Desire leds to suffering. Do not desire and you will not suffer. Is that about it? Is it possible for a person to achieve that kind of state? Documented?
You cannot "get this straight". It is not a matter of intellectualism, it is a matter of experiencing it, of it being existential. Only then can one understand "it." Those who have gone beyond the ego have also gone beyond desire and suffering because it is the mind, the ego, the I, that identifies with suffering. Having gone beyond thinking they have gone beyond desire because desire is thinking. So, no thinking, no desire. No identification with the I and no suffering. But to get to that state you will have to explore who you are, this "I" that you identify with. It has to be existential, it has to be an experience. You have to actually do it, you cannot think about it. The mind cannot understand thinking by thinking about thinking. So just thinking about desire and suffering is a waste of time. You cannot think about what love is, you can only experience it and know. Thinking about love will not help.
uuummm... so for those of us NOT fluent in buddhist philosophy is that a yes or a no? Pretend for a second that the last post on here was full of mindless drivel and rating that either makes no sence, had almost nothing to do with the question I asked, was too full of buzzwords and new age jargon to fully convey a real message or was just way over my head. Now please try again as I'm genuinly interested in an answer.
Yes. (And No.) Yes. (But the person who achieves that state is no longer the same person.) Buddha, Jesus, Mahavira, Dali Lama, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ramakrishna, Lao Tzu, Basho, Ma Tsu, Dogen, Hyakujo, Nansen, Isan, Rinzai, Joshu, Juddu Krishnamurti, Krishna, Ta Hui, Bodhidharma, Suzuki, Patanjali, Atisha, Andrew Cohen, Jean Dunn, U. G. Krishnamurti, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji,.... You might want to add Moses, Mohammed, ... a whole host of others. Chances are that there has been at least one Enlightened person on this Earth at any one time. But chances are that out of 1,000,000 Enlightened persons only 1 has been a Master. I would start with the life of Sri Ramakrishna. http://www.ramakrishna.org/rmk.htm Or you can start with the 4 Noble Truths, http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble.htm Now, how are you not going to desire? http://web.ukonline.co.uk/buddhism/page4.htm
What is the difference between an enlightened person and a master? Is a master the one who writes all of the catchy quotes?
You don't choose to desire, and you don't choose to suffer. It means you can't choose stopping desire, You can choose a long path which could eventually help you to handle with desire and realize what desire is. Does it bring something to you shane99x? (You can let things happen, maybe that's what I meant) There is no master without disciples or followers. An enlightened one does not require followers. We should be thankful some of enlightened person are ready to spend time for us, that they care about us. Compassion is a step further than love, in its common physical interpretation. Take care
Yep, not all Buddhism follows the classical Monastic vows and steps. Much of Buddhism taught today is tantric and works with desire and bliss to naturally draw the mind to the unconditioned aspect of ones already extant awareness. Having experience and knowledge of that one is free of bondage already where they are without running from anything.
That's the beautiful thing. Buddha (Guatama, Siddhartha, shakyamundi) said I have found a path, let me show you it. He never said, like jesus did, that his was the only path, or that all other paths are false and lead to suffering. That's why there are tons of different sects of buddhism, and really each practioner is his own sect, But realtively little violent skisms between the groups.
