The effort, the struggle, the self-restraint that meditation seems to demand—the difficulty of these too stems from, and produces, just this present dissatisfaction, right here behind these eyelids in this tranquil, resting body.
This explains the next line in my inner dialogue that evening, the definitive answer to the still-echoing question, how much of the difficulty of meditation comes from being dissatisfied with my mind?
It’s all of it.
It’s all just suffering during meditation. And suffering about meditation drives the suffering forward, like a tongue that can’t stop poking at a sore tooth to see if it still hurts.
If we neglect our feelings and thoughts about meditation as we’re meditating, allowing them to resonate, believing them, suffering over them—wanting our minds to be otherwise than they are—our suffering during meditation can’t end. We never get to the end of suffering that our wanting during meditation aims for, because we renew it with suffering about our meditation in the present, which we just can’t seem to shake.
So why not practice letting go of my suffering about meditation, it occurred to me, along with the rest? Why not just stop poking the sore tooth?
As I sat in full darkness, the first line of my inner dialogue—why should this be difficult?—took on a rhetorical quality. It became a statement.
This shouldn’t be difficult.
I remember the word “should” here clearly. I didn’t then and don’t now mean it in the normative sense. The point is rather that formal meditation might be expected not to be difficult, no more difficult than the simplest movement of attention.
At root, attention requires perhaps the slightest effort we are capable of exerting, less than an eyeblink, the mere shuffling of molecules across synapses. Moving the mind’s eye from moment to moment—or as it’s conceived in Pali, making in the mind (the literal meaning of manasikara, “attention”)—is the doing of meditation that merges into not-doing, into literal wu wei, “effortless effort.”
Our suffering during meditation, our wanting of our minds to be otherwise than they are, is a matter apart from attention, and therefore apart from the attentional practice of mindful awareness. It is an object of attention, however liminal. It’s an aversive object. It’s the part that’s difficult.
When we at last understand that meditation concerns not past or habitual but present suffering, we discover the future orientation of our hopes for meditation, of our wanting our minds to be otherwise than they are. (All wanting shares this future orientation.) We realize that we’ve introduced a qualifier into our hopes for meditation: eventually. With our hopes of immediate relief disappointed, we re-pin them on the faith that meditation will alleviate our suffering eventually. If we persevere.
Which is to say, if we suffer. We hope, nonsensically, that suffering—some part of our suffering during meditation—will end our suffering (our present suffering, which is our only suffering), and end it for good. That struggling will end our struggle. That misery will end our misery.
And how do we envision this dubious outcome? What form does our hoped-for end of suffering take? What is this mind we want that is otherwise than the mind we have?
We want the mind to be silent. Still. Empty of thoughts, narratives, commentary. This, we imagine, would be great, really great—the mahaggatacitta, “the great mind.” An entirely, ongoingly silent mind would mean complete peace, and somehow, wisdom.
At least, you’ve probably encountered such views. You may have run into the notion that enlightenment is “the space between your thoughts.” Such views prevail in many dharma circles and in the broader culture. Some teachers tell us outright to drive out our thoughts, or as one told me, to shoot them down like targets in a shooting gallery.
This explains the next line in my inner dialogue that evening, the definitive answer to the still-echoing question, how much of the difficulty of meditation comes from being dissatisfied with my mind?
It’s all of it.
It’s all just suffering during meditation. And suffering about meditation drives the suffering forward, like a tongue that can’t stop poking at a sore tooth to see if it still hurts.
If we neglect our feelings and thoughts about meditation as we’re meditating, allowing them to resonate, believing them, suffering over them—wanting our minds to be otherwise than they are—our suffering during meditation can’t end. We never get to the end of suffering that our wanting during meditation aims for, because we renew it with suffering about our meditation in the present, which we just can’t seem to shake.
So why not practice letting go of my suffering about meditation, it occurred to me, along with the rest? Why not just stop poking the sore tooth?
As I sat in full darkness, the first line of my inner dialogue—why should this be difficult?—took on a rhetorical quality. It became a statement.
This shouldn’t be difficult.
I remember the word “should” here clearly. I didn’t then and don’t now mean it in the normative sense. The point is rather that formal meditation might be expected not to be difficult, no more difficult than the simplest movement of attention.
