Awakening to Reality

I AM, Anatta and Total Exertion in Zen and Mahamudra

Soh

Mr. K.O.O. mentioned Zen kensho is different from I AM. I replied:

Mr. K.O.O,

Depends. Maybe your teacher doesn't emphasize the I AM, but I have seen many that do. I used to learn from a Ch'an lineage that totally emphasizes that as well. Actually I find it is important and crucial, just that the teachers don't seem to understand anatta beyond the I AM and one mind they realised.

Also, for example if you look into this, a lot of the descriptions reported are exactly pointing to the I AM -

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/KapleauPillars.pdf

Including this:

""What is it that thinks in terms of good and bad, that sees, that hears?" If you question yourself profoundly in this wise, you will surely enlighten yourself. If you enlighten yourself, you are instantly a Buddha. The Mind which the Buddhas realized in their enlightenment is the Mind of all sentient beings. The substance of this Mind is pure, harmonizing with its surroundings. In a woman's body it has no female form, in a man's body it has no appearance of male. It is not mean even in the body of the lowly, nor is it imposing in the body of the noble. Like boundless space, it hasn't a particle of color. The physical world can be destroyed, but formless, colorless space is indestructible. This Mind, like space, is all-embracing. It does not come into existence with the creation of our body, nor does it perish with its disintegration. Though invisible, it suffuses our body, and every single act of seeing, hearing, smelling, speaking, or moving the hands and legs is simply the activity of this Mind. Whoever searches for Buddha and Truth outside this Mind is deluded; whoever directly perceives that his intrinsic nature is precisely that of a Buddha is himself a Buddha. A Buddha has never existed who has not realized this Mind, and every last being within the Six Realms of Existence is perfectly endowed with it. The statement from a sutra "In Buddha there is no discrimination" confirms this....

...This Mind is latent in everyone, it is the master of the six senses. The effects and causes of all transgressions vanish in a flash, like ice put into boiling water, when one awakens to this Mind. Only after gaining such direct Insight can you affirm that your own Mind is itself Buddha. The Mind-essence is intrinsically bright and unblemished, in it there is no distinction of Buddha and sentient beings. But its clarity is hidden by delusive thoughts just as the light of the sun or the moon is obscured by clouds. Yet such thoughts can be dispelled by the power of practicing zazen, in the same way that clouds can be dissipated by a blast of wind. Once they vanish, the Buddha-nature reveals itself, just as the moon makes its appearance when clouds disappear. This light has ever been present, it is not newly obtained outside oneself."

3 / TO LORD NAKAMURA. GOVERNOR OF AKI PROVINCE /

You ask me how to practice Zen with reference to this phrase from a sutra: "Mind, having no fixed abode, should flow forth." There is no express method for attaining enlightenment. If you but look into your Self-nature directly, not allowing yourself to be deflected, the Mind flower will come into bloom. Hence the sutra says: "Mind, having no fixed abode, should flow forth." Thousands of words spoken directly by Buddhas and Patriarchs add up to this one phrase. Mind is the True-nature of things, transcending ail forms. The True-nature is the Way. The Way is Buddha. Buddha is Mind. Mind is not within or without or in between. It is not being or nothingness or non-being or non-nothingness or Buddha or mind or matter. So it is called the abodeless Mind. This Mind sees colors with the eyes, hears sounds with the ears. Look for this master directly!

A Zen master (Rinzai) of old says: "One's body, composed of the four primal elements,6 can't hear or understand this preaching. The spleen or stomach or liver or gall bladder can't hear or understand this preaching. Empty-space can't understand it. Then what does hear and understand?" Strive to perceive directly. If your mind remains attached to any form or feeling whatsoever, or is affected by logical reasoning or conceptual thinking, you are as far from true realization as heaven is from earth.

