Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. Recollection of the Buddha
     … You read up on his life, see the inspiring example that he set, and you realize that this Dhamma that we’re practicing comes from a really good person. Here he was, a prince, destined to rule with all kinds of wealth, all kinds of pleasures, and yet he gave it all away, abandoned it. You can think of rich and famous people nowadays … 
  3. Make the Most of Right Now
     … There’s the same sentiment that Ratthapala had when he first listened to the Dhamma. He realized, as he said, The world is swept away; it has no shelter; you have nothing of your own. In other words: inconstancy, stress, pain, not-self. But then, it’s a slave to craving—it wants more of the same. When will you have had enough? There … 
  4. Mindfulness of Death
     … And then finally, we just really don’t know what’s going to happen if we haven’t seen the true Dhamma. If we haven’t gained the Dhamma eye, there are going to be doubts about the true Dhamma, and those doubts can really cause fear: What’s going to happen? Is there nothing at all after death? Is there rebirth? What kind … 
  5. Forest Bathing
     … There was a lay person listening to a Dhamma talk by the Buddha one time. He gained stream entry while he was listening. His servant came up to him toward the end of the talk and said to him, “Now’s the time to go home and take your bath.” The master said, “I’ve already been bathed by the Dhamma.” Of course, in … 
  6. Alone with Your Mind
     … Then there’s the Dhamma he taught, not only in the words but also the practice he taught and the realization that it leads to. All of this comes under the topic of recollection of the Dhamma, the practice that leads to true happiness. Everything that he taught, he said, dealt with suffering and the end of suffering̦—and of course that includes the … 
  7. A Home for the Mind
     … These are the values of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This is what the Buddha discovered in his awakening; this was the Dhamma he taught. This was the training that the members of the noble Sangha went through: focusing on their actions, trying to see where they were skillful, where they were not, learning from their mistakes, and holding on to that … 
  8. Dhamma Medicine for Free
     … This is called Dhamma medicine. It’s free. But to work, it requires that you pay a lot of attention to it. So if thoughts come up in the mind, you don’t have to chase them away. Just stay right here with the breath. After all, those thoughts don’t destroy your experience of the breath. And the breath is your anchor to … 
  9. Control
     … It’d be hard for you to appreciate the Dhamma, because the Dhamma is based on the principle of the good that comes from giving up things you’ve been holding on to. It may be hard, but when you do it right, you realize that you gain something better in return—maybe a little bit less tangible, but a lot more lasting. Then … 
  10. Think
     … When you read Dhamma books, you get the basic principles. You listen to Dhamma talks, you get the basic principles. But you’ve got to look at the details of your own ways of creating suffering if you want to understand things. Then you have to come up with precise alternatives, different ways of thinking about suffering, different ways of thinking about the pain … 
  11. The Power is in Your Hands
     … I’ve been reading recently about how some modern Dhamma teachers don’t like the idea of kamma. They say it’s laying blame on people for the sufferings they meet with in life. But the Buddha was never interested in laying blame. He was more interested in analyzing a problem and seeing what you were doing to cause the problem so that you … 
  12. Fix Your Views
     … Their confidence and conviction in the Buddha, Dhamma, and the Sangha have been confirmed. That’s the point where their view really is right. Of course, you don’t stop there. You learn how to use right view properly to take you even further, from right view to right knowledge. What this means in practice is that, as we’re starting out, our views … 
  13. Evaluation
     … But the knowledge of the Dhamma is specifically designed to be helpful here inside. When you use it, you benefit and the people around you benefit. It doesn’t cause any harm, and it can’t be used to cause harm—as long as it’s genuine Dhamma. So, as you’re meditating, remember that your ability to evaluate how things are going, even … 
  14. Specifically
     … It’s accomplished by taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. We say these things over and over again, so it’s good to stop and think about what they mean. Of the three, the most important is the Dhamma. Then the Buddha is important because he discovered the Dhamma and taught it. The Sangha is important because it helps keep … 
  15. Inner Refuge Through Inner Strength
     … We talk about how we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha—both on the internal and external levels. On the external level, you’re inspired by the story of the Buddha; inspired by his teachings; inspired by the Dhamma; and inspired by the example of the noble Sangha. We take these people as examples for how we should live. As … 
  16. Countercultural Conditioning
     … After all, when he taught the Dhamma, he used language. And he didn’t insist that his language was the only one that Dhamma could be taught in. A group of monks once decided to turn his teaching into a Veda, which would have made it exclusive property of the brahmans. He found out about this and said No, everyone should memorize the Dhamma … 
  17. Meditate to Win
     … Remember, we’re here to live up to some standards, not just to invent the Dhamma or redo the Dhamma as we’d like it to be. The basic principle is that we practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma for the sake of dispassion. An important element in dispassion is learning to outgrow your old attitudes, i.e., the attitudes you have … 
  18. Comprehending Pain
    The wheel of Dhamma has twelve spokes. Back in the time of the Buddha, when they explained things in sets of variables, instead of making a table, they would just go down the list of all the combinations of how the variables played off against one another. Because the list went around all the possible permutations, they called it a wheel. You see a … 
  19. The Buddha’s Currency
     … Once when he came to see Ajaan Suwat in Thailand, he gave a Dhamma talk, and the message of the Dhamma talk was: Everything else in the world comes in pairs, but with the Dhamma it’s one thing clear through—the wisdom and the happiness that come from letting go. Here you’re letting go of material goods, but you’re letting go … 
  20. Asalha Puja – Completeness
     … The Buddha had gained awakening two months before, and then on this night he gave his first Dhamma talk, his first sermon: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion. As a result, he gained his first awakened student. Kondañña, the leader of the five brethren, gained his first glimpse of the deathless after hearing the Buddha’s talk. So tonight is a symbol of … 
  21. The Third and a Half Noble Truth
     … It’s like the Dhamma teacher I once heard who said that after many years of teaching she didn’t know if there really was a cessation of suffering, she didn’t really know if the third noble truth was true, but she had her own truth. She called it her third and a half noble truth, which is that suffering is manageable. I … 
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