Q&A on Jhana, Anxiety, Precepts...

[@infinitygirl1699]

💙Buddhism ❤️ Knuckles 💛Sri Lanka Sadhu! Sadhu! Ven. Thero 🙏🌼

[@srimathisamarakone8535]

Received more clarity after listening to this. Bhanthe may we be blessed with more of these talks and explanations.

[@robertogaleno5920]

Thank you very much for your teachings! 🙏🙏🙏

[@cfsVchris]

Beyond excellent!!!! Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu⁹⁹⁹!!

[@FRED-gx2qk]

Always good teachings Bhante !!!

[@nadeekadilshan4226]

Much merit Bhanthe!! 😇😇🌷🌷🌷🙏🙏🙏🌷🌷🌷

[@MichaelRickicki]

Sadhu3x Bhante! I feel as if I were play acting at the Dhamma for the last 15+ years. Silabataparamasa is a terrible drug.

[@peacerelease6866]

Sadhu x3 Bhante 🙏🏼

[@travellerSS1733]

Dear reverent , how do you getting the internet connection in a deep forest ?

[@janetkocsis6419]

Excellent talk Bhante and excellent questions. Thank you

[@aliciamontero7061]

Sometimes Lord Buddha didn't choose to endure pain, specially with noisy monks. If I remember correctly, once he sent them away, another time he left the place with no farewell. Maybe enduring the pain you can avoid is not always the wisest response.

[@hariharry391]

🙏

[@rajigunatilake2498]

🙏🏼 thank you Ajahn.

[@markouric6146]

Thank you for sharing these precious teachings! Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu 🙏🙏🙏 Bhante I have questions that are not directly concerned with Dhamma practice, but it would be very helpful for me if you would answer them: what is skillfull way for taking care of body? I can see that you and your fellow monks are very strong and ''fit'', is there some strength training routine you follow? Healthy and strong body is great aid, but very few monks in Theravada tradition talk about it, why is that so? Thank you in advance for your replies! Many greetings from Serbia!

[@HillsideHermitage]

Just focus on the functional type of training that can aid you in bearing the elements more easily. Avoid gyms, get your own equipment, and find some simple strength endurance programs online.

[@markouric6146]

@@HillsideHermitage Thank you very much bhante!!

[@FRED-gx2qk]

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu !!! Excellent

[@CrStrifey]

Hi Bhante. What are your thoughts on the idea that a person must know the 'gratification of the world' to a certain extent prior to abandoning it and following the spiritual life, or else he might be liable to spiritual bypassing? I am thinking of Herman Hesse's novel Siddartha where the main protagonist has to experience the fullness of life before renouncing grosser things and following the spiritual path. But also the Buddha himself: "Mendicants, I went in search of the world’s gratification, and I found it. I’ve seen clearly with wisdom the full extent of gratification in the world. I went in search of the world’s drawbacks, and I found them. I’ve seen clearly with wisdom the full extent of the drawbacks in the world. I went in search of escape from the world, and I found it. I’ve seen clearly with wisdom the full extent of escape from the world. As long as I didn’t truly understand the world’s gratification, drawback, and escape for what they are, I didn’t announce my supreme perfect awakening..." AN 3.104 He lived a palatial life and knew all enjoyments of sensual desire and probably experienced opulence in his previous lives to. I am asking because this problem has been following me around in my life since I became interested in spirituality. I feel suppressed, unable to participate fully in life due to my own circumstances, and that I am using spirituality as a bypass or escape to deal with the pain that arises from that. Thank you.

[@HillsideHermitage]

Gratification of sensuality is not in engaging and tasting of sensuality. It is desire and lust that arises in your mind BEFORE you even experience it through your senses. And that's something that will never be seen for as long as a person is not thoroughly withdrawn from sensuality. So, not just that you'd be wasting your time trying to learn about gratification by engaging with the world of senses, it would actually be counterproductive. Engaging with it, takes you further and further away from ever understanding it. Also, death can come at ANY moment. Are you sure you'd want to spend half of your life finding out what you already know deep down inside?

[@CrStrifey]

@@HillsideHermitage Thank you, bhante.

[@sahassaransi_mw]

Theruwansaranai! Is there a difference between the anxiety as in samvega or from sense of urgency , vs the anxiety in 5 hindrances ?

[@servonnetravels9214]

🙏🙏🙏

[@Anatta.mangala]

Bhante, As you have mentioned about perfecting virtue in meditation so that we can see the progress of uprooting the defilement. however, I'm taking pancha sila and doing meditation. I do not see progress in meditation of attained Jhana. Please let me know how to perfect sila and verifying to see progress towards the magga and phala. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

[@HillsideHermitage]

You would need to undertake the eight precepts if you wish to practice towards jhana. The five precepts can provide you with "four pleasant dwellings" here and now, as the Suttas say. Those dwellings are the peace of mind you get when you frequently recollect the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha and your Virtue that is unbroken and unblemished.

[@iansewell5457]

Towards the end of the vid, it is mentioned that "X is against the rules unless it is done because of reason Y" etc. If someone is interested in improving in the practice of sila, where could one find out about these sorts of specifics? Or is that perhaps overthinking it, and simply keeping an eye on your motivations etc. would do the job?

