Copyright © 2023 Tomás Morales Duran. All Rights Reserved.
Or silly.
Or worse.
If you have arrived here without having succeeded, you have a problem. or two.
The lack of reading comprehension in an individual who is supposed, in principle, not to be functionally illiterate, is based on the fact that he is not interested in the meaning of the text that he is apparently reading. He is looking for clues that reinforce a prejudice or preconceived idea that he already brings. If he finds words that fit, then he stops and ends up misidentifying the text with his idea. And if he doesn't find them, he rejects the text. In any case he doesn't read because he doesn't need to. Why read if he doesn't want to bother to understand what he puts?
In the end, he's just another victim of the meme confirmation bias that has plagued him.
So it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, what you explain and how you explain it: people will understand what they want and they will believe that you say what they think you say is what they think, or think they think, because they don't really think. There is the problem.
"The jhānas are achieved by concentrating on the forms in motion." "Moving shapes are created in a variety of ways, including through breathing." If based on this you understand that the jhānas are a breathing exercise, it is because you do not read, you do not know how to read or you do not understand what you read. It is difficult to read and even more difficult to understand what is being read if your head is infested with memes trying to confirm with whatever.
Try to read the instructions as many times as necessary until what you are reading prevails over your memes. And don't go to the next step without being an expert that you are. Do not run.
The Buddha was illiterate, and all the Noble Sangha of him were illiterate. Reading is not an advantage, it is an inconvenience and we are already seeing it. It is comfortable because it is taught remotely, unattended and at any time. But what is comfortable is not adequate, which would be face-to-face, direct and instant teaching. Although for this they have to give themselves too many things.
Too many.
I'll leave it there.
Mn 129: The Fool And The Wise
Bhikkhus, suppose a person threw a yoke with only one hole into the ocean. The east wind carries it to the west, the west wind carries it to the east, the north wind carries it to the south, and the south wind carries it to the north. And that there is a one-eyed turtle that appears once every hundred years.
What do you think, bhikkhus? Would that one-eyed turtle stick its neck through the hole in that yoke?
-No sir. Only after a long time, if ever.
“That one-eyed turtle would stick his neck through the hole in that yoke before a fool who has fallen into the underworld is reborn as a human being.
-Why is that?
—Because he does not have a moral conduct or one based on the Teaching, nor does he do what is good and healthy. Simply fools take advantage of each other, attacking the weak.
And suppose that fool, after a long time, returned to the human realm. He would be reborn into a lower class family, a family of outcasts, hunters, bamboo workers, car makers or garbage collectors. These families are poor, with little to eat and drink, where life is hard and food and shelter are difficult to find. And they would be ugly, repulsive, deformed, chronically ill: one-eyed, crippled, lame or semi-paralyzed. He has no food, drink, clothing, or vehicles, garlands, perfumes, and make-up, or bed, house, and lighting. And it does bad things through body, speech and mind. By breaking his body, after death, he is reborn in a place of loss, in a bad place, in the underworld, in hell.
Suppose a player on the first unlucky pitch lost his wife and child, all his property, and was then thrown in jail. But such an unfortunate cast is trivial in comparison with the unfortunate cast by which a fool, having done bad things in body, speech and mind, by breaking his body, after death, is reborn in a place of loss, in a bad place, in the underworld, in hell.
And this is all we need to say about fools, bhikkhus.
SN 56.48: A yoke with a hole (II)
“Bhikkhus, suppose the earth was completely covered with water. And a person throws a yoke with a single hole in it. The east wind carries it to the west, the west wind carries it to the east, the north wind carries it to the south, and the south wind carries it to the north. And there was a one-eyed turtle that appeared once every hundred years.
"What do you think, bhikkhus?" Could that one-eyed turtle, which appears once every hundred years, still stick its neck through the hole in that yoke?
"It's unlikely, Master.
"That's how unlikely it is to be reborn as a human." And so improbable is it that a Tathagata, a Worthy, a fully awakened Buddha will arise in the world. And so improbable is it that the Teaching and Discipline proclaimed by a Tathagata will shine in the world. And now, bhikkhus, you have been reborn as humans. A Tathāgata has arisen in the world, a Worthy, a Fully Awakened Buddha. And the Teaching and Discipline proclaimed by a Tathagata shines in the world.
That is why you must practice contemplation.
AN 8.82: With PUṆṆIYA
Then the venerable Puṇṇiya approached the Buddha, bowed down, sat at one side and said:
"Sir, what is the cause?" What is the reason why sometimes the Tathagata feels inspired to teach and sometimes not?
—Puṇṇiya, when a bhikkhu has faith, but does not approach, the Tathāgata does not feel inspired to teach. But when a bhikkhu has faith and approaches, the Tathagata is inspired to teach. When a bhikkhu has faith and approaches but does not pay homage... pays homage but does not ask questions... asks questions but does not listen... listens but does not remember the Teaching he has heard... he remembers the Teaching he has heard, but does not reflect on the meaning of the teachings he has remembered... he reflects on the meaning of the teachings he has remembered, but, having understood the meaning and the teaching, he does not practice accordingly. The Tathagata does not feel inspired to teach.
But when a bhikkhu has faith, approaches, pays homage, asks questions, listens, remembers the teachings, ponders the meaning and practices accordingly, the Tathagata is inspired to teach. When someone has these eight qualities, the Tathagata feels fully inspired to teach.