How can you cut off at a stroke the sufferings of birth-and-death? As soon as you consider how to advance, you get lost in reasoning; but if you quit you are adverse to the highest path. To be able neither to advance nor to quit is to be a "breathing corpse." If in spite of this dilemma you empty your mind of all thoughts and push on with your zazen, you are bound to enlighten yourself and apprehend the phrase "Mind, having no fixed abode, should flow forth." Instantly you will grasp the sense of all Zen dialogue as well as the profound and subtle meaning of the countless sutras.

The layman Ho asked Baso: "What is it that transcends everything in the universe?" Baso answered: "I will tell you after you have drunk up the waters of the West River in one gulp."7 Ho instantly became deeply enlightened. See here, what does this mean? Does it explain the phrase "Mind, having no fixed abode, should flow forth," or does it point to the very one reading this? If you still don't comprehend, go back to questioning, "What is hearing now?" Find out this very moment! The problem of birth-and-death is momentous, and the world moves fast. Make the most of time, for it waits for no one.

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Soh Wei Yu

Your own Mind is intrinsically Buddha. Buddhas are those who have realized this. Those who haven't are the so-called ordinary sentient beings. Sleeping and working, standing and sitting, ask yourself "What is my own Mind?" looking into the source from which your thoughts arise. What is this subject that right now perceives, thinks, moves, works, goes forth, or returns? To know it you must intensely absorb yourself in the question. But even though you do not realize it in this life, beyond a doubt you will in the next because of your present efforts.

In your zazen think in terms of neither good nor evil. Don't try to stop thoughts from arising, only ask yourself; 'What is my own Mind?" Now, even when your questioning goes deeper and deeper you will get no answer until finally you will reach a cul-de-sac, your thinking totally checked. You won't find anything within that can be called "I" or "Mind." But who is it that understands all this? Continue to probe more deeply yet and the mind that perceives there is nothing will vanish; you will no longer be aware of questioning but only of emptiness. When awareness of even emptiness disappears, you will realise there is no Buddha outside Mind and no Mind outside Buddha. Now for the first time you will discover that when you do not hear with your ears you are truly hearing, and when you do not see with your eyes you are really seeing Buddhas of the past, present, and future. But don't cling to any of this, just experience it for yourself!

See here, what is your own Mind? Everyone's Original-nature is not less than Buddha. But since men doubt this and search for Buddha and Truth outside their Mind, they fail to attain enlightenment, being helplessly driven within cycles of birth-and-death, entangled in karma both good and bad. The source of all karma bondage is delusion, i.e., the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions (stemming from ignorance). Rid yourself of them and you are emancipated. Just as ash covering a charcoal fire is dispersed when the fire is fanned, so these delusions vanish once you realize your Self-nature.

During zazen neither loathe nor be charmed by any of your thoughts. With your mind turned inward, look steadily into their source and the delusive feelings and perceptions in which they are rooted will evaporate. This is not yet Self-realization, however, even though your mind becomes bright and empty like the sky, you have awareness of neither inner nor outer, and all the ten quarters seem clear and luminous. To take this for realization is to mistake a mirage for reality. Now even more intensely search this mind of yours which hears. Your physical body, composed of the four basic elements, is like a phantom, without reality, yet apart from this body there is no mind. The empty-space of ten quarters can neither see nor hear; still, something within you does hear and distinguish sounds. Who or what is it? When this question totally ignites you, distinctions of good and evil, awareness of being or emptiness, vanish like a light extinguished on a dark night. Though you are no longer consciously aware of yourself, still you can hear and know you exist. Try as you will to discover the subject hearing, your efforts will fail and you will find yourself at an impasse. All at once your mind will burst into great enlightenment and you will feel as though you have risen from the dead, laughing loudly and clapping your hands in delight. Now for the first time you will know that Mind itself is Buddha. Were someone to ask, "What does one's Buddha-mind look like?" I would answer: "In the trees fish play, in the deep sea birds are flying." What does this mean? If you don't understand it, look into your own Mind and ask yourself: "What is he, this master who sees and hears?"

Make the most of time: it waits for no one.

