Hey guys. I'm starting this thread for anyone who have a wish to share some of the good dharma books that you have read.

So, I'm starting with one I am currently reading... bought it from Pearl Center's Evergreen Buddhist bookshop, and now Thusness and another friend of ours are getting their copies. After that it will be out of stock so if anyone wishes to buy, you may have to check out Awareness Place, not sure if they have it.

 

Both me and our moderator Thusness found it profound and a great guide, the book is full of insights, good advices, and will be a valuable guide for a practitioner/meditator and Thusness thinks that the author is deeply enlightened. The book is very practical and invites us to investigate and discover for ourselves our natural state, rather than being an intellectual or philosophical understanding -- this is a practical, practice manual. Coming from the Mahamudra tradition, the book contains a very detailed step by step manual starting with the various stages of Shamatha (calm-abiding) and Vipashyana (insight) meditation. Very clear and direct.

 

"A practical manual for both teacher and student alike, Clarifying the Natural State covers the path from mindfulness to complete enlightenment, simply and methodically. Presenting the profound and ultimate instructions of Mahamudra, it embodies the realization of India and Tibet's greatest masters."

 

Can make this a stickie ? Otherwise this thread will just be forgotten in time.

Ok.

Thanks !

Hi all;

Here is the path to Nibbana.I got it from Mogoke Sayadaw(U Vimala) link who extracted the original true buddha scripts in myanmar. After Mogoke Sayadaw passed away in 1962, his burnt body remains the relics below for the people to worships.His main teaching is described below including part 1,2,3 and 4.

 

 

   unburnable relics( eye)             unburnable relics(From bone)

unburnable relics (hair)    unburnable relics(tooth)

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Part One

The Twelve Parts

        The Paticcasamuppada, or the Cycle of Dependent Origination, summarizes the Buddha's teaching on the conditionality of all physical and mental phenomena of living beings.

        The cycle has 12 parts, which are:

        1. Avijja - ignorance or delusion

        2. Sankhara - kamma-formations

        3. Vinnana - consciousness

        4. Nama-rupa - mind and matter

        5. Salayatana - six sense bases

        6. Phassa - contact or impression

        7. Vedana - Feeling

        8. Tanha - craving

        9. Upadana - clinging

        10. Bhava - becoming

        11. Jati - rebirth

        12. Jara-marana - old age and death

        The 12 parts form a cycle, in which each part is conditioned by the preceding part, and in turn, conditions the part that follows.

        The formula of Paticcasamuppada is as follows:

        1. Avijja paccaya Sankhara: through Ignorance are conditioned the Sankharas, that is, the rebirth producing kamma-formations.

        2. Sankhara paccaya vinnana: through the kamma formations is conditioned Consciousness.

        3. Vinnana paccaya nama-rupam: through Consciousness are conditioned Mind and Matter.

        4. Nama-rupa paccaya salayatana: through the physical and mental phenomena are conditioned the 6 Bases.

        5. Salayatana paccaya phasso: through the 6 Bases is conditioned (sensorial) Impression.

        6. Phassa paccaya vedana: through Impression is conditioned feeling.

        7. Vedana paccaya tanha: through Feeling is conditioned Craving.

        8. Tanha paccaya upadana: through Craving is conditioned Clinging.

        9. Upadana paccaya bhavo: through Clinging is conditioned the process of kamma-formations and becoming (kammabhava and Upapattibhava).

        10. Bhava paccaya jati: through the process of kamma formation (kammabhava) is conditioned Rebirth.

        11. Jati paccaya jara-maranam-soka-parideva dukkha-domanassa-upayasa sambhavanti: through Rebirth are conditioned Old Age, Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Suffering, Grief and Despair.

        Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakhandhassa sumudayo hoti: thus arises this whole mass of suffering.

