Search results for: virtue

  1. The Graduated Discourse
     … You’re not afraid that somebody might rightly accuse you of a breach of virtue, because you don’t have any breaches of virtue. Then, when the Buddha saw that people were amenable to hearing about what was good about generosity, what was good about virtue, he would talk about how after death, generosity and virtue are rewarded with the pleasures of heaven. And … 
  2. The Desire for Things to Be Different
     … He talks about generosity, he talks about virtue, and the good that can come from doing these things—how you can make your life a better life when you practice these things. Of course, he’s going to get to the point where the goodness of just virtue and generosity has its limitations, but even then, he doesn’t tell you to just give … 
  3. Honest & Observant
     … As he said, “When concentration is nurtured by virtue, it has great fruit, great reward. When discernment is nurtured by concentration, it has great fruit, great reward. When the mind is nurtured by discernment, it’s freed from the effluents.” We’re looking for freedom. We have to build our search on virtue, concentration, discernment. We all know this, but it’s good to … 
  4. Joy in Getting It Right
    Joy in Getting It Right August 16, 2022 When you meditate, you’re watching your mind, so you want to give yourself a good mind to watch—“good” not in the sense of being smart with book learning, but more in the sense of having good qualities of the heart—a mind that’s used to acting on impulses for generosity, virtue, and goodwill … 
  5. Nobility Is the Best Policy
     … The point here is that you know you’re going to lose these things someday, but you make sure that you don’t lose your virtue or your right view in trying to hang on to them. Because even as you hang on, they get taken away, and then you’ve lost everything. Virtue, right view: These are things you don’t have to … 
  6. Bringing Daily Life into the Practice
     … Those come under virtue—training in heightened virtue. Seclusion comes under training in heightened mind, or concentration. And right view comes in training in heightened discernment. So, you’re taking this triple training and you’re making this the framework for your life. Then you can judge which parts of your life as you’ve been living it so far fit into that framework … 
  7. The World of Conviction
     … making fun of people who want to keep their virtue pure, making fun of people who want to find a happiness that doesn’t involve sensuality. The Buddha’s saying that if you give respect to the part of the mind that wants genuine happiness, a happiness that’s totally harmless, you will benefit. So he’s asking you to assume the identity of … 
  8. Shoulds & Desires
     … Yet in the happiness that comes from generosity, virtue, and meditation, everybody wins. So this is a pursuit of happiness that actually creates harmony in the world. We think about that phrase “the pursuit of happiness,” and it sounds kind of grubby, especially if you’re looking for happiness where people have to fight one another over what they’re getting. But if you … 
  9. A Good Independent Self
     … When you realize that your true well-being lies in acting in skillful ways, acting on skillful intentions, then even if you have the idea of an independent self, you’ll want to act on impulses for generosity, virtue, the desire to train the mind so that you can be truly happy. At the same time, you avoid a lot of the problems of … 
  10. Sense Pleasures & Sensuality
     … He would start with a talk on generosity, a talk on virtue, a talk on heaven. Heaven, of course, would be a description of the pleasures you could experience up there based on the fact that you’d been generous and virtuous down here. But then the talk would turn: He would say that actually there’s a downside to sensuality. He called it … 
  11. Non-Reactive Judgment
     … In the beginning, we work with generosity and virtue, and we want to be clear about what we’re doing, when we’re in line with our precepts and when we’re not. I got another phone call this morning from someone who, in a fit of real anger, had intentionally killed a mosquito. Even though it was a very small animal, the fact … 
  12. To Be Debt Free
     … The Triple Training is training in heightened virtue, what’s called heightened mind—which is basically the mind in right concentration—and then heightened discernment. But then, in the verse, the Buddha goes back and emphasizes again, “and respect for concentration.” There may be several reasons why he puts double emphasis on concentration. One is that there is a tendency to write it off … 
  13. A Tradition of Ingenuity
     … How is your conviction? Is your conviction strong or is it weak right now? Are you convinced of the Buddha’s awakening, or are you convinced of other teachings that you’ve picked up here and there? Are you convinced that you can follow what the Buddha taught? Then there’s the question of virtue. How meticulous are you about your precepts? And how … 
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