To become a true part of the whole

To realize what in Advayavada Buddhism we term 'to become a true part of the whole' one must follow the Eightfold Path. In Advayavada Buddhism the Path is interpreted dynamically as a fully autonomous process of progressive insight and, let us clarify further here, as strictly non-dual and non-comparative, this in the sense that it bears no reference at all to anything predetermined by others or oneself. A prescriptive method with preset demands and expectations is antithetical to all progress, both of the individual and the group to which he or she belongs. The Path is moreover not seen in Advayavada Buddhism as a means to become something in the future, but as the way to become as something rightaway in the herenow. It is seen as the way to become oneself herenow as existence interdependently becoming over time now in its overall right direction - it is by becoming herenow as the whole of existence as it is beyond our commonly limited and biased personal experience of it, that we free ourselves from suffering. Nirvana is when we experience our own existence as being completely in harmony with existence as a whole becoming over time, with natura naturans - Nirvana is, if you wish, the ultimate reconciliation with his or her Buddha-nature achievable by man.

Advayavada Study Plan - week 31

Dear friends,

 

This week (31) we again closely survey the 8fold path that eliminates the cause of suffering.

 

In Advayavada Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path is understood dynamically as an ongoing and fully autonomous, non-prescriptive, investigative and creative process of progressive insight, reflecting in human terms wondrous overall existence becoming over time, and is composed of (1) our very best (Pali: samma, Sanskrit: samyak) comprehension or insight followed by (2) our very best resolution or determination, (3) our very best enunciation or definition (of our intention), (4) our very best disposition or attitude, (5) our very best implementation or realization, (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 a yet better comprehension or insight, and so forth.

 

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 intentions, feelings and conscience. Adherence to the familiar Five Precepts (not to kill, not to steal, sexual restraint, not to lie, and refraining from alcohol and drugs) and a well-considered understanding of the Four Signs of Being and the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths suffice to start off on the Path at any time. Nirvana is, in Advayavada Buddhism, the total extinction of suffering as a result of our complete reconciliation with reality as it truly is.

 

Kind regards,

John Willemsens

Advayavada Foundation

@advayavada

Advayavada Study Plan - week 30

Dear friends,

 

This week (30) we further deepen our understanding that ignorant craving is the real cause of suffering.

 

According to Advayavada Buddhism, it is indisputable that the Buddha did not believe in Brahman (God, transcendent and immutable Absolute) or in the atman or atta (soul, immortal self) and taught that man suffers because he does not understand and accept that all things in life are instead utterly changeable and transitory; if the Buddha had ever expressed belief in Brahman and the atman or atta, such a fact would have been unequivocally recorded in History. Man is prone to suffering (duhkha, dukkha) quite simply because he wrongly strives after and tries to hold on to things, concepts and situations which he believes to be permanent, but are not.

 

Man’s mistaken view of things is produced by a thirst or craving (called trishna in Sanskrit and tanha in Pali) which is in turn caused by his fundamental ignorance (avidya, avijja) of the true nature of reality. And this thirst or craving can easily take on a more unwholesome form: already as sensuous desire, ill-will, laziness, impatience or distrust will it seriously hinder any efforts to better his circumstances.

 

Kind regards,

John Willemsens

Advayavada Foundation

@advayavada

Advayavada Study Plan - week 29

Dear friends,

 

This week (29) we again study the ubiquity of suffering (dukkha/duhkha) as thoroughly as possible.

 

duhkha (Skt.) undergoing suffering, sorrow; dissatisfaction; frustration, stress; pervasive unsatisfactoriness; gnawing unease; the existential distress nonliberated human beings are prone to, one of the three (in Advayavada Buddhism, four) signs or marks or basic facts of being (anitya, anatman, duhkha and pratipada); suffering in the sense of suffocation: 'the state of the Infinite delusionally imprisoned in the finite, that manifests as human suffering' (Kimura); in Advayavada Buddhism does not include emotional grief or physical pain; suffering is 'not a permanent feature of reality' and is 'only admitted and entertained as a possible contingency in life as it is generally lived' (B.C. Law); 'basic frustration that reality does not conform to our innermost desires' (Loy); the first noble truth.

 

Kind regards,

John Willemsens

Advayavada Foundation

@advayavada

A comparative study of any two things

A comparative study of any two things aims to understand one side in terms of the other, find the merits and demerits in each side, and ultimately produce a new thing through a critical synthesis of the two. This comparative study is possible if and only if the two things being studied have both similarities and differences. The reason is as follows: if they are completely similar, there is no need for a comparison; if they are completely different, no significant comparison can be made. In a comparative study, accordingly, both differences without similarities and similarities without differences are meaningless. The similarities are the medium that make the meeting (communication) of the two possible and narrow or overcome their differences; the differences help to identify each side's merits and demerits. These are the requisites for a critical synthesis of the two; in this way, they interact and can ultimately produce something new. (Jong-Hyun Yeo, in Philosophy East and West, Honolulu, April 2013)

Advayavada Study Plan - week 28

Dear friends,

 

This week (28) we again study the selflessness (anatmata, nisvabhava) of all things as thoroughly as possible.

 

anatman (Skt.) without a self or self-nature, selfless; therefore finite; denial of the atman; the Buddhist anatmata doctrine teaches that ‘no self exists in the sense of a permanent, eternal, integral, and independent substance within an individual existent’; a fundamental tenet in Buddhism that ‘since there is no subsistent reality to be found in or underlying appearances, there cannot be a subsistent self or soul in the human appearance’; everything arises, abides, changes, and extinguishes according to pratityasamutpada; one of the three (in Advayavada Buddhism, four) signs or marks or basic facts of being (anitya, anatman, duhkha, and pratipada or progress).

 

Kind regards,

John Willemsens,

Advayavada Foundation.

@advayavada

Advayavada Study Plan - week 27

Dear friends,

 

The purpose of the autonomous Advayavada Study Plan ASP is that we study (and debate in a local group, the family circle or with good friends) the meaning and implications of the weekly subject, not as a formal and impersonal intellectual exercise, but in the context of whatever we ourselves are presently doing or are concerned with, or about, such as our health, relationships, work, study, our place in society, etc. Advayavada Buddhism does not tell you what to do or believe, but how to make the very best of our own lives by becoming as wondrous overall existence advancing over time now in its manifest direction.

 

This week (27) we again study the impermanence (aniccata/anityata) of all things as thoroughly as possible.

 

anitya (Skt.) impermanent, changeable, unstable; one of the three (in Advayavada Buddhism, four) signs or marks or basic facts of being; the Buddhist anityata doctrine teaches that impermanence or changeability is one of the fundamental properties of everything existing, without which existence (and liberation) would not be possible.

 

Kind regards,

John Willemsens

Advayavada Foundation

@advayavada