Nagarjuna: Nāgārjuna (from Sanskrit Nāga + Arjuna, Chinese Lóngshù 龍樹, Tibetan Klu sgrub); circa 150 – c. 250 CE) was a philosopher and Mahāyāna Buddhist monk from South India. He is considered the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school [2, 3]. He is widely considered to be the most important Buddhist philosopher after the Buddha himself [4, 3]. Indeed, at least in Tibetan Buddhism, he is called the "second Buddha" [5]. He was a well-known defender of the new Mahāyāna movement. His treatises (śāstras) are the foundational texts of a school of Buddhist philosophy known as the teaching of emptiness (Śūnyatā-vāda) or Middle Way School of Madhyamaka...
But thanks to the Macedonian Alexander the Great, Hellenistic and Buddhist cultures came into contact in the 4th century BCE, creating a cultural synthesis known as Greco-Buddhism.
(World of Antiquity) Nov. 4, 2022: This is a deep look at the caves of Barabar and Nagarjuni with an analysis of the conclusions drawn by BAM (Builders of Ancient Mysteries) on the origins of the caves.
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►REFERENCES
Basics of Indian Rock Cut Architecture:
https://stellariasacademy.online/rock...
https://selfstudyhistory.com/2016/04/...
Buddhist Architecture:
https://www.eixdelmon.com/wp-content/...
On early Buddhist Deccan caves:
https://indianculture.gov.in/ebooks/c...
https://archive.org/details/cavetempl...
https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedit...
Geometry of the Shulba Sutras
http://chaturpata-atharvan-ved.com/sp...
https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/n...
Early Indian gold mining:
https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10...
Hardness vs toughness:
https://engineerexcel.com/hardness-vs...
Surface roughness tester specs:
https://www.mitutoyo.com/products/for...
BAM:
https://builders-of-the-ancient-myste...
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(SEEKER TO SEEKER) July 22, 2023: The Buddhist teaching of "emptiness" (śūnyatā, that all things are empty or devoid of an abiding "self") can completely transform how we view life and ourselves.
Here we trace this life-changing INSIGHT (vipassana) from its original exposition by the historical Buddha, through the Mahāyāna teachings of Ven. Nāgārjuna, the Yogācāra scholar-monks, all the way to the doctrine of the Tathāgatagarbha ("Buddha Nature").
⌛ TIMESTAMPS ⌛
00:00 Introduction
01:47 1. No subject
06:06 2. No object
12:37 3. No subject or object
20:27 4. Buddha Nature
25:00 Screen metaphor
26:35 Qualities of conscious awareness
35:59 5. No views
45:38 Conclusion
As we explore the many twists and turns of śūnyavāda (the "teaching of emptiness"), we find a rich diversity that nonetheless keeps returning us to one and the same profound insight about the nature of "things" and "selves."
We cover much ground here, including the no-self (anatta) teaching, whether Buddhism is a form of nihilism, the union of opposites, the interdependence of all things, and the nature of conscious awareness...
#buddhism #philosophy #wisdom #consciousness #psychology #emptiness #mahayana #buddha
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📚 Recommended Reading
▶ A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (Steven M. Emmanuel)
▶ An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy (Stephen J. Laumakis)
▶ What the Buddha Taught (Walpola Rahula Thero)
▶ The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching (Thich Nhat Hanh)
▶ Foundations of Buddhism (Rupert Gethin)
Free access to Early Buddhist scripture: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit...
Learn more about the Tathāgata-garbha: https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index...
https://plumvillage.org/library/sutra...
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Alan Watts: "Reality" is not what we think (Is this a simulation?)
(T&H - Inspiration & Motivation) Alan Watts, the greatest Western translator of Eastern philosophy, gives different ways of looking at our world -- the way it really is as distinct from our commonplace distortions -- in one of his great lectures on reality versus maya (illusion). #simulation #reality #maya
(Vedanta New York, 12/6/21) "The mind is very restless, turbulent, strong, and obstinate, O Krishna. It appears to me that it is more difficult to control than the wind" (Bhagavad Gita 6.34).
Lord Krishna said: "O mighty-armed son of Kunti, what you say is correct; the mind is indeed very difficult to restrain. But by practice and detachment, it can be controlled" (Ibid. 6.35).
Inspired by these verses, Swami Sarvapriyananda (a disciple of the great Hindu Swami Vivekananda) provides invaluable guidance on improving our meditation.
ABOUT: Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions. ABOUT US: Vedanta Society of New York is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India. In fact, this is the Order's first Center started by Swami Vivekananda in 1894. It was a historic event, for the seed of the world-wide Ramakrishna Movement was sown here in New York over a century ago. Swami Sarvapriyananda is the present resident minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.
