Finding a Vipassana Teacher in a pandemic

Ven. Yuttadhammo, who was formerly a moderator of Buddhism.SE, heads the Sirimangalo International Meditation Centre in Ontario, Canada. He was a student of Ven. Ajaan Tong Sirimangalo.
He teaches vipassana meditation, which is very beneficial.
You can find his meditation e-books online:

How to Meditate
How to Meditate II

The "How to Meditate" e-book is based on meditation lessons taught by Ven. Yuttadhammo, which can be found in this YouTube video playlist.
Sirimangalo International Meditation Centre has an online at-home meditation course:

At-Home Meditation Course
For those seeking to undertake a Meditation course at home, please
visit this link https://meditation.sirimangalo.org/course (you may
need to sign up and log in).
You will need access to headphones and a microphone. Further
instructions on how to book an appointment and connect for your
session/appointment are given on the page with the link above. Our
at-home meditation students meet weekly with a teacher. Completion
time for the course varies.
We recommend to read the booklet by Venerable Yuttadhammo on which our
meditation practice is based. It can be found here
http://htm.sirimangalo.org.

And it also has the online Meditation+ program - through which you can ask questions directly to Ven. Yuttadhammo himself:

Meditation+
We call our online meditation group Meditation+ and it is located at
http://meditation.sirimangalo.org.
Here you can join together with other meditators in our tradition to
log in your meditation time and help yourself to establish a regular
practice . You can also communicate with fellow meditators through a
live chat function. Meditation+ can be used on any computer or device
as it is a mobile friendly site.
The site feature the following:

a list of all meditation sessions in progress
a live chat with emoticons
a log of total minutes of the site’s meditation by hour of day for the past month
a list of commitments that can be undertaken by members and tracked for fulfillment
a page to submit questions which Venerable Yuttadhammo answers on the Wednesday night Q & A session on YouTube

For especially dedicated meditators, there is even the opportunity to
meet weekly with Venerable Yuttadhammo via Google Hangouts for private
meditation instruction. (See Schedule tab at Meditation+.) Please
note, booking a weekly appointment must be done from a computer or
other large screen device to display properly.
We invite you to join us.


How can I remedy the erratic energy-power that arises from vipassana aka cessation-contemplation meditation so I can feel more in-control?

You do not specify what sort of meditation you practice (saying vipassana or cessation-contemplation doesn't tell much), but Buddhist meditation shouldn't be a direct cause for "erratic energy-power". It should lead to an overall more balanced, tranquil state of mind that is energetic, but not excessively so.
What is more likely is that your meditation has brought up or accentuated qualities of your own mind that lay dormant, and you are now being forced to deal with them. This is common, and these qualities should, in the case of vipassana meditation become objects of meditation themselves.
In no case should one try to "remedy" phenomena in vipassana meditation - the object is to see things as they are, not change them.
The same goes for gaining a sense of control; this is in direct contravention of the concept of anatta, so it should not be aspired to. One should rather aspire to discard the need for control in favour of clear vision; it is through clear vision that one comes to navigate life's difficulties, not through forced change.

“sabbe dhammā anattā”ti, yadā paññāya passati.
atha nibbindati dukkhe, esa maggo visuddhiyā.
"All dhammas are non-self" - when one sees this with wisdom,
and thence becomes diinterested in suffering, this is the path to purification.
-- Dhp. 279

It is probably true that a successful meditator becomes less successful in certain social situations, e.g. picking up dates or entertaining friends, but this is more because of the unwholesome expectations of the other parties involved than a fault of the meditator who will still be friendly, cordial, and kind.


From AN10.29:

  Someone perceives the meditation on universal earth above, below, across, non-dual and limitless.
  They perceive the meditation on universal water …
  the meditation on universal fire …
  the meditation on universal air …
  the meditation on universal blue …
  the meditation on universal yellow …
  the meditation on universal red …
  the meditation on universal white …
  the meditation on universal space …
  They perceive the meditation on universal consciousness above, below, across, non-dual and limitless.
  These are the ten universal dimensions of meditation.
  The best of these ten universal dimensions of meditation is when someone perceives the meditation on universal consciousness above, below, across, non-dual and limitless.
  Some sentient beings perceive like this.
  But even the sentient beings who perceive like this decay and perish.

Yes. It is not eternal.

The sutta ends with the Buddha declaring:

  But I do advocate the complete understanding of sensual pleasures, sights, and feelings. And I advocate complete extinguishment by not grasping in this very life, wishless, extinguished, and cooled.”

Regarding transcendance and theories of a self, SN12.2 may be of interest:

  There are these four kinds of grasping.
  Grasping at sensual pleasures, views, precepts and observances, and theories of a self.


I can tell you why the Theravada school does not pay attention to Nagarjuna's works:

Parable of the Poisoned Arrow
Parable of the Simsapa Leaves
The Discourse on the Unconjecturables
The statement by the Buddha that he did not hide anything in a closed fist.
Discourse on The All

Basically, this means that from the perspective of the Theravada school, everything that the Buddha had taught in the Pali Canon is sufficient. Nothing more is needed. Anything else is simply icing on the cake.

Personally, I have tried to understand Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka emptiness and tried to link it back to Theravada emptiness in this question. I appreciate the concept of Madhyamaka emptiness.

I don't think Nagarjuna is in conflict with the Buddha's original teachings (in the Pali suttas and Mahayana Agamas). But at the same, I don't think he introduced something new to improve the Buddha's original teachings.

One important contribution of Nagarjuna is the use of methodical philosophical analysis to defend Buddhism against attacks by Hindu and other non-Buddhist Indian philosophers. See this answer.


Is practicing Buddhism to be happy a wrong view?

“Ethan santhan ethan paneethan, sabba sankhara samatho, Sabbhupathi patinissaggo, tanhkkhayo, virago, nirodho, Nibbanan ti“

“It is the only peace, the only happiness: prevent sankhara from arising by eliminating tanha and excess greed, and thus stopping the arising of defilements, which is Nibbana“.

This above mentioned contemplation is the most effective  kammatthana when cultivating Ariya Jhana. But we can never achieve such jhanic states that is helpful in furthering the Noble Eightfold Path if there isn’t a sense of happiness within us. The sati sampajanna that one dwells in should be one of inner happiness and peace of mind. Sati is mindfulness. The Pali word for alertness is sampajañña. It doesn’t mean being choicelessly aware of the present, or comprehending the present. Sampajañña means being aware of what you’re doing in the movements of the body, the movements in the mind. This is why mindfulness and alertness should always be paired.

Our happiness, our lack of happiness, depends on our actions. So that’s where we focus our attention. When you create a frame of reference here in the present moment, there are lots of things you can tune in to. You can choose the body in and of itself. You can choose feelings, mental states, mental qualities in and of themselves.

Of all the sensory input that comes in at any one particular moment, you make a choice of what you’re going to pay attention to, what memories, what frame of reference you’re going to bring to that particular moment. And it’s an important mental skill to be able to shift your frame of reference as necessary.

Being mindful means being very deliberate and clear about what you bring to whatever you’re doing: what you’re going to remember, what you’re not going to remember, what you’re going to recollect, what you’re going to let go, which things are useful to recollect right now.

If you wanted to, you could sit and spend the whole hour thinking about facts that would make you totally miserable, but what does that accomplish? In walking the Path we are to think about things that are useful for the mind, so remember the things that are useful for the mind, that will help it develop. As for the other voices coming in and out of the mind, listen to the ones that are helpful and ignore the ones that are not. You can be selective.

This way, mindfulness becomes a quality we can apply to everything we do. And instead of making us unable to function, it heightens our ability to function, because we understand the process that the mind goes through, and we are in a state of happiness within.

Just because your teacher and almost all the books in the present day say as to how could one be happy when everything is suffering, you should not accept such a statement as true. For one to advice another on Dhamma, one has have at least come to the ‘Stream Entrant’ stage of the Path. This is like someone trying to teach another to ride a cycle, when he himself doesn’t know how to ride one. Sadly that is the state of affairs in the present day and age.

You can sing, dance, and have an enjoyable time while being grounded in reality, in knowing the underlying nature of anything in this world. It is fully engaging in life with an understanding that we will not be able to maintain anything to our satisfaction over long times. Thus we can see suffering - there not being anything of true inherent value in mundane life activities – but still participate in the activities in a rather detached way. If one truly understands this fact, that itself leads to the Stream Entrant stage of Nibbana.


Should a Buddhist pay homage/bend to his parents?

From a Therevada perspective, in the Sigalovada Sutta (Pali Canon) the Buddha says to Silaga that parents should be worshiped. He doesn't actually specify monks in this sutra as at this point the Buddhist monastic community wouldn't have taken shape. However he does specify teachers and also ascetics and brahmans so we can maybe take this as the nearest equivalent.

In total he advocates the worship of 6 groups of people corresponding to the 6 directions so

Parents as the East
Teachers as the South
Wife and children as the West
Friends and associates as the North
Servants and employees as the Nadir
Ascetics and brahmans as the Zenith

I have to say though he doesn't restrict the homage to their birthdays only. Sigala is portrayed as doing a daily practice of homage in the six directions to which the Buddha is responding.

From a Mahayana perpective, the Ullambana sutra the Buddha advocates paying homage to parents

  Every year, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month

so this would be at least annual homage which is nearer to your question. In addition there is also the Sutra of Filial Piety which goes on at length about the trouble your parents have gone to to raise you (which is fair I guess - they have gone to a lot of effort). This is probably as influenced by Confucianism as much as Buddhism.

There are more of these type of sutras in Mahayana traditions but I'm already past my level of expertise so I'll leave those for other people to detail.


What kind of meat Guan yin believer are allowed to eat?

I have only heard that laymen followers of Guan Yin would pursue to not eat the five pungent vegetable such as Onions, Garlic, Scallions, Chives and Leeks. On the meat side, I have only heard that it is just Beef.


Has any pilgrimage customs formed in North America?

It's been a while since I asked this question, here is what I learned since then.

