Arahattamagga

It is often the wish of the yogi to be in a place where his or her experience is one filled with happiness and joy. Even after experiencing all the stages of insight over and over again, there still seems to be a "hope" that one will be able to live life happily ever after. Furthermore, one often runs into meditation advertisements selling "a happier life" as result of the practice. In my opinion, no matter how you cut it or slice it, there will always be dukkha (and anicca and anatta for that matter) unless of course, the final and total achievement of nibbana is reached. In the mean time, be prepared to encounter dukkha everywhere you look. This becomes particularly difficult for those stream enterers. How is it possible that after such attainment dukkha still manifest as it does (a few stream enterers including myself have found that the dark nights can be a lot worse than they were pre-stream entry). Based on some conversations that I've had with some adva...

4 th  Path (based on MCTB) and its equivalent stage based on the Sutta Pitaka (Theravadan Four Stages of Enlightenment) There appears to be a growing consensus by those of us who had followed the developmental progress via a la MCTB: not only has the yogi experienced a few important permanent shifts in the way one relates to phenomena, the attainment of 4 th path appears to have given us a "complete set of tools" necessary to investigate in real time any type of manifesting phenomena. So...what does this mean? is "done what needed to be done"? or is it more work yet ahead (for those aiming at what the Buddha called "full liberation") My experiences attaining to 4 th path had a couple of interesting elements I believe are worth discussing. One was what I still to this day hold as the very first time I fully got to experience (well, "experience" is not the correct word, it is more of a direct contact, but for the sake of simplicity I will use ...

I had this narrative once published on The Hamilton Project a while back. Although it is certainly not the aftermath of full enlightenment (as many of us thought at one point). I do find it adds a great deal of information regarding two events: The entry to the stream, and the aftermath of Phala and Nibbana. I believe the realization of stage attainment have characteristics that are shared by all stage attainments (we are talking here about the main Theravada 4 stages of enlightenment here, and not the pragmatic 4th path model leading up to Stream Entry).  ...All of a sudden everything comes into focus,   full enlightenment is realized. "Done is what needed to be done", "Hearing the lion's   roar", "Realization of supreme wisdom" "Realizing enlightenment", "becoming fully awakened", "Nirvana", "total and complete liberation" At this stage, there is a sense of completion, one has gone full circle, and ...

This dates back to the days just post 4th Path attainment.  On Karma: This is fundamental dharma I'm about talk. This is as fundamental as water is to life. What are we? as an unsure and unclear being, one that has not experienced citta cleansing and is fully ignorant to the true nature of the manifest world, we are individuals that are born, live and die. Some that have cleanse some citta, and/or have experienced the eye-opening practice of insight meditation, may believe we re-incarnate in another body until we have transcended. For the truth, neither one is right. neither one knows the truth of things. who are we? whoever is ever born, is, and always dies. Karma, the nature of the manifest world. there is no one else there, there is no soul, there is no spirit. Who are we? the unborn, the undying, the eternal. Non-localized pure awareness (citta). Karma is because of this. Karma has no effect on it. It only knows. Past the Skandhas, it is our...

A letter to Ian Reclusado: haha! whateverthehell is a good way to call it. I've been wanting to wait a bit of time and let the dust settle before writing something about it. I'm slowly trying to put all the pieces together here, so bear with me I have never been one to be into the whole metta movement, as a matter of fact, the way I always saw it was as yet another emotion that arose out of appreciation for everything around us. Acariya Maha Boowa describes his experience of realizing the Supreme Dhamma while shedding tears of joy and amazement. I believe this “whateverthehell” was something similar. The initial realization was extremely clear, as clear as the aftermath of the fruitions I experienced while attaining 4th path. While the human reaction (aka the 5 aggregates in action) after attaining 4th path had a relaxed, almost lazy, and an utterly feeling of completeness, the reaction on Tuesday night was a lot more flamboyant. I can truly say that there were the Skandhas ...

The main purpose of The Arahattamagga Blog is to discuss a particular, dynamic style of practice inspired by the teachings of the late Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa of the Thai Forest Tradition.  As everything inspired by another concept or idea, many elements and qualities are shared among them.  However, there are also differences between them (some of them may be more salient). Such differences are the result of the pragmatic approach that allows for the evolution of the practice. Ultimately, this blog hopes to be useful (to be taken verbatim, or suggestion, or advice, or not taken at all, whatever may prove to be the most useful) to other 4th path yogis that are in the process of permanently eradicating the "Self" and the suffering  that comes with it. With metta, Jorge Freddy Martinez