The Buddha's FIRE SERMON: the speech that converted 1,000 wanderers
What is the "all" that is burning?
(Buddha's Wisdom) š WE’RE BURNING RIGHT NOW — THE BUDDHA’S FIRE SERMON There’s a constant inner heat -- craving, hatred, confusion -- that drives our decisions and drains our peace.
In this guided breakdown of the Buddha’s Fire Sermon (Adittapariyaya Sutta), see exactly what’s burning, why “ALL is burning” became one of Buddhism’s most powerful teachings, and a 5-step method to stop being consumed by it, today.
DISCOVER
How the Buddha converted 1,000 fire-worshippers with a single 20-minute speech
The three psychological fires burning in our chest right now (and why they always find new fuel and never stop)
The hidden follow-up teaching that challenges even clinging to the pursuit of “enlightenment”
The 5-step method that extinguished suffering for 1,000 people simultaneously
What the Buddha taught AFTER the Fire Sermon that made even enlightened beings question everything
Master Buddhist meditation and mindfulness with the Buddha's original Fire Sermon teaching
02:50 1,000 meditators, same burn — The Kassapa Setup (near Bodh Gaya)
04:11 All is burning — the Buddha’s Fire Sermon (SN 35.28)
07:27 Silence: 1,000 awaken — What liberation felt like
09:20 How to stop burning — the 5-Step Practice
11:01 Beyond the Fire
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What is "salvation"?Moksha (Sanskrit ą¤®ोą¤्ą¤·, mokį¹£a) is also called vimutti* or vimukti and also mukti and vimoksha [3].
It is a concept in the Dharmic religions -- Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism -- that means liberation, non-bondage, freedom, emancipation, deliverance, escape, salvation, release, nirvana [4].
Los Angeles damnation
(PBS SoCal) The Chinatown punk rock wars of Los Angeles
I want your "Salvation"
In its soteriological and eschatological senses, it refers to freedom from saį¹sÄra, the incessant Cycle of Rebirths and Deaths [5]. In its epistemological and psychological senses, moksha is freedom from ignorance: self-realization, self-actualization, self-knowledge [6]....
NOTE: If moksha were just what the Vedas, Brahmins, or Hinduism says it is, there would be no need for a supremely enlightened one, the Buddha, to arise and make known a Teaching and Training that culminates in Buddhist nirvana, which is the real end of all suffering and rebirth, not mere rebirth in a long lasting heavenly plane or in the company of Brahma or other such stand ins.
Moksha (vimutti) is nirvana
Release from rebirth is release from all suffering
*In Buddhism the term moksha is uncommon, but there is an equivalent Pali term vimutti, "freedom," "release," "escape."
In the sutras two forms of freedom or release are mentioned, namely ceto-vimutti, "deliverance of mind," and panna-vimutti, "deliverance through wisdom" (insight or vipassana).
Ceto-vimutti is related to the practice of jhana or dhyana (shamatha), while panna-vimutti is related to the cultivation of insight.
Dharmas agree on moksha, they just define it differently, with Buddhism defining it as ultimate
. According to Gombrich, the distinction may be a later development, which resulted in a change of doctrine, regarding the practice of jhana to be insufficient for final liberation [108]. It is the first step, setting up the foundation of calm on top of which is built insight through mindfulness (sati,satipatthana, Dependent Origination).
With release comes nirvana (Pali nibbana), "quenching," "slaking," "cooling," "blowing out," or "extinguishing" the fires of the defiled passions and the wrong view of self [109, 110].
It is a "timeless state" (akaliko) in which there is no further becoming [111]. Nirvana ends the otherwise endless cycle of rebirth and suffering (dukkha) in the 31 Planes of Existence, which for simplification Mahayana reduces to six realms of saį¹sÄra [112, Note 2].
It is the third of the Four Ennobling (Enlightening) Truths of Buddhism, which plays a central role in Theravada Buddhism [117, 118].
What can be said of the ultimate attainment?
Nirvana has been described in Buddhist texts in ways that make it sound like other Indian religions. Every tradition says it has complete liberation, freedom, ultimate bliss, the highest happiness, fearlessness, emancipation, dukkha-lessness, permanence, the deathless, the unconditioned element that is the only thing that is not dependently originated, the unconstructed, unfathomable, ineffable, indescribable [119, 120].
The unconditioned element: nirvana (Ven. Bodhi)
It has also been described as release marked by a realization of the "emptiness" (impersonal, non-self nature of ALL conditioned things but most significantly the Five Aggregates clung to as self) [121, 122, 123].