4 / TO A DYING MAN /

Your Mind-Essence is not subject to birth or death. It is neither being nor nothingness, neither emptiness nor form-and-color. Nor is it something that feels pain or joy. However much you try to know (with your rational mind) that which is now sick, you cannot. Yet if you think of nothing, wish for nothing, want to understand nothing, cling to nothing, and only ask yourself, "What is the true substance of the Mind of this one who is now suffering?" ending your days like clouds fading in the sky, you will eventually be freed from your painful bondage to endless change.

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Soh Wei Yu

etc etc. It is clear that Phillip Kapleau teaches I AM as the beginning breakthrough like so many other Zen and Ch'an masters I encountered.

I believe

Angelo Gerangelo

recommends that book as an essential reading.

Also, Phillip Kapleau mentioned in his book "Straight to the Heart of Zen: Eleven Classic Koans & Their Inner Meanings", the two distinct phases of realization in Zen practice that corresponds to I AM realization and anatta~total exertion:

"...A shallow kensho is not fully satisfying. One has seen into constant change, it is true, and into the formless Self as well - that which makes change possible. One has caught a glimpse of both change and changelessness. But it's only a glimpse, and it is not enough, because in reality, the two worlds of change and changelessness are not really two at all. After a time this initial seeing makes us want to go further, deeper. Instinctively we know that it's only well-chewed food that nourishes and satisfies. This we might take as meaning long training through which we more fully integrate our understanding into our daily lives. Our enlightenment is fully digested. Now change is Changelessness. This is what keeps away hunger and uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and above all unsatisfactoriness, the constant feeling of being on edge, alienated, separated - 'a stranger and afraid', as the poet A. E. Housman wrote, 'in a world I never made.' At last we know real peace.

The verse says: 'This one instant, as it is, is an infinite number of kalpas.' What is a kalpa? The sutras describe a kalpa as the length of time it would take a heavenly being, a deva, sweeping its gossamer wings across the top of the mile-high mountain once each year to wear that mountain down to the ground. This one instant is a kalpa. All time is in this instant, and an infinite number of kalpas are, at the time, this one instant. All time means past, present, and future....

...if our mind is entirely free from both time and timelessness, it we are living fully and wholly every moment, every moment is everything; all of time is in each full, vitally alive moment. If one has truly seen into time and timelessness - if one has really become time itself - then there is no notion of time or timelessness to hinder or bind..."

On the above excerpts I pasted John Tan 3 years ago, he also said:

[5:41 PM, 10/22/2017] John Tan: Quite good.

[5:41 PM, 10/22/2017] John Tan: But differentiate this from DO.

[5:42 PM, 10/22/2017] John Tan: Different from Direct Experiencing and direct insight

[5:43 PM, 10/22/2017] John Tan: Means like what I thought of u the other day no ordinariness or superior

[5:43 PM, 10/22/2017] John Tan: But when u r fully engaged in life, there is life and death doesn't matters

[5:44 PM, 10/22/2017] John Tan: This is different from DO and emptiness... How r they different?

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Soh Wei Yu

Also, the Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck also taught two phases - These are just two examples. There are many others as well: https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/.../the-observing... -- although the description here isn't very much like I AM realization.

There are also many Ch'an masters that emphasize koan to realize the I AM. Ch'an master Hsu Yun is one of them, also I quoted a number of Ch'an and Zen masters that emphasized that in the AtR guide.

AWAKENINGTOREALITY.BLOGSPOT.COM

The Observing Self

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Soh Wei Yu

Òskar K. Linares

Actually it's funny that you related Mahamudra with total exertion. Frankly in the past I have never seen any descriptions of total exertion in Mahamudra, John Tan and my impression of Mahamudra is that it is focused on the -A aspect of emptiness only.

