This channel is dedicated to those people who seek liberation from suffering.
If you are new to the Dhamma in this way, feel free to check out the True Dhamma Lecture Playlist or the Meditation booklet in the channel banner.
Impressum
Florian-Lennert Adrian Lau
Breite Straße 14
23552 Lübeck
Contact
Telephone: +353 1 543 1000
Telefax: +353 1 686 5660
E-Mail: [email protected]
Пікірлер
The faster you free your mind, the faster you'll be able to do the work (for others), and probably even better. 😁 Good decision.
Very good. All the best to your progress and Goal. Thank you.
Thank you. 🙏
I’m happy to hear that you are prioritising your own practice. This channel is a goldmine and so is the discord server. Thanks for everything you do! My practice has taken a whole different level ever since discovering your channel 🙏🏻
Thank you for your teachings so far. They have been incredibly helpful to me. I wish you all the very best in your pursuit of fulfilling the Dhamma Path. 🙏
May your efforts be rewarded, may your mind slope and incline towards nibbana, may you gain path & fruition knowledge in this very life, for the happiness and wellbeing of all 🙏🏻
I have learned a lot from your videos and book. Wish you the best on your goal.
I’ve only stumbled across your videos the past few weeks and already you’ve made a tremendous difference in my practice I can’t thank you enough
Sounds like a good ideas. Go get it!
My ongoing question is this: Is it possible for two consenting adults to have sexual intercourse and still attain complete liberation?
lol really that is doubt? ... no doubt this dude has to leave ....
In other words, you wish to have it all, sensual experiences and liberation at the same time?
I think a good question to ask with respect to this question is what liberation is achieved in such an activity. As long as the path of sensuality is chosen, one can not uproot suffering. And for this to happen, the first step is to truthfully acknowledge that what one desires in a sensual domain ; in lack of that honesty, any practice is not in good faith. With best wishes
Is it possible for a married couple to engage in sex and still attain liberation?
That depends on what you mean by this. There are cases of lay sekhas in the Suttas where they engaged in sexuality up until Sakadagami. But after that, people were usually living celibate. And even before that, the overall interest was very low likely. Marriage back in the days was not really about "love". Most people lived in arranged marriages to continue a family etc^^ Anyway... once you reach Sotapatti or likely way before that, you will realize that sexuality might be not as good and inviting as you have previously thought it was... it is more akin to being forced by your primal urges^^
Feel sad when hearing this announcement, but understanding that it's necessary for your own practice. With all the contents from the time Dhamma discourses started till now, all is enough for everyone to listen and investigation to understanding it in their experiences. Thanks all for what you have been doing.
Thank you so much for great work! It is a good idea to spend more time in talking care of your own practice. Hope you reach your final goal soon.
Good Idea.😎
Thank you for making the videos that you already have. I often pick a topic that I need strengthening and watch it again.
Your existing content is definitely enough to get someone started on the right path. I found your book to be very helpful - especially as I come from a very skeptical mindset and would never have investigated the Pali Canon if I hadn't found your channel. It turns out I was missing some deep insights on my own and you helped me to correct course. Thanks!
Thank you.
Good decision. Thank you for all your teaching. May you reach the final goal soon. 🙏🏽
I always wondered how you reconciled channel growth and your own practice. Great to see you are prioritizing the path while still helping others (such as myself) to grow as well.