Such descriptions are debated by scholars because "nirvana" in Buddhism is described as a state or condition after the dissolution of ignorance and suffering (disappointment, dis-ease, distress, ill, woe, off-kilter, unsatisfactoriness), of luminous mind, which would seem to be "stopped consciousness (blown out), but one that is not non-existent," as Peter Harvey states, and for him "it seems impossible to imagine what awareness devoid of any object would be like" [124, 112].
Nirvana is much more than the end of suffering.
See Bhikkhu Bodhi's exhaustive description in The Teachings of the Buddha: As It Is (early lecture series). Words and concepts cannot do nirvana justice because it is unlike everything else in samsara. Therefore, it is not a thought or concept but something very real to be personally experienced. Freedom awaits. More
Rock 'N Roll True Stories; Punk Rock MBA; Rancid; Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
There's a small Cat in a tall Hat, and that's that.
Discover Alan Watts' profound insight into the Western illusion of meaning and the freedom found in Eastern surrendering to life’s mystery. In this powerful lecture from his 1959 TV seriesEastern Wisdom and Modern Life, Watts explains why our desperate "search" for purpose can often lead us AWAY from true peace.
Embrace the present, let go of control, and understand why [the sense of] nonsense might just be the key to enlightenment.
In 1958, Watts toured parts of Europe with his father, meeting the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and the German psychotherapist Karlfried Graf DĆ¼rckheim [29]. Upon returning to California and the Bay Area in the United States, Watts recorded two seasons of a TV series (1959–1960) for KQED public television in San Francisco, Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life [30]. More
One of the great problems of life is clinging (upÄdÄna). Among all the things we cling to(that clump and cling to themselves as we imagine we are them), we are inadvertently clinging to suffering (disappointment, dukkha). There is temporary release and bliss through the meditations, the jhanas, but really letting go results from "seeing things as they truly are," which is also called "clear seeing" (vipassana).
When you're pseudo-macho like Trump, you lie about your illnesses and die in ignimony
God, I love DJ and right-wing politics, Brother!
Ozzy Osbourne(Black Sabbath frontman and drug addict), Chuck Mangione (trumpet musician), Malcolm-Jamal Warner ("The Cosby Show" star), and now beloved bigger-than-life Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), one of the world's most view stars, Floridian, MAGA right wing tough guy. There's so much death in the world. How many people die every single day? A hundred seventy-three thousand in 2025, according to World Population Review.
If that many people die a day, does that mean I might day? No, never, that's ridiculous. That's the Impossible Possibility. What the Buddha warned about all day long for 45 years of teaching he called dukkha (disappointment).
Dukkha means not getting what we want, getting what we don't want, losing what we have, separation from the loved, association with the hated...all of these things modern English translators termed "suffering," which is very misleading since that connotes agony or everything sucking all the time. Everything does NOT suck ALL the time. It's just that there's enough stink in the pot to make the stew unappetizing to anyone who pays too much attention. That attention is good because it wakes us up to the problem. Of course, we don't want to know about The Problem, this or any other. We're already aware of too many most of the time, and we seem to actively be trying to forget. We like checking out, pleasure seeking, distractions, temporary fixes at whatever cost.
There are many paths. Why listen to the Buddha?
The Buddha gave two solutions, an immediate one and a permanent one. But it takes some doing, some effort, some focus, and it usually means recognizing that there is a problem (which we don't want to see). Well, the Universe will step in every so often and slap up in the face, like it or not. And for some of us, the problem will get so bad, there's no avoiding it. Imagine American-prison problems. Those are not problems one can easily escape, as oftentimes the so-called "escape" is worse than the problem, like the choice between being eaten by lions on shore or crocodiles in the water.
What's The Problem? Death in a world of radical impermanence is part of it, but it's more insidious than that. Prior to death, there's aging and sickness, loss due to many reasons, and ignorance why anything is happening or why anything has to happen. We act in ignorance, one of the unwholesome roots of conduct, and we get dukkha in return. We wish to know and understand but do not make right effort towards that end, so we get neither knowing nor understanding.
Celebrities die. Why? They die because they are living beings, and there are only one kind of living beings that will not die. However, even they will seem to die. It is not the Gods or gods, who all die. It is the noble ones, the awakened/enlightened. Death (redeath) is followed by birth (rebirth). This is not anyone's first time dying. We have been through it countless time. Of course, since we don't remember, we say that's impossible. We want life to seem fresh and new each time; that has been our way of tolerating it.
But The Problem is much grander. All this dissatisfaction -- which we can call samsara or the Continued Wandering On through the Wheel of Life and Death, beset on all sides by craving for pleasure, wanting and being angry about being frustrated in our desires -- is constantly disappointing. It is constantly changing, hurtling towards destruction, fruitless when obtained, unable to fulfill/satisfy us.
