Since I was young I've always hated bees, wasps, and any flying insect that buzzes.
Well today I decided to meditate on the highest point on my college campus. And because I was outside, there were flying insects.
That's all I can tell you. Even though I noticed the buzz when I was meditating, I didn't open my eyes, so I have no idea what kind of insects were flying around me. I knew that they would not hurt me if I simply returned to my breath and continued meditating. This might not seem like much to some people, but it is significant for me since I usually tense up and make strange noises when a flying insect is close, like this news anchor right here.
I credit Ajahn Brahm's "Ajahn Mosquito" story for helping me in this regard. If you don't watch the video, he basically says that the mosquitos in the Thai jungle are less likely to bite if you remain still during meditation. And that metaphor can be used for so many situations in life where getting agitated and panicking can make a neutral situation, or even a bad situation, worse, and remaining calm can lead to the best outcome.
Afterthought: Perhaps even with pleasurable things, getting too excited can lead to more craving in the moment and down the line.
Also, yes, I am still sober. 17 days and counting!
I should preface this by saying I respect Ajahn Brahm and think a lot of his insights are sound.
Does anyone else get the vibe that a lot of what he teaches feels a bit watered down, blissful new-agey? They appear more like romanticism which are somewhat specious or only-good-short-term because a western lay audience responds positively to that.
Ajahn Brahm's talks are full of anecdotes. I am looking for more info on two:
- The one about the university student in UK without a brain but could function normally. He was discovered by a professor on the lookout for those with abnormal skulls or something for research purposes. Only after a scan, did researchers realise the student did not have a brain (or perhaps not a fully developed one).
- The second one I am not sure if it's a joke or not. Apparently, there's a baby in the US, who upon coming out of the mother's womb said "Oh no, not again!". I find this hard to believe, but who knows?
Many thanks in advance
A few years ago Ajahn Brahm made a rare trip to the US and I went to some of his talks.
I took notes and I found the notebook from that time.
As most of us know Buddhist concepts from the Pali Canon do not translate well into contemporary English.
In my opinion that situation is made worse by the connotation many English words have that are chosen for imperfect translations of Buddhist concepts.
My notes:
>Rhys did a very good job of translating "sati" as mindfulness. He was wrong about translating samadhi as "concentration". The Chinese who studied the Agamas translated it as "stillness".
> The mind can be like a still pond which reflects the sky. A pond with waves or ripples cannot reflect anything
This is from Ajahn Brahm's booklet called the Jhanas :
>The Buddha would often describe the experience within the four Jhanas using an evocative simile for each (MN39.15-18, MN 77.25. 28, etc.). Before explaining these similes, it is, helpful to pause to clarify the meaning of a key word used in all the similes, kaya. Kaya has the same range of meanings as the English word "body." Just as "body" can mean things other than the body of a person, such as a "body of evidence" for example, so too the Pali word kaya can mean things other than a physical body, such as a body of mental factors, nama-kaya. (DN 15.20). In the Jhanas, the five senses aren't operating, meaning that there is no experience of a physical body. The body has been transcended. Therefore, when the Buddha states in these four similes "...so that there is no part of his whole kaya un-pervaded (by bliss etc.)," this can be taken to mean "β¦so that there is no part of his whole mental body of experience un-pervaded (by bliss etc.)" (MN 39.16). This point is too often misunderstood.
This is the bit about will( cetanΔ) :
> When the "will" that is controlling vanishes away, then the "I will" that fashions one's concept of future also disappears. The concept of time ceases in Jhana. Within a Jhana, one cannot decide what to do next. One cannot even decide when to come out. It is this absolute absence of will and its offspring
But let's see what the mental-body comprises of :
> Katamo nΔmakΔyo ? VedanΔ saΓ±Γ±Δ cetanΔ phasso manasikΔro nΔmaΓ±ca
>
>What is the mental body? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, attention,
>
>and mentality are the mental body. - Ptsm.
If there is no cetanΔ, what kind of mental body is this ? Does it have any canonical support ?
And how is contact,volition,attention pervaded by bliss? since these are to be applied. This seems way too forced.
Saw this on r/buddhism yesterday and found it quite helpful. It might be helpful for you too!