Thank-you for your guidance and inspiration, brother. You have helped very much. Correct my understanding, though I am quite sure of this, having seen its truth in my experience: Craving, suffering is an attitude we hold towards the content of experience, towards the five aggregates. Whether these five aggregates may be, so called, “working” in the world, is not of irrelevance. It is our attitude towards the five aggregates, the “all” of experience, that determines whether we are craving, suffering - if we engage wrongly, unskillfully with experience. Of course, if we are working too much, and we recognize it comes from a place of craving, lust or aversion, restlessness, then we may not partake in as much work - but is it not better for us to also discern that we can continue to work without craving? Whether work is present before us, a person present before us, a thought, a feeling, an intention - it is insignificant, wouldn’t you say? If we would choose, we can distract ourselves and crave deeply thoughts of the Dhamma, if we would like, and even that now becomes a hinderance to non-craving. In the same way, if we approach the work that is present, purifying our *involvement* with it, our entanglement with it, the work may go in just as it is. When we are free of some greed and aversion, of distraction, we become a witness to whatever the body may do to fulfill its work and duty. Whether the five senes and the mind sense or cognize this or that - whether categorize it as “work” or not, it is a simple experience, a collage of colours, sounds, touches, with no inherent meaning. It is because no experience may force us to crave that we may be free of it, if we change our attitude. It is experientially possible and becomes commonplace, to abide in real non-activity *while* the work in the world continues on. I know you have mentioned this as well. Is it not, in your view, that craving with regards to the work is to be abandoned, rather than the work itself? Although, the secondary response is sometimes that work is indeed lessoned in intensity. What is your view on this? 🙏
Your understanding seems right to me! The 4 hindrances of a person in training I mentioned are not so much about craving craving, they are about being "busy" and not giving as much attention to the Dhamma as you otherwise could^^ In seclusion, womb attention arises automatically and stays strongly. In a social setting, in a work setting, or in similar situations, this kind of attention has to be carefully protected and sheltered. Progress in a forest, alone, would be much faster than it is in a crowd^^ There is a reason why the Buddha mentioned these kinds of "obstacles" for sekhas in the Suttas... because that is a frequent slow-down option. So in short: yes, you very much abandon craving which also includes work. But at some point, it is not "only" about the gross types of craving that one usually engages in but about subtle types that are not too visible when "busy". This kind of deeper work requires calm time alone and once you achieved a certain progress in that setting, you take it "with you" into everyday life. The Buddha's monk also went into the forest or any other secluded place for many hours each day^^
Thank-you! It is helpful for me to hear from you, and to know that these deeper stages may be cultivated in seclusion and brought into the world. Of course, deeper stages may come also in the world, depending on one’s ability to sincerely come with real steadfastness, real alignment, putting the Truth above all attachments. This latter way of recognizing the world itself is not the problem, but I myself, my own insincerity, by pushing aside the naturally arising practice as it begins in me, among the busy world - that is a lesson that in me was hard won and took some time to learn. For me, it would not seem fitting to cast it aside, but to see where this understanding may lead. However, I understand what you say as well here and in your video. There is an inner knowing that, if we are true to, calls each of us by our own circumstances and stages in life. May the Goal and the true Refuge be with you. Thank-you, and Peace be to Thee 🤗
Sad to hear we’ll be seeing you less here. But I think this will be better for you overall. Thank you for all you’ve done and will do.
Thoughts on the themed topic is very good, but the pitch of speech is high, if it had been slow, could have been more effective.
KZread offers the option to slow down the speed of a video by as much as 75%. If the way I speak appear too fast for you, that is always an option. I cannot really optimize the speed I speak with for all possible preferences^^
Can you clarify the 7 grains of sand left over?
Once you have reached Stream Entry, you start feeling your feelings "detached". You are no longer affected by them the same way as before. The vast majority of suffering that you have previously experiences has fallen off and is a mere shadow of what it was before. If you previously experienced a "whole earth" worth of suffering, all that remains is suffering worth about 7 tiny grains of sand.
Thank you for making these videos. they inspire me to deepen my practice and further study the dharma.
Dr. Lau, I understand the value in overcoming emotion, but do I, an atheist, even have a chance of attaining liberation?
The Buddha used Gods and deities mainly as demonstration how even _they_ are subject to impermanence. Faith in Buddhism is only necessary to get you to "do the work". If your atheism does not hinder you there, I see no problem - at some point you will likely give up your atheism as a breakthrough to the Dhamma/liberation requires us to "buy in" to any kind of view on the emotional level
I'm an atheist who wants to live a life that the Buddha would find exemplary. You seem to be convinced that literal rebirth is a reality. Because I don't believe in rebirth, do you think I'm excluded from reaching the state of an arahant before I die?
