Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. The Right Medicine
     … That’s called the Dhamma of study, pariyatti-dhamma. But then you’ve got to put it into practice, what they call patipatti-dhamma, to see exactly where your suffering is and, when the craving comes, exactly how the craving comes. This is where the path comes in. You’ve got to get the mind really still so that you can see these things … 
  3. Refuge
     … So his ability to give Dhamma talks was severely curtailed. When he did give Dhamma talks, either formally or informally, he realized he had to boil the message down to the most essential, most important points. And he always talked about refuge: taking the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha as refuge. I think it’s useful to consider why. It’s not that … 
  4. The Dhamma Eye
     … That’s why they call it the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: no stains on it, no dust, so it saw the deathless clearly. Now, that wasn’t a total awakening. The story goes that for the next few days, the Buddha taught more Dhamma to the other monks until all five of them had gained the Dhamma eye, and then he taught them the … 
  5. Audacious & Undaunted
     … We’re convinced in the Buddha, we’re convinced in the Dhamma that he taught, but as he says, conviction is really true only when you act on it. This is why we practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma: the Dhamma as it’s taught, the Dhamma for the sake of disenchantment, dispassion, release. That’s how we pay homage to the … 
  6. Three Perceptions
     … It’s precisely at this fork in the road where the analysis of sabbe dhamma anatta — all dhammas are not-self — applies: where you might see nibbana as a dhamma, as an object of the mind. As long as you perceive it in that way, there’s going to be attachment, there’s going to be a dhamma to hold on to. So you … 
  7. Ajaan Suwat’s Gift
     … That’s how you test the Dhamma, by seeing its impact in these three areas. The true Dhamma is a Dhamma that makes you self-reliant and makes you less of a burden on other people, but the purpose here is really to get out. You might say the Buddha was an escapist, but he was escapist in the best sense of the word … 
  8. Sensitive in Seven Ways
     … The one quality you can actually learn just through words is the first one, having a sense of the Dhamma. You read up on the Dhamma, you learn what the Buddha has to say. But from that point on you have to use your powers of observation. The other qualities you develop partly through living with people who already have those qualities. In other … 
  9. Strength of Conviction: 2
     … In that case, who you believe would be people of integrity; what you believe is the true Dhamma; what you do as a result is that you develop appropriate attention and you practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma. Now there’s another list of stream-entry factors: These are the factors of stream-entry or that constitute what it means to obtain … 
  10. An Island in the Flood
     … How does it fit in what you know of the Dhamma? This is where it’s good to have some basic background knowledge of the Dhamma. As you remember, what is the Dhamma for? What does it mean to practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma? It’s for the sake of disenchantment, for the sake of dispassion. So if you put a … 
  11. The Lessons of Good Kamma
     … Well, letting go requires an internal dialogue, where the good side of your nature takes charge over the greedier or more narrow side of your nature so that you can develop the goodness that’s required for the Dhamma—so that you can actually understand and see the Dhamma, experience the essence of the Dhamma. So look at your opportunities to be generous as … 
  12. Strength of Conviction: 1
     … So when you have these four qualities—you’ve found someone trustworthy, you’ve heard the true Dhamma, you apply appropriate attention, and you practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma: That’s when you have a strength you can rely on. Heedful. Sober. Circumspect. A sign of maturity. As someone once said, this is a religion for grown-ups. This doesn’t … 
  13. The Four-in-One Establishing of Mindfulness
     … Then finally, there are dhammas. These can be the five hindrances or the seven factors for awakening. In other words, you’re looking at what’s going on in the mind in terms of different Dhamma lists, and what those lists tell you to do. Those dhammas are here. If you’re wandering away from the breath, it could be because of sensual desire … 
  14. The Five Hindrances
    When you meditate and there’s a Dhamma talk at the same time, make sure that the Dhamma talk stays in the background. Your breath should be in the foreground because that’s what you’re here for: to find the Dhamma that can appear when the mind settles down and stays with one object. We think of the Dhamma as being words, but … 
  15. Three Recollections
     … You can also reflect on the Dhamma. The Dhamma is available to all. And it teaches us a path that, as they say, is good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end. The basic principles are good; as you’re following them, you reflect on your actions. You can see the Buddha’s not asking you to do anything that … 
  16. Heedful of Ruts in the Mind
     … This is to remind us that the Dhamma starts with nature. And not nature in a sentimental way: wilderness, a place that’s dangerous. Even though the Buddha carried the Dhamma into the centers of civilization of his time, it always kept that quality of coming from the wilderness. You can see this primarily in his teaching on heedfulness. As he said, “Heedfulness encompasses … 
  17. Heedful of What’s Precious
     … The Dhamma means not only knowledge of what the Buddha taught but also the practice of the Dhamma to the point where you actually attain the Dhamma inside: That should all be protected. The Sangha should be protected in the sense that you want to keep their virtues in mind and always live conscious of the fact that they’ve given their lives to … 
  18. The Context for No Context
     … To listen to the Dhamma, we have to associate with what they call admirable friends, people who exemplify the Dhamma in their actions. This is for two reasons. First, it’s hard to listen to the Dhamma and believe it if you see that the person teaching the Dhamma isn’t abiding by the Dhamma. Second, there’s more to the Dhamma than just … 
  19. The Buddha Aimed High
    If you ask people how they came to the Dhamma, you get all kinds of answers. Some people come from having suffered loss; some people because they’re stressed out. Everyone’s looking for some peace of mind. If you’d asked the Buddha how he came to the Dhamma, he would have said because he realized he was subject to aging, illness, and … 
  20. The Joy of Monotasking
     … One who tries to remember the Dhamma, one who tries to explore the Dhamma, one who has actually practiced the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma: These are all people who are better than those who don’t. Even when you’re practicing the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma, those who practice for their own benefit and for the benefit of others are … 
  21. Friends with the Dhamma Wheel
    We just chanted the sutta on setting the wheel of Dhamma in motion, and the question sometimes arises, “Where’s the wheel?” It’s in the part where the Buddha talks about the four noble truths, the duty appropriate to each, and then the fact that he had completed each duty. It comes as twelve permutations. In other words, you’ve got four noble … 
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