Gnowly

“Insofar only, Ānanda, can one be born, or grow old, or die, or pass away, or reappear, insofar only is there any pathway for verbal expression, insofar only is there any pathway for terminology, insofar only is there any pathway for designation. Insofar only is the range of wisdom, insofar only is the round of samsāra kept going for there to be a designation as the this-ness, that is to say: name-and-form together with consciousness.” — Mahā-Nidānasutta

“And what, bhikkhus, is name-&-form? Feeling, perception, intention, contact, attention: this is called name. The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements: this is called form. Thus this name and this form are together called name-&-form.” — Vibhanga Sutta

“Name-&-form means a formal name and a nominal form. Form is known with the help of name. Just as feeling, perception, intention, contact and attention represent the primary notion of ‘name’, even so the four great elements form the basis for the primary notion of ‘form’.” —Venerable Bhikkhu Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda

“There is a tangle within, and a tangle without,

The world is entangled with a tangle.

About that, oh Gotama, I ask you,

Who can disentangle this tangle?”

“Where name-&-form

As well as resistance and the perception of form

Are completely cut off,

It is there that the tangle gets snapped.” — Jatā Sutta

“From where do currents turn back?

Where whirls no more the whirlpool?

Where is it that name-and-form

Is held in check in a way complete?”

“Where earth and water, fire and wind find no footing,

From there it is that currents turn back.

There the whirlpool whirls no more

And there it is that name-and-form

Is held in check in a way complete.” — Sara Sutta

“He has cut off the whirlpool

And reached desirelessness,

The stream, dried up, now no longer flows.

The whirlpool cut off whirls no more.

This, even this, is suffering’s end.”

— Dutiya-Lakundakabhaddiya Sutta

akkheyyasaññino sattā akkheyyasmi patihitā

akkheyya apariññāya yogam āyanti maccuno

“Beings are conscious of what can be named,

They are established on the nameable,

By not comprehending the nameable things,

They come under the yoke of death.”

— Samiddhi Sutta

“And what, bhikkhus, is consciousness? There are these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness. This is called consciousness.”

“And what, bhikkhus, is name-&-form? Feeling, perception, intention, contact, attention: this is called name. The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements: this is called form. Thus this name and this form are together called name-&-form.”

— Vibhanga Sutta

“Name-&-form means a formal name and a nominal form. Form is known with the help of name. Just as feeling, perception, intention, contact and attention represent the primary notion of ‘name’, even so the four great elements form the basis for the primary notion of ‘form’.”

—Venerable Bhikkhu Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda

yo ubhante viditvāna majjhe mantā na lippati

taṁ brūmi mahāpurisoti sodha sibbanimaccagā

“He who, having understood both ends with wisdom, does not get attached at the middle. I call him a Great Man. He has gone beyond the seamstress.” — Pārāyaṇa Vagga

• What is the first end?

• What is the second end?

• What is the middle?

• Who is the seamstress?

Buddha: “One end is pleasant feeling, the second end is unpleasant or painful feeling and the middle is neither unpleasant nor pleasant feeling. Craving is the seamstress.

“Insofar friends, does a monk understand by higher knowledge what is to be understood by higher knowledge, comprehend by full understanding what is to be comprehended by full understanding. Understanding by higher knowledge what is to be understood by higher knowledge, comprehending by full understanding what is to be comprehended by full understanding, he becomes an ender of suffering in this very life.”

Words just can’t express how I’m feeling these days. Luckily, I speak Jazz...

The first ‘head’ section gives the chords and tonal structure: D13, Ab+aug, GM9, CM9, Fm9, Bb9, Eb9, Ebm+b5 & b9. Then an improvisational bridge, dropping into a deep, sweet DM9 groove. Enjoy!

Mmmm-mm, uuuh-uh, oooo-oo, oooooh yeah...

So everybody in this world is suffering—

They don’t even know why.

It starts before their birth,

And continues till the day they die.

I thought that this was crazy

There has to be a way to get well.

Otherwise this great big world

Ain’t a whole lot better than Hell.

I traveled all around the world

Trying to get rid of the pain.

I tried medications, meditations

Then I went back and tried again.

Got my first taste of nibbana

In the winter of 1984

And it sure was good, but of course

it just made me want more.

Then Bhikkhu Ñanananda

Gave me the secret key

To stop this process of becoming

And get completely free.

FREEDOM

Akaliko ehipassiko

Timelessness — just you come and see.

“Nibbana’s nonconceptual”

That’s what Ñanananda told me.

When Bhante socked it to me

I sat down in the front of his place.

That’s how I found Nibbana:

silence in unlimited space.

That’s not the end of the story;

In fact it’s really just begun.

Establishment on emptiness:

The only way to realize the One.

Buddha defines the links in the descending mode of paticca-samuppada in the Vibhanga Sutta. Interestingly, he does it in reverse order:

“And what, bhikkhus, is aging-and-death? The aging of the various beings in the various orders of beings, their growing old, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of vitality, degeneration of the faculties: this is called aging. The passing away of the various beings from the various orders of beings, their perishing, breakup, disappearance, mortality, death, completion of time, the breakup of the aggregates, the laying down of the carcass: this is called death. Thus this aging and this death are together called aging-and-death.

