Save oneself or everyone else?

(Buddha's Wisdom) Save yourself or save everyone else? Buddhism's most dangerous question

• Ven. Śāriputra, Maha Thera (Śrāvaka)
• Vimalakirti Sutra
• Mahayana exalts itself and condemns a scarecrow stick figure of its own creation, the Hinayana, no school of which remains, the last being the Sarvastivada
• Theravada, back-to-basics non-Hinayana tradition of the historical Buddha
• The Bodhisattva Ideal (Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka)

Save oneself or save everyone else? Buddhism's most dangerous question

(Buddha's Wisdom) May 6, 2026: ⚡ FOR 2,000 YEARS BUDDHISM HAS BEEN FIGHTING ITSELF...AND NO SIDE HAS WON YET. Is personal enlightenment (arahantship) selfish?

The Bodhisattva Ideal (BPS)

Buddhism's two greatest paths ideals, that of the Arhat and that of the Bodhisattva, have been locked in the most consequential debate in Buddhist history since the first century CE.

What began as a philosophical disagreement between Mahāyāna and [Hinayana schools until they were all destroyed and] Theravāda Buddhism [arose]. It became something far more dangerous: a 2,000-year argument about what "liberation" (vimutti, moksha) actually means, who it's for, and whether saving oneself first is an act of wisdom or an act of cowardice.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 The [apocryphal] trial of Śāriputra [where Ven. Sariputra, male disciple "foremost in wisdom," comparable to Ven. Khema, female disciple "foremost in wisdom" used as a stick figure to represent first the Hinayana ("Lesser Vehicle"), a pejorative epithet, and later the Theravada ("Teaching of the Elder Enlightened Disciples of the Historical Buddha") to attack them with Brahminical and Hindu residues on what the Buddha Taught]
• 02:01 The debate we've been building to
• 04:19 The prosecution — Mahāyāna's real case
• 08:10 The defense — the sentence that stops everything
• 13:19 The trap — who is taking this infinite vow?
• 18:26 The real wound — self-view in spiritual clothing
• 24:01 The dissolution — each path guards the other
• 29:19 The same mountain

🔍 DISCOVER

• Why the [apocryphal Mahayana invented discourse] Vimalakīrti Sūtra placed the arhat (Pali arahant) ideal on trial
• How the Lotus Sūtra reframed personal liberation through the One Vehicle (Ekayana) teaching
• Why Theravāda’s strongest defense begins with one simple fact: the Buddha called himself an was called an arahant
• How the Diamond Sūtra complicates the bodhisattva vow through no-self (anatta) and emptiness (shunyata)
• Why Vajrayāna Buddhism refuses to take sides in this debate...and what that refusal reveals about both paths simultaneously

📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING: (with affiliate links)

• Primary [Mahayana] Buddhist texts: Vimalakīrti Sūtra (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra) — Robert Thurman translation recommended https://amzn.to/3QTtGSD
• Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) — Red Pine translation recommended https://amzn.to/3OP9Mro
• Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra) — Burton Watson translation recommended https://amzn.to/4d2JFqh
• Primary [Theravada] texts: Majjhima Nikāya (Collection of "Middle Length Discourses" from the Pali canon) — Ariyapariyesanā Sutta (MN 26) — Bhikkhu Bodhi translation https://amzn.to/4dcS2y9
• Pāli canon — Nikāya (collection of) discourses on the brahma-vihārās ("Four Divine Abidings" of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity or dispassionate looking on) 

Scholarly and Modern Resources

• Paul Williams — Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations https://amzn.to/4evxKCq
• Bhikkhu Bodhi (translator) — The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha https://amzn.to/3OMwqkd
• Étienne Lamotte — The Teaching of Vimalakīrti
• Peter Harvey — An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics https://amzn.to/42e1RH9
• Nāgārjuna — Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Jay Garfield translation recommended) https://amzn.to/4w8J0Lr
• Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism https://amzn.to/4d5IG7h

🙏 Exploring Buddhism, Theravāda, Mahāyāna, the arhat path, the bodhisattva vow, Buddhist enlightenment (bodhi), no-self (anatta), and Buddhist philosophy for the first time? Maybe subscribing to Buddha’s Wisdom would be helpful. The Buddhist Schools Series goes deeper every video. 📱 Join community on Instagram (buddhaswizdom), Facebook (buddhaswizdom), X (x.com/BuddhasWizdom), Spotify (open.spotify.com/show/5ndnBU5...), TikTok (buddhas.wisdom). ☕ Support the channel: buymeacoffee.com/buddhaswisdom, paypal.me/buddhaswisdom. #Buddhism #Arhat #Bodhisattva #Theravada #Mahayana #BuddhistPhilosophy #Enlightenment #BuddhistDebate #Vajrayana #DiamondSutra #VimalakiriSutra #BuddhistSchools #Dharma #BuddhasWisdom #nirvana #BuddhistSchools #NoSelf #LotusSutra. How this was made auto-dubbed audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated. More

Prince Siddhartha's wife: Yasodhara

The Buddha did not have a wife, but the person who became the Buddha (Siddhartha) did.

