Search results for: virtue

1. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo The Essence of Merit
    … In terms of its flavor, virtue is coolness. For this reason, the act of undertaking the precepts isn’t the essence of virtue; it’s simply a way of fertilizing virtue—our original intention—so that it’ll grow fat and strong. The Pali word for virtue—sīla—comes from selā, or rock, so when you develop virtue you have to make your heart … 
2. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Beyond Death
    … These three all go together in that they’re related to interpersonal virtue. As for the merit of meditation, that’s expanded to include dhammassavanamaya, the merit of listening to the Dhamma; dhamma-desanāmaya, the merit of teaching the Dhamma; and diṭṭh’ujukamma, making one’s views straight. All four of these go together in that they are all sources of discernment. These forms … 
3. The Heightened Mind
    … The posts on the near shore and far—virtue and discernment—are not that hard to set in place, for they lie in shallow water away from the main current of the river. The posts in the middle of the river—concentration—are the ones requiring special effort, and so they need to be treated in depth.
4. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Introduction
    … training in heightened virtue; in heightened mind, or concentration; and in heightened discernment. Although all three are essential for Awakening, the Buddha often singled out the second training for special attention. Ajaan Lee does the same in the talks translated here. As he once said, the three trainings are like posts supporting a bridge over a river. The posts on the near shore and … 
5. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo The Power of Goodwill
   The Power of Goodwill October 21, 1958 The rewards of goodwill are: (1) It purifies the virtues of the person who develops it; and (2) it brings the mind to right concentration. This is why it’s included in the classical forty topics of concentration. Our Lord Buddha, from the time before he gained Awakening until he entered total nibbāna, practiced goodwill in his … 
6. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Visākha Pūjā
    … This is called paying homage to the virtues of the Triple Gem: the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha. The Buddha is like our father, while the Dhamma is like our mother—in that it’s what gives birth to our knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings. At present our father has passed away, leaving only our mother still alive. Both of them have been protecting … 
7. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Feeding the Mind
    … Otherwise, our own virtues will be compromised. So we have to be firmly intent, using mindfulness to gain evidence, and our discernment to pass judgment. That way we’ll get to eat food that’s just and fair. Anyone who doesn’t use mindfulness and discernment is like an ogre that eats dead things, rotten things, and raw. Bones, wings, skins, and feathers: Everything … 
8. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo 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. Avijjā: Ignorance; counterfeit awareness. Brahmā: Inhabitant of the higher, non-sensual levels of heaven. Buddho: Awake. Deva: Literally, a “shining one.” A terrestrial or celestial spirit inhabiting a plane of … 
9. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Coming Ashore
    … For example, sometimes he’d explain the rewards of generosity, sometimes the rewards of virtue, and sometimes the rewards of polishing the heart: what’s called meditation. But his real aim was to teach people to make their minds pure. Everything else was just elaboration. Each of us human beings is like a person sitting in a boat in the middle of an ocean … 
10. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Shelter
     … The Dhamma here is virtue, concentration, and discernment. There are four types of virtue: restraint of the senses, restraint in terms of the Pāṭimokkha (precepts), purity of livelihood, and contemplation of the requisites. These four types of virtue are like walls on all four sides, which will protect us from stormy winds. Concentration—the four levels of jhāna—is like a four-sided roof … 
11. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Intent
     … In other words, we polish our actions with virtue, concentration, and discernment. When you train your mind with concentration until it’s fully tempered and strong, it’ll be calm and cool, bright and gleaming like still water in a deep well, or like the stars in the sky. The hindrances won’t be able to walk all over you, for the level of … 
12. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Right Action, Right Result
     … On the good side, virtue is a cause for concentration. Concentration is a cause for discernment. On the bad side, suffering comes from craving. And what does craving come from? From our own stupidity. It’s because we’re stupid in so many ways that we suffer so much. When craving arises, it damages people all around us. This is why we should develop … 
13. The Heightened Mind: Dhamma Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo Dhamma for Everyone
     … The community should be a cooperative for training peacefully in virtue and the Dhamma. That’s when it’s a good community, orderly and civilized, fostering progress for all its members. This is one of our duties as part of the Buddha’s following, in line with the Buddha’s bidding. It’s called pantañca sayanāsanaṁ: creating a quiet place to live, at your … 
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