Advayavada Study Plan - week 52, and Season's Greetings!

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering (duhkha, dukkha) as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's ASP subject was the Seventh Step on the Noble Eighfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) observation, reflection or evaluation and self-correction of our efforts.

This week's ASP subject is the Eighth Step on the Noble Eighfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) meditation or concentration towards an increasingly real experience of samadhi.

samadhi = total concentration (of the mind, cf. enstasy); non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object; total absortion in the object of meditation; transcendence of the relationship between mind and object; merging of subject and object; to contemplate the world without any perception of objects; suspension of judgement; satori; bodhi; rigpa; realization of the sameness of the part and the whole, of the identity of form and emptiness, of samsara and nirvana, of the immediate and the ultimate; mystic oneness; perfect attunement with wondrous overall existence; oceanic feeling; wonder, awe, rapture; essential purity; deep love and compassion; awareness of our common ground.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject, particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (meditate towards samadhi!) in your pocket diary!

This is the last weekly ASP subject this year. Our next ASP subject will be issued in week 1, starting January 4th.

We take advantage of the opportunity to wish you very pleasant holidays and a superb 2010.

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

According to Nagarjuna Pratitya Samutpada is Unreal (Sangharakshita)

Nagarjuna does not shrink from the conclusion that if causation is unreal the pratitya samutpada is also unreal. In fact, he insists upon it, for according to him only by recognizing the merely relative validity of this teaching can its true import be preserved. The Hinayanists had interpreted the Buddha's 'conditioned co-production' as the temporal sequence and spatial juxtaposition of ultimately real entities between which real causal relations obtained. Such an interpretation amounted to a repudiation of the fundamental Buddhist doctrine, of which, paradoxically, the pratitya samutpada was intended to be an expanded statement, the doctrine of the essencelessness and unsubstantiality of all phenomena whatsoever. In the interests of the correct intepretation of the Dharma, Nagarjuna showed that the pratitya samutpada taught not a real causal relation between entities but their mutual dependence, hence their lack of independent selfhood, and that it therefore consisted of a sequence and juxtaposition not of realities, as the Hinayanists thought, but only of appearances. Consisting as it did entirely of appearances the pratitya samutpada was itself merely an appearance; it was unreal; it could not be said to exist, or not to exist, or both or neither. Consequently it was to be equated with shunyata [emptiness].

In this way did the dialectic of Nagarjuna, by exposing the contradictions inherent in the Buddhist doctrines themselves when taken literally, serve as a reminder of the supremely important fact that these doctrines, constituting the conceptual formulations of Wisdom, possessed not absolute but only relative validity, and were not ends in themselves but only means to an end. That end was of course Enlightenment. By shattering the hard shell of literalism in which Buddhism was then imprisoned, Nagarjuna not only saved it from suffocation and probably death but also gave it room for future development. Recognition of the relativity of the means to a certain end leads, sooner or later, to the recognition of the possibility of there being a plurality of means. As far as the various methods conducive to Enlightenment are concerned, however, since they must pertain either to Morality, or to Meditation, or to Wisdom, all are included archetypically in the Means to Enlightenment proclaimed by the Buddha.

One of the principal charges brought by the Mahayanists against the Hinayanists was that the latter conceived Nirvana almost exclusively in terms of negation. They defined it either as the cessations of pain or of the five skandhas or of the pratitya samutpada or some either supposedly positive entity or collection of entities: the Absolute was defined as privation of the contingent. Since the world, in the sense of the total aggregate of causally associated dharmas, was believed to be real, the cessation of the world was a real cessation therefore valid in the absolute sense. One of the results of Nagarjuna's dialectic was to render such a position quite untenable. Pratitya samutpada being ultimately unreal its cessation too was unreal; Nirvana could not, strictly speaking, be defined in terms of cessation. In fact it could not be defined at all. (from A Survey of Buddhism, by Sangharakshita [Dennis P.E. Lingwood], 1957, 1980, London 1987)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 51

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering (duhkha, dukkha) as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Sixth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) effort and commitment in carrying out our plans.

This week's subject is therefore the Seventh Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) observation, reflection or evaluation and self-correction of our efforts.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject, particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (check what I'm doing!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Advayavada Study Plan - week 50

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering (duhkha, dukkha) as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Fifth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) implementation or realization of our intention.

This week's subject is therefore the Sixth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) effort in carrying out our plan.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject, particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (do my best!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Advayavada Study Plan - week 49

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering (duhkha, dukkha) as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Fourth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) disposition or frame of mind, i.e. the adoption of our very best attitude to carry out our intention.

This week's subject is therefore the Fifth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) implementation or realization of our intention.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject, particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (carry out plan!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Chuang-tzu: To become a companion of Nature (Chan)

Chuang Tzu [Chuang-tzu, Zhuangzi, ca. 369-286 BCE] has always fascinated the Chinese mind. He takes his readers to undreamed of lands and stimulates them through conversations of the shadow, the skeleton, and the north wind. His freshness of insight and broadness of vision are in themselves inspiring. He seems to transcend the mundane world, yet he is always in the very depth of daily life. He is quietistic, yet for him life moves on like a galloping horse. He is mystical, but at the same time he follows reason as the leading light.

All this is a direct product of his concept of Nature. To him, Nature is not only spontaneity but nature in the state of constant flux and incessant transformation. This is the universal process that binds all things into one, equalizing all things and all opinions. The pure man makes this oneness his eternal abode, in which he becomes a "companion" of Nature and does not attempt to interfere with it by imposing the way of man on it. His goal is absolute spiritual emancipation and peace, to be achieved through knowing the capacity and limitations of one's own nature, nourishing it, and adapting it to the universal process of transformation. He abandons selfishness of all descriptions, be it fame, wealth, bias, or subjectivity. Having attained enlightenment through the light of Nature, he moves in the realm of "great knowledge" and "profound virtue". Thus he is free. (from The Mystical Way of Chuang Tzu, in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, by Wing-tsit Chan, 1969, Princeton 1973)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 48

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Third Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) enunciation, definition or explanation of our intention - we put our action plan into words.