In ancient China, there was a system of itinerant monks who went from monastery to  monastery. You couldn't stay forever, but you could stay a short amount of time at any monastery. Travel could be dangerous, so the rules were in place to discourage recklessness.

In Japan, after political consolidation, it became safe to travel all over the place. Since temples were popular destinations, this created demand for lodging and restaurants at temples. Some of these still exist. The restaurants were vegetarian restaurants and served vegetarian temple food. Both in Japan and China, they followed Mahayana and were not conflicted about it.

In the US, you can find some faint echos of these pilgrimage traditions, like Hsi Lai Temple, in Hacienda Heights has/had a restaurant. I haven't found any that offer short stays for pilgrims.

What we do have in the US is a retreat system, where people travel to a retreat center for a week or two for housing, food and organized activities. These are too numerous to list here. It isn't quite like stupa pilgrimage in India, because there isn't anything special about the location.

Speaking of special locations, in the US, the closest thing we have to religiously significant locations are the Stupas, such as the The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. In Hawaii there are Japanese temples built in the traditional style and Ling Yen Temple in Canada, but I think it is safe to say we are no where near the scale of temples you find in Asia.


How to practise without having aversion towards life?

Case 57 of the Blue Rock Collection I alone am holy
Case A monastic said to Zhaozhou, "It is said, 'The Great Way is not difficult. It only abhors choice and attachment.' Now, what are
nonchoice and nonattachment?" Zhaozhou said, "I alone am holy
throughout heaven and earth." The monastic said, "It is still choice
and attachment." Zhaozhou said, "You country bumpkin! Where are choice
and attachment?" The monastic was speechless.

How much better off we'd all be if we discarded love and hate.  As it says in the Hsin Hsin Ming, "to set up what you like against what you dislike is," indeed, "the disease of the mind."  There is a road the runs the valley between the cliffs of this and that, of right and wrong.  It alone is holy throughout heaven and earth.  What is the mind that knows no discrimination?  Where is it found?
Craving and aversion set the world at arm's length.  We can never be fully intimate with the way things really are when we are pushing and pulling on existence.  When we do that, we only know our pushing and pulling.  Instead, let yourself be pulled, allow yourself to be pushed.  Meet both existence and non-existence, samsara and Buddha, enlightenment and non-enlightenment with the same open heart.  That alone is true holiness.


Is there an English translation of the Abhidhamma?

As far as I know, there is no single compiled translation of all the volumes of the Abhidhamma but they are separately translated by several people.

You can find an index of these translations in ATI's Abhidhamma Page.

Note that, although no English translation of the "The Book of Pairs" (Yamaka) is mentioned in the above link, there is one. You can find Vol.1 here.

Abhidhamma.com also has useful material available for download, including "The Book of Pairs Vol.2".


Karma: Intention vs knowing result of an action

The difference is that it is possible to drive a car without the intention of killing the bugs you will hit, but it's not possible to kill an animal for a particular purpose without intending to kill it. You can't do something for a specific purpose without somehow forming the intention to do what you are doing.

For example if a farmer decides to kill a chicken in order to cook it and then actually kills it, then at the very least when he is preforming the act of killing he has the intention of killing. If he didn't have the intention of killing it then the physical act itself couldn't happen.


Taking  refuge in the 3 jewels of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha was recommended by the Buddha as providing protection from certain afflictions. It is specifically mentioned in the Dhajagga-paritta ("Banner Protection") - SN 11.3. Dhajagga-paritta is about the recollections of the Three Jewels, and is for the lay followers for protection against fear, trembling and horror. You will find it here

There are six heavenly realms, viz: Catummaharajika, Tavatimsa, Yama, Tusita, Nimmanarati and Paranimmitta Vasatti. Sakka is the ruler of the Tavatimsa Deva Loka. Although Buddhists worship and pray to Sakka to receive his blessing and protection, in the Dhajagga Sutta the Buddha says that Sakka is not free from mental defilements like greed, hatred, delusion and fear. However, it is a traditional belief among Buddhists that Sakka has undertaken to protect Buddhism.

In this discourse of the Banner protection (Dhajagga)  the Buddha introducing himself to monks said “O monks, the Tathagata who is Arahant Supremely Enlightened, is free from lust, free from hate is free from delusion, and is not liable to fear, terror, fright or flight”.(Tathagato bhikkhave araham Samma Sambuddho Vitarago Vitadoso Vitamoho abhiru acchambhi anutrasi apalayiti)

In Dhajagga-paritta  you will come to know that the qualities of the Supreme Buddha’s community of Sangha are most precious and admirable. These precious qualities were taught to us by the Awakened One himself in the Dhajagga Sutta.

In going for refuge, when we say, "Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.;  Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.;  Saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi."  it is important that we know of the Supreme Qualities of the Three Jewels". Many of us know the qualities of the first two jewels, but not of the third Jewel. So let us take a few moments to contemplate and recollect the great qualities of our Great Teacher’s noble community of Sangha.

“Supatipanno” - The Noble Sangha follow the path to eradicate passion, lust, ill-will, hatred and delusion.

“Ujupatipanno”- The Noble Sangha follow the straight way, the Noble Eightfold Path.

“Nayapatipanno” “ - The Noble Sangha follows the path to realise the Four Noble Truths in order to eradicate suffering.

“Samicipatipanno” - The Noble Sangha teaches the Noble Dhamma to others, so that they too can understand the Four Noble Truths.

“Yadidam chaththari purisa yugani” - The Noble Sangha consist of four types when taken as pairs: The stream entrant, The once-returner, The Never Returner and The Arahant.

Eight individuals “Atta purisa puggala” - When taken individually, the community of Sangha consist of eight individuals:

The one striving to Enter the stage of Stream Entry Fruit
The stream Entrant
The one striving to attain the stage Once-Returner
The once-Returner
The one striving to reach the stage of a Non-returner
Non-Returner
The one striving for the stage of Arahanthood
The arahant

“Ahuneyyo” - Because they hold these great qualities, The Supreme Buddha’s community of Sangha are worthy of receiving offerings even from those residing faraway.

“Pahuneyyo” - Because they hold these great qualities they are worthy of hospitality.

“Dakkineyyo” - Because they hold these great qualities they are worthy of receiving offering from others in expectation of merits.

“Anjalikaraneeyo” - Because they hold these great qualities they are worthy of respect and worship.

“Anuttaram punchakketham lokassathi” - Beholding these supreme qualities, the Supreme Buddha’s Noble Sangha is a field of merits to both humans and deities.

May the homage be to those Noble disciples who encompass such supreme qualities!


The relation between the three types of dukkha

Dukkha-dukkha (the dukkha of painful experiences):

The physical and mental sufferings of birth, aging, illness, dying.
The anxiety or frustration of coming across what is not desirable.

Unwanted things happening. Coming in contact with unwanted things, beings and stimuli. Resulting mainly as the world and even ourselves are not what we expect or in our control and being averse to such experience. This includes our form and cognitive process which is subjected to decay and change to which we are averse.

Viparinama-dukkha (the dukkha of the changing nature of all things):

The anxiety or stress of trying to hold onto what is desirable.
The frustration of not getting what you want.

This is mainly use to change. Wanted things not happening. Not coming in contact with wanted things, beings and stimuli. Or desirable experiences coming to an end (partly in relation to the above as it is undesirable for a desirable experience to end). Resulting mainly, as the world and even ourselves are not what we expect or in our control and being in wanting experiences we do not get. This includes our form and cognitive process which which takes on a particular form but we it to be different.

Sankhara-dukkha (the dukkha of conditioned experience):

A basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all forms of existence, because all forms of life are changing, impermanent and without any inner core or substance. On this level, the term indicates a lack of satisfaction, a sense that things never measure up to our expectations or standards

Mainly coming current and past volitional formations and karma. These manifests as sensations. These sensation also change and finite experience in common with the above two.
(Quotes sourced from: Dukkha)

Can Vipariṇāma-dukkha be analysed in terms of Dukkha-dukkha alone?

There is some overlap, i.e., if you are experiencing a something desirable and this changes.

Is the experience of Saṃkhāra-dukkha nothing more than Vipariṇāma-dukkha?

Nature of formations is it change hence some overlap with unsatisfactoriness due to change. Stimulating thoughts, happy moods, positive karmic experience all pass away.


This translation (of DN 16) includes this footnote:

In the earlier edition of this work, mahapadesa was rendered as "great authorities." It is now known that the proper meaning of apadesa is not "authority," but "reference" or "source." Besides, from the passage it is clear that there are only two real "authorities" — the Discourses (Suttas) and the Discipline (Vinaya).

The "four" are of course,

Then the Blessed One said: "In this fashion, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu might speak:

'Face to face with the Blessed One, brethren, I have heard and learned thus: This is the Dhamma and the Discipline, the Master's Dispensation';
or: 'In an abode of such and such a name lives a community with elders and a chief. Face to face with that community, I have heard and learned thus: This is the Dhamma and the Discipline, the Master's Dispensation';
or: 'In an abode of such and such a name live several bhikkhus who are elders, who are learned, who have accomplished their course, who are preservers of the Dhamma, the Discipline, and the Summaries. Face to face with those elders, I have heard and learned thus: This is the Dhamma and the Discipline, the Master's Dispensation';
or: 'In an abode of such and such a name lives a single bhikkhu who is an elder, who is learned, who has accomplished his course, who is a preserver of the Dhamma, the Discipline, and the Summaries. Face to face with that elder, I have heard and learned thus: This is the Dhamma and the Discipline, the Master's Dispensation.'

