March 25, April 1 Discussions

A very small group met last Sunday and we ended up talking primarily about meditation and the meaning of “jhanas,” a topic I have just finished discussing on my Through-the-Looking-Glass blog. So this is was a hiatus from our ongoing discussion on the distinction often made between Arahats and Bodhisattvas.

In recent weeks we have talked about the relationship between “Doing Good” and “Purifying the Mind.” To what extend is a bodhisattva concerned with doing good as opposed to purifying the mind, and to what extend is a would-be arahat concerned with purifying the mind as opposed to doing good? We have discovered that the two are closely intertwined but still distinct. On April 1 I would hope that we we can consider the question:

Is purifying the mind always doing good?

For instance, am I doing good just by meditating? Are there practices that are engaged in the world, yet purify the mind in a direct way? I believe this question relates to the particular nature of Engaged Buddhism.

Suggested reading is something I wrote before I left the Austin Zen Center: Dogen and Gandhi on Liberation.

 

 

“Dharma and Coffee,” “Dharma Klatsch,” March 18

Ongoing discussion around Bodhisattvas and/vs. Arahats.

Buddhist Virtue is expressed in three ways:
    1. Following Precepts
    2. Seeking Benefit (Kindness/Compassion)
    3. Perfection of Character (Wisdom, Virtue, Equinimity)

I would like to explore further how a bodhisattva or an arahat balances these. I thought we might intersect the following issues or perspectives in turn. You are all of course welcome to add to this list.

1. Deep awareness of our influences on the world.
2. How deeply are we implicated?
3. Vegetarianism.
4. Bearing Witness.
5. Political engagement.
6. Karma: retributive karma, merit, ending of karma.
7. Killing to save life.

Please read if you can Bhikkhu Bodhi’s essay: Bodhisatvas, Buddhas and Arahants

Click “about” on right for venue and contact information.

Schedule Change: March 11

Instead of meeting this Sunday I am asking people join me in a field trip Sitagu Vihara for the following event. Actually it is a trip from you but not for me, since I am already here. But because of this event I will not be able to come to the normal 2pm venue. Come before noon if you can, or else after noon. You will find directions here.

Sunday, March 11, 11am – 3pm, Sitagu Sayadaw’s Birthday Ceremony at Sitagu Vihara

Come join us for lunch. Then there will be a ceremony and reading of Sayadawdyi’s biography, followed by social time and probably some music. This roughly coincides with the Birthday Ceremony in Sagaing Hills in Burma on the full moon day of March 7.

Saturday, March 24, 11am – 3pm, Pay Respects to Sitagu Sayadaw

A very similar schedule, except Sitagu Sayadaw will be here in person. An opportunity to pay respects.

Topic of Discussion: Bodhisattva or Arahat

This discussion began with our meeting on Sunday, February 26, 2012. I (BC) suggested the topic of Bodhisattva and Arahat, often considered definitive of the highest attainments of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism respectively. I was interested in exploring exactly what the differences are, and whether they are more real or more imagined. I suggested we start with the early discourses, in which Arahats are mentioned all over the place, but bodhisattvas rarely, then look at the motivation for the historical growth of the bodhisattva ideal, which influenced Theravada as well as Mahayana, but became definitive for Mahayana.

The difference between these two goals is often defined in transcendent terms, that is in delaying or not delaying final liberation, the escape from the round of birth and death, in order to save or not save all beings. This suggests a related alternative, something like:

Topic of Discussion: The Highest Attainment

We can see where this leads us. Corey suggested we read the following text together:

The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana, Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Amaro, Abhayagiri.

We will try to procure a few printed books. Let me add some other references:

Mind Like Fire Unbound: An Image in the Early Buddhist Discourses, Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Between Arhat and Bodhisattva, Ajahn Amaro

Arahants, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas, Bhikkhu Bodhi

Also the last chapters of this series, the “Destiny” section, I ran on my blog a couple of years ago is relevant:

From Thought to Destiny (pdf)

And maybe also the Jataka stories.

Topic of Discussion: Bodhisattv

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