This week's subject is therefore the Fourth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) disposition, frame of mind or attitude to carry out our intention.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject, particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (adopt right attitude!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

It is tempting to retreat (Richard Hayes)

In times like the ones we are going through now, it is mighty tempting to become a quietist, to retreat into the comfort of isolation and solitary prayer and meditation. It is tempting to focus on another world, a better world to come along when one has been released from active duty in this one. It is tempting to visualize heavenly realms and pure lands and distant paradises while the world outside rots and stinks. It is even tempting to retreat to a peaceful valley somewhere and to wait until the times have changed, thinking "When the parade comes along, I will join it." [But] if no one marches now, then when and where will there be a parade to join? (Richard Hayes, on his blog)

The Rafter is the Whole Building, in Fa-tsang (Cook)

Fa-tsang [Fazang, 643-712] concludes his Treaties on the Five Doctrines (the translation of a shorter title of the above-mentioned Hua-yen i-ch'eng chiao i fen-ch'i chang) with a description of the relationship between a rafter and the whole building of which it is a part. It is an analogy for any whole and its parts. By means of it, Fa-tsang shows the relationship of identity and interdependence (or interpenetration) discussed earlier. He analyzes this relationship by means of six characteristics which are possessed by each part of the whole. The six are totality, particularity, identity, difference, integration, and non-integration. In terms of the rafter, this means that the rafter is the totality, a particular, identical with all other parts and consequently with the whole, different in form and function, integrated into, and thus part of, the whole, and non-integrated in the sense that the rafter remains an observable, removable part with its own nature. The rafter is all six simultaneously.

What do we mean first of all by 'totality'! Fa-tsang answers, "It is the building." But the building is just a number of conditions, such as a rafter. What is the building itself? Again Fa-tsang replies, "The rafter is the building. The reason is that this rafter itself completely creates the building. If you remove the rafter, there is no building. If you have a rafter, you have a building." But how can a rafter all by itself wholly create the building if there are no roof tiles, nails, and other things?

It can not, says Fa-tsang, because if there are no roof tiles, nails, and the like, there is no such thing as a rafter. A real rafter is only a rafter in the context of the whole building, and therefore, when it is a real rafter, it wholly creates the building. A non-rafter cannot do this.

Several points should be noted in this slight paraphrase of the original. First, Fa-tsang clearly says that it is a particular object - the rafter - which is the building. We might insist that the rafter is only part of the building, not the building. but we would be missing the point. It is a particular, with a definite shape, location, and function, but if we remove each particular comprising the whole in order to find the real building, we will never find it. For it is just these particulars in their conjunctive togetherness which we call 'building'. However, we must not overlook the other part of the relationship, which is that the rafter is only a rafter in the context of the building, and it is therefore itself the result of the causal building. In claiming that the rafter-part is the building whole, Fa-tsang is making the point that the two are completely interdependent, for there is no whole apart from parts and no part separate from the whole. Consequently, the parts which conjunctively make up the whole are not independently existing individuals at all; they are empty of independent being. The individual is simply a function of the whole environment and at the same time is the whole. (from Causation in the Chinese Hua-Yen Tradition, by Francis Cook, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 1979)

Interdependent Origination in Chuang-tzu (Cook)

Specifically, well before the beginning of the Christian era, Chinese thinkers such as Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu articulated a view of existence as one of harmonious coexistence in interdependence of the many particulars which constitute the organic whole called existence. In Chuang-tzu's writing, particularly in the section named Seeing Things as Equal, we find a classical Chinese enunciation of a vision of a world in which things are naturally what they are by virtue of a pervasive, thoroughgoing interdependence. As in Whitehead's system, such a world of particular events is not to be seen as inhering in or growing out of anything beyond itself, nor may we look beyond it for any causal agency. It is itself self-sustaining and self-creating, and this is achieved through the interaction of a conditioning nature of all its parts. An example of this view is clearly expressed in the Kuo-hsiang [Guo Xiang] commentary on Chuang-tzu's writing:

"When a person is born, insignificant though he may be, he has all the requisites necessary for his life. However trivial his own life may be, he needs the whole universe as a condition for his existence. No thing in the universe, nothing that exists, can cease for a moment without some effect on him. If one factor is lacking, he might not exist any longer. If one principle is violated, he might not live."

From Causation in the Chinese Hua-Yen Tradition, by Francis Cook, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 6, 1979.

Karma in Advayavada Buddhism

Buddhism presupposes traditionally that the human being is composed of some five skandhas or clusters of which, at death, the physical rupa skandha disintegrates and dissolves and the non-physical arupa skandhas, including our consciousness, simply cease to occur completely. In Advayavada Buddhism, karma is seen as a continually changing knot of interdependent events in time, including personal choices and responsibility - karma is the incredibly precise here and now product of all events in all time. New life is the result of the parents' procreative deed and the karma in which the procreative moment is embedded as an integral part. The genetic and social factors present at the beginning of each new life are the direct result of that wondrously minute karmic occurrence in infinite interdependent overall existence.

Advayavada Study Plan - week 47

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's ASP subject was the Second Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) determination in view of our personal situation at this time.

This week's ASP subject is the Third Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) enunciation or definition of our intention.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (Put it in words.) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Zen, Emotion and Social Engagement (Feleppa)

Some common conceptions of Buddhist meditative practice emphasize the elimination of emotion and desire in the interest of attaining tranquility and spiritual perfection. But to place too strong an emphasis on this is to miss an important social element emphasized by major figures in the Mahayana and Chan-Zen Buddhist traditions who are shaprply critical of these quietistic elements and who stress instead, as Peter Hershock puts it [in his Liberating Intimacy: Enlightenment and Social Virtuosity in Ch'an Buddhism, Albany 1996], "total immersion in the flux of daily life and never a private and necessarily transcendental retreat from it". This understanding of enlightenment emphasizes enriched sociality and a flexible readiness to engage, not avoid, life's fluctuations in fortune and essential impermanence. I shall argue that we can understand the insights of these criticisms of quietism by considering some relatively recent advances in the philosophy and psychology of the emotions. Just as this recent literature challenges the idea that emotions are largely impediments to clear thinking, it can support Chan's concern that the emotions not be understood as mere impediments to enlightenment. (Robert Feleppa, in Philosophy East and West, July 2009, first paragraph of this article)

The Other Power in Shin Buddhism (Bloom)

People misunderstand when they think tariki, or Other Power, is a power that somehow comes in from the outside. The Shin point of view is that the Other Power/self power dichotomy is a delusion. Actually, all of existence is Other Power. Whatever we do is possible through Other Power. If I run a race, I am only able to do it, to put my effort into it, because the world is constructed in such a way that it supports me and makes my running possible. If, for example, there were no gravity, I wouldn't be able to run. If there were no Other Power, in the sense of there being an interdependent reality within which I undertake my efforts, I wouldn't be able to do anything.
Other Power is really interdependence, and interdependence is really the totality of the relationships we have with everything we deal with. Other Power isn't an external power. It's not an isolated power located someplace that zaps us from the outside. It's power through others. We can't deal with our life unless we have other people involved with us. Other Power involves power with others, which leads us to act out of a sense of reciprocal relationship with them. I am benefited by Other Power and I benefit others, and so on. It is from the web of relationships that is our reality. (Rev.
Dr. Alfred Bloom, in Tricycle, Fall 2009)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 46

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's ASP subject was the First Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) comprehension of or insight into our own life at the present moment in time.