However, recently just two weeks ago, I discovered a description of total exertion in Mahamudra text, which describes mature One Taste as such: "...Having realized the three divisions of time to be the same, in a single moment you see them as indivisible, eons are condensed into an instant, and an instant opens into aeons. You master time. Since body, mind and phenomena are integrated, space and the palm of your hand are equal; the billion world systems fit into a few grains; one is transformed into many, and many are made into one...."

(Coincidentally, similar to the Zen Master Phillip Kapleau passage I pasted above)

So you may be right to relate that to higher one taste.

John Tan agreed with me that this description is precisely Maha Total Exertion. He also said,

[10:45 PM, 11/15/2020] John Tan: Doesn't sound like mahamudra

[10:46 PM, 11/15/2020] Soh Wei Yu: lol.. its from the mahamudra book 'The Royal Seal of Mahamudra: Volume 2: A Guidebook for the Realization of Coemergence'

[10:46 PM, 11/15/2020] John Tan: Yeh that is y I said doesn't sound like it

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- André A. Pais
  I think Soh has gone there in the past. Perhaps search the 4 yogas in the blog (or here).
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Labels: Anatta, I AMness, Mahamudra, Total Exertion, Zen 0 comments | |

Great Doubt

Soh

Something I always say when you are doing self enquiry or any other contemplations and meditations, this is crucial:

"We think it's all about like, again, because of our modern mind, we almost think everything can be solved through some sort of technology. Right, oh, I just need to do it different, there must be some secret trick to inquiry, that's our technological mind-set. Sometimes that's a mindset that is very useful to us. But, we don't want to let that dominate our spirituality. Because as I witnessed, the intensity of the living inquiry that's more important than all the techniques.

When somebody Just Has To Know. Even if that's kind of driving them half crazy for a while. And, that attitude is as important or more important than all the ways we work with that attitude, you know, the spiritual practices, the meditations and various inquiries and various different things, sort of practices. If we engage in the practices because they are practices, you know like, ok I just do these because this is what I'm told to do, and hopefully it will have some good effect. That's different than being engaged, when you're actually being deeply interested in what you're inquiring about, and what you're actually meditating upon. It's that quality of real, actual interest, something even more than interest. It is a kind of compulsion, I know I was saying earlier don't get taken in by compulsion, but there is/can be a kind of compulsion. And that's as valuable as anything else going on in you, actually."

- Adyashanti

This is related to Zen's great doubt, great faith and great perseverance. Especially the aspect of Great Doubt.

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Three Translations of Kalaka Sutta

Soh

A teaching by Buddha on how a Buddha perceives the world -- as it is, in its suchness, without the delusion of a perceiver or perceived object. Commentary says five hundred monks attained liberation upon listening to this discourse.

Ven Nanamoli’s translation:

"Whatever in this world with its deities ... is to be seen, heard, sensed, and cognized, or reached, sought out and encompassed by the mind, that I know, that I have directly known. Now while that is recognized by a Perfect One, he nevertheless does not use it as a basis (for conceits). Were I to say of all that, that I know it not, that would be falsely spoken by me; and were I to say of it that I know it and know it not, that would be the same; and were I to say of it that I neither know it nor know it not, that would be incorrect on my part. So, having seen what can be seen, a Perfect One conceives no conceit3 of what is seen, he conceives no conceit of what is unseen, he conceives no conceit of what could be seen, he conceives no conceit of any seer. Having heard what can be heard ... Having sensed what can be sensed ... Having cognized what can be cognized ... he conceives no conceit of any cognizer. A Perfect One thus equipoised towards things seen, heard, sensed, or cognized, remains thus equipoised; and there is no other equipoise that is beyond or superior to that equipoise, I say."
A. 4:24

Another translation, by Ven Thanissaro:

