Expert: Anandapanyo Bhikkhu - 10/6/2009

Question
QUESTION: if you died an arahant yet the karma bad ones has not been paid yet? i think there is some difficulties because to die an arahant to have no karma left probably needs couple more existent since buddha says no one is exempted in karma!

so why bodhisattvas cannot return back from nirvana i think they are free now and can enter back samsara anytime they want? are they dissolved in nirvana? because i think if they are immortal in nirvana out of compassion they can return until everyone is realized?

what does anatta means? no soul or no self one book says we have no souls?

what is the diff of buddhist compassion vs other religions? is compassion just being radiated from the mind? what is used in compassion the emotion or the mind? is it possible to radiate metta using only the mind?


what is the goal in mahayana because they say realizing dharmakaya is like merging with the dharmakaya sounds like brahman version of buddhism?

ANSWER: Dear Jaya,

"if you died an arahant yet the karma bad ones has not been paid yet? i think there is some difficulties because to die an arahant to have no karma left probably needs couple more existent since buddha says no one is exempted in karma!"

If someone dies as an arahant, there is no more karma. In order to become an Arahant, you must forgo goodness and badness. There are two types of karma. Karma created by the body, and karma created by the soul. For the Arahant, karma created by the soul will no longer exist. Karma created by the body will still exist. Once the Arahant gives up his/her body and enters Nirvana, there will be no more rebirth, therefore no more body, therefore nobody to accept the results of the karma. Buddha said no one is exempt from karma IF YOU ARE BORN, however, Buddha also said that enlightenment is THE only way to escape your karma, SINCE you don't have to be BORN EVER AGAIN.

"so why bodhisattvas cannot return back from nirvana i think they are free now and can enter back samsara anytime they want? are they dissolved in nirvana? because i think if they are immortal in nirvana out of compassion they can return until everyone is realized?"

Bodhisattvas cannot return from Nirvana because there is no return from Nirvana. Imagine a mother giving birth, once the child comes out of their mother, can they ever return? No child has ever re-entered their mother's womb. Just so, once one has left and entered Nirvana there is no returning. That is also why Bodhisattvas delay their enlightenment, since they want to help people they sacrifice pain and suffering in the births in order to help more people when they become a Buddha. Once they leave the earth as an fully enlightened Buddha, they can never come back. The people will then have to wait for the next Buddha.


"what does anatta means? no soul or no self one book says we have no souls?"

Anatta means not self. Nothing exists in its current form forever. Therefore, there is nothing that can be considered our self. This does not mean our souls do not exist. For example, when we drive a car, do we think, I AM THE CAR, no, we think, I am DRIVING the CAR, I am SEPARATE from the car. However, since we were born into the our body, we think, I AM THIS BODY, this BODY IS ME. However, it is not. Just like the car, our soul is merely driving our body.

"what is the diff of buddhist compassion vs other religions? is compassion just being radiated from the mind? what is used in compassion the emotion or the mind? is it possible to radiate metta using only the mind?"

Buddhist compassion comes from understanding yourself. Some religions teach you to feel bad or feel sorry for others, however, true Buddhism teaches you to see that we are fallible, subject to suffering and dying just like all other living beings. Once you truly have that understanding, you cannot help but feel compassion for others. Once you think about how much you don't want to die, then you can realize that your hunting, killing or even ordering the death's of animals will hurt and scare them. True metta must come from understanding, otherwise it is just forced metta. Once true metta comes from the mind, it will automatically be shown through the body, speech and actions.

"what is the goal in mahayana because they say realizing dharmakaya is like merging with the dharmakaya sounds like brahman version of buddhism?

I do not know the goal in mahayana, so I cannot answer that part of the question.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i saw narada's book regarding the 3 misconception of karma? it was wrong to assume karma is dictated by supreme being, it is wrong to assume every events is related to the past and finally it is wrong to assume karma is determined? i saw the contradiction here isnt that our presetn situation is shaped up or determined by our past wrong doings such as a woman got raped because probably long ago she is a rapist incarnated may be molested and killed a human?


do u think it is justice for a woman being robbed and murdered because she is a theft long ago killed many, without buddha's doctrine in hand she is just paying her bad karma from long ago? thats why good things are happening to bad people vice versa?


is it still possible for a near arahant or anagami to flunk or heavily delay his enligtenment if he in case got crazy in the second to the last life and killed millions because of sheer frustation and commiting the 5 sins like patricide buddha wounding etc etc? thats only a hypothetical question anyway bimbisara's son did that thing also devadatta?


is rebirth simaltaneous occured after death immediately or there is a limbo?


what is left after a being died as an arahant? are there any metaphysical essence left? because some books say everything connecting to existence and beyond is cut off like a bird gotten free?