This week's ASP subject is the Second Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) determination in view of our personal situation at this time.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (Take a decision.) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

The purpose of the 8fold path...

The purpose of the 8fold path is most essentially to change our own way of life for the better.

The Core Tenets of the Madhyamaka (Cabezón)

Whatever differences may have existed between Indian Madhyamikas, there is nonetheless a certain core around which a Madhyamika identity as a whole can be structured. Madhyamikas generally agree, for example, on the following points.
1) Things are empty (shunya): they lack essences or inherent existence. Neither persons nor phenomena exist independently, from their own side, but exist in a web of interdependent relationships.
2) Ordinary beings constantly err. Instead of seeing things as empty of inherent existence, they see them (to use a term not found in the texts) as 'full', which is to say as being more real than they are. This misperception (or, more accurately, misconception) of the world - this tendency to reify phenomena - is the chief cause of suffering.
3) Since the basic problem is one of attributing an excess of reality to a world that lacks it, the corrective, according to the Madhyamaka, necessarily involves negating something. It involves mentally 'substracting out' or 'emptying out' the excess reality we involuntarily attribute to things so as to bring the mind to an understanding of the way things are.
4) Because negation is a conceptual operation, language and conceptual analysis play a substantial role in this process of correcting our misconceptions about the world.
While such views are held in common by most Indian and Tibetan Madhyamikas, there existed (and exists) a great deal of controversy among Middle-Way philosophers concerning the implications of these core tenets. (from Language and the Ultimate: Do Madhyamikas Make Philosophical Claims?, by José Ignacio Cabezón, in Buddhist Philosophy, Essential Readings, ed. by William Edelglass and Jay L. Garfield, Oxford 2009)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 45

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

These past five weeks we handled the preliminary subjects and this week's ASP subject is again the First Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) comprehension of or insight into our own life at the present moment in time - in other words, what is, honestly, my personal situation right now?

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (What is my situation now?) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Advayavada Study Plan - week 44

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality advancing over time.

Last week's preliminary ASP subject were the Second and the Third Noble Truths of Buddhism, i.e. the immediate cause of suffering, which is craving, grasping, clinging and attachment (trishna, tanha) rooted in ignorance (avidya, avijja), and the need and possibility of the elimination (nirodha) of the cause of suffering.

This week's preliminary ASP subject are the Fourth Noble Truth, i.e. the Noble Eightfold Path to eliminate ignorance and craving, and the Fourth Sign of Being (fact of life), i.e. Progress.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience. It is composed of the following eight sequential steps, which will be treated individually in the coming weeks:
(1) our very best (samyak, samma) comprehension or insight, followed by
(2) our very best resolution or determination,
(3) our very best enunciation or definition of our purpose or intention,
(4) our very best disposition, frame of mind or attitude,
(5) our very best implementation or realization of our purpose,
(6) our very best effort or commitment,
(7) our very best observation, reflection or evaluation and self-correction, and
(8) our very best meditation or concentration towards an increasingly real experience of samadhi, which brings us to
(1) a yet better comprehension or insight, and so forth.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (Path and Progress) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Buddhism in the West

Dear colleagues,

Some time ago I posted a question on H-Buddhism asking for info regarding statistical figures of Buddhists in the West. I have received several references and I want to share them with all who might find interest in it. Here is the full list:

http://religions.pewforum.org/

http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/highlights.html

Buster G. Smith, "American Buddhism: A Sociological Perspective." PhD dissertation, Baylor University, Department of Sociology (2009).

Robert Bluck, "Buddhism and Ethnicity in Britain: The 2001 Census Data," _Journal of Global Buddhism_ 5, (2004).

Jørn Borup, "Buddhism in Denmark," _Journal of Global Buddhism_ 9 (2008).

Martin Baumann, "The Dharma has Come West: A Survey of Recent Studies and Sources," _Journal of Buddhist Ethics_ 4 (1997).

Martin Baumann, "Global Buddhism: Developmental Periods, Regional Histories, and a New Analytical Perspective," _Journal of Global Buddhism_ 2 (2001).

Robert Wuthnow and Wendy Cadge, "Buddhists and Buddhism in the United States: The Scope of Influence," _Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43, no. 3 (2004).

Michelle Barker, "Investments in Religious Capital: An explorative case study of Australian Buddhists," _Journal of Global Buddhism_ 8 (2007).

Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz, "Buddhism in Mongolia After 1990," _Journal of Global Buddhism_ 4 (2003).

Jitka Cirklová, "Development of Interest in Buddhism in the Czech Republic," _Journal of Global Buddhism_ 10 (2009).

Best

Joseph Loss, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem 91905 ISRAEL

Fwd by
John Willemsens
Advayavada Foundation

What undermines humanity most...

What undermines humanity most is the mistaken conviction that human beings are sinful by nature.

Advayavada Study Plan - week 43

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality as it truly is.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's preliminary ASP subject was the ubiquity of suffering (duhkha, dukkha) in the world, which is simultaneously the Third Sign of Being (fact of life) and the First Noble Truth of Buddhism.

This week's preliminary ASP subject are again the Second and the Third Noble Truths of Buddhism, which are the cause of suffering, which is craving, grasping, clinging and attachment (= trishna, tanha), and the need and indeed possibility of its elimination (= nirodha).

