Dear Eltopo,
op 16-04-2003 21:42 schreef eltopo1uk op eltopo_@...:

>

Can I just ask when you say that in attending

> your father, you attend to the Buddha, does this mean the historical
> Buddha who lived many centuries ago or a kind of timeless Buddha? If
> the latter, I can understand this in a Mahayana sense, but is it ok
> in a non-Mahayana sense? I agree with what you say about your father
> and this is how it seems to me...

N: The Buddha passed away completely: anupaadisesa (no substrate remaining)
nibbaana. He left us the Dhamma. Now the Dhamma is our teacher in his stead.
That is the meaning of, who sees the Dhamma, sees me. Do you pay respect to
the Triple Gem? We can still pay respect and think with confidence and
gratefulness of the Buddha, also now. When we do this with kusala citta, not
expecting any gain for ourselves, it is a moment of samatha, calm. We do not
have to select a specific time for this, we can do it many times a day,
amidst our activities.
I read in the subcommentary to the Satipa.t.thaanasutta, that there four
four meditation subjects for all occasions:
<sabbatthikakamma.t.thaananti
buddhaanussati mettaa mara.nassati asubhabhaavanaa ca.
The words , the meditation subjects on all occasions, mean: recollection of
the Buddha, loving-kindness, mindfulness of death, and meditation of
foulness.>
These are very daily, like metta, it is the practice.
The Buddha's message dating from 600 B.C. contained in the Tipi.taka, is
most powerful, it comes through the centuries directly to us, and it is
meant for each one of us personally.
We also need the Abhidhamma, because without it we would not know, for
example, that happy feeling does not only arise with kusala citta, when
paying respect, but also with clinging, the citta with lobha. We like happy
feeling, or we may look for protection outside ourselves with clinging. The
Abhidhamma teaches us to scrutinize ourselves. We should know that the
Buddha said, be your own refuge, and that is, through satipa.t.thaana. This
is a very rare teaching, only Buddhas teach satipa.t.thaana; it is the way
to understand the truth of non-self.
As we read in the text given by John:

<Kiccho manussapa.tilaabho
kiccha.m maccaana.m jiivita.m
kiccha.m saddhammasavana.m
kiccho buddhaana.m uppaado.
Difficult it is to be born human,
difficult is the life of a man,
difficult it is listening to the true doctrine,
difficult is the arising of enlightened ones.
(Dhp. 14:182)>
In each sutta we are reminded not to be neglectful, to have the full benefit
of the rare occasion to hear true Dhamma.
Thus, when attending to my father there are many different types of cittas,
akusala cittas, with clinging or with aversion (dosa, in the form of sadness
or uneasiness), and kusala cittas. Sometimes, but not often, we can remember
that the Buddha's teaching is mindfulness and the development of
understanding of the present reality, and this is the highest respect we can
pay to him. We should remember what the Buddha taught Rahula: different
physical phenomena and mental phenomena. These have characteristics, they
appear now.
Nina.