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THank you Florian 🙏

I think people are afraid. They want results now because they are afraid of death. But we need to understand that the progress we make is indelible because it is real. Wherever we go, we find the Dhamma again because we recall it. Don’t rush. Plod along as I do. I am old now, and I am nowhere near to where I should be. But I know that every minute of the day brings me closer because I am taking the correct steps. There is no need to rush. If you are on the path, you need only continue walking along it.

@junkequation

2 ай бұрын

I am extremely scared of loss of wisdom when I die. I've been a total idiot, a liar, a killer, for much of my life. If I forget everything I know now, I think it's very easy to fall back into those patterns.

@wordscapes5690

2 ай бұрын

@@junkequation You go where your sincerity leads you. The very fact that you recognize the delusions you had before is a very bright and clear sign that you have begun to awaken. There is no forgetting because there is nothing to forget. You have seen the vacuity of vice. Keep strengthening that clarity and there is simply no way you will be drawn toward your more destructive delusions when you rebirth. But I think this fear you have is going to be a hinderance in itself. Now that you know what you were, there is no reason to fear. Best of luck to you, beloved sangha brother. Namo Buddhaya.

If craving happens in all postures, so does liberation from craving

Thankyou ❤️‍🔥

Would you say that someone following the Buddha's teaching with no instructions about the immaterial spheres would naturally end up in the sphere of neither perception non-perception? I am sorry, it's a trick question because, to me, these spheres were most likely not part of the Buddha's historical teaching. I became very convinced of that after reading "Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology" (book based on a PhD thesis). In this book the author makes a case that most mentions of these spheres as following on from the 4 jhanas are later additions. He has so many arguments but the two strongest are: - The buddha rediscovers jhanas by reflecting on an experience in his childhood instead of remembering his recent intense practice with his former two meditation masters - at the moment of his death, the Buddha cycled through first jhana to neither perception nor nor perception and the cessation of perception and feeling, back down to first jhanas, then back up to fourth jhana and THEN passed away. This only makes sense if it was too well known that the Buddha passed away in the 4th jhana so that any other end would be known as fake. So they had him climb to the immaterial spheres then cycle back and up, which doesn't make sense. Whereas the buddha going through all four jhanas and passing away in the 4th makes so much more sense. Your argument here adds to my conviction because I truly think that anyone would end up at least in the first jhana by following the right instructions (abandoning craving, developing sense restraint) even without knowing in advance what to expect. On the other hand, this same individual would not end up in the sphere of infinite space by accident and without specific instructions. What do you think?

@TheDhammaHub

2 ай бұрын

I do not think that a person would end up with any of the formless attainments really^^ The natural goal and aim would be the fourth Jhana as I see it, as that would be the state of "health" that the Path converges upon. Whatever variations thereof you might achieve would be knda random and subject to personal inclination I would say (as I understand it, the 4 formless ones would be variations of the fourth and not really necessary). The fourth Jhana would be the natural state any Noble One converges towards

@kzantal

2 ай бұрын

@@TheDhammaHub My opinion as well! 🙏

Ай бұрын

I actually ended up in the sphere of infinite space by accident and without specific instructions (using a meditation app). I contacted the app people to see if they could explain what was happening and if it was normal, but their Customer Service was simply stumped and recommended maybe go see a psychiatrist. It took me about a year to find a teacher that worked with Jhanas and could explain what had happened. It then me a while to be able to get to it consistently once I knew what I was doing, because I got frightened when it was about to happen.