The root cause of all ill in Buddhism is, in fact, ignorance (avidya, avijja), i.e. ignorance of the true nature of reality, when the impermanence and the selflessness and finitude of all existents are not fully recognized and understood - it is this fundamental ignorance which in turn gives rise to craving (trishna, tanha), the immediate cause of existential distress. Man is prone to suffering (duhkha, dukkha) quite simply because he wrongly strives after and tries to hold on to things, situations and concepts which he believes are or ought to be permanent, but are not.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (craving and its elimination) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

The So-Called Narrative View of the Self (Westerhoff)

The So-Called Narrative View of the Self (from Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka, A Philosophical Introduction, by Jan Westerhoff, Oxford 2009)

Nagarjuna's rejection of entities existing by svabhava is not restricted to the study of the external world around us. At least as important as refuting the existence of fundamental substances which provide the basis for a world independent of human interests and concerns is the refutation of a substantial self, which constitutes the fixed point around which our internal world revolves. Such a substantial self is an essentially unchanging entity, distinct from our physical body and psychological states, which unifies our sensory input and mental life and acts as a foundation of our agenthood in the world. Nagarjuna wants to replace this prima facie plausible and compelling view of a self, which, however, he claims to be mistaken, by a conception of the self as a set of causally interconnected physical and psychological events. He sets out to account for the fact that we normally do not see ourselves in this way by arguing that this set of events is usually under the misapprehension of its own properties: it sees itself as a substantial self, even though it is not.

It is interesting to note that this alternative view of the self presented here (which, to be sure, is not a Madhyamaka specialty but widely shared between different Buddhist traditions), despite its intuitive implausibility, finds a surprising amount of support in recent research on cognitive science. Of particular interest in this context is the so-called narrative view of the self, a theory that has been explored in detail by Daniel Dennett [most famously in his Consciousness Explained, London 1991], who also presents supporting evidence from our current knowledge of how the brain works. One of Dennett's central observations is that the processing of neurophysiologically encoded information is spread across the entire brain. There is no place in the brain where "it all comes together", no "Cartesian theatre" where the stream of sensory information is unified into mental content and presented to consciousness. He argues that not only is there no neurophysiological analog to the self anywhere in the spatial organization of the brain, also the temporal sequence of events in the brain cannot be used as a foundation of a continuous self. Dennett shows that in certain cases the order of events as the appear in our consciousness does not line up with the temporal order of their underlying neurophysiological bases. The view of our selves as continuous, temporally extended entities therefore cannot be seen as a mere reflection of a series of events in the brain, but requires a significant deal of conceptual construction. Our subjective feeling of spatial and temporal location cannot be grounded on the spatially and temporally spread out, discontinuous series of events in the brain in a straightforward manner. Our view of the self as an essentuially unchanging unifier and agent cannot be based on the structure of the piece of matter that occupies the space where we locate the center of gravity.

Dennett argues instead that the self is a product of our linguistic capacities. The capacity to use language is hard-wired into our brain, and once we start using language, we tell stories, including stories about ourselves which continuously create that very self. The self emerging on this theory is not the author, but the authored. Dennett notes that "our tales are spun, but for the most part we don't spin them; they spin us. The human consciousness, and our narrative selfhood, is the product, not their source". For this reason there is no fundamental difference between the self created by our own narrative and the selves created in works of fiction. It is not the case that the former are intrinsically more real than the latter; in fact they belong fundamentally to the same class of things (even though the fictional selves, unlike our own narrative selves, are usually not open ended). Both are conceptual constructs produced by our brain regarding a narrative, our own or that in some text, as revolving around a single fixed point.

http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/excerpts6.htm#westerhoff

Advayavada Study Plan - week 42

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality as it truly is.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's second preliminary subject was the Second Sign of Being, the second fact of life: anatman, the selflessness of everything, and therefore the finitude or transitoriness of all individual existents, including ourselves.

This week's preliminary ASP subject is again the ubiquity of suffering (duhkha, dukkha) in the world, which is simultaneously the Third Sign of Being (fact of life) and the First Noble Truth of Buddhism.

According to Advayavada Buddhism, it is indisputable that the Buddha did not believe in Brahman (God, a transcendent and immutable Absolute) or in the atman or atta (soul, immortal self) and taught that human beings suffer because they do not understand and accept that all things in life are instead utterly changeable and transitory. They are prone to suffering (duhkha, dukkha) quite simply because they wrongly strive after and try to hold on to things, concepts and situations which they believe to be permanent, but are not.

In Advayavada Buddhism, the concept of duhkha does not include emotional grief nor physical pain. It refers solely to the existential suffering, angst and regret non-enlightened human beings are prone to - the enlightened person accepts with understanding and compassion the grief and pain which are part and parcel of human existence; equanimity does not mean insensitivity to our own feelings and those of others.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (duhkha, existential suffering) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Advayavada Buddhism Information Center - Amsterdam

Advayavada Buddhism Information Center - Amsterdam

Advayavada Study Plan - week 41

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality as it truly is.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's preliminary ASP subject was the First Sign of Being, the first fact of life: anitya, omnia mutantur, everything changes, the impermanence and changeability of everything, of all existents, including ourselves.

This week's second preliminary subject is the Second Sign of Being, the second fact of life: anatman, the selflessness of everything, and therefore the finitude or transitoriness of all individual existents, including ourselves.

The doctrine of anatman is one of the central teachings of Buddhism. According to this doctrine, there is no self or soul in the sense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existent. What we think of as our self or soul, personality and ego, are our own mental creations. Individual human beings live for about 4,000 weeks and then disappear altogether.

It is very difficult for people to grasp how everything originates in causes and conditions and to see that everything, including ourselves, depends on everything else and has no permanent and abiding self-existence.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (no soul, no self) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Het licht van Azië (in Dutch)

For my Dutch-speaking friends,

I was interviewed by the Dutch BOS radio about Edwin Arnold's The Light of Asia.
You can listen to the interview at:

http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/radio5/bos/dezevendehemel/20091003-15.wma

Cheers,
John.