Part Two

The four groups

        The cycle of Dependent Origination can, from another view point, be considered as consisting of four groups, being past causes, present resultants, present causes, and future resultants. The four groups are:

        Group 1. Past life

        Avijja (Ignorance)

        Sankhara (Kamma-formations)

        Vinnana (Consciousness)

        Group 2. Present life

        Nama-rupa (Mind and Matter)

        Salayatana (Six Bases)

        Phassa (Impression)

        Vedana (Feeling)

        Group 3. Present life

        Tanha (craving)

        Upadana (Clinging)

        Bhava (kammabhava)

        (kamma formations)

        Group 4. Future life

        Jati (Rebirth)

        Jara-marana (old age-death)

        Rebirth being the passive process of becoming or upapatti Bhava.

        Group One relates to a past life. Group Two and Three relate to this present life. Group Four relates to a future life in Samsara, the Wheel of life and death. The Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada shows the conditionality and dependent nature of the uninterrupted flux of all the physical and psychical (mental) phenomena that make up individual existences. An understanding of the Doctrine is essential if we are to really understand the Buddha's teaching.

         We will look at each Group of the Paticcasamuppada and then we will review "Life" and "Existence" as it is considered in the Doctrine of Paticcasamuppada and in the Abhidhamma

         Group One

         Group one of the Paticcasamuppada is made up of Avijja and Sankhara. Avijja is ignorance of what really constitutes individual existence. It is delusion regarding Truth and Reality of existence, that in all the bodily and mental phenomena of existence, there is nothing that can ultimately be regarded as a satisfying, self-reliant, independent, abiding "self" or "ego". Ignorance is not to understand suffering, its origin, its extinction, and the path leading to its extinction. Because of ignorance and delusion regarding existence, we are constantly engaged in Sankharas, or kamma-formations, which are wholesome or unwholesome deeds, of body, speech and mind. Kamma-formations are deeds born of our volitions, or our wishes and desires.

         Most people are thus engaged in all kinds of activities without an understanding of what really constitutes individual existence; they are proceeding like the blind. They are unable to think correctly, they are unable to act correctly and they are unable to speak correctly. They will never get to where they wish to go. It is only the Ariya, or Noble Disciples, of the Buddha who have been able to penetrate into the truth of existence, into the understanding of the related nature of mind and matter, of the cause and effect of all mind and matter, and the impersonality (lack of abiding self) of all such phenomena. In the Buddha's dispensation, there are four stages of purity or sainthood, namely the stages of Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami and Arahanta or fully purified saint, who is no longer bound by any fetters or defilements.

        What then is "life" or "Existence"?

        Looking at Group One of the Paticcasamuppada, we can say that life or existence, for most people, is "delusion and kamma-formations or delusion and activities which is with delusion". Our delusions keep us always active, always making new kamma.

        Group Two

        Group Two comprises 5 components, namely vinnana, nama-rupa, salayatana, phassa, and vedana, or, in English, consciousness, mind and matter, six bases, impression, and feeling. We will look at each component to deepen our understanding of the continuous flux of life or existence.

        Consciousness appears for the first time at conception in the mother's womb. Consciousness is to be aware of something. It is Consciousness which brings into effect the interplay of mind and matter, which is existence. Mind and matter in turn are linked to the six bases. The six bases are the 5 sense bases, namely, the eye-base for sense of sight, the ear-base for sense of hearing, the nose-base for sense of smell, the tongue-base for the sense of taste, and the body-base for sense of touch, and finally, the sixth base is the mind-base, which is the sense of knowing or being aware of sensual impression.

         When a visual object comes into contact with the eyebase, there is consciousness or being aware of this visual object. This however is a very brief look at the process of becoming conscious of a visual object. The Abhidhamma teaches that 14 subtle subfunctions come into play in the process of becoming conscious of an object (vinnana kicca). Similarly for the other bases. Because of the six bases, there is a continuous stream of consciousness; consciousness of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily feelings, and thoughts and fantasies.

