peeba7 Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 I know how weird this may sound to many, it is hard enough for me to swallow, but someone I know well, devoted to a 'higher path,' keeps telling me to get a teacher, get a master. I saw Ajarn Braham in Bangkok years ago and he was the closest I ever came to one, but alas never saw him again and believe he resides and teaches in Australia. Along with Ajarn Braham I read books by Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh, these three feel like the right kind of people, so someone, anyone, along those lines. So, who are the teachers/masters in Pattaya (I know, bizarre question, right?,) in Bangkok, and elsewhere in Thailand (or beyond if necessary?) I would also like to hear from those interested in similar teachings in Pattaya, Thailand and beyond. I considered Pattaya and Buddhist forums on TV but decided general would be best PLEASE because they are such a rare find. Mods: Title should read: Enlightened humans in Thailand, Pattaya, and beyond. Namaste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daoyai Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 These days the seekers of truth tend to read Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Michael Shermer. Good luck on your quest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Try Eckhart Tolle. Anything but getting wrapped up in any "higher path" teaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 His Crocodile Dundee accent is a bit of a deal breaker for me.Ah that's your first lesson, not to be influenced by the merely superficial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nausea Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 The truth lies within yourself, as any good teacher will tell you. Looking for a Master, is BS. The only thibg a Master can do is point you in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denim Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Looking for the ' higher path ' in the lowest place is going to be a challenge. A bit like having your cake and eating it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saakura Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 You are looking for enlightened Masters in Pattaya? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Pattaya is as good a place as any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentRJ Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Pattaya is as good a place as any. Hi Trd, It might even be a better place than most others because those on the path to enlightenment could have the continual challenge of resisting the temptation of sexual misbehaviour. Having had so much opportunity to resist such temptations in Pattaya, the temptations in other places should then be much easier to resist, and might present no problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLover Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Sorry, what is "sexual misbehavior"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Pattaya is as good a place as any. Hi Trd, It might even be a better place than most others because those on the path to enlightenment could have the continual challenge of resisting the temptation of sexual misbehaviour. Having had so much opportunity to resist such temptations in Pattaya, the temptations in other places should then be much easier to resist, and might present no problem at all. That's fine, except that I don't believe in resisting anything on the path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentRJ Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Sorry, what is "sexual misbehavior"? Behaviour that is not in accordance with the rules of 'good sexual behaviour', such as paying money for sex on demand. Didn't you know that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentRJ Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Pattaya is as good a place as any. Hi Trd, It might even be a better place than most others because those on the path to enlightenment could have the continual challenge of resisting the temptation of sexual misbehaviour. Having had so much opportunity to resist such temptations in Pattaya, the temptations in other places should then be much easier to resist, and might present no problem at all. That's fine, except that I don't believe in resisting anything on the path. Ah! But you are a very advanced practitioner, Trd, aren't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Pattaya is as good a place as any. Hi Trd, It might even be a better place than most others because those on the path to enlightenment could have the continual challenge of resisting the temptation of sexual misbehaviour. Having had so much opportunity to resist such temptations in Pattaya, the temptations in other places should then be much easier to resist, and might present no problem at all. That's fine, except that I don't believe in resisting anything on the path. Ah! But you are a very advanced practitioner, Trd, aren't you? So you've found the little man in your head working the gears and levers who decides when to resist and when not to resist. You are the doer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentRJ Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 So you've found the little man in your head working the gears and levers who decides when to resist and when not to resist. You are the doer? With regard to the pleasures of the senses, the problem is not so much 'when' to resist but 'how' to resist. Most people who are interested in ethical matters and the 8-fold path towards Buddhist enlightenment have at least a broad understanding of the types of behaviour and actions which are considered to be unethical and ultimately harmful to us, and which are therefore to be avoided. The problem is not so much in being unable to recognise such wrong actions but in the self-control required to resist the pleasurable reward of the senses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camerata Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I think you'll find that "masters" became masters because they are accomplished meditators and have tended to avoid big cities. Most of the famous farang monk-teachers from Thailand started out in the Forest Tradition in Issan and then moved overseas. Ajahn Sumedho is now semi-retired in Ubon, but the others give talks in Bangkok from time to time and hold retreats. Ajahn Brahm still visits occasionally. Try the BIA to see who will be visiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeba7 Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 The truth lies within yourself, as any good teacher will tell you. Looking for a Master, is BS. The only thibg a Master can do is point you in the right direction. I am on the fence with this one. My ego self wants to agree with you but others would say one needs one. I do wonder if all the great teachers and masters had a teacher/master for themselves. If the answer is most all of them do or did then it is probably advisable to find and have one. Necessary? Who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC 71 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Listen to your