Search results for: "Wisdom"
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- Only Your Best… things that are important, part of which is that you remember the long term. Sometimes you have to sacrifice things in the short term for the sake of the long term. Wisdom lies in having the right priorities as to what’s important. There’s that saying, “Everything worth doing is worth doing well,” which is not quite the case. With some things, it …
- Look after the Source… As the Buddha said, a sign of wisdom is realizing where your responsibilities lie and where your responsibilities don’t lie. The source, the mind’s desire for happiness, is where your true responsibilities lie. You want to make sure that that desire is aimed in the right direction, toward a happiness that’s harmless and blameless, a happiness that’s true. As long …
- Slogging Through Difficulties… This is how wisdom develops, how discernment develops. It’s not the case that the mind settles down all the time and gets into a nice, blissful state and then gains quick and easy insights. Sometimes the insights have to come through making mistakes, slogging through the difficult parts of the practice. This is where equanimity and patience come in. You may not want …
- Delusion… This is one of the themes you see again and again in the forest tradition—that it’s through right effort that our wisdom really develops. Ajahn Maha Boowa’s example is of someone who’s learned military science. You can learn all kinds of things in the classroom, you can have diagrams on the blackboard, and have read up on all the different …
- Opportunities Everywhere… Heedfulness is the motivating factor, the wisdom that sees that “I don’t have much time, I want to do what good I can.” Diligence is when you actually carry through. Of course, we all know the dangers of allowing the daily work schedule to squeeze out your meditation. But don’t let the meditation squeeze out the other good you can do as …
- Train Your Hunger (The Sea Squirt)… And that’s supposed to be wisdom. You basically take an equanimous attitude toward things as they arise and pass away, knowing that ultimately everything’s going to pass away, and that’s it. Well, to give up feeding on the world out there simply because there’s no permanent self, or because nothing out there is permanent, is like saying you’re going …
- The Rewards of Cleanliness… that by keeping the monastery clean, one of the rewards is wisdom and discernment. It’s interesting to think about the connection, because this relates very directly to the mind. Keep the mind clean and you’re going to gain a lot of discernment. So what’s the connection? One, when you’re sweeping up a place, you get very intimately acquainted with it …
- Tranquility, Insight, & Concentration… That’s the wisdom factor here. In trying to do it well, you’re trying to master this as a skill. As for any thoughts of the world outside—what the Buddha puts under the categories of greed and distress—just put those aside. Then as you stay here, the mind settles down with a sense of well-being. When the Buddha would tell …
- Firmly Intent… what the Buddha said were the questions of insight: “How am I supposed to understand this process of fabrication, putting together this state of concentration? How do I see it with wisdom?” In other words, how do I do this in a way that eliminates as much stress and strain as possible, but at the same time is really consistent? We’re not here …
- Strength from Within… Your ultimate strength, of course, is discernment and wisdom, the ability to see where you’re causing unnecessary stress and suffering, and how you can relieve it. What you’re doing: You can see yourself doing it and you can stop. That’s basically what it comes down to: You see that the problem is not with people outside, it’s with your own …
- Training Your Intentions… Show some wisdom in your practice. Show some discernment. We all have some discernment, it’s just a matter of putting it to use. As you put it to use, it begins to grow. It’s like a muscle that you haven’t used very much—it may be weak, but it’s there. If you exercise it, it gets stronger and stronger. So …
- Listening to the True Dhamma… When Ajaan Lee explains those three qualities, he says that the wisdom faculty in those three is the ardency. You realize that these teachings are not just there to look at or think about, but to put into practice. So if you’re really wise, you’ll put them into practice. This is how you test the true Dhamma. You look for what happens …
- Gratitude & Trust… in the principle of action, you try to develop that sense of faith and conviction in them; and if they’re not wise, you try to teach them the ways of wisdom. Of course, it’s difficult to teach your parents. They don’t like being taught by their children, but you can teach by example. That’s one way of repaying the debt …
- Sober Up… We tend to think of Buddhist wisdom as dealing with very abstruse abstractions, but it really starts with this insight into “What are you doing?” “What are the results?” All the teachings on emptiness, not-self, universal compassion: They all come down to this question: What kind of action is this? Is it a good action? If not, what can you do to replace …
- Analysis of Dhammas… All those are the basic assumptions that lead to wisdom and discernment. In the factors for awakening, the discernment faculty, called analysis of dhammas—which can mean either analysis of qualities or analysis of actions—is fostered by paying careful attention to what’s skillful and what’s not skillful. Which thoughts side with the dark side of the mind? Which ones side with …
- Thinking Your Way to Stillness… Virtue, generosity, conviction, wisdom: These are all qualities that lead people to become devas, and you’ve got them, to at least some extent. The Buddha says that if you reflect on that, your views get straightened out, both about the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and about yourself. Remind yourself that this is a good path to be on, and you’re …
- Feeding Instructions… And this is why we develop the path, starting with the thought constructs of right view and right resolve, so that we can feed off of wisdom, feed off of thoughts that help us explain to ourselves why we can’t feed where we used to feed, or why, even though we can feed in areas of the world, it may not be a …
- Genuine Happiness… It’s one thing to read about concentration and about wisdom and discernment, to decide that they’re nice things. But to actually know them in the mind: That requires that you train the mind, in the same way that you train an animal so that it can live in your house. Sometimes you have to be gentle with it, sometimes you have to …
- Make the Most of This Breath… I was reading someone from another branch of Buddhism saying that wisdom or discernment with regard to the precepts means knowing when to follow the precepts and when not to. That’s lazy discernment. It’s kind of a cleverness maybe, but it’s hard to call it discernment at all. Real discernment knows how to maintain your precepts and, at the same time …
- The Need for a Purpose… So, wisdom lies in giving yourself a good goal, a good “for the sake of” that you’re going to be fabricating things for. It also gives you guidance on how to go in the right direction. This is what right view is all about: identifying which actions are skillful and then raising your sights from just skillful thoughts, words, and deeds, to actions …
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