Princess Yasodhara (Bimba Devi, aka Rāhulamātā)

Sid and Bimba agreed leaving would be good.

Rāhulamātā is the name, generally given in the ancient texts, of "Rāhula's mother" (e.g., Vin.i.82) was Prince Siddhattha Gotama's wife.

She is also called Bhaddakaccā* and, in later texts, Yasodharā (BuA., p.245; Dvy.253), which is a descriptive title not a name. Her name was Bimbā (J.ii.392f.; DA.ii.422), and "princess" is the human meaning of devī. She was probably also called Bimbāsundarī (J.vi.478 [12]), "Beautiful Bimba."

• *For example, Bu.xxvi.15; Mhv.ii.24 calls her Bhaddakaccānā ("Lucky Kaccana"), but see Thomas, op. cit., 49; she is also called Subhaddakā, this being probably a variant of Bhaddakaccānā.
• The Untold Story of Yasodhara: Prince Siddhartha's Wife (Tricycle)
• VIDEO: What about the Buddha's WIFE?

Scythian Princess Bimba/Yasodhara

The Northern (Mahayana) texts seem to favor the name of Yasodharā, but they call her the daughter of Dandapānī. (See also Rockhill, op. cit., where various other names are given as well).

It is probable that the name of Gotama's wife was Bimbā, and that Bhaddakaccā, Subhaddakā, Yosadhāri, and other names were descriptive epithets applied to her, which later became regarded as additional names.

It is also possible that in Gotama's court there was also a Yasodharā, the daughter of Dandapānī, and that there was a later confusion of names.

The Commentarial explanation (e.g., AA.i.204), that she was called Bhaddakaccānā because her body was the color of burnished gold, is probably correct. To suggest (e.g., Thomas, op. cit., 49) that the name bears any reference to the Kaccānagotta seems to be wrong because the Kaccāna clan (gotta) was a Brahmin clan, and the Sākiyans (Scythians, Sakas) were not Brahmins but "nobles" (khattiyas, deemed "warrior caste" though they were not likely part of proto-India's caste system).

Rāhulamātā was born on the same day as the Bodhisatta (J.i.54; BuA. 106, 228). She married him (Prince Siddhattha Gotama) when they were both 16 years old. (The following account is taken chiefly from J.i.58ff). She was placed at the head of 40,000 women, given to Siddhattha by the Sākiyans after he had proved his manly prowess to their satisfaction.

Siddhartha Gotama renounced his riches and royal position and left the household life on the day of the birth of their son, Rāhula. (According to one account, referred to in the Jātaka Commentary, i.62, Rāhula was seven days old).

It is said that just before he left home, he took a last look at his wife from the door of her room, not daring to go nearer, lest he should inadvertently awake her.

When as the Buddha he returned and paid his first visit to the country/seasonal capital city of Kapilavatthu after his great enlightenment, on the second day of that visit, he walked for alms in the streets. This news of this quickly spread, and Rāhulamātā looked out of her window to see if it were true.

She saw the Buddha and was so struck by the beaming glory of his personality that she uttered eight verses in its praise.

These verses have been handed down under the name of Narasīha-gāthā; on that day, after the Buddha had finished his meal in the palace, which he took at the invitation of his father, King Suddhodana, all the ladies of the court, with the exception of Rāhulamātā, went to pay him honor.

She refused to go, saying that if she had any virtue in her the Buddha would come to her. The Buddha went to her with his two chief male disciples and gave orders that she should be allowed to greet him as she wished.

She fell at his feet, and clasping them with her hands, put her head on them. King Suddhodana related to the Buddha how, from the time he had left home, Rāhulamātā had herself abandoned all luxury and had lived in the same manner as she had heard that the Buddha lived:

• wearing saffron robes,
• eating only once a day,
• sleeping on the ground,
• and so on.

The Buddha then related the Candakinnara Jātaka, to show how, in the past, too, her loyalty had been supreme.

On the seventh day of the Buddha's visit, when he left the palace at the end of his meal, Rāhulamātā sent Rāhula to him saying: "That is your father. Go and ask him for your inheritance."

Prince Rāhula followed the Buddha and, at the Buddha's request, was ordained as a monk-in-training (samanera) by Ven. Sāriputta. The account of this event is given in Vin.i.82; this is probably the only passage in the Pitakas where Rāhulamātā, is mentioned by name.

