Question about a question which humanity may ask

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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garudha
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Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by garudha »

Hey,

For a moment, please understand that I really might not understand anything at all about life, Buddha, or philosophy.

With that in mind, please tell me which question Buddhism provides an answer for.

I'm asking what the question actually is.
Sammytwp
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by Sammytwp »

Where do I go from here?
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KathyLauren
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by KathyLauren »

How do I end suffering?

All other questions in Buddhism arise from that one, and all Buddhist answers arise from the answer to that one.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
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garudha
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by garudha »

KeithBC wrote:How do I end suffering?

All other questions in Buddhism arise from that one, and all Buddhist answers arise from the answer to that one.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
I'm not a father. I'd like to ask you, do you think an unborn child suffers whilst in her mother's womb ?
santa100
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by santa100 »

garudha wrote:I'm not a father. I'd like to ask you, do you think an unborn child suffers whilst in her mother's womb ?
The mother's womb doesn't sound like a good place to be in the eye of the devas from their conversation with the Buddha:
SN 1.29 wrote: The Deva:"Having four wheels and nine doors,
Filled up and bound with greed,
Born from a bog, O great hero!
How does one escape from it?”

The Buddha:“Having cut the thong and the strap,
Having cut off evil desire and greed,
Having drawn out craving with its root:
Thus one escapes from it.”
It is the beginning of suffering, for it repeats another vicious circle of birth, old age, sickness, and death. KeithBC was right!
Alfredo
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by Alfredo »

Maybe the fetus doesn't know that it's suffering!

I think Buddhism provides an answer to the question, "What's your religion?"
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LastLegend
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by LastLegend »

None because I have not asked a question.
It’s eye blinking.
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Wayfarer
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by Wayfarer »

That's a pretty profound question, really. The derivation of the word dukkha, which is usually translated as 'suffering' or 'stress', is from a word which means that a wheel is not turning properly on its axle. So the meaning is, something is out of alignment, not turning properly. So life is characterised by a sense of un-ease, anxiety, or stress. It might be tolerable a lot of the time, but ultimately we all loose those things we want to keep, or become associated with things we would rather avoid - like old age, sickness and death. So what is the underlying cause of that suffering, of that condition of un-ease, anxiety, dukkha? That is what the question is asking.
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Andrew108
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by Andrew108 »

garudha wrote:Hey,

For a moment, please understand that I really might not understand anything at all about life, Buddha, or philosophy.

With that in mind, please tell me which question Buddhism provides an answer for.

I'm asking what the question actually is.
Buddhism doesn't provide any answers. What it does is allow the practitioner to gain direct experiential insight into the nature of reality without having to submit to any readymade answers.

Your habitual thought patterns and your personality are rendered redundant. Intellectual posturing and endless questioning is given up. This liberation of questioning isn't the result of having an answer but instead is due to the experience of direct insight into reality. Natural liberation is a characteristic part of the reality that is uncovered due to the development of direct insight. Awareness that is not an intellectual construction is what you are left with. And this is what you work with. Awareness has no questions within it and needs no answers. That's about it. Overcoming suffering and developing compassion come out of this direct insight into the nature of reality in the absence of questions/answers - in the absence of a personality and grasping at habitual thought patterns.
The Blessed One said:

"What is the All? Simply the eye & forms, ear & sounds, nose & aromas, tongue & flavors, body & tactile sensations, intellect & ideas. This, monks, is called the All. Anyone who would say, 'Repudiating this All, I will describe another,' if questioned on what exactly might be the grounds for his statement, would be unable to explain, and furthermore, would be put to grief. Why? Because it lies beyond range." Sabba Sutta.
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KathyLauren
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by KathyLauren »

garudha wrote:
KeithBC wrote:How do I end suffering?

All other questions in Buddhism arise from that one, and all Buddhist answers arise from the answer to that one.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
I'm not a father. I'd like to ask you, do you think an unborn child suffers whilst in her mother's womb ?
Yes, of course.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
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Ayu
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by Ayu »

garudha wrote:
KeithBC wrote:How do I end suffering?

All other questions in Buddhism arise from that one, and all Buddhist answers arise from the answer to that one.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
I'm not a father. I'd like to ask you, do you think an unborn child suffers whilst in her mother's womb ?
You have to distinguish what is suffering - there are three kinds.
http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/ar ... n_one.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
- The first is gross suffering, the suffering of suffering, which would be pain and unhappiness.

- Then we have the suffering of change, which is happiness tainted with confusion. We experience ordinary forms of happiness, such as when going for a walk in a beautiful park; but if this were true happiness, the longer we walk, the greater our happiness would become. But after a few hours, the happiness we felt while walking turns to pain and unhappiness, and we want to stop and rest. The confusion here is that when we experience ordinary happiness, we think that it is going to last, so we grasp at it. But of course it doesn’t last and then we get frustrated and unhappy. Tainted happiness, then, entails the suffering that it changes into unhappiness.

- Then, we have what is called the “all-pervasively affecting suffering,” which refers to all the aggregate factors of our experience – the so-called “five aggregates” of our body, mind, emotions, and so on, which derive from confusion, are mixed with confusion, and perpetuate confusion in this and future lives. These aggregate factors are the basis for experiencing the first two types of suffering. In this sense, they all-pervasively affect every moment of our experience, making each moment contain one or the other of the first two types of suffering.
So maybe when being in the mothers womb the greatest suffering is the change that is bound to come. And birth is a great suffering - many like to forget that.
And being happy is also the suffering of change. Do you know the happyness that hurts in the heart? It hurts because one knows it will end and change.
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Osho
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Re: Question about a question which humanity may ask

Post by Osho »

What is it?
More about Mindfulness here
http://bemindful.co.uk/

" A Zen master's life is one continuous mistake."
(Dogen).
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