At Kāḷaka’s Park
Kāḷaka Sutta (AN 4:24)
NAVIGATIONSuttas/AN/4:24
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāketa in Kāḷaka’s park. There he addressed the monks: “Monks!”
“Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said: “Monks, whatever in this world with its devas, Māras & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its rulers & commonfolk, is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That do I know. Whatever in this world with its devas, Māras & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its rulers & commonfolk, is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That I directly know. That has been realized by the Tathāgata, but in the Tathāgata1 it has not been established.
“If I were to say, ‘I don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be a falsehood in me. If I were to say, ‘I both know and don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be just the same. If I were to say, ‘I neither know nor don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be a fault in me.
“Thus, monks, the Tathāgata, when seeing what is to be seen, doesn’t suppose an (object as) seen. He doesn’t suppose an unseen. He doesn’t suppose an (object) to-be-seen. He doesn’t suppose a seer.
“When hearing.…
“When sensing.…
“When cognizing what is to be cognized, he doesn’t suppose an (object as) cognized. He doesn’t suppose an uncognized. He doesn’t suppose an (object) to-be-cognized. He doesn’t suppose a cognizer.
Thus, monks, the Tathāgata—being the same with regard to all phenomena that can be seen, heard, sensed, & cognized—is ‘Such.’2 And I tell you: There is no other ‘Such’ higher or more sublime.
“Whatever is seen or heard or sensed
and fastened onto as true by others,
One who is Such—among the self-fettered—
would not further claim to be true or even false.
“Having seen well in advance that arrow
where generations are fastened & hung
—‘I know, I see, that’s just how it is!’—
there’s nothing of the Tathāgata fastened.”
Note
1. Reading tathāgate with the Thai edition.
2. Such (tādin): An adjective applied to the mind of one who has attained the goal. It indicates that the mind “is what it is”—indescribable but not subject to change or alteration.

Another translation, by Ven Nyanananda, Magic of Mind:

KALAKARAMA SUTTA
Translated by Bhikkhu Nanananda

http://www.nibbanam.com/MagicOfMind.pdf

At one time the. Exalted One was staying at Saketa in Kalaka's monastery. There the Exalted One
addressed the monks, saying: `Monks'. `Revered Sir,' replied those monks in assent. The Exalted One
said:

"Monks, whatsoever in the world with its gods, Maras and Brahmas among the progeny
consisting of recluses and brahmins, gods and men, - whatsoever is seen, heard, sensed,(1) cognized,
attained, sought after and pondered over by the mind - all that do I know. Monks, whatsoever in the
world ......... of gods and men, - whatsoever is seen, ........ by the mind, - that have I fully understood;
all that is known to the Tathagata (2) but the Tathagata has not taken his stand upon it.(3)
If I were to say `Monks, whatsoever in the world..... of ..... gods and men -whatsoever is seen .....
by the mind - all that, I do not know' – it would be a falsehood in me’.(4) If I were to say: ‘I both
know and know not’ – that too would be a falsehood in me. If I were to say: ‘I neither know it nor
am ignorant of it’ – it would be a fault in me (5). Thus, monks, a Tathdgata does not conceive (6) of a visible thing as apart from sight(1a); he does not conceive of ‘an unseen’ (2a) he does not conceive of a
'thing-worth-seeing', (3a) he does not conceive about a seer. (4a)
He does not conceive of an audible thing as apart from hearing; he does not conceive of 'an
unheard', he does not conceive of a 'thing-worth-hearing'; he does not conceive about a hearer. He
does not conceive of a thing to be sensed as apart from sensation; he does not conceive of an
unsensed; he does not conceive of a `thing-worth-sensing'; he does not conceive about one who
senses. He does not conceive of a cognizable thing as apart from cognition; he does not conceive
of an uncognized; he does not conceive of a `thing-worth-cognitiog'; he does not conceive about
one who cognizes.

Thus, monks, the Tathagata, being such-like in regard to all phenomena seen, heard, sensed,
and cognized, is `Such'. (5a) Moreover, than he who is `Such', there is none other greater or more
excellent, I declare.(6a)
`Whatever is seen, heard, sensed or clung to,
is esteemed as truth by other folk,
Midst those who are entrenched in their own views, (7a)
being 'Such' I hold none as true or false.

