Is there a way to request access for nutriment for intention?
Hello. I'm having difficulty obtaining nutriment for intention, and feel a sense of starvation-pain there. I learned in Buddhism about this concept from the Āhāra Sutta [edit - mistakenly linked the wrong Āhāra Sutta], that nutriment for intention is necessary to sustain beings. Intention nutriment is also regarded as impermanent, conditioned phenomena that's better to be detached from, though I don't know how to obtain enlightenment and become detached from nutriment either. Is there a way to request & gain access to nutriment for intention within Buddhism? I've been unsuccessful in getting responses when asking like this in the past. Otherwise, is there a way I could gain enlightenment and become detached from nutriment? (I've been reading suttas/sutras from Theravāda & Mahāyāna over the past decade.)
17 replies
Maybe I'm misunderstanding. You should definitely consume nutrition or you will die.
I'm having difficulty with getting intention nutriment (cetanā-āhāra), and don't know how to go about requesting help.
Like, you're trying to find motivation to eat good, healthy food?
I'm talking about nutriment for intention, cetanā āhāra. Forgive me, there was two Āhāra Suttas, and I accidentally linked the incorrect one.
When I click the link, the app I'm using (Raccoon) crashes, I can't read it.
Can you briefly describe it in other terms?
I'd suggest speaking to a Buddhist teacher in person. From your comment I get the distinct feeling that you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the dharma.
What do you want me to talk to a Buddhist teacher about? What misunderstanding do I have?
I don't want you to talk to a Buddhist teacher. I'm making a suggestion for your benefit, not for mine.
Buddhism by the looks of it.
I still don't understand what I'm misunderstanding. The Buddha said beings need to be sustained by nutriment for intention. One reason I prefer asking online is because it's less imposing than getting someone's attention in-person.
https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/communication/how-much-of-communication-is-nonverbal/
Language is limited in its expressive ability, especially when it comes to non-physical concepts like the mind. By further limiting yourself to only written language, you are severely hampering your ability to understand Buddhism. You need to speak to a Buddhist teacher in person.
I have visited places in-person, and tried contacting many Buddhist teachers online to try forming in-person relationships. I think my karma is such that it would be irresponsible for me to seek anyone other than an arahant teacher in-person, and I've been unable to find any teacher available that seems suitable for me. I pray to buddhas & bodhisattvas, regarding them as teachers.
I take it that you have visited places in person but not spoken to a Buddhist teacher in person.
That seems incredibly conceited, to the point of absurdity. I would suggest for consideration that without speaking to a Buddhist teacher in person, there's no way for you to gain a good enough understanding of Buddhism to make such a judgement.
Speaking to a Buddhist teacher in person is not the same thing as entering into a student/teacher relationship.
Then I would suggest speaking to a Buddhist teacher that seems to you to be unsuitable. In fact, I would suggest speaking to every Buddhist teacher that you can possibly speak to in person, regardless of how you feel about their suitability. After going through that process, it will be possible for you to reason about Buddhism and which teachers may or may not be suitable for you.
I've listened to hundreds of dharma talks by teachers, and have read over a hundred suttas/sutras. I've heard a lot of what buddhas have said, and know there's still vastly more. These are valid ways of learning, and there hasn't been opportunities to speak to teachers in-person, though I've attended some practices in-person. There's millions of examples of beings attaining enlightenment or partial enlightenment by hearing a teacher rather than speaking to one.
Request from whom?
It can even be a prayer method. Finding access to intention-nutriment has been a recurring issue, and I've prayed for help for it before though. So I'm wondering if there's better methods.