ANSWER: Dear Jaya,

"i saw narada's book regarding the 3 misconception of karma? it was wrong to assume karma is dictated by supreme being, it is wrong to assume every events is related to the past and finally it is wrong to assume karma is determined? i saw the contradiction here isnt that our presetn situation is shaped up or determined by our past wrong doings such as a woman got raped because probably long ago she is a rapist incarnated may be molested and killed a human?"

I am not sure I fully understand your question, but I will try to answer what I do understand. Karma is and isn't related to the past. Some of the causes of our present situation (present karma) happened in the past. However, the mindset and points of views that resulted from those actions are still inherent in us today. Therefore, our karma is still with us today, caused by the past and predetermined based on OUR PERCEPTIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN CHANGED. As long as we have not changed our perceptions and points of views, it is fair to say that karma has been "pre-determined." However, karma is not NECESSARILY pre-determined in that if we change our points of view, we change the outcome of our karma.

For example, lets say your parents yelled at you a lot as a kid. You grow up with the mindset that yelling at someone is the way to teach them. Therefore, when you reach a situation where someone annoys you and you want to teach them a lesson, you decide to yell at them. Was your yelling predetermined? Yes, by your parents yelling at you + you seeing that yelling is acceptable. You could not control the yelling, but if you saw that yelling hurt your feelings and that it is not someone to aspire to do, you wouldn't do it when you are presented with the chance. So, in conclusion, if we can learn to CHANGE our perceptions, we will CHANGE our karma. If we do not CHANGE our perceptions, things will happen according to what decide BASED on our anger or frustration instead of rational logical deduction.

"do u think it is justice for a woman being robbed and murdered because she is a theft long ago killed many, without buddha's doctrine in hand she is just paying her bad karma from long ago? thats why good things are happening to bad people vice versa?"

It is not up to me or for anyone to decide what is just or what is fair. Why? Because non of us have all-encompassing knowledge. Since we don't know EVERYTHING it isn't right for us to make a judgement. For example, If this woman was nice and kind for 100 lives, and this happened, maybe it would seem unfair. However, if she was evil for 100 lives and this happened, then we would say, she deserved it. Since we do not have this knowledge, we cannot make this judgment.

My teacher, Acariya Thoon Khippapanyo, answered the second part of your question in a lecture he once gave to some students. They asked, why is it that some people do bad things and do not get punished right away, and why do some people do good things and do not reap the benefits right away. Acariya Thoon Khippapanyo said that this was due to past karma. In the case where the people do bad things and don't get punished right away is because they are currently experiencing the good karma they had done in the past, once that good karma runs out, they will definitely reap the results of their actions. The same thing is true for people who do good and have not reaped the benefits. The results of their previous bad karma have not worn off yet, but once it does, they will reap the benefits of their actions.

"is it still possible for a near arahant or anagami to flunk or heavily delay his enligtenment if he in case got crazy in the second to the last life and killed millions because of sheer frustation and commiting the 5 sins like patricide buddha wounding etc etc? thats only a hypothetical question anyway bimbisara's son did that thing also devadatta?"

If someone is enlightened (sotapanna, sakitagami, anagami, or arahant) they CANNOT FLUNK or HEAVILY DELAY their enlightenment. However, if anyone is NOT one of the four levels of enlightenment, they DEFINITELY can flunk or heavily delay their enlightenment. That is why it is such a risk to be a bodhisattva, they MIGHT have to spend a lot of extra time in hell due to this risk. Anyone who is enlightened would not knowingly break the five precepts or commit the five irredeemable acts (patricide, wounding the Buddha...)

"is rebirth simaltaneous occured after death immediately or there is a limbo?"

If you were to think of Italy, or China or Japan, how fast would it take your thoughts to take you there? That is how fast you are reborn.

"what is left after a being died as an arahant? are there any metaphysical essence left? because some books say everything connecting to existence and beyond is cut off like a bird gotten free?"

Nothing is left after dying as an Arahant. That is the whole point of it.

I hope I have answered all your questions, for more information, check out my blog at www.kpyusa.org, or look for my teacher Acariya Thoon Khippapanyo's books on amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. Just search under his name.