At root, attention requires perhaps the slightest effort we are capable of exerting, less than an eyeblink, the mere shuffling of molecules across synapses. Moving the mind’s eye from moment to moment—or as it’s conceived in Pali, making in the mind (the literal meaning of manasikara, “attention”)—is the doing of meditation that merges into not-doing, into literal wu wei, “effortless effort.”
Our suffering during meditation, our wanting of our minds to be otherwise than they are, is a matter apart from attention, and therefore apart from the attentional practice of mindful awareness. It is an object of attention, however liminal. It’s an aversive object. It’s the part that’s difficult.
When we at last understand that meditation concerns not past or habitual but present suffering, we discover the future orientation of our hopes for meditation, of our wanting our minds to be otherwise than they are. (All wanting shares this future orientation.) We realize that we’ve introduced a qualifier into our hopes for meditation: eventually. With our hopes of immediate relief disappointed, we re-pin them on the faith that meditation will alleviate our suffering eventually. If we persevere.
Which is to say, if we suffer. We hope, nonsensically, that suffering—some part of our suffering during meditation—will end our suffering (our present suffering, which is our only suffering), and end it for good. That struggling will end our struggle. That misery will end our misery.
And how do we envision this dubious outcome? What form does our hoped-for end of suffering take? What is this mind we want that is otherwise than the mind we have?
We want the mind to be silent. Still. Empty of thoughts, narratives, commentary. This, we imagine, would be great, really great—the mahaggatacitta, “the great mind.” An entirely, ongoingly silent mind would mean complete peace, and somehow, wisdom.
At least, you’ve probably encountered such views. You may have run into the notion that enlightenment is “the space between your thoughts.” Such views prevail in many dharma circles and in the broader culture. Some teachers tell us outright to drive out our thoughts, or as one told me, to shoot them down like targets in a shooting gallery.
❤2🥰1🏆1
Even teachers who reassure us, “it’s natural to have thoughts,” that “thinking is just what the mind does,” or as another teacher framed it for me, that “the mind thinks like the mouth salivates, automatically”—even these teachers seem to be telling us, it’s about stilling your thoughts.
It’s not about stilling your thoughts.
The hope that stilling our thoughts will end our suffering is itself a source and product of suffering. Especially during meditation. In his beloved teaching, “Still Flowing Water,” Ajahn Chah discourages pursuing the empty mind in meditation:
…you don’t have to go bottling the mind up. Some people try to get peaceful by sitting quietly and having nothing disturb them at all, but that’s just like being dead. The practice… is for developing wisdom and understanding.
Ajahn Chah’s comparison, “just like being dead,” encourages us to ask, what would it really be like to “bottle the mind up” for good, to have a mind empty of thoughts as your baseline condition? To live pre-reflectively, “free” of discursive thinking? Would this be a functional state? Would you be useful, to yourself or others, much less wise? Or would you not rather live on in an infantile or pathological state—“like being dead,” but not dead—needing full-time care just to survive?
We might associate thinking with stress, but not all of our thoughts really are dukkha or cause for dukkha. In addition to thoughts of suffering, we also have thoughts of uplift, kindness, justice, beauty, goodness, and truth. Insight takes shape in thought. Thought informs our deepest understanding, our wisdom. There are stressful, painful thoughts, of course, but also thoughts that it isn’t at all suffering to think.
We struggle to rid ourselves of thought—a futile struggle, in that it generates further feelings and thoughts—but we’re pursuing the wrong goal. Ajahn Chah continues,
…people practice meditation by trying to silence their minds. They say, “I try to sit in meditation but my mind won’t be still for a minute. One instant it flies off one place, the next instant it flies off somewhere else. How can I make it stop and be still?” You don’t have to make it stop, that’s not the point. Where there is movement is where understanding can arise.
The aim of meditation isn’t to eliminate thought, it’s to free ourselves from suffering. As Ajahn Chah points out, our aim is “to get peaceful… The practice… is for developing wisdom and understanding.”
None of which is to suggest that stillness has no role to play in meditative development. Stillness is the ground of movement. Movement has meaning only in relation to stillness. Where meditation is concerned, the oldest and longest-enduring Buddhist traditions—from the samatha tradition of the earliest Pali discourses, to the Ch’an, Sŏn, and Zen traditions, to the Thai forest tradition—all understand inner stillness as a potent means to the ends of peace and wisdom. But we don’t get to states of stillness through effortful striving, doubting, self-punishment, dogmatism, fantasies of carefree spontaneity, or any other form of suffering.
