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Part 1
The Buddha states the pragmatic maxim by saying that a belief should only be
accepted if it leads to wholesome consequences.
This tendency of the Buddha to see what is true as what was useful or 'what works'
has been called by scholars such as Mrs Rhys Davids and Vallée-Poussin a form of
Pragmatism.
You must think at the efficacy, at the practical utility (pragmatism).
"Consider the practical effects of the objects of your conception.
Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your conception of the
object", which was later called the pragmatic maxim. Buddha thought different
things to different peoples, he said things to motivates them.
If you wanna change the world change yourself. Start with within.
The power to change yourself is within you.
Instead of focusing on "finding ourselves" we ought to focus on creating the self
we wish to be at every moment.
Others can show you the direction, but you will have to walk in the path yourself.
Be moderate in all things. Avoid the two extremes and cultivate the middle way.
Don't hurt any person. There isn't any justification for doing harm to any person.
The Golden Rule was to not hurt others with what hurts you.
or
The Golden Rule was to treat others the way you would want to be treated.
Life doesn't necessarily have a purpose, you must find your purpose in life!
Rebirth:
When you die you will rebirth on another form.
Actions remain from life to life, there is a karmic connection.
If you have multiple lives, not everything is lost.
If you had a hard life, things may get better in next life.
There isn't an infinite recompression for what you did in your life.
The problem is that you won't remember your previous lives and you will forget
everything you learned.
Part 2:
Siddhartha Gautama was a prince who left his palace and lavish lifestyle to seek
enlightenment.
Anantarika-karma
Anantarika-karma is a heinous crime that through karmic process brings immediate
disaster.
They are called ‘anantarika’ because they are ‘an’ (without) ‘antara’ (interval),
in other words the results immediately come to fruition in the next life,
i.e. the participant goes straight to hell.
These are the only actions which can produce a definite result.
These are considered so heinous that Buddhists and non-Buddhists must avoid
them.
The five crimes are:
- Intentionally murdering one's father
- Intentionally murdering one's mother
- Killing an Arhat (enlightened being)
- Shedding the blood of a Buddha
- Creating a schism within the Sangha, the community of Buddhist monks and
nuns who try to attain enlightenment.
Dalai Lama:
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.
And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
Emptiness:
Emptiness is a mode of perception, a way of looking at experience.
You look at events in the mind and the senses with no thought of whether
there’s anything lying behind them.
My (out) thoughts:
Let say there is no self, no world, and everything is an illusion:
I am still trapped in this world.
The question you should ask is what should I do to make things better,
how I could improve my life. You should see what has to be done.
Part 3
4. There is a way (the Noble Eightfold Path)... of releasing the Third Truth.
“Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of
suffering: it is this noble eightfold path; that is, right view, right intention, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right
concentration.
Karma
Karma (Sanskrit, also karman, Pali: kamma) is a Sanskrit term that literally means
"action" or "doing".
In the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to action driven by intention (cetana) which
leads to future consequences.
Karma = a deed done deliberately through body, speech or mind, which leads to
future consequences. Intention alone has a moral character: good, bad or neutral.
Karma means cause and effect.
Not Self
Some also call this egolessness, but there is actually more to it than ego.
Skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Paḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections,
groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates concept that asserts five
elements constitute and completely explain a sentient being’s mental and physical
existence. The five aggregates or heaps are: form (or matter or body) (rupa),
sensations (or feelings, received from form) (vedana), perceptions (samjna), mental
activity or formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vijnana).
The "Self" is not identical with one of the components of a human being,
such as the head, the soul, or the arms.
You can speak of a person's "Self", but only if you don't mean anything substantial
by that term. Buddha never said you don’t have a self.
We don't have a fix self, everything is subject to change! You aren’t a solid,
unchanging self, but a impermanent, dynamic person.
Everything about you is in constant change from the trillions of cells that make up
your body, to the multitude of processes that create thoughts, emotions, reactions,
opinions, and beliefs.
You aren’t a static object, but a work in progress, full of processes.
Identifying either the body or the mind as the self is dismissed as a mistaken view
by the Buddha; in the Anatta-lakkhana Sutta, it is clearly stated that none of the
five skandha should be regarded as the self. No part of the stream is the self.
Where, exactly, is your self? Of what components and properties does your self
consist? Since no answer to these questions suffices, the self must be in some sense
illusory.
The self can't be defined in strictly reductionist terms. The self can't be grasped.
If you pluck all the memes out of a mind, you will have nothing left.
How much you could cut from a person and it would still stay the same person?
The Buddhist tradition regards the body and the mind as being mutually dependent.
The body or physical form (called rupa) is considered as one of the five skandha,
the five interdependent components that constitute an individual.
Nothing that exists, including you, exists in and of itself, without dependencies,
and as a single, permanent thing. Everything is actually a collection that we have
labeled as a certain thing, and you may tend to think of yourself as “this is who I
am.” The problem with that is that it’s not true.
The whole point is loosing your clinging to thoughts, ideas, emotions, and the idea
of a “real you”.
Sufferance
We shouldn't concern ourselves so much with life after death. Buddhism is about
cessation/end of suffering.
Buddha is considered pessimist since it states that life is sufferance.
We suffer when we don't get what we want. Also you are never satisfied.
You must accept that things won't always happen the way you want. The Universe
doesn't care about what you want.
As you don't wanna suffer, others don't wanna suffer neither.
The evil of something is measured by how much it produces suffering.
Speculative views do not lead to liberation from suffering, hence Buddha put them
away. There is no myth of creation in Buddhism.
Buddha places heavy emphasis on self-reliance, self discipline and individual
striving. Not self-indulgence, not seeking for pleasure.
Buddha criticized the materialistic annihilationism view that denied rebirth and
karma, states Damien Keown. Such beliefs are inappropriate and dangerous, stated
Buddha, because they encourage moral irresponsibility and material hedonism.
Karmic moral responsibility is a must. In the Buddha's framework of karma, right
view and right actions are necessary for liberation.
Emptiness
Emptiness means interdependent existence, everything that exist is in dependence.
Everything is empty of intrinsic existence. This should not be confused with
nihilistic thinking that things are hollow or not-existent - they do appear but they
are interdependent and have no lasting properties.
In Pali Canon, Buddha takes caution to his students against taking his metaphors
literally.
Middle Way
There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone
forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to
sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is
devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these
extremes, the Middle Way (…) leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to
self-awakening, to Unbinding.”
Budhist sects
Two major sects: Theravada and Mahayana.
Theravada means school of the older monks.
Mahayana means great vehicle.
Common: Samsara: cycle of birth and rebirth; your goal is to escape Dukka and
obtains Nirvana.
Mahayana: you may get help for getting Nirvana (like celestial being);
get close to Nirvana but help others to get Nirvana.