpose and specially provided for him’, these are not
  quoting my own words, but are misrepresenting me with what is not
  true, with what is not fact. I, Jīvaka, say that in three cases meat
  may not be used: if it is seen, heard, suspected (to have been killed
  on purpose for a monk). In these three cases I, Jīvaka, say that meat
  may not be used. But I, Jīvaka, say that in three cases meat may be
  used: if it is not seen, heard, suspected (to have been killed on
  purpose for a monk). In these three cases I, Jīvaka, say that meat may
  be used.

Regarding the Buddha being poisoned by pork, please see this answer.