Without Buddha, there is no Nibbāna

The process of Liberation or Awakening is nothing more than a case of Problem Solving. And there are many problems that must be solved, among them, the nature of suffering, how Reality works, why and for what physics works, why we are surrounded by mathematics, what is life and existence, what is the death, what planes the Reality is composed of, if there is something beyond Reality, and most importantly, how to equip the mind with the tools necessary to reach all these answers and their corollaries, and more.

There is nothing.

And all starting from something that is obvious, but we must stop to observe it: everything is conditioned .

To get to this you need a lot of brain and that is free of garbage, learned concepts, ideas from outside, bases of thought. It must start from the most absolute zero, freeing the brain of all useless load to try to achieve the goal.

Be part of a creative personality and the method of trial and error, starting with a clear understanding of the problem, the design and implementation of a plan and verifying with yourself and with third parties the results obtained. For this, observation, experimentation, verification, coherence, attention, concentration, effort, tranquility and intuition are used, without forgetting lateral thinking, discontinuity, brainstorming, spatial mental maps trying to overcome always mental, perceptive, emotional, cultural, intellectual, environmental and expressive blocks.

That's it.

There it is not contemplated to read, or to listen to someone, or to attend courses, or to use knowledge and past experiences, that is, to put more trash in the brain. On the contrary, all this not only leaves no space for creation networks, but also causes all that wide collection of locks.

For all this, leaving home, going to another country and start from scratch is the right choice.

This is done.

And there is no other way.

And this he knew even the very official interpreter of Theravada Buddhism, the Buddhism that bets everything on study and erudition: the acclaimed and controversial Acchariya ( wonder ) Buddhaghosa.

Buddhaghosa was a monk from southern India, probably from Kanci, who traveled to Sri Lanka looking for comments to the Tipitaka already lost in India. He was supposedly responsible for an extensive project to synthesize and translate a large body of Sinhalese commentaries on the Canon Pāli. His Visuddhimagga (Pāli: path of purification) is a complete manual of Theravada Buddhism that is still read and studied today. The Mahavamsa attributes a large number of books to Buddhaghosa, some of which are believed to have not been his work, but are later composed and attributed to give them authority.

Buddhaghosa also wrote fourteen commentaries on the Canon Pāli, the Aṭṭhakathā. In addition, we owe to the works of Buddhaghosa the revival and preservation of the Pali language as the language of Theravada, and as a lingua franca in the exchange of ideas, texts and scholars between Sri Lanka and the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia.

Buddhaghosa reached its popularity in the 12th century by the works of a Sinhalese monk named Sariputta who rescued him. He was the main scholar of the Theravada after the reunification of the monastic community of Sri Lanka (Sinhale) by King Parakramabahu. Sariputta incorporated many of Buddhaghosa's works in his own interpretations.

In the following years, many monks of the Theravada traditions in Southeast Asia sought ordination or reordering in Sri Lanka because of the reputation of the lineage of Mahāvihara (Grand Monastery) of Sri Lanka (Sinhale) for doctrinal purity and erudition . The result was the spread of the teachings of the Mahāvihara tradition, and therefore Buddhaghosa, throughout the Theravada world. Buddhaghosa's comments thus became the standard method by which Theravada scriptures were understood, establishing Buddhaghosa as the definitive interpreter of Theravada doctrine.

Buddhaghosa was influenced by Mahayana thought, which mixed very subtly with Theravada orthodoxy to introduce new ideas. Eventually, this led to the flowering of metaphysical tendencies, in contrast to the original emphasis on anatta in early Buddhism, thus, this vision now uses objects that are atta (being in themselves), as are mental factors. , placing the orthodox Theravada in the naked heterodoxy.

In Sri Lanka the accuracy of Buddhaghosa's work is questioned. This is due to the deviations in the Visuddhimagga with respect to the original texts. As Buddhaghosa did not attain any state of enlightenment, he only wanted to be reborn in heaven, it is not advisable to follow these texts, and yes the original and pure scripts of the Dhamma, stories of the Buddha himself and others that did come to enlighten.