"I like telling the story. 5 years as a monk I was and I found this most beautiful place. I was with my teacher, Ajahn Chah, I was in the next best scene, in a chai plantation, in a tea plantation in the North of Thailand. There's as much tea as you could drink. This was angmo haven. [laughs] Angmo means white monk or actually red hair. But anyway, so there I was, at a beautiful monastery with caves, I love caves. There was a batcave. And I must say, because there's lots of bats in the cave. They always, when they fly out, that's when they do their business.Because when they hang upside down, you can't poo when you're hanging upside down. [laughter]So they have to wait until they fly. [laughter] You try it. [laughter] And so just outside the cave, it was just incredibly rich soil.I always remember this papaya tree outside and that was the most delicious papaya I've ever ever eaten in my whole life. Nothing ever matched that. I was by myself, nothing to do but meditate all day,I started getting restless. I know what it's like when the thoughts take over your mind,you can't stop them. And it would be okay if there are thoughts are about the high dhamma,about the meaning of dependent origination,or something useful. But you know what I was thinking about? Old girl friends, I wonder where she is now, [laughs] sex, maybe I'm still young enough, maybe still someone might have me, romance and all those, but I was a monk, Stop it! I love being a monk, I always did. But these thoughts kept coming into your mind, what I call unmonkish thoughts. And the more I tried to stop them, the more they came in. It was driving me crazy. The thing was I never had anyone to talk to, cos I was in solitude by myself. And so one day, it got so bad, I remember this, the only thing I could do was, there was a big Buddha statue in the hall and I bowed to that and I just said, "Help". I was really going crazy. And then the idea came to me, that is not supernatural,which is sometimes when you ask someone else you can get an answer for yourself. And the answer came, why don't I do a deal. If you really have to think about all those unmonkish thoughts, I was going to give myself a time,3 to 4 pm every the afternoon. I can have my thinking, anything goes and I won't try to stop it at all. Even the weirdest sexual fantasies, I'll accept you from 3 to 4, the rest of the day you behave. Fair enough.
... keep reading on reddit β‘Hey everyone so I came across this quote on Buddhistteachings.org website:
"The Buddha greatly emphasized the importance of stream-entry and urged his disciples to set it as a goal for their lives. He said that the realization of stream-entry is better than going to heaven, being an emperor, or attaining jhΔna".
I practice jhana meditation but now I'm confused as to why Ajahn Brahm says that it is a quick way to enlightenment but the buddha says attaining jhana does not lead to stream entry. I'm assuming that you need to attain stream-entry before enlightenment?
Am I missing something? I would like to understand better. Thank you in advance for the responses.
Hello friends.
I started meditating with Culadasa's the Mind Illuminated last year but have since started reading Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond by Ajahn Brahm and I can't quite work out if C's Piti and AB's Nimitta is the same thing or not.
Their descriptions of each sound very similar. Are these things different?
That act of kindness will make the demon of depression,the demon of lack of self-esteem,the demon of fear,the demon of even anger itself get less and less.And with that kindness all those demons which play human beings in our time vanish completely away.We feed it kindness,acceptance,we make peace with these things not war"
"I like telling the story. 5 years as a monk I was and I found this most beautiful place. I was with my teacher, Ajahn Chah, I was in the next best scene, in a chai plantation, in a tea plantation in the North of Thailand. There's as much tea as you could drink. This was angmo haven. [laughs] Angmo means white monk or actually red hair. But anyway, so there I was, at a beautiful monastery with caves, I love caves. There was a batcave. And I must say, because there's lots of bats in the cave. They always, when they fly out, that's when they do their business.Because when they hang upside down, you can't poo when you're hanging upside down. [laughter]So they have to wait until they fly. [laughter] You try it. [laughter] And so just outside the cave, it was just incredibly rich soil.I always remember this papaya tree outside and that was the most delicious papaya I've ever ever eaten in my whole life. Nothing ever matched that. I was by myself, nothing to do but meditate all day,I started getting restless. I know what it's like when the thoughts take over your mind,you can't stop them. And it would be okay if there are thoughts are about the high dhamma,about the meaning of dependent origination,or something useful. But you know what I was thinking about? Old girl friends, I wonder where she is now, [laughs] sex, maybe I'm still young enough, maybe still someone might have me, romance and all those, but I was a monk, Stop it! I love being a monk, I always did. But these thoughts kept coming into your mind, what I call unmonkish thoughts. And the more I tried to stop them, the more they came in. It was driving me crazy. The thing was I never had anyone to talk to, cos I was in solitude by myself. And so one day, it got so bad, I remember this, the only thing I could do was, there was a big Buddha statue in the hall and I bowed to that and I just said, "Help". I was really going crazy. And then the idea came to me, that is not supernatural,which is sometimes when you ask someone else you can get an answer for yourself. And the answer came, why don't I do a deal. If you really have to think about all those unmonkish thoughts, I was going to give myself a time,3 to 4 pm every the afternoon. I can have my thinking, anything goes and I won't try to stop it at all. Even the weirdest sexual fantasies, I'll accept you from 3 to 4, the rest of the day you behave. Fair enough. You know, just make a deal. Of course it never worked as I expected it. Until 3 o'clock the m
... keep reading on reddit β‘