Later, when the Buddha allowed women to join the Order, Rāhulamātā became a nun under Mahā Pajāpatī Gotamī (AA.i.198).

Buddhaghosa identifies (AA.i.204f) Rāhulamātā with Bhaddakaccānā who, in the Anguttara Nikāya (A.i.25), is mentioned as chief among nuns in the possession of supernormal powers (mahābhiññappattānam).

She was one of the four disciples of the Buddha who possessed such attainment, the others being Sāriputta, Moggallāna, and Bakkula. She had wished for this achievement ta the time of Padumuttara Buddha.

In this account Bhaddakaccānā is mentioned as the daughter of the Sākyan Suppabuddha and his wife Amitā.*

• *Cf. Mhv.ii.21f. It is said (DhA.iii.44f) that Suppabuddha did not forgive the Buddha for leaving his daughter; Devadatta was Bhaddakaccanā's brother, and it has been suggested that Devadatta's enmity against the Buddha was for reasons similar to her father's.

She joined the Order of Nuns under Pajāpatī Gotamī in the company of Janapada-kalyānī (the "Belle of the Land," the Buddha's half-sister Sundari Nandā).

In the Nuns' Order she was known as Bhaddakaccānā ("Lucky Kaccana") Therī ("senior nun"). Later, she developed insight and became an arahant (fully enlightened). She could, with one effort, recall one asankheyya (indeterminate kappa or kalpa) and 100,000 ordinary kappas (AA.i.205).

In the Therī Apadāna (Ap.ii.584ff) an account is found of a therī (senior nun), Yasodharā by name, who is evidently to be identified as Rāhulamātā because she speaks of herself (vvs. 10, 11) as the Buddha's pajāpatī before he left the household (agāra) and says that she was the chief (pāmokkhā sabbaissarā) of 90,000 women.

In the time of Dīpankara Buddha, when the Bodhisatta was born as Sumedha, she was a Brahmin maiden, Sumittā by name, and gave eight handfuls of lotuses to Sumedha, which he, in turn, offered to the Buddha. Dīpankara, in declaring that Sumedha would ultimately become the Buddha, added that Sumittā would be his companion in several lives.

The Apadāna account (vvs. 1ff) mentions how, just before her passing into final nirvana, at the age of 78, she took leave of the Buddha and performed various miracles. It also states (Ap.ii.592f) that 18,000 arahant nuns, companions of Yasodharā, also passed on the same day. More: Rāhulamātā

• Prettiest lady in the universe, the Arhat Yasodhara Maha Theri (Ven. Bimba, Bhaddhakaccana, Rahulamata)
• G.P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, edited by Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

What is an 'enlightened' person?

Blissful, effervescent yogi as a result of persistent effort and letting go (yogatailor.com)

   

When I began, it wasn't easy then a breakthrough

In Buddhism a fully enlightened (bodhi) or awakened, a non-deluded or fully realized person is called an arhat (Pali, arahant). What does it mean?

It is the purification of view (ditthi), not personality. A person may continue to have his or her quirks, preferences, habits, and so on. The miraculous transformation that brings one from ordinary personhood into the Sangha of the Noble Ones (the Community of the Aryans) may not be visible at all to the casual observer. The Buddha said a person should not judge except after looking for a long time, reserving judgment and observing the person's character. It is not omniscience, not all-knowing awareness, not perfect perfection, not enlightened social views.

This is Buddhist "sainthood," but Buddhist saints are not like the saints of any other tradition. What is a "saint" to the world? It is someone who has temporarily suppressed the defilements and therefore appears "saintly" (moral, kind, wise, immaculate, and so on, often possessing mystic or magic powers to "prove" it. These things are all brought about by the jhanas, samadhi, and are very special but not necessary for full enlightenment.

It has a very precise meaning. Let us begin where we are -- in a state of delusion. We live in an illusion in the sense of not understanding what is actually there in front of us. What do we see? We see permanence, stability, solidity. We see enduring satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment.

We see a self, identify with it, and imagine ourselves owners. An arhat is a spiritual practitioner who has realized four stages of attainment. The implications of the term vary based on the respective schools and traditions. The oldest surviving Buddhist school links these developmental stages to the dropping away of the ten bonds or "fetters" (samyojana). These are distinct from the Five Hindrances (nivarana), "taints" (asavas, cankers, inflows, outflows, biases), and defilements (kilesas).

1. personality-belief or the wrong view that there is, ultimately speaking, a self
2. pernicious skeptical doubt about the path
3. clinging to the belief that enlightenment can be gained by the practice of mere rules and rituals
4. sensuous craving or strong five-sense strand desire
5. ill-will or aversion
6. craving for fine-material existence
7. craving for immaterial existence
8. conceit, the subtle, persistent habit of conceiving in terms of self
9. restlessness
10. ignorance

The Buddha gave very exact meanings for each of these impediments as well as the stages of Buddhist sanctity as these ten bonds are uprooted and cut off. How this is accomplished is also not a matter of speculation. The Buddha laid out the path, and as one progresses one has a vision of what is path and not-path.
  