The Path in Advayavada Buddhism

In most other forms of Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is made up of eight largely unrelated and prescriptive factors. For Advayavada Buddhism, however, it is clear that the objective of the Middle Way devoid of extremes, the madhyama-pratipad, being the correct existential attitude expounded by the Buddha, is the abandonment of all fixed views and to reconnect and reconcile us with wondrous overall existence as it truly is beyond our commonly limited and biased personal experience of it - the Eightfold Path is therefore understood dynamically as an ongoing reflexion at the level of our personal lives of existence as a whole becoming over time, as an ongoing reflexion in human terms of pratityasamutpada. It is for this reason, that the eight steps of the Noble Eightfold Path, as advocated by Advayavada Buddhism, do depend sequentially on each other, are to be followed repeatedly step by step one step at the time, are free of any conventional criteria set beforehand by others or ourselves that one is supposed to conform to, and are fully 'actual' in the sense that they are not done for a further purpose or motive which is not in the step itself - the only thing one has to consider is whether our realisation of this next step is to our knowledge at this very moment (acquired through texts, teachers and thought) the best possible one under the everchanging circumstances. (from the Advayavada Buddhism website)

The rupa and arupa skandhas

We find it very difficult to come to terms with this frequently heard contention that the arupa skandhas or kandhas are in some way or another capable of carrying out things by themselves, such as initiating and maintaining an "incessant interaction" or making something "enter or realize Nirvana". Because the arupa skandhas in fact do nothing - they are the doing. The cluster of physical existence is the rupa skandha. Also this cluster does nothing - it merely is physical existence in all its aspects. The traditional four non-physical skandhas [sensations or feelings (vedana), perception (samjña, sañña), mental forces or formations (samskara, sankhara), and consciousness (vijñana, viññana)] are clusters or aggregates of functions, which are events - they denote how the rupa skandha is or becomes. Also the rupa skandha does not cause these events, it simply is them. Like when we say that a tree grows. The tree does not do the growing; it is the growing. This is how the tree is, how it exists in space and time. The growing of the tree is quite obviously an event, and not a thing, let alone a separate thing capable of in turn doing other things by itself. (from the Advayavada Buddhism website)

In learning the Path (Beliefnet)

Your own practice can show you the truth. Your own experience is all that counts. (Bhante Henepola Gunaratana) In learning this path, it is only important to walk on the real ground, to act on the basis of reality. The slightest phoniness, and you fall into the realm of demons. (Liao-an)

Consciousness is merely to know

The non-dual and life-affirming philosophy way of life we call Advayavada Buddhism, to which we wholeheartedly adhere, is derived from Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka, or philosophy of the Middle Way. For the Advayavadin, Samsara and Nirvana are not different objectively, and there is, in Advayavada Buddhism, no talk of a mind separate from the body. Mind is merely to think and to think is a manifestation of being, as are to walk, to talk or to sleep. It is one of the many ways in which the one 'person' exists, i.e. becomes over time. To the Advayavadin, to say that the mind has or does things, sounds like saying that not one but one's running does the sprinting. This is particularly true when he or she hears other Buddhists saying, for example, that not they but their consciousnesses will eventually enter Nirvana or be reborn or something. However important, consciousness is merely to know, the activity of knowing going on in our brains. Mind (to think) and consciousness (to know) are not things but functions, activities, deeds, events without any substance or corporeality. Also Buddha-nature is insubstantial and not something different or separate from Reality - it is but a name for Reality as it manifests itself in sentient beings. Nirvana, for the Advayavadin, is indeed to live fully in accordance with one's Buddha-nature. (from the Advayavada Buddhism website)

Advayavada Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta

Without going into too much detail, according to the Advaita Vedanta religion, we each of us have a surviving soul and this soul forms part of an unchanging overall godhead called Brahman. Also, the world as we know it, is 'maya', an illusion of the nescient mind 'like a mirage in the desert'. Advayavada Buddhism is, instead, a non-dual and life-affirming philosophy and way of life which adheres faithfully to the fundamental anatman or no-soul doctrine of Buddhism, and which sees life as one of the many very real manifestations of existence and existence itself as a constant flux of ever-changing events with no known beginning or necessary end. As for the human life process specifically, the planet earth is obviously, to loosely quote Alan Watts, 'peopling' most wondrously at this particular time in its history; its purpose, or lack of it, is, of course, beyond man's ultimate understanding. (from the Advayavada Buddhism website)

The Fourth Sign and Mahakaruna

They [the Fourth Sign of Being in Advayavada Buddhism and the Buddhist concept of mahakaruna] are, in our view, very similar if not identical. David Brazier says in his Zen Therapy that the virtue of great compassion [symbolized for example by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara] 'implies something universal'. He says that compassion is to tune in to the way of the individual who is in front of us now, and that great compassion, mahakaruna, is to flow with the mysterious but omnipresent Tao, the great way of the universe. This is also the position of Advayavada Buddhism. We believe that the objective of the Middle Way expounded by the Buddha is the abandonment of all fixed views and to reconnect and reconcile us with wondrous overall existence - we understand the Noble Eightfold Path as an ongoing reflexion at the level of our personal lives of wondrous overall existence moving forward over time. Our position also implies a deep trust in the goodness of existence as it is beyond man's commonly limited and biased personal experience of it. (from the Advayavada Buddhism website)

Immortality in Spinoza

We accept, indeed largely share, that God, or Nature, i.e. overall existence, has two (inseparable) parallel aspects: (physical) things, and the (non-physical) way in which things exist, i.e. how they are or become, i.o.w. act, over time, ranging, say, from molecular patterns to cognition and the human intellect (indeed, sometimes capable of viewing reality samadhically sub specie aeternitatis). "Substance thinking [thought] and substance extended [things] are one and the same substance, comprehended now through one attribute, now through the other" (EIIP7S). We do not accept, however, that apart from the human mode of extension itself, anything at all in existence displays anything like the human intellect or mind and, above all, that a part of this changing human intellect might moreover be in any way non-temporal or non-durational and soul-like as implied in the last propositions of the Ethics - we totally reject the idea of an essence of non-existence to accomodate such parts. The writer wonders, in fact, whether these few concluding propositions of the Ethics (which astonish so many) might not be apocryphal. What say you? (from the Advayavada Buddhism website)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 40

Friends,
In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality as it truly is.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's ASP subject was the Eighth Step on the Noble Eighfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) meditation or concentration towards an increasingly real experience of samadhi.

This week's preliminary ASP subject is again the First Sign of Being, i.e. the first fact of life: omnia mutantur, everything changes, the impermanence and changeability of everything, of all existents, including ourselves.