Vedantic Self and Buddhist Non-Self | Swami Sarvapriyananda
(Vedanta New York, June 2, 2022) Swami Sarvapriyananda speaks on the difference and similarities between the Vedantic concept of "Self" (Atman) and the Buddhist concept of Non-self (an-atman or anatta).
ABOUT:
Vedanta ("the Best of the Vedas") is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the ancient sacred scriptures of pre-Indian Vedic Religion embraced by Hindus as Hinduism and India's great heritage. Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions.
ABOUT US: The Vedanta Society of New York is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India. In fact, this is the Order's first Center started by Swami Vivekananda in 1894. It was a historic event, for the seed of the world-wide Ramakrishna Movement was sown in New York over a century ago. Swami Sarvapriyananda is the present resident minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.
Sweet Samsarahas me by the neck! O, Buddha, how can I win my freedom?
Sariputra's stream entry
Sariputra asks a question.
When Sariputra, the chief monk later declared "foremost in wisdom" by the Buddha, first came into contact with the Dharma, it was through the enlightened Buddhist disciple Ven. Aśvajit (Assaji). Sariputra asked him, "What Teaching do you follow?" Ven. Aśvajit wisely replied, "I have only recently gone forth [from home to homelessness, from the cramped world to the wide open way of the wandering ascetic] in this dispensation and can only give you the gist of this Dharma." "That is all I wish for," Sariputra responded.
Sariputra (SashWeer/flickr)
So Ven. Aśvajit declared this terse stanza that implies the Four Noble (Ennobling) Truths. Sariputra, because of his sagacity and keen wit, immediately penetrated the implication of what the venerable monk said and entered the first stage of enlightenment, stream entry, understanding that his Teaching was indeed that of an enlightened teacher with the ability to lead others to liberation from all suffering. He went to meet the Buddha and became one of the two most significant chief disciples of the Buddha, the other being the Buddhist nun Ven. Khema, whom the Buddha declared "foremost in wisdom" among the nuns.
The wise should know they are not transferred.* [5]
*That is to say, they do not "transfer" or go from one birth to another. Rather, what happens is the arising of empty phenomena followed immediately by the turning and falling two sub-moments later, just where they arose. What arises or originates is utterly dependent on its causes and supporting-conditions. Things originate (arise) and momentarily persist -- constantly becoming rather than being, dynamic rather than static, a moving process rather than a persisting being. ALL things arise (but most relevant to us, the Buddha is talking about the Five Aggregates of Clinging), turn, and fall away. In this way, they bear the three "marks" or characteristics of existence in that they are: impermanent, unsatisfactory, and utterly impersonal.
Twelve links lead to rebirth again...
And as for extremely subtle entities,
Those who regard them with nihilism,*
*Nihilism (Annihilationism): the subtle wrong view that an entity is actually destroyed or annihilated at the third phase of the impersonal process of dependent origination. There is in fact no entity, nothing personal to be annihilated. Ultimately, things neither exist NOR cease to exist, except that in a conventional sense we speak of things in this way to intellectually understand the impersonal process.
Lacking precise and thorough knowledge,
Will not see the actuality of conditioned arising. [6]
In this, there is not a thing to be removed,
Nor the slightest thing to be added.
It is looking perfectly into reality itself,
And when reality is seen, complete liberation. [7]
This concludes the verses on "The Heart of Dependent Origination" composed by the enlightened teacher AryaNagarjuna.
The Buddha says, "One who sees dependent origination sees the Dharma and one who sees the Dharma sees dependent origination."
The Dharma is the truth discovered by the Buddha. In this statement the Buddha makes an explicit equation between the profound truth he has realized and dependent origination or conditioned arising.
Again in describing his own quest for enlightenment, the Buddha says that immediately before his enlightenment, when he was sitting in meditation, he began inquiring into the chain of causality or conditioning, seeking the origination of suffering, and this inquiry led him to the discovery of dependent origination.
So from one angle we can equate the discovery of dependent origination with the attainment of enlightenment itself.
Intellect is not enough for freedom.
The Buddha says that this dependent origination is deep in appearance and deep in truth. It is by not understanding and not penetrating this truth called dependent origination that we -- and all living beings -- have become entangled like a matted ball of thread, like grass and rushes, [like a thicket of weeds and vines,] unable to pass beyond woeful states of being, unable to escape from samsara, the cycle of endless becoming.
Therefore, dependent origination is more than the content of the Buddha's enlightenment, much more than a philosophy or doctrine, it is the truth to be directly REALIZED to gain freedom from all suffering.
