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
- 📝 Do Buddhists have sacred scripture to read?
- 📝 The Buddha on fun, play & time management during practice & Dharma work
- 📝 Nature of Spiritual Writings
- 📝 Are you familiar with a particular AN or SN sutta on bowing?
- 📝 Latent tendencies, memories of this life and brain damage, dementia
- 📝 View of Thervada and Mahayana Buddhism on where Conciousness is located
- 📝 The Problem of Evil/Suffering modified into Buddhism
- 📝 Decoupling happiness from state of the world: Useful? Against human nature?
- 📝 Buddhist ethics & hydroponics: ethical issues?
- 📝 sensations as meditation object
- 📝 According to Theravada tradition, was Siddharta Gautama illuminated after meditating under the Bodhi tree?
- 📝 What is Zen, what are Zen beliefs, and why is it called Buddhism?
- 📝 Sutta references which Discuss Self and Not Self under Different Contexts
- 📝 Animals and humans in Science vs. Buddhism
- 📝 How does Buddhism see Required Military Service?
- 📝 Why is the Pali word 'saṅkhārā' in Dependent Origination plural?
- 📝 What is considered consciousness?
- 📝 Question about the Pitāpūtrasamāgama-sūtra
- 📝 Does illegal downloading or viewing of copyright material violate the second precept?
- 📝 Buddhist (Theravada) cure for "Insecurity"?
- 📝 Does Buddhism view mind phenomena as chemical or as supernatural?
- 📝 How does enlightenment relate to the higher realms of existence?
- 📝 Attacking others with words such as they are weapons
- 📝 What is the relevance of Pratityasamutpada in Nagarjunas system?
- 📝 Does Pa Auk Has A Plan To Translate Tipitaka Pali To English?
- 📝 Did the Buddha really say that "life is suffering"?
- 📝 Finding a Sangha in London
- 📝 Which Buddhists denominations agree with the difference between pain and suffering as in many DBT texts? Which disagree?
- 📝 Can we program or pre-define our last thoughts?
- 📝 Is consciousness a result of contact?
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