I would suggest to simply postpone your disbelief and cast it aside^^ While the descriptions of the Buddha on rebirth might not make sense right now, they very likely _will_ start making sense if you train according to what he taught otherwise. In any case, as long as you put in the necessary work, you will reap the respective results. It would only be a problem if your believes on rebirth hinder you from putting in the work but I doubt that that is the case.
Thank you! But when you say “meme yourself” is this synonymous with “trick yourself”?
Yes! Thats a bit of a youth-speak term that I picked up as I spend time with quite a number of young practitioners online
Thank you very much! I agree with your wise words! The way I see it one of the most sophisticated forms of ignorance that most of us entertain is idealism. We distract ourselves away from the path of true awareness while looking for ideal solutions and principles elsewhere. Instead of trusting our inherent ability to cut through ignorance through the wisdom of awareness we cloud our judgment with fabricated ideas of various forms of idealism. We seek for answers, here and there. Never really being completely satisfied with what we find. Moreover, we notice so many others doing the same thing, but coming up with different idealistic proposals. At the end every one of us seems to be non-the-wiser. Instead the levels of conflict seems to be on the rise every time ideological interests collide. Is that a sign that ideology and idealism is working well for us? For me the path of the Buddha is the only spiritual tradition that I see address this deeply ingrained obstruction head-on. If we understand the deep implications of the principles in the teachings we also know why idealism cannot be the answer to our questions. Not even sunyata can be idolised. If it is it will become unusable for us. Sure, it is completely understandable that we bring in a level of idolisation of the Buddha when we are rather new to the dharma. But that needs to be addressed along our continuous path towards liberation and enlightenment. Not even enlightenment or Buddhahood can be viewed as ideal states. As long as we think that way liberation will be out of reach for us. The point is that idealism is firmly rooted in the primitive thought-system of eternally existing principles and phenomena with self existing properties. But according to Prajnaparamita Sutra no such things or phenomena truly exists. Not even enlightenment nor the Buddha should be viewed as truly existing entities or even principles. No other spiritual tradition dare describe reality this way and thus lack the means to actually lead their followers outside the mind-frame of samsara. Idealism is storytelling. Buddha Dharma is liberation. It’s that simple! Then of cause we have the nihilist that usually claims that nothing matters and we might as well enjoy the ride as long as it lasts. Nothing more to it, for them. But you see, that’s just another form of idealism, escapism. The Buddha clearly pointed out the flaws of that outlook in the teachings of the Four Noble Truths. The path of the Buddha Dharma is called the Middle Way and is the path that steers clear of both extremes of idealism and nihilism. Both are idealism on deeper inspection but are distinguishable in these two superficial ways.
how do you decide which shirt to wear for which video?
lol I have not thought about it in a while. Initially I wore a shirt because people got a bit "offended" when I looked unprofessional but after a while I stopped caring^^
When one sees the Dhamma clearly, it is quite simple: "Here, ruler of gods, a bhikkhu has heard that nothing is worth adhering to. When a bhikkhu has heard that nothing is worth adhering to, he directly knows everything; having directly known everything, he fully understands everything; having directly known everything, he fully understood everything, whatever feeling he feels, whether pleasant or painful or neither pleasant or painful, he abides contemplating impermanence in those feelings, contemplating fading away, contemplating cessation, contemplating relinquishment (letting go). Contemplating thus, he does not cling to anything in the world. When he does not cling , he is not agitated, he personally attains Nibbana. He understands: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, there is no more coming to any state of being.’ Briefly, it is in this way, ruler of gods, that a bhikkhu is liberated in the destruction of craving, one who has reached the ultimate end, the ultimate security from bondage, the ultimate holy life, the ultimate goal, one who is foremost among gods and humans.” (MN 37) The profundity of the Dhamma is that, once it is seen, craving no longer is the driver of action, which is contrary to all human behavior. Instead, action is based on mindfulness and wisdom, driven by knowledge and vision of what is and is not the path, what leads to dukkha Nirodha, to Nibbana. Craving is not part of the raft, it is left on the shore that had been abandoned. This is the one topic where you and I seem unable to come to a mutually understanding on, my Dhamma friend 🙏
