this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2026
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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.)

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[–] rah@hilariouschaos.com 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I have visited places in-person, and tried contacting many Buddhist teachers online

I take it that you have visited places in person but not spoken to a Buddhist teacher in person.

my karma is such that it would be irresponsible for me to seek anyone other than an arahant 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.

I've been unable to find any teacher available that seems suitable for me

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.

[–] beumuth@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] rah@hilariouschaos.com 0 points 5 days ago

there hasn't been opportunities to speak to teachers in-person

The important thing is not what opportunities you may or may not have had in the past but whether you seek to create an opportunity in the future, which you clearly do not. In fact you seem very resistant to the idea of speaking to a Buddhist teacher. Which is odd for someone asking questions about Buddhism.

There's millions of examples of beings attaining enlightenment or partial enlightenment by hearing a teacher rather than speaking to one.

LOL best of luck with that. Take care.