So, why are there four great references and not one, if the criteria is the same for each of them?
Because they're four different sources from which someone might say they heard something?
Do they represent primacy or order of reliability?
No I read it as explicitly the opposite.
I think the message is that the witness or narrator (IOW any bikkhu after the Buddha's passing) shouldn't be believed unreservedly -- the message might have "been misunderstood by that bhikkhu — or by that community, or by those elders, or by that elder" -- so no matter what source they claim you should measure what they say against the Dhamma and the Discipline, the suttas and the vinaya.
then does this imply that the traditional commentaries to the suttas by the Sangha is more reliable than the interpretation of a single monk
Ha, well I think it's your responsibility to decide for yourself.
On the other hand you're not supposed to split the Sangha, and I think that if a lot of experts seem to disagree with my view then it's likely that I'm missing something -- it's not as if other people's commentaries and so on aren't worthwhile.
I'm sympathetic to the idea that you might not want to trust any one person (even a monk) unreservedly, perhaps especially if what they're teaching is unorthodox.
Even so I think that reasonable people might have different approaches -- this Religious Conservatism discussion starts with,

We need to be clear about what we mean by “a conservative/traditionalist perspective”. For some monasteries it means following the tradition as it has been handed down by their teachers. For others it is about trying to get as close to the intentions of the Buddha as possible. The Ajahn Chah monasteries in the UK - where, incidentally, I have lived - are closer to the former, whereas monasteries such as Bodhinyana are closer to the latter.


Khanti/patience is indeed a very important virtue to cultivate. It's listed in Sn 2.4 as among one of the greatest protection for a practitioner. Also refer to many other related suttas.

Patience, compliance,
seeing contemplatives,
discussing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protection. ~~ Snp 2.4 ~~


How do you handle loud, meaningful family noises while trying to focus?

Understand what happens. Sound comes in contact with the ear which re recognise as such and such or voice of so and so. This creates a reaction which creates sensations to which you react with craving or aversion. In the above case you are reacting with aversion. When sound in the dominant input focus on the ear area for sensations. If the sound is very loud it might hurt the ear also but even in other cases when you practice you get some sensation. This has a mental reaction and thought proliferation. This gives arise to sensations in the head area. This should be your secondary focus. If you look closely you will see this creates vibration and sensation all over the body. This should be your tertiary focus. When you start you will not be able to even sense anything around the ear unless very intense but as you go on you will be able to see the vibration through out the body. This comes with practice.

What ever sensation you should not react to it.

Each time your mind gets distracted by the sound or any other sense input do the following:

Recognise the object of attention to which the mind has wandered away and note it without verbalisation or imagination (i.e., without creating mental fabrications): Sense input or mental chartering, etc.
There is a sensation tided to this object being in focus: it can be intellectual stimulation if it is an thought, some other sensation if the body, etc.
Analysing, mental reaction and through proliferation may have created sensations around your head and rest of the body. So note these sensations.
Bring back your mind to your chosen object of attention. This can be extended even when doing normal tasks.
Each stage try to calm the fabrications. Lesser fabrications more concentrated you get.


I would think a Tao Buddhist is a Taoist an Buddhist. The Tao is the religious experience of the world, an the Buddhism is the philosophical experience of the world. The Tao developed its understanding of Yin an Yang this is sort like the Hindu/Buddhist concept of Karma.

You can find that Buddhism mingles with all type of religions. Buddhism is a very adaptable system that can help improve people in or out of religion.


Abhidhamma on Chittas and Chetasikas of Bi-polar disorders, Autism, and many mental disorders

I highly doubt you can find a one-to-one correspondence between modern psychiatric disorders and the classification of mental factors in Buddhist Abhidhamma. The two have completely unfamiliar zeitgeists or views of the world.

That said, I think you will find that many of the symptoms or more granular descriptions of the western psychiatric disorders are present or reflective of similar mental factors in the Abhidhamma. One thing you will not find in the latter is a classification of brain states or the physical mechanisms underlying many of the former. That is to say that western psychiatric disorders are - not entirely unwarranted - preoccupied with the workings of the brain as opposed to the workings of the mind. The two are not the same although with neural plasticity the two can lead to change in the other.

So, I think you will find that the efficacy of treating mental factors in Abhidhamma will be non-linear with treating western psychiatric disorders although they will have some effect on one another.

BTW, this is the canonical place where western psychiatric disorders are catalogued and described: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It is important to note that although this is the de facto canonical catalogue of western psychiatry that many western psychiatrists themselves view this catalog as subjective and arbitrary and providing only superficial and unreliable classification of disorders.

Hope this helps!


What Lord Buddha said about "practicing"?

Is life all about practises ?

Generalizations are dangerous, but i'd still say that buddhism deals primarily with reducing defilements/refraining from behaviors that are not beneficial. At the same time, the noble eightfold path also encompasses attaining new habits.

A summary would go something like this:

Guard (the risk of unbeneficial habits, not yet established)
Abandon (unbeneficial habits already established)
Develop (beneficial habits, not yet established)
Maintain (beneficial habits, already established)

https://suttacentral.net/an4.14/en/bodhi

  Will most of our future depends on our current practises ?

For a layperson, all actions bear consequences for the future.

"I am the owner of my kamma, the heir of my kamma; I have kamma as my origin, kamma as my relative, kamma as my resort; I will be the heir of whatever kamma, good or bad, that I do"

https://suttacentral.net/an5.57/en/bodhi


Noise is not necessarily a bad thing; some people choose to meditate with their eyes open, it allows them to enter a meditative state without relying on reduced vision. People also do walking meditation where there is a lot more touch involved and this can be a help in bringing meditation into daily living.

Of course there are still a lot of people who seek out quiet places where they can sit still with their eyes closed. You have to find what's right for you.

The trick to dealing with distractions is to not see the distraction as a problem, don't become averse to the distraction because the only real problem is your reaction to the distraction.


It may not be necessary to be a Buddhist to realize that doing harm to others by selling weapons, is not a wholesome act.


Suttas where Buddha taught laypeople after heaven they will be reborn in hell?

Seldom he taught the transcendent path and the backward to householder. Seldom he taught sunnata to householder. Why? Because the untrained mind would not understand and not protected by firm Silas and precepts "Yogies" dwelling in "housholder-equanimity" would cause them all the reasons to fall into hell, after their "equanimity" journey, gross transgressions, totally unaware, one self totally overestimated.
They would easily, which a notion of "there is no I" tend to pernicious false beliefs which causes them to fall to hell.

The so-called 'evil views with fixed destiny' (niyata-micchāditthi) constituting the last of the 10 unwholesome courses of action (kammapatha), are the following three:

(1) the fatalistic 'view of the uncaused ness' of existence (ahetukaditthi),

(2) the view of the inefficacy of action' (akiriyaditthi),

(3) nihilism (natthikaditthi).

(Of course many do not see that they just put the lable of Buddha Dhamma around gross wrong view.)
This is actuallynothing seldom. We find that much under modern Zen-follower, Bodhisatva strivers and in many other secualar approaches where householder are trained in "householder"-equanimity, meditation, but their basic right view and virtue not firm.
Where as the Uposatha of the "cowboys" still has an opening to the path, even if it is mostly just for mundane merits done, the Uposatha of the Jains cuts one easy of the path and closes all access.
Not to speak about the effects on many, when teaching but denying mundane right view, saying somehow "thats kindergarden"-Dhamma.

By ChrisW in regard of the question: If there isn't such a sutta, how could someone prove that in an answer? Where did you get the idea (or knowledge) that there isn't such a sutta: did you discover that yourself, or did someone tell you?

If you try to motivate a child to go to school and learn, become a doctor or what ever, would one start to teach it that doctors also dy?
If one has learned the skill of a doctor, whould it be good to tell him, that he still will go to dy?
The "problem" here is actually that many teaching and training "a doctor will not dy".
What do you think that you and many are? In which possible problematic situation of doubt and desire, yet full of knowledge, all around?
Stick simply to the Basics, all that you have learned and gained by means that are not in line of the Dhamma-Vinaya will not help, but be actually enemies. Why? Because it was not given, is not in line of the economy of the Noble Ones.
Devaduta Sutta: The Deva Messengers
People don't understand when it is sayed that association with fools lead to much suffering. Like the bandits encourage each other "don't be fool, they will not catch us. Why suffer and work".

"This is a man, your majesty, with no respect for mother, no respect for father [1], no reverence for contemplatives, no reverence for brahmans, no honor for the leaders of his clan. (e.g. wrong view) Let your majesty decree his punishment."

Dhammadhatu's concern in a discussion under his question:

My impression is it a common view in contemporary Buddhism that seeking heaven is ultimately vain because it is temporary. However, I have never read such a view taught to lay people in the suttas therefore by asking this question I hope to clarify the matter. It is a genuine question. Regards.

This Sutta might be useful for understanding: Gilana Sutta: Ill and This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:
A Gradual Training
Today there are many householder and also monastics, making materialist a favor running around on Dhamma-places, in forums... and dispraise the doing of merits and come up with wired "no-rebirth" and "no-doer no deed" approaches. With their "householder-equanimity" (see here) they fall from this heaven and that is why the normally tolerant Buddha was very resolved in rebuking their approches, because it is for the suffering of many.
And why do this "Devas" fall into hell later on? Because they teach to be unvirtouse, even to kill not seeing the impureness in their ways, having not understood the basics, yet believing that they are beyond...
[Note: This is a gift of Dhamma and not meant for commercial purpose or other wordily gains.]


In Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, the 5th precept is interpreted mostly as 'do not get intoxicated by alcohol and drugs' for non-ordained practitioners, meaning that it's up to you to know how much you can drink without affecting your mind. Ordained monks are still supposed to take the literal interpretation of the 5th precept and fully abstain from alcohol and mind-intoxicating drugs (except on the bi-weekly purification ceremony known as Tsog).

Of course, many people really don't know exactly how much they can consume until their minds get affected. That's why the more literal interpretation of the 5th precept is recommended: put it simply, if you don't know how your mind gets affected by alcohol/drugs, then abstain from it.

Also note that the whole point of the 5th precept is not to impose any kind of 'puritan morality'. It's just because if your goal of becoming a Buddhist practitioner is to train your mind, it's a bit pointless to consume anything that makes you less aware, less mindful, and pay less attention. Morality is not the point here!

