When we all die, where do we go?

Thay (pronounced "Thai") is Thich Nhat Hanh, here explaining a candle flame. Where will it go?

When we all fall asleep, where do we go?

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly in reply to the implicit question in Billie Eilish's "Bury a Friend": Where do we all go when we die? Where does a flame go when it dies?

• And when the flame goes out, where does it go?
• That's a nonsense question.
• No, it must go somewhere!
• Well, where do you suppose -- up, down, sideways?
• Well, no, nothing like that. I don't know where it goes.
• It isn't there like you think (assume), so it does not "go" anywhere after it is said to "go out." Failing to gain new fuel (and four other factors, heat, oxygen, wick, and process-of-combustion), it fails to "come back in" for the next moment of its appearance. This sounds strange because it goes against our assumptions, but it's very true: In one instance, all five factors (aggregates) gather and manifest as "flame." Failing to get all five in the next moment, no flame/fire appears. This teaches us that what we call "flame" or "fire" is utterly dependent on supporting conditions (these five aggregates or factors) and without them, it is not. However, if it is utterly dependent, then how can it ever be said to have an independent existence? Ultimately speaking, it cannot. But in normal usage, in conventional speech, of course we say, "The flame came into being and then went out of being after some time." This is nice. This seems true. But it was never ultimately true. So there is no confusion. And maybe no one cares about a flame or fire. But if the same thing could be said of us, me and you the individuals, what then?
• How could that ever be said of us? We are here now. And when we die or "go out," we reappear somewhere else -- like in heaven, hell, another human life, or a life in another realm in the 31 Planes of Existence.
• Conventionally, this is exactly what happens. Unfortunately, ultimately speaking, it is completely wrong. Not only do "we" not go anywhere, what we are calling "we" is completely dependently arisen. Our being, our existence, completely depends on the Five Aggregates clung to as self.
• What, we're flames?
• No, flames depend on the five factors I mentioned above. "We" depend on the Five Aggregates clung to as self mentioned in the Heart Sutra: form; feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and process of consciousness, the khandhas or skandhas in Sanskrit.
• So there is no reappearance?
• Oh, there's reappearance (rebirth) all right, but it isn't the rearising of some unchanging "soul," "self," jiva, gandhabba, "ego," "personality," or "I." We are clinging to what is not ours, and we suffer for it.
• Aha! You said "we" suffer for it! Who's the "we" that suffers?!
• That "we" is the Five Aggregates clung to as self. "We" are not that. "We" do not control that, in an ultimate sense. In a conventional sense, of course, that's all "we" are, and "we" have a great deal of control to develop calm and insight to breakthrough to wisdom and liberate "ourselves" from this samsaric mess. But that, ultimately speaking, is not really what's happening. And it can be proven. The aggregates can be refined, purified, stilled and be seen for what they are. Then clinging stops. And liberation occurs. It's as if the fearful dream lets go of the dreamer. The monstrous illusion loses its power to deceive and make frightened, suffering victims of the aggregates clinging to the aggregates as if they were "self."
• (OWN) Thich Nhat Hanh on "deep listening," compassionate listening with Oprah Winfrey | SuperSoul Sunday | Oprah Winfrey Network

Let go of fear [and delusion]

(Plum Village App) Practicing Non Fear | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh

Why we need wise reflection

SuttaCentral.net (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

When I first encountered Buddhism in the U.S. in the 1990s, it was all about "insight meditation" (vipassana) with some voices shouting that the value of the jhanas (meditative absorptions) was being mistakenly overlooked as a regular practice.

 

Wise Reflection: Its Importance

Years later, I came across BPS Wheel 463 (Buddhist Publication Society), which states that the value of “wise reflection” (yoniso manasikara) was being mistakenly overlooked as a regular practice.

This weekend I decided to go back and take another look at Wise Reflection (BPS Wheel 463) with the amazing benefits provided by suttacentral.net's because of its multiple translations per each discourse (Pali sutta) and translator Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu’s errant translations on dhammatalks.org.

• Wisdom Quarterly prefers American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi's translations in all cases over idiosyncratic and ridiculous Thanissaro Bhikkhu's efforts.

It was a very powerful refresher course (lesson) in the difficulties of translation and the value of reading multiple [English] translations and the value of [the ancient] commentaries.

The translations of yoniso manasikara (not quite those two words as found in the Pali canon) from the Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2) are diverse!

The same goes for samvara [the things we should make an effort to avoid] translated as: "defilements," "taints or cankers," ["shackles or fetters"], and "effluents"!

EXCERPT: Venerable Walpola Rahula (from BPS Wheel 463), in quoting the Buddha, translates yoniso manasikāra as "wise reflection":

“I say that the getting rid of anxieties and troubles [1] is possible for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know and see. What must one know and see in order to get rid of anxieties and troubles? Wise reflection and unwise reflection... More

All the good girls go to hell, Billie?

