[Short Bonus]: How did ignorance and delusion arise in the first place? Will samsara end?

Épisode de Alan Wallace Live from Phuket! par B. Alan Wallace · 6 juin 2010 · 20 min

For this short bonus episode, I extracted a question that Elizabeth said was maybe unanswerable, about the very beginning of ignorance and delusion (and samsara for that matter). But we all know by now that Alan always has something up his sleeve.

He starts by talking about the problems that can arise when we misniterpret the Buddhist view that "samsara is beginningless". Infinite past lifes would mean infinite chances to achieve Bodhicitta, to go into meditation retreat for 60 years, to achieve enlightenment, etc, which would mean that we probably failed an infinite number of times. Not very motivating! So Alan gives a very sharp and amazing answer to this "unanswerable" question, which is both completely aligned with the Buddhist notion of a beginningless samsara and extremely logical, drawing from everyday examples such as thinking and dreaming. To illustrate his explanation, Alan draws on a short parable from the book "Naked Awareness" by Karma Chagme (although in the recording you will hear him say it was from "A Spacious Path to Freedom," which is actually the prequel... He made the correction later in the day).

In the last 5 minutes, we go into the question of the "end of samsara," where Alan quotes H.H. Dalai Lama and then he ends by sharing a laughter-filled question he made back in Dharamsala about how the last sentient being can achieve enlightenment. I just laughed out loud again listening to it to write the desription.

This much more flattering picture of last week's rainbow was provided by Rosa - thank you!

Autres épisodes de « Alan Wallace Live from Phuket! »

• Ending Where We Began: Equanimity Permeated With Loving Kindness 11 juin 2010
• The Last Shamatha Practice 11 juin 2010
• Equanimity: Looking Ahead 10 juin 2010
• Of Trust, Devotion, or Lack Thereof (+ Awareness of Awareness Practice) 10 juin 2010
• Awareness of Awareness: Emerging through the Clouds of the Dense, Deluded, Compulsive Mind into Clear and Luminous Space 9 juin 2010
• Empathetic Joy: Using our Mind as a Best Friend (+ great Q&A incl. a deep question about love and attachment). 8 juin 2010
• Awareness of Awareness: A Smooth Transition from the Space of the Mind 8 juin 2010
• Compassion: Investigating a Hypothesis about the Very Root of Suffering (and the importance of not taking Dharma out of context) 7 juin 2010
• Settling the Mind in its Natural State: Sustaining a Continuity 7 juin 2010
• [Extra Bonus] Culminating in the Great Perfection: The Dzogchen View (Addendum) 7 juin 2010
• [Bonus] The Philosophical Evolution of an Individual through all the Four Schools of Indian Buddhism, Culminating in the Great Perfection. In 45 minutes. 6 juin 2010
• Compassion: Freeing Ourselves from the Underlying Causes of Suffering (Attachment/Craving) 5 juin 2010
• "The Tempest," Settling the Mind in its Natural State 5 juin 2010
• Compassion: Focusing on the Blatant Suffering 4 juin 2010
• Settling the Mind In its Natural State: Exploring Conceptually Unmediated Experience 4 juin 2010

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