There is no entering upon the first stage of enlightenment without an experiential grasp of not-self or egolessness. This is the hardest thing. And it is on account of it that the Buddha did not recognize "saints" in traditions outside the Dharma he made known. Indeed, there were very great beings with great attainments in concentration, wisdom, and mystical powers -- yet they were not free, liberated, emancipated from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. They were, at best, only temporarily sojourning in exalted heavens to fall again after staggering lifespans.

In many Christian schools today, "saint" simply means someone in heaven or guaranteed to be reborn in heaven. There are relatively few, while we comfort ourselves that every nice person ends up among the elect. The sad fact is that this is simply a comforting belief we cling to because the truth, and our associated views, are too much to bear.

1. Meditators free of the first three bonds are stream-enterers or stream-winners -- capable of being reborn a maximum of seven more times, guaranteed to become arhats.
2. Those who have in addition abandoned the grosser forms of the fourth and fifth as well are called once-returners, who might return to (be reborn in) this world, the lowest good rebirth within the Sensual Sphere, no more than once.
3. Those who are fully freed from the first five "lower" fetters (binding beings to the Sensual Sphere) are non-returners, who do not return to (are not reborn in) this sphere.
4. Those who are freed from all ten bonds are called arhats, that is, worthy ones, perfected ones, "holy" (whole, with integrity, integrated, wholesome) or accomplished ones.

Later schools developed different goals, such as the bodhisattva ideal -- the idea that vowing to strive to be a teaching buddha was not only possible but preferable to the goal the historical Buddha encouraged and taught the way to, that of the arhat who reaches safety (the stream) in this very life. Becoming a stream winner (one who has glimpsed nirvana) means that for the first time in this beginningless samsara one has put a limit on suffering. With no more than seven lives to undergo, which can mean millions of years of suffering (i.e., being disappointed) in delightful sensual and fine-material (even a few immaterial) "heavens" before nirvana. The Buddha was an arhat.

In the Early Buddhist schools

Bodhisattva Simpson (Concerning Art)

A range of views on the relative "perfection" of arhats existed among early Buddhist schools. In general, the Mahāsāṃghika branch -- such as the Ekavyāvahārikas, Lokottaravādins,^[9] Bahuśrutīyas,^[10] Prajñaptivādins, and Caitika^[11] schools -- advocated the transcendental and supermundane nature of buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the fallibility of arhats.^[12] The Caitikas, for example, advocated the ideal "career" choice of the bodhisattva (bodhisattva-yāna) over that of the arhat (śrāvaka-yāna) and viewed arhats as fallible and still subject to ignorance.^[13]
   
According to A.K. Warder, the Sarvāstivādins held the same position as the Mahāsāṃghika branch regarding arhats, considering them imperfect and fallible.^[14]
  
The Kāśyapīya school also held the doctrine that arhats were fallible and imperfect, similar to the view of the Sarvāstivādins and the various Mahāsāṃghika sects.^[15] Moreover, the Kāśyapīyas believed that arhats have not fully eliminated desires, that their "perfection" is incomplete, and that it is possible for them to relapse.^[16]

  

How the word is derived

Guru Homer (livejournal.com)

The exact etymology and interpretation of Sanskrit words such as arhat remains disputed. In the Theravada tradition, and in early PTS publications, the word is interpreted to mean "worthy one."
  
This has been challenged by more recent research. Comparing ancient Indian forms arahanta and arihanta^[2] in Pali and early Jain Prakrit languages results in the alternative etymology "foe-destroyer" or "vanquisher of enemies."
  
This corresponds to the Jain definition.^[3] The latter challenges the assumption that the root of the word is Pali araha (Sanskrit, arha). Richard Gombrich has proposed an etymology of ari + hanta, bringing the root meaning closer to jina (an epithet commonly used for both the Buddha and Mahavira, the leaders of the Jains and Buddhists.^[4]

  

Arhat was translated into East Asian languages phonetically as a transliterated term, exemplified in the Chinese āluóhàn, often shortened to simply lohan. However, the Tibetan term was translated by meaning from Sanskrit as dgra bcom pa, which translates as, "one who has destroyed the foes of afflictions."^[5] This Tibetan translation of the meaning conforms with the Jain definition as well.

  

Arhat occurs as arhattā in the Rigveda^[6] and as the first offer of salutation in the main Jain prayer, the Namokar Mantra. Based on a possible Sanskrit etymology, Arhant can be translated as deathless since hant in Sanskrit means "death or killing" and ar is often used for negation, implying "cannot be killed" or "beyond death" or "deathless."

