Mahayana

[XenoFish]

Is there a discussion? Is this just copy paste? 

[Amita]

4 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Is there a discussion? Is this just copy paste? 

If anyone reads the texts mentioned and has a question about a passage in texts, i will try to answer said question.  But since this text is an exhaustive explanation, it is a far better source.

[XenoFish]

1 minute ago, Amita said:

If anyone reads the texts mentioned and has a question about a passage in texts, i will try to answer said question.  But since this text is an exhaustive explanation, it is a far better source.

No you won't answer. You'll just copy paste something in response. I've been trying to get you to discuss things. Using your own words which you won't do. 

[Amita]

12 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

No you won't answer. You'll just copy paste something in response. I've been trying to get you to discuss things. Using your own words which you won't do. 

Sure I will. Based on what you read - ask away.  Same attitude over at Avatamsaka topic.

Part of my little discussing is my poor health.  Still have little vitality, mental & physical - kidney problems.

[XenoFish]

2 minutes ago, Amita said:

Sure I will. Based on what you read - ask away.  Same attitude over at Avatamsaka topic.

Part of my little discussing is my poor health.  Still have little vitality, mental & physical - kidney problems.

Then explain to me the point and benefits of this particular brand of belief.

[Amita]

21 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Then explain to me the point and benefits of this particular brand of belief.

"Based on what you read in the text - ask away."

If you refuse to make the effort to read some of the textual bases for the Mahayana "brand of belief" - then I will stay silent.

[+Sherapy]

56 minutes ago, Amita said:

Summary of big commentary on PP Sutras:

"The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines is a detailed explanation of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, presenting a structural framework for them that is relatively easy to understand in comparison to most other commentaries based on Maitreya-Asaṅga’s Ornament for the Clear Realizations. After a detailed, word-by-word explanation of the introductory chapter common to all three sūtras, it explains the structure they also all share in terms of the three approaches or “gateways”‍—brief, intermediate, and detailed‍—ending with an explanation of the passage known as the “Maitreya chapter” found only in the Eighteen Thousand Line and Twenty-Five Thousand Line sūtras. It goes by many different titles, and its authorship has never been conclusively determined, some Tibetans believing it to be by Vasubandhu, and others that it is by Daṃṣṭrāsena."

Thank you for sharing. 

[+Sherapy]

6 minutes ago, Amita said:

"Based on what you read in the text - ask away."

If you refuse to make the effort to read some of the textual bases for the Mahayana "brand of belief" - then I will stay silent.

Ahh so you do want to discuss this. 

I have been reading it is incredibly interesting. I see a lot of parallels between CBT, MBSMT, Clinical application of mindfulness, Buddhist Psychology, Neuroscience so far. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Sherapy

[+Sherapy]

39 minutes ago, Amita said:

Sure I will. Based on what you read - ask away.  Same attitude over at Avatamsaka topic.

Part of my little discussing is my poor health.  Still have little vitality, mental & physical - kidney problems.

Awww sorry to hear about your illness. May you feel better soon. 

[XenoFish]

32 minutes ago, Amita said:

"Based on what you read in the text - ask away."

If you refuse to make the effort to read some of the textual bases for the Mahayana "brand of belief" - then I will stay silent.

So you're not only wasting my time, but you're wasting everyone elses? Is that what I'm getting from you. So this is nothing more than a promotional thread. Post a bunch of links, a few quotes, and then not elaborate further on them. Seems more than familiar. 

[Amita]

2 hours ago, Sherapy said:

Ahh so you do want to discuss this. 

I have been reading it is incredibly interesting.

Glad the value is touching you!  These first lines below show the importance of the Gurus tradition of smoothing our Path.

From the new translation:

"Introduction common to all sūtras

Having reverently bowed to the Mother of Victors,
The foremost perfection in the form of wisdom,
I want to make a Path where the Thorns Have Been Trodden Down
Because the tradition of the gurus has been of benefit to me."

[Alchopwn]

On 7/23/2022 at 2:55 AM, oslove said:

God is existence itself and everything not God is created by God.

God is not necessary.

On 7/23/2022 at 9:53 AM, oslove said:

Meditation is all in the mind, time to get out and plant rice, otherwise you will starve with your children.

Starve?  Children?  Statements based on ignorance.  

Mind is primary.  