As for the 'right' or 'wrong' way of using Buddha statues as decoration, that's a really tough question. If the bar owners are beginning practitioners, I would say that they should take their refuge vows a bit more seriously and refrain from using representations of the Buddhas as 'decoration'. If they are enlightened beings, then I would say this would be just a very clever trick to get people interested in Buddhism: by looking at the statue of a Buddha, someone without any connection with Buddhism might ask what the statue is about and get interested in the Buddhadharma — so forging a connection with the Dharma that way. They whole point of having representations of the Buddha all over the place is not to remind existing practitioners, but to get non-practitioners interested in asking more questions about it and eventually developing an interest in the Dharma :) But, to be very honest, I would be wary of using that argument to place Buddha statues in a bar...

If the bar owners are not practitioners at all, then, well, I'd say the same applies. Somehow they made a connection with the Dharma — somehow the Buddha statue appealed to them. And somehow this very weak connection with the Dharma will endure — if not in this life, then in the next. So I'd be happy to see that someone who is not a Buddhist at all to pick, among millions of different choices, a statue of the Buddha as a worthwhile 'decoration'. There will be some benefit to them :)


How to determine whether a 10 days S.N. Goenka Vipassana course is safe for my friend or relative?

I would suggest that you trust yourself to make that decision for each individual you are contemplating the recommendation.

You have personally taken the course so you have firsthand knowledge of its contents and rigors. The people you are going to be talking with are 'close' by your description so you already know a lot about who they are and should understand (or be able to learn through discussion) approximately where each one is on their personal journey on the path toward Enlightenment - and what help they might need.

With those pieces of knowledge, and the additional understanding of the issues others have had with the course (references you provided in your question), you are in a good position to analyze the issues for each and make that decision.

For those you decide to approach, I would make sure to spend the time informing them not only about the benefits you obtained but also some about the potential negatives that others have had. In this way, they will have all of the information they will need to look within themselves and decide if this is right for them.

In my opinion, withholding knowledge of training which you feel could help another would be as bad as blithely recommending it without providing the understanding of the possible difficulties they might encounter.

Through using your judgement and taking the middle path, I believe you will have done your best to assist all of them on their journey.


Have I invented this statsitic on Theravada enlightenment?

This inference of the amount of attainments seems unsubstantiated. Those Thai monks are also split into factions where one will hold that Buddha lives in Nibbana and be in disagreement with others. All the factions can not be considered as equally valid traditions with right views, likely to produce the four types of contemplatives. There seems to be relatively little consensus on matters of doctrine among the Theravadins.

If you look at buddhist forums you should readily see how much disagreement there is and things aren't much better in the monastic circles afaik. From what i've seen there is usually a demand for conformity of views, at least in the small communities whereas the larger communities will tolerate a broader range. If one is ordained in one tradition one may or may not be considered to have a valid ordination by others.

The assumption that 1:1m can be a Buddha, if that is what you expressed, i don't know how you inferred it but we are about 7billion+ nowadays and the general consensus is that there has only been one Buddha in the last 2600 years. Furthermore nobody is expected to attain Buddhahood any time soon. Based on this alone one could assume that it is far more of a rarity than 1:1m.


Does "stream enterer" simply mean "devout Buddhist"?

No, a stream enterer is much more than that. A stream enterer has experienced Nibbana first hand and is changed in a permanent way because of it. Stream entry totally destroyes the first three fetters of self view, doubt about the validity of the teachings, and clinging to rites and rituals.

A person who knows the teachings of the Buddha are true and sincerely follows them to seek enlightenment but hasn't yet attained stream entry would be called a kaliyana putthujana, or good worldling.

(Added later)

Some other terms that might be what you are looking for are the terms Faith-follower and Dhamma-follower, which refer to individuals who have come to have come to an acceptance of the Dhamma either primarily through the quality of faith or of wisdom, but have not yet been able to directly perceive the truth of the Dhamma for themselves. For example, the Vinnana Sutta says:

  At Savatthi. "Monks, eye-consciousness is inconstant, changeable,
  alterable. Ear-consciousness... Nose-consciousness...
  Tongue-consciousness... Body-consciousness... Intellect-consciousness
  is inconstant, changeable, alterable.

  "One who has conviction & belief that these phenomena are this way is
  called a faith-follower: one who has entered the orderliness of
  rightness, entered the plane of people of integrity, transcended the
  plane of the run-of-the-mill. He is incapable of doing any deed by
  which he might be reborn in hell, in the animal womb, or in the realm
  of hungry shades. He is incapable of passing away until he has
  realized the fruit of stream-entry.

  "One who, after pondering with a modicum of discernment, has accepted
  that these phenomena are this way is called a Dhamma-follower: one who
  has entered the orderliness of rightness, entered the plane of people
  of integrity, transcended the plane of the run-of-the-mill. He is
  incapable of doing any deed by which he might be reborn in hell, in
  the animal womb, or in the realm of hungry shades. He is incapable of
  passing away until he has realized the fruit of stream-entry.

  "One who knows and sees that these phenomena are this way is called a
  stream-enterer, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe,
  headed for self-awakening."
  http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn25/sn25.003.than.html


The terror tragedy in France in Buddhist light

I saw the "breaking news" on BBC news web site last night.

Today they are still using the heavy black border around the headline which they reserve for grave calamity.

The sight (and formatting) of this headline is shocking to see, full-screen: it turns my stomach somehow.

There is nothing else in the news headlines, at the moment, it occupies every news slot:

I remember the TV news reporting the 9/11 attacks in New York. Two or three weeks later the TV was still replaying or showing the same photos of the infamous footage, and I switched off the TV news and I haven't watched American TV since then.
The subsequent invasion of Iraq by the Coalition of the willing (not to mention the invasion of Afghanistan) seems to me related to that kind of propaganda.

With respect and assuming you want to know the world news, I invite you to contrast the 130 dead in Paris with the number (hundreds of thousands) of people killed and homeless in (for example) Syria.

My specific suggestions are:

Be aware that something like this (i.e. people being shot) happens often in the world, presumably daily, although not where you are and not reported in the news you usually consume
Beware that news is emotionally sensational, with dramatic introductory music (even if if it's only a drum-beat), a hurried/worried/concerned tone of voice from the people reading the news, etc. ... and beware that those emotions, and/or what you call "memes", may be infectious.
Beware of the reaction to respond to violence with violence, fear, anger, revenge, e.g. go to war "to prevent further war" or something like that ... that might not be a good idea! The Dhammapada suggests that,

  Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.
  There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die. But those who do realize this settle their quarrels.

We (most people) are probably not directly affected by these events (but we may be affected by news of the events). Isn't this partly a matter of "guarding the sense doors" which Buddhists have a habit of doing already?
If it does affect you personally (if you are at the scene of a shooting) historically one of the ways in which Pacifists serve in war-time is as "stretcher-bearers".

The French have a word "affoler" which literally/etymologically means "to make crazy". Here are some definitions of it from the 'net:

  (transitive) to madden, drive crazy (under the effects of a strong emotion)
  (transitive) to terrify, frighten, scare
  (intransitive) to run like crazy, leg it
  (reflexive) to go crazy, go bonkers

Or from Larousse,

To provoke great anxiety
To provoke emotional disorder

Avoiding this kind of "folly" within yourself might be a good beginning.


As Buddhists, what do you make out of the tragedy of Tibet?

I believe this question has been asked 2500 years ago. Please see Mahāparinibbānasutta DN16:

  I will wipe out these Vajjis, so mighty and powerful! I will destroy them, and lay ruin and devastation upon them!


How does the force of ones karma determine where the mind stream goes?

This question is very similar to another: Does Mahayana Buddhism discourage attaining enlightenment under the Gautama Buddha Sasana? In my answer to that question I explained how the bodhisatva who post-pones enlightenment developed.

  How does "the force of karma" determine where the mind stream goes after a physical death?

Many different answers have been proposed and adopted by Buddhists of different schools at different times to try to account for how karma determines where the mind stream goes after death. But no one really knows. We say that this is what happens, but a satisfactory explanation of the process is entirely lacking. We sometimes use analogies to try to explain, but they don't really tell us anything about the reality of this process.

The bodhisatva choosing their rebirth is simply an article of faith.


Some quotes to this effect:

  "Over the past I do not mourn nor for the future weep,—
  I meet the present as it comes, and so my colour keep.

  Mourning about the hopeless past or some uncertain future need,—
  This dries a young man's vigour up as when you cut a fresh green reed."

  -- Jat. 538 (Cowell, trans)

and

  “Again, when a fool is on his chair or on his bed or resting on the ground, then the evil actions that he did in the past—his bodily, verbal, and mental misconduct—cover him, overspread him, and envelop him. Just as the shadow of a great mountain peak in the evening covers, overspreads, and envelops the earth, so too, when a fool is on his chair or on his bed or resting on the ground, then the evil actions that he did in the past—his bodily, verbal, and mental misconduct—cover him, overspread him, and envelop him. Then the fool thinks: ‘I have not done what is good, I have not done what is wholesome, I have not made myself a shelter from anguish. I have done what is evil, I have done what is cruel, I have done what is wicked. When I pass away, I shall go to the destination of those who have not done what is good…who have done what is wicked.’ He sorrows, grieves, and laments, he weeps beating his breast and becomes distraught. This is the third kind of pain and grief that a fool feels here and now.

  -- MN 129 (Bodhi, trans)

Also, many Dhammapada verses to this effect, e.g.:

  The evil-doer grieves here and hereafter; he grieves in both the worlds. He laments and is afflicted, recollecting his own impure deeds.

  (Buddharakkhita, trans)

I can't think of anywhere that specific mental afflictions are enumerated or categorized, though.


How is a living being/lifeform defined in Buddhism?

Being can be classified as:

has 5 aggregates or at least the mental subset
has has Nama-Rupa if in the material realm or Nama in the non material realms
has at least mind in the 6 sense faculties
arisen through Dependent Origination (DO)
subjected to the the 4 Noble Truths (4NT)
out of the 6 elements at least has consciousness
has Citta and Cetasika and in the material realms rupa
nourished and sustained by the 4 nutriments

A plant also lives but is not a being as it does not meet the above. It does not have a mind (henceforth Citta and Cetasika doe not arise) or consciousness, not subjected DO or 4NT. Plants also need nutrients but not the 4 nutrients which sustain a being.

