If the Buddha had totally approved the removal of certain rules then the Buddha would have explicitly mentioned which ones.
In the 1st Council the monks could not decide what extent was minor rules, so ultimately decided to keep all the rules with the fault of not clarifying being with Ven. Ananda when the mentioned this.
This happens when you practice
You have to figure out what went wrong.
Scrutinise the instructions and read to validate your understanding. In case you practice what is unsuitable for you a wrong technique. Best starting point is to look into the Suttas which highlights the practice which might work for the majority. You will need a bit of trial and error to figure out what works.
Basic outline of what needs to be done is the you should be aware of:
You can analyse this at the level of sensations from corporeal body as Mahabhuta.
vedana can certainly be connected with three of the four mahabhuta (elements), which are collectively known as rupa. These three are pathavi (earth element), tejo (fire element) and vayo (air element). Apo (water element) is too subtle to touch, or is so subtle that one finds difficulty in feeling it. Now, to illustrate the connection between vedana and the three bhuta, when you have a cramp, which is the tightening of the muscles, it is pathavi; when you feel temperature of the body it is tejo; when you suffer from pain in the stomach, it may be something to do with vayo, for when the air in your stomach is stuck and finds no vent to get out, you have that experience of unpleasant feeling called pain. The connection of vedana with these mahabhuta makes it all the more manifest and helps one realize its true nature.
Source: Vipassana and Vedana as Understood by a Novice by U Tin Lwin
Similarly any of the 4 Satipatthana. More details and references can be found here.
Also look at the links between the 4 Noble Truths and what is felt. For details see Vedana and the Four Noble Truths by VRI.
Understand the relationship with what is felt (pleasant, unpleasant and neutral) with hindrances. See answer here for more details.
There are 5 ways to start your journey:
Followed by:
joy arises in him;
because of joy, zest arises;
because of zest, the body becomes tranquil;
when the body is tranquil, he feels happiness;
a happy mind becomes concentrated.
So formal meditation is not the only way. But having said that you should come to a reasonably concentrated and aware mind to progress from joy on wards. For this you might need some mediation. Even if you are not formally dong meditation, awareness and concentration of the arising and passing away of sensations (pleasant, unpleasant and neutral) progress is a must.
Rebirth and death is momentarily. Each instance the material composition of your body changes, arising and passing away. Physical death is not different. See this answer and this answer.
By doing Samatha meditation some people can develop memory of past lives. This way you can ascertain it. Also buy validating what you remember. Also there are studies like: Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation
This is an essential part. Each subatomic particle (Kalapas) arise and pass away. Main practice of Buddhism (vipassana) is to understand this at the experiential level.
And finally use this knowledge and insight at the moment or physical death to release oneself from the cycle of birth and death.
Rebirth is happens mometerity through the process of Momentary Dependent Origination (ekaccittakkhanika-paticca-samuppada). So you die and reborn multiple times in a split second. At physical death also something similar happens. The aggregates passes away and arise but in this case aggregates pass away in one body and arise in another.
According to the the original Buddhist teachings in the Suttas you should be aware of:
the latent tendency to lust reinforced by being attached to pleasant feelings
Also similar passages in: Cūla Vedalla Sutta, Mahā Vedalla Sutta, Samma Ditthi Sutta, Cha Chakka Sutta, Dhātu Vibhaṅga Sutta, Titth’ayatana Sutta
Where does the latent tendency of sensual lust lie latent?
The latent tendency of sensual lust lies latent here in the two feelings [pleasant and neutral] of the sense-sphere
Quote from Pm §587/123, Vbh §816/341, cf S 45.175 in Anusaya by Piya Tan
Cha Chakka Sutta goes to the extent that is is not possible if you delight in the plesent.
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Latent tendencies
LATENT TENDENCIES ARISING THROUGH THE EYE. Bhikshus, dependent on eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises.
When the three meet, there is contact. Dependent on contact, there is what is felt as pleasant, or as painful, or as neither pleasant nor painful.
When one is touched by a pleasant feeling, one delights in it, welcomes it, remains attached to it. Thus one’s latent tendency of lust (rāgânusaya) lies latent.
When one is touched by a painful feeling, one sorrows, grieves, laments, beats one’s breast and falls into confusion. Thus one’s latent tendency of aversion (paṭighânusaya) lies latent.
When one is touched by a feeling that is neither pleasant nor painful, one does not understand it as it really is, the arising, the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape with regards to that feeling. Thus one’s latent tendency of ignorance (avijjā’nusaya) lies latent.
Bhikshus, that one could make an end of suffering here and now, without abandoning lust for pleasurable feelings, without removing aversion towards painful feelings, without uprooting ignorance towards feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful this is IMPOSSIBLE.
...
Abandoning the latent tendencies
ABANDONING LATENT TENDENCIES ARISING THROUGH THE EYE.
...
Bhikshus, that one could make an end of suffering here and now, having abandoned lust for pleasurable feelings, having removed aversion towards painful feelings, having uprooted ignorance towards feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful this is POSSIBLE.
