notes on the Dhamma

AN 5.51 being free of 5niv (hindrances) is an uttari manussa dhamma (superior human state) January 26, 2019 SN 46.55 the sutta on the beer goggles effect, and why the similes are the best ones on 5niv hindrances December 13, 2020 DN 2 similes Bowl of water affected by 5 hindrances Bowl of water free of 5 hindrances in samādhi

A good reminder for those who think the Buddha never spoke "harshly" and would never criticize other religions. Truth can be "harsh",  But truth needs to be said in the right time and place. (Sujato trans.) AN 10.78 Nigaṇṭha: Jains 78. Nigaṇṭhasutta 78. Jains “Dasahi, bhikkhave, asaddhammehi samannāgatā nigaṇṭhā. “monks, Jain ascetics have ten bad qualities. Katamehi dasahi? What ten? Assaddhā, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; They’re faithless and dussīlā, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; unethical, ahirikā, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; without conscience anottappino, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; or prudence, asappurisasambhattino, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; and devoted to bad persons. attukkaṃsakaparavambhakā, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; They glorify themselves and put others down. sandiṭṭhiparāmāsā ādhānaggāhī duppaṭinissaggino, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; They’re attached to their own views, holding them tight, and refusing to let go. kuhakā, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; They’re deceptive, pāpicchā, bhikkhave, nigaṇṭhā; with bad...

 Why does this sutta make no sense? Because it involves all 3 times, past, present, and future. If it were only past events of harm, then of course it makes sense for a person to NOT attempt to get involved physically or emotionally in a situation that has already happened. But if something harmful were being done right now in the present,  or one knew that harm was actively being prepared to act upon in near future, the sutta seems to suggest inaction, apathy, to do nothing to interfere or warn others of danger. Even in worldly Dhamma for a civilized society,  it's considered a "crime of omission"  to do nothing to help if one is aware there is harm being done to someone in the present or near future. AN 9.30  and AN 10.80 the Buddha seems to be telling you to commit a crime of omission, simply to selfishly rid your mind of thoughts of resentment.  If we follow the sutta instructions,  the Buddha seems to be saying, do nothing while a victim is being ...

lucid24.org  Majjhima Nikāya (MN) Middle Length discourses.  short summary and hyperlinks to each subsection here:  MN‍  

37bp factors = 7 sets of bodhi-pakkhiya Dhamma DN 27 samaṇopi kho, vāseṭṭha, kāyena saṁvuto vācāya saṁvuto manasā saṁvuto  sattannaṁ bodhi-pakkhiyānaṁ dhammānaṁ  bhāvanamanvāya diṭṭheva dhamme parinibbāyati. or ascetic who is restrained in body, speech, and mind, and develops  the seven Buddha wings of Dharma,  realize nirvana in this very life. Vote for your favorite logo. wheel with 8 spokes of course = Dhamma = noble eightfold path The dragon is a simile for 7 awakening factors warrior = 4 right efforts

  I wanted to share a great idea I've implemented the past year or so. I keep the Buddha's right eating rules in the suttas: Eat in the window between sunrise (about 6am) and solar noon (about 12pm). So that's a 6 hour window of eating,  and a 18 hour fasting period of just water.   The Buddha's preference is eating in 1 session a day, but he made allowance for 2 sessions for those with age, health issues. For health reasons, despite trying a few times, I'm not able to maintain 1 session a day, so for the past 20 years or so by far I've been doing 2 meals, breakfast and lunch. Occasionally, depending on what I anticipate the activity level for the day, I'll literally "treat myself" to just one meal instead of two.  "Literally" means I'm serious, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm not joking.  I look forward to avoiding the pain, time, energy of having to prepare just one meal a day instead of 2. I look forward to eating less food an...