The permanent solution is awakening (bodhi) and reaching nirvana (nibbana, the deathless, the real refuge from all danger, the safety of the farther shore beyond our world/universe of constant change and disappointment, loss and blame, aging and illness, and all the many sources of woe).
Will we awaken? Will we set out on the course towards awakening? Or will we just bemoan our lot and seek for the next diversion, temporary pleasure, and promise of eternal life, happiness, and joy after joy, rose after rose with never a thorn in sight?
In the Garden the roses have no thorns...
(Rudimentary Peni) on the fantasy of a literal version of Christian heaven
Alan Watts: Understanding Buddhism, Concepts Explained
(Equanimity) Alan Watts (alanwatts.org) explores and contemplates the difference between Hinduism, Buddhism, and beliefs in Western civilization. Listen in and contemplate these various perspectives on reality. From "Alan Watts: Metaphysics Philosophy vs. Psychologists."
ABOUT: AUSTRALIA. Equanimity promotes all aspects of positive mental health and perspectives that have inspired and motivated humans for thousands of years. We seek to create our own interpretations and new perspectives from ancient wisdom based on our 21st century outlook on life. These philosophical perspectives are covered under YouTube's creative commons license. Aug. 13, 2024. #philosophy #alanwatts #psychology
§ 75. "It is just as if there were a pool of water in a mountain glen — clear, limpid, and unsullied — where a person with good eyesight standing on the bank could see shells, gravel, and pebbles as well as shoals of fish swimming about and resting.
"It might occur to that person, 'This pool of water is clear, limpid, and unsullied. Here are these shells, gravel, and pebbles as well as shoals of fish swimming about and resting.'
"In the same way — with mind stilled [calmed and concentrated], purified, and bright, unblemished, free of defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the meditator directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental defilements (asavas).
There is much to know and see with clarity
"One discerns as it is, 'This is suffering (dukkha)... This is the origination of suffering... This is the cessation of suffering... This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering...
"These are mental defilements... This is the origination of the defilements... This is the cessation of the defilements... This is the way leading to the cessation of the defilements.'
"One's heart, thus knowing and seeing, is released from the defilement of sensuality, the defilement of becoming, the defilement of ignorance. With liberation, there is the knowledge, 'Liberated.' One discerns that, 'Rebirth is ended, the high life has been fulfilled, the task is done. There is nothing further for this world'" (DN 2).
What is there to know and see?
Enlightenment=awakening (bodhi)
§ 76. "Vision arose, clear-seeing arose, wisdom arose, knowledge arose, illumination (enlightenment) arose within me with regard to things never heard before:
"'This is the noble [enlightened] truth of suffering [understanding what is and is not disappointment]... This noble truth of suffering is to be comprehended... This noble truth of suffering has been comprehended...
"This is the noble truth of the origination of suffering... This noble truth of the origination of suffering is to be abandoned... This noble truth of the origination of suffering has been abandoned...
"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering... This noble truth of the cessation of suffering is to be realized... This noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been realized...
"This is the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering... This noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering is to be developed... This noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering has been developed.'
"Meditators, as long as my knowing and seeing (knowledge and vision) — with its three rounds and 12 permutations concerning these Four Noble Truths as they actually are — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened (become enlightened) to the unexcelled right awakening...
"But as soon as my knowing and seeing — with its three rounds and 12 permutations concerning these Four Noble Truths as they actually are — was truly pure, only then did I claim to have directly awakened to the unexcelled right awakening...
"Knowing and seeing arose in me: 'Unshakable is my liberation. This is my last rebirth. There is now no more further becoming'"
(SN 56.11).
What does one see when awakening?
§ 77. "What a Wayfarer [Tathagata, successful practitioner, arahant] sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is perception...such are mental formations (fabrications)...such is consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance.' [These are the Five Aggregates clung to as self.]
"Because of this, I say, a Wayfarer — with the ending, fading out, cessation, letting go, and relinquishment of all speculation and thinking, all I-making and mine-making and obsessions with conceit [the habit of seeing everything in terms of an I or self or soul] — is, through lack of clinging (that sustains it), liberated."
"But, Master Gotama [the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama], the meditator whose mind/heart is thus liberated, where does that person reappear [where is that being reborn]?"
"'The designation 'reappear,' Vaccha, does not apply."
"In that case, Master Gotama, that person does not reappear."
"The designation 'does not reappear,' Vaccha, does not apply."
