Thank you sir, there are many misconceptions about Buddhism and your inputs are valuable to student like me who want to understand buddhism and lead a better life....You beautifully explained dukka, impermanence and nirvana in very simple and candid way...
It is not about 'getting rid' of anything discomfort or unhappiness. It is about SEEING it for what it is.. its about self-reflection owning all parts of life. When we SEE and recognise life for what it is it changes its control over us. Buddha-dharma as its not really any ism Buddhism makes you belief it a set of beliefs and rules. It's about learning to let go, to be and to SEE.
Thank you- it is said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. What is the best method to study Buddhism for a beginner student from the Western world?
Great question! I'm just a layperson like you, so here are my suggestions: 1) If possible, find a Buddhist temple and get involved. Depending on size, they may have English or other language classes and services. Let me know if you need help finding one. 2) While you are getting started, you can follow my basic daily practice (article/video/graphic): alanpeto.com/buddhism/daily-buddhist-practice/ 3) Be consistent! Like anything, Buddhism can't really be digested in just one sitting or with just one book. 4) Pick a tradition. This can be challenging as you can [sometimes] find every single Buddhist tradition in your country. Compare that to if you lived in an Asian country, where perhaps only one or a limited number of traditions exists (and you likely would follow the one your family follows). This means there is a lot of choices which is overwhelming. Yet, following a tradition - or at least picking one of the two major branches - helps you stay 'in the lane' with the interpretation and practice of the teachings. At the heart, they are all the same - just different interpretations (sometimes minor, sometimes significant) and practices. It's a religion rich with many options and 'Dharma doors' that can often provide a path for everyone. alanpeto.com/buddhism/understanding-mahayana-theravada/ Now for a little practical advice: we are laypersons. This means we are not monastics so please don't place any significant expectations or demands upon yourself! :) For most Buddhist laypersons, their overall focus is often on morality, conduct (part of the Eightfold Path), and faith in their daily practice. Generating wholesome karma and merits is the primary practice. And you don't have to sit for hours meditating - that is a relatively 'modern' practice for laypersons, but not widely practiced within Asia. There are several daily practices that don't take long to do, but consistency is the key here. And there are plenty of short/long term retreats, ceremonies, services, holidays, and other events that help the layperson experience everything from a taste of monastic life or even understanding the scriptures (sutra transcription/calligraphy, chanting, classes, reading, etc.).
Great question! I'm going to take a try at answering your question in a few parts. The Five Aggregates/Skandhas are why we suffer. It is the temporary and conditioned grouping of things that make a 'being', like us. Namarupa is another term that is associated with this Nama=Name and Rupa=Form (these two are sometimes referred to as mind and body, but it is name - the mental associations we make with things and form - the physical component). Because these groups work effortlessly with each other, we don't realize the grouping. And they all feed and work with each other to give us this illusion of a permanent, independent, everlasting 'self', and they also help to create our illusionary and conditioned views of things. ua-cam.com/video/pTF26tmD5D0/v-deo.html I bring that up because physical suffering, or any other type of suffering (such as Rupa), is our association and label (Nama) for it. Our experiences and views of that suffering have created that label and we then associate it with it from then on. This isn't meaning that if the flame of a candle touches your finger it hurts a Buddhist monk any less than anyone - we are all humans after all - but perhaps past experiences and views start to 'paint' the experience. To give you a historical example, the Buddha experienced a lot of physical suffering. Yet he still had that smile on his face. Why? We can simply say he was 'enlightened' or achieved 'nirvana', but it's about how you interact in the world and view it. What he realized with dependent origination which ties in with everything else in Buddhist teachings. He aged and experienced aches, pains, sickness, just like all of us. Perhaps the most telling example was the day of his death. He had prior eaten a meal and started having horrible abdominal pains to the point he could not continue. Modern medical review now assumes he had something like a twisted stomach (but long in Buddhist lore has it been that he was either poisoned or had food poisoning, which may not be the case). This is a horribly painful experience yet he was able to have a last 'questions and answers' session with the Sangha to answer their questions. We can take a few views from this. It is remarkable to me that the Buddha was able to be so composed, yet I'm sure the pain was still there. Was he able to 'suppress the pain? The Buddha was not removed from how a human body works, so that's doubtful. Instead, it probably ties back into namarupa. His desire to even achieve Buddhahood was due to the four sights and the remarkable affect it had on him (sickness, death, etc.). He