Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. The Dhamma Mirror
     … Well, the Dhamma is like that. It helps you see things right close to you that you otherwise wouldn’t see. Learn to use your actions as your mirror. That’s the Dhamma mirror. That’s when you see what you really need to see. When you see it, then you can do something about it.
  3. Freedom through Restraint
     … As the Buddha said, all dhammas come from desire. In this case, “dhammas” mean all phenomena, except for nibbana. Nibbana is beyond dhammas. So what is desire doing in your mind right now? Where’s it heading? Where’s it going? You want to see this clearly. This is why we focus our desires on getting the mind to settle down. That’s a … 
  4. Reinvest Your Noble Treasures
     … Before he left, he gave a Dhamma talk. Part of the Dhamma talk was that the things of the world come in pairs, but the Dhamma is one thing clear through. He didn’t say what that one thing was, but I think he was referring to the fact that every stage of the practice is giving—you give up things, you give up … 
  5. Immersed in the Body
     … And one of the lessons of concentration is that you can’t believe everything you think, even the lessons of Dhamma that tell you you’ve got to move on. You’ve got to bring in other lessons of Dhamma that say, “No, we’ve got to respect the concentration. Give it some space; give it some time. And question those other voices.” As … 
  6. Truth Is Where You’re True
     … This is one of the really fine things about the Dhamma: People who aren’t true to themselves will never know the Dhamma, what the Dhamma truly is. It requires that you be a very truthful person in order to understand it, in order to experience it. And when you stop to think about it, would you want to believe in any kind of … 
  7. Physical Pains & Painful Words
     … Ajaan Maha Boowa talks about listening to Ajaan Mun give a Dhamma talk. Ajaan Mun would give long Dhamma talks—sometimes they would go on for four hours—but, he said, Ajaan Mun would be giving you just the trunk of a tree, and you had to work out the branches. Not everything was explained. So, take some of these ideas about the perceptions … 
  8. Passion for Dispassion
     … Or to say, “Well, the Dhamma was just one person’s opinion. There are many versions of the Dhamma out there and none of them are totally true.” That’s delighting in the wrong thing. That’s delighting in non-Dhamma. Delighting in the Dhamma means having a sense you have a reliable guide that’s been tested for 2,600 years now. Then … 
  9. Metacognition
     … Well, do you no longer love yourself? Do you no longer want to develop good things? Then there’s the Dhamma as a governing principle: realizing that this is a very valuable Dhamma we’ve encountered—that there have been awakened beings in the world, and they’ve shown the way. And they did it out of pure compassion. It’s an excellent Dhamma … 
  10. Unhindered at Death
     … You want to make sure you’re making those decisions from a mind state that’s mindful, focused, and alert, motivated by goodwill and coming from a clear sense of what the true Dhamma has to teach, what the true Dhamma is. That’s how you can learn to rely on yourself and be your own refuge. This is another way in which that … 
  11. Visakha Puja
     … The night of his passing away, the Buddha said that the true way of showing respect to him was to practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma. What does that mean? You practice for the sake of disenchantment. Anything that causes the slightest bit of stress, you try to learn to go beyond it. In other words, you grow up, like a child … 
  12. The Wisdom of Ardency
     … I remember one Dhamma teacher saying that someone came to him with a question about how he was getting a headache when he was focusing on his breath, and the teacher was commenting, “I don’t want to deal with questions like that. I want to deal with Dhamma questions.” But if you don’t deal with headache questions, what are you dealing with … 
  13. Positive Right Speech
    When I was first ordained, I was struck by the fact that no one was trying to teach me high level Dhamma, or impress me with high level Dhamma. The first order of business was getting the rules down—getting my behavior down—the principle being: If your behavior is in line, *then we can talk about more advanced things. Only then are you … 
  14. A Tale of Two Kings
     … What would have inspired you to ordain?” Ratthapala teaches him the four Dhamma summaries: “The world is swept away. It does not endure. It offers no shelter; there’s no one is in charge. It has nothing of its own. One has to pass on leaving everything behind.” Those are the first three summaries. The king asks him about the meaning of those summaries … 
  15. A Touchstone at the Breath
     … That’s when you might want to turn to read the Dhamma to get some perspective on the skill you’re developing. If you simply read the Dhamma in the abstract, it becomes abstract philosophy. You can sit around and talk about it: Is there a self? Is there no self? Did the Buddha say there was a self or not? What does the … 
  16. De-domesticated
     … He’s taught the Dhamma. The Dhamma is still alive. The problem of suffering can be solved. So maintain that sense of the world, regardless of what comes in through the media, what comes in through the pressure from the people around you. This is why they say that when we take refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma and the Sangha, the word … 
  17. Mindfulness of Breathing: Four in One
     … You can read about the Dhamma, and have all kinds of ideas about the Dhamma, but if the mind hasn’t gotten into good concentration, you don’t see clearly what the Buddha’s talking about. After all, he gained awakening right here. He was focused on the breath, the mind was solidly centered, and it was from this perspective that he viewed the … 
  18. Circumspection
     … When you reflect on the Dhamma, you reflect on Sariputta in his wisdom. When you reflect on the Sangha, you reflect on Moggallana with his psychic powers and his compassion. It’s an interesting connection: psychic powers and compassion. Ajaan Lee did have a lot of psychic powers, and he devoted them to compassionate purposes. He helped people with their poverty. He helped people … 
  19. Respecting Death
     … There’s a whole set of Dhamma talks by Ajaan Mahaboowa in Thai called Tham Chut Triam Phrawm, which means basically “A Set of Dhamma Talks for Getting Ready.” Getting ready for what? Getting ready for the big danger of death, respecting the fact that there’s a lot of potential for suffering there, but also respecting the fact that you’ve got this … 
  20. Of Essential Worth
     … As the Buddha pointed out to the brahman, when one person really finds the Dhamma, that person can teach many, many others to find something that really is of value, of lasting value. After all, the essence of the Dhamma is release. Anything short of release is just twigs, bark, softwood. The real essence—the word sāra means “heartwood,” but it also means “essence … 
  21. Thinking Seriously about Happiness
     … Ratthapāla told him there were four Dhamma summaries taught by the Buddha that had inspired him to ordain. Then he went down the list we chanted just now. The first Dhamma summary was: The world is swept away; it does not endure. The king asked him, “What does that mean?” Ratthapāla asked him in return, “When you were young, were you strong?” The king … 
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