movingalways wrote:Dennis Mahar wrote:Whatever arises dependently and dependent arising itself,
peaceful process,
couldn't be otherwise.
bliss.
radical shift in perception.
Dependent arising-arising dependently is very much otherwise than 'peaceful process.'
Since it was Buddha who first introduced the concept of dependent arising, it is only fair to quote the words attributed to the Buddha with regards to what dependent arising is:
"And what is dependent co-arising? From
ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play.
Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.
In case you missed it, the requisite condition for dependent co-arising is Ignorance.
Buddhist break down. It’s like music.
That progression, then mental and physical pain, then peace.
The suffering wants to hold on, and breaking free of suffering is painful. Who suffers? The one who feels the mental and physical pain of dying to suffering.
Some people (and I think this contributes to shaping various opinions on reincarnation) may have broken free of suffering and yet do not recall the breaking free. Such people have always known peace, even in the times that a suffering witness would call hardship. Such people do not recall the painful part of dying to suffering, but in order to be at stable and effortless peace, the dying to suffering did occur.
The not remembering what it’s like to die to suffering can be correlated to not remembering what it’s like to die from being a child. Adults don’t remember what it was like to be a child. Not really, though there are some entertaining imitations, made entertaining by the edge that adult awareness puts on memory and imagination. We remember that we were children, but not what it was like to be a child because regardless of the adult’s lifestyle the gestalt of childhood is forgotten, just as the pain from dying to suffering is forgotten. For some.
Sooner or later everyone dies to suffering, and there will be a memory of the dying as a painful time as long as there are memories.
Suffering is like a translucent bubble surrounding awareness, distorting perception of reality. Dying to suffering pops the bubble.
Before dying to suffering the impetus for action is the intent to produce results of one kind or another.
After dying to suffering, life consists of living out the consequences of old, ripening karma, all the while knowing that this is what is going on. Rather than to acquire or to experience, the impetus for action becomes compassion.
After dying to suffering, knowing leads to wisdom.
After all the old karma ripens, wisdom becomes all-knowing Buddha, though the name may change.