• Buddhist Podcast, June 10, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit Arhat (Buddhism), 7/11/12

The Great Awakened Monk: Ajahn Jumnien

Gwendolyn, there's something most extraordinary about this one. - I know it! - Yeah, be good.

.

Who can fathom another's greatness?

Ajahn Jumnien Silaseetho (Jamnian Seelasetho) is a charismatic Thai Buddhist monk -- happy, wise, and playful. He teaches with limitless energy and boundless love and compassion. [He is not like any attained monk you are likely to have met.]

He teaches many different Buddhist insight meditation methods (vipassana), all of which direct the practitioner back to clear seeing and understanding the impersonal processes of mind and body.

• Short Teachings (jamnian.org)

Richard Gere, Ajahn Jumnien, Borobudur, Java

They are in flux, ever changing, unsatisfactory, and empty of self (ego or personality to cling to).

He encourages those who practice toward awakening to continuously explore the presence of craving and aversion in the heart/mind.

Sacred Ven. Jumnien amulet

He tells us every situation is an opportunity to practice “steering ourselves back to the Middle Path.”

A living meditation practice, one in which the development of insight pervades every aspect of our life rather than just the hours devoted to formal meditation, is a “lifelong process of constant observation and continuous investigation.”

ABOUT: Jamnian.org (reference site) is created with the auspicious blessings of Luang Por Jamnian to serve as a central hub for communicating Luang Por’s teachings and activities as he teaches around the world.

How does the great Ajahn teach the Dhamma? (jamnian.org)

Dwell not on hurt feelings.

COMMENTARY: We realize our utter powerlessness to convince anyone that Ajahn Jumnien is special, different, perhaps unique in the world -- not only awakened but possessing things people no longer possess. What could that be? In times past, people could be fully awakened. (Fully is not supremely; they are different. The awakening of a disciple is not equal to that of either a silent-buddha or teaching-buddha. What Ajahn has is full awakening with powers no longer prevalent on this plane.

On top of that he has the most miraculous power there is, one the Buddha possessed, "the power of instruction."

Living Dharma: 12 Theravada Masters

He is able to teach the Dharma, to bring about an awakening in others. His candor is extraordinary. His disguise is his silliness, going about like a shaman in the world with so much weight of tchotchkes and magical amulets on him that no one is able to take him seriously as anything but a monk who is too happy, laughs too much. But, oh, if one can listen to what he is really saying, about the extraordinary and ordinary, the magical and mundane, who would believe? See him.

Who says so? Wisdom Quarterly says so, and long before us Jack Kornfield (jackkornfield.com) says so in Living Buddhist Masters. But who could believe that either he or we actually met incredible beings of such skill in Dhamma?

• Ajahn Jumnien Dhamma quotes (jamnian.org)

The Nuns' Quarters (sutra)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Upassaya Sutta (Saṁyutta Nikāya, "Connected Discourses with Kassapa" (sn.16.10) "The Nuns’ Quarters" edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

A nun asks questions of the Buddha.

Thus have I heard. On one occasion Venerable Maha Kassapa was dwelling at Savatthī in Jeta’s Grove, in Anathapiṇḍika’s Park. Then, in the morning, Ven. Ānanda dressed and (sn.ii.215) taking bowl and robe, he approached Ven. Maha Kassapa and said: “Come, Ven. Kassapa, let us go to the nuns’ quarters.”

“You go, friend Ānanda. You’re the busy one with many duties.”

A second time Ven. Ānanda said to Ven. Maha Kassapa: “Come, Ven. Kassapa, let us go to the nuns’ quarters.”

“You go, friend Ānanda. You’re the busy one with many duties.”

A third time Ven. Ānanda said to Ven. Maha Kassapa: “Come, Ven. Kassapa, let us go to the nuns’ quarters.”

Then, in the morning, Ven. Maha Kassapa dressed and, taking bowl and robe, went to the nuns’ quarters with Ven. Ānanda as his companion. When he arrived, he sat down on the appointed seat.

Then a number of nuns approached Ven. Maha Kassapa, paid respect to him, and sat down to one side. As they were sitting there, Ven. Maha Kassapa instructed, exhorted, inspired, and gladdened those nuns with a Dharma talk, after which he rose from his seat and departed.

Then the nun Ven. Thullatissa, being displeased, expressed her displeasure: “How can Master Maha Kassapa think of speaking on the Dharma in the presence of Master Ānanda, the Videhan sage? For Master Maha Kassapa to think of speaking on the Dharma in the presence of Master Ānanda, the Videhan sage — this is just as if a needle-peddler (sn.ii.216) would think he could sell a needle to a needle-maker!”