Sincerely,

Phra Anandapanyo




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: wait back to the woman thing if she was good for many times yet is raped can we assess somehow there is some karma left unpaid? or like the mogalanna case that he was beaten to death despite good for long time the karma just showed itself?

if an anagami is in the highest heaven cultivating and no more come back to earth? why is your teacher an arahant here in the earth an arahant? is the arupadhatu worlds mere mketaphors or not necessarily be reborn there but reachable in meditation? because anagamis are also here in earth yet books say they are no longer born in this world prior becoming anagamis?


if there is no more remaining after an arahant death? where does he go? where is he now? what became of him? did he see gautama buddha?


sorry to ask you a lot of questions it is for our philo class thank you


sadhu sadhu

Answer
Dear Jaya,

"wait back to the woman thing if she was good for many times yet is raped can we assess somehow there is some karma left unpaid? or like the mogalanna case that he was beaten to death despite good for long time the karma just showed itself?"

As I said before, there is no way for us to know what is left to be paid or unpaid, we do not have the capacity for absolute knowledge. However, we can only INFER that if this unfortunate thing happened, it happened because of karma. However, I would not call it unpaid karma, I would call it karma that has not sprouted yet. Just like a seed that is planted does not sprout right away, so too, karma only sprouts when everything is set up for it to sprout.

"if an anagami is in the highest heaven cultivating and no more come back to earth? why is your teacher an arahant here in the earth an arahant? is the arupadhatu worlds mere mketaphors or not necessarily be reborn there but reachable in meditation? because anagamis are also here in earth yet books say they are no longer born in this world prior becoming anagamis?"
"if there is no more remaining after an arahant death? where does he go? where is he now? what became of him? did he see gautama buddha?"

It seems like I haven't explained enlightenment clearly to you. Let me try again:

Spirits do good and bad and are born as humans, animals, incests, in hell, and in heaven

As a human, this is the only chance we have to become enlightened.

We are enlightened during our lives as humans.

If we are enlightened, four things can happen:
1. If we are a Sotapanna, we either go to heaven(if we choose) or come back to earth as a human only. This repeats for anywhere between 3-7 lives, depending on how fast we want to be enlightened and how much work we put in. They will not ever be animals, insects or go to hell. When the finish their last life, they will go to nirvana and cease to exist in any shape or form forever.

2. If we are a Sakitagami, we either go to heaven(if we choose) or come back to earth as a human only. This repeats for anywhere between 1-3 lives, depending on how fast we want to be enlightened and how much work we put in. They will not ever be animals, insects or go to hell. When the finish their last life, they will go to nirvana and cease to exist in any shape or form forever.

3. If we are a Anagami, we most likely go to the highest heaven(if we choose) or come back to earth as a human only.  They will not ever be animals, insects or go to hell. When the finish their last life (whether on earth, or in heaven), they will go to nirvana and cease to exist in any shape or form forever.

4. If we are a Arahant, we will not go to heaven or be reborn. At the end of this life, they will go to nirvana, where they will cease to exist in any shape or form.

In Nirvana, NOTHING exists, NOTHING can communicate with us, and NOTHING can come back. That is whole point. If we are still SOMETHING, we have to be born and suffer and suffer, if we can destroy the SOMETHING, we are free, since we have become NOTHING.

My teacher was an Arahant on earth, because this is where he had to achieve his arahantship. There are other Arahants, Anagamis, Sakitagamis, and Sotapannas here on Earth, but not that many. We cannot tell who is or isn't. Even if people tell us, we have no way of knowing for sure. However, the Buddha did say there is one way to tell if someone is an Arahant. Once an Arahant dies, his bones and ashes become relics. This does not even happen for Anagami, Sakitagami or Sotapanna, or regular humans, ONLY Arahants. When my teacher died, his bones became relics.

As for the different worlds, our world is the only one with form. Our spirit is born inside of a body. When we go to the other worlds, the formless, senseless worlds, only our spirit goes. Since there is no form or sense, there is nothing to see or sense, just feel.

Some people can reach certain places with meditation, since they can use their spirits to transcend and communicate with other spirits. However, this does NOT NECESSARILY lead to enlightenment, and other LEADS AWAY from enlightenment.

As for Anagamis, there are here on Earth, however, when they die, the usually go to the highest heaven and wait there for there time to end. When their time ends, they achieve Arahantship and enter Nirvana.

When Arahants go to Nirvana, they don't "see" Buddha, or anything, since there is NOTHING to see. When Buddha went to Nirvana, he ceased to exist, so do Arahants, so there is NOTHING to see or experience.

I hope I have answered all your questions.

Sincerely,
Phra Anandapanyo