Can personal experience generate buddhistic insight outside of meditation?
score:2
It seems appropriate to turn my comments into an answer.
One of the problems that confounds religious practice in all major traditions is the attachment to words. Words are both the barrier to understanding and the only tools available to teachers (for the most part) to point people towards awakening.
Insight is defined as:
an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing, especially through intuitive understanding
penetrating mental vision or discernment; faculty of seeing into inner character or underlying truth.
There is no such thing as Buddhistic Insight (how does one know if their insight is Buddhistic?) If insight depended on the teachings of Buddha or anyone else, then Buddha would've been unable to attain insight; Christ would not have come to know what he did; etc.
Buddha, Christ, and any other teacher (no names spring to mind) of their caliber and effectiveness found a way of creating a teaching in the language of their era that resonated with the existing social and religious beliefs of their era. I think this is a critical distinction.
Buddha spoke about reincarnation as he built his teaching in a part of the world where almost all people already had a view of the world that included reincarnation - and many were likely attached to that understanding. As far as I know, Christ never mentions reincarnation - at least not in any form that remotely resembles the Buddhist or Hindu view of reincarnation.
Buddha found a way to use the already existing teaching as a vehicle to point people towards the Self. (see skillful means)
Christ did the same.
As to the original question.
One need not necessarily depend on the words of the ancients, but must only think of what is really true. - Dogen
Think about the paradox of your question. You experienced something you call temporarily release from any jealousy I had. That's awesome!
Unfortunately, the validation you were likely looking for with your question will probably do nothing other than serve as a barrier to your understanding. You will have a new 'idol' to worship:
"I had a genuine Buddhistic insight."
Regarding the above quote from Dogen in relation to this: What is true is, you can and will never know. Why carry the insight along with you? The insight will be valuable to the degree you use it - or let it use you. What is it you got when you felt the jealousy dissipate? Did you suddenly see the vanity and stupidity of human actions in a clearer light? That is what there is to meditate on; to consider. Who cares where it came from?
There is great wisdom in your insight, and there is no bottom to it. The deeper your insight penetrates, the deeper your understanding will be. Genuine mastery is never a place one arrives but a place one comes from.
Enjoy your insights but never cling to them. Yesterday's insight is today's ego trip.
Upvote:0
Yes, people are known to reach enlightenment and even full liberation without any knowledge of Buddhism or use of teachers and guides.
In my opinion, thinking, "What I practice is the only way," is a form of pride and a way for people to hold themselves above others.
Upvote:4
It's similar to going to a funeral, seeing the dead body and realizing that your turn is coming too. Jealousy is a subset of aversion. Aversion is 1 of the 3 evil roots that causes suffering. So if you realized that and got rid of your jealousy, that's inline with Buddhist insight.
More post
- π How can the theory of emptiness be true and yet the self still transmigrates and takes rebirth?
- π Should/Would the Noble Sangha let go of the Dhamma?
- π Is the sexual act contrary to achieving enlightenment?
- π Judging mindfully
- π Doubt while Meditating regarding Breath
- π Self like a diamond
- π SakkΔya-Ditthi and Self-View
- π Possible for worldling to practice the Ariyamagga, to walk it?
- π Trouble understanding "sensual misconduct"
- π 14 questions left unanswered
- π Neighbour from "hell"
- π Is ChΓΆgyal Namkhai Norbu correct when he says our life is unreal and that Buddha taught that life is just like a dream?
- π Why work on one thing at a time?
- π Differences between U Ba Khin and S.N. Goenka
- π What kind of meat Guan yin believer are allowed to eat?
- π What are the boundaries of existence and non-existence in Buddhism?
- π Is Goenka's "Freeflow of sensations" the same as pΔ«ti?
- π Are eating raw oysters a violation of the first Precept?
- π Monks precepts - Not to teach dhamma to women and not to recite dhamma in pali with laymen?
- π What is considered consciousness?
- π What is circumambulation?
- π Meditation in day to day life
- π How to stop a war according to Gouthama Buddha?
- π Should I practice a single mantra or multiple?
- π What did the Buddha say about music?
- π Buddhist monks give advice for lay life
- π When to retaliate when someone abuses us?
- π Is there any volition or will that I can manage or control?
- π Is what is taught under the term "Radical Buddhism" consistent with Buddhist values?
- π The meaning v of this phrase in Satipattana Sutta
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- π Can personal experience generate buddhistic insight outside of meditation?
- π Can one learn meditation on their own?
- π Can one practice meditation to gain knowledge about the universe?
- π Can meditation cause you to sleep less?
- π Can meditation help students in exams?
- π Near death experience and meditation
- π What determines whether a style of meditation can or cannot lead to insight?
- π Can you actually focus on how birth leads to aging, death, suffering, stress as direct experience in dependent co-arising?
- π Can you go through all 7 purifications of insight with walking meditation?
- π How can one apply the skills developed through Vipassana meditation to overcome FMO/PMO (fantasy, p**n, masturbation, o*g**m) addiction?
- π How can I remedy the erratic energy-power that arises from vipassana aka cessation-contemplation meditation so I can feel more in-control?
- π How can the sensations of the meditation object (attention to the breath) be made more noticeable?
- π How can we include meditation in our daily activities or day to day life?
- π Mental illness: can Dhamma, meditation help?
- π Avoiding Triggers that can generate negative karma
- π Direct Experience of Meditation
- π Can insight be gained at any point in insight meditation, or do you have to go through all 7 purifications of insight?
- π How can we know that we experience sensations as a series of discrete sensations?
- π Most efficient (timewise) meditation techniques to experience joy and bliss?
- π Can meditation heal physical diseases?
- π Confusion Over Intense Experience During Meditation
- π Can I save my meditation practice or should I abandon it?
- π Can you skip the 7 purifications and gain straight insight into phenomenon?
- π How can one navigate the experience of Tanha
- π Can meditation change your hormone and neurotransmitter system?
- π Reasons against practicing insight meditation as a main (sitting) practice for medical or other recondite-subject majoring students?
- π How can i use meditation to concentrate!
- π Personal practices of meditation
- π How can I practice mindfulness meditation with sound, not breathing?
- π Validity of Meditation Experience