Don't Arahats know Buddha?
Upvote:-1
Arhats don't know the Buddha. All they know are so many practices for realization, and they become trapped by cause and effect.
Don't forget it was Bodhidharma's Zen school which also taught that all famous PaiChang's fox story, a cautionary tale about the danger of horrific regression for those who thought they're already at the top of their game.
Note that Killing them won't be wrong is just a figure of speech. It isn't meant to be taken in literal sense.
Well, since so many things in those Zen texts are figures of speech, maybe Bodhidharma's highlighted message was also just a figure of speech. Afterall, when in doubt, try to err on the safe side and heed the Buddha's advice in DN 16 about the Four Great Referalls.
Upvote:2
Is it true or I am wrongly understanding Bodhidharma?
I don't know about Bodhidharma or Zen, specifically, but I think that is inline with what you can read in or about some other "Mahayana" doctrines e.g. Wikipedia -- Arhat:
Arhat is defined in Theravada Buddhism as one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana. Other Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood.
The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schools of Buddhism and different regions. A range of views on the attainment of arhats existed in the early Buddhist schools. The Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda, and Caitika schools all regarded arhats as imperfect in their attainments compared to buddhas.
Mahayana Buddhist teachings urge followers to take up the path of a bodhisattva, and to not fall back to the level of arhats and śrāvakas. The arhats, or at least the senior arhats, came to be widely regarded[by whom?] as "moving beyond the state of personal freedom to join the Bodhisattva enterprise in their own way".
See also e.g. Śrāvaka -- Mahāyāna view:
In Mahayana Buddhism, śrāvakas or arhats are sometimes contrasted negatively with bodhisattvas.
In the 4th century abhidharma work Abhidharmasamuccaya, Asaṅga describes those who follow the Śrāvakayāna. These people are described as having weak faculties, following the Śrāvaka Dharma, utilizing the Śrāvaka Piṭaka, being set on their own liberation, and cultivating detachment in order to attain liberation. Those in the Pratyekabuddhayāna are portrayed as also utilizing the Śrāvaka Piṭaka, are said to have medium faculties, to follow the Pratyekabuddha Dharma, and to be set on their own personal enlightenment. Finally, those in the Mahāyāna "Great Vehicle" are portrayed as utilizing the Bodhisattva Piṭaka, as having sharp faculties, following the Bodhisattva Dharma, and set on the perfection and liberation of all beings, and the attainment of complete enlightenment.
More post
- 📝 Which case is "I am a professor" with identity view?
- 📝 Is vipassana outside a ten day retreat possible?
- 📝 Ancient texts on Meditation Techniques?
- 📝 Color perception in meditation
- 📝 Original reference for 'The essence of all religions is love, compassion and tolerance' by the HH the Dalai Lama
- 📝 What are the 5 cords of sensual pleasures?
- 📝 What are the twelve aspects of the Four Noble Truths?
- 📝 Without discoverable beginning "it is enough to be liberated from them" What is "them"?
- 📝 The process of reintegration back into society after a retreat
- 📝 How is the faculty of persistence developed?
- 📝 buddha and me (my will to accept all from buddism)
- 📝 A good source to learn the Pali language?
- 📝 Other than physical form which characteristics define a woman?
- 📝 Is there a compendium of enlightenment stories (about Arhats and/or Bodhisattvas)?
- 📝 Is S. Dhammika's book The Broken Buddha, a misleading angry reaction?
- 📝 What do you wish you knew when you started down the path of buddhism?
- 📝 Does kamma define the universal law of cause & effect?
- 📝 Disconnected instead of detached
- 📝 Shikantaza vs counting breath
- 📝 Why didn't Buddhism become Popular in India in Lord Buddha's time?
- 📝 Yatha bhuta and Dhamma
- 📝 What are the different Buddhist views on marriage?
- 📝 What is the definition of passa ?
- 📝 How closely aligned are Buddhist ethics and Nietzschean values?
- 📝 Is it possible to "over-train" in samatha meditation?
- 📝 How would one begin practising Buddhism?
- 📝 Barrier of "tumult" during meditation
- 📝 Sudden enlightenment & knowledge of the Abhidhamma
- 📝 Unable to sustain mindfulness on subtle breath
- 📝 Nature of Aversion
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Do we know in what posture the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree?
- 📝 Did the Buddha know God?
- 📝 Is it possible and good to know and/or talk about other/more details about the way out of suffering than the Buddha did?
- 📝 Don't Arahats know Buddha?
- 📝 How could the Buddha know that he had attained enlightenment when he didn't know what it was?
- 📝 Did Buddha know the properties and behaviour of the matter fully?
- 📝 Did Gautama Buddha know his path?
- 📝 How can we know if a dharma teaching is really what the Buddha taught? Is there some sort of test?
- 📝 Can the Buddha ever be a woman?
- 📝 Where is the Buddha quoted as saying do not believe anything I say until you can prove it by yourself?
- 📝 Did Gautama Buddha exist?
- 📝 How do you tell a 4-year-old who the Buddha was?
- 📝 Was Vipassana discovered by the Buddha (Siddhartha)?
- 📝 If Buddha stayed unanswered on this matter, why do his followers preach that soul doesn't exist?
- 📝 Why did the Buddha suffer before he died?
- 📝 Why does the Buddha call himself the Tathāgata?
- 📝 How was the Buddha Jayanti edition of the Tripitaka derived?
- 📝 Why is Buddha almost treated like a God in most Buddhist traditions?
- 📝 Did the Buddha speak Pali? Are the suttas his word verbatim?
- 📝 How can I know that I am clear of thoughts while I am meditating?
- 📝 Attachment is a poison. Why is attachment to the Buddha and to Buddhist philosophy not a problem?
- 📝 Was Buddha born of a Virgin?
- 📝 What language did the Buddha speak?
- 📝 Ignorant mind and Buddha nature
- 📝 Did Gautama Buddha cease to exist after death?
- 📝 Meditation technique proposed by the Buddha
- 📝 Did Buddha practice group meditation with bhikkhus, bhikkhunis and laymen, just like in today's meditation center?
- 📝 Was the Buddha harsh?
- 📝 Why the Buddha didn't originally allow ordination of women
- 📝 Words of the Buddha