         What then is "Life" or "Existence"

         Because of the Six Bases, we spend our time seeing and enjoying visual form, hearing and enjoying sounds, smelling and enjoying scents, tasting and enjoying flavours, touching and enjoying bodily feelings, thinking and fantasizing and enjoying thoughts, imaginings, day-dreams. From the time we wake up, until we fall asleep again at night, because of the six bases, we spend our time looking, listening, smelling, tasting, feeling, or lost in thoughts and fantasies. There is no rest at all from these activities. We are led by the six bases into spending all our time and all our energies, whether these activities are wholesome or unwholesome, whether they are of use or no use at all. From the day of our birth until the day we are put into our coffins, the six bases take up all our time, How else do we spend our time, if not with our six bases?

         "Life" or "existence", from two points of view, is therefore nothing but the six bases leading us into all kinds of physical, verbal and mental activities.

         Group Three

         Group Three of the Paticcasamuppada consists of tanha, upadana, and kamma-bhava, in English. craving, clinging, and volitional acts. Bhava here refers to kamma-bhava, all the volitional activities that cause becoming into existence. (upapatti-bhava is the resultant rebirth or the coming into existence or Jati of Group Four.)

         Craving, clearly, is to desire, to want, and to long for somethings. But not to want somethings, or to dislike somethings, is also a form of craving. If we dislike the heat, it may be because we like cold. If we dislike the colour green, it may be because we like the colour red.

         Clinging is strong attachment to something. It is compulsive or obsessive craving. We refuse to let go. Even if we do not actually possess something, we are mentally obsessed by it. We think of it constantly. We will do anything to get it. Do we therefore not create more kamma formations? Thus, upadana paccaya bhavo; "through clinging is conditioned the process of volitional acts".

         We have look at the Group Three constituents. What do they tell us about "Life" or "Existence"?

         Group Three tells us that Life is nothing but likes and dislikes. We meet with something we like and we are all smiles. We meet with something we dislike and we are all frowns. So life is nothing but likes and dislikes, smiles and frowns. We meet with something we like, and we be come strongly attached to it. We cling to it mentally, and we react. We react if we like something, and we react if we dislike something. This is kammabhava.

         If we wish to judge a person's character, we need only look at his behaviour, and how he reacts physically and verbally to external stimuli. It is said that the famous palmist Cheiro once said that he could judge a person by looking at his hands. Regarding this, Napoleon, the famous French general, is reported to have replied that he judged a person by looking at his face. It is a person's face that betrays his clinging (upadana) to his likes and dislikes, and to his views and opinions.

         To summarize, what does Group three tell us about life? Group Three constituents, tanha, upadana and kamma bhava, tell us that "life" is nothing but our likes and dislikes, and resulting smiles or frowns. In other words, life is nothing but our reacting to external stimuli. We like some thing and we react in a certain way. We dislike something and we react in another way.

         Group Four

         Group Four is concerned with future resultant period. Group Four constituents are Jati, and jara-marana; in English, rebirth, and old age-death. What then is "life" according to Group Four? Group Four tells us that "life" is to be born, and then to die. This, very briefly and very truly, is what life is. "Life" starts with birth, and it ends with death.

         Once, there was a King, and he one day summoned his Prime Minister and ordered that biographies of all the learned men in the world be compiled. The Prime Minister in turn sent orders to all the writers and scholars throughout the kingdom to begin compiling this great work. There was no such thing as writing paper as we know it today. All this great compilation was done on the finest leather parchments available. There were, even then, a great many learned men in the world, and it was some years before the compilation of the biographies was completed. The Prime Minister then informed the King. The king was much pleased. He would read the biographies and at last, he would know all there was to know about all the learned men of the world. The King decided that he would review the biographies on a special day, and when the day arrived, the King and his ministers gathered in the great reception hall of the palace. The order was given for the biographies to be brought before the King, and carriage after carriage rolled into the palace grounds.

