Where does consciousness come from? It could all be vibrations
interesting article Science getting closer to Truth 🙂
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Greetings Kalyanamittas,
Hope you are well
Today’s Pindapata near Kahagolla Aranya Senasana Diyatalawa, Srilanka …almost made my eyes fill with tears, out of Gratitude n love ❤️ for the people of Srilanka.
I had read somewhere that Buddha says for Monks that its better to eat “Hot iron balls” that to live on alms food and live heedlessly. It probably acts like a “catalyst” and make Monks and nuns work harder towards Liberation.
What made me so moved today is people were stopping from their vehicles and offering the food that was probably packed as lunch while they went to work and yet people were so generous.
Pindapata although may be the worst form of Livelyhood (according to the world) but provides great opportunity for people to make merit while the sangha is on alms round.
I also remember very fondly while in India going on Pindapata while I was in front of a humble house an old lady probably with long hair locks with Vibhuti smeared on her forehead saw me in front of the door of her house🚪 and she exclaimed ..Shiva Shiva!!!
Then she asked us wait while she went in and came out and asked us to step inside the house while she got probably her only lunch of Ragi balls with some curry and respectfully offered and while she pour inside the bowl she kept a humble portion and said that’s for herself…
Sometimes I exclaimed to my Uppajaya while I was a Samanera and said I have only heard Shivali Mahathera being renowned for receiving Gifts but I am kind of experiencing here with you when our Kappia had bags filled with Gifts from people in Tripura,North East India.
Apart from Maitri and Karuna sometimes we can’t help but rejoice in Mudita to see the great acts of Kindness of very humble people.
I wish every being supporting us on the Alms round or any other way get Millions of times in return, may they get all comforts of Life and perhaps even greater may they all make an end to all suffering by realising Nibbana!!!
With Gratitude n Love ❤️
Bhikkhu Ariyananda -
Sensual pleasures give little satisfaction and Burn 🔥 beings in the here & now …with the THIRST n fire of passion.
1) The Gratification so inferior like sesame seed of pleasure with a mountain of suffering
2) The Danger of rebirth and skewed perception (wrong views)
3) The escape (asubha) practise seeing imperfection and impermanence in them.In the long samsara guess this is one of the strongest attachments of beings to keep them in Kama loka especially food & sex ..few escape although temporarily by deep samadhis and go to Brahma world’s.
Why is it so difficult to see “dukkha” in sensual pleasures because we are not full awake of the workings of it ..deep inside the mind.
The dangle of 🥕 of sensual pleasures keep beings busy in this world. How free would we become if we don’t care about this as there are greater pleasures far superior and subtle in this universe.
Few similies can make us understand the gravity of falling inside this trap of samsara
1) A chain of bones (no matter how much a dog will chew on it ..will never be satisfied)
2) A man with boils (leper with worms infested body) would find the heat of fire soothing while someone cured of it would find the same heat of fire burning. (Magandiya Sutta)
3) Little gratification comparing to a sesame seed of happiness to a mountain of suffering.
4) Body is like a boil with 9 openings where only filth comes out.Beings don’t see the amount of “sankhara” being generated everytime they indulge in pleasures only when the “tadpole” becomes a frog realises how much suffering water was…it only realises once it evolves out of water same applies to one who remains in sensual pleasures and evolves to Sublime Bliss of Jhanas …
Yet Samadhi is not the end it needs to be transcended into wisdom to see things as they are ..the impermanent nature of body & mind …the resulting “suffering” because of “attachment” to that which is impermanent and skewed perception/view of “Sakkaya Ditti” a permanent “self” of conceit of “I” when infact every moment the body & mind arises and passes away in such great rapidity…just a constantly changing “phenomenon” born of past conditionings…then the mind will “let go” of both body and mind ..”Nibbida” would arise…seeing the truth..the THIRST for this Universe would end both outside and inside…”dispassion” “equanimity” and “non grasping” would become second nature therefore “non delight” in anything…and not create new conditionings/”sankharas”…resulting in Nibbana! Totally dis-engage!
Nibbanam Paramam Sukham.
May all Beings transcend sensual pleasures and the Bliss of Rupa Jhanas,the peace of Arupa Jhanas and may they all reach Nibbana!
With Metta
Bhikkhu Ariyananda -
1) Be curious and have the courage & love to face the unknown, ponder on the absolute reality of Life.
2) Do good, be good, practise Charity, Meditation and just be kind to all beings!
3) Understand and accept it as a Natural process, about impermanence of Life, it ain’t great to live forever neither is it to die immediately (but prepare your mind for that eventuality, sooner the better)
4) Live life with smiles, pass away with a smile
5) Die mindfully with awareness of sensations or breathing or extending unconditional love for all beings. -
i wondered why coconut water is not taken as Gilanapassa or medicine in the afternoon by monks when some even take Dark Chocolate or Cheese as medicines
some avoid fruit juices of Mahapala (Big fruits) like papaya, watermelon 🍉 etc and for my mind watermelon juice is good during hot summers.
IN one section of Vinaya it says ‘I allow all fruit juices except the juice of grain” is very clear for me or if I have follow “Mula” over “Attakatha”
but it could be the “Kileasas” and cravings complaining and it’s not very important! What is important is medicines should be taken with this reflection and so do the other 3 of food, shelter and clothing for Monks.
source :https://ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Texts-and-Translations/Short-Pieces/Reflections.htm
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Size of a Monks bowl.