“And what, bhikkhus, is birth? The birth of the various beings into the various orders of beings, their being born, descent into the womb, production, the manifestation of the aggregates, the obtaining of the sense bases. This is called birth.

“And what, bhikkhus, is becoming? There are these three kinds of becoming: sense-sphere becoming, form-sphere becoming, formless-sphere becoming. This is called becoming.

“And what, bhikkhus, is clinging? There are these four kinds of clinging: clinging to sensual pleasures, clinging to views, clinging to rules and vows, clinging to a doctrine of self. This is called clinging.

“And what, bhikkhus, is craving? There are these six classes of craving: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odors, craving for tastes, craving for tactile objects, craving for mental phenomena. This is called craving.

“And what, bhikkhus, is feeling? There are these six classes of feeling: feeling born of eye-contact, feeling born of ear-contact, feeling born of nose-contact, feeling born of tongue-contact, feeling born of body-contact, feeling born of mind-contact. This is called feeling.

“And what, bhikkhus, is contact? There are these six classes of contact: eye-contact, ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind-contact. This is called contact.

“And what, bhikkhus, are the six sense bases? The eye base, the ear base, the nose base, the tongue base, the body base, the mind base. These are called the six sense bases.

“And what, bhikkhus, is name-and-form? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, attention: this is called name. The four great elements and the form derived from the four great elements: this is called form. Thus this name and this form are together called name-and-form.

“And what, bhikkhus, is consciousness? There are these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness. This is called consciousness.

“And what, bhikkhus, are the saṅkhārā? There are these three kinds of saṅkhārā: bodily saṅkhārā, verbal saṅkhārā, mental saṅkhārā. These are called saṅkhārā.

“And what, bhikkhus, is ignorance? Not knowing suffering, not knowing the origin of suffering, not knowing the cessation of suffering, not knowing the way leading to the cessation of suffering. This is called ignorance.”

We can find examples of Dependent Arising in every action. In this video I use taking a drink from a glass of juice as an example. Note that each stage is dependent on the Arising of the previous one.

So the inability of any viewers to post a comment on Dependent Arising proves there is a psychological disorder, a learning disability, a practical mental block. It’s due to state schooling and misunderstood terms. You have to work to overcome it before you can get Right View.

Kacchanagotta Sutta — Samyutta Nikaya 12.15

connected discourses on causation: “With Kacchanagotta”

At Savatthī. Then the Venerable Kaccanagotta approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘right view, right view.’ In what way, venerable sir, is there right view?”

“This world, Kaccana, for the most part depends upon a duality—upon the notion of existence and the notion of nonexistence. But for one who sees the origin of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of nonexistence in regard to the world. And for one who sees the cessation of the world as it really is with correct wisdom, there is no notion of existence in regard to the world.

“This world, Kaccana, is for the most part shackled by engagement, clinging, and adherence.

“But this one with right view does not become engaged and cling through that engagement and clinging, mental standpoint, adherence, underlying tendency; he does not take a stand about ‘my self.’ He has no perplexity or doubt that what arises is only suffering arising, what ceases is only suffering ceasing. His knowledge about this is independent of others. It is in this way, Kaccana, that there is right view. “‘All exists’: Kaccana, this is one extreme. ‘All does not exist’: this is the second extreme. Without veering towards either of these extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma by the middle:

So the experiment of the last few days has brought out something very interesting: out of all the comments on this series (or any series on this channel) there are ZERO comments about Dependent Arising! ALL the comments are off-topic. I think you have a mental block that prevents you from seeing Dependent Arising here-and-now as it really is.

“From saṅkhārā as condition arises conditioned consciousness ... with the cessation of saṅkhārā, conditioned consciousness ceases.” — Bodhi Sutta

The term saṅkhārā has connotations of deception or spuriousness. In Vedic culture, it was associated with costuming, makeup, staging and other preparations for a drama. Saṅkhārā can be bodily, verbal or mental. The magic show of consciousness is kept up by saṅkhāras. They also sustain the vortex between consciousness and name-and-form.

Not understanding the relation between consciousness and name-and-form is itself avijjā. The spin, the whirling round resulting from that ignorance is saṅkhāra. Ignorance of this mental conditionality is also avijjā or ignorance, and the consequent fumbling or groping about in that darkness is saṅkhārā or fabrications.

“And why do you call saṅkhārā fabrications? Because they fabricate fabricated things, thus they are called fabrications. What do they fabricate as a fabricated thing? For the sake of form, they fabricate form as a fabricated thing. For the sake of feeling, they fabricate feeling as a fabricated thing. For the sake of consciousness, they fabricate consciousness as a fabricated thing. Because they fabricate fabricated things, they are called fabrications.” — Khajjaniya Sutta