Ven. Maha Kassapa overheard the nun Ven. Thullatissa making this statement and said to Ven. Ānanda: “How is it, friend Ānanda, am I the needle-peddler and you the needle-maker, or am I the needle-maker and you the needle-peddler?”

“Be patient, Ven. Kassapa. Women are foolish.”

“Hold it, friend Ānanda! Do not give the Monastic Community (Saṅgha) occasion to investigate you further. What do you think, friend Ānanda? Was it you that the Blessed One brought forward in the presence of the Monastic Community, saying:

“‘Monks, to whatever extent I wish, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states [of mind and heart], I enter and dwell in the first meditative absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by thought and examination, with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. Ānanda also, to whatever extent he wishes, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, enters and dwells in the first meditative absorption’?”

“No, venerable sir.”

“I was the one, friend, whom the Blessed One brought forward in the presence of the Monastic Community, saying: ‘Monks, to whatever extent I wish…I enter and dwell in the first mediative absorption…. Kassapa also, to whatever extent he wishes, enters and dwells in the first meditative absorption.’

• [The same exchange is repeated for the remaining meditative attainments and the six direct knowledges, all as in the preceding discourse (sn.ii.217).]

“I was the one, friend, whom the Blessed One brought forward in the presence of the Monastic Community, saying: ‘Monks, by the destruction of the taints, in this very life I enter and dwell in the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, realizing it for myself with direct knowledge. Kassapa also, by the destruction of the taints, in this very life enters and dwells in the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, realizing it for himself with direct knowledge.’

“Friend, one might just as well think that a bull elephant seven or seven and a half cubits high could be concealed by a palm leaf as think that my six direct knowledges could be concealed.”

The nun Thullatissa fell away from the monastic life. Source: SN 16.10: Upassaya Sutta—Bhikkhu Bodhi (suttacentral.net)

Ajahn Chah: "On Meditation" (video)

Samaneri Jayasara (youtube.com, 4/13/20); Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thai Forest Theravada Buddhist Meditation

(Samaneri Jayasara) "To attain calm in practice, it's not necessary to be sitting in meditation. Just ask yourself, 'Eh, what is this?' and solve your problem right there! People with wisdom are like this. Perhaps they can't attain high levels of samadhi [mental coherence, concentration], but there must be some [foundational calm], just enough to cultivate wisdom. Our practice can be like this, that we depend more on wisdom to solve problems. When we see the truth, peace arises.

— Ajahn Chah, from "On Meditation"

AJAHN CHAH was a famous Thai Buddhist monk, an enlightened meditation master. He was an influential teacher of the Buddha-Dharma and the founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition. He is reputed to have been an arhat.

Respected and beloved in his own country as a person of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) in England, the Forest Tradition has spread throughout Europe, the United States, and the British Commonwealth.

His Dharma talks have been recorded, transcribed, and translated into several languages, including English. He left behind a legacy of talks, meditation students, and monasteries.

Note: All of my recordings can be downloaded via my Google Drive site, the details of which can be found under the Community tab of the main page of this YouTube channel.

What it means to love ourselves

Ajahn Maha Boowa, Brahm via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The way to find genuine Dharma (Dhamma) is to build up virtue and goodness. Making merit through dāna, sīla, and mettā-bhāvanā is the path of goodness for going beyond dukkha.

Every one of you, remember this! Don’t practice dāna, sīla, and mettā-bhāvanā just a little. We are all valuable people.

Before anything else we are important and precious. This is very important! It’s oneself who is important. This is called loving oneself before others. Loving ourselves comes before anything else.

When we love ourselves what should we do? How should we practice to make the words “love myself” appropriate?

We must take care of ourselves and not damage or destroy ourselves by believing the defilements (kilesas) that constantly deceive the world. Remember this well, all of you.

Ajahn Brahm also has advice on "Self-Love and How to Cultivate It." He is a Western (British now living in Australia) from Ajahn Maha Boowa's Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada Buddhist school, a direct student of Ajahn Chah.

How I became enlightened (Ingram)

Dr. Daniel M. Ingram, MD, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book (3rd ed., 2007), interactivebuddha.com; Dhr. Seven, A.Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

When I was about 15 years old, I accidentally ran into some of the classic early meditation experiences described in the ancient texts, and my reluctant spiritual quest began.

I did not realize what had happened, nor did I realize that I had crossed something like a point of no return, something I would later call the Arising and Passing Away.

I knew that I had had a very strange dream with bright lights, that my entire body and world had seemed to explode like fireworks, and that afterwards I somehow had to find something, but I had no idea what that was.

I philosophized frantically for years until I finally began to realize that no amount of thinking was going to solve my deeper spiritual issues and complete the cycle of practice that had already started.