Well, I have given a number of Sutta citations even in this short video where the Buddha says otherwise^^ The craving for perfection is abandoned upon attaining perfection. It is still a craving. The entire fetter model would not make any sense if craving was already abandoned right here and there - but the Buddha says that there can be, sometime quite a lot, craving left. The ultimate root might have been pulled but there is still all the leftover Kamma that needs to be dealt with. Stream Entry/Seeing the Dhamma means that you have understood how to build a raft and how to maneuver it to the island of safety. It does not mean that you are already there^^
@@TheDhammaHub Yes, definitely not already there upon stream entry, but no longer reliant upon craving imo. Sati-pañña replaces craving as the agent of action. As for suttas, there are suttas that support craving for the end of craving, and there are suttas that support the abandoning of craving here and now. But ultimately this doesn’t matter. Those who know and see the dhamma are the happy ones. The exact definitions are obsolete
@@Mountain_Dhamma Abandon craving here and now and craving for the end of craving are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the former depends on the latter and cannot come to fruition without it^^ I say this quite often, especially to you, but the point of the Dhamma is to make it _impossible that craving and suffering rearise again_ . The Dhamma's main purpose is not to "make craving go away" while you are already affected by it, the purpose of the Dhamma is to make craving that is already gone _stay away_ - you want to make it impossible to re-engage with it. _That_ is the job of dependent origination. How do you ensure that you yourself do not _choose_ to go back to sensuality through carelessness, forgetfulness, temptations by Mara or one of the various other different means? How do you become "immune" to something as subtle as simple _forgetting_ after possibly eons of time that eradicate all clearness of memory? Abandoning craving here and now is very important but it is still on the side of virtue. It is not noble and no Buddha is required for this. However, what protects you from going back to sensuality when Mara whispers his convincing lies into your ears? This is what the Dhamma protects you from and this is probably the chief misunderstanding between the Buddha-Dhamma and the numerous schools of Buddhism nowadays that claim that all religions are the same^^
@@TheDhammaHub some people are stupid (like the horse who needs to feel the whip split it’s skin) while others are intelligent (like the horse who corrects his behavior at the shadow of the whip). Some understand the first time they see it, that dissatisfaction is insanity, that nothing needs to be gained, that life is already ok as it is. These are just different types of faculties, conditionings.
@@Mountain_Dhamma That would still be the mundane part, not yet the Dhamma. Understanding that sensuality is a painful insanity is "mundane" and has been understood and practiced by many ascetics of the past that have never heard of the Buddha. That is not the special contribution! Again, the special contribution is what makes it impossible to _forget_ that sensuality is painful! What makes it impossible to become _negligent_ again! What makes it impossible to give in to temptations _ever again_ - this is the job of the Dhamma. Getting rid of all hindrances and suffering ca n be done in all religions and all (working) virtue systems. And all those also see sensuality as painful and dangerous no matter if they understand it quickly or slowly, painfully or joyfully.
Interesting, I, as someone who has ADHD, would say that restlessness and boredom/ignorance are by far the most apparent hindrances in my experience. Brain-mandated impulsivity craving for dopamine every time there is under stimulation is tiresome but at least it makes these traits very, very obvious (and makes one see very easily how one’s thoughts, moods and desires are basically in control of you, not the other way around)
“…poisons our existence.” This takes the “morality” right out of it. Greed, anger and delusion, it’s not they are morally “bad,” it’s that they just aren’t good for you and your life. The dharma floating around out here is invaluable, things I’ve struggled with for years - I just needed another human to state it differently. Turns of phrases now. I just ditched my 20 year career in the law, my life’s pursuit and I now I feel like a Phoenix rising. Cue Jerry Stiller.