The inner dialogue I’ve described moved quickly. I’d been exploring the ideas I’ve shared here for years, so no great deliberation was needed to move from one line to the next. Rather, this brief dialogue flowed like a relaxed conversation, riding along on the waves of previous study, practice, and reflection that had built up over the course of my engagement with the dharma.
The last line I’ll share from this dialogue came almost immediately as I began attending to my thoughts and feelings about meditation as I was meditating. I had said to myself, as I’ve recounted,
This shouldn’t be so difficult.
As I saw how little this shift in practice entailed, the reply came:
It isn’t so difficult.
It’s not about stilling your thoughts.
The hope that stilling our thoughts will end our suffering is itself a source and product of suffering. Especially during meditation. In his beloved teaching, “Still Flowing Water,” Ajahn Chah discourages pursuing the empty mind in meditation:
…you don’t have to go bottling the mind up. Some people try to get peaceful by sitting quietly and having nothing disturb them at all, but that’s just like being dead. The practice… is for developing wisdom and understanding.
Ajahn Chah’s comparison, “just like being dead,” encourages us to ask, what would it really be like to “bottle the mind up” for good, to have a mind empty of thoughts as your baseline condition? To live pre-reflectively, “free” of discursive thinking? Would this be a functional state? Would you be useful, to yourself or others, much less wise? Or would you not rather live on in an infantile or pathological state—“like being dead,” but not dead—needing full-time care just to survive?
We might associate thinking with stress, but not all of our thoughts really are dukkha or cause for dukkha. In addition to thoughts of suffering, we also have thoughts of uplift, kindness, justice, beauty, goodness, and truth. Insight takes shape in thought. Thought informs our deepest understanding, our wisdom. There are stressful, painful thoughts, of course, but also thoughts that it isn’t at all suffering to think.
We struggle to rid ourselves of thought—a futile struggle, in that it generates further feelings and thoughts—but we’re pursuing the wrong goal. Ajahn Chah continues,
…people practice meditation by trying to silence their minds. They say, “I try to sit in meditation but my mind won’t be still for a minute. One instant it flies off one place, the next instant it flies off somewhere else. How can I make it stop and be still?” You don’t have to make it stop, that’s not the point. Where there is movement is where understanding can arise.
The aim of meditation isn’t to eliminate thought, it’s to free ourselves from suffering. As Ajahn Chah points out, our aim is “to get peaceful… The practice… is for developing wisdom and understanding.”
None of which is to suggest that stillness has no role to play in meditative development. Stillness is the ground of movement. Movement has meaning only in relation to stillness. Where meditation is concerned, the oldest and longest-enduring Buddhist traditions—from the samatha tradition of the earliest Pali discourses, to the Ch’an, Sŏn, and Zen traditions, to the Thai forest tradition—all understand inner stillness as a potent means to the ends of peace and wisdom. But we don’t get to states of stillness through effortful striving, doubting, self-punishment, dogmatism, fantasies of carefree spontaneity, or any other form of suffering.
The inner dialogue I’ve described moved quickly. I’d been exploring the ideas I’ve shared here for years, so no great deliberation was needed to move from one line to the next. Rather, this brief dialogue flowed like a relaxed conversation, riding along on the waves of previous study, practice, and reflection that had built up over the course of my engagement with the dharma.
The last line I’ll share from this dialogue came almost immediately as I began attending to my thoughts and feelings about meditation as I was meditating. I had said to myself, as I’ve recounted,
This shouldn’t be so difficult.
As I saw how little this shift in practice entailed, the reply came:
It isn’t so difficult.
👏1💯1
Letting go of the difficulty of meditation marks a line between modes of practice. It’s not effortless to get to this line. Meditation is difficult before it’s not. (And of course one might cross over this line back and forth many times.) A degree of renunciation is required, perhaps a very great degree, to enable the separation from desire and suffering that’s required to see through them. But it really isn’t—can’t—be difficult to step over this line once you’ve come to it.
You cross this line when the boredom of meditating, for instance, becomes a matter of interest. You become curious about your experience of it. You think, finally, to bring the boredom that you’re feeling into the field of awareness, and then, just like that, you do. You watch as it unwinds into its constituent sensations, feelings, and thoughts, emerging as an intentional, elusive, and finally, insubstantial contrivance. And then it’s gone.