I was wondering what measurement of a “Nali” is and seems like Magadha Nali is 750 grams of uncooked raw rice.
Bowl should me made of ony 2 Kinds of allowable bowl material: Clay or Iron (steel)
Monks bowl comes in different sizes varying from 6inch to 8inch bowls so ideally it should neither be too big nor too small.
9 Kinds of bowl capacity:
1. Ukaṭṭha Ukaṭṭha – largest large bowl – *not allowable*
2. Ukaṭṭha – large bowl
3. Ukaṭṭha omaka – smallest large bowl
4. Majjhima Ukaṭṭha – largest medium bowl 5. Majjhima – medium bowl
6. Majjhima omaka – smallest medium bowl
7. Omaka Ukaṭṭha- largest small bowl
8. Omaka – small bowl
9. Omaka Omaka – smallest small bowl – *not allowable*To find the capacity of the large bowl (Ukkaṭṭha), take two measures (nāli) (one nali=750grams) of rice, when cooked it becomes four. One measure of curries and one of vegetables equals to six nālis.(roughly around 4.5kg/4.5litre raw rice container)
Capacity of Ukkaṭṭha: 6 nālis
Capacity of Majjhima: 3 nālis
Capacity of Omaka: 1 nālisSo basically Monks bowl range from 0.75kg/0.75 litre bowl to 4.5kg/4.5litre bowl.
With Metta
Bhikkhu Ariyananda -
The Perception of Impermanence
At Sāvatthī.
“Mendicants, when the perception of impermanence is developed and cultivated it eliminates all desire for sensual pleasures, for rebirth in the realm of luminous form, and for rebirth in a future life. It eliminates all ignorance and eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
In the autumn, a farmer ploughing with a large plough shears through all the root networks. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
A reed-cutter, having cut the reeds, grabs them at the top and shakes them down, shakes them about, and shakes them off. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
When the stalk of a bunch of mangoes is cut, all the mangoes attached to the stalk will follow along. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
The rafters of a bungalow all lean to the peak, slope to the peak, and meet at the peak, so the peak is said to be the topmost of them all. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
Of all kinds of fragrant root, spikenard is said to be the best. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
Of all kinds of fragrant heartwood, red sandalwood is said to be the best. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
Of all kinds of fragrant flower, jasmine is said to be the best. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
All lesser kings are vassals of a wheel-turning monarch, so the wheel-turning monarch is said to be the foremost of them all. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
The radiance of all the stars is not worth a sixteenth part of the moon’s radiance, so the moon’s radiance is said to be the best of them all. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
After the rainy season the sky is clear and cloudless. And when the sun rises, it dispels all the darkness from the sky as it shines and glows and radiates. In the same way, when the perception of impermanence is developed and cultivated it eliminates all desire for sensual pleasures, for rebirth in the realm of luminous form, and for rebirth in a future life. It eliminates all ignorance and eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.
And how is the perception of impermanence developed and cultivated so that … it eradicates all conceit ‘I am’? ‘Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the ending of form. Such is feeling … Such is perception … Such are choices … Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the ending of consciousness.’
That’s how the perception of impermanence is developed and cultivated so that it eliminates all desire for sensual pleasures, for rebirth in the realm of luminous form, and for rebirth in a future life. That’s how it eliminates all ignorance and eradicates all conceit ‘I am’.”
https://suttacentral.net/sn22.102/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
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There is realm of Brahmas where they probably live like statues as the “perception” is atleast temporarily gone for 500 Kalpas
Now this could be a very high stage of Samadhi maybe post 4th Jhana they killed the perception (sanya) of their mind atleast temporarily.
This could also be similar to 8th Jhana of neva sanya na sanya the neither perception nor non perception except that this is a formless realm of only mind and no body and yet they too are not free from rebirth
Guess this happens when “Anusaya Kilesa” deep rooted impurities of the mind is still present and “Samadhi” is built with a base of craving, aversion or Delusion and no understanding of 4 Noble truths.
This I feel is the main contribution of Buddha to rid the mind of even a “dot of defilement” in mind and “zero attachment” to both mind and body as they would see the TRUE nature of impermanence, suffering and no permanent self in the constantly changing “phenomenon” called a “sentient being”
So Samadhi is developed with understanding of 4 Noble truths is Samma Samadhi as then it is used for Vipassana (Yatha Bhutha Nyana Dassana) to see true nature of things ..”as it is” so mind can really understand, be purified as it releases past conditionings, which leads to “Nibbida” which then totally let’s go of both body and mind into “Nirodha Samapati” or Nibbana where the mind is extinguished forever, first time when it happens then one is a Sotapanna, then as the being progresses on the path shedding more Kileasas and experience of Nibbana then moves to Sakadagami, then Anagami and finally an Arahant and yet even an Arahant still carries on with life ..like a car running on the momentum of acceleration before coming to a complete halt “Parinibbana”.
This Samadhi is “Samma Samadhi” where there are no more “Anusaya Kilesa” or deep rooted past conditionings and therfore also could be called Lokuttara Jhana.
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The Ledi Monk :) 