  MN 88: Bāhitikasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato  (wrong) “But what kind of bodily behavior is skillful?” “Katamo pana, bhante, kāyasamācāro kusalo”? “Blameless behavior.” “Yo kho, mahārāja, kāyasamācāro anavajjo”. “But what kind of bodily behavior is blameless?” “Katamo pana, bhante, kāyasamācāro anavajjo”? “ Pleasing behavior.” “Yo kho, mahārāja, kāyasamācāro abyābajjho ”. “But what kind of bodily behavior is pleasing?” “Katamo pana, bhante, kāyasamācāro abyābajjho”? “Behavior that results in happiness.” “Yo kho, mahārāja, kāyasamācāro sukhavipāko”. “But what kind of bodily behavior results in happiness?” “Katamo pana, bhante, kāyasamācāro sukhavipāko”? “Bodily behavior that leads to pleasing yourself, pleasing others, and pleasing both, “Yo kho, mahārāja, kāyasamācāro nevattabyābādhāyapi saṁvattati, na parabyābādhāyapi saṁvattati, na ubhayabyābādhāyapi saṁvattati. B. Bodhi translation of same passage (correct) 14. “Now, venerable Ānanda, what kind of bodily behaviour is uncensured by...

sutta text and analysis  here . https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2025/02/an-5162-illustrated-and-deep-dive-into.html The 5 similes illustrated, makes it easy to memorize the key ideas of this sutta. This is one of the suttas where I memorize just visual images and reflect on the essential Dhamma teachings, rather than recite the whole pāḷi sutta text memorized verbatim word for word. 1) 2) 3) this is how you (try to) regard the convicted felon Donald Trump administration, the people who voted him in, and the corrupt U.S. Supreme Court. Hard work finding things to "mudita" about them. 4) is actually karuna, the other 4 are mudita 5)

  The original picture, had your typical Buddha image, with highly exaggerated 32 marks of a great man, such as the pineapple tumor growing out of the top of his head,  dumbo super large ears. Using a free, great program you can get for windows PC operating systems, I did some cosmetic surgery and made the Buddha look human. It only takes a few minutes once you learn how to use the paint program and have done a few operations. Krita https://krita.org › ... Krita is a professional FREE and open source painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone. How to make Buddha human in a few (relatively) easy steps You need use these tools from the tool bar on the left side of Krita. 1. the eye dropper  tool on left toolbar samples a color from the image, when you cover your mouse over the eye dropper, it says "sample a color from the image or current layer". click left mouse button on that eye dropper to activate it. then move your c...

    MN  13  – MN 13 Mahā-dukkha-k-khandha: Longer Discourse on the Mass of Suffering      MN  13.0  - (wanderers ask Buddha...)          MN  13.0.1  - (what is difference between his way of teaching rupa, vedana, 5kg )          MN  13.0.2  - (heterodox 5kg can’t answer ‘gratification, danger, escape’ ) MN  13.1  - (kāmānaṃ = sensual pleasures )      MN  13.1.1  - (What is gratification of sensual pleasure? STED 5kg )      MN  13.1.2  - (What is drawback of sensual pleasure?)      MN  13.1.3  - (What is escape from sensual pleasure? Remove chanda + raga) MN  13.2  - (Rūpa = material form [1st of 5 aggregates])      MN  13.2.1  - (What is gratification of material-form? Compared to 16 year old girl at peak of beauty)      MN  13.2.2  - (What is drawback of material-form? Compared to 16 year old girl at different stages of life )  ...

  Did Buddha prohibit artwork of his image? Short answer, unknown A user asked: Just curious, during the time of the Buddha  where he was physically alive and teaching,  didn’t anyone had that idea of painting his image or with sculpture one way or another  because there’s this great teacher that is existing at that moment?  Considering there were so many monk disciples,   lay disciples and kings and royalties whom held him in great regards? Or did the Buddha purposely didn’t gave the permission for his image to be preserved? Sujato wrote in this thread: Images of the Buddha   (Nov 2017) I don’t think there’s any definitive answer to this,  as it doesn’t seem to come up in any of the early texts. The earliest images date from a few hundred years later,  and there the Buddha is depicted with a symbol—the wheel, the Bodhi tree, etc.  So it seems reasonable to infer that there was some religiously based reluctance   to repres...