It’s the same with the frustration, irritation, doubt, aversion, restlessness, and distraction that hinder us in meditation. It’s the same with our anxieties and enthusiasms about technique and approach, and with spiritual ambition and its accompanying convictions. What remains when we let all these go is just the play of mind, a quietly spectacular ongoing process.
===
Bhikkhu Santi is a monk ordained in the Thai forest tradition. Based in New York City, he writes, teaches, and reflects on the intersections of early Buddhism, science, Western philosophy, and modernity; on the conscious use of technology; and on renunciatory practice. Learn more at
www.findingsanti.org
===
Ajahn Chah, Buddhist teacher of Thai forest meditation of Theravada Buddhism channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/ajahnchah_buddhism
===
You cross this line when the boredom of meditating, for instance, becomes a matter of interest. You become curious about your experience of it. You think, finally, to bring the boredom that you’re feeling into the field of awareness, and then, just like that, you do. You watch as it unwinds into its constituent sensations, feelings, and thoughts, emerging as an intentional, elusive, and finally, insubstantial contrivance. And then it’s gone.
It’s the same with the frustration, irritation, doubt, aversion, restlessness, and distraction that hinder us in meditation. It’s the same with our anxieties and enthusiasms about technique and approach, and with spiritual ambition and its accompanying convictions. What remains when we let all these go is just the play of mind, a quietly spectacular ongoing process.
===
Bhikkhu Santi is a monk ordained in the Thai forest tradition. Based in New York City, he writes, teaches, and reflects on the intersections of early Buddhism, science, Western philosophy, and modernity; on the conscious use of technology; and on renunciatory practice. Learn more at
www.findingsanti.org
===
Ajahn Chah, Buddhist teacher of Thai forest meditation of Theravada Buddhism channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/ajahnchah_buddhism
===
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Ajahn Chah - Theravada Thailand Buddhism
Collection of teachings of Venerable Ajahn Chah, a foremost meditation and Buddhist teacher from Thailand
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Dhammapada Verse 181
Devorohana Vatthu
Ye jhanapasuta dhira
nekkhammupasame rata
devapi tesam pihayanti
sambuddhanam satimatam.
Verse 181: The wise who practise jhana concentration and Insight Meditation take delight in the peace of liberation from sensual pleasures and moral defilements. Such wise and mindful ones, who truly comprehend the Four Noble Truths (i.e., Arahats and Buddhas) are held dear also by the devas.
The Story of the Buddha's Return from the Tavatimsa Deva World
On return from the Tavatimsa deva world, the Buddha uttered Verse (181) of this book at Sankassanagara, in reply to Thera Sariputta's words of welcome.
On one occasion, while at Savatthi, the Buddha performed the Miracle of the Pairs in answer to the challenge of the ascetics of various sects. After this, the Buddha went to the Tavatimsa deva world; his mother who had been reborn in the Tusita deva world as a deva known as Santusita also came to the Tavatimsa deva world. There the Buddha expounded the Abhidhamma to the devas and the brahmas throughout the three months of the vassa. As a result, Santusita deva attained Sotapatti Fruition; so did numerous other devas and brahmas.
During that period Thera Sariputta spent the vassa at Sankassanagara, thirty yojanas away from Savatthi. During his stay there, as regularly instructed by the Buddha, he taught the Abhidhamma to the five hundred bhikkhus staying with him and covered the whole course by the end of the vassa.
Towards the end of the vassa, Thera Maha Moggalana went to the Tavatimsa deva world to see the Buddha. Then, he was told that the Buddha would return to the human world on the full moon day at the end of the vassa to the place where Thera Sariputta was spending the vassa.
As promised, the Buddha came with the six coloured rays shining forth from his body to the city-gate of Sankassanagara, on the night of the full moon day of the month of Assayuja when the moon was shining brightly. He was accompanied by a large following of devas on one side and a large following of brahmas on the other. A large gathering headed by Thera Sariputta welcomed the Buddha back to this world; and the whole town was lit up. Thera Sariputta was awed by the grandeur and glory of the whole scene of the Buddha's return. He respectfully approached the Buddha and said, "Venerable Sir! We have never seen or even heard of such magnificent and resplendent glory. Indeed, Venerable Sir, you are loved, respected and revered alike by devas, brahmas and men!" To him the Buddha said, "My son Sariputta, the Buddhas who are endowed with unique qualities are truly loved by men and devas alike."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 181: The wise who practise jhana concentration and Insight Meditation take delight in the peace of liberation from sensual pleasures and moral defilements. Such wise and mindful ones, who truly comprehend the Four Noble Truths (i.e., Arahats and Buddhas) are held dear also by the devas.
