Search results for: "The Sangha"
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- Artillery All Around… If you find that you’re getting discouraged, you can contemplate the Buddha, you can contemplate the Sangha, think of their noble example. If the Buddha seems a little bit outside of your range, then remember the Sangha: all kinds of people, all kinds of backgrounds, educated, uneducated, rich, poor, everything in between, men, women, children. A lot of them had real problems, yet …
- Appreciating Merit… In that formula for the Sanghadana, the gifts given to the Sangha, at the very end it says, “Please may the Sangha accept this for our long-term welfare and happiness”—i.e., so that we can do the act of merit and find the happiness in that action. But merit doesn’t mean you have to give things only to the Sangha. As …
- Respect… respect for the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. Why do we respect them? We see that the Buddha was a really excellent teacher. If you want to learn from him, you have to respect what he has to say. Respect his example, not just his words. His actions also spoke. Kt’s a basic principle in learning that if you want to learn from …
- Treating the Diseases of the Mind… The same with the Sangha. Sometimes it’s easier to relate to the Sangha, because when you read about the Buddha’s path, it seems that he was totally determined right from the very beginning—no moments of weakness. Whereas when you read about the stories of the different ajaans or the stories of the monks and the nuns in the *Theri *and *Theragata …
- Generating Energy… These can be the Buddha, the Dhamma, or the Sangha, your own generosity, your own virtue. Sometimes putting the breath aside for the time being and thinking about these things can be very helpful. Thinking about the Sangha for instance: Think about all the ajaans and the success they had in the practice. Remember that they were human beings, you’re a human being …
- A Safe Harbor… They talk about the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as refuge, refuge both in the sense of giving us examples of how to find refuge for ourselves, and in becoming qualities in our mind. There’s the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha on the internal level, the qualities they stand for. Like the ones we’re developing right now: mindfulness, alertness, ardency …
- Lavish Goodwill… It says, “Unlimited is the Buddha, unlimited is the Dhamma, unlimited is the Sangha.” They’re unlimited in their goodwill. Of course, the Buddha and the Sangha have goodwill. As for the Dhamma: You have to remember that when the Buddha taught the Dhamma, he was very selective in what he chose to teach, out of all the things he gained in his awakening …
- Free Like a Wild Deer… But then as monks they were going totally unarmed, and their protection was taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha: in other words, trying to develop the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, in their hearts, in their activities. And they learned over time that that really was a much more solid protection: the protection of being inoffensive …
- To Excel… aging, illness, death, social unrest, or a split in the Sangha. When these things come, he says, it’s going to be really hard to practice. This means you have to practice now. And you have to practice to the level where you know that even if aging comes, illness comes, death comes, social unrest comes, or a split in the Sangha comes, your …
- Practicing Your Scales… As for the Sangha, he instituted an order where people live totally on gifts. The Buddha’s teaching was a gift. The way the Sangha is arranged, monks live on gifts. They don’t sell the teaching, they don’t have to raise kids, meet mortgage payments, all the other things that would crimp their style of really being true to the Dharma. You …
- In the Mood to Meditate… Of course, there’s the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. You’ve got this teaching that was discovered by someone who was really wise, very principled. He’d attained true happiness and didn’t need anything more for the sake of his own happiness. So after his awakening, he gave his life to helping other people find the same way to happiness that …
- Owners of Our Actions… He says that we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, but then again the Buddha says the self is its own mainstay, so how do you put those together? You do it by trying to develop the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha inside you, and then you can depend on yourself. The Buddha gives a long …
- A Refuge Bigger than the World… We take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. As long as we take refuge in those values, we’re safe. As long as we act in line with those values, we’re safe—because worlds can come and go. Think of those suttas where they talk about the expansion and contraction of the universe. The Buddha keeps saying that these things happen …
- Instructions for a New Monk… You need the Triple Gem—the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha—first as external refuges in the sense that they give you good examples to follow as to what kind of behavior is really good. Then there are teachings on how you internalize the virtues of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha so that they become your genuine refuge inside. The Buddha …
- A Trustworthy Mind… You take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha by bringing their qualities into your mind. As you do that, you eventually become part of the Sangha that other people can take refuge in, too: the noble Sangha. This is how goodness gets spread around. But it’s up to you to exercise your freedom to choose that goodness to begin with …
- Beginning the Rains… In other words, those who deserve special respect, the elders of the Sangha, those who do work as the Sangha officials, are making sacrifices. So you try to treat them in line with their status. When we think in these ways, act in these ways, then even though we’re living together and it’s not as quiet as it would be if there …
- The Value of Refuge… So when we take refuge, we’re taking refuge in the values of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha—taking them as our example for how to find true happiness. The qualities of the Buddha—wisdom, compassion, and purity—come from following the quest for happiness in a wise and effective way. Do you think about that as you sit down to meditate …
- The Community of the Wise… This is why we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, because they exemplify healthy attitudes. They give importance to the quest to put an end to suffering, and they’ve worked out all the ramifications of that value. This is why study is an important part of the practice. We like to think all you have to do is do …
- The Lightning Bolt… You’ve probably noticed around here that we have a lot of bowing, along with chants to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha every day. That reflection just now on respect for the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha: What it comes down to is respect for your mind, respect for your desire for true happiness. After all, that’s how Buddha ordered his …
- Unlimited Mind, Limited Resources… All of the meditation exercises that are forms of thinking things through—the recollections of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha; the analysis of the body into elements or into its various parts—these are ways of thinking to exercise so that when trouble comes up, you’ve got them right there, you’ve got the ability right there. The recollection of the …
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