Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. To Understand the Path
     … Sariputta once said that the four noble truths cover all the Dhamma, encompass all the Dhamma in the same way that the footprint of an elephant can encompass the footprints of all the other animals on land. So when you’re practicing, it’s good to think in terms of the four noble truths, not only what they are but also the duties appropriate … 
  3. Conviction & Truth
     … To learn the truth about the Dhamma, to learn the truth about ourselves, we have to be as true as we can, as circumspect and all-around in our practice as we can. We have to prove ourselves, and only then can we be in a position where we can prove the Dhamma. So, take that as inspiration. The Dhamma asks a lot, but … 
  4. Anti-slacker Dhamma
     … You can understand this kind of teaching as a corruption of the Dhamma that happens when people try to sell the Dhamma. Salespeople like to sell things that are popular, and there are plenty of slackers out there that would like to hear that the Buddha was on their side. But the problem is that this line of thinking didn’t start just with … 
  5. Refuge
    In the Pali phrases for taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, the word sarana, which we translate as refuge, can also mean something you remember, something you hold in mind, something you keep in mind. This is part of the way in which it becomes your refuge. You try to keep the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha in mind … 
  6. The Power of Intention
    A couple of months ago I was giving a Dhamma talk on kamma up in the Bay Area. After the talk, a woman came up and said, “You know, this made me think, ‘Maybe my life isn’t determined by my DNA after all.’” I was surprised. She’d been going to Dhamma talks for a fair while and yet was still able to … 
  7. A Well-Thatched Roof
     … The Pali term for those things outside is loka-dhamma, the dhammas of the world. Most people’s minds are not simply penetrated by these things; they’re totally flooded, totally overwhelmed. Gain, loss, status, loss of status, praise, criticism, pleasure, and pain: These things are constantly raining down on us, and most people are out in the open totally exposed, with no protection … 
  8. Only Your Best
     … There’s a Dhamma talk by Ajaan Fuang—one of his few Dhamma talks that was recorded—where he makes just this point. We don’t know how much time we have, but we do know that we have this time. What was especially poignant about the talk was that soon after he gave that Dhamma talk, he got very sick, and only a … 
  9. Acceptance
     … And the first two are to know the Dhamma and to know the meaning of the Dhamma. Those are things you can study, that you can learn from asking and discussing. But the remaining aspects have to do with your own sensitivity and your willingness to develop your sensitivity over time. There’s having a sense of yourself: What are your strengths right now … 
  10. Thinking About Your Fears
     … That way, if scary things come up, you have something good to hold on to: “I don’t have to go to those scary places.” Finally, there’s the fear that comes from not having seen the true Dhamma. Most people don’t express it to themselves in these terms because many of them have never heard of the true Dhamma. What the Buddha … 
  11. Something New
     … That’s why we have the Dhamma. So even though the Buddha wouldn’t know whether or not we were going to follow the path, we can decide that. We can be the deciding factor. We can decide that we’re going to change. So look into your mind. Wherever there’s suffering in your life, it’s coming from inside. Now, many people … 
  12. One Thing at a Time
     … What do you do out here in the forest? Where do you go to listen to the Dhamma?” Ajaan Mun’s response was, “I hear the Dhamma seven days a week, 24 hours a day, except when I’m asleep. A leaf falls from a tree and it teaches inconstancy. The crows caw: It’s because of stress, because of suffering. The senior monk … 
  13. The Meaning of Insight
     … Those observations have meaning only in the larger context of the meaning of the Dhamma, the goal of the Dhamma, its attha. This is why, when the Buddha described his awakening, he never mentioned the three characteristics, or even the three perceptions. They’re there implicitly in terms of the duties of the four noble truths, under the insight into the drawbacks of the … 
  14. Guardian Meditations
     … Anybody who needed the Dhamma, he was happy to teach. All he asked was that people be truthful. He said, “Let someone come who’s observant and no deceiver, and I’ll teach that person the Dhamma.” Those were his only prerequisites. And he taught without holding anything back, anything that was really necessary for the sake of awakening. So that’s the kind … 
  15. Why We Bow Down
     … The Buddha talks about gaining the Dhamma eye: That’s the point where you have verified confidence in the Buddha—that what he taught really was true, that he really did know what he’s talking about. When you reach that stage, then you’re on firm ground. The image that they give is of crossing a deep river. As you swim across, you … 
  16. Life in the Context of the Practice
     … Learning means knowing the Dhamma. We fill our heads with so much garbage, so it’s good to clear some of that garbage out and fill it with Dhamma instead. That way, when difficult situations come up, you’ve got something you can fall back on. You can remember, “The Buddha says this about this kind of situation.” For instance, he talks about true … 
  17. Nobody’s Servant
     … Conviction, conviction in the principle of karma, that your actions really do make a difference; generosity; learning the Dhamma, and discernment. All these things are goodness inside, and we develop them through the meditation and also through learning the Dhamma, stocking ourselves inside with good things, so when things outside are lacking, we’re not poor. We’re wealthy with internal wealth. That makes … 
  18. Swept Downstream
     … If you haven’t gained the Dhamma eye yet, you’re not really sure. You say you take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, but do you really take refuge in them? Where do you take your refuge? As Ajaan Maha Boowa says, for most of us, the reality is, Kilesam saranam gacchami: “I take refuge in defilement.” We look for … 
  19. The Duties of Compassion
     … But your method of sharing is indicated in that phrase we chant about the Dhamma every evening: opanayiko, you have to bring it into yourself first; and then ehipassiko, only then do you call other people to look. Of course, they can’t look at the results you’ve gotten, but you can call other people to look and say, “Look, this is what … 
  20. Pleasure & Pain
     … This is the actual Dhamma. You’re dealing with very everyday, normal things, not any exalted concepts. It’s one of the reasons that when the Buddha talked about false dhammas, he used the word saddhamma patirupa, which literally means sophisticated dhamma. It’s very easy for us to get dazzled by intellectual games and fancy concepts. But the real work of the Dhamma … 
  21. Goodwill as a Guardian
     … Many times, as he would teach people these truths, they would have their first experience of awakening, called gaining the Dhamma eye. That was his gift to them. There were even people who went to see the Buddha to argue with him—there were even cases where people were sent to kill him—and yet this is how he responded. He talked to them … 
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