How Duplicate With Close Friends Program
MZC: As you know, Vedanta teaches that if you go deeply into that awareness, that consciousness, you may spontaneously fall into the Self and that's all that is. All is arising as a modification of this Consciousness.
The Spring Temple Buddha found in Lushan County, Henan, China is considered as the biggest statue of Buddha in the world. It measures 128 meters (420 feet), including a 20 meter lotus throne. If you will include the 25-meter pedestal where the statue is placed, the Spring Temple Buddha would have a total height of 153 meters (502 feet). With the reshaping of the hill where the statue is currently perched to give way for the construction of two more pedestals, this statue of Buddha is now 208 meters high.
BN: Yes and I see it now in Burma and in the world. I gave a presentation on ethics recently to the judiciary in Xalapa. We spoke about how institutions can too often act like predators rather than being fair to the people. How can we say we are serving others if we are exploiting them? At the time of the Buddha, you would be brought to the king if you committed some offense. Simple. A punishment or a pardon was swiftly given. Now it's so much more complex. Modern society demands that we apply ethics more broadly.
MZC: Batchelor is specifically talking about the rebirth in the Indian philosophy where there is a rebirth of the individual soul or atma, which goes from life to life. Batchelor says that the Buddha was not interested in whether this is true or not, whether there is even a soul, if "the mind is different from the body." And further, we cannot know the answer to such questions.
Spend a few minutes walking just with attention on the breath entering and leaving the body, let go of any unnecessary tension around the breath as it enters and leaves.
theravada Close your eyes and first bring your awareness to the sensation of sitting. Feel your seat and your legs. Feel the support beneath you. Don't try to visualize anything. Just notice what is there. Do this for a few minutes, until a feeling of physical and mental steadiness and presence arise.
Ramkhamhaeng introduced the first Thai letters. During his regime, the kingdom expanded and spread over a large area from Martaban (now Myanmar) to Luang Prabang (present day Laos) and down to the Malay Peninsula. The kingdom was larger than modern day Thailand.
This first stage, anapanasati, can be outlined and succinctly instructed, as this is the part of the practice that one can actually do, practically and willfully. The second component, insight, arises out of the firm foundation of anapanasiti like an act of grace. Insight into the true, unwavering nature of reality happens spontaneously over time when the mind settles into deeper states of acceptance and concentration.