...
So what ever pleasantness you experience be aware of:
Any metal verbalisation creates Verbal Fabrications which you should explicitly avoid or your practice should be such that leads to ending of fabrication than creating them. Creating fabrication means future existence and misery hence hence there is little benefit though this might help develop a shallow form of Samadhi. See: Vedalla Suttas, Samma Ditthi Sutta.
Formations
Saying, “Good avuso,” the monks delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sariputta’s words.
Then they asked him a further question: “But, avuso, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, attained to wise faith in the Dharma, and has arrived at this true teaching?”
“There might be, avuso.
When, avuso, a noble disciple
understands formations (sankhara),
understands the arising of formations,
understands the ending of formations, and
understands the way leading to the ending of formations,
in that way, avuso, he is one of right view , whose view is straight, attained to wise faith in the Dharma, and has arrived at this true teaching.
And what are formations, what is the arising of formations, what is the ending of formations,
what is the way leading to the ending of formations?
There are, avuso, these three kinds of formations:
the bodily formation,
the verbal formation,
the mental formation.
With the arising of ignorance, there is the arising of formations.
With the ending of ignorance, there is the ending of formations.
The way leading to the ending of formations is just this noble eightfold path, that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
This is because noting there is Vitarka & Vicara (also see: Vitakka,vicāra by Piya Tan) creating access concentration. Though this process is creating fabrication which is negative the Samadhi part is gives a positive result. The net result of the -ve and +ve aspect will change from mental state you are in when practicing and net result will be hard to quantify hence should be avoided. People who might have benefited from this may have practiced in such a way that there was a net positive result, but this might not always the case for everyone and the same person at different times.
Trying to shorten it is aversion and trying to prolong it is clinging which are extremes you want to avoid.
To get the best benefit follow Pahāna Sutta:
Bhikshus, there are these three kinds of feelings.
What are the three? Pleasant feeling, painful feeling, neutral feeling.
Bhikshus,
the latent tendency of lust should be abandoned in regard to pleasant feeling;
the latent tendency of aversion should be abandoned in regard to painful feeling;
the latent tendency of ignorance should be abandoned in regard to neutral feeling.
Bhikshus, when a monk
has abandoned the latent tendency of lust in regard to pleasant feeling;
has abandoned the latent tendency of aversion in regard to painful feeling;
has abandoned the latent tendency of ignorance in regard to neutral feeling—
then, bhikshus. he is called a monk without any latent tendency, one who sees rightly. He has cut off craving, undone the fetters,18 and fully penetrating conceit, he has made an end of suffering.”
You approach should be pariyatti (lean), patipatti (practice) and pativedha (experience / validate)
To lean you can read. Perhaps a good starting point will be In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (The Teachings of the Buddha) by Bhikkhu Bodhi and Sutta translations by Piya Tan. Also you can find a course or teacher: http://ift.tt/1tGrLK8, http://ift.tt/1irjSoI
If body is not needed, then is Nibbana attained only at death?
According to the Pali text references are made to Nibbana as sopadisesa and anupadisesa. These, in fact, are not two kinds of Nibbana, but the one single Nibbana, receiving its name according to the way it is experienced before and after death. - Buddhism in a Nutshell - Nibbana
What is it like to be without skandas?
You cannot exist without skandas. Nibana is like the flame blowout.
I could not perceive the state as we are constantly bombarded with internal and external stimulations which makes me assume that this state can never be achieved and only an incremental change towards nibbana can happen.
Yes. It is a gradual process where you pass multiple stages before the glimpse of Nirvana and also after until final Arahatship.
I see one aspect of your question is practice of rites and rituals much like other religions. This is also important for Buddhism to be socially and culturally integrated, but this does not give you liberation.
Secular Buddhists strip Buddhism of some of the aspects which cannot be conventionally seen (e,g, other realms, life after death) and perhaps some of the aspects not in line with western culture (e.g. respect to the Triple Gem). Accepting and dismissing things beyond your comprehension is a mistake, so would be accepting things which you cannot empirically verify. Until you know something at an experiential level it is best to set them aside.
There were many Buddhist sites in India which perhaps became sites for other religions.
Definition of Buddha based on Pali Dictionary is here. The Wikipedia entry is here.
Buddha means one who understood or awakened. This understanding / awakening is based on intelligence gained.
Taṇhā (craving) and upādāna (clining) creates saṅkhāra (fabrication) to experience the karmic result of what you craved for. To experience past fabrications when they materialise in the present a particular viññāṇa (consciousness) should arise, e.g. fabrication to experience pleasant taste now due to past conditioning you need tongue consciousness hence also a tongue and tasty food. Since viññāṇa cannot arise on its own, i.e., there cannot be tongue consciousness without an tongue, arises nāmarūpa (name form) with saḷāyatana (sense bases / faculty) so the particular experience can be felt. Since particular experience does not arise without phassa (contact) this should happen giving arise to Vedanā (feeling) so that the Karmic experience is completed. Avijjā (ignorance), i.e., not knowing the 4 Noble Truths, what make you react with craving and clinging hence creating fabrications and consciousness. Also the experience any residue of fabrication, Jāti (birth) must happen and if so Jarāmaraṇa (old age and death) follows.