This barb I beheld, well in advance,(1b)
'whereon mankind are hooked, impaled.
`I know, I see 'tis. verily so' - (2b)
no such clinging for the Tathagatas
Notes:

(1) 'muta': Sensations arising from taste, touch and smell.

(2) According to the Commentary (AA) 'the plane of omniscience' sabbannutabhumi has been made known by the three phrases: 'all that do I
know', 'that have I fully understood' and 'all that is known to the Tathagata.'

(3) Comm: 'The Tathagata does not take his stand upon, or approach by way of craving or
views. The Exalted One sees a form with the eye, but in him there is no desire and lust (for it); he
is well released in mind. The Exalted One hears a sound with the ear . . . . . smells an odour with
the nose ..... tastes a flavour with the tongue .... touches a tangible with the body ...... cognizes an
idea with the mind, but in him there is no desire-and-lust; he is well released in mind (S. IV 164) -
hence was it said that the Tathagata takes no stand upon it. It should be understood that by this
phrase the plane of the Influx-free khinasavabhumi is made known.'

(4)This rendering is in accordance with the reading 'na janami found in the Chattha Sangiti edition.
Enquiries have revealed that it conforms to the Mandalay Slabs. The P.T.S. edition, as well as some
Sinhala script editions, gives ' janami omitting the negative particle, but this is unlikely, as it
contradicts the Buddha's own statement in the preceding para. The initial declaration 'all that do I
know' tamaham jdndmi') is reinforced by what follows: `that have I fully understood' (tamahain ab
bhannasim `all that is known to the Tathagata' (tam tathigaiassa viditam") A significant reservation has
also been added : `but the Tathagata has not taken his stand upon it' (tam tathagato na upatthdsi'). Hence
the reading janami would lead to a contradiction: 'If I were to say .......... all that do I know ........ it
would be a falsehood in me'. The variant reading 'na janami on the other hand, suggests itself as the
second alternative of the tetralemma, followed as it is by the third and fourth alternatives.
The relevance of these three alternatives to the context is reflected in that reservation referred to
above.

(5)The phrases: 'it would be a falsehood in me', 'that too would be a falsehood in me,' 'it would be a
fault in me', are said to indicate the 'plane of truth' (saccabhumi).

(6)'Na mannati : Mann ana marks that stage in sense perception when one egotistically imagines or
fancies a perceived 'thing' to be out there in its own right. It is
a fissure in the perceptual situation which results in a subject - object. dichotomy perpetuating the
conceit and 'mine'.

(1a) The Comm: (AA. SHB. 519) takes the words datttha datthabbam in the text to mean: `having seen, should be
known' and explains the following words dittham na mannati' as a separate phrase meaning that the Tathagata does not
entertain any cravings, conceits or views, thinking: I am seeing that which has been seen by the people'. It applies the
same mode of explanation throughout. It is perhaps more plausible to explain dattha or dittha (vl. in Burmese MSS;
see A. II 25 fn. 3)' as an ablative form of the past participle giving the sense: `as apart from from sight'; and,
`datthabbam dittham' taken together, would mean: 'a visible thing'. So also, the other three corresponding terms: sutta
muta and vinnatam The Buddha Jayanthi Tipitaka Series (No. 19, Sinhalese script) recognizes this reading but follows
the Comm. in rendering them as absolutives.The Sangiti Pitaka edition (Burmese script) as well as the P.T.S. edition,
has the absolutive form: 'sutva' 'mutvd' and vinnatva -which is probably a re-correction following the commentarial
explanation,

(2a) 'adittham na mannati': According to the Comm. this means that the Tathagata does not fancy (due to craving etc.)
He is seeing something which has not been seen by the people. But the expression seems to imply just the opposite.
It brings out the idea behind the statement: "If I were to say: 'Monks, whatsoever in the world ... of ... gods and men
whatsoever is seen ... by the mind -all that I do not know,' it would be a falsehood in me."

