Bhante Gunaratana (3) Why do some teachers warn about practi

[Colstonewall]

I truly love this guy. I've read his book & watched most of his videos. But I swear I cannot understand a word he's saying, LOL. Although I still enjoy listening to him.

[dogdutyascetic]

Sadhu sadhu sadhu

[bodhimian]

in my small understanding, i think there is a danger is thinking we don't have a self and falling into the traps of nihilism. Anything that exists, that we can point to and ask 'is this the self?' cannot be a self or something eternal because it is based on the delusion and karmic seeds of the mind. When the truth is seen and mind pure, then truly we will know what we are. but until then, any concept of self is false because it can pass away, it doesn't have sovereignty, it isn't independent.

[Pimpmastahanhduece]

translation: dont practice deep meditation until your ready because if you havent reached a certain point, you may not be meditating, you may just be falling asleep sitting up with your eyes open and not falling into REM sleep. alot to meditation is determination and patience with a feeling of timelessness, intention, goal, and willingness. you may not always get a transcendental understanding or contact a deity, but any understanding into the metaphysical is indeed progress.

[billhuston]

Buddha taught this many times throughout the cannon. It is one of the Three Marks of Existence:

Suffering, Impermanence, and No-Self

[m3rl33nux]

It seems that some Christian writers realy want Buddha to validate his believings (soul, god, etc), making him say what he never intended. Reading only the annata sutta may mislead us to think so, but when we study this with in the Dependent Origination context we see that self is only a construction of our own mind when it interacts with anithing. So there realy is no independent self.

[myanotherownuser]

Hi all! Would anyone be so kind to tell me what did ven. Gunaratana say on sammasamadhi from 00:30 to 00:35?

Just can't reproduce that Pali statement.

[dhammatube]

He said in Pali: "What is right concentration, monks? Here, apart from sensual pleasures, apart from unwholesome things, he enters into first Jhana which has (the 5 factors)."

[myanotherownuser]

Oh, yes, thank you! It is what he said, I've got it and actually this is not a problem. It is almost like this:

"... vivicceva kāmehi, vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati"

I just can't catch the first part of the phrase. I'm making subtitles now for the movie to translate it from english. So your help will be much appreciated!

[Jtherva]

easy on the caps, we arnt going blind

[rainydays925]

tell me, what kind of 'self' could possibly exist if nothing in the universe is separate and nothing is permanent?

that there is no 'self' is *exactly* what the Buddha said.

[rainydays925]

i think you are mistaken about that. from what i've read, that's exactly what the Buddha said. there is no self (no 'ego') that is separate from anything else. the three basic qualities that can be seen in everything, with clear mindfulness, are impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and self-less-ness (no self).

maybe we're thinking of different definitions for 'self' perhaps? or if im wrong i would be very interested to find out, please let me know.

[MarilynHawken]

How can i get to the samatha vipassana. i seem to be stuck just like the rest too.

[ChunderChunk]

Read Mindfulness in Plain English, written by the man in this video. I read it and did 5 minutes of meditation just to see what it was like and it was extraordinary. I'm really gonna try and make meditation part of my daily routine.

[claudetaiwan]

To seek for creator------- wrong target?

To seek for ending the suffering------ right track.

Is my understanding correct?

[narayana3483]

wait, i dont get it.

will someone please explain it to me?

thanks in advance.

[m3rl33nux]

In short:

Buddha reached all the possible yannas just to realize that they doesn't lead to nirvana. Then he teaches sama samadhi by practicing samatha and vipassana.

There are many people that meditate without learning the suttas so they get misleaded and do practice yanna.

[narayana3483]

I'm so sorry, but I didn't get some of the words you used. Can you please explain to me what 'yannas', 'nirvana', 'sama samadhi', 'samatha' and 'vipassana' is?

Sorry for the bother, i just really want to learn.

Thanks in advance! :)

[timbolicous]

JHANA: more refined, lighter states of consciousness reached through SHAMATHA, calming meditation, which is a very good preparation for VIPASSANA, a meditation in which one observes what is going on in one's six senses (ie including thought), in particular noticing the 'three marks': impermanence, unsatisfactoriness of phenomena (dont give permanent happiness/may cause suffering) and no-self (lack of entity-ness/google it!)....Samadhi is meditative state, or absorption - deep. Sama...not sure.

[timbolicous]

Nirvana: the state one reaches at the culmination of the (especially, Theravada) Buddhist path. Definition is one not everyone agrees on. Almost certainly tho it is free of mental suffering, or 'psychic irritants' as Bhante G says. Read his book (downloadable free) about Mindfulness, practice it, and you are likely to get a taste of it!

[narayana3483]

oh where can i read this book?

and thank you for explaining!

[billhuston]

Youtube won't let us post a URL, but if you search for the title "Mindfulness in Plain English" you will find it online. I bought a printed copy of the book. It is a great beginners guide to meditation. (Even useful for experienced meditators!)

[mahadragon]

@billhuston BillHuston, Mindfulness in Plain English is a most EXCELLENT BOOK!!!!! Thank you so much for posting it here! Thank you thank you thank you!!! =)

[billhuston]

yanna is another way to transliterate into English the Pali (also Sanksrit) word which is the subject of this video, which is commonly transliterated as jhana.

The full answers to your questions can be found by any basic book on Buddhism. Begin by learning about the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. This is the core of Buddhism and is common to all sects. "Sama Samadhi" is "right concentration", of which there are two forms.

[kusalaviro]

oh.