Buddha Dhamma

Hey David,
thanks for your thoughtful reply.


Puredhamma and Ven. Abhaya Thero are not really related but it’s based on Ven Waharaka so you’re right that it is connected.

Ven. Abhaya teaches the Jhanas (puredhamma does not talk that much about formal practice, that is true).
I’ve been to his meditation retreat and have gone to Jhana via those methods. Ven. Abhaya teaches attaining the Jhanas via doing “Karmasthana Bhavana” which means one will be reciting something with proper understanding of its meaning in Pali (some are Sinhala) and thus he will be doing savitakka savichara. Like the one from Girimandana Sutta:

Ethan santhan ethan paneethan, yadidan sabba sankhara samatho,Sabbhupathi*patinissaggo, tanhakkhayo, virago, nirodho, Nibbanan ti

But when one is not Sōtapanna he will only be going to jhana via means of suppressing the hindrances (I like cigarettes, but I force myself not to smoke them)- thus abhisankhara are suppressed by force. Abhisankhara is what keeps one from going to a pure state of mind. They explain there are two PS cycles: the pure paticca Samuppāda (avyakrutha as they call it or the Vipaka PS cycle) which happens when a sense object is recognized and processed, this one also happens in an Arahant until he dies, and then for everyone but an Arahant, based on asavas and our likes/desires and our Sansaric habits the kamma (Akusala Mula paticca Samuppāda) arises.

Lal (from puredhamma) describes it in detail how it arises in this very life as the “Idappaccayatā“.
So for a Puthujjana he will go through it with various things. But whatever defilements an Anāgāmi for example will have eliminated, those sense objects will no longer trigger abhisankhara in him. He is not suppressing those. They simply stop arising as their cause has ceased (tanha has been uprooted via eliminating avijja, so no more upadana). No more upadana in this life for these things and also no upadana paccaya bhava at Cuti patisandhi. This is why when kamma creation is stopped one also will not grasp a new bhava after death. Because one will still have many bad kamma seeds left, they simply become ahosi via changing the “habit of the mind” (gathi) through the wisdom of no longer grasping those because one thinks: “this is good. It will lead to my happiness!, there is happiness to be gained from existence”. That is how I understand it.

So samma ditthi here in regards to the cigarettes will be to have a clear view that the cigarettes are bad and a clear comprehension that it is pointless to smoke. But it does not mean one will never smoke (for example Sarakani who kept drinking even after attaining Sōtapanna). But enjoying sense pleasures will no longer feed avijja for a Sōtapanna as that link is broken (he no longer enjoys things in the world and then comes to the conclusion: “this world is full of happiness! What a good place to enjoy “existence”).

Also this can be related with what was taught about severity of bad kamma. When one will do a bad kamma thinking he is fully right (without any shame), then it is the worst. In this way one can be doing papa kamma and strengthen his avijja (moha, strong delusion) in this way  Paticca Samuppāda will attach one to the nature of his actions and build a habit regardless if it’s a good one or bad one. It is quite ruthless. When pleasure is sensed one will attach..

This reminds me of what is said with TWIM (if I remember correctly). Where there is jati here is jara, Marana, Soka, Parideva.. the whole mass of suffering. This arising of thoughts again and again itself is a suffering  Any conditioned thing can never be maintained to our liking. Not even our mind! How so the world?

This is a really good series, but it takes some effort to connect all the dots:
https://puredhamma.net/paticca-samuppada/paticca-samuppada-in-plain-english/

What Ven. Abhaya teaches is this:
One always attains Sōtapanna via listening to Dhamma because only via listening to a noble one (Ariya, Sōtapanna and above) can one comprehend as the hindrances are lifted temporarily. Samma ditthi is only Realisation of the basic understanding:
Going through Sansāra is not worth it because one will never gain what he wants to achieve - the “happiness” we experience with things is fabricated by the way we attach to things. One likes one thing, another dislikes that very thing. It is in our mind and not in the object. Thus we can never “satiate”. Conditions keep changing but we set expectations on the world as if it would be behaving according to our likes and desires (this is what they explain as part of Anicca). We think this world is “good”. Sath Kaya ditthi. Kaya=sath. Kaya meaning all the five aggregates. We hold them dearly, not realizing the suffering we gain through attaching to them. We think attachment gives us pleasure, but disregard all the pain and consequences it brings to us. Like someone smoking, enjoying the taste, unaware and oblivious that it is destroying his or her lungs.


I was talking to a friend of mine who also has a little experience with what you teach. I also did an online retreat (which helped me to clear my mind A LOT, many thanks 🙏).

I also have been studying puredhamma and Ven Abhaya Thero’s Teachings extensively. Also I met Mr. Chaminda Tennakoon in London and have been Involved with conducting his lay sermons.

I was able to experience how what is said on puredhamma happens. How through understanding the Dhamma the mind can be changed and how this will give a permanent effect. It is much easier for me to get to samadhi these days than it used to and I have comprehension of what happens in my mind (to some degree). I’m still working on the Jhanas and haven’t been able to get good results, but I frequently can access the lower ones.

So what my friend was saying is that we are having a problem these days:
People can get results from Dhamma but most of them are not able to “relate” it in the proper ways. So even if we might be getting there from different camps or vantage points, it might be difficult to relate at times. Which is rooted in the lack of understanding that people nowadays have (to say even some Arahants back then did not teach Dhamma As they did not have the “capability” as it will be based in ones past kamma - what skills and abilities one will have). I often understand things well for myself And in my own experience, but then it is difficult to put into words. But my hope is that maybe it will be possible in the future to bridge some gaps between the camps and get to an agreement on fundamental things regarding Buddha Dhamma. So people can have more choice when it comes to their way of applying those things, without a feeling of “sectarianism”.

Anyways I’m interested to continue the conversation. I hope it is of interest and I’m sending my Metta your way. Hope many people will find and realize this Dhamma and find relief.

It will not be the last time a virus attacks people and makes them suffer the effects. Like Ven. Amadassana from Dharmayai Obai said in one of his sermons:

“Diseases and problems will keep coming and going. What matters is to stop our coming and going.“