Originally posted by realization:I do have some questions.
Let's say I am in fact very indebted to a certain person in my past life. So, before knowing about this, I have always felt impelled to help this person or be nice to this person in this life.
Then, I somehow learn of this indebtedness via regression or I spontaneously remember it myself. At the same time, my cultivation bears fruit and I also gain insight into No-Self (lol).
How will realisation of No-Self lead to anything being different? Will not karma still have to play itself out in the manner of me continuing to be good to this person? Afterall, I now know that I owe him something.
Taking another scenario in which I discover why my friend and I innately dislike each other; how would realisation of No-Self help, other than to help me bear my friend's insults in a relaxed manner? I imagine that karma will still carry on its momentum, except that it becomes easier to bear due to a relinquishment of self-cherishing.
And then with time, due to me not reacting, the knot that binds my friend and myself to being mean to each other gets released. A bad situation that might perpetuate endlessly gets diffused. However, I feel that knowing or not knowing the past life situation, one can still do something to transmute a bad situation. What do you think?
The above comes from my own logical reasoning only... Just hoping you can share a little more with us :)
Very good question. But i really dunno how to write well for it. Will try.
First off, it need to be reminded the no-self is a radical realisation. That means.. in its most true insight... a 'you' (which includes your friend as well) do not exist inherently. This happenings are happening in a non-dual manner... no subject-object.... There is another deeper insight of no-self that is linked with the understanding of holographic manifestation.. that is shocking in its realisation. Like the initial insight of no-self, this deeper holographic/emptiness insight got to be directly experienced to find out.
Ideally speaking... your friend, you, me or anybody for that manner do not exist inherently. The sense of self and the experiencing of the senses are all arising holographically. If awareness (not a thing) do not get absorbed into the happening....knowingness knows that all these manifestations have not real content... is illusory.
This means that although karma nevertheless manifest... it is not because of debt to someone... but is dynamically happening non-dually.
Originally posted by lastime:
From what you are trying to explain,can i safely assume that you too believe that there are various stages of insights some very impacting causing and some not so along the path of fully understanding whether is there a presence of a unchanging self/me thus this journey will start to begin when we start to have insights and thus even if these insights are nto deep enough to break and fully overcome the self notion(arahantship)
Upon stream entry,chances are minor habits will start to be overcomed and the person himself will also begin to reflect and try to understand/overcome the causes and how to break through his grosser/stronger habitual thinking/actions?
Yep...agree :)
Mahayana sutras mentioned habitual pattern need time to let it wear off by itself. "nothing" much we can do. it's a non-practice stage. like a wine bottle emptied of the wine, but the smell of the wine in the bottle need time to subside. like a boat reaching the shore, u need to switch off the engine and let it slowly land(?) itself parallel to the bank.
i think in Amitabha Sutra, one can shorten the timing by cultivating merit accumulating. when u have more merit, things will get "smoother" per se. don't want to become the monk with an empty bowl. (non the elephant with too much jewels)
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Bringing this topic up again. My readings on medicine has surprisingly led me to some parallels to this topic. When i was researching into Homeopathic medicine. I was surprise to find the principle of 'like cures like' which means that to cure a particular set of symptoms, we need to give a remedy that has similar characteristics (albeit in a highly diluted form). Note that this 'remedy' would provoke a full set of disease if it is merely administered in its usual potency. So it is like using poison to fight poison.
When i reflect on it, i find that this is highly similar to what i'm asking above in this topic about how the shock of touching back on the past lives memories actually dissolved the person of certain dispositions/karmic patterns.
Just thought of reporting this here. for the benefit of anyone's understanding.