         There was such a great number of carriages that a great cloud of dust was raised. It was as if an invading army had entered the Palace grounds. Carriage after carriage was filled to capacity with leather parchment biographies. What was the King to do? There was no way he could read all the biographies. He turned to his Prime Minister and ordered, "Make a summary of all the compilations!" What now was the Prime Minister to do. He too had neither the time, nor the inclination, to read the biographies. It would take his whole lifetime. However, the Prime Minister was a wise man, and he had some knowledge of the Abhidhamma. The next day, he presented the King with a summary of the biographies of all the learned men in the world. The summary had three lines. The King read the three lines, and was so pleased with what he read that a great smile spread across his face. The King had read:

         1. Learned men were born.

         2. Learned men lived.

         3. Learned men died.

         You cannot get a closer summary than that! And this is what Group Four of the Paticcasamuppada tells us too. "Life" has three parts; is to be born, to live, and then to die, or Jati, jara, marana.

         When we look at the Paticcasamuppada, we see two constituents that belong to the future, namely, Jati and jara-marana. If we, in our present life, are unable to rid ourselves of the causes, tanha, upadana, kamma bhava, then unfailingly, we will reap these two results, which are Jati and jara-marana. As the Prime Minister wisely realized, no matter how many lives are left to us before we realize the Eternal Bliss of Nibbana, we can say for certain that we will be born, and we will die. Birth and death. There is no need to elaborate, no need to say more than this. It is the biography of all men.

         In this world, man is faced with all kinds of troubles, problems, pain and misery. It is no wonder that people wish to be reborn as celestial beings in the deva world or the brahmas world. But even in the deva and Brahma worlds, where some constituents such as our gross mind-matter component may not be present as in the human world, all remain subject to Jati and jara-marana, birth and death. There is no need to elaborate, no need to say more than this. It is the biography of humans, devas and Brahmas. According to the Abhidhamma, life or existence is nothing more than an unending sequence of discrete phenomena, which arise and then pass away. Phenomena come into being or arise (uppada), they exist for an infinitesimally short moment (thiti) and then they pass away and disappear (bhanga). There is nothing else apart from these three phases. People in an intensive retreat for insight meditation should strive to realize this truth.

Part Three

Eight Points of View

         In studying how and why an individual life can come into existence, there are different ways of looking at the cause-and-effect links in the Paticcasamuppada?

         View One : Two original causes

         Two original causes or two original evils are avijja and tanha - why an individual life comes into being. Rid your self of avijja and tanha and you can bring the cycle of existence to a stop.

         View Two: Two truths

         Life having started, what is the truth of existence - there are just two truths regarding existence 1) Dukkha-sacca, the truth of dukkha, that existence is suffering and misery, and 2) Samudaya-sacca, the truth of the origin of suffering. And what is the truth of origin of suffering? The truth of the origin of suffering is that it is craving - tanha - which is the cause of all suffering.There is nothing else apart from these two truths in our life.

         View Three: Four main groups

         Existence can be viewed as simply consisting of Four Groups, namely, past causes, present results, present caues, future results. Past causes give rise to present results. Dependent on present results, present causes arise, and because of present causes, there arises future result.

        View Four: Twelve components

         Once life or existence has come into being, there comes into being at the same time, the twelve components of the Paticcasamuppada, each dependent on the previous, and giving rise to the following. Each is both cause and effect, and it is impossible to say which component is the dominant or driving force. But together, they perpetuate an unending cycle of repeated life, suffering, and rebirth.

         View Five: Three main connectors or links

         Existence can also be viewed as formed by three main connectors.

         1. Between sankhara and vinnana, because sankhara (kamma-formations) gives rise to consciousness in a new birth.

         2. Between vedana and tanha, because it is vedana that causes tanha.

         3. Between kamma-bhava and Jati, because it is our kamma (deeds) that bring about rebirth.

         Time-wise we can look upon the links as being:

         1. between past causes and present results

         2. between present effects and present causes

         3. between present causes and future effects.

         View Six: Three circles

         We may look at the Paticcasamuppada as consisting of:

        1. circles of defilements (kilesa vatta),

        2. circles of volitional activities (Kamma vatta), and

        3. circles of resultants (vipaka vatta).

         Kilesa vatta consists of avijja, tanha, and upadana.

         Kamma vatta consists of sankharaand kamma-bhava.