[Amita]

It is now possible to get all of Dharmamitra's translations in pdf format for Free. Yes, there is mention of "considering" a donation, but that can be ignored by the poor or thrifty. Just click on the title in Blue type. Some are English Only, some have Chinese on facing pages:

http://kalavinka.org/kp_main_pages/books.htm

[Amita]

Latest Stages of the Path collection from Gelukpa tradition:

https://wisdomexperience.org/product/stages-of-the-path-and-the-oral-transmission/

[Amita]

On 3/16/2023 at 8:57 AM, Amita said:

Latest Stages of the Path collection from Gelukpa tradition:

https://wisdomexperience.org/product/stages-of-the-path-and-the-oral-transmission/

Here is the Preface to this valuable text:

It is a profound source of joy for me to be able to offer in English this
special anthology of teachings of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism,
founded near Lhasa by the celebrated master Tsongkhapa in the early fifteenth
century. This volume, number 6 in The Library of Tibetan Classics,
contains fifteen texts on four key areas of practice: (1) the lamrim, or stages of
the path, based on instructions of the masters Atiśa and Tsongkhapa, (2) guru
yoga based on Tsongkhapa’s oral transmissions, (3) mahāmudra and guide
to the view, drawn on and inspired by Tsongkhapa’s oral teachings, and (4)
the three essential points, stemming from a unique instruction of the Indian
mystic Mitrayogi.

[Amita]

Here are all the sutras done so far (over 250) by 84000 project.  You can search by shortest, longest, most recent or Tohoku number:

https://read.84000.co/section/all-translated.html

Edited April 5, 2023 by Amita

[Amita]

Not much interest in studying Mahayana doctrines & practices in texts, thus few to zero questions, which is fine, since I am no expert.

So I will end this little selection of major texts with these excerpts from Bhikshu Dharmamitra's Kalavinka Press:

http://kalavinka.org/Jewels/jewels_toc.htm

[Amita]

http://kalavinka.org/Jewels/book_excerpts/NMOB-EO_excerpts/NMOB-EO_Pt 3 xexcerpt.pdf

Mahayana major figure is Nagarjuna, in this short piece he teaches about Buddha Recollection, a common practice & meditation for many.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Amita

[Amita]

Great bodhisattva & leader of FPMT has finished his bardo meditation.  He began that on 13 April in Kopan monastery in Nepal:

https://fpmt.org/blog/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news/

[Amita]

One of Buddhas last teachings - The Eleven Thoughts:

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh311.html#toc

"Summary:
Teaching the Eleven Thoughts takes place just before the Buddha attains parinirvāṇa, when he bequeaths his final testament to the assembled monks in the form of a brief discourse on eleven thoughts toward which the mind should be directed at the moment of death. He exhorts his listeners to develop nonattachment, love, freedom from resentment, a sense of moral responsibility, a proper perspective on virtue and vice, courage in the face of the next life, a perception of impermanence and the lack of self, and the knowledge that nirvāṇa is peace."

There are actually two translated versions, 11 thoughts and a 10 thoughts version. Both are very short.

[Amita]

The Great Compassion Mantra is popular in much of Asia.  Here is the first line with a verse on it by Master Hsuan Hua:

http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading/sf_others/DaBeiJou/page1.htm

[Amita]

Bodhicitta is the main motivation to become a bodhisattva or buddha.  Here is a thread from another site with several sources on Bodhicitta:

https://www.dharmapaths.com/viewtopic.php?t=301

[Amita]

Nagarjuna Bodhisattva in his Treatise on the Ten Bodhisattva Grounds reminds us to cool our censorious tendencies:

If one assesses inward qualities on the basis of externals
and hence develops an attitude of slighting condescension,
one brings ruin on oneself as well as on one’s own roots of goodness
so that, at the end of one’s life, one falls into the wretched destinies.

As for the places to which someone else’s mind proceeds,
one may be mistaken about them, for they are hard to know.
Therefore one must not make false assessments
with regard to any being.

It is only someone possessed of all-knowledge
who can fully know their minds’ states
and the subtle, secret places to which they may proceed.
Hence, with regard to judging other beings,

the Buddha said, “It is only those who are my equals
who can pass judgment on other beings.”
If the Buddha himself spoke in this manner,
who then could have the ability to pass judgment on others?

[The Buddha quote is from AN 6:44]

[Amita]

We should personally practice, always hanging the words “birth ” and “death” on our brows, and putting

the words “Way” and “virtue” beneath our feet. Maybe that’s hard to understand—why should we put the

words “Way” and “virtue” under our feet? Because the Way and virtue are a person’s foundation. They

are to us what roots are to a tree. Once we have the Way and virtue, we can stand on our own feet. But

with no base under our feet, we have no place to stand. We are in a fix, unable to advance or retreat, and

we cannot accomplish anything. If we can actually practice these two things, then we can establish a good

character and naturally be successful in whatever we do.

So it’s said, “The Way and virtue are the foundation of being a person.”

The Analects of Confucius also say, “The superior person attends to the root. When the root is established,

the Way comes forth.” Only when the fundamentals are tended to can the Way come forth.

This is wise advice from the ancients.

 

Master Hsuan Hua, Talks on Dharma, vol one.

[Amita]

Here are many years of Master Hua's talks:

http://www.bplmonastery.org/vm-huas-talks-on-dharma.html