🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂 📙 You can find my book here: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
Sometimes I think of these eight 'rights' as precepts for living, sometimes as a kind of 'detailed balance' thing for meditation. It seems that Right Effort is often a list of things to 'do' during meditation, when 'arising' means welling up in the mind. In push hands, on retreat, you try to sense by tiny cues where your opponent wants to go and react accordingly. On thrust, you sense tiny cues about where your opponent's 'center' is, and try to aim for it. But they are tiny, tiny cues. In meditation, I think of these stopping arising, ending arising, etc. as those very tiny moves of the mind that thread a path to stillness.
Practice is important, but what you believe (your worldview) influences not only how you choose to practice but also how practice impacts you. For example, Will Gervais did a review of neuroscientific studies (“Perceiving Minds and Gods: How Mind Perception Enables, Constrains, and Is Triggered by Belief in Gods”) on how theistic belief in deities activates the same psychological process (“mind perception” or “mentalizing”) that we use to detect and relate with other humans and animals, and is linked to prosocial behaviors. Atheists saying the same prayers as theists do not engage in the mentalizing process, and neither do theists when praying to Santa Claus rather than a deity they believe in. Phenomenologically and psychologically, humans evolved to experience and relate with non-human persons. So, while many people living in post-colonial western societies are becoming disillusioned with Christianity and other forms of dogmatic religion, and are often raised with a set of materialistic presuppositions based on the physicalist epistemology of empiricism, there are culturally ingrained biases regarding, for example, indigenous beliefs in spirits (e.g. Shinto) or traditional Asian ancestor veneration or Thai Buddhist tree veneration. Many of the actual Buddhist teachings are discarded in favor of an atheistic or agnostic Buddhism that at best is unsure whether stories about spirits and deities (e.g. the Buddha being asked to teach by Brahmā or Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna teachings about bodhisattvas) are true or not, and at worst prematurely jumps to a post-colonial assumption that traditional Asian culture is somewhat primitive and that privileged white people are better off ignoring the parts of the teachings they decide they don't like and appropriating the parts that don't challenge their assumptions. Which, from my point of view, reifies cultural attitudes related to the abuse of the environment (seeing plants and animals and mountains etc. as resources and commodities rather than sentient beings with their own spirits) and racism while either ignoring or psychologizing away the very real phenomenology of, for example, kuṇḍalinī awakenings or visionary transmission of dharmic teachings - both of which are tied to certain kinds of esoteric practices.
my favorite subject, the best thing about samma voyama is that its clear and consice, on the other hand I find the other 7 steps to more encripted, not clear.
My friend is Ven Samahita Thera. He made videos on RUclips. He said we said we should memorize this list. I got so many lists in Mahayana. I just never can seem to memorize this one. Mahayana is so demanding and they want us to memorize so much. We do the perfections.
By studying to understand and practice, the lists become much easier to memorize. When I started with meditation, the lists were overwhelming. Then a few weeks ago, I was at a Dhamma talk on the 8-fold path. And (because of familiarity) I was able to memorize the steps during the talk.
![[ SHAOLIN MASTER ] The Noble Eightfold Path | Shi Heng Yi 2022](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mwBx_uQPHhA/mqdefault.jpg)
🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂
📙 You can find my book here: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
hi Doug, can you share your view on the content of dhamma hub?
Always happy to see you uploaded, your videos are a meditation to me. Thank you Doug
You are very welcome! 🙏
Thank you for the video Doug. I also struggle not to buy sweets haha
Go Doug. Keeping me on my path.
Coincides perfectly with my study into the 8 fold path with bhikku bodhis work.
Sometimes I think of these eight 'rights' as precepts for living, sometimes as a kind of 'detailed balance' thing for meditation. It seems that Right Effort is often a list of things to 'do' during meditation, when 'arising' means welling up in the mind. In push hands, on retreat, you try to sense by tiny cues where your opponent wants to go and react accordingly. On thrust, you sense tiny cues about where your opponent's 'center' is, and try to aim for it. But they are tiny, tiny cues. In meditation, I think of these stopping arising, ending arising, etc. as those very tiny moves of the mind that thread a path to stillness.
Splendid summary! Thanks and love from Germany! 🐱🙏
Thank you too!
Beliefs are just thoughts.
Beliefs have no place where reality is concerned.
Practice is important, but what you believe (your worldview) influences not only how you choose to practice but also how practice impacts you. For example, Will Gervais did a review of neuroscientific studies (“Perceiving Minds and Gods: How Mind Perception Enables, Constrains, and Is Triggered by Belief in Gods”) on how theistic belief in deities activates the same psychological process (“mind perception” or “mentalizing”) that we use to detect and relate with other humans and animals, and is linked to prosocial behaviors. Atheists saying the same prayers as theists do not engage in the mentalizing process, and neither do theists when praying to Santa Claus rather than a deity they believe in. Phenomenologically and psychologically, humans evolved to experience and relate with non-human persons.
So, while many people living in post-colonial western societies are becoming disillusioned with Christianity and other forms of dogmatic religion, and are often raised with a set of materialistic presuppositions based on the physicalist epistemology of empiricism, there are culturally ingrained biases regarding, for example, indigenous beliefs in spirits (e.g. Shinto) or traditional Asian ancestor veneration or Thai Buddhist tree veneration. Many of the actual Buddhist teachings are discarded in favor of an atheistic or agnostic Buddhism that at best is unsure whether stories about spirits and deities (e.g. the Buddha being asked to teach by Brahmā or Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna teachings about bodhisattvas) are true or not, and at worst prematurely jumps to a post-colonial assumption that traditional Asian culture is somewhat primitive and that privileged white people are better off ignoring the parts of the teachings they decide they don't like and appropriating the parts that don't challenge their assumptions. Which, from my point of view, reifies cultural attitudes related to the abuse of the environment (seeing plants and animals and mountains etc. as resources and commodities rather than sentient beings with their own spirits) and racism while either ignoring or psychologizing away the very real phenomenology of, for example, kuṇḍalinī awakenings or visionary transmission of dharmic teachings - both of which are tied to certain kinds of esoteric practices.
Lots to say here, but yes for sure your views influence your practice. Indeed, different forms of Buddhism themselves are grounded on different views.
2:49 What about the Nivāpasutta? It basically says that in some case you have to completely avoid something.
Yes, we eventually want to get beyond avoidance. However it can be a temporary "skillful means" in some situations.
my favorite subject, the best thing about samma voyama is that its clear and consice, on the other hand I find the other 7 steps to more encripted, not clear.
Ah? Well I hope the other videos help!
Is it true?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?
Things to keep in mind before expressing an opinion.
💙🙏
My friend is Ven Samahita Thera. He made videos on RUclips. He said we said we should memorize this list. I got so many lists in Mahayana. I just never can seem to memorize this one. Mahayana is so demanding and they want us to memorize so much. We do the perfections.
By studying to understand and practice, the lists become much easier to memorize. When I started with meditation, the lists were overwhelming. Then a few weeks ago, I was at a Dhamma talk on the 8-fold path. And (because of familiarity) I was able to memorize the steps during the talk.
Memorizing can be useful, but if you learn and practice with the eight path factors long enough you will simply remember them as a matter of course.
Black rock won’t take my crypto!! No way and thanks for the heads up.