Actual and potential change are certainly the most important aspects of pratityasamutpada, interdependent origination, the universal dynamic principle of existence, meaning that 'all causes are effects and all effects are causes'.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (everything changes!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

The body in which one can see the truth (Beliefnet)

...The body in which one can see the truth will die out, like a fan palm, without any future. But that which is the truth, that which is existence itself, is there although it is deep and infinitely hard to understand. Like the great ocean, one cannot fathom it. (Digha Nikaya)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 39

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of existential suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality as it truly is.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Seventh Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) observation, reflection or evaluation and self-correction of our efforts.

This week's subject is therefore the Eighth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) meditation or concentration towards an increasingly real experience of samadhi.

samadhi = total concentration (of the mind, cf. enstasy); non-dualistic state of consciousness in which the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object; total absortion in the object of meditation; transcendence of the relationship between mind and object; merging of subject and object; to contemplate the world without any perception of objects; suspension of judgement; satori; bodhi; rigpa; realization of the sameness of the part and the whole, of the identity of form and emptiness, of samsara and nirvana, of the immediate and the ultimate; mystic oneness; perfect attunement with wondrous overall existence; oceanic feeling; wonder, awe, rapture; essential purity; deep love and compassion; awareness of our common ground.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle and/or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (meditate towards samadhi!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Someone who is about to admonish (Beliefnet)

Someone who is about to admonish another must realize within himself five qualities before doing so [that he may be able to say], thus: "In due season will I speak, not out of season. In truth I will speak, not in falsehood. Gently will I speak, not harshly. To his profit will I speak, not to his loss. With kindly intent will I speak, not in anger." (Vinaya Pitaka, translated by F.S. Woodward)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 38

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Sixth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) effort and commitment in carrying out our plans.

This week's subject is therefore the Seventh Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) observation, reflection or evaluation and self-correction of our efforts.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (check what I'm doing) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

About true seclusion (Beliefnet)

Living in forests far away from other people is not true seclusion. True seclusion is to be free from the power of likes and dislikes. It is also to be free from the mental attitude that one must be special because one is treading the path. Those who remove themselves to far forests often feel superior to others. They think that because they are solitary they are being guided in a special way and that those who live an ordinary life can never have that experience. But that is conceit and is not help to others. The true recluse is one who is available to others, helping them with affectionate speech and personal example. (Prajnaparamita)

Do not pursue the past (Beliefnet)

The Buddha taught: "Do not pursue the past. Do not lose yourself in the future. The past no longer is. The future has not yet come. Looking deeply at life as it is, in the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom. We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late. Death comes unexpectedly. How can we bargain with it? The sage calls a person who knows how to dwell in mindfulness night and day 'one who knows the better way to live alone.'" (Bhaddekaratta Sutta, translated by Thich Nhat Hanh)

Complete spontaneous acquiescence (Beliefnet)

The right attitude for studying the way [8fold path, step 4] is just complete spontaneous acquiescence. Who cares whether it takes twenty or thirty years; you'll be naturally at peace, without the slightest bit of doubt or confusion. How can there be any obstruction again after spontaneous acquiescence? How can anyone arrive by way of externals? (Ming-pen)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 37

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Fifth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) implementation or realization of our intention.

This week's subject is therefore the Sixth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) effort in carrying out our plan.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (do my best!) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

The 8fold Path in Advayavada Buddhism

In the Popperian sense, our personalized application of the Noble Eightfold Path is a piecemeal process rather than an Utopian one.

Cultivation of the Good (Beliefnet)

Such human qualities as morality, compassion, decency, wisdom and so forth have been the foundations of all civilizations. These qualities must be cultivated and sustained through systematic moral education in a conductive social environment, so that a more humane world may emerge. (HH the Dalai Lama)

IHEU September 2009 update

This is your monthly update of news from International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). You can find the full versions of these news stories on our web site. <http://www.iheu.org>

Applications for the IHEU-HIVOS 2009 grants programme have closed:

The deadline for 2009 grants applications has passed and we are unable to consider any further applications. IHEU has received a record number of applications for funding. We hope to tell all applicants the results by the end of November. Read more <http://www.iheu.org/applications-iheu-hivos-2009-grants-programme-have-closed>

Humanists in the top 100 on Kiva:

Kiva is an Internet project allowing people in the developed world to lend, rather than to donate, money to people in the developing world who would otherwise be stuck in the poverty trap. The Humanist team on Kiva <http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=392> has recently joined the top 100 by number of members. There are 8,236 teams on Kiva and the Humanist team, supported by the British Humanist Association <http://www.humanism.org.uk/>, now has 93 members who have made 364 loans totalling $11,100. Read more <http://www.iheu.org/humanists-top-100-kiva>

International Humanist News published:

The August 2009 issue of International Humanist News has been published. This edition includes features on the conferences recently held in London; and Interpretations of Secularism. We have: the full text <http://www.iheu.org/taxonomy/term/457>, a PDF version <http://www.iheu.org/node/3685> with pictures (available for download now) and more than 15 years of back numbers <http://www.iheu.org/ihn> available on the web site. Read more <http://www.iheu.org/international-humanist-news-published>

Gay Humanists welcome Quaker conversion to gay marriage:

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) congratulates the Quakers on their decision to support full gay marriage, a position that GALHA has long campaigned for. Read more <http://www.iheu.org/gay-humanists-welcome-quaker-conversion-gay-marriage>

Gay Humanists welcome Richard Dawkins's support for Alan Turing:

The gay Humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) has warmly welcomed the decision of Richard Dawkins to back the campaign to win an official apology for Alan Turing, the code-breaking genius and father of the modern computer who committed suicide in 1954 after being prosecuted for being homosexual. Read more <http://www.iheu.org/gay-humanists-welcom-richard-dawkinss-support-alan-turing>

IHEYO Youthspeak - August 2009:

The August issue of Youthspeak is now available. This issue includes: Presidential Note - Thinking of October; Editorial - For the Sake of Yesterday, Today and the Future; Russian Pupils to have a choice of religion, ethics; Swine Flu Scare: Communion wafer banned, Saudi bans pilgrims; Talibans attack four northern Nigerian states; Placenta-derived stem cells may help sufferers of lung diseases; Homosexuals left traumatised by ceremonial 'cure'; Natalia Estemirova, Russian rights activist, found murdered; Project of the Month - Are you warming up for October? Column/Opinion - Come and let's share ideas on Secularism; Humanist Portrait - Michael Jackson: Award-Winning Supporter of Charities; Member in Focus - Tarksheel Society Punjab; Book Review/Resource - The MDG Youth Report; and Humanist Humour - Welcome to Hell! Read more <http://www.iheu.org/iheyo-youthspeak-august-2009>

IHEU protests attack in Nigeria:

In a letter sent to the Nigerian High Commission in the UK, IHEU's President Sonja Eggerickx has protested at the attack on Leo Igwe. Other protests are also being sent by IHEU Member Organizations. Read more <http://www.iheu.org/iheu-protests-attack-nigeria>

--

International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is the world umbrella organisation for Humanist, ethical culture, rationalist, secularist and freethought groups. Based in London, it is an international NGO with Special Consultative Status with the UN (New York, Geneva, Vienna), General Consultative Status at UNICEF (New York) and the Council of Europe (Strasbourg), and it maintains operational relations with UNESCO (Paris).