was keenly aware due to Dependent Origination about what occurs, and through his awakening to that, his enlightenment and Nirvana, he was able to live as an enlightened being - his mind was not magically transformed, but instead very much aware of the true cause of 'Dukkha', how it works, what it does, and how to overcome it. The Buddha's after died, and he helped at his funeral. He had a fatal medical condition, yet he was able to talk to his followers. Advanced Buddhist practitioners throughout the centuries have seemingly been able to be composed even at the moment of death. When the mind is tamed from being 'wild' and 'grasping', what perhaps happens is that one does not grab onto the 'labels' we place on suffering (in any form) and let it carry us down the rabbit hole (which causes more and more suffering). The Buddha was not providing medical advice, how to avoid illness, or how to live forever. His teachings help us transcend this artificial effect Dukkha has on us right now. So, in a way, it perhaps reduces physical suffering due to our realization of what it actually is and how we have always associated with it. Effects will be there (due to dependent origination). The Buddha taught effect is ill health and death for all of us eventually, the cause was our birth. But our current understanding and definition of suffering need not exist when we follow the Buddha's teachings and start gaining right views, understanding, concentration, etc. 'Bumps' along the road will exist...even one of the Buddha's monks was beaten so badly he died...but even as he laid at the Buddha's feet in undoubtedly considerable physical suffering, he was beyond our conditioned definition of happiness because he was free from the pain of clinging and craving to conditioned things. While we cannot be free of ill health and death in our existence, we can do our best to make our 'wheel' (noble eightfold path) as perfectly round as possible.
The goal is to end rebirth in samsara. However Buddhists work on wholesome karma and merits to be reborn in the human realm where it’s more effective to practice Buddhism. It’s the perfect “mix”.
At the time, Nepal as a country didn't exist, and you had various city-states/clans that existed. You are correct that he was born in Lumbini which now falls into modern-day Nepal. He became the Buddha where the modern-day country of India is, and taught there for 40 years.
Thankyou so-much for this Video! It really outlines things I have been confused about in this Lifetime.
Thank you sir, there are many misconceptions about Buddhism and your inputs are valuable to student like me who want to understand buddhism and lead a better life....You beautifully explained dukka, impermanence and nirvana in very simple and candid way...
Thanks Arun! :)
This is fantastic. Thank you for the information.
It is not about 'getting rid' of anything discomfort or unhappiness. It is about SEEING it for what it is.. its about self-reflection owning all parts of life.
When we SEE and recognise life for what it is it changes its control over us.
Buddha-dharma as its not really any ism Buddhism makes you belief it a set of beliefs and rules. It's about learning to let go, to be and to SEE.
Thank you- it is said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. What is the best method to study Buddhism for a beginner student from the Western world?
Great question! I'm just a layperson like you, so here are my suggestions:
1) If possible, find a Buddhist temple and get involved. Depending on size, they may have English or other language classes and services. Let me know if you need help finding one.
2) While you are getting started, you can follow my basic daily practice (article/video/graphic): alanpeto.com/buddhism/daily-buddhist-practice/
3) Be consistent! Like anything, Buddhism can't really be digested in just one sitting or with just one book.
4) Pick a tradition. This can be challenging as you can [sometimes] find every single Buddhist tradition in your country. Compare that to if you lived in an Asian country, where perhaps only one or a limited number of traditions exists (and you likely would follow the one your family follows). This means there is a lot of choices which is overwhelming. Yet, following a tradition - or at least picking one of the two major branches - helps you stay 'in the lane' with the interpretation and practice of the teachings. At the heart, they are all the same - just different interpretations (sometimes minor, sometimes significant) and practices. It's a religion rich with many options and 'Dharma doors' that can often provide a path for everyone. alanpeto.com/buddhism/understanding-mahayana-theravada/
Now for a little practical advice: we are laypersons. This means we are not monastics so please don't place any significant expectations or demands upon yourself! :) For most Buddhist laypersons, their overall focus is often on morality, conduct (part of the Eightfold Path), and faith in their daily practice. Generating wholesome karma and merits is the primary practice. And you don't have to sit for hours meditating - that is a relatively 'modern' practice for laypersons, but not widely practiced within Asia. There are several daily practices that don't take long to do, but consistency is the key here. And there are plenty of short/long term retreats, ceremonies, services, holidays, and other events that help the layperson experience everything from a taste of monastic life or even understanding the scriptures (sutra transcription/calligraphy, chanting, classes, reading, etc.).