Buddhaghosa has turned out to be, in the end, the greatest of the mental blocks for a good part of Buddhist devotion.

In Sri Lanka it is widely believed that it is no longer possible to be enlightened and that it is not just simple people who can believe it. The famous Narada Thera of Vajrayana in Colombo said that even today it is impossible to become a Sotapanna.

This same idea is widely celebrated in Sri Lanka. "The comparative rarity of meditation is closely related to the widespread belief in the decline of Buddhism. A village girl said that in a period without a Buddha one should keep trying, but only limited progress is possible. Most monks, at least those whose general attitudes can be described as traditional, believe that Sāsana (doctrine) has already diminished so much that it is no longer possible for men to attain Nibbāna.

One monk even specified that until (Metteyya) arrives, it is not even possible to become a Sotapanna. It is said that the last Arahant was Maliyadeva (1st CBCE). Others say that there may still be human arahants, but it is unlikely and / or can not be discovered (lonely buddhas or Paccekabuddhas).

Sāsana is with a spent organism; very few can reach Nibbāna now, just as a tree grows sterile when its fruit is picked up too often, and the seventh fruit is weaker than the first. The average view, perhaps, was that of that monk who said that it was not impossible to reach Nibbāna now, but since "religious practice is weak, it is difficult to believe that there is anyone alive who has become an arahant".

These same beliefs are also common in Thailand. Even Buddhaghosa himself did not really believe that Theravada practice could lead to Nibbāna. It is assumed that your Visuddhimagga is a detailed and step-by-step guide to enlightenment. And yet, in the postscript he says that he hopes that the merit he has gained by writing the Visuddhimagga allows him to be reborn in heaven, to remain there until Metteyya appears, to listen to his teachings and then to attain enlightenment.

In short, we have the extraordinary situation and I think unprecedented where most people who adhere to a religion, including many of its clerics, freely admit that their religion can not lead to its intended purpose.

And yet, there they are with nothing to achieve. Five hundred million sheep without a shepherd at the mercy of any coyote who wants to eat them.

And there are many coyotes.

Conclusion.
Visuddhimagga.

"This Path of Purification was made by the old man who is adorned with the supreme and pure faith, wisdom and energy, in whom a contest of rights, gentle qualities, etc., is brought together, due to the practice of virtue, who is able to deepen and understand the views of the creeds of him and of others, who is possessed of acuteness of understanding, who is strong in the infallible knowledge of the Master

Dispensation divided into three Tipitakas with their comments, a great speaker, endowed with sweet and noble speech that arises from the ease born of the perfection of the vocal instrument, a speaker of what is properly said, a superlative speaker, a great poet, a adornment in the lineage of the elders to dwell in the Great Monastery (Mahavamsa, Sri Lanka), and they are bright lights in the elder lineage with unblemished enlightenment in the superhuman states that are embellished with the special qualities of the six types of direct knowledge and categories of discrimination, which has abundant purified wit, which bears the name Buddhaghosa conferred by the venerable, and which should be called "de Morandecetaka".

May he continue here to show
The path to the purity of virtue, etc.,
For clans seeking media
To transport them through the worlds
For the same time as in this world

It will last that name "Illuminated"
Wherefore, thus purified in mind,
He is known as the Greatest Sage, World Chief.

[The following verses are only in the original Sinhalese texts:]

For the realization of such merit
As I have gained through this
And any other still in the hand
So I can in my next evolution
Contemplate the joys of Tavatimsa,
Content in the qualities of virtue
And detached to feel desires.
Having reached the first fruition,
And taking in my last life sight
Metteyya, Lord of the sages, the highest
Of people in the world, and Assistant
Delight in the welfare of all beings,
And I heard the Holy proclaim
The teaching of the Noble Dhamma,
Allow me to grace the Dispensation of Victory
Upon realizing its highest fruit.

[The following verses are only in the Burmese texts:]
The exhibition of the Purification Path
This has been done to make good people happy;
But this, when calculating Pali's text,
It has eight hundred and fifty recitation sections.