Glad it was helpful! - Administrator

Try Ram Dass, Alan Watts, Joseph Goldstein, J Krishnamurti… they are all saying the same thing but in their own unique way!

as far as i know, the enlightened ones who step on the path of bodhisattva will have the mind set to support people on their course of their cultivation.

From what I understand - consciousness created from ignorant mental formations carry over after death to start the whole process again.

Ignorance - birth - aging - death - ignorance. The cycle go on and on (the link) without breaking, and it all started from ignorance. If there is ignorance, there will always be birth, aging and death. The aim is to break this cycle so there will be no more birth that leads to aging and death. So it's all started with ignorance. Extinguish ignorance, then there will be no more "rebirth". __/\__

It does not, Ignorance is always there, it leads to everything else as I understand. After aging and death although it appears everything is gone consciousness is there because of ignorance. Although it’s explained as a cycle, it’s not that linear.

Haj Nobin it is à endless cycle without begining and end

It's a good question. I don't know the answer but what my intuition is telling me is that maybe it can not be answered since that state is ignorant there for can not be seen. Btw I'm not any authority on buddism nor nothing. Just an ordinary person.

The ignorance cause rebirth and as long as you become a being, regardless whether human, ghost or god, you have to die. If you are fully enlightened when you die, there will be no more ignorance and thus no more rebirth.

Kamma is the field, consciousness is the seed, craving is the moisture. Once there is birth there has to follow ageing, sickness and death. At death a being that still has craving at death will reappear. Ignorance wasn’t defined in this lecture but it’s specifically a lack of skilfulness with respect sankhara (three kinds - mental, verbal, bodily) called ‘mental formations’ here. Ignorance is not seeing (how to act skilfully, which is skilfull kamma) in terms of the four noble truths. The most skilful kamma is the kamma that leads to the end of kamma, namely: the Noble eightfold path.

According to records and teachings of the buddhas, The source of ignorance (avijja) is from the Citta (heart) and the ignorances/defilements we see in this world are just branches of the core ignorance. So during the final stages of enlightenment, this so called Avijja is exposed when the Citta sees itself, at that moment it dissolves and Nibbana occurs. So, in answering your question, the universe is a name and form manifestation of the Citta which has always existed for time immemorial, only that the meditator has broken the chains of this Citta. When Nibbana occurs, there is no clinging to the 5 aggregates (bodily formations, feelings, perception, mental formations and consciousness), they only flow through like a river and there is no sticking or clinging.

I think it’s a good question as long as you don’t understand the answer. Once you understand the answer it becomes an ignorant question. :P since I’m ignorant too I think it’s a very good question :)

Also I think some examples of name and form are - “the world”, “I”, “universe”

Amitaba Buddhism is an radical offshoot of Buddhism. It assumes that there is an Amitaba, higher being. The idea of ethernal Buddha and belief that (faith in that higher being) is able to liberate believers contradict the teaching of many major sutras , both Theravada and Mahayana. Amitaba idea and God idea of monotheism has little different except that Amitaba won't condemn the unbeliever to eternal hell for kissing his ass day and night.

what is