Search results for: "Generosity"

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  2. A Memorial to Your Life
    There’s a phrase that Ajaan Fuang would use when he tried to teach people to put forth extra effort in the practice—whether in the practice of generosity, virtue, or meditation. And that was to “create a memorial to your life.” It took me a while to understand what he was talking about. Basically, suppose that in some future lifetime you gain the … 
  3. Not-self for the Sake of Happiness
     … This is one of the reasons why he gives the graduated discourse, to point out that even the best forms of happiness that can be found as you practice generosity, virtue, thinking of long-term happiness, and being in a position where you can gain long-term happiness for yourself, will have their drawbacks, their “degradation,” as he says. When your reflective self agrees … 
  4. A Refuge from the Winds of the World
     … They’re people of generosity, virtue, discernment; you try to develop those qualities as well, because you pick up the qualities of the people that you’re near. There’s an image in the Canon of a leaf. If you use the leaf to wrap up fine-smelling spices, the leaf will smell fine as well. If you use it to wrap rotten fish … 
  5. Dhamma Intelligence
     … The Buddha recommends topics like recollection of the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, recollection of your generosity, recollection of your virtue. Those are to give you encouragement. Then there’s recollection of death, which is to remind you that you don’t know how much time you have, so there’s definitely work to be done right now. You can ask yourself, “Are you … 
  6. A Home of Your Own
     … So what kind of actions do you want to take with you to make a long-lasting fixture in your home? You want them to be acts of generosity, acts of virtue, acts of discernment. Those are the best things for decorating your house inside. With them, it becomes easier to become more and more at ease being here, having a strong sense this … 
  7. Curious About the Process
     … So a good first stage is to think about the other practices we have in terms of generosity and virtue. When you’re preparing something to give to other people, or you’re in the process of trying to observe the precepts and you come up against a problem, and you can handle it well, that’s when it’s pleasant to look at … 
  8. Steering the Raft
     … What it’s good for is as a tool to develop skillful qualities in the mind—as we practice generosity, as we practice virtue, as we meditate. So you’re using this tool. You’re using this raft. Be very clear about the fact that the raft is something just slapped together out of inconstant things, but if you steer it properly, it’ll … 
  9. Happiness Without Conflict
     … This is why even though the practice of generosity and virtue and meditation are relatively harmless, you’re still not totally free from harm. You’re not totally free from having to compete with others until you reach the deathless. So we don’t stop with the sense of well-being that comes from focusing on the breath. We try to figure out what … 
  10. Anybody Home?
     … the sense of self that can meditate, the sense of self that can practice generosity, practice virtue. That kind of self we need as long as the path hasn’t yet been fully developed. We need a sense of confidence that we can do it and a sense of competence that we can do it, along with the sense of responsibility that if we … 
  11. The Range of Our Responsibility
     … She went to see her teacher, and the teacher said, “Reflect back on your virtue; reflect on your generosity.” His meaning was for her to remind herself that she did have virtue and she had been generous. But she started thinking, “Well, the fact that my meditation isn’t going well is a sign that I haven’t been virtuous and I haven’t … 
  12. Strength of Mindfulness
     … And part of the practice, of course, is generosity, virtue. You give things—you give of your time, you give of your energy, you give of your knowledge; you’re happy to share what you have—and then you refrain from harming. These are things you want to keep in mind at all times. Otherwise, the path won’t develop and you won’t … 
  13. The Carpenter’s Adze
     … You can reflect on the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, on your own generosity or your own virtue when you’re feeling down. Reflect on death when you’re feeling lazy. Learn how to read your mind by watching what it does, how it reacts to different types of training. After all, the carpenter himself has to do that. He’s not focusing … 
  14. The River Gauge
     … You’re practicing the precepts, you’re practicing generosity, you’re with people who want to meditate as well. The more harmony we can have in the group, the easier it is to draw joy from the fact that we’re here as a group, meditating. Whatever you find that gives you a sense of joy will make that attitude of patience and equanimity … 
  15. Path & Goal
     … The ones that give energy are the things like recollection of your virtue, recollection of your generosity, recollection of the devas, realizing that the qualities that make a person into a deva are qualities that you have in yourself, so you’re headed in the right direction. That can lift you up. Things that steady you are contemplation of the body in terms of … 
  16. Recovering Your Balance
     … Think about the goodness of your generosity, the goodness of your virtue. You can think about the Buddha, the Dhamma, or the Sangha. One of the really fine things about Buddhism is that it was founded by someone who knows what it’s like to make a mistake. Even in his last lifetime, the Buddha made a huge mistake—six years of tormenting himself … 
  17. The Buddha’s Relationship Advice
     … The first quality is generosity—giving of things, giving of your time, giving your knowledge, giving of your forgiveness—so that you’re not totally on the receiving end. The second quality is kind words. This doesn’t mean speaking sweetly all the time. There will be times when you have to make criticisms, but you try to do it in a way that … 
  18. Factors for Stream Entry
     … conviction, virtue, generosity, and discernment. Those are the qualities you should look for in someone you want to study from. If they don’t have conviction in the Buddha’s awakening, you don’t know what they have conviction in: something, someplace else. If they’re not virtuous, you can’t trust that you’re safe around them. If they’re not generous, you … 
  19. Training in Happiness
     … For instance, he says you’re going to find happiness in generosity. Now, as little kids, we were much happier to get than we were to give. But over time we’ve learned that when you give things to other people, there is a deep happiness that comes. You feel good about yourself. You feel good about the other person. You feel good about … 
  20. Respect as a Sign of Intelligence
     … good in your generosity, good in your virtue, good in your meditation. That’s the kind of happiness that feels good deep down inside. It’s a happiness that’s worthy of respect. So have a strong sense that your happiness is something very worthwhile. Take it seriously, not in the sense of being grim but in the sense of really wanting to do … 
  21. A Thread Out of the Maze
     … Think of how you’ve benefited from the generosity of others, how it’s been such a good force in your life, and now you have the opportunity be generous in return. Think of the times when people could have harmed you but they didn’t, and now you have the opportunity to develop that quality, the quality of restraint, the quality of virtue … 
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