how do you know if you are being happy with symbols?

Cenarious SG

what is a symbol?

and do i have to meditate and enter jhanas to become enlightened?

Ito_^ SG

for a second i tot this is one of those blogthing quiz.. Laughing

sinweiy SG

Originally posted by Cenarious:
what is a symbol?

and do i have to meditate and enter jhanas to become enlightened?[/b]

wat's symbol got to do with Buddhism? u have to be more specific?

got jhanas but no wisdom also no use. we normally say jie, ting, hui.
jie(discipline of body and mind), lead to ting(concentration/jhana). with concentration lead to opening of wisdom(hui).
like the water in the pond. u have to first still the water before u can see the reflection.

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An Eternal Now SG

What symbol you talking about?

(answering your second question)

Different people have different say on this. Some say it's needed. Particularly the Theravada tradition, certain traditions within Theravada state it this way, while others emphasize only on Vipassana. Mahayana and Vajrayana don't put much emphasize on it.

Master Shen Kai didnt taught that way... in fact he taught dun4 chao1 - instantaneous transcendance - without having to go through the various jhana levels. I think last time you took home some 'shen kai dao shi kai shi lu' cds like few years back... wonder do you still have them. It did mention about jhanas. In fact I told you to took home some the other day like a month back but you didn't take. But meditation is still important especially for those who have received dharma transmission. So if possible keep a 30 minute a day meditation habit. But more importantly don't try to reach any sort of states in meditation.

Cenarious SG

the symbols that thusness talks about in that big thread

An Eternal Now SG

www.dictionary.com

3. a word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized, as being part of that which is symbolized, and as performing its normal function of standing for or representing that which is symbolized: usually conceived as deriving its meaning chiefly from the structure in which it appears, and generally distinguished from a sign.

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Things only have meaning on an individual, separate, relative level. They are not ultimate truth and therefore we should not grasp on them. On the ultimate level, there is no separation, there is no point of reference, therefore no meaning, only vastness.

sinweiy SG

Wisdom vs concentration:
In Shurangama sutra, Ananda reached 1st stage stream entry, but He study Mahayana. Buddha preached about half way, Ananda was Enlightened already and praised Buddha. Purnamaitreyaniputra, a 4th stage Arahat, saw Ananda's reaction, was confused, how a stream entry could understand what Buddha said, but an arahat couldn't. Buddha explained, there's 2 kind of obstruction, sentient being have. They are affliction obstruction(fan nao zhang/jian si) and doubt obstruction(suo zhi zhang). Ananda was heavy on affliction, so He did not reached 4 stage arahat. However Ananda was light on doubt, ie He can see things as they really are(Kan po). So Ananda had difficulty renoucing(fang xia) than Purna. Purna is direct opposite. Purna was light on affliction and heavy on doubt obstruction. So Purna could let go easily.

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sinweiy SG

also for an info:
the 1st jhana heaven actually only reaches the 1st small thousand Chiliocosm(xiao qian);
the 2nd jhana heaven reaches the 2nd middle thousand Chiliocosm(zhong qian);
the 3rd jhana heaven reaches the 3rd Great thousand Chiliocosm(Da qian).

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Cenarious SG

does that mean i can see life on other galaxies

skeujin SG

hapi symbol = : )

sinweiy SG

Originally posted by Cenarious:
does that mean i can see life on other galaxies.

not what i mean. i mean if one is reborn into the 1st jhana heaven, he/she are still within the 1st small thousand Chiliocosm and so on. nothing to do with seeing other life form.

They are affliction obstruction(fan nao zhang/jian si) and doubt obstruction(suo zhi zhang).

btw, it's not that knowing(suo zhi) is bad. knowing is surely good if you digest the meaning. it's actually the attachment to the knowing that is bad.

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