Can consciousness reduce Physical suffering ? How?
Great question! I'm going to take a try at answering your question in a few parts.
The Five Aggregates/Skandhas are why we suffer. It is the temporary and conditioned grouping of things that make a 'being', like us. Namarupa is another term that is associated with this Nama=Name and Rupa=Form (these two are sometimes referred to as mind and body, but it is name - the mental associations we make with things and form - the physical component). Because these groups work effortlessly with each other, we don't realize the grouping. And they all feed and work with each other to give us this illusion of a permanent, independent, everlasting 'self', and they also help to create our illusionary and conditioned views of things. ua-cam.com/video/pTF26tmD5D0/v-deo.html
I bring that up because physical suffering, or any other type of suffering (such as Rupa), is our association and label (Nama) for it. Our experiences and views of that suffering have created that label and we then associate it with it from then on. This isn't meaning that if the flame of a candle touches your finger it hurts a Buddhist monk any less than anyone - we are all humans after all - but perhaps past experiences and views start to 'paint' the experience.
To give you a historical example, the Buddha experienced a lot of physical suffering. Yet he still had that smile on his face. Why? We can simply say he was 'enlightened' or achieved 'nirvana', but it's about how you interact in the world and view it. What he realized with dependent origination which ties in with everything else in Buddhist teachings. He aged and experienced aches, pains, sickness, just like all of us. Perhaps the most telling example was the day of his death. He had prior eaten a meal and started having horrible abdominal pains to the point he could not continue. Modern medical review now assumes he had something like a twisted stomach (but long in Buddhist lore has it been that he was either poisoned or had food poisoning, which may not be the case). This is a horribly painful experience yet he was able to have a last 'questions and answers' session with the Sangha to answer their questions.
We can take a few views from this. It is remarkable to me that the Buddha was able to be so composed, yet I'm sure the pain was still there. Was he able to 'suppress the pain? The Buddha was not removed from how a human body works, so that's doubtful. Instead, it probably ties back into namarupa. His desire to even achieve Buddhahood was due to the four sights and the remarkable affect it had on him (sickness, death, etc.). He was keenly aware due to Dependent Origination about what occurs, and through his awakening to that, his enlightenment and Nirvana, he was able to live as an enlightened being - his mind was not magically transformed, but instead very much aware of the true cause of 'Dukkha', how it works, what it does, and how to overcome it.
The Buddha's after died, and he helped at his funeral. He had a fatal medical condition, yet he was able to talk to his followers. Advanced Buddhist practitioners throughout the centuries have seemingly been able to be composed even at the moment of death. When the mind is tamed from being 'wild' and 'grasping', what perhaps happens is that one does not grab onto the 'labels' we place on suffering (in any form) and let it carry us down the rabbit hole (which causes more and more suffering).
The Buddha was not providing medical advice, how to avoid illness, or how to live forever. His teachings help us transcend this artificial effect Dukkha has on us right now. So, in a way, it perhaps reduces physical suffering due to our realization of what it actually is and how we have always associated with it. Effects will be there (due to dependent origination). The Buddha taught effect is ill health and death for all of us eventually, the cause was our birth. But our current understanding and definition of suffering need not exist when we follow the Buddha's teachings and start gaining right views, understanding, concentration, etc. 'Bumps' along the road will exist...even one of the Buddha's monks was beaten so badly he died...but even as he laid at the Buddha's feet in undoubtedly considerable physical suffering, he was beyond our conditioned definition of happiness because he was free from the pain of clinging and craving to conditioned things.
While we cannot be free of ill health and death in our existence, we can do our best to make our 'wheel' (noble eightfold path) as perfectly round as possible.
@@AlanPeto Thank you !!!
hi alan. hopefully you see my question.
is good or wholesome karma rebirth? are we trying to end it?
The goal is to end rebirth in samsara. However Buddhists work on wholesome karma and merits to be reborn in the human realm where it’s more effective to practice Buddhism. It’s the perfect “mix”.
Gatauma Buddha was born in lumbini,Nepal. Not India 👍🙏
At the time, Nepal as a country didn't exist, and you had various city-states/clans that existed. You are correct that he was born in Lumbini which now falls into modern-day Nepal. He became the Buddha where the modern-day country of India is, and taught there for 40 years.