Its mission is to build and represent the global Humanist movement, to defend human rights and to promote Humanist values world-wide. IHEU sponsors the triennial World Humanist Congress.

You can find out more about IHEU on our web site <http://www.iheu.org>

Fwd by
John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm>

Advayavada Study Plan - week 36

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; old mistakes are left behind; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Fourth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) disposition or frame of mind, i.e. the adoption of our very best attitude to carry out our intention.

This week's subject is therefore the Fifth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) implementation or realization of our intention.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (start carrying out plan) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

When you grasp, you are losing your freedom (Beliefnet)

A student asked: "For all the different people who have come to listen to your words, please tell us about the way you have found and known." The Buddha answered: "When you take things it is because of a thirst, a clinging, and a grasping. You should lose that and lose it altogether, above, below, around, and within. It makes no difference what it is you are grasping. When you grasp, you are losing your freedom. Realize this and grasp at nothing. Then you will cease being a creature of attachment, tied to the powers of death." (Sutta Nipata)

Whatever's out there, it is all Amida (Bloom)

...Shinran identified Amida Buddha as the eternal Buddha, similar to how Shakyamuni is portrayed in the Lotus Sutra. That means that Amida has no beginning and no end. There's never been a time when there was not Amida Buddha. So he symbolizes reality.

When I discuss Amida Buddha with Christians, they often ask, "Is Amida a god?" and I say, "No, he is not a god, he's reality." Amida is the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life, and in this sense of things draws one's mind out beyond boundaries to contemplate the infinite. Shakyamuni is from the Shakya clan, and that can be a limiting concept; Amida, though, is not just a being, not just a concept; rather, it's a mythic symbol, a window through which to contemplate reality and to see ourselves better in relationship to the whole. It's a way of focusing our understanding about reality and how it embraces us. We live within the infinite, the infinite lives within us. The totality of life, of nature, of the world and the universe - whatever's out there, it is all Amida. (Alfred Bloom, in Tricycle)

Suffering is temporary (Beliefnet)

All the faults of our mind our selfishness, ignorance, anger, attachment, guilt, and other disturbing thoughts are temporary, not permanent and everlasting. And since the cause of our suffering our disturbing thoughts and obscurations is temporary, our suffering is also temporary. (Lama Zopa Rinpoche)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 35

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's subject was the Third Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) enunciation, definition or explanation of our intention - we put our plan into words.

This week's subject is therefore the Fourth Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) disposition, frame of mind or attitude to carry out our intention.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study (and debate in the group, family circle or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (adopt right attitude) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

A Spiritual Revolution (Beliefnet)

Our problems, both those we experience externally such as wars, crime and violence and those we experience internally as emotional and psychological suffering will not be solved until we address this underlying neglect of our inner dimension. That is why the great movements of the last hundred years and more -- democracy, liberalism, socialism, and Communism -- have all failed to deliver the universal benefits they were supposed to provide, despite many wonderful ideas. A revolution is called for, certainly, but not a political, an economic, or a technical revolution. We have had enough experience of these during the past century to know that a purely external approach will not suffice. What I propose is a spiritual revolution. (HH the Dalai Lama)

In meditation, don't expect anything (Beliefnet)

In meditation, don't expect anything. Just sit back and see what happens. Treat the whole thing as an experiment. Take an active interest in the test itself, but don't get distracted by your expectations about the results. For that matter, don't be anxious for any result whatsoever. (Gunaratana)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 34

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's ASP subject was the Second Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) determination in view of our personal situation at this time.

This week's subject is therefore the Third Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) enunciation, definition or explanation of our intention.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (put plan into words) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

AddToAny

Friends,
There is now an AddToAny share device on all pages of our website.
/\ John.

Groups

People avidly join e-groups and then clam up! Why?

Trusting our conscience

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized: it is firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world, and trusting our own feelings and conscience.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Friends,
What do we know about the attitude of the Burmese mahatheras (particularly the expat monks) with respect to Aung San Suu Kyi?
/\ John.

Anniversary

Friends,

Wednesday (August 12th.) is the 23rd. anniversary of the inception of Advayavada Buddhism.

Cheers,
John.

Advayavada Study Plan - week 33

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized and firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

Last week's ASP subject was the First Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) insight into the circumstances of our own life at the present time.

This week's subject is therefore the Second Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) determination in view of our personal situation at this time.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject ('make a decision') in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Dhammapada 166 (translations compared)

Don't sacrifice your own welfare for that of another, no matter how great. Realizing your own true welfare, be intent on just that. (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)

For the sake of others' welfare, however great, let not one neglect one's own welfare. Clearly perceiving one's own welfare, let one be intent on one's own goal. (Narada Thera)

Let no one neglect his own task for the sake of another's, however great; let him, after he has discerned his own task, devote himself to his task. (Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan)

Food for thought!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm>

The 'easy' way (Beliefnet)

There is an extremely easy way to become Buddha. Refraining from all evil, not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and pitying those below you, without any detesting or desiring, worrying or lamentation - this is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it. (Dogen)

Dalai Lama Documentary

http://www.dalailamafilm.com/

Advayavada Study Plan - week 32

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized and firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

These past five weeks we handled the preliminary subjects and this week's subject is again the First Step on the Noble Eightfold Path: our very best (samyak, samma) comprehension of or insight into our own life at the present moment in time - in other words, what is, honestly, my personal situation right now?