It is the key to intellectual understanding of the Dharma and to the attainment of liberation (enlightenment, nirvana).
(Discovery Dinosaurs) "The Best of Discovery Dinosaurs" Enter the prehistoric world when dinosaurs ruled. See them hunt and battle. See them roam in massive herds. Go back in time and experience what dinosaur life was like on Earth.
In Buddhism a naga means a "large creature," but the word generally designates a reptilian, reptoid-hybrid, dragon, or snake, such as the king cobra. See sutra below. The titans (asuras) were enormous and ill-disposed creatures who fell to Earth.
Dreadnoughtus schrani ("dread nothing," the fearless) unearthed in Argentina is most complete skeleton of plant-eating titanosaur recovered anywhere in world.
The unearthed specimen is 26-metre (metre=3 feet, 4 inches) long, making it the largest dinosaur ever known to have existed.
Naga dragon (Daklub/flickr.com)
The spectacular remains of one of the largest beasts ever to walk the planet have been unearthed by fossil hunters in southern Patagonia.
The unique haul of bones includes a metre-wide neck vertebra, a thigh bone that stands as tall as a man, and ribs the size of planks, representing the most complete skeleton of a colossal plant-eating titanosaur recovered anywhere in the world.
Living relic shark
The new species was so enormous that researchers named it Dreadnoughtus schrani after the dreadnought battleships of the early 20th century on the grounds that it would fear nothing that crossed its path.
Naga vs. naga as massive anaconda snake devours a crocodile in Australia (video still)
From measurements of the bones, scientists worked out that Dreadnoughtus weighed nearly 60 tonnes (131,276 lbs) and reached 26 metres from snout to tail, making it the largest land animal for which an accurate body mass can be calculated.
The colossal dreadnoughts lived around 77 million years ago in a temperate forest at the southern tip of South America.
Buddhist feathered dragons (cosforums.com)
Its bodyweight equates to as many as a dozen African elephants or more than seven of the Tyrannosaursrex species, according to Kenneth Lacorvara, a paleontologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Details of the find are published in the journal, Scientific Reports.
Another giant prehistoric animal, Argentinosaurus, was probably of comparable size but its dimensions are known only from a clutch of backbone vertebrae... More + VIDEO
Nagas still lurk in rivers as they did in the Buddha's time. Here one, a Behemoth fish or arapaima, is dredged out of the Amazon river in South America, August 2014. The bigger a creature, the more likely it is to be vegetarian because such a diet is more efficient.
Buddhist naga: seven-headed hydra Mucalinda
John D. Ireland (Muccalinda Sutra, Ud 2.1) edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying at Uruvela next to
the river Nerañjara at the foot of the Mucalinda Tree, having just
realized full enlightenment.
At that time he sat cross-legged for seven days experiencing
the bliss of liberation.
Now it happened that there occurred out of
season a great rainstorm. For seven days there were rain clouds,
cold winds, and unsettled weather. Then the naga-king Mucalinda left his
dwelling and encircled the Blessed One's body seven times with
his coils. He stood with his great hood spread over the him (thinking) to protect him from cold and heat, from gadflies,
mosquitoes, wind, sun, and the touch of creeping things.
At the end of those seven days the Blessed One emerged from that
profound concentration [samadhi, jhana, absorption]. Then the naga-king Mucalinda, seeing that the sky had
cleared and the rain clouds passed, removed his coils. Changing his appearance [by the reptilian shapeshifting power of transformation] and assuming the appearance of a
youth, he stood in front of the [Buddha] with his hands folded together [in anjali mudra]
venerating him.
Then, on realizing the significance of this, the Blessed One uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance:
*NOTE: Dependent Origination is expressed
in terms of processes -- events and actions -- without reference to a self. It does not depend on the existence or non-existence of agents performing actions or a
framework in time and space in which these processes happen. This
makes it possible to understand the causes of suffering and disappointment
without the existence or non-existence of an "I" or
"other" responsible for those events. Instead, events are viewed
simply as events within an impersonal process. This right view
makes it possible to abandon clinging to these events, which brings about an end to suffering in accord with what's true. Ideas of an "I" or "other" are seen
simply as part of the process (mere formations like the
sub-factor of attention under "name" in name-and-form). This is what
makes possible the abandoning of attachment to the conceit "I am,"
as mentioned in Inspired Utterances (Udana) 2:1, 4:1, 6:6, and 7:1. In this way, the treatment of
Dependent Origination in the first three udānas, while terse, sets the stage for understanding some of the more paradoxical teachings
that appear later in the sutra collection (based on note by Ven. Thanissaro).
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