Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. Modest, Unentangled, Unburdensome
    In the principles that the Buddha taught to his stepmother, Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī on how to distinguish what is Dhamma and Vinaya and what is not, there are three that have to do with how your practice affects other people. The first is that genuine Dhamma leads to modesty. In other words, you don’t go bragging about your attainments or about how much you … 
  3. Give It Your All
     … And you can think about the gift of the Buddha gave, all those lifetimes devoted to discovering the Dhamma so that he could teach it to other people, all the hardships he went through, both in trying to find the Dhamma and then in those 45 years of teaching it: That’s a gift that keeps giving results up to now. So on the … 
  4. The Rewards of Stream Entry
     … The texts say that they’re confirmed in their conviction in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. And they have precepts that are pleasing to the noble ones: untorn, conducive to concentration. We look at ourselves and say, “Well, we have conviction in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, too. And we observe the five precepts. What’s the difference?” The difference … 
  5. Think
     … See that it fits in with the rest of the Dhamma you’ve learned, how it fits in with the rest of the Dhamma—because it is supposed to fit in. As the Buddha said, that’s one of the tests for the Dhamma: that it’s consistent. It leads consistently to its attha, its purpose or goal. It all has to work together … 
  6. Humility
    Humility December 16, 2003 Ajaan Suwat often mentioned that one of Ajaan Mun’s two favorite Dhamma talk topics was the “customs of the noble ones”: the ariyavamsa in Pali. One of his reasons for focusing on this teaching was something that we tend to miss when we look at the forest tradition from an American perspective. From our perspective it’s a very … 
  7. Preparing for Death
     … This ability to separate these things out is the skill that’s going to enable you to see the true Dhamma, because you end up with no doubts about what happens at death. It’s in seeing the true Dhamma that you actually do step out of space and time. And in stepping out, you begin to realize that the amount of time you … 
  8. Training Your Inner Teacher
     … You start by finding a teacher who’s reliable, and you listen to the Dhamma; you pay careful attention; you try to remember the Dhamma. All of that comes under discernment that comes from listening. The next steps are the discernment that comes from thinking. You take the Dhamma you’ve heard and you compare it with other lessons you’ve learned, and you … 
  9. Approaching the four noble truths
     … So, as you listen to the Dhamma, take the Dhamma in. The Thai ajaans talk about this again and again, *“Opanayiko. *Open your heart. Bring it in.” After all, that’s where the Dhamma came from to begin with. The Buddha didn’t have a lot of texts to study. Everything he taught came from within his heart and mind, came from his ability … 
  10. The View from the Mountaintop
     … For people who live alone, it gives you a chance to live with people who are practicing the Dhamma, getting some perspective simply by being around them and from hearing the Dhamma as well. That chant we had just now about the four mountains comes from a passage in the Canon where King Pasenadi, one of the major kings of that time, came to … 
  11. Comfortable With the Truth
     … Otherwise, if you keep looking outside, as Ajaan Lee says, “You never see the Dhamma, all you see is the world.” Seeing the Dhamma comes from looking inside. It all depends on the directions in which your mental eyes are focused. So this is why we meditate: to get more and more sensitive to our intentions and their results. Very simple. Focus on the … 
  12. Fear & Uncertainty
     … confidence in the Buddha, in the Dhamma, and in the Sangha. Remember Ajaan Suwat: After his automobile accident, his ability to teach was compromised by his brain injury. So his teachings always boiled down to the basics: the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as refuge. This is what you can depend on. He taught that to everyone who came to … 
  13. The Brightness of Life
     … It gets buried by what the Buddha called “improved Dhamma.” And we see this all around us. People saying, “Well, why don’t we change the Vinaya here, why don’t we change the Dhamma there, make it nicer?” That’s what’s going to kill the Dhamma. So while the true Dhamma is still alive, take advantage of it. It’s still available … 
  14. For When the World Can’t Help You
     … Then you try to internalize that refuge by developing the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha in yourself. In terms of the Buddha, he’s said to have had three qualities—wisdom, compassion, purity—and you try to develop those within you. In terms of the Dhamma, the Buddha has said when you take the Dhamma as your refuge, you’re taking yourself … 
  15. The Purpose of Empathetic Joy
     … So when you see other people putting stones and other obstacles on the path, you want to clear them away, because you’ve seen that the attha of the Dhamma—when the Dhamma is practiced in accord with the Dhamma—is so excellent. And you want to do what you can to keep that opening, that possibility, alive for whoever wants it.
  16. The Right Touch
     … That’s how you learn the Dhamma. You don’t learn it by reading books or going online and reading all the suttas. Remember that one of the meanings of the word “Dhamma” is “action.” So, you’re going to be learning the Dhamma in action by developing the right touch. When you’re gentle but firm in your concentration, things will open up … 
  17. Stubborn Clinging
     … The Buddha recognized that this is an important part of teaching the Dhamma—i.e., of one person teaching another person the Dhamma and also of you teaching yourself the Dhamma. There has to be an element of respect along with the realization that no matter how right you may be, if there’s suffering involved in that rightness, something’s wrong. You also … 
  18. Ingenuity
     … learning, learning the Dhamma. He says that when you’ve got these five qualities, these are the qualities that will make you a deva. They lift the level of your mind. It’s interesting that learning the Dhamma would be the one that would lift it. It’s good to keep that in mind, to stock your mind with Dhamma. Because things are going … 
  19. More Wisdom for Dummies
     … He made a public declaration that he was going to come and have a Dhamma discussion with Ajaan Lee. Yet when they met, Ajaan Lee talked about all kinds of things aside from the Dhamma. When the monk left, someone asked Ajaan Lee, “Why didn’t you talk about the Dhamma?” He replied, “When a person thinks he’s already good, what more can … 
  20. Strength from the Basics
     … And notice that, after Ajaan Suwat had his accident, he suffered some brain damage and didn’t have much energy to give Dhamma talks, but when he did give a Dhamma talk, it would always be on the topic of the Triple Refuge: the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This is the basic teaching. Thinking about the Buddha reminds us of what can … 
  21. Conviction & Confidence
     … You cultivate your conviction in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. Those passages we chant every evening—the recollection of the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha—are actually descriptions of what verified conviction is like. Some of the words may seem strange, but it’s useful to reflect on the ones that resonate, the ones that seem relevant to your practice. To begin … 
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