In other words, past fabrication to experience creates the experience, to which contact, faculty, consciousness should be in place, and for faculties to be in place a live being with a body and mind needs to be in place.
Your metal experiences (thoughts, memories, emotions, etc) create sensations. You should use it to reduce your unwholesome roots.
...
Latent tendencies
LATENT TENDENCIES ARISING THROUGH THE MIND. Bhikshus, dependent on mind and mind-objects, eye-consciousness arises.
When the three meet, there is contact. Dependent on contact, there is what is felt as pleasant, or as painful, or as neither pleasant nor painful.
When one is touched by a pleasant feeling, one delights in it, welcomes it, remains attached to it. Thus one’s latent tendency of lust (rāgânusaya) lies latent.
When one is touched by a painful feeling, one sorrows, grieves, laments, beats one’s breast and falls into confusion. Thus one’s latent tendency of aversion (paṭighânusaya) lies latent.
When one is touched by a feeling that is neither pleasant nor painful, one does not understand it as it really is, the arising, the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape with regards to that feeling. Thus one’s latent tendency of ignorance (avijjā’nusaya) lies latent.
Bhikshus, that one could make an end of suffering here and now, without abandoning lust for pleasurable feelings, without removing aversion towards painful feelings, without uprooting ignorance towards feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful this is impossible.
...
Abandoning the latent tendencies
ABANDONING LATENT TENDENCIES ARISING THROUGH THE MIND.
...
Bhikshus, that one could make an end of suffering here and now, having abandoned lust for pleasurable feelings, having removed aversion towards painful feelings, having uprooted ignorance towards feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful this is possible.
...
The mental image (Nimitta) as per some teachers appear as a bright radiant light. You have to bring your attention to a particular stimuli and retain the attention on the chosen stimuli by continuously bringing your mind to the chosen stimuli. At some point you might get the Nimitta. This does not happen for everyone and every time.
If you are doing the above as Vipassana you have to look at sensation (or phenomena that is know and felt) and continuously keeping your mind on it. Then you will see the arising and passing of sensations, which perhaps you can consider the Nimitta.
Also see: Nimitta: The radiant and blissful sign [How to enjoy and benefit from your meditation] and Nimitta and Anuvyañjana: Signs and Details [Sense-restraint & wise attention: how to master the senses] by Piya Tan
If you take Namarupa according to the Skandha classification the following falls under Nama (mind)
You know or are aware due to consciousness but there other 3 items which form the mind. Also awareness is the fucntion of consciousness and not consciousness itself. So awareness is not mind.
Any thought patterns about self which you cling leads to craving and misery. So you should eliminate clinging to ideas and view about self, including mis identification of the 5 aggregates and 6 sense bases as self. [Tanhā Jālinī Sutta]
The Buddha will not hold the view that the 5 aggregates or 6 sense bases is self hence free from identity views. The right understanding of Anatta is non self or not self or nothing worthy of identifying as self, etc. and not "no self" like posted in many places in the internet. The implication of this is 5 aggregates or 6 sense bases as whole or in part is not self than there is no one there which leads to logical fallacies like "I am not here because there is no self" or "There is no Buddha because there is no self". The reasoning should be in the line of "my eye is not self". In the context of the 6 sense bases see Cha Chakka Sutta which explain this clearly.
You focus should be in
For more details see my answer here.
What I believe is what I look up to, everyday.
What you believe in may just be your perception and not reality. Whatever you should be able to verify at the experiential level then you should look up to it. Since you know it from experience no external person needs to convince you of it.
Every belief originates me.
Many thoughts gives arise to self notion which intern aversion or craving based on your evaluation. [Tanhā Jālinī Sutta] To be more precise you crave to the sensations based on your evaluation. This conditions your future.
Then am I a phenomena in itself?
You are sum total of past conditioning including that of your past conditioning ue to yourself notion.
There is craving and intention. You should have intention but not craving. Enlightened people had intention but not craving to achieve their goal.
With each contact your perceive the experience a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feeling arises which you also perceive as either favorable, unfavorable and neutral. Guarding the sense door is you are aware of the sensation that arose and the perception that arose. Ideally you should be equanimous towards this experience, i.e., not attached or averse to the sensation and stimuli and also realise the evaluation you have given and feed the perception. If not (i.e. you react with craving, aversion or ignorance) fabrications form. In which case you have be be aware of the fabrications also. These manifest as physical feeling in the body having the characteristics of the 6 elements and the metal component has the content 50 cetasikas (52 - 2 = 50 as feeling and perceptions are also cetasikas).
Also note the initial experience even if you are have a bodily aspect which you have the characteristics of the elements. The sensation is 3 folds are present unpleasant or neutral, etc. For more details on this see Satipatthana related Suttas and literature.
The framework to durage your senses is outlined in the Cha Chakka Sutta through there are more comprehensive dispositions also in other Suttas.
