Smiling like the morning sun

The story of the elder Mahāmitta:
The elder Mahāmitta, as they say, dwelled in the “plougher cave”. Close to the cave was a little village where he went for alms. An old lady cared for him like her own son and was serving him food when he came begging for alms. One day she went into [...]

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Dassanabhumi – studies in context II

Continuing on where i stopped the other day, i was amazed to see the interpretation of the next line of the Sutta Nipata by our alleged Mahakaccayana:

‘‘Paññā ceva sati ca,
Nāmarūpañca mārisa;
Etaṃ me puṭṭho pabrūhi, katthetaṃ uparujjhatī’’ti.
‘‘Yametaṃ pañhaṃ apucchi, ajita taṃ vadāmi te;
Yattha nāmañca rūpañca, asesaṃ uparujjhati;
Viññāṇassa nirodhena, etthetaṃ uparujjhatī’’ti. (see Snip for a translation)
Ayaṃ [...]

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Anusayā – studies in context

Caveat: This post is probably very boring for most of you. However, if you manage to read it, you might a.)get a clearer picture what anusayā (‘latent tendencies’) are and b.)see how one can arrive at filling pali terms with meaning and ‘life’ by using context search and relating the findings to ones own meditation [...]

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Karma and stock price action

Thinking about karma (pali: kamma), many people entertain a popular notion that your past bad and good karma is similar to a bag pack which you carry with you. On occasion the understanding of kamma also comes pretty close to some kind of retribution system.
Faced with the question how kamma is passed on from life [...]

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The hidden meaning of ‘yathabhuta’

In the context of liberating wisdom the Buddha frequently employs a term called “yathabhuta” when describing the practice of insight meditation.
Usually this term is translated as “as it really is”. So, a passage like this:
Sāvatthinidānaṃ. ‘‘Rūpaṃ, bhikkhave, anattā. Yadanattā taṃ ‘netaṃ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā’ti evametaṃ yathābhūtaṃ sammappaññāya daṭṭhabbaṃ. Vedanā anattā… saññā anattā… [...]

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Lankavatara – reinventing the wheel

This posting, in a way, continues the discussion on whether there can be craving for Nibbana.
We concluded that there well can be such a desire which is more like a motivation for the goal and the craving for Nibbana would eventually subside on the path towards the goal (or more specific: when the raft is [...]

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Reflecting on the Jhana Factors

If you drive back from a peaceful mountain region to the busy town you can reflect on all the milestones and passing sights either while you drive or when you are back home.
Now of course watching the scenery while driving is usually not recommended. It may very well be outright dangerous to look back while [...]

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Dancing on the Ocean of Nothingness

Imagine a person, hovering over the water surrounded by an endless ocean stretching in all directions.As you come closer, you realize that this person does not really hover over the water.
In fact, it is falling towards the water. Now imagine, that magically a stone would emerge out of the water and thus prevent the [...]

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Forever taking a stand

The most difficult part in insight meditation is to realize that your mind always takes a stand. Otherwise it could not exist.
If you see, you took a stand on
a sight, a see-sensing, a seeing, a see-feeling
If you hear…smell…taste…touch…
and especially and most subtle: if you “think” there was already a taking a stand on. right now, [...]

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So close you cannot see it

Or: What does sankhara mean?
There is quite a deal of confusion regarding this important Buddhist term
some of the translations run as follows

volitional formations
mental formations
fabrications, etc. etc.

However, a translation for sankhara is quite easy Have a look at the follwoing simile given by the venerable Nagasena in the “Questions of King Menandros”:
“Also just [...]

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