"In that case, Master Gotama, that person both does and does not reappear."
"Vaccha... [that designation] does not apply."
"In that case, Master Gotama, that person 'neither does nor does not reappear."
"Vaccha... [that designation] does not apply."
"How is it, Master Gotama, when Master Gotama is asked if the meditator reappears [is reborn]... does not reappear... both does and does not reappear... neither does nor does not reappear [which exhausts the four logical possibilities], he says, 'that designation does not apply' in each case?
"At this point, Master Gotama, I am befuddled. At this point, I am confused. The small amount of clarity coming to me from your earlier conversation is now obscured."
"Of course you are befuddled, Vaccha, of course you are confused. Deep, Vaccha, is this dhamma [reality, teaching, ultimate truth], hard to see, hard to realize, tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise.
"For those holding other views [other doctrines or dhammas], other practices, other goals that would satisfy them, other aims, other teachers, it is difficult to know [and see]. That being the case, I will now put some questions to you. Answer as you see fit.
"What do you think, Vaccha, if a fire were burning in front of you, would you know, 'This fire is burning in front of me'?"
"Yes..."
"And, Vaccha, suppose someone were to ask you, 'This fire burning in front of you, dependent on what is it burning?' Thus asked, how would you reply?"
"...I would reply, 'This fire burning in front of me is burning dependent on grass and timber as its fuel (sustenance).'"
"If the fire burning in front of you were to go out, would you know, 'This fire burning in front of me has gone out'?"
"Yes..."
"And, Vaccha, suppose someone were to ask you, 'This fire that has gone out in front of you, in which direction has it gone? East? West? North? South?' Thus asked, how would you reply?"
"That does not apply, Master Gotama. Any fire burning dependent on fuel fed by grass and timber, being unnourished — from having consumed that fuel and not being offered any other — is classified simply as 'out' [extinguished, unbound, no longer clinging to fuel]."
"Just so, Vaccha, any physical form by which one describing the Wayfarer would describe him, that the Wayfarer has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump [that does not grow back once it is cut down], deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future rearising.
"Freed from the classification of form, Vaccha, the Wayfarer is deep, boundless (unbound), hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears [is reborn]' does not apply. 'Does not reappear' does not apply. 'Both does and does not reappear' does not apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' does not apply.
"Any feeling... Any perception... Any mental formation (fabrication)...
"Any consciousness by which one describing the Wayfarer would describe him, that the Wayfarer has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future rearising.
"Freed from the classification of consciousness, Vaccha, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea [of space]"
(MN 72).
Ven. Thanissaro (American Geoffrey DeGraff) Noble Conversation: A Study Guide altered (restored to customary rather than idiosyncratic translation of terms where possible) and edited by Wisdom Quarterly
Bodhi ("enlightenment"), what does it actually mean? with scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi
Isn't the homelife harder than the left-home life?
(Daniel Aitken) Watch the full episode at dharmachats.com.
In this Dharma Chat, renowned American Theravada Buddhist scholar-monk and translator of the Pali canon Bhikkhu Bodhi (one of Wisdom Quarterly's root-teachers through his scholarship, BPS.lk editorship, and one-on-one communications, the New Jersey born/California-trained Jewish-Buddhist Dr. Jeffrey Block, Ph.D., Claremont, who still teaches us and leads us in meditation every Wednesday eveninglive from Chaung Yen Monastery in Carmel to our base in Los Angeles) sheds light on the meaning of his own monastic Buddhist name, "Bodhi." Join him as he unveils the multifaceted nature of the word bodhi(awakening to the ultimate truth and thereby realizing complete liberation as nirvana).
Bhikkhu Bodhi, if the Buddha means "the Enlightened One," what does buddha mean?
Expectations impede attainment of enlightenment
Enlightened (bodhi-fied persons) are not called buddhas because that term is reserved for two very rare and special types of awakened individuals, the private (nonteaching self-awakened) and public (supremely self-awakened teaching) buddhas. Other "noble ones" are noble disciples (enlightened students), whose experience of enlightenment is the same as the buddhas with the difference that buddhas have other additional knowledges and powers like the dasa-balas or "Ten Powers of a Tathagata") which distinguish a supreme (samma-sam-bodhi) teacher from his successful students who have awakened to the same ultimate truths by pursuing the path he has pointed out. It may sound like a technical difference between these three kinds of individuals, "Enlightened Ones," as it were but it is key to comprehending how extraordinarily rare a supreme-enlightened-teaching buddha is, how rare and extraordinary pacceka-buddhas (nonteaching buddhas with the same knowledge but not the capacity to teach), and how relatively less rare (but still extraordinarily rare) disciple-arahants ("enlightened beings") are.