[@alecogden12345]

Id imagine its only the intentions that matter, referring to the first two verses of the dhammapada. Many of the rules are only for practical reasons. Im not a monk (yet) so i could be inaccurate

[@HillsideHermitage]

For a lay person 8 precepts are more than enough. Don't fall into specificity because that will obscure the motivation behind your actions and turn your virtue into a rigid and mindless adherence form.

[@TheMinotaurWarrior]

I believe Bhante is referring to the vibangha, the analysis of the monastic rules. suttacentral.net/pitaka/vinaya/pli-tv-vi/pli-tv-bu-vb Like he says though, these specifics are really for monks. There’s no vibhanga of the 5 or 8 precepts.

[@aliciamontero7061]

@@HillsideHermitage Sadhu x 3 🙏🏻

[@sahassaransi_mw]

At 50 minutes in, Bhante seems to suggest that belief in rebirth is not necessary for understanding suffering.... although rebirth may not, as Bhante says, be brought up in direct relation to the 4 noble truths, isn't rebirth an integral part of mundane right view? And is not mundane right view necessary for noble right view and understanding?

[@harryk812]

Hello sir, I have two questions. First one: is physical pain and sense pain fundamentals the same? If I get a cut on the skin, should I just endure it or try to heal it? Second question: I have a simple question. I live in the US and wishes to become a doctor. I’m only 19 rn. I have started to sense restraint very recently. My question is is innovation and become doctor, engineering, scientists that will create new technologies like better medicine and better roads to improve the world against the teaching of the Buddha?

[@HillsideHermitage]

If you get a cut, you should endure fear and anxiety over your health if it arises. And in the meantime, you should disinfect and cover your wound until it heals. There is nothing wrong with improving the world in a wholesome sense. The Buddha often talked about it, and such actions can be very meritorious. If you choose to follow such worldly path, just make sure you don't also end up "improving" (i.e. increasing) your sensual desires and craving. In other words, no matter your ambition, there is never an excuse to not uphold the virtue and sense restraint that protects it.

[@exitsamsara]

👁️🙏👁️

[@InojSameendra]

Bhante, I'm from Sri Lanka, I have been practicing meditation myself but I don't see much progress in reflection, I want to know more about how to be a monk like you cause I believe i can achieve true reflection by following a similar path like yours. So are locals welcomed to come and practise at your monestry or how do I become a monk in future?

[@HillsideHermitage]

No, the Hermitage is only for fully ordained and preferably senior monks that are well past their navaka training. If you wish to ordain you can gradually start visiting many of Sri Lankan forest monasteries that allow people to stay there under eight precepts, and then become more familiar with the monastic community lifestyle and duties. You can have a look at Na Uyana Forest Monastery, and from there inquire about other places too. Good luck.

[@InojSameendra]

@@HillsideHermitage, Thanks a lot Bhante, I was trying to figure out how and when I should make the transition but it occurs to me now that it's not a spontaneous thing that will happen at one moment but rather an effect of gradual caugulation of the practice that will set my path either as a monk or a non-monk lifestyle. Your explanations in this video is truly amazing and I wish you attain that blissful Nirvana anytime soon. Maybe if im lucky I may meet you afterwards.

[@marka2188]

@@InojSameendra if you cannot make progress in meditation while living as a layperson then just becoming a monk may not do it. May I recommend that you find a successful meditator (a Thero or a layperson) and start practicing. Then while making progress on samatha, slowly try to understand why you want to become a monk. If your goal is reaching nibbana then you are in trouble because there is no real place as such. However, if your goal is understanding dukkha and its nirodha in this life then you are on the right path. You can make significant progress while being a layperson. At that point you can decide. Good luck.

[@InojSameendra]

@@marka2188 good answer!

[@medalxx12]

As someone deep in suffering , grief , etc currently . Would even starting with small sense restraints such as saying no to 2-3 small things a day be a worth while start ?

[@lottie2659]

Start with the 5 precepts then work up to the 8 :)

[@lottie2659]

Hope you find some relief 🙂

[@HillsideHermitage]

As it was said here, start with the simple five precepts. They are not hard to follow and should incur minimal discomfort.

[@xxpaulomata4160]

​@@HillsideHermitage Say there's a fisherman who is incapable of keeping the first precept due to the nature of his work. Would it be better for this person to keep the other 4 precepts while trying to find a new job(which could take months) or would doing this be mostly pointless?

[@HillsideHermitage]

It would be better, yes.

[@jonathanaroi4629]

Bahnte, what are your thoughts on monks who are engaged in political activism for social justice for example. How do we separate between the honest and courageous act of standing up against injustice and activism that is used as an excuse for taking responsibility in their own life. However for monks it doesn't seem to be appropriate to engage in politics more than necessary. Thank you for your reply!

[@kleyyer]

He has already made a video about this, it's called "SOCIALLY ENGAGED BUDDHISM? - by Ajahn Nyanamoli Thero, Hillside Hermitage, Sri lanka."

[@FRED-gx2qk]

Is corporeality to be transcended

[@lukemckean6155]

Great advice! Sadhu 🙏🏻