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spinvis
Stranger

Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 586
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Quote:
AnattaAtman said: What is the difference between a Buddha and a monk who gains enlightenment?
Great setup for a joke, now for the punchline:
Another answer:
Buddha, "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One," is the masculine form of budh (बुध् ), "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again," "to awaken" ""to open up" (as does a flower)," "one who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and opened his consciousness to encompass all objects of knowledge." It is not a personal name, but a title for those who have attained bodhi (awakening, enlightenment). Buddhi, the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand," is the faculty which discerns truth (satya) from falsehood.

Quote:
redgreenvines said: The monk is a real person, and if he works at enlightenment today, this minute, he must do it again tomorrow and every minute thereafter, it's light work easy work, but he or she has to begin to do it, and begin again and again.
Every breakthrough falls apart, one naturally gets distracted, enlightenment is not persisting, but the opening through relaxed awareness can lead to other relaxed aware openings, to re-acquaintance with clarity about how things are as they are, to appreciation of the perfectly imperfect. It can seem to appear to be steady, or that can just be another delusion, one will easily relax and begin again.
The Buddha is like Moses, or Christ, they are mythical figures, they are not really people, so neither really enlightened nor not enlightened, but they are good stories; maybe you can learn from them, maybe, some stories are possibly even true; but what is your story? that is the one that matters, all of it all together on all channels - you must relax and be open to it as it was and as it is.
Thanks for sharing a part of your personal inner workings and resulting views.
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,526
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Quote:
AnattaAtman said:
Quote:
redgreenvines said: The Buddha is like Moses, or Christ, they are mythical figures, they are not really people, so neither really enlightened nor not enlightened, but they are good stories; maybe you can learn from them, maybe, some stories are possibly even true; but what is your story? that is the one that matters, all of it all together on all channels - you must relax and be open to it as it was and as it is.
If the Buddha wasn't a real historical figure, then who founded the religion? Was it just a highly enlightened monk? If so, why don't we call that monk "Buddha"? After all, "Buddha" simply translates as "The Awakened One".
We seem to need people that evaluate the truthiness of stories about our heroes, but the purpose of having heroes like these is to learn the lessons that their life stories may impart. As for enlightenment, as with any meaning, it is personal.
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AnattaAtman
Mad Bodhisattva

Registered: 09/25/21
Posts: 377
Last seen: 16 days, 4 hours
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Quote:
redgreenvines said: We seem to need people that evaluate the truthiness of stories about our heroes, but the purpose of having heroes like these is to learn the lessons that their life stories may impart.
I see. Such as the middle path, which is the main lesson we learn from the Buddha's life. But what do we learn from the life of Christ? That people will kill you if you teach too much love?
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,526
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something about the pleasure in foot washing perhaps
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spinvis
Stranger

Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 586
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Quote:
AnattaAtman said: But what do we learn from the life of Christ?
“I and my Father, We are One.”
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The Blind Ass
Bodhi


Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,657
Loc: The Primordial Mind
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Re: Buddhist Epistemology [Re: spinvis]
#28421539 - 08/05/23 08:04 AM (5 months, 21 days ago) |
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The proto geneticist.
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
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spinvis
Stranger

Registered: 09/15/20
Posts: 586
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According to Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, yes!
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