A being is born another being in one of the 31 planes of existence or becomes extinguished if you attain Nibbana. An animate being cannot become an inanimate object like a stone.

Perhaps a way to access if a something is alive is through birth, aging and death along with the above factors. Something that is born ages and dies. Plants also does the same so they are alive but not beings.


Does having a child has a negative/positive impact in karma?

It depends on the intention behind the action. If the intention is unwholesome then it will lead to unwhole resultants and vice versa if its wholesome. It is the intention that has kammic potency.
Here is a quote from the wiki about what the Buddha said when he was about to leave his palace and at the same time got news about his newborn son:

"Prince Siddhartha was preparing himself to leave the palace. One account claims that when he received the news of his son's birth he replied Rāhu jāto, bandhanam jātam — "A rāhu is born, a fetter has arisen." Accordingly the child was named Rāhula, meaning "fetter", or "impediment", recognizing that the child could be a tie that bound him to his wife Yashodhara, a binding that may impede a search for enlightenment. Others, however, feel rāhu does not mean "fetter" in this sense. The second account, found in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, is that Rāhula received his name in accordance with an eclipse of the moon, caused by the snake Rahu. In Japanese he is called Ragora (羅睺羅).
Supporting the first account, in the Dhammapada, the pleasure and joy that a man receives in his wife and children is called a "soft fetter" that ties individuals to life and suffering, not just through eventual loss and separation of loved ones but more deeply and subtly may act as ties to cyclic existence (samsara)".


How can I smile when existence itself is dukkha?

I see many monks smiling, which is a good thing, but logically speaking how can they smile when they know life is dukkha. Can you smile when you are watching somebody getting tortured ?

Think about this, when you see a toddler crying for a chocolate, do you smile or laugh or you get gloomy and sad about the fact that the child is not getting what it wants?

Monks are not smiling because there is 'dukkha', there are smiling even when there is 'dukkha'.

Hotei not just used to smile, he used to laugh.

How can I smile when I know existence itself is dukkha ?

Existence is dukkha is not a decree, it's a diagnosis, and you can smile that it's already been diagnosed, and there is a cure and many people have already gotten cured.


The 4 Elements and it’s relation with electricity

MN28 discusses the four elements. Electricity would be a manifestation of the fire element. The electricity of your nervous system would be interior fire element.

MN28:16.1: And what is the fire element? The fire element may be interior or exterior. And what is the interior fire element? Anything that’s fire, fiery, and appropriated that’s internal, pertaining to an individual. This includes: that which warms, that which ages, that which heats you up when feverish, that which properly digests food and drink, or anything else that’s fire, fiery, and appropriated that’s internal, pertaining to an individual. This is called the interior fire element. The interior fire element and the exterior fire element are just the fire element. This should be truly seen with right understanding like this: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’ When you truly see with right understanding, you grow disillusioned with the fire element, detaching the mind from the fire element.

The lighting in the clouds would be the exterior fire element. Notably, all four elements should not be considered self.

MN28:17.1: There comes a time when the exterior fire element flares up. It burns up villages, towns, cities, countries, and regions until it reaches a green field, a roadside, a cliff’s edge, a body of water, or cleared parkland, where it’s extinguished for lack of fuel. There comes a time when they go looking for a fire, taking just chicken feathers and strips of sinew as kindling. So for all its great age, the fire element will be revealed as impermanent, liable to end, vanish, and perish. What then of this ephemeral body appropriated by craving? Rather than take it to be ‘I’ or ‘mine’ or ‘I am’, they still just consider it to be none of these things. …

Observe the elements without wishes.


How old was Buddhism/Shinto before Shinto began to adopt aspects of Buddhism

Buddhism originates with the historical Buddha:

The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE.[1][10] More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.[1][11][note 4] These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all historians.

The historical Buddha lived in or near what is now northern India, i.e. far from Japan.
Re. the Origins of Shinto, recorded history dates to circa 700 CE (i.e. about 1000 years later than Buddhism) but archaeology shows a "pre-history" that "significantly" earlier than that:

Shinto has very ancient roots in the Japanese islands. The recorded history dates to the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720), but archeological records date back significantly further. Both are compilations of prior oral traditions.

The BBC's short History of Shinto says,

Periods of Shinto history
One of the standard classifications of Shinto history reduces it to
four major periods:

Before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan

Shinto and Buddhism together in Japan

And,

Shinto and Buddhism together
From the 6th century CE the beliefs that are now known as Shinto were
greatly altered by the addition of other ingredients.
Shintoisms were the only religions in Japan until the arrival of
Buddhism in the 6th century CE. From then on Shinto faiths and
traditions took on Buddhist elements, and later, Confucian ones. Some
Shinto shrines became Buddhist temples, etc.

And,

Before the arrival of Buddhism
During this period there was no formal Shinto religion, but many local
cults that are nowadays grouped under the name Shinto.
Like many prehistoric people, the first inhabitants of Japan were
probably animists; devoted to the spirits of nature. In their case
these were the Kami that were found in plants and animals, mountains
and seas, storms and earthquakes, sand and all significant natural
phenomena.
The early Japanese developed rituals and stories which enabled them to
make sense of their universe, by creating a spiritual and cultural
world that gave them historical roots, and a way of seeming to take
control of their lives, in what would otherwise have been a fearful
and puzzling landscape.
Other cults that are grouped together into Shinto probably arrived in
Japan from Korea with the Korean tribes which invaded Japan in late
prehistoric times.
These religions were highly localised, and not organised into a single
faith. Nor were they seen as a single religion; the realms of Earth
and the supernatural were so closely integrated in the world-view of
the early Japanese that the things that modern people regard as a
faith were seen in those times as just another part of the natural
world, albeit a part of enormous power.

So "prehistoric Shinto" was (as well as being pre-historic) not necessarily a single religion. As such I suspect it may be impossible to define exactly when it began.
If you want to know more about what archaeology says about the origins of pre-historic Shinto, that seems like an appropriate question to ask on the 'History.SE' site.


What are the Sutta stating Paramithä requirements to be a stream winner?

Could you please give me the names of some sutta which I can read further on this

I think that SN 55.2 implies perfection of Sila.

People say that Dana parami is an essential beginning, for example here ...

  Giving (dana) is one of the essential preliminary steps of Buddhist practice.

... but I don't know a sutta where it's named as a characteristic of a stream winner.

I wonder where the talk about practicing paramithä came from. Have you encountered people or books that speak of requiring paramithä to become a stream winner?

There are a couple of talks on Access to Insight.

The Ten Perfections
A Treatise on the Paramis

I didn't find any (after only a brief search) on dharmafarer.org

My theory is that "perfection" isn't a doctrine which is talked about in the suttas.

The "Ten Perfections" for example starts by saying,

  Each path was defined as consisting of perfections (paramī) of character, but there was a question as to what those perfections were and how the paths differed from one another.

So I guess those doctrines (the doctrines about "perfections") were developed after the suttas.

The "Treatise" talks about the sequence in which they should be developed, and how to practice them and so on:

  Here "sequence" means sequence of teaching. This sequence is rooted in the order in which the paaramiis are initially undertaken, which in turn is rooted in the order in which they are investigated.

It finishes with:

  Their fruit is, in brief, the state of perfect Buddhahood.

The introduction says,

  The "requisites of enlightenment" are the paaramiis themselves, the main topic of the treatise. The word paaramii derives from parama, "supreme," and thus suggests the eminence of the qualities which must be fulfilled by a bodhisattva in the long course of his spiritual development.

So far as I know, when Theravada talks about the Four stages of enlightenment (starting with "stream winner") it's more usual to talk about the "fetters" which are overcome, rather than about "perfections".


Is fifth precept included in the Noble Eightfold Path?

Without watching the video, I think it is a late addition.

It was noticeable when writing this answer that several of those core suttas (MN 9; DN 31; SN 55.7) identify four precepts.

It apparently wasn't among the first of the Vinaya rules either (see this origin story).

I do think alcohol is problematic though, in my experience: better to avoid it.


Which gift has more benefit for the giver? What are the dangers?

The most beneficial giving (dana [Pali], act of generosity) is that which is done without the thought (without the conceptual constructs) of giver, giving and reciever.

The prbolem for an ordinary person, like us, is that we start evaluating the worth of the giving, worth of the person to whom it is being given and the worth of what is being given. (Certainly these are important things to think and decide, certainly there is merit in them as well; but the most meritorious, the highest dana  goes beyond these conceptual constructs). WHen we think of worthiness, we get caught up (attached, we cling, we grasp) with these thoughts and therefore loose more merit that would have been gained if we were beyond the concepts of giver, giving, receiver and other related notions as worth, etc.

One danger of overestimating one's capabilities is that we would make wrong decisions (since we have not judged our own capability correctly).

'Noble one' are categories that help in positing the progress of people on the path of Nirvana. One can only make correct judgements about people who are behind oneself in the path (ref. Arya Candrakirti's 'The Entry into the Middle way'). We cannot judge people who are at advanced stages as compared to us. All we can judge is that they are ahead- for such progress on the path shows in one's actions, speech and thoughts.


Does any/every form of lying violate the precept of "not-lying"?

The motivation DOES make a difference to the karma of an action. The classic discussion about karma stresses motivation.

  Karma as action denotes an act of mental volition (cetanā), and the bodily and verbal actions that stem from it.

  (Classical Indian Buddhist Philosophy, by John Powers)

This is almost literally from  Vasubandhu's Abhidharma-kośa (4th century CE).

So the mental volition (that is - motivation) is the whole point. That makes sense: everything in Buddhism is about consciousness first.

So if you lie to protect jews from the Nazis, to use a modern example - that is not necessarily negative karma. If you had taken lay vows, as a Tibetan Buddhist you would probably do some purification ritual to be sure, but since the motivation is to help someone & you are also preventing people from harming (the nazis) - on balance it is better to lie in such circumstances.