I had a very good friend who was in the band that employed me as a sound tech and roadie. He was in a similar place, caught like me in something we would later call the Dark Night and other names. He also realized that logic and cognitive restructuring were not going to help us in the end.

We looked carefully at what other philosophers had done when they came to the same point and noted that some of our favorites had turned to mystical practices.

We reasoned that some sort of non-dual wisdom that came from direct experience was the only way to go, but acquiring that sort of wisdom seemed a daunting task if not impossible.

He was a bit farther along than I was in his spiritual crisis, and finally he had no choice but to give it a try. He quit the music business, moved back to California, and lived in a run down old mobile home, driving pizza to save money so that he could go off on a spiritual quest.

He finally did some intensive meditation retreats then eventually took off to Asia for a year of intensive practice under the guidance of meditation masters in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist tradition.

When he came back, the benefits of his practice were obvious, and a few years later I began to try to follow a similar path. In 1994, I began going on intensive meditation retreats and doing a lot of daily practice.

I also ran into some very odd and interesting experiences and began to look around for more guidance on how to proceed and keep things in perspective.

Good teachers were few and far away, their time limited and often expensive to obtain, and their answers to my questions were often guarded and cryptic.

Even my old music friend was keeping most of what he knew to himself, and issues around disclosure of meditation theory and personal practice details nearly cost us our friendship.

Frustrated, I turned to books, reading extensively, poring over texts both modern and ancient, looking for conceptual frameworks that might help me navigate skillfully in territory that was completely outside my previous experience.

Despite having access to an astounding number of great and detailed dharma books, I found that they left out lots of details that turned out to be very important... More

Biography: California Forest Monks (film)

Autobiography of Ajahn Tate by Ven. Ariyesako (trans.), accesstoinsight.org; Fearless Mountain; Abhayagiri; Sayalay, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, 2016) Fearless Mountain was filmed and produced by Tony and Andrew Anthony about the community at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California. More info: ukiahdailyjournal.com.

The Autobiography of a Thai Forest Monk: The Story of Ajahn Tate

(Foreword) Since the time of the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago, Buddhist ascetics have retreated into the depths of the forests.

They have been climbing mountains and sheltering in caves seeking physical isolation to aid them in their development of meditation and realization of the Dharma, which is the truth of the Buddha's Teaching.

Whether in solitude or in small groups, such monastics live a life of simplicity, austerity, and determined effort and have included some of the greatest meditation masters since the Buddha.

Far from cities and towns, willing to put up with the rigors and hardships of living in the wild for the opportunity to learn from Nature.

They are disinterested in worldly fame or recognition, these forest monastics often remain unknown, their life stories lost among the jungle thickets and mountain tops.

FILM: California monks: Fearless Mountain

 

The autobiography of one such monk, Ajahn Tate (also Thate), is a record of his own life story. It was published for his 72nd birthday celebration so that it might be of benefit to monastic and layperson followers.
 

He recounts his own life from his boyhood encounter with forest monastics to his final status as one of the greatest masters of the modern era.

Ajahn Tate passed away in 1994 at the age of 92.... Much of this is directed towards the ordinary rural villagers of Northeast Thailand (Issan), who are Ajahn Tate's own stock.

Although it is the poorest and most underdeveloped region in Thailand, its people are particularly devout Buddhists. And it is from them that most of the Thai meditation masters have arisen.

In later years, this northeast-based Forest Kammatthana (Tudong or Dhutanga, "Sane Ascetic") Tradition started to attract the interest of sophisticated city folk. He describes this trend.
 

This book is intended as a description of Ajahn Tate's experiences and as a narrative of a personal spiritual quest. It contains advice and reflections on Buddhist meditation and practice. More

The Luck of Sivali (Jataka Tale)

Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly, based on British Lord Robert Chalmers (trans.), Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births, Book 1: Ekanipāta (suttacentral.net)

100. Asatarupa Jātaka

“In guise of joy...” — This story was told by the Buddha while at Kundadhanavana near the city of Kundiya about the lay Buddhist Suppavasa, who was the daughter of King Koliya.

For at that time she was pregnant -- having carried in her womb a child for seven years -- and was now in the seventh day of her birth throes. Her birth pains were grievous.

But in spite of her agony, she thought:

• “Fully enlightened is the Blessed One [the historical Gautama Buddha], who teaches the Truth that leads to the end of all suffering;
• of perfect conduct are the enlightened disciples of the Blessed One, who so conduct themselves that all suffering ends;
• blessed is nirvana, wherein all suffering ceases.”

These three thoughts were her consolation during her birth pangs. She sent her husband to the Buddha to tell him of her state and bear a greeting to him for her.