         Vipaka vatta connsists of vinnana, nama-rupa, salayatana, phassa, vedana, jati, upapatti-bhava, jara-marana.

         The causal kilesavatta and kammavatta give rise to resultant vipaka vattas. Using the vipaka components, we create more causal kilesavatta and kammavatta. Like waves breaking onto the beach just as one wave breaks onto the beach, countless others are forming out at sea, ready to follow onto the beach, one after another in an endless and unending succession. So this too is what life or existence is all about.

         View Seven: Three time periods

         Existence can be considered as comprising past , present and future time periods. Past causes give rise to present effects. We reap what we sow. But we are unable to meet these effects with poise and equanimity. We cannot let them just remain what they are, which is, the effects or results of past causes. Rather, we react to them. We allow these effects to anger us, or to seduce us, and we react verbally or bodily, or we let our minds become lost in imaginings and fantasies, thereby creating more causes. We allow present effects to become present causes. The body that we now have become a link between past cause and future effects.

         View Eight: Twenty components

         Existence can also be viewed as consisting of twenty components. This is an expansion of the twelve as originally taught by the Buddha.

         Thus, five past causes are avijja, sankhara, tanha, upadana, and kamma bhava. They give rise to five present effects, namely, vinnana, nama-rupa, salayatana, phassa and vedana. We use these five effects to create five present causes, tanha, upadana, kammabhava, avijja and sankhara. As a result, we reap in the future five effects, which are vinnana, nama rupa, salayatana, phassa and vedana.

         To summarize our understanding of the Paticcasamuppada, existence can be viewed as being composed of:

         1. Two original causes, avijja and tanha.

         2. Two truths, dukkha sacca and samudaya sacca.

         3. Four main groups, past causes, present results, present causes and future results.

         4. Twelve components, as originally enumerated by the Buddha.

         5. Three main connectors or links, sankhara-vinnana, vedana-tanha, kamma bhava-Jati.

         6. Three circles (vattas) of kilesas, kammas, and vipakas.

         7. Three time periods, past, present and future.

         8. Twenty components in four groups of five.
 

Part Four

         The view of life through Paticcasamuppada

         How individual lives vary greatly

         We have said that all biographies can be summarized as:

         They were born.

         They lived.

         They died.

         Individual lives of course vary greatly in detail. Some are born into wealthy families. Some are born poor. But wealth is not all. Rich people can have lives filled with difficulties, hardships, great unhappiness, while materially poor people can have lives that are filled with happiness. Some are born with excellent health. Some are sickly. Some are long-lived, some are short-lived. Some are born with happy dispositions, or with inborn courage; others are easily agitated, frightened or worried. Some are born good- looking, some are ill-formed. Some are intelligent, other are less so. The list of differences between people is endless.

         And each of us lead lives, no two of which can be identical. Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage." But who is the stage-master who assigns to each of us our roles? This stage-master is none other than our kamma, for the Buddha has said, "Beings are heirs to their kamma." To help us understand individual existences better, let us review Paticcasamuppada in reverse order. The Abhidhamma examines the experience of death in detail, but here, we will consider just two kinds of death, a good death, and a bad death. A good death is one in which a dying person recalls or thinks about wholesome deeds. If a person of bad character remembers or performs a good deed just before dying, he may receive a good rebirth.

         Alternatively, a good person may remember or do a bad deed before dying and thereby get a bad rebirth. Generally speaking, a person's death will be a reflection of how he has lived. To have lived well is generally to die well, and to have lived badly is generally to die badly. If a person desires a good death, he should live a good moral life, with goodwill and compassion towards all. If a person has lived in an agitated way, if greed, anger, delusion, self-deceit, envy, pride and self-interest have been the dominant and controlling factors in his life, then he is unlikely to have a gentle and peaceful death. Paticcasamuppada teaches us "Jatipaccaya Jaramaranam" The stage of becoming creates different deaths. It is because of the great variety and complexity of past deeds, or kamma, that there are a great variety and complexity of lives. Who is responsible for our well being in life? Who is to be blamed for our troubles? Who is to be thanked for our comforts. The truth is that our deeds are responsible for our present conditions in life. This is a basic tenet of the Buddha's teachings. A good Buddhist realizes that no one else is responsible for the conditions of his present life. He does not blame any one else for his troubles. They are self-made, the fruits of his past deeds.