Your example is a bit less clear. I do think it is better to stay silent than to actively lie about your faith. If you have taken lay vows, you have at the very least taken on the attempt not to lie. Staying silent does not break your vow.

The vow to not-lie is also sometimes explained as follows:

  Do not distort fact
  ... Sometimes the use of words can make something seem acceptable, when it could have been said very differently and be totally unacceptable. This is not a lie, but a distortion of fact.

  (Essays on Karma, by Katinka Hesselink)


Yes there are some great teachings by the burmese meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw.

This website offers free books by Mahasi Sayadaw dealing with vipassana meditation and how to develop insight. This is a quote from the website regarding the free books:

  "The books in this section are free for downloads and personal uses. However, commercial uses are not allowed. The Buddha Sasana Online has acquired permission from Buddha Sasana Nuggaha Organization to post the books for free downloads as a gift for the Internet community. Therefore please keep these resources free, and if you wish to link to these files, please do not do so. Please copy the files to your own webspace, and save our bandwidth for other people. If you wish to distribute these books, you also need to ask permission from the publishers. Thank you".

You might find these books useful:

1. A Discourse on Vipassana

An extensive guideline through the practice of Vipassana meditation and explanation of the Satipatthana medthod, including how Nibbana is realized through this method of practice.

21. Fundamentals of Vipassana Meditation

This book includes an explanation of the difference of Samatha and Vipassana meditation, how Vipassana is practiced, the theory behind the practice, and how the practice achieves the goal of Nibbana and fulfills the Eightfold Noble Path.

26. Practical Vipassana Meditational Exercises

This is a brief look to the Vipassana meditation along with a few exercises to begin with.

28. Purpose of Practicing Kammatthana (Buddhist) Meditation

Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw explains the two kinds of meditations taught by the Buddha as well as a brief teaching on how to practice the two methods.

29. Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation

This book explains the Satipatthana Vipassana meditation method that's taught by the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta. It explains extensively the instructions given by the Buddha in the Satipatthana sutta, the practice, and the theory behind it.

30. Summary of Discourses on Purity and Insight (Visuddhi-Nana-Kattha)

This is a collection of discourses given by the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw on the subjects of purity and insight.

31. The Satipatthana Meditation

This is yet another discourse to extensively discuss the Satipatthana meditation method prescribed by the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta.

Lanka


How to let go of the will to let go or reach a certain state?

Great question ,this is actually a fallacy that ,I myself experienced after reaching long periods of bliss during meditation .What you are experiencing is called rapture,you  started off well in meditation without expectation then when the blissful feeling came, instead of meditating on it, you became enchanted by it and thus wanted to have it back but you cant have it because you started desiring it,falling back in the loop of desire> attachment> suffering.

What I had realized on the experiential level,is that there is no where to go in meditation ,I am already there ,all what I need to experience ,I am already experiencing.I realized that each experience whatever it is can be an object of meditation , a door way to end suffering.....Now If I cannot reach a certain state then the reality is ,,that I cannot reach it :).. knowing that right know and meditating on this reality by itself solves the problem.The quality of not reaching you cannot accept, you have an attitude towards it.When you accept not reaching the state you will transcend this thought.Then the state will come out of no where,its a state of connection with existence.

See the issue meditation is trying to solve is not to keep you in a spiritual high,but to make you less possessed by things as well as not making you disinterested in life.Thus if you totally accept life as it is ,with its bad states as well as its good then you have understood the way.

I recommend Vipassana meditation.Don't try in it to reach any state ,whatever you experience is your reality.No need to go anywhere or force any action.


At which point after conception does life begin?

Patisandhi Citta is the starting point of life. So life begins at conception.

Rebirth Consciousness

  This is called pa.tisandhi citta, literally "relinking consciousness."
  The pa.tisandhi citta is the act of consciousness which arises at the
  first moment of life, the moment of conception. It is determined by
  the last kammic citta of the preceding life.

  This kammic factor for the arising of a being operates through the
  pa.tisandhi. The accumulated tendencies of past lives are carried on
  to the pa.tisandhi and so the process of being born, dying and being
  born again goes on. Each pa.tisandhi citta is a new one, not the
  continuation of the old one in the previous life. Thus there is no
  place for a soul concept in rebirth. In the course of one particular
  life there is only one pa.tisandhi citta. Once the function of linking
  two existences has been performed by the pa.tisandhi, consciousness in
  the newly formed embryo immediately goes into the bhava"nga state.
  This flows along in the new existence with infinite interruptions by
  various stimuli and ends as the cuti citta of that particular
  existence.


If there are no past and future lives, why should we practice Buddhism?

There is no real difference between:

this current moment in life with future moments afterwards with Nirvana as the climax

and

this current life with a string of lives afterwards with Nirvana as the climax.

The practitioner of the Buddha's teaching, done without ego, needs no future incentive.

Therefore,

We "should" practice to become enlightened and help others achieve enlightenment in this very life.


What can be done about wanting to change things in the present that you can't?

There is only now, the present moment. There are thoughts about the past, fantasies about the future that are arising in the present moment.

What must be done is to become aware when such a thought do arise, and to observe that thought, objectively. Without investigation or analysis, without reacting, by simply turning, holding and sustaining your attention to what has just appeared, just at time of its duration.

You will realize that when you do this, the thought will simply disappear, it will vanish.

Ultimately it is only a thought, nothing more. The problem is that we create more out of it. The desire to control what is out there will only lead to your own misery. Let it go, give it up.

Have you ever heard about satipatthana / vipassana ?

This should help you, friend.
http://en.dhammadana.org/vipassana/what_is_it.htm


Why can't we accord the theory of evolution?

Why we can't accord theory of evolution??

The Buddha's Teaching is a not a theoretical teaching but a practical teaching. The Buddha invites one to come and see1 for oneself.

In SN 1:20 - Samiddhi Sutta, its taught that; "This Dhamma is here-present, out of time, inviting inspection, leading onward, to be realized by the wise each for himself".

Human beings, mankind and evolution are all concepts that do not have any real reference point, ie. a reference to Ultimate reality.

The question becomes meaningless when observed from a practical/meditational point of view. The question belongs to the Four Imponderables, namely the origin-element.

The Buddha teaches only about suffering and how to become free from it.

  What's the Buddhist view of evolution of the mankind?

Insight meditation will show that "the evolution of mankind" is merely a concept belonging to the 4th aggregate of mental formations.

1"Ehipassiko" is a Pali
 word used to describe the investigative nature of Buddhism. Discouraging blind faith alone, the Buddha encouraged his disciples to "come and see" his teachings for themselves, to witness the fruits of this practice through direct experience.


What are the requirements for Once-returner?

The once returner just destroys the 3 fetters and reduce lusts

  Again, Sāriputta, consider the person who is accomplished in the precepts, but not in concentration, nor in wisdom — by destroying the
  three fetters and reducing lust, hatred and delusion, he becomes a
  Once-returner, who returns to this world again once only and makes an
  end of ill.

  This, Sāvatthi, is the sixth person, who, dying with some attached
  remainder, is altogether freed from hell, rebirth in the womb of an
  animal, the realm of ghosts, from the untoward way, the ill way, the
  abyss, hell.

http://obo.genaud.net/dhamma-vinaya/pts/an/09_nines/an09.012.hare.pts.htm#p1

Apparently the first people who are ''moderately'' good at concentration are the ''Clan-to-clan-goer''


From a Theravada Buddhist perspective, this theory suffers from the error of an enduring self.  It is dependent on their being a persistent consciousness or, at minimum, some sort of enduring higher self.  From a Mahayana perspective, this theory establishes an erroneous dichotomy between form and emptiness.  There is ultimately no distinction between the bag (i.e. the body), consciousness, and the universe.


How important is the surangama sutra in cotemporary buddhism?

Very good question. You can see that no scholars here can answer this question.
It really depends on which school you follow.

In the Theravada school, the Surangama Sutra does not exist: the Surangama Sutra exists only in the Mahayana school. Many of those here are answering questions based on the Theravada school, and in a scholarly manner.

The Buddha's Teachings is not about being scholarly or showing off your knowledge! I am not here to write great answers but to clarify.

The Japanese said that Surangama Sutra is not real and written by someone. The someone must be highly wise. The reason for Surangama Sutra being accused of not being  genuine is because it contained a lot of actions that we should not do and precepts to follow. The Japanese did a lot of those forbidden actions.

Welcome to the Kali Yuga period or Dharma Ending Age or Apocalypse.
In the Kali Yuga period, the Buddha's Teachings will become an academic exercise like what is happening here. How scholarly with your knowledge.
The Surangama Sutra will be the first sutra to disappear in the Kali Yuga period.

Inside the Surangama Sutra, there is the Surangama Mantra which is now separated from  the Sutra as a standalone. This is the daily morning recitation mantra, that all Mahayana Buddhist temples in the world recite (when sky is still dark).
It is the most important part of the Surangama Sutra in contemporary Mahayana Buddhism.

However, the Surangama Sutra is losing its importance in contemporary Mahayana Buddhism. The reason being it is a long sutra to be recited, and it is not easy to understand if it is in Chinese.

The best book on Surangama Sutra is Surangama Sutra translated by the late Charles Luk K'uan Yu (he died in 1978).

The late Master Hsuan Hua and his disciples did some translations. It is available on their web.

The Warning to practitioners section really tells you what will happen when you reach a certain stage. It is a good warning.

In order to recite the the Surangama Sutra, the person must be a full time vegan without eating the 5-6 pungent items -- some Mahayana monks said. I am not sure about being a full time time vegan only you can recite the sutra. Don't try reciting it unless you want to invite demons and devils to fight with you in the first place. Read it first.
Not many can do so, then it is losing its appeal.

So Surangama Sutra and Mantra only exist actively in temples. Externally it is just another book with a few that will recite.