At the end of the discourse the five hundred bhikkhus who were the pupils of Thera Sariputta attained arahatship and a great many from the congregation attained Sotapatti Fruition.
===
Buddha dharma teachings channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha
====================
Devorohana Vatthu
Ye jhanapasuta dhira
nekkhammupasame rata
devapi tesam pihayanti
sambuddhanam satimatam.
Verse 181: The wise who practise jhana concentration and Insight Meditation take delight in the peace of liberation from sensual pleasures and moral defilements. Such wise and mindful ones, who truly comprehend the Four Noble Truths (i.e., Arahats and Buddhas) are held dear also by the devas.
The Story of the Buddha's Return from the Tavatimsa Deva World
On return from the Tavatimsa deva world, the Buddha uttered Verse (181) of this book at Sankassanagara, in reply to Thera Sariputta's words of welcome.
On one occasion, while at Savatthi, the Buddha performed the Miracle of the Pairs in answer to the challenge of the ascetics of various sects. After this, the Buddha went to the Tavatimsa deva world; his mother who had been reborn in the Tusita deva world as a deva known as Santusita also came to the Tavatimsa deva world. There the Buddha expounded the Abhidhamma to the devas and the brahmas throughout the three months of the vassa. As a result, Santusita deva attained Sotapatti Fruition; so did numerous other devas and brahmas.
During that period Thera Sariputta spent the vassa at Sankassanagara, thirty yojanas away from Savatthi. During his stay there, as regularly instructed by the Buddha, he taught the Abhidhamma to the five hundred bhikkhus staying with him and covered the whole course by the end of the vassa.
Towards the end of the vassa, Thera Maha Moggalana went to the Tavatimsa deva world to see the Buddha. Then, he was told that the Buddha would return to the human world on the full moon day at the end of the vassa to the place where Thera Sariputta was spending the vassa.
As promised, the Buddha came with the six coloured rays shining forth from his body to the city-gate of Sankassanagara, on the night of the full moon day of the month of Assayuja when the moon was shining brightly. He was accompanied by a large following of devas on one side and a large following of brahmas on the other. A large gathering headed by Thera Sariputta welcomed the Buddha back to this world; and the whole town was lit up. Thera Sariputta was awed by the grandeur and glory of the whole scene of the Buddha's return. He respectfully approached the Buddha and said, "Venerable Sir! We have never seen or even heard of such magnificent and resplendent glory. Indeed, Venerable Sir, you are loved, respected and revered alike by devas, brahmas and men!" To him the Buddha said, "My son Sariputta, the Buddhas who are endowed with unique qualities are truly loved by men and devas alike."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 181: The wise who practise jhana concentration and Insight Meditation take delight in the peace of liberation from sensual pleasures and moral defilements. Such wise and mindful ones, who truly comprehend the Four Noble Truths (i.e., Arahats and Buddhas) are held dear also by the devas.
At the end of the discourse the five hundred bhikkhus who were the pupils of Thera Sariputta attained arahatship and a great many from the congregation attained Sotapatti Fruition.
===
Buddha dharma teachings channel:
https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha
====================
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Forwarded from Buddha Dharma books
Free Buddha Dharma ebook
The Buddhist Way
By Dr. Sri K Dhammananda
Happy events such as birth and marriage, and sad occasions like sickness and death in aperson's existence very often necessitate the observance of certain rites, which have been performed in every society from time immemorial. Such rites, which originated even long before the various major world religions became established, have been handed down by our forefathers, and in the passage of time, have gradually assumed the form of traditional customary practices until the present day. We continue to practise many of these rites through ignorance and fear, not daring to change or discard them even with the acquisition of a modern education and sophisticated life-style.
In particular many of the rites performed on sad occasions like death and funerals are shrouded in mystery and superstition, and very often incur a tremendous financial burden on bereaved families.This is one of the major reasons why many Buddhists are easily converted to other religions because it offers good ammunition for other religionists to hurl their criticisms and attacks the Buddhists. It is imperative that the Buddhist community in this country should awaken to this situation and make courageous efforts to make reforms in the performance of their rites and rituals in consonance with correct Buddhist religious principles.