Her message was given to the Blessed One, who said: “May Suppavasa, daughter of the king of the Koliyas, grow strong and well again and bear a healthy child.”

At the word of the Blessed One, Suppavasa, daughter of the king of the Koliyas, became well and strong, and she bore a healthy child.

Finding on his return that his wife had safely delivered a son, the husband marveled greatly at the exalted powers of the Buddha.

Now that her child was born, Suppavasa was eager to show bounty for seven days to the Monastic Community with the Buddha at its head. She sent her husband back to invite the monastics for alms offerings.

Now it chanced that at that time the Monastic Community with the Buddha at its head had received an invitation from the layman who supported Maha Moggallana. But the Buddha, wishing to gratify Suppavasa’s charitable intentions, sent for him to explain the matter.

Sivali was born at 7 years of age

And with the Monastic Community, the Buddha accepted for seven days the hospitality of Suppavasa.

On the seventh day she dressed up her young son, Sivali, and made him pay respect to the Buddha and the enlightened Sangha (Monastic Community) of monks and nuns.

And when Sivali was brought in due course to Ven. Sariputra [the monk declared "foremost in wisdom" just like the nun Ven. Khema Theri], the elder in all kindness greeted the boy [who had been born after seven years in the womb with the ability to speak], saying:

“Well, Sivali, is all well with you?”

“How could it be, venerable sir?” said the boy. “Seven long years have I had to wallow in blood [within my mother's womb].”

Then in joy Suppavasa exclaimed: “My child, only seven days old, is actually talking about the Dharma with the great elder Ven. Sariputra, the Marshall of the Dharma?”

“Would you like another such child?” asked the Buddha.

“Yes, venerable sir;” answered Suppavasa, “seven more, if I could have them be like him.” In solemn phrase the Buddha gave thanks for Suppavasa’s hospitality and departed.

At seven years of age the child Sivali [now 14] gave his heart to the Monastic Order and renounced the world to join the Sangha as a novice. At 20 he was given higher ordination and became a full Buddhist monk.

By following the Path of training and conduct he won full enlightenment, complete awakening, and the earth shouted aloud for joy.

One day the assembled monastics, while conversing with one another in the Hall of Truth about this matter, said: “The Ven. Sivali Thera, who now shines like a brillinat light, was the child of many prayers. Seven long years he spent in the womb, and it took him seven days to be born. How great must have been the pains of both mother and child! Of what karma (deeds) were their pains the fruit?”

Entering the hall, the Buddha asked them the subject of their discussion. “Monastics,” he said, “the skillful Sivali was seven years in the womb and seven days in birth all because of his past karma.

Similarly, Suppavasa’s seven years’ pregnancy and seven days’ birth resulted from her past deeds.” So saying, he told this story of the past:

---

Sivali's Rebirth Tale

Once upon on a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta [the Buddha-to-be] was the child of the queen-consort. And he grew up and was educated at [the University of] Takkasila (Taxila), and at his father’s death became king and ruled righteously.

Now in those days the king of Kosala came up with a great force against Benares and slew the king and made off with his queen to be his own wife.

When the king was slain, his son escaped through the sewer system. Afterwards, he gathered a mighty force and marched on Benares. Camping nearby, he sent a message to the new king to either surrender and return his kingdom and mother or prepare for battle.

The king sent back the answer that he would give battle. But the mother of the young prince, hearing of this, sent a message to her son, saying: “There is no need to do battle. Let every entrance to the city on every side be blockaded until lack of food and firewood and water wears out the people. Then the city will fall into your hands without any fighting.”

Following his mother’s advice, the prince for seven days surrounded the city with so close a blockade that the citizens on the seventh day cut off their king’s head and brought it to the prince.

Then he entered the city and made himself king. And when his life ended, he passed away to fare according to his karmic deserts.

---

Lord Robert Chalmers (trans.)

The result and consequence of his karma (actions) in blockading the city for those seven days was that for seven years he was stuck in the womb and spent seven days in birth.

But inasmuch as he had paid respect at the feet of the Padumuttara Buddha and had wished with many gifts that the crown of enlightenment might be his and, inasmuch as in the days of the Buddha Vipassi, he had made the same wish while he and his townsfolk offered many gifts of great value, he therefore, by his merit, won the crown of full enlightenment.

And because Suppavasa sent the message bidding her son, then the usurped prince, to take back the city of Benares by a blockade, she was doomed to a pregnancy of seven years and to a birth of seven days' duration. His rebirth story ended, the Buddha repeated these verses:

In guise of joy and blessings, sorrow comes
And trouble, sluggards’ hearts to overwhelm.

When he had taught this lesson, the Buddha identified this rebirth by saying: “At that time Sivali was the prince who blockaded the city and became king. Suppavasa was his mother. And I was his father, the king of Benares.”