[ppaelkos]

Am I missing something here?

I was looking for Dharma podcasts when I came across a Buddhist monk named Kusala Bhikshu.
In the first of his talks that I select (The Path Is Not The Goal) about 4 minutes into the start of the recording and he states that there can only be one Buddha at a time and that the next one is in Heaven waiting to be born!

the podcast is here http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma9/dharmatalks.html its the second one down.

I really don't understand why a Buddhist monk is telling use there's a Heaven

[EntectCelpelm]

Without listening to the podcast, I can only assume he is referring to the Heaven realm - but I could be wrong.

In metta,
Raven

[FEti0TUI]

Am I missing something here?

I was looking for Dharma podcasts when I came across a Buddhist monk named Kusala Bhikshu.
In the first of his talks that I select (The Path Is Not The Goal) about 4 minutes into the start of the recording and he states that there can only be one Buddha at a time and that the next one is in Heaven waiting to be born!

the podcast is here http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma9/dharmatalks.html its the second one down.

I really don't understand why a Buddhist monk is telling use there's a Heaven

Yes, there are different views about this, depending on which tradition one follows.

Personally I prefer to think that 'heaven' is one of a number of mental states that we can experience....and that any other belief about it falls within the realm of speculation.

[markkisil]

From listening to what the Venerable is touching on, it is a snippet on how one arrives at being a Samma Sambuddha
....that there can only be one Buddha at a time See this...
http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-...dhatuka-e.html
It is impossible that two rightfully Enlightened Ones should be born in the same world element at one and same time.
It is possible that a single rightfully Enlightened One should be born in the world element at one time. ...and that the next one is in Heaven waiting to be born!...is telling use there's a Heaven Again, he is sharing the processes of how one becomes the Samma Sambuddha and the causes and conditions of it...see the greater details here on how the Buddha explains it... Acchariya abbhūta Sutta

The Venerable also touched on Metteyya/Maitreya (Pali/Skt)...
http://tipitaka.wikia.com/wiki/Cakkavattisihanada_Sutta
"And in that time of the people with an eighty thousand-year life-span, there will arise in the world a Blessed Lord, an Arahant fully-enlightened Buddha named Metteyya, endowed with wisdom and conduct, a Well-Farer, Knower of the worlds, incomparable Trainer of men to be tamed, Teacher of gods and humans, enlightened and blessed, just as I am now. He will thoroughly know by his own super-knowledge, and proclaim, this universe with its devas and maras and Brahmas, its ascetics and Brahmins, and this generation with its princes and people, just as I do now. He will teach the Dhamma, lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, lovely in its ending, in the spirit and in the letter, and proclaim, just as I do now, the holy life in its fullness and purity. He will be attended by a company of thousands of monks, just as I am attended by a company of hundreds.

"Then King Sankha will re-erect the palace once built by King Maha-Panada and, having lived in it, will give it up and present it to the ascetics and Brahmins, the beggars, the wayfarers, the destitute. Then, shaving off hair and beard, he will don yellow robes and go forth from the household life into homelessness under the supreme Buddha Metteyya. Having gone forth, he will remain alone, in seclusion, ardent, eager and resolute, and before long he will have attained in this very life, by his own super-knowledge and resolution, that unequaled goal of the holy life, for the sake of which young men of good family go forth from the household life into homelessness, and will abide therein. A Theravadin commentary on the issue

The rest of the talk seems to be centered on practice as a Buddhist with mention on stuff like Noble Eightfold Path and a touch on Sotapanna, samatha & vipassana and et al.

On Heaven

[i6mbwwdh]

Some words on the subject from Ajahn Sumedho



When you talk to someone who sees devas and experiences bright lights, you start doubting your own practice and think, ‘But maybe I am not capable of enlightenment. Maybe I am not meditating right.’ Doubt itself is impermanent. Whatever arises passes away. So the good meditator is the one who sees the impermanent nature of bliss and ecstasy, or experiences dullness, experiences anger, hatred and aversion, and reflects on the impermanent nature of those qualities, when sitting, walking or lying down.

What is your tendency? Are you very positive about everything? ‘I like everybody here. I believe in the teachings of the Buddha, I believe in the Dhamma.’ — That’s a faith kind of mind. It believes, and that kind of mind can create and experience blissful things very quickly.

You find that some of the farmers in Thailand, people who have hardly any worldly knowledge, who can hardly read and write, can sometimes experience blissful states, experience lights and see devas and all that, and who believe in them. When you believe in devas, you see them. When you believe in lights and celestial realms, you’ll see them. You believe that Buddha is going to save you, Buddha will come and save you. What you believe in happens to you. You believe in ghosts, fairies, elves, you don’t doubt those things, you find those things happening to you. But they are still anicca, impermanent, transient and not self.

Most people don’t believe in fairies and devas and think such things are silly. This is the negative kind of mind, the one that’s suspicious and doubtful, does not believe in anything. ‘I don’t believe in fairies and devas. I don’t believe in any of that kind of thing. Ridiculous! Show me a fairy.’ So the very suspicious and sceptical mind never sees such things.

There is faith, there is doubt. In Buddhist practice, we examine the belief and doubt that we experience in our mind, and we see that these are conditions changing.



http://amitabhabuddha.wordpress.com/...ajahn-sumedho/

[SinncmxM]

People love to make things up and stuff their contrivances in the Buddha's mouth,

Karma.

It's been going on for thousands of years.

[sisuarmalmicy]

I started looking at Buddhism after reading the quote,

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
I think I'll be sticking with this and walking my own path, It seems to me that some people are grasping at ridiculous

[Effopsytupt]

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” Many have recommended that it would be more beneficial to read the proper full scriptural translation of the Kalama (or also known as Kesamutti) Sutta in its total/proper context and not the 'questionable' partial versions commonly found online for some time now, sadly also by some 'Buddhist' sites which do not check their sources. I do agree with one Bhikkhu who remarked that even so, one may not assume that all translations are 100% accurate but to some extent, I rather place some amount of conditional trust in those who have linguistics & related experience with the proper Pali texts and Dhamma practice to back up...

I recall this being a parallel issue as well back when I was a Christian, a similar quandary with some contemporary English translations of the Bible (the King James version being the most 'notorious'), some of which departed from the original meaning from the Greek or Hebrew of full passages and off-the-cuff Gospel/Epistle half quotes...

There's also some recommended pondering on what the Sutta meant: 1 2 3 4

All the best in your endeavors.

[refdhbgtd]

personally i like too think heaven
is that place you go when you where happiest,

ive also found that buddha
can be found in the people we love

but life is what you make of it,
it can be heaven or hell,

[bxxasxxa]

Heaven can wait! Let us work in our gardens and eliminate weed! Grow your "crops" and tend them well! We have many "mouths" to feed!

[courlerwele]

Some words on the subject from Ajahn Sumedho

Sadhu! Thank you for that Aloka!