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**JessePex** · 06-07-2011, 01:19 PM

im wondering what is the point of practicing so much meditation if your only goal is to eradicate the suffering present in this life

"Only"? Interesting.

Your question is loaded with so man assumptions.

10. “Having thus abandoned these five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which has self-confidence and singleness of mind without applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration. With the fading away as well of rapture, he abides in equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which noble ones announce: ‘He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.’ With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, he enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.

11. “This is my instruction, brahmin, to those bhikkhus who are in the higher training, whose minds have not yet attained the goal, who abide aspiring to the supreme security from bondage. But these things [also] conduce both to a pleasant abiding here and now and to mindfulness and full awareness for those bhikkhus who are arahants with taints destroyed, who have lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached their own goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and are completely liberated through final knowledge.”

which might never happen at all If one does not see results and a great diminishing of suffering here and now -- and more and more over time -- one is doing it wrong.

and if it does happen it will happen later on in life Who says? The Buddha said that one could eradicate suffering in as little as seven days.

and if it even happens theres not that much suffering to get rid of. Spoken like someone who has not suffered, or who has little-to-no understanding of what "suffering" is.

this question is for people who dont use escaping samsara as a motivating factor for meditation. "Samsara", for the Buddha, is suffering.

06-07-2011, 01:19 PM	#12
JessePex Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 618 Senior Member	im wondering what is the point of practicing so much meditation if your only goal is to eradicate the suffering present in this life "Only"? Interesting. Your question is loaded with so man assumptions. 10. “Having thus abandoned these five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which has self-confidence and singleness of mind without applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration. With the fading away as well of rapture, he abides in equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which noble ones announce: ‘He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.’ With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, he enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. 11. “This is my instruction, brahmin, to those bhikkhus who are in the higher training, whose minds have not yet attained the goal, who abide aspiring to the supreme security from bondage. But these things [also] conduce both to a pleasant abiding here and now and to mindfulness and full awareness for those bhikkhus who are arahants with taints destroyed, who have lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached their own goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and are completely liberated through final knowledge.” which might never happen at all If one does not see results and a great diminishing of suffering here and now -- and more and more over time -- one is doing it wrong. and if it does happen it will happen later on in life Who says? The Buddha said that one could eradicate suffering in as little as seven days. and if it even happens theres not that much suffering to get rid of. Spoken like someone who has not suffered, or who has little-to-no understanding of what "suffering" is. this question is for people who dont use escaping samsara as a motivating factor for meditation. "Samsara", for the Buddha, is suffering.
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