This book presents in a simple and understandable manner the various rites which could be performed by Buddhists on happy and sad occasions in their lives. It is hoped that they will make efforts to understand them and practise them when the occasion arises. By so doing, they will not only attain satisfaction and a sense of security in the knowledge that they are performing proper Buddhist rites, but also help to enhance the image of their own religion in the eyes of others.
Free download available:
https://static.sariputta.com/pdf/tipitaka/229/buddhistway_pdf.pdf
=============
The Buddhist Way
By Dr. Sri K Dhammananda
Happy events such as birth and marriage, and sad occasions like sickness and death in aperson's existence very often necessitate the observance of certain rites, which have been performed in every society from time immemorial. Such rites, which originated even long before the various major world religions became established, have been handed down by our forefathers, and in the passage of time, have gradually assumed the form of traditional customary practices until the present day. We continue to practise many of these rites through ignorance and fear, not daring to change or discard them even with the acquisition of a modern education and sophisticated life-style.
In particular many of the rites performed on sad occasions like death and funerals are shrouded in mystery and superstition, and very often incur a tremendous financial burden on bereaved families.This is one of the major reasons why many Buddhists are easily converted to other religions because it offers good ammunition for other religionists to hurl their criticisms and attacks the Buddhists. It is imperative that the Buddhist community in this country should awaken to this situation and make courageous efforts to make reforms in the performance of their rites and rituals in consonance with correct Buddhist religious principles.
This book presents in a simple and understandable manner the various rites which could be performed by Buddhists on happy and sad occasions in their lives. It is hoped that they will make efforts to understand them and practise them when the occasion arises. By so doing, they will not only attain satisfaction and a sense of security in the knowledge that they are performing proper Buddhist rites, but also help to enhance the image of their own religion in the eyes of others.
Free download available:
https://static.sariputta.com/pdf/tipitaka/229/buddhistway_pdf.pdf
=============
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Forwarded from Buddha
Free Buddha Dharma ebook
Essentials of Buddhism
Ven. Pategama Gnanarama Ph.D.
Essentials of Buddhism is written based on the Theravada Buddhism syllabus of the Postgraduate Diploma Examination in Buddhist Studies course of the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka. Since the work is meant for students, every chapter appears as a unit by itself and is confined to a few pages. Ven. Ganarama is the Principal of the Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore.
Free download here:
https://static.sariputta.com/pdf/tipitaka/735/essentialsofpdf.pdf
Essentials of Buddhism
Ven. Pategama Gnanarama Ph.D.
Essentials of Buddhism is written based on the Theravada Buddhism syllabus of the Postgraduate Diploma Examination in Buddhist Studies course of the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka. Since the work is meant for students, every chapter appears as a unit by itself and is confined to a few pages. Ven. Ganarama is the Principal of the Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore.
Free download here:
https://static.sariputta.com/pdf/tipitaka/735/essentialsofpdf.pdf
👍1💯1🏆1
Dhammapada Verse 182
Erakapattanagaraja Vatthu
Kiccho manussapatilabho
kiccham maccana jivitam
kiccham saddhammassavanam
kiccho buddhanamuppado.
Verse 182: Hard to gain is birth as man; hard is the life of mortals; hard to get is the opportunity of hearing the Ariya Dhamma (Teaching of the Buddhas); hard it is for a Buddha to appear.
The Story of Erakapatta the Naga King
While residing near Baranasi the Buddha uttered Verse (182) of this book, with reference to Erakapatta, a king of nagas (dragons).
Once there was a naga king by the name of Erakapatta. In one of his past existences during the time of Kassapa Buddha he had been a bhikkhu for a long time. Through worry (kukkucca) over a minor offence he had committed during that time, he was reborn as a naga. As a naga, he waited for the appearance of a Buddha. Erakapatta had a very beautiful daughter, and he made use of her as a means of finding the Buddha. He made it known that whoever could answer her questions could claim her for a wife. Twice every month, Erakapatta made her dance in the open and sing out her questions. Many suitors came to answer her questions hoping to claim her, but no one could give the correct answer.
One day, the Buddha saw a youth named Uttara in his vision. He also knew that the youth would attain Sotapatti Fruition in connection with the questions put by the daughter of Erakapatta the naga. By then the youth was already on his way to see Erakapatta's daughter. The Buddha stopped him and taught him how to answer the questions. While he was being taught, Uttara attained Sotapatti Fruition. Now that Uttara had attained Sotapatti Fruition, he had no desire for the naga princess. However, Uttara still went to answer the questions for the benefit of numerous other beings.