         In general, past good kamma will give rise to good things in the present, and conversely, past bad kamma will give rise to bad things. If we have committed both good and bad things in the past, then we can expect our life to have ups and downs, like the flight of a wood pecker which is said to be high one moment, and low the next. But whatever ups and downs you may encounter, don't point the finger of blame at other people. Instead, review your past actions. Review your past states of mind to determine whether it is mostly goodwill or anger that has governed your deeds. This proposition teaches that wholesome and unwholesome kamma-formations are the cause of future rebirth and destiny. Also, "bhavapaccaya Jati"- through the process of volitional acts is conditioned rebirth. This proposition teaches that through the whole some and unwholesome kamma process (kamma-bhava) is conditioned the rebirth-process (upapatti-bhava).

         By kamma is meant not only actions in a past life, but past actions in this present life, and even actions in lives before the previous life. A person will do a great many deeds in a lifetime. Good or wholesome deeds, motivated by goodwill, compassion, faith, wisdom or knowledge, duty; and bad or unwholesome deeds motivated by desire, greed, anger, fear, envy, pride, selfish interest, and so on. There will be deeds done with great enthusiasm, or deeds done half-heartedly, or without interest. There will be deeds done with mindfulness, and deeds done in a careless or automatic way. People may appear to be carrying out similar actions, such as praying at the pagoda, or giving alms or donations, or cooking a meal, or speaking to friends, but what cannot be seen or guessed at will be their inner thoughts. Their outward actions may look the same, but their states of mind will vary greatly. And in all these acts, it is volition or "cetana' which is of great importance - "cetana', which is unseen, unknown to others, and varying greatly from one person to another.

         In any one situation, there is a great variety and complexity of acts being carried out by many people, each with different states of mind. Even within just one person, state of mind is extremely complex varying constantly, not just from hour to hour, but even from one moment to another. Even in the act of worship, in the calm of the early morning, many people are unable to maintain concentration and mindfulness but vagrant thoughts must flit constantly across their minds. Having come into a new existence, as we have stated previously, past kamma will bear fruit when the time and conditions are appropriate. There is no escaping kamma, although the interplay of kamma is so complex that weak kamma may be replaced or cancelled by stronger opposing kamma, or strengthened by similar kamma. Thus, a person may be enjoying a period of great comfort or success in life due to past wholesome kamma being in effect, when suddenly, counter-active or opposing kamma may come into play, bringing illness, or material loss. On the other hand, a person leading a rather miserly existence due to past unwholesome kamma may unexpectedly find life taking a turn for the better as past wholesome kamma come into effect.

         King Kusa and Princess Pabhavati

         To illustrate the working of kamma, we here digress a little with the story of King Kusa, the Bodhisatta, and Princess Pabhavati (Papawati), who was in a later life to be Princess Yasodhara.

         In a previous lifetime, the Bodhisatta was the younger of two brothers, and lived with his elder brother. One day, he returned home late to find a cake meant for him had just been put into the bowl of a Pacceka-Buddha (silent Buddha) by his sister-in-law. He therefore spoke angrily to her, and snatched back his cake from the monk's bowl. Thereupon, his sister-in-law filled the monk's bowl with fresh butter, and made this wish: "As a result of this gift, may I be reborn beautiful, and not ever again have to live in the same household as this rude person (her brother in-law)". Not to be outdone, the younger brother put back the cake in the monk's bowl and wished: "And however far away she may be reborn, may I have with the power to make her my bride." The sister-in-law was reborn as Princess Pabhavati, the eldest and most beautiful daughter of a king. The younger brother was reborn as King Kusa. For first angrily snatching back the cake from the monk's bowl, he was born ugly,

Written by U Kyaw Thein
Translated by Dr. Tin Htut (UK)