Quote:
|
Originally Posted by blossomingtree
Wrong word - right.
The Sutras are the same - except one is the longer version and has the Four Noble Truths included.
|
I think legend has it that Gotama made two different sermons, a longer one and a shorter one, and these are recorded in two different suttas.
It seems you provided the shorter discourse again, but with the translator's commentary. Personally I'm not fussed, longer, shorter, one translation or another, all are good.
Quote:
Both versions are practically oriented, and not philosophical per se. YMMV.
I will read your discussions on it with others as I am interested in these topics. Thank you.
BT
|
Yes the satipatthana is the practical 'way to meditate' in regards to mindfulness, insight meditation, or vipassana (rose by other names). Different schools have read the sutta differently, and teach variations of the practice. There are obvious contradictions in these variations, so scholars discuss the finer intricacies, as catsqotl mentioned in the case of Sayadaw's approach.
People can quote or paraphrase Sayadaw as though it's 'right practice' because Sayadaw is a great teacher, but another great teacher, like my teachers for example, would say stop doing that. The meditation student will become confused, one says do this and the next one says don't do it. Hence there is no way of obeying both these teachers - which one is right and which one is wrong?
In the martial arts it is the same. Tae Kwon Do students attend my school and the grand master starts to correct even their most basic stance. If I went to train in Tae Kwon Do, the master would correct me, even though I stand correctly according to my own school. As you can see, I'm not talking black and white. I'm talking grey areas. Of course the masters of martial arts will give sound guidance to their students, just as my meditation teachers gave sound guidance, but even on an anatomical level, I can perform the kick 'correctly', and my peer also performs it correctly, yet due to the differences in our individual anatomy, these kicks are executed very much in the same way, but they appear quite differently. I still have to to find my own groove even with the guidance of the grand master. When I actually feel the full force of power, only then do I know for myself that the motion of the kick is 'right motion'.