Ven. Sujato - Goenka, Mahasi, etc.

Single solutions systems, limitations and benefits.

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People & Blogs

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• Sujato
• Cha
• Buddhism
• meditation
• dhammatube
• Goenka
• Mahasi

[mayhemsci]

The problems with these videos are the titles and the editing. It makes people think that the video is about various individuals and thus sound like gossips. This video for eg., does not even talk about Mahasi Sayadaw.

[dhammatube]

@mayhemsci Good point...

[stethoscanomaly]

don't discourage people from taking the first step on the path. even if you don't think Goenka's courses offer the best available instruction, you must recognize that they are the best option realistically available to many people. Why are you discouraging people from taking a small step in the right direction? Also, seeing as Goenka retreats are free, why are you characterizing them as "selling" techniques, or "comodifying" techniques? How can you sit after posting such ill willed videos?

[dhammatube]

He is not saying that there is nothing good about Goenka or Mahasi systems, they brought many people to the Dhamma for sure, but rather that these systems are incomplete and oversimplify the Buddha's teachings which can lead to certain problems for those who follow such techniques, and it is only fair to mention this point. Even if such systems are not money-making ventures, they do compete for popularity.

[ryogto]

@Spiritedbuddha but you ask if I saw this myself.... and yes, from my own experience this is the case, without the strong desire to rid myself of the ego, for the good of others, i would not pursue a spiritual life. the intention has to be there!

[ryogto]

@Spiritedbuddha it is not "desire" that we are to overcome, but "selfish desire" our desire is to be towards selflessness, towards liberation for the good of all, because without liberation we cannot be fully selfless, fully compassionate, and fully selfless and of service. So there must be a desire for liberation... not for one's own selfishness, but out of compassion we work to rid ourselves of the self with all earnestness, so that we may be of the most helpful.

[ryogto]

@Spiritedbuddha read the chapter on vigilance, chapter 2 of the dhammapada. it is also the right intent of the eightfold path. "the exertion of our own will to change". "In the Chinese and Pali Canon, it is explained thus: And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness: This is called right resolve." , "It means... commitment to the spiritual path; good will; and a commitment to non-violence, or harmlessness, towards other living beings."

[Spiritedbuddha]

@ryogto Friend you saw that yourself? or you are repeating the word of somebody else ? Be honest please ..

[Spiritedbuddha]

@ryogto

[ryogto]

@Spiritedbuddha greed for insight? you mean right purpose? the 2nd stage of the eightfold path? do you mean desiring to be selfless over any other desire? interesting that you see that as a hindrance, when it is this very desire which is necessary to overcome all hindrance.

[ryogto]

It seems to me that the over intellectualization of these philosophies is not the way of Buddha.  Ehi Passika.

[Lizaplenty]

The trouble with Goenka's courses is the tediousness and relentless boredom. People who feel discomfort from having to sit for very long periods, cross-legged and not moving at all, are told to merely observe the pain. People who leave because it is not for them, are labelled 'weak-willed' by Goenka. At the beginning, he says that you will be happy by the time the course finishes. Each day in his discourses, it becomes clear that this is not the case at all. His method is painfully boring.

[findlaymcarthur]

strange post from a monk.Goenka is fine.We are not all able to commit to his level .