notes on the Dhamma

 The ordinary condition of the worldling is to fall for the delusion of romance, heartbreak, loss, depression, loneliness again and again, life after life, as expressed by the King of Rock'n roll  succinctly here. original lyrics from famous Elvis Presley love song Lyrics Are you lonesome tonight Do you miss me tonight? Are you sorry we drifted apart? Does your memory stray To a brighter sunny day When I kissed you and called you sweetheart? Do the chairs in your parlor Seem empty and bare? Do you gaze at your doorstep And picture me there? Is your heart filled with pain Shall I come back again? Tell me, dear Are you lonesome tonight? I wonder if you're lonesome tonight You know, someone said that the world's a stage And each must play a part Fate had me playing in love you as my sweetheart Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance You read your line so cleverly and never missed a cue Then came act two, you seemed to change, you acted strange And why I'll nev...

  Re: How to practice loving kindness  friendly-kindness ? Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Sun Aug 28, 2022 4:16 am Gami47  wrote:  ↑ Sat Aug 27, 2022 11:56 am First, you're probably going to run into problems if you follow instructions where people don't translate 'metta' correctly. https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... thats.html 'love' is absolutely wrong, 'loving-kindness' is an attempt to avoid the problems with 'love', but still an ill-advised translation. metta is friendliness, good will. Second, I'd highly recommend people avoid Vism. or the many modern teachers who base their instructions on Vism. derived ideas for the brahmaviharas. Now the suttas unfortunately don't give as much detailed instruction on metta as we'd like. But I'd recommend using that versatility in conjunction with discernment and common sense. For example, in this great 3 minute video here, this is an excellent real life example ...

 If not, then what is the domanassa allowable in first jhāna? Vimuttimagga says asubha and cemetary contemplations can only be done up to first jhāna (and not the higher jhānas), so that would be another type of first jhāna domanassa allowable.  Re: Near Enemy of Compassion: Sadness or Pity? Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Sun Aug 28, 2022 3:57 am AFAIK that whole 'near enemy' of the brahmaviharas is a commentarial invention. I don't see any suttas talking about that, the suttas cited in this thread (prior to my post) don't support that IMO. If anything, I would think the suttas implicitly support an idea of a 'near friend' in pity for compassion. Recall that domanassa (distressed mental state) can be present in first or second jhāna (depending on which version of SN 48.40 you believe). Just as mudita, being the rejoicing of virtue of oneself or others doing skillful Dharmas, there is vicarious enjoyment, what I suspect is there is a version...

 ariya-sāvaka, is a disciple of the noble ones, not a 'noble disciple' (one who is at least a stream enterer already). Otherwise, you have a case here in MN 14 where this stream enterer had become a stream enterer without having even attained first jhāna yet.  (sujato trans.) ‘Appassādā kāmā bahudukkhā bahupāyāsā, 4.1 Sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, ādīnavo ettha bhiyyo’ti— and they are all the more full of drawbacks. iti cepi, mahānāma, ariyasāvakassa yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya sudiṭṭhaṃ hoti, 4.2 Even though a noble disciple has clearly seen this with right wisdom, so ca aññatreva kāmehi aññatra akusalehi dhammehi pītisukhaṃ nādhigacchati, so long as they don’t achieve the rapture and bliss that are apart from sensual stimuli and unskillful qualities, aññaṃ vā tato santataraṃ; or something even more peaceful than that, atha kho so neva tāva anāvaṭṭī kāmesu hoti. 4.3 they might still return to sensual pleasures. Yato ca kho, mahān...

  Re: Aloneness Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:29 am mjaviem  wrote:  ↑ Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:33 am frank k  wrote:  ↑ Sat Aug 20, 2022 2:48 am Could you guys show sutta reference numbers preferably, or pali sutta titles when you post quotes? Looking at sutta translations without pali, is like reading news articles that won't name sources or go through editors and vetting process. ... SN 16.4: Buddha asks mahā kassapa why he continues practicing difficult austerities, he replies for "aloneness": viveka (judicous-seclusion) - commonly misunderstood as 'seclusion', the Buddha's definition of viveka is not just 'seclusion'. It means one has right view and discernment that led them to seclusion. Compared to for example, a unabomber terrorist, or any of a number of reasons why one would choose seclusion. asaṃsaggassa (aloofness) - this is the opposite of someone who likes to gather and associate with people MN 4: e...