As far as I know there's never been any "school" which based itself on its interpretations, unlike the Mahaparinirvana, hua-yen, lotus, etc.

All schools are the same -- upekkha or equanimity.
Hua Yen-Avatamsaka sutta a great book that I will fall asleep reading.

What is there to interpret about? It is a straightforward book. Use it in your meditation and daily life.

Where can I find out about its historical and contemporary use?

Read the whole book. The Surangama Sutra is about Ananda and Matangi: yes, Matangi. The mantra is about breaking breaking evil spells like Atanatiya.
Contemporary use -- it is not about theory and exorcism. It is all there.Read it.
Usually more suited for monks and upasakas who had been monks before.
If you don't understand, please seek more clarification from me.

The cult endless attacks on Nalanda University put the Surangama Sutra existence only in Chinese after Chinese monks brought it back to China before the 12th century. The destruction of Nalanda University dealt a big blow not only to the Buddha's Teachings but to the Sanskrit Surangama Sutta existence. All important knowledge destroyed and later claimed by the cult.
Many cult students attended the Nalanda University before they informed their blood brothers to destroy all the knowledge that should be left to us.


What is the 3 lifetimes interpretation of the 12 nidanas?

Here is an excerpt from the source of the three life-times interpretation:

  287. The past, the present and the future are its three times. Of these, it should be understood that, according to what is given as
  such in the texts, the two factors ignorance and formations belong to
  the past time, the eight beginning with consciousness belong to the
  present time, and the two, birth and ageing-and-death, belong to the
  future time.
  -The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), p.600

For additional information, I suggest reading the entire page from which the above excerpt was extracted and the pages that succeed it.


Usefulness of Madhyamaka to personal practice?

Madhyamika posits that both persons and phenomena (i.e. phenomena other than persons) are empty of true existence. While traditional text do not mention the emptiness of chairs, table, etc. They do say that persons and phenomena [other than persons] are empty of true existence. The Heart Sutra says:

  Phenomena also are empty.

This citation means that both persons and phenomena are empty of true existence. Thus, it is not true that "Mahayana Agamas do not discuss the nature of other non-sentient things".

In his Commentary on Aryadeva’s Four Hundred, Chandrakirti says:

  Through the division of phenomena and persons [selflessness] is understood as twofold, “a selflessness of phenomena and a selflessness of persons.”

In addition, traditional Mahayana texts explicitly posits that phenomena one encounters and "deal with" on the path to enlightenment are empty. For instance, the objects of abandonment are empty, nirvana and samsara are empty, afflictions are empty, minds are empty, and so forth. Why? This is because while our misconception of the nature of a cup is not that which binds us in samsara, seeing the afflictions, etc. the way they exist is most relevant.
phenomena the way they exist is relevant, while it is not so much our misconception of the nature of a table that binds us in samsara.

Nagarjuna’s Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness says:

  Compositional activity is caused by afflictive emotions.
   The afflictive emotions that motivate actions have a nature of [contaminated] actions.
  The body is caused by [contaminated] actions.
  All three are empty of inherent existence

The types of phenomena of which emptiness is usually emphasized, though, are the aggregates. According to Madhyamika tenets, one cannot obtain even the path of seeing without directly realizing both the emptiness of person and that of phenomena [simultaneously]. Here, phenomena refers to the aggregates.

In Precious Garland, Nagarjuna says:

  As long as conception of the aggregates exists,
  So long is there conception of an I in them.

This is because we posit that the conception of self of person is based on the conception of self of phenomena, and that it is not possibly to eradicate one [ignorance] without eradicating the other.


Buddhism does not explicitly prohibit ordinary people (lay people) eating meat although it prohibits monks accepting offerings of meat when it is known or suspected an animal was specifically killed to feed the monks.
The above said, Buddhism does including a training rule for Buddhist lay people to refrain from killing breathing lifeforms therefore a practising lay Buddhist should do their best to prevent unnecessary killing, which includes of animals.
For lay people, sometimes the killing of animals for food may be necessary, dependent upon the circumstances. This is probably why we cannot find any explicit teachings in the original scriptures prohibiting laypeople from eating meat or killing animals for food. Instead, there is merely the general precept of non-killing in Buddhism as a training rule, guided by intention.
In summary, many lay Buddhists choose to not eat meat because they practise loving-kindness & compassion towards animals. Buddhism teaches practicing loving-kindness & compassion leads to great bliss or the heavenly realms.


Killing a Animal to prevent painful of that Animal.Is it consider as a bad thing for me according to buddhism?

Even mercy killing is considered bad and also breaks the precepts.

The dog is going through its pain due to karma. Say you kill it and goes to a worst hellish state by killing it you are putting to a far worse experience.

If you treat the dog's wounds and try to heal it you are creating good karma for yourself and also easing the pain for the dog. This is be best avenue to consider.


Is it forbidden in Thai/Buddhist religion for a woman to perform consensual oral sex on someone?

The Buddhist path is followed by those who voluntarily choose to, i.e., by those who take refuge.

Dhammapada 242 says: "misconduct is the taint in a woman" (malitthiyā duccaritaṃ). Traditionally, in Thailand, monks interpreted this to mean the only allowable sexual partner for a Buddhist woman is her husband. In traditional Thai culture, the sexual purity of a woman & a mother was considered very important. Thus, while the mother remained sexually moral, often it was acceptable for men to occasionally have sex with those women who were outcastes from mainstream society, namely, prostitutes. (Yes - this appears to be a typical characteristic Thai "double standard").

Also, the idea of "consent" has no relevance to the Buddhist path because a "consensual action" may still be an unskillful action that brings harm & suffering. For example, many people consent to have uncommitted sex with eachother yet often such sexual interactions bring suffering, such as anger, blame, addiction, regret, feeling used or heartbreak. The emotional reactions of lonely desperate people (called "hungry ghosts" in Buddhism) searching for sex is often unpredictable. Often people that engage in promiscuous sex have hidden psychological issues.

All religions, including Buddhism, include sex in their moral guidelines because sex is not 100% pleasure and can bring suffering. The Buddha said about sexual pleasures: "They bring little enjoyment and much suffering and disappointment. The perils in them are greater". For example, some individuals even commit suicide due to the loss of a lover. Many men angrily lose their financial wealth when their wife revengefully divorces them. When promiscuous women "hit the wall" due to age & menopause, they often appear susceptible to depression.

Therefore, to attempt to answer this very broad question:

If a Thai adult female living in the western world is a Buddhist that has taken refuge in Buddhism by voluntarily choosing to observe the five precepts; then to perform consensual oral sex on someone apart from her husband or her (same sex) wife would be sexual misconduct.
Regardless, random acts of performing consensual oral sex outside of committed relationships leads to 'rebirth' in the hungry ghost (addiction), animal (shamelessness) & hell (suffering) realms. It is quite obvious the significant amount Western women over 40 years of age using antidepressants is probably largely due to their former sexual promiscuity & broken relationships.

Note: Most Thai people consider themselves to be "Buddhist", even if they have not taken formal vows (refuge) and even if they do not live a moral life. Therefore, if a Thai woman performs oral sex on many different people, she may still consider herself to be a "Buddhist". Even Thai prostitutes may consider themselves to be Buddhists. When I lived in a monastery in Thailand, a renowned corrupt politician ordained as a monk after he was stood down from parliament & lived in the hut next door to me. Therefore, we should be careful not accuse a Thai of not being a (cultural) Buddhist if they do not follow the Buddhist moral precepts.


There is no set, predictable pattern.

Yes, some attain gradually. Don't worry about gradualism too much though, just figure out how to Practice better and better, keep improving your  Dharma knowledge. Your recognition that your mind is racing is the 1st step. (Most ordinary people are at step 0. They don't even know that their mind is hell.)

Yes, there are many cases of sudden enlightenment, and such people always had great amount of merit and past life cultivation and already had tremendous concentration power (2nd Training).

Read a Buddhist book. I suggest reading the articles here. Read Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha for the best hardcore introduction to Buddhism ever. It's free.

It's not as simple as force yourself to sit for 20 minutes twice a day and get enlightened...there is a lot to the whole Buddhist work and it is plain out stupid for someone to expect realization and get it. Realization is a type of non-attainment. Read the Diamond Sutra and Heart Sutra to start to understand this concept.

Also, unless you can focus your mind (the 2nd training) so well that you are absolutely clear and blissful (this happiness is happier than a constant orgasm, jhana) the 3rd training (which involves "realization") is far far off.

Learn to concentrate first (2nd training).

You also have to learn how to meditate correctly or else you can meditate for 24/7 for 100 years and nothing will happen - no stilling of the mind, nothing, just racy mind getting worse and worse until you give up.

"Don't have hope for Enlightenment but Practice all your life." --Milarepa


Who propounded "All doesn't exist" in the Buddha's time?

Perhaps it's a bit too frank, I think the OP asked an invalid question. A doctrine of everything doesn't exist cannot be uttered. It's like, a dead man cannot say "I'm dead", or you tell someone in the face "I'm not here". Making up such question is just an indication the questioner trapped by the trick of the mind - we called intellectual capacity.
This is the same trick for making up the phrase like the "groundless ground", the "egg-less egg", or the "valueless value"... the list can go on and on. You are simply making up another seemingly wisdom-infused phrase "non-existing existence". The Buddha has vivid and fun examples to dismiss, said, these people are talking about and debating on the "horns of a rabbit" and "hair of the tortoise". These things are mere constructs, the mind's game (戲論).
Let me make it more prominent: how can a question be made if all doesn't exist? What is to be discussed about since everything doesn't exist?
In ancient India, at Buddha's time, the study of Hetu-vidya and Catuṣkoṭi are prerequisites of establishing any doctrine. With all doesn't exist the whole proposition simply cannot be established, no learnt master would propound it.

