Week 121 (Recorded on July 20th, 2024).
• PDF link to a free digital copy of the Sutta can be obtained from the website: www.mindreleas...
Aṭṭhakanāgara Sutta, “Discourses at Aṭṭhakanāgara” (Dasani, the Wealthy Merchant), From the Anguttara Nikāya or The Numerical Discourses (AN 11.16).
Today's sutta exploration session was devoted to the Aṭṭhakanāgara Sutta (Discourse at Aṭṭhakanāgara), where we see Venerable Ānanda giving a Dhamma talk to the householder Dasama, who had a very straightforward question: how to attain full release from suffering. Venerable Ānanda then offers a beautiful discourse, outlining "Eleven Doors" to the Deathless, including the Jhānas and the Brahmavihāharas, all of which are means to an end, that is Nibbāna.
Venerable Ānanda further explains that none of these eleven, meaning, neither the Jhānas nor the Bhrahmavihāras, are substantial in themselves, but instead they are all "specifically prepared and activated," due to intentional thought and effort, whereby they manifest. Therefore, they are only a means, and not an end in themselves, as they create the conditions for wisdom to arise, which is the whole point of the practice, Bhante emphasized.
NOTE: If you like to support Bhante, you may consider donating via:
gofund.me/9d16...
Bhikkhu Candana lives and continues his Dhamma work without the support of a Buddhist community or a monastery, but survives thanks to the occasional donations he receives to obtain his food, shelter, transportation, and medicine.
19 июл 2024