  vihāra  :  [m.]  an abode; a dwelling place; mode of life ; passing the time. viharati  :  [vi + har + a]  lives ; abides; dwells; sojourns.          yadidaṃ — cattāro sati-’paṭṭhānā. In other words, this path is the four ways of remembering [The Dharma ]; Katame cattāro? Which Four [ways]? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu … It’s when … (standard 4sp🐘 formula) kāye kāyā-(a)nu-passī viharati He lives continuously seeing the body as a body [as it truly is]. vedanāsu vedanā-(a)nu-passī viharati He lives continuously seeing sensations as sensations [as it truly is]. citte cittā-(a)nu-passī viharati He lives continuously seeing a mind as a mind [as it truly is]. dhammesu dhammā-(a)nu-passī viharati He lives continuously seeing ☸Dharma as ☸Dharma [as it truly is]. (… elided refrain from each way…) [in each of the 4 ways of remembering]: ātāpī sampajāno satimā, he is ardent 🏹, he has lucid discerning 👁, he remembers 🐘 [to appl...

  Re: How did uttara stop the hot water from burning her? Edit Delete Report Quote Post   by  frank k  »  Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:55 am Bhikkhu Pesala  wrote:  ↑ Fri Aug 05, 2022 11:35 am According to the  Commentary on the Aṅguttaranikāya  it was boiling oil, not hot water. Uttarā was unscathed due to the protective power of loving-kindness or compassion. The eleven benefits of loving-kindness are enumerated in the  Mettānisaṃsā Suttaṃ . The benefits of meditation on compassion  (karuṇā)  would be similar. Does Vism. or the commentaries describe how powers of metta or sacchi kiryiya actually work, in protecting the reciter from fatal harm? Sounds like total BS. The power of metta could indirectly work as protection if one has powerful deva friends who intervene to stop fire from burning the reciter. But the actual protection is coming from supernormal powers of the deva, not the reciter. If Uttara herself had supernormal powers, th...

vihāra : [m.] an abode; a dwelling place; mode of life; passing the time. viharati : [vi + har + a] lives; abides; dwells; sojourns.          4.3.2.5. Paṭhamajhāna 4.3.2.5. First jhāna so The monk is (STED 1st Jhāna) 🚫💑 vivicc’eva kāmehi Judiciously-secluded from sensuality, 🚫😠 vivicca a-kusalehi dhammehi Judiciously-secluded from unskillful ☸Dharmas, (V&V💭) sa-vitakkaṃ sa-vicāraṃ with directed-thought and evaluation [of those verbal ☸Dharma thoughts], 😁🙂 viveka-jaṃ pīti-sukhaṃ with [mental] rapture and [physical] pleasure born from judicious-seclusion, 🌘 paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati. he attains and lives in first jhāna. 4.3.2.6 - Second jhāna 4.3.2.6. Dutiyajhāna 4.3.2.6. Second jhāna Puna caparaṃ, mahārāja, bhikkhu Furthermore, (STED 2nd Jhāna) Vitakka-vicārānaṃ vūpasamā with the subsiding of directed-thought and evaluation [of those verbal ☸Dharma thoughts], ajjhattaṃ sam-pasādanaṃ with internal purity and self-confidence, 🌄 cetaso...

  https://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?p=687102#p687102 Johann  wrote:  ↑ Fri Jul 29, 2022 3:18 am ... I can instantly generate mudita contemplating the meaning and beauty in the Buddha's dharma, and pervade that energy in all directions or toward specific beings. That's merely sharing merits, which is great and good, yet isn't mudita-brahmavihara, good householder. Similar pattern is made by citing dedication of merits, and metta. What energy? Those are thoughts, and evaluations. It's not a feeling that one spreads, by it's gain of pamojja (feeling), by surrender, letting go, give peace, by verbalized thoughs of appreciation. ... frankk: What's the phrase people usually use when sharing merits? The word 'anumodana', appears in there. Rejoicing. anu-modana = continuous modati = pamojja (pa-modati) = mudita. If Vism. can twist such a versatile mudita into a very specific 'non jealousy at others joy regardless of whether it's kusala or not...