What does "Buddha" mean? An article by Bhikkhu Bodhi may change some minds
(Doug's Dharma) Let's take a look at a recent article by American scholar-monk and Pali canon translator Bhikkhu Bodhi on the meaning of Buddha and his related realization.
Some contemporary scholars have argued that bodhi ("enlightenment") should be translated as "awakening" and the historical Buddha should therefore be understood to mean "the Awakened One."
Bhikkhu Bodhi prefers a different option, and we'll see why.
00:00 Intro to the dispute
05:17 1. English definitions of the terms
07:48 2. Looking at PÄli language usage
08:56 3. Early metaphors and similes
14:08 A hidden irony or contradiction [by analogy bodhi is spoken of as enlightenment or awakening, whereas
NOTE: A recent article by Western Buddhist monk Bhikkhu AnÄlayo calls Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of this term into question. Doug Smith has done a follow up video discussing that response here:
Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark — amzn.to/3yGFLgy
☸️ FREE MINI-COURSE at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
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250th anniversary of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech
(Historic St. John's Church) Ten years ago on March 23, 2015: RICHMOND. On March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, Patrick Henry delivered his Liberty or Death speech at the 2nd Virginia Convention.
Among the 120 delegates in attendance were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Robert Carter Nicholas, and other.
Henry was a superb orator who spoke extemporaneously. One aspect of Henry’s genius was that he was able to take ideas and phrases that were part of the intellectual life of the colonies and put them into eloquent words and persuasive arguments. There is no written record of this speech. It was not until William Wirt, Henry’s first biographer, published Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry in 1817 that a reconstruction of the speech was printed.
Hindus (Vedic Brahmins) do not understand what Buddhism means by moksha (liberation, freedom). By shunyata, or "emptiness," is not meant "nothing." What is meant is no self, that ultimately there is no separate "self." This can mean self is all-one with everything, indistinguishable from the environment, but the point is that it means everything is impersonal. It is not-self. There is no ego. The personality is an impermanent flux.
Based on the recollections of men who had been present when the speech was made, the main source was a lengthy letter that St. George Tucker wrote relating his memories of the speech. Some scholars attribute the version of the speech commonly known to Tucker, but there are other firsthand accounts that characterize Henry’s speech in a similar manner, giving weight to Tucker’s memories of the words that Henry spoke.
James Parker, a Norfolk merchant who talked with delegates after the convention, wrote a letter on April 6, 1775, that describes Henry’s speech as “infamously insolent” and repeats that
Henry referred to the king as “a tyrant, a fool, a puppet, and a tool to the ministry,
said there was now no Englishmen, no Scots, no Britons, but a set of wretches sunk in luxury,
they had lost their natural courage and
[were] unable to look the brave Americans in the face.”
Edmund Randolph, in a history of Virginia that he wrote in the early 19th century, recalled that Henry “with indignation ridiculed the idea of peace ‘when there is no peace.’”
The language reflected in these descriptions of Henry’s speech is similar to that which William Wirt included in his reconstruction.
Henry’s speech was powerful and carried the resolutions in a close vote.
The convention journal does not record the actual vote, but Parker wrote that the resolution was “carried by a Majority of 65 to 60.”
The convention records indicate that only 118 delegates were likely present that day. The vote was close, and the resolution passed by a narrow margin.
Manumission, or enfranchisement (emancipation), is the act of freeing slaves by their owners.
Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most widely used term is gratuitous manumission, "the conferment of freedom on the enslaved by enslavers before the end of the slave system" [1].
Gregg Braden, what keeps us disempowered? - When was first legal interracial marriage in US?
The motivations for manumission were complex and varied. Firstly, it may present itself as a sentimental and benevolent gesture. One typical scenario was the freeing in the master's will of a devoted servant after long years of service.
A trusted bailiff might be manumitted as a gesture of gratitude. For those working as agricultural laborers or in workshops, there was little likelihood of being so noticed.
What about liberation from samsara, Graham Hancock?
In general, it was more common for older slaves to be given freedom.
Legislation under the early Roman Empire put limits on the number of slaves that could be freed in wills (lex Fufia Caninia, 2 BC), which suggests that it had been widely used.
Freeing slaves could serve the pragmatic interests of the owner. The prospect of manumission worked as an incentive for slaves to be industrious and compliant.
Roman slaves were paid a wage (peculium), which they could save up to buy themselves freedom. Manumission contracts, found in some abundance at Delphi (ancient Greece), specify in detail the prerequisites for liberation. More
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