The first four questions were:
1. Who is a ruler?
2. Is one who is overwhelmed by the mist of moral defilements to be called a ruler?
3. What ruler is free from moral defilements?
4. What sort of person is to be called a fool?
The answers to the above questions were:
1. He who controls the six senses is a ruler.
2. One who is overwhelmed by the mist of moral defilements is not to be called a ruler; he who is free from craving is called a ruler.
3. The ruler who is free from craving is free from moral defilements.
4. A person who hankers after sensual pleasures is called a fool.
Having had the correct answers to the above, the naga princess sang out questions regarding the floods (oghas) of sensual desire, of renewed existence, of false doctrine and of ignorance, and how they could be overcome. Uttara answered these questions as taught by the Buddha.
When Erakapatta heard these answers he knew that a Buddha had appeared in this world. So he asked Uttara to take him to the Buddha. On seeing the Buddha, Erakapatta related to the Buddha how he had been a bhikkhu during the time of Kassapa Buddha, how he had accidentally caused a grass blade to be broken off while travelling in a boat, and how he had worried over that little offence for having failed to do the act of exoneration as prescribed, and finally how he was reborn as a naga. After hearing him, the Buddha told him how difficult it was to be born in the human world, and to be born during the appearance of the Buddhas or during the time of their Teaching.
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 182: Hard to gain is birth as man; hard is the life of mortals; hard to get is the opportunity of hearing the Ariya Dhamma (Teaching of the Buddhas); hard it is for a Buddha to appear.
The above discourse benefited numerous beings. Erakapatta being an animal could not attain Sotapatti Fruition then and there.
===
Tibetan Buddhism - Vajrayana, Tantrayana and esoteric Buddhism channel:
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Erakapattanagaraja Vatthu
Kiccho manussapatilabho
kiccham maccana jivitam
kiccham saddhammassavanam
kiccho buddhanamuppado.
Verse 182: Hard to gain is birth as man; hard is the life of mortals; hard to get is the opportunity of hearing the Ariya Dhamma (Teaching of the Buddhas); hard it is for a Buddha to appear.
The Story of Erakapatta the Naga King
While residing near Baranasi the Buddha uttered Verse (182) of this book, with reference to Erakapatta, a king of nagas (dragons).
Once there was a naga king by the name of Erakapatta. In one of his past existences during the time of Kassapa Buddha he had been a bhikkhu for a long time. Through worry (kukkucca) over a minor offence he had committed during that time, he was reborn as a naga. As a naga, he waited for the appearance of a Buddha. Erakapatta had a very beautiful daughter, and he made use of her as a means of finding the Buddha. He made it known that whoever could answer her questions could claim her for a wife. Twice every month, Erakapatta made her dance in the open and sing out her questions. Many suitors came to answer her questions hoping to claim her, but no one could give the correct answer.
One day, the Buddha saw a youth named Uttara in his vision. He also knew that the youth would attain Sotapatti Fruition in connection with the questions put by the daughter of Erakapatta the naga. By then the youth was already on his way to see Erakapatta's daughter. The Buddha stopped him and taught him how to answer the questions. While he was being taught, Uttara attained Sotapatti Fruition. Now that Uttara had attained Sotapatti Fruition, he had no desire for the naga princess. However, Uttara still went to answer the questions for the benefit of numerous other beings.
The first four questions were:
1. Who is a ruler?
2. Is one who is overwhelmed by the mist of moral defilements to be called a ruler?
3. What ruler is free from moral defilements?
4. What sort of person is to be called a fool?
The answers to the above questions were:
1. He who controls the six senses is a ruler.
2. One who is overwhelmed by the mist of moral defilements is not to be called a ruler; he who is free from craving is called a ruler.
3. The ruler who is free from craving is free from moral defilements.
4. A person who hankers after sensual pleasures is called a fool.
Having had the correct answers to the above, the naga princess sang out questions regarding the floods (oghas) of sensual desire, of renewed existence, of false doctrine and of ignorance, and how they could be overcome. Uttara answered these questions as taught by the Buddha.