I appreciate your direct approach, overcoming suffering is an urgent matter
MN 25 comes to mind on this subject 🙏🙏🙏 THank you
AN4.159 > "Relying on craving, you should give up craving." (said by Ven. Ananda)
🙏
Yup, it's the old craving not to crave that's such a kicker; wanting not to want, striving not to strive. That way leads to madness. For me, I think the path forward is accepting the craving, even for no craving, and let it pass on its own; not throwing it away, actively rejecting it, since that is more dissatisfaction with what is, but letting it go, like releasing a fish into a stream. A bit paradoxically, accepting certain craving without embracing it leads to less craving. Thanks for these talks; they are very helpful.
Thank you.
Brilliant brilliant brilliant
Fuel. Excellent 🙏🏽
In my places monks actively engage in facebook, instagram, tiktok, etc. and actively fishing for monetary donation, another strange observation is that 99% of their close supporters are always women, which is absolutely not inspiring to say the least. An estimated by bhikkhu Subhuti from the americanmomnk site that there are now only around 4% of monks who don't accept nor use money, i.e. monks who still respect and practice in line with the Vinaya.
Again some very good thoughts and a lot of misinterpretation and sutta cherry picking. The 8-ful path is not a sequence, it is a system whoch should be practiced all together. Samdhi is not the cumulation of other practices. Samdahi is absorbtion through anapanasati (AN 4.117-122)(MN 136)(MN 136). Mindfulness/Sati means rembering and is explained in ( (MN 10). It means knowing what you do, when you do it - not rembering the instructions. This makes much more sense, regarding the practice and the suttas. Avijja then is "not knowing what your doing when your doing it". Mind is doing one thing at a time and becomes the concioness it follows. By that it is constantly absorbed into this and that - seeing, hearing, thinking. Sati adds a layer to that stops the mind from being constatly moved by reality. This is not a later interpretation, but a direct practice following from MN 10.
I have no claimed anywhere that the path is a sequence - quite the contrary, I say time and time again that the Path has to be _cultivated_ as a whole. What I say is that it has a clear start (MN 117) and a clear destination (e.g. MN44). I could throw a number of Suttas at you where it is portrayed exactly like that but I doubt that that would convince you xD What you describe as the practice of mindfulness would be one specific type of remembering something. However, remembering is _not_ confined to a specific task, it is always "memory of X". Mindfulness of death, means "remembering that you might die any moment". Mindfulness of the body would be remembering of dependent origination "through the body". Same for the other countless "types" of mindfulness the Buddha mentioned in the Suttas. There is this type of remembering that the body is doing X while you remember it in the present moment. But why would you say that _exactly this_ is the right kind when countless Suttas mention various different other ways to remember the Dhamma? In a sense, this would be a remembering of the unownability of the body but why would that negate e.g. mindfulness of feelings as a legit vehicle that the Suttas mention nearly as often? How would "not knowing what you are doing while you are doing it" free you from suffering? What would be the liberating aspect of that? Understanding _Right_ mindfulness as "remembering the 4 Noble Truths that one has understood and seen for oneself" clearly _has to_ lead to liberation. But without that connection to craving, suffering, and the Path, any type of mindfulness practice would be incomplete. I am still waiting for an explanation of that cherry-picking that you accuse me of all the time xD Name me a Sutta at random and I can tell you exactly how this understanding of the Dhamma matches to it. It is the opposite of cherry-picking if an interpretation applies basically everywhere^^
Cherry picking is to assemble a "meditation system" without absorbtion concentration out of suttas although there are tons of hints. in the mentioned suttas, especially anapanasati - which is the practice of the early disciples.
@@metamurk So what you essentially say is "cherry-picking" would be anything that does not align with your way of understanding the Suttas message on absorption?^^ I am sure that you are aware that the Buddha only really started teaching "mindfulness of breathing" after many years as a teacher having already gathered Hundreds if not Thousands of Arahants? In that sense, this kind of practice could not really be as essential as you make it to be. Unless ofc you deny the authenticity of the Suttas that _introduce_ the practice of Anapanasati. According to the Suttas, the Buddha has taught e.g. mindfulness of death and other practices till then as the main vehicle that obviously worked. What puzzles me is that you likely haven't practiced the "style" of practice I describe here while I _have_ practiced absorption style meditation quite "successfully" for years and found them to be a dead end _after_ trying for a long time. After all this time and practice I still could not say with 100% confidence that I would be at ease when confronted with extreme kinds of suffering like "highway robbers sawing you apart limb by limb with a dull saw". That is the reason why I changed my practice in a way that works even in such extreme circumstances. You seem to judge what is presented here on the channel _without_ this kind of experience as a basis for your judgement.
