[moopierof]

Hi all,

Last Saturday we had to give wellcome to 3 new members at the Sangha. As the same way that happend with me when I was a new commer at the dojo, this new members received a beautiful teisho about MN 24 were the Roshi makes us aware of the commitment with the Kais, the Eight Satoris and the extreme discipline needed in the dojo during zazen and in our daily life.

MN 24 illuminate why is so important the commitment with Kais, Satoris and Zazen any time they give us the strength for the development of virtue which for us are the roots of our practice and for the development of Right View.

This Sutta is a fundamental one in our Soto school so I am glad to share with you this wonderfull teaching so to relish into what Buddha taught.

I have selected a section of the sutta:

Then in the evening, Ven. Sariputta arose from his seclusion and went to Ven. Punna. On arrival, he exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Punna, "My friend, is the holy life lived under the Blessed One?"

"Yes, my friend."

"And is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of virtue?"[2]

"No, my friend."

"Then is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of mind [concentration]?"

"No, my friend."

"Then is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of view?"

"No, my friend."

"Then is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of the overcoming of perplexity?"

"No, my friend."

"Then is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of knowledge & vision of what is & is not the path?"

"No, my friend."

"Then is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of knowledge & vision of the way?"

"No, my friend."

"Then is the holy life lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of knowledge & vision?"

"No, my friend."

"When asked if the holy life is lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of virtue, you say, 'No, my friend.' When asked if the holy life is lived under the Blessed One for the sake of purity in terms of mind... view... the overcoming of perplexity... knowledge & vision of what is & is not the path... knowledge & vision of the way... knowledge & vision, you say, 'No, my friend.' For the sake of what, then, my friend, is the holy life lived under the Blessed One?"

The whole sutta can be read here:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit...han.html#fnt-3

Any Comments?

[primaveraloler]

Any Comments?

Dear Kaarine

I will comment.

To me, this sutta encourages us to be adept with the essentials that leads to liberation, namely, supramundane dhammas such as impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, not-self, emptiness & the elements.

Dhammas such as moral purity or jhanas can become objects of attachment & self-view. They can become a prison.

So can 'arahantship'.

We are all living in this world, on this earth. Everyday we must act. Everyday, we do our best but often not karmically perfect.

Be very careful here. Perfect karma or imperfect karma does not change the ultimate truth of experience.

With metta

[TolleyBoymn]

Dear Kaarine

I will comment.

Thanks dear Element...

So, from your comments given to this Sutta, I can understand that we should not be attached to each of the "purities" such as virtue, mental concentration, and the like... that each of them are just a mean to ultimate truth of experience?

[arrasleds]

I think that I agree with Element. If you go into the thing with an aim in mind, with some concrete idea of This Thing I Wanna Get, then you're just transferring your attachment and reaching for something new. Sure, it's something that will probably be less damaging than reaching for wealth or prestige, but the idea is to quit reaching altogether.

This is a good reminder that while all those things are nice, and there's no real reason to be opposed to them, it is extremely important to check the desire to chase them whenever we feel that urge coming on.