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (What is my situation now?) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

See Advayavada site map

http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/sitemap.htm

Re: H-Buddhism

http://www.h-net.org/~buddhism/

Negligence (Beliefnet)

Negligence produces a lot of dirt. As in a house, so in the mind, only a very little dirt collects in a day or two, but if it goes on for many years, it will grow into a vast heap of refuse. (Commentary to Sutta Nipata)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 31

Friends,

Last week's preliminary ASP subject were the Second and the Third Noble Truths of Buddhism, i.e. the immediate cause of suffering, which is craving, grasping, clinging and attachment (trishna, tanha), and the need and possibility of its elimination (nirodha).

This week's preliminary subject are the Fourth Noble Truth, i.e. the Noble Eightfold Path to eliminate ignorance and craving, and the Fourth Sign of Being (fact of life), i.e. Progress.

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized and firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life soon gathers new impetus.

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is composed of the following eight sequential steps:

(1) our very best (samyak, samma) comprehension or insight, followed by
(2) our very best resolution or determination,
(3) our very best enunciation or definition of our purpose or intention,
(4) our very best disposition or frame of mind,
(5) our very best implementation or realization of our purpose,
(6) our very best effort or commitment,
(7) our very best observation, reflection or evaluation and self-correction, and
(8) our very best meditation or concentration towards an increasingly real experience of samadhi,
which brings us to
(1) a yet better comprehension or insight, and so forth.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (Path and Progress) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

The teaching is like a raft (Beliefnet)

O monks, even if you have insight that is pure and clear but you cling to it, fondle it and treasure it, depend on it and are attached to it, then you do not understand that the teaching is like a raft that carries you across the water to the farther shore but is then to be put down and not clung to. (Majjhima Nikaya)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 30

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized and firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life at once gathers new impetus.

Last week's preliminary ASP subject was the ubiquity of suffering (duhkha) in the world, which is simultaneously the Third Sign of Being (fact of life) and the First Noble Truth of Buddhism.

This week's preliminary ASP subject are again the Second and the Third Noble Truths of Buddhism, which are the cause of suffering, which is craving, grasping, clinging and attachment (= trishna, tanha), and the need and indeed possibility of its elimination (= nirodha).

The root cause of all ill in Buddhism is, in fact, ignorance (avidya), i.e. ignorance of the true nature of reality, when the impermanence and the selflessness and finitude of all existents are not fully recognized and understood - it is this fundamental ignorance which in turn gives rise to craving (trishna), the immediate cause of existential distress. Man is prone to suffering (duhkha) quite simply because he wrongly strives after and tries to hold on to things, situations and concepts which he believes are or should be permanent, but are not.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (craving and its elimination) in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

One Buddha, Many Faces (symposium)

http://bia2009.wordpress.com/

Abt. Sharia Law in Holland

http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2296923.ece/Help_Muslims_escape_sharia_law

Advayavada Study Plan - week 29

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing and autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized and firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life at once gathers new impetus.

In week 27 the preliminary subject of our Study Plan was the First Sign of Being, the first fact of life: anitya, omnia mutantur, everything changes, the impermanence and changeability of everything, of all existents, including ourselves.

In the current week 28 the preliminary subject is the Second Sign of Being, the second fact of life: anatman, the selflessness of everything, and therefore the finitude or transitoriness of all individual existents, including ourselves.

'It is very difficult for people to grasp how everything originates in conditions and causes and to see that everything, including ourselves, depends on everything else and has no permanent self-existence.'

In the coming week 29 the preliminary ASP subject is again the ubiquity of suffering (duhkha) in the world, which is simultaneously the Third Sign of Being (fact of life) and the First Noble Truth of Buddhism.

According to Advayavada Buddhism, it is indisputable that the Buddha did not believe in Brahman (God, a transcendent and immutable Absolute) or in the atman or atta (soul, immortal self) and taught that human beings suffer because they do not understand and accept that all things in life are instead utterly changeable and transitory. They are prone to suffering (duhkha) quite simply because they wrongly strive after and try to hold on to things, concepts and situations which they believe to be permanent, but are not.

In Advayavada Buddhism, the concept of duhkha does not include emotional grief nor physical pain. It refers solely to the existential suffering, angst and regret non-enlightened human beings are prone to - the enlightened person accepts with understanding and compassion the grief and pain which are part and parcel of human existence; equanimity does not mean insensitivity to our own feelings and those of others.

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject particularly in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject (duhkha - existential suffering) in your
pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Abt. Authenticity of W. Buddhism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/jul/07/western-buddhism-meditation

Holiday season

I will be on line irregularly until July 27. /\ John.

Abt. Indonesian elections

http://www.nrc.nl/international/Features/article2294593.ece/Indonesia_The_importance_of_looking_Islamic

Abt. Secular Coalition for America

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448533/rediscovering_secular_america

Advayavada Study Plan - week 28

Friends,

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is interpreted dynamically as an ongoing, autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight reflecting in human terms overall existence advancing over time.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism is fully personalized and firmly based on what we increasingly know about ourselves and our world.

By following the Noble Eightfold Path thus you get in tune with wondrous overall existence advancing over time; sorrow, doubt and remorse immediately start disappearing; and your life at once gathers new impetus.

Last week's preliminary ASP subject was the First Sign of Being, the first fact of life: anitya, omnia mutantur, everything changes, the impermanence and changeability of everything, of all existents, including ourselves.

This week's second preliminary subject is the Second Sign of Being, the second fact of life: anatman, the selflessness of everything, and therefore the finitude or transitoriness of all individual existents, including ourselves.

The doctrine of anatman is one of the central teachings of Buddhism. According to this doctrine, there is no self or soul in the sense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existent. What we think of as our self or soul, personality and ego, are our own mental creations. Human beings live for about 4,000 weeks and then disappear altogether.

'It is very difficult for people to grasp how everything originates in conditions and causes and to see that everything, including ourselves, depends on everything else and has no permanent self-existence.'

The purpose of the ASP is that we study and discuss the meaning and implications of the weekly subject in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, and our place and responsibilities in the family, group, sangha, society at large, etc.

Tip: Write down this week's subject ('we have no soul') in your pocket diary!

John Willemsens,
Advayavada Foundation.
<http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/index.htm#plan>

Conditioned things (Beliefnet)

As stars, a lamp, a fault of vision, as dewdrops or a bubble, a dream, a lightning flash, a cloud, thus one should see conditioned things. (Diamond Sutra)