Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for What is the mean of 'samma ditti' in Ariya-Ashtanga Marga?

A full description and meaning of that Samma Ditthi in the Ariya-Ashtanga Marga is given in the Samma,ditthi Sutta. Giving a full description of this here will be too long for this format.

The morality aspect of the path is mainly based on abstaining from certain unwholesome conduct.

Right Effort is more in lines of developing wholesome mental habits which subdue the 5 hindrances, development of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment.

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Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for self esteem and the need to feel proud of ourselves

Being proud is a natural consequence of of certain thought patterns rooted in caving, i.e., when there is craving there is self conceiving in some cases and some cases there is self conceiving can lead to being proud. [Tanhā Jālinī Sutta, (Vicarita) Tanha Sutta]

To overcome feeling proud you should be aware when you evaluate yourself higher and be equanimous in face of pleasant sensation that follow. To develops wisdom you have to be aware of the arising and passing nature or impermanent nature of what is experienced. To fully eradicate the roots so this does not arise again, you should know the whole sphere of sensation or phenomenas which you can sense and your perceiving the experience and positive, negative or neutral and the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that follow. [Pahāna Sutta, Avijja Pahana Sutta 2]

The practical aspects is better learned by doing a formal course. You can search for a suitable course location at: http://ift.tt/1tGrLK8, http://ift.tt/1of2482

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Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for If you are/become very sensitive for sounds what could be the reason/cause?

To hear you need:

• have a functional ear faculty
• a sound to hear
• direct your consciousness to the ear faculty

Assuming you ear is in good condition as you hear well in night. Since you are sensitive at night, and not at day, when things are quiet, is that you are more composed or focused with you attention at the ear to hearing than in day time. During the perhaps with other activities you are also distracted hence attention is not fulling on the sounds you hear.

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Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for What would Buddha advise to farewell when one of your parents died?

You can do transfer of merit.

More on this see:

• How can merit be transferred?
• Transfering merits
• Sharing merit in Theravada Buddhism
• Actions taken to transfer merit
• Does Theravada believe in feeding food to hungry ghosts?

Also you can do a:

• offering of cloths to the monks in memory of the dead (monks cloths were initially made of the cloth used to wrap the dead bodies)
• organise a dhamma talk for the benefit of the dead (generally the night before the almsgiving mentioned below)
• organise an almsgiving for the benefit of the dead (generally at 7 days, 3 months, then annually)

Some of these are covered in: Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka by A.G.S. Kariyawasam

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Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for Are there buddhists who critisize Eckhart Tolle as it is not really a buddhist teach? If so, what is their critic?

If you call something Buddhism it will be attributed to the Buddha and should be inline with the doctrinal system the Buddha taught. If something is not what the Buddha said then it is wrong to miss attributed something to the Buddha as this is what the Buddha taught. A summary of the majority of Buddha's teaching is encompassed in the Wings of Awakening, 3 Marks of Existence, 4 Noble Truths, Dependent Origination. So if what Eckhart Tolle writes does not have these aspects and if what is found in line with the doctrinal system then you cannot call it Buddhism.

Also some of the core teachings of Christianity and Buddhism are not compatible with each other, so any philosophy influenced by both is neither Christianity nor Buddhism.

See: -ism

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Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for Eating meat and buying meat

Buddhist ethics is the basis to develop wisdom and mastery over the mind. If there are not of unwholesome Karmic results you cannot collect your mind to develop concentration.

In the above case through you can argue that you indirectly kill, through this is very remote consequence, in buying meat you do not create the type unwholesome roots associated with killing in the mind which results in unpleasant experiences later.

Leaving aside killing, if you take ethics too far then you cannot live. E.g. your food and drinks do have microbes. Antibiotics kill microbes. I have heard once a monk with supernormal powers, after filtering water, saw that there were beings too small to be seen by the naked eye still in the water hence if you are strictly not to harm the you cannot ever eat or drink. The advice received was do not use your Jhanic powers to see if there are microbes in the water.

If you are vegetarian well and good, but if you are not, this is not a hindrance to develop mastery over the mind or wisdom and such action does not have karmic repercussions.

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Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for Did the Buddha make any reference to Krishna and Gita?

In fact, the Buddha's karma philosophy and the notion of 'skillful karma' ( performing actions as duty without getting attached to it) seem to be too close to Krishna's karma yoga philosophy to find any difference.

The Buddhist skillful Karma is not to do any action as a duty without attachment but to perform action with volitions which contain the roots of non aversion, non craving and non ignorance.

Is there any reference to the Gita or Krishna in Buddhist texts?

I don't think there are.

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