(3a) `datthabbam' na mannati': Here the full gerundival sense of the verb is evident. The Tathagata does not consider
any of those 'sights' that people cherish, as 'worth-whileseeing' - in the highest sense. He does not see anything
substantial in them.

(4a) 'dattharam na mannati': The Tathagata does not entertain any conceit of being the 'agent' behind seeing. When
'sights' lose their object-status they do not reflect a 'seer' on the subjective side. These four modes of conceiving
represent the plane of voidness' sunnatabhumi

(5a) tadi 'Such' o r 'Such-like.'
An epithet of the emancipated one signifying his supreme detachment. This
declaration indicates the. plane of the 'Such One' (tadibhumi).

(6a) 'tesu ...... sayasamvutesu The Comm. says: 'among those who are of (divers) views and who had
grasped them having themselves recollected and cherished those view-points'. The expression rather conveys the
sense of self -opinionatedness due to philosophical in-breeding, and may be rendered by: 'among those who are
restricted samvuta to their own views'.

(7a) [Seems to be missing in the PDF...]

(1c)etanca sallam paligacca disva `Having seen this barb well in advance'- explained by the Comm as the
barb of views which the Buddha saw in advance, at the foot of the Bodhi tree.

(2c)`janami passami tatheva etam': A phrase often cited in the Pali Canon as representing the stamp of
dogmatism characteristic of speculative views. It is on a par with the dogmatic assertion: `idameva
saccam moghamannam' (`This alone is true, all else is false') which accompanies the formulation of the
ten 'Unexplained Points' (avyakatavatthuni).

Ven. Nyanananda wrote this in the Introduction:
“The commentary (A.A.) finds for it a setting in the aftermath of the conversion of the millionaire Kàlaka, who is supposed to have constructed the monastery. According to it, the discourse was a sequel to the widespread acclamation of the Buddha's marvellous qualities. Be that as it may, the discourse, as a matter of fact, does contain some marvellous aspects of the Tathàgata's transcendental wisdom. That the impact of the discourse was actually astounding is symbolically expressed by the commentarial assertion that the earth trembled at five points in this sermon, at the conclusion of which five hundred monks attained Arahantship.”

Labels: Anatta, Buddha, Buddhahood, Theravada 0 comments | |

Super long discussion/debate on Advaita vs Buddhism

Soh

Super long discussion on Advaita vs Buddhism

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AwakeningToReality/permalink/4591226277585433/

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The Trap of Non-Conceptuality

Soh

Also see: The Disease of Non-Conceptuality

For me, the idea that conceptuality is a trap is actually a trap itself that depletes the potential of spiritual practice. It entails throwing away a very valid dimension of experience - after all, thinking is part of reality as well. And since it is thinking that creates the illusion of duality, it is at the level of thought that illusions must be dismantled. At the level of "reality" there is nothing to be done.

"Observe and see" [which is the only instruction you say you follow,] is also doing something. A spiritual path without instructions is not a path. And from the moment there are instructions, all of them may be valid, depending on the practitioner.

The neo-Advaita has this characteristic of tending to be nihilistic in relation to the path and means of liberation. "There is no one, there is nothing that needs to be done." This reveals a profound misunderstanding concerning the nature of experience: Everything happens in experience, even without an agent to perform it - the spiritual path is no exception.

The simplicity of "not thinking" is a comfortable nest that prevents us from asking important and bothersome questions. There is "presence" in the act of observation, but that presence has to be investigated in order to make its nature known. Otherwise, we are substituting a belief - in the self - for another - in some immutable and eternal presence. Both ego and presence are obvious and undeniable for those who establish them.

Buddhism also dissolves all concepts, but only when they have already done their job of deconstructing all concepts. "Silencing" conceptuality too soon is to throw away the ladder (of analytical thinking) before we've used it to go beyond the wall (of conceptual ignorance).

– Andre A. Pais

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The Essential Dogen

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