@@TheDhammaHub No- i say you cherry pick because you cherry pick. You pick certain suttas or part of suttas to substantiate an unorthodox interpretation while don't mention other suttas which goes in the other direction - namely that the early disciples practiced concentration on breath as their main practice for several years. And that their is a lot of joy and that this is quite legit. For me that is the exact definition of cherry picking.
@@TheDhammaHub I judge that because I don't see any "meditation practice" at all. Just prereqesites. You tell what is wrong, what is wrong witth "modern" meditation, but not how to practice "according to the suttas". If their would be an alternative. And on the other hand, what you are saying is simply not true - absorbtion, rightly done with some rightly done vipassana in vishudimaggi style - leads to the higher states. I have seen that, my teachers have seen that. Step by step.
Just because we _have_ a robot (a body), that doesn't imply that we _are_ robots. Cybernetics does not equate to consciousness.
Great video as always, but I was confused on one thing. If right view in Buddhism is understanding that there is no “self”, then how can we be free from avijja if we still believe our suffering originates from a self? Is it more that our suffering originates from our wrong view that we are individuals or is acknowledging the self a part of the path of insight?
The Right View is the understanding of what is necessary to escape suffering in a "confirmed way". We do not understand that there is no self - we understand self as a "conditioned phenomena". We understand that if there is ignorance, there is also self. if there is no ignorance, there is no self. If there is a bit of ignorance, there is a bit of self! But this is besides the point, what really matters is how to escape suffering. Non-self is just a "necessary step" to get there!
There are some misconceptions circulating. Like here: Argumatations against sutta cherry picking with sutta cherry picking. The primary purpose of practicing jhana (absorption states) is not to eliminate hindrances or achieve happiness. These are simply byproducts. The true goal is to develop mental acuity. Jhana refines the mind, making it capable of deeper meditative practices. It's important to avoid "sutta fundamentalism," the belief that only meditation methods explicitly mentioned in the suttas are valid. The Suttas are vahue and interpretable. But absorbtive Jhana states are demonstrably attainable through practice, leading to a temporary yet profound transformation of the mind. This is samadhi, an essential aspect of the path. While sensuality is indeed an obstacle, a complete absence of craving for jhana itself isn't necessarily true. The momentum of dedicated practice can gradually erode even subtle cravings. This leads to a state of mind consistent with descriptions in the suttas. As mastery of jhana deepens, any doubts about its benefits dissolve. Jhana practice can be integrated into daily activities like walking and eating. Samadhi, the state cultivated through jhana, doesn't have to be confined to formal meditation sessions. With consistent practice, it can become your primary mental state.
Feel free to point out the wrong things and I will gladly comment on them if you wish. I have explicitly picked those Sutta passages that are _most often_ repeated by modern schools and have used them as a basis for discussion - not the "rare" ones. Edit: You have edited your post so often that I am no longer sure what I have initially commented on xD
Since you have edited your post so fundamentally, let me comment on it again. In the future, it would be good to leave your post as it is so that other can follow a discussion as it evolves without getting confused. My problem with modern Jhana is not that it has no benefits or that they do not produce "results", my "problem" is that people try to map it to the Suttas in a way that supports their agenda without the Suttas supporting that. What I merely point out is that those attempts to "justify" modern practices through the Suttas are not covered by the Suttas and offer an alternative interpretation that is. There _is_ your type of Samadhi, it just does not match the Sutta descriptions well. It does not have to either - practice whatever you wish! What people want to make of it is their business. This has nothing to do with fundamentalism, I merely point out contradictions. One of those contradictions would be that people usually depict Samadhi/Jhana as an exercise that you cultivate relatively early in practice while the Suttas uniformly portray Right Samadhi as the _last element on the Path_ that the practice converges upon. I do not deny that sensuality is gradually eroded away, that is exactly how I explain it. I just do not call it Jhana. Neither do I say that "only Sutta methods work". What I say is that the Suttas portray the "heartwood" of the practice that whatever working method exist must implement. There are countless specific ways do do that. The Suttas also portray the relationship between Jhana in the opposite way. Practicing Virtue/Samadhi long enough culminates in Jhana and not the other way around.