When did you join the Illuminati, Pirate? Did Phineas induct you?

• SuttaCentral.net, The Many Faces of Wise Reflection (yoniso manasikara) - translations - discuss and discover edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist "EMPTINESS" explained (video)

Buddhist emptiness explained

(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 ⭐ Support this channel: patreon.com/seeker2seeker 💰PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... 📨 Subscribe with email: https://www.seekertoseeker.com/esoter...

(Let's Talk Religion) Are all things empty? Nagarjuna and the Middle Way

📚 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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Koan: There is No Self

Genjo Koan Section X, Part I

"A person riding along on a boat looks around, sees the shore, and mistakenly thinks that the bank is moving. But if looking directly at the boat, one discovers that it is the boat, not the bank, that is moving.

"Likewise, with confused thoughts about body and mind, holding to discrimination of myriad phenomena (dharmas), one mistakenly thinks one's own mind and nature are permanent.

"If intimately engaged in daily activities, one returns to right here, the principle that the myriad phenomena have no self is clear."

From here Dogen Zenji warns us against the view that the mind is permanent and only phenomenal appearances perish. He points out the fact that myriad phenomena [form, feelings, perceptions, volitions, and consciousness] are without self.

The view of permanence of the mind and the perishing of phenomenal appearances, to state it simply, is the view that the body changes and passes away, but the spirit eternally abides unchanging. It is a view that is generally easy for those of a simple faith to fall into.

The metaphor "a person riding along on a boat" means just what it says and can be understood by anybody.

"With confused thoughts about body and mind, holding to discrimination of the various dharmas, one mistakenly thinks one's own mind and nature are permanent."

An unenlightened person is completely confused about body and mind. As long as one has not clearly seen that the five conditions (materiality, sensation, conception, discrimination, and awareness) are all empty.

No matter how great a scholar one may be, one is confused about body and mind. As a result one falls either into a view of permanence or a view of annihilation. Many people of a simplistic faith fall into a view of permanence. Many second-rate scientists fall into a view of annihilation.

Here Dogen Zenji warns particularly against a view of permanence. A view of permanence is considering there to be a single, permanent, guiding self. It is considering there to be a fixed, unchanging "soul." It is thinking that the "self" actually exists.

Unenlightened people have the karmic illness of considering whatever they attach themselves to as having a self [an identity, a persisting or unchanging entity riding or guiding the phenomenal process]]. If they make a group, they consider the group to have a self [a persisting reality or identity independent of its parts].

If they attach themselves to a nation, they consider the nation to have a self. One would hardly think that there was a self in the planet, but if the world were to become completely unified and there were such a thing as a world-state, perhaps they would come to believe in a world-self.

"The Buddha Way is no-self." The one who thoroughly realized that all things are without self [are impersonal or devoid of self] was Shakyamuni Buddha.

"The myriad teachings return to the one" is also fine. But if Buddhism compromises with religions that have a false belief in the "self" or "soul" or "atman," it is no longer Buddhism at all.

But then if religions other than Buddhism return to no-self, the bases of those religions will disappear, and those religions will be changed into something completely different.

However, since there can only be one truth, I think that when the wisdom of human beings advances, one way or another they'll become one.

In recent times the ones who, comparatively speaking, are least inclined toward a false belief in the "soul" or "self" are the scientists, particularly physicists and psychologists. But I'm quite afraid that if they make one false step, they will fall into a view of nihilism.

By no means do scientists think that body and mind exist separately. But they are liable to regard the body as important and neglect the mind. Western [allopathic] medicine up until now has been treating people from that standpoint.

In contrast, it seems that the Eastern medical tradition has emphasized the mind since long ago. The expression, "Illness originates in the spirit (ki or chi)" is a common one. Even the word for sickness (byoki) means illness (byo) of the spirit (ki)." [Ki can also be taken to mean the energetic body, mood or mentality influencing the body.] But even Western medicine has lately come to regard the mind as quite important.

Of course, it is confused thinking to consider mind and body as existing separately. But attaching greater or lesser importance to the mind or the body is also confused thinking. So if one thinks that a fixed body or mind exists for even one minute, this is also confused thinking. [All is in flux, moving, shifting, processing, not "being" but becoming.]

When one thinks about everything with this kind of confused thinking as the basis, one makes the mistake of thinking that only the body changes, arises, and passes away. One mentally depicts something like a spirit or a self that is eternally abiding and unchanging. This is the way ordinary people think.

From there, the theory of the undying soul emerges. On the one hand, in fact Buddhism stresses that there is no [creator] God [responsible for all things] and no soul. On the other hand, people think that Buddhism is something that believes in an unchanging soul.