Note:
I have great doubt on the OP's quoted Pali Sutta SN 12.15, the accuracy of the translated wording "everything exists" + "everything doesn't exist". Perhaps due to this misleading wording the OP asked the unnecessary question.
The corresponding Agama read as this (excerpt):

...尊者陀迦旃延...：「...云何正見？...」
佛告陀迦旃延：「世間有二種依，若有、若無，為取所觸；取所觸故，或依有、或依無。若無此取者，心境繫著使不取、不住、不計我苦生而生，苦滅而滅，於彼不疑、不惑，不由於他而自知，是名正見，是名如來所施設正見。所以者何？世間集如實正知見，若世間無者不有，世間滅如實正知見，若世間有者無有，是名離於二邊說於中道，所謂此有故彼有，此起故彼起，謂緣無明行...滅。」
佛說此經已，尊者陀迦旃延聞佛所說，不起諸漏，心得解脫，成阿羅漢。
======
...Ven. Kātyāyana, "...what is right-view?..."
The Buddha told Kātyāyana, "There are two fixations in
the world, if exist or if non-exist, due to attachment on contact. For
attaching on contact, either fixate on exist, or fixate on non-exist.
If one doesn't have any attachment, tames the mind made it not attach,
not dwell, not involve the self. Suffering arisen as it arises,
suffering ceased as it ceases. In it don't doubt, don't faze. Not
depending on other but known it yourself, that is
called right-view. This is called the right-view taught by the
Tathagata. Why is that so? The aggregating of the world is known and
seen as it is; if the world non-existed it is not existing now.
The cessation of the world is known and seen as it is, if the world
really existed it is not ceased existing now. This is called
avoiding the two sides teaching the middle way. It is what called,
this exists therefore that exists, this arises therefore that arises,
called saṃskāra (activities) caused by ignorance... cessation."
... ...
... ..
... .
(the quoted italic text is corresponding to the OP quote.)

The Agama is much clear, concise and precise. Reading SN 12.15 ties a big knot in the head got lost in the bushes.


What are the prescribed objects for the development of jhāna?

Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta mentions the Jhana can be developed through:

4 Satipatthana
4 Brahmavihara

Kaya,gatā,sati Sutta mentioned that Jhana contemplation of the body. Though not explicitly mentioned Anapanasati Sutta, breath meditation also can be used.

Do develop Jhana you have to have Vitakka & Vicara. That is you 1st bring your attention an object and retain the object by reapplying you attention. E.g in the case of breath meditation you continuously try to feel the breath going in and out. In case of body contemplation you try to feel any sensation in the body continuously and try to keep you attention on the body.

This is too short to be practical meditation instruction just a pointer. In the case of Kasina you look at the device. Say you are practicing on fire. Offer a lamp to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Look at the flame for a little while and shut you eyes. Try to recreate this image. When you think about it the image will pop up an linger for a while. When the image disappears rethink about it again. If you cannot remember the details look at the flame again. As you practice the image will linger for a little longer. Adjust the rhythm of thinking about the frame to roughly to the level that you mental image of the flame looks continuous. Similarly for any other Kasina device. Beyond this point best seek advice of a teacher.

I think Jhana developed through 4 Satipatthana in combination with 4 Brahmavihara would be the best approach. But having said this any of the 40 Kammatthana can be used. If you use anything other than 4 Satipatthana make use you contemplate the 3 characteristics of the Jhana otherwise you will just develop Samadhi but not Panna, hence will not be wholesome.

Finally, developing Jhana without proper guidance can be dangerous. Therefore, try finding a teacher who can guide you.

Currently one of the famous Jhana teachers is Pa Auk Sayadaw with many students in the west. You can try making some inquiries.


Did Buddha go through the stages of sotapanna/sakadagami/anagami before his enlightenment?

The orthodox Theravada interpretation is that he went through all four stages.

[I]n the course of his long wanderings in samsāra, the bodhisatta had been to all the realms except the five suddhāvāsa realms which are meant only for those who have attained anāgāmi stage. The bodhisatta usually attains all the four stages on the path only in his last existence.
-- Mahasi Sayadaw, Discourse on Paticcasamuppada

N.B. I assume "usually" above is a mistranslation; it is not usually, it is always the case AFAIK.


Looking for a Sutta wherein the Buddha talks about dreams

"When the Tathagata — worthy & rightly self-awakened — was still just an unawakened bodhisatta, five great dreams appeared to him. Which five?"
AN 5.196


An enlightened mind has eradicated the fetters that bound that mind with wandering around with suffering born from ignorance and craving.

What kind of craving?

In the Discourse of the Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma (SN 56.11), the Buddha said this about the kind of desires than bind to suffering and dissatisfaction:

  "And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.

These three kinds of craving are called Tanha, or 'thirst'. As the objects desired from that thirst are impermanent, the emotional and mental thirst is never quenched by getting this or that object.

Other kinds of desire may still arise for the enlightened mind. The main difference is that such kinds do not lead to suffering, because ignorant expectations, assumptions and generalizations about the world have been uprooted. For such liberated mind, the task has been done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world.

Kind regards!


The quote is more or less true. The position that Tibetan Buddhism distinguishes between pāramitāyāna and tantrayāna is accurate. Pāramitāyāna is most often translated 'perfection vehicle' or 'sutra vehicle' while tantrayāna is usually translated as 'tantra vehicle' or 'secret mantra vehicle'.

In the Middle Length Lam-Rim, Tsongkhapa says:

  [Atisha] held numerous lineages of masters such as the two lineages of
  the common vehicle and of the great vehicle, with regard to which
  there are the two – (1) the perfection and (2) secret mantra [vehicles]. In
  the perfection vehicle he held three lineages: the lineages of the
  view and of conduct, the latter of which has the lineage from Maitreya
  and the lineage from Manjugosha. In the secret mantra he had received
  five types of transmission as well as numerous lineages such as the
  lineage of teaching systems,[tenets] the lineage of blessings, and the
  lineage of various instructions.

In this context, 'common vehicle' refer to:

  a lineage common to the Hinayana and Mahayana

As Geshe Jampa Gyatso phrases it in his commentary to Tsonkghapa's Middle-Length Lam Rim. These refer to the teachings and practices 'common to beings of small capacity' (wishing for a precious human rebirth) as well as those 'common to beings of middling capacity' (wishing for abiding-nirvana, individual liberation). One might say that, of these two, only the linage common to beings of middling capacity is a fully qualified path, because a path is found in the continuum of a practitioner generating effortless, renounciation, that is 'a mind of definite emergence from samsara'.

'Great vehicle' refers to the practices exclusive to 'beings of great capacities' (those wishing for perfect buddhahood, that is non-abiding nirvana, freedom from both afflictive and knowledge-obscurations). The entrance to the Mahayana path is effortless renounciation + uncontrived bodhicitta (whether it be aspirational or engaged).

Within this category of teachings [of the great vehicle] you have indeed the two 'vehicles' or 'lineages':

Perfection vehicle
Secret mantra vehicle

As Geshe Jampa Gyatso writes:

  The lineage of the Mahayana has two: (1) the perfection vehicle and (2) the
  vajra vehicle. In the perfection vehicle there is also two: (1) the
  lineage of the view and (2) the lineage of the conduct or the lineage of
  the vast. One lineage was passed on from Buddha Shakyamuni to
  Maitreya, to Asanga, to Vasubandhu, to Arya Vimuktisena, and so forth.
  The other was passed from Buddha Shakyamuni to Manjushri and so forth.
  In the secret mantra lineage there are five lineages. There is also
  the lineage of tenets, the lineage of blessings, and the lineage of
  instructions.
  As both 'vehicles' are Mahayana, they serve the same purpose: causing one to achieve enlightenment in order [for him] to benefit all sentient beings. Prasangika-Madhyamika claim that one has to come to practice tantrayana/secret mantra vehicle to achieve full enlightenment (and could not get pass the tenth bhumi without it). This is merely because the secret mantra vehicle purifies one's mind all the way through.

The perfection vehicle includes what we call 'the linage of the view and that of the conduct' or 'the profound and the vast' or 'wisdom and method' or 'the view of dependent-arising and great compassion'. It is so significant that, as Geluk students, teachers often say to us "if anyone asks you what Buddhism is all about, answer that it is about the view and the conduct: the meaning of dependent arising on one side, great compassion on the other".

Furthermore, we claim that a path is entered upon generating definite emergence. That a path of the perfection vehicle is entered upon generating bohdicitta as well (because it is a Mahayana path), and that the tantra path is entered upon generating renounciation + bodhicitta (becaus it is a Mahayana path) + realization of emptiness (whether it be inferential or direct, although this is a subject of debate). It does not mean you can not engage in tantric practices such as, say, Medicine Buddha Puja, or Guru Yoga, and so forth before having realized emptiness. On the contrary, we claim that engaging in those will get you plant the seeds you need to come to be able to actually practice tantra. You can not practice it unless you had a transmission or at least a permission from a qualified teacher, though.

There are four degrees of Tantra, but I will not go into that. This being said, Tantra has to do with understanding that one's aggregates are created by karma, it is playing with 'pure view' and the notion the behind the veil of the two obscurations, phenomena are naturally pure (as in 'abiding in natural nirvana'), and it encourages us to 'take the result as the path' as the Sayka emphasize very much (they call it Lam-Ré). This 'taking the result as the path' can take the aspect of self-generation visualizations (you generate yourself in the aspect of this or that deity manifesting from emptiness).

There are differences in tenets between tantra and sutras as well. The notion of 'subtle wind that goes from one life to the next' is hardly a notion of the perfection vehicle.


A good source to learn the Pali language?

(Bear in mind, I don't have mastery over the language but I've been swimming in it continuously for the last two years. The following advice is based on this experience.)

There is a whole list of books about learning Pāḷi. Some of them you can find here. I suggest applying the grammar that you learn from them, in Yuttadhammo's Digital Pali Reader (DPR) which will help you learn the vocabulary. DPR has an easy-to-use interface, dictionaries & various helpful tools including one of the grammar books mentioned in the first link.

These are the resources I use and I complement them with the available translations on ATI, SC & in secondary literature. I also confer this Sanskrit dictionary.

I hope this information will be useful. Good luck.