@@TheDhammaHub It is difficult. The suttas are vague. The practice of early diciples is vague and highly condensed. The high absorbtion methods can be pinned down in the suttas relativly good, as well as long parts of the visudimaggi. So they are not "modern". They have a several thousand years old tradition. In theravada and mahayana they are the base for higher yogas. There is no reasonable meditation without taming of the mind. Virtue, sense-resareint is good, but it is the prerequisite to practice mindfulness and samdahi. And these practices are working. they can be trained. You can construct a way of argumentation against it, but I think it is more difficult, constructed and cherry-picking than the opposite.
@@TheDhammaHub"Practicing Virtue/Samadhi long enough culminates in Jhana and not the other way around." In my experience, practising the jahnas leads to virtune quite practically, because people are no longer interessted in bullshit, but in path. So, they practice virtue, which helps their samadhi, which helps their mindfulness, which cullimates in wisdom. That is what i have seen and experienced. I have never seen a mahasi noter getting anywhere but in psychic breakdown, which they call a "vipassana nana". The more important point is, jahna is a starting point in the practice. It is a method for practicing higher yogas, not a goal. So I would suggest, practice the vishudimaggi, it's the mot amazhing yogic system which you can follow from the beggining to the end. Every question will solve itself on the way. And there is a lot of joy and bliss. So yes, people should start concentration relativly early, parallel to to changing their lives acordung to the precepts. This is very easy supportable by early suttas... Everything else - in my opinion - simply does not lead anywhere.
@@metamurk I would not say that the Suttas are vague at all. In fact, they are as precise as you can get without losing "generality". They can _appear_ vague if you understanding goes against their core message in one way or another. But the more your understanding aligns with the Dhamma, the more the Suttas appear pretty much on point. Further, the practices of restraint and virtue and all those things _are_ precisely the training/taming of the mind. That way you gradually remove all the unwholesome aspects and cultivate the wholesome ones. There is no more direct way than that^^ Further, according to the Suttas, mindfulness is not a method or a practice and neither is concentration! Concentration is a _result_ of practicing rightly for a long time and mindfulness just means "remembering" the teachings. The idea to interpret mindfulness as anything apart from that is much much newer. If you sit down to meditate and the Suttas say "to bring forth mindfulness" (which is a bad translation) it just means to bring the teachings/instructions back to mind to deepen your practice. This kind of interpretation does not need patchwork everywhere and just suits all the Suttas I know. There is no construction or cherry-picking necessary at all - it is a super simple way to read the Suttas that precisely requires _no_ additional rationalization.
I think you meant AN 3.101 and not 3.10. Great vid otherwise!
Thank you. I have this strong habit of active distraction with my body and mind which I am becoming aware of with the help of others pointing this out. Wanted some clarity on the end of video in which you were describing process of gold purification 3 stages. You mentioned the first 2 stages in which gross material is cleared and then finally the 3rd stage is where samadhi can take place, which to me is where I would be able to meditate with a still mind. What would I engage in for the first 2 steps before meditation to purify out the more gross aspects?
You could search for the "purifying gold" simile from the Buddha" Should be easy to find but cannot look it up from work rn!
Would an accurate metaphor for the practice be like going to rehab, except for EVERYTHING instead of just the one substance? Going through withdrawal until there is no craving left, no matter how long it takes. Or is that too simplified?
Absolutely! There is a bit more to it but "overcoming sensuality" is exactly like that. But the Dhamma is even a bit more than that but you needs that ""rehab" before you can understand the Dhamma
Nirgendwo solch gute Ausführung gehört. Vielen Dank 🙏🏻 😊