heart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeba7 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 My heart says either teacher or no teacher; each has its' advantages and disadvantages. However doing it alone, one might get stuck or sucked into the numerous traps that lead one astray from true and total liberation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuskegeeBen Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 For discernible substance, Ernst Mayr and Noam Chomsky are my personal preferences, re: the Homo Sapien "enlightenment " path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peeba7 Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 There may be some universal 'laws' involved in the path to higher concsiousness. Wouldn't it be safe to say most if not all masters and teachers meditate, (or that all on this path meditate,) for one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camerata Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Some well-known teachers are scholars who don't meditate. Bhikkhu Bodhi is one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentRJ Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Some well-known teachers are scholars who don't meditate. Bhikkhu Bodhi is one. Of course, the word 'meditate' has a general meaning which also includes the specific and perhaps rather rigid techniques of traditional Buddhist meditation practices. The English verb 'to meditate' is derived from the Latin, 'meditari', meaning 'to think, contemplate, devise, ponder'. Some of us are by nature introspective and introverted, so meditating comes naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 The only definition of meditation I'm prepared to accept is the practice of going back to the source, to abide in thought free awareness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camerata Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 When I use the word meditate here, I mean in the Theravada sense: bhavana, meaning "mental cultivation." I think it's this mental cultivation that leads to enlightenment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Mental cultivation won't lead to anything except more mental states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentRJ Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 The only definition of meditation I'm prepared to accept is the practice of going back to the source, to abide in thought free awareness. I accept that it's possible to have an awareness of the existence of something without thinking about it. We get hints of such a process when our attention is focussed on a particular task, or conversation, to the exclusion of any thoughts about our surroundings. In such circumstances, we are aware of our surroundings but have no conscious thoughts, either good or bad, about the quality of our surroundings, except when something in the background suddenly moves. The fact that any sudden movement diverts our attention away from the particular task we were focussed on, (as a result of an instinctual reaction to a possible threat), implies that we were always aware of that background, although not thinking about it. An interesting question to meditate upon is, 'Does that awareness without thought still fall into the category of a mental state?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trd Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 The only definition of meditation I'm prepared to accept is the practice of going back to the source, to abide in thought free awareness. I accept that it's possible to have an awareness of the existence of something without thinking about it. We get hints of such a process when our attention is focussed on a particular task, or conversation, to the exclusion of any thoughts about our surroundings. In such circumstances, we are aware of our surroundings but have no conscious thoughts, either good or bad, about the quality of our surroundings, except when something in the background suddenly moves. The fact that any sudden movement diverts our attention away from the particular task we were focussed on, (as a result of an instinctual reaction to a possible threat), implies that we were always aware of that background, although not thinking about it. An interesting question to meditate upon is, 'Does that awareness without thought still fall into the category of a mental state?' I am not talking about being aware of an object without thinking about it. That is just perception without any additional thinking. It is not possible to know an object without being aware. An object doesn't have independent existence without consciousness (Chitta). Awareness is always present in the waking state. What I am referring to is awareness that is just aware of itself without an object. This one pointedness of mind is called samadhi in both Buddhist and Hindu Vedic traditions and should be at the core of meditation practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucenkhamen Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 What I am referring to is awareness that is just aware of itself without an object. This one pointedness of mind is called samadhi in both Buddhist and Hindu Vedic traditions and should be at the core of meditation practice. ... and this meditation practice is called citta bhavana, literally "mental cultivation" in English. Mental cultivation won't lead to anything except more mental states. Mental cultivation doesn't lead to more mental states, just as soil cultivation doesn't lead to more soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyysdt Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 What I am referring to is awareness that is just aware of itself without an object. This one pointedness of mind is called samadhi in both Buddhist and Hindu Vedic traditions and should be at the core of meditation practice. ... and this meditation practice is called citta bhavana, literally "mental cultivation" in English. Mental cultivation won't lead to anything except more mental states. Mental cultivation doesn't lead to more mental states, just as soil cultivation doesn't lead to more soil. I think (unfortunately a mental state) that both you and TRD are on the same page but appear to differ due to attachment to "words". I think it can be agreed that translation from Pali to English is crude at the best of times. Regardless of the terminology used (Citta, Citta Bhavana, Samadhi), bathing in such a state will yield personal experience of what we are talking about. Once the path is accepted, my problem, and I suspect that of most, is the inability to overcome habit. In order to "regularly" practice most must overcome deep seated habits. Habits which override or disrupt regular practice. Ask the progress of most proclaimed Buddhists. I guarantee most will proclaim time issues (or a plethora of other excuses). Those who are easily able to establish quality regular practice, either already have ingrained habits or values which facilitate such endeavors, or are fortunate enough to easily establish deep levels of experience with minimal sitting time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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