When Erakapatta heard these answers he knew that a Buddha had appeared in this world. So he asked Uttara to take him to the Buddha. On seeing the Buddha, Erakapatta related to the Buddha how he had been a bhikkhu during the time of Kassapa Buddha, how he had accidentally caused a grass blade to be broken off while travelling in a boat, and how he had worried over that little offence for having failed to do the act of exoneration as prescribed, and finally how he was reborn as a naga. After hearing him, the Buddha told him how difficult it was to be born in the human world, and to be born during the appearance of the Buddhas or during the time of their Teaching.
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 182: Hard to gain is birth as man; hard is the life of mortals; hard to get is the opportunity of hearing the Ariya Dhamma (Teaching of the Buddhas); hard it is for a Buddha to appear.
The above discourse benefited numerous beings. Erakapatta being an animal could not attain Sotapatti Fruition then and there.
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Dhammapada Verses 183, 184 and 185
Anandattherapanha Vatthu
Sabbapapassa akaranam
ku salassa upasampada
sacittapariyodapanam
etam buddhana sasanam.
Khanti paramam tapo titikkha
nibbanam paramam vadanti buddha
na hi pabbajito parupaghati
na samano hoti param vihethayanto.
Anupavado anupaghato
patimokkhe ca samvaro
mattannuta ca bhattasmim
pantanca sayanasanam
adhicitte ca ayogo
etam buddhana sasanam.
Verse 183: Not to do evil, to cultivate merit, to purify one's mind - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
Verse 184: The best moral practice is patience and forbearance; "Nibbana is Supreme", said the Buddhas. A bhikkhu does not harm others; one who harms others is not a bhikkhu.
Verse 185: Not to revile, not to do any harm, to practise restraint according to the Fundamental Instructions for the bhikkhus, to be moderate in taking food, to dwell in a secluded place, to devote oneself to higher concentration - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
The Story of the Question Raised by Thera Ananda
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (183), (184) and (185) of this book, with reference to the question raised by Thera Ananda regarding Fundamental Instructions to bhikkhus by the preceding Buddhas.
On one occasion, Thera Ananda asked the Buddha whether the Fundamental Instructions to bhikkhus given by the preceding Buddhas were the same as those of the Buddha himself. To him the Buddha replied that the instructions given by all the Buddhas are as given in the following verses:
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 183: Not to do evil, to cultivate merit, to purify one's mind - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
Verse 184: The best moral practice is patience and forbearance; "Nibbana is Supreme", said the Buddhas. A bhikkhu does not harm others; one who harms others is not a bhikkhu.
Verse 185: Not to revile, not to do any harm, to practise restraint according to the Fundamental Instructions for the bhikkhus, to be moderate in taking food, to dwell in a secluded place, to devote oneself to higher concentration - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
===
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Anandattherapanha Vatthu
Sabbapapassa akaranam
ku salassa upasampada
sacittapariyodapanam
etam buddhana sasanam.
Khanti paramam tapo titikkha
nibbanam paramam vadanti buddha
na hi pabbajito parupaghati
na samano hoti param vihethayanto.
Anupavado anupaghato
patimokkhe ca samvaro
mattannuta ca bhattasmim
pantanca sayanasanam
adhicitte ca ayogo
etam buddhana sasanam.
Verse 183: Not to do evil, to cultivate merit, to purify one's mind - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
Verse 184: The best moral practice is patience and forbearance; "Nibbana is Supreme", said the Buddhas. A bhikkhu does not harm others; one who harms others is not a bhikkhu.
Verse 185: Not to revile, not to do any harm, to practise restraint according to the Fundamental Instructions for the bhikkhus, to be moderate in taking food, to dwell in a secluded place, to devote oneself to higher concentration - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
The Story of the Question Raised by Thera Ananda
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verses (183), (184) and (185) of this book, with reference to the question raised by Thera Ananda regarding Fundamental Instructions to bhikkhus by the preceding Buddhas.
On one occasion, Thera Ananda asked the Buddha whether the Fundamental Instructions to bhikkhus given by the preceding Buddhas were the same as those of the Buddha himself. To him the Buddha replied that the instructions given by all the Buddhas are as given in the following verses:
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 183: Not to do evil, to cultivate merit, to purify one's mind - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
Verse 184: The best moral practice is patience and forbearance; "Nibbana is Supreme", said the Buddhas. A bhikkhu does not harm others; one who harms others is not a bhikkhu.
Verse 185: Not to revile, not to do any harm, to practise restraint according to the Fundamental Instructions for the bhikkhus, to be moderate in taking food, to dwell in a secluded place, to devote oneself to higher concentration - this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
===
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