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Dear Bhante Vimalaramsi,
I have been thinking about the World Buddhist Conference coming up in November and what you will be bringing to all of the Buddhists gathered there.
Certainly, you are the one who has shown us that you Can go to the Suttas without the commentaries -namely the Vissudhi Magga, and actually practice what the Buddha originally intended with only the instructions written in the Suttas. It was not the one-pointed concentration Jhanas of Buddhagosa's Visuddhi Magga, but the "Tranquil Wisdom Jhanas" that you yourself have rediscovered by taking the Majjhima Nikaya deep into the jungle of Thailand and sat down and practiced only what was shown there. You realized for yourself that Jhanas were not absorptions but deeply collected Stages Of Insight that were the stepping stones necessary to reach the ultimate goal of Nibbana.
I am reading the Maha Parinibbana Sutta #16 in the Digha Nikaya translated by Maurice Walsh and on page 255 the Buddha himself tells the audience that if they are not sure about what he is teaching, to then go back and CHECK 1) The Suttas and 2) The Discipline and see if it matches.
In other words, the first 2 parts of the Pali Cannon. The Nikayas and The Viniya as we all now, as your students, take to be the real teachings and the real guide to the path.
Quoted:
And he says "Suppose a monk were to say "Friends, I heard and received this from the Lord's own lips: This is the Dhamma, This is the Discipline, this is the Master's teaching", then monks you should neither approve nor disapprove his words. Then, without approving or disapproving, his words and expressions should be carefully noted and compared with the Suttas and reviewed in the light of the discipline. If they, on such comparison and review, are found not to conform to the Suttas or the discipline, the conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is NOT the word of the Buddha, it has been wrongly understood by this monk", and the matter is to be rejected. But where on such comparison and review they are found to conform to the Suttas or the discipline, the conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is the word of the Buddha, it has been rightly understood by this monk." This is the first criterion (of determining whether what you are hearing is indeed the teaching of the Buddha).
.........
This should be etched into a plaque and placed in an honorary spot at Dhammasukha because this is the real reason that Dhammasukha stands unique and distinct over all other meditation centers. It is like Einstein discovering E=MC2 when you discovered the relax step in the Suttas and found the key to what the Buddha really was teaching!
What if one were to quote this to those assembled in Japan and then propose that the purpose of the gathering there, was in fact, just this, that is to clarify what the Buddha really taught. As he himself asked us his students to do when in doubt.
I am really excited to find this piece because this is what Bhante Vimalaramsi is about... Determining what is the true and correct path of the Buddha.
Added to this post is from Adrian who found all these wonderful additional quotes:
Not Only That, David!
"… in the course of the future there will be monks who won't listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata -- deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness -- are being recited. They won't lend ear, won't set their hearts on knowing them, won't regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering. But they will listen when discourses that are literary works -- the works of poets, elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of disciples -- are recited. They will lend ear and set their hearts on knowing them. They will regard these teachings as worth grasping & mastering. "In this way the disappearance of the discourses that are words of the Tathagata -- deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness -- will come about.
Therefore, monks, train yourselves thus: To these very Suttas will we listen, give a ready ear, understand, recite and master them." Samyutta Nikaya Sutta XX.7
And
Those monks who point to Dhamma as not Dhamma ... who point to what is not the Discipline as the Discipline.. . . to what is the Discipline as not the Discipline.. . who point out things not uttered & proclaimed by the Tathagata as having been uttered by him...... who point out what was uttered and proclaimed by him as not having been so uttered & proclaimed.. . who point out something not practiced by the Tathagatha as having been practiced by him... and the reverse... who point out what was not ordained by the Tathagatha as having been ordained by him... and the reverse... such monk' conduct is to the loss of many folk, to the misery of many folk, to the loss, injury and misery of devas and mankind. Moreover, such monks beget great demerit and cause the disappearance of this true Dhamma' - Anguttara Nikaya Sutta 1.10
And
"Monks, these five future dangers, unarisen at present, will arise in the future. Be alert to them and, being alert, work to get rid of them. Which five?
"There will be, in the course of the future, monks undeveloped in body,1 undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment. They — being undeveloped in body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment — will give full ordination to others and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment. These too will then be undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment. They — being undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment —
1. will give full ordination to still others and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment.
2. will take on others as students and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment.
3. when giving a talk on higher Dhamma or a talk composed of questions and answers, will fall into dark mental states without being aware of it.
4. will not listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, profound, transcendent, connected with Voidness — are being recited. They will not lend ear, will not set their hearts on knowing them, will not regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering. But they will listen when discourses that are literary works — the works of poets, elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of disciples — are recited. They will lend ear and set their hearts on knowing them. They will regard these teachings as worth grasping and mastering.
5. They will not make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. They will become an example for later generations, who will become luxurious in their living, lethargic, foremost in falling back, shirking the duties of solitude, and who will not make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. .
Thus from corrupt Dhamma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline, corrupt Dhamma.
(from AN 5.79)
With Metta
Adrian
Santiago Chili
