Search results for: virtue

Basic Themes Virtue
Virtue There are three levels of virtue – 1. Heṭṭhima-sīla: normalcy of word and deed, which consists of three kinds of bodily acts – not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct; and four kinds of speech – not lying, not speaking divisively, not saying anything coarse or abusive, not speaking idly. If we class virtue on this level according to the wording of the …
Basic Themes Translator’s Preface
… Also, The Path to Peace & Freedom for the Mind makes the point – common to the entire Wilderness tradition – that virtue, concentration, and discernment are inseparable, mutually supporting practices: concentration and discernment bring virtue to perfection; discernment and virtue bring concentration to perfection; and discernment becomes liberating only when based on virtue and concentration. As for Basic Themes, it was originally a smaller treatise. Ajaan …
Basic Themes Summary
… those that people of virtue have invested with the potency of the mind – these can be termed, ‘inhabited by the Dhamma.’ In other words, Buddha images can be beneficial or harmful depending on how they are used by those who revere them. Even people who use them as charms in committing robbery, casting spells, or performing black magic may get results because of the …
Basic Themes II. Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
… These eight factors can be reduced to three – virtue, concentration, and discernment – called the middle way, the heart of the Buddha’s teachings. The middleness of virtue means to be pure in thought, word, and deed, acting out of compassion, seeing that the life of others is like your own, that their possessions are like your own, feeling goodwill, loving others as much as …
Basic Themes I. Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
… Once he attains this state, three qualities – called actualized virtues – arise in his heart: Visuddhi-guṇa: purity. Paññā-guṇa: sharp discernment. Karuṇādhiguṇa: compassion for living beings throughout the world. These qualities enable the Buddha to teach the Dhamma in a beneficial way. His conduct in this area is of three sorts: Having achieved his own purposes (attattha-cariyā), he acts for the benefit of …
Basic Themes III. Saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi
… those who become ordained simply because they’re looking for ways to make a living, without searching for any higher virtues to develop within themselves. They use the yellow robe as a means of livelihood, without any thought of following the threefold training of virtue, concentration, and discernment. 2. Upakiḷikā: those who become ordained without any respect for the training, looking simply for pastimes …
Basic Themes Introduction
… So in our practice we should consider how virtue, concentration, discernment, and release can be brought into being. Virtue forms the basis for concentration; concentration, the basis for discernment (liberating insight or cognitive skill); and discernment, the basis for release from ignorance, craving, and attachment. Thus in this book, which is a guide to developing Right Concentration, I would like to recommend to other …
Basic Themes Introduction
… If we human beings had no moral virtue imbedded in our hearts, even the greatest power on earth would be able to keep us in line only temporarily, and even then it wouldn’t be able to influence our minds the way the moral virtue that comes from religion can. For this reason, the practice of moral virtue is one way of helping the …
Basic Themes Prologue
… recollection of the virtues of the Buddha. 2. Dhammānussati: recollection of the virtues of the Dhamma. 3. Saṅghānussati: recollection of the virtues of the Saṅgha. 4. Sīlānussati: recollection of one’s own moral virtue. 5. Cāgānussati: recollection of one’s own generosity. 6. Devatānussati: recollection of the qualities that lead to rebirth as a heavenly being. 7. Kāyagatāsati: mindfulness immersed in the body. 8 …
Basic Themes II. Goodwill
… Goodwill acts as a support for purity of virtue and so is an appropriate way of preparing the heart for the practice of tranquility and insight meditation.
Basic Themes Discernment
… Gather virtue, concentration, and discernment all into the present. Think of your meditation object and bring your powers of evaluation to bear on it – say, by immersing mindfulness in the body, focusing on such objects as the in-and-out breath. When you do this, knowledge will arise. ‘Ñāṇaṁ udapādi’: Intuitive knowledge of things we have never before studied or known will appear. For …
Basic Themes Glossary
… conviction, virtue, shame, compunction, erudition, generosity, and discernment. Āsava: Fermentation; effluent. Four qualities – sensuality, views, becoming, and ignorance – that bubble up in the heart and flow out, leading to the flood of further becoming. Attha: Meaning, sense, aim, result. Avijjā: Ignorance; counterfeit knowledge. Āyatana: Sense medium. The six inner sense media are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and intellect. The six outer sense …
Basic Themes IV. The Department of Spreading the Dhamma
… If we have strong conviction, we will be able to develop ourselves so as to go beyond this to the level of the supreme well-being (paramattha), attaining the levels of transcendent virtue. This sort of virtue is something that all Buddhists should aim for. The necessary prerequisites are two: conviction and perseverance. When we possess these qualities, they will serve as our tools …
Basic Themes II. The Department of Education
… persistence in making the effort to relinquish the evil within ourselves; an unwillingness to lie wallowing in our evils; persistence in fostering virtue within ourselves, in maintaining and developing the virtues we already have, and in using them for the well-being of others. This is termed viriy’iddhipāda – persistence as a factor leading to success. c. Citta: Whatever task we undertake, we should …
Basic Themes III. The Foul: Tranquility Meditation
… Those who want to get rid of kāma-taṇhā – desire and attraction for the six types of sensory objects – have to develop virtue that’s pure all the way to the heart: This is termed heightened virtue (adhisīla.) Those who are to get rid of bhava-taṇhā – thoughts that stray out, choosing objects to dwell on – first have to develop Right Concentration, pure and …
Basic Themes The Path
… Right View and Right Resolve come under the heading of discernment; Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood under the heading of virtue; and Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration under the heading of concentration. So altogether we have virtue, concentration, and discernment.
Basic Themes Epilogue
… taking good care of your virtue – your manners and conduct in thought, word, and deed – following such principles as the ten guidelines (kammapatha). 2. Indrīya-saṁvara: being constantly mindful of the six ‘gateways’ – the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and ideation – making sure they don’t give rise to anything that would disturb your own peace or that of others. 3. Bhojane …
Basic Themes I. The Department of Internal Governance
… This is where the virtues of those who can govern appear. Every official – and every monk and novice as well – should be strict in keeping his personal conduct within the bounds of the Vinaya, so as not to abolish any of the training rules by means of his behavior. In other words, whatever has been set down by the Buddha should not be abolished …
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