Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. Think Calmly about Death
     … You hear that, and if you haven’t really seen the true Dhamma—i.e., you haven’t gained the Dhamma-eye that comes with your first glimpse of awakening—there will always be a little bit of doubt. But then you look at the people who have gone before you on this path, the people who really have gained awakening. You see they … 
  3. Bedside Dhamma
     … The purpose of this, of course, is so that you can focus on areas where you can help, and can maintain your strength so that you have some stamina, both so you can be there for that person and so you can get some good Dhamma lessons out of this. If the person hasn’t been meditating, you’ll begin to see very clearly … 
  4. Respect
     … This is why we read Dhamma books, listen to Dhamma tapes, why we have question and answers from other people who’ve practiced: so that we can benefit from their experience as well. The respect has to cover all three areas: our own abilities; respect for just the way things are—there are certain things that no matter how much you wish them, just … 
  5. The Middle Way
     … After all, the Buddha didn’t call his teaching just Dhamma. It’s “this Dhamma and Vinaya.” The verb that goes along with Vinaya, vinati, means to subdue. You’ve got to come down hard sometimes on your complacency, on your pride, on your greed, your delusion, your anger. This is why discipline is such an important part of the path. It’s a … 
  6. Keeping Your Head
     … What are you going to do?” And the king says “What else can I do but practice the Dhamma?” And how would you practice the Dhamma in a case like that? In the case we’re in, you have to calm your mind. In other words, you need to have your priorities as to what’s important, what’s not important, and focus on … 
  7. Modest in Manner, but Not in Goals
     … The question is, what is the message? And is the message in line with the Dhamma? And is it something you can test? If it seems to be in line with the Dhamma and it can be put to the test, well, you try it out. If it can’t be tested, or if it doesn’t work when it is tested, you put … 
  8. Right Speech, Inside & Out
     … everything else that fills the mind that’s not related to what you’re doing right now, even though it’s about the Dhamma. Ajaan Lee has an interesting observation, which is that when you’re talking to people who are not ready for really high level Dhamma yet, if you talk about high level Dhamma, it’s idle chatter. It’s not really … 
  9. Protection, Inside & Out
     … He said that you make yourself your refuge by making the Dhamma your refuge, and you make the Dhamma your refuge by practicing the establishings of mindfulness, starting out, say, with the breath. You focus on the breath and you do what you can to remember to stay with the breath. Then you watch yourself: Watch the breath to see how the breath is … 
  10. One Thing Clear Through
     … Luang Puu Dune one time came to see Ajaan Suwat when he was in Thailand and gave a Dhamma talk. The main theme of the Dhamma talk was that the practice of the Dhamma is one thing clear through, from the very beginning to the very end. It starts with generosity and ends with letting go. And every step along the way there’s … 
  11. Ideals
    One of the strangest tendencies in Dhamma circles is the habit that some teachers have of saying that ideals are to be avoided across the board. It’s strange because, when you look at the life of the Buddha, he was very idealistic. He wanted the ultimate happiness. He wanted to overcome death. That’s as high as an ideal can go. And he … 
  12. Worldly Dhammas
     … These things are called worldly dhammas, and they’re the qualities that make up the world. This is how the world functions. Material gain, status, praise, pleasure: These are the things that grease human society. And when you look at them, you realize that that’s pretty much all human society has to offer. The problem is it has the opposite to offer as … 
  13. Reflect
     … Maybe there’s a specific issue coming up from the day that you’ve got to deal with first, looking at it from the point of view of the Dhamma. Then you can settle down. This is one of the reasons why we have those chants at the beginning of the meditation session: the 32 parts of the body, recollection of death, aging, illness … 
  14. The Karma Snake
    The Buddha once said that if you’re going to grasp his Dhamma, you have to grasp it in the right way. It’s like grasping a snake. If you grasp at the tail, it’s going to bite you. If you take a forked stick and pin it down by its neck, then no matter how much it writhes around your arm, it … 
  15. Dedicating Merit
     … He didn’t sort out the differences between true Dhamma and Thai culture, and so he mixes rebirth up with the Dhamma. Actually, I’ve always felt the fact that I was in Thailand from an early age was not a handicap at all. It was being there when I was still receptive—and being around the ajaans and other people practicing meditation—that … 
  16. Games the Mind Plays
    One of the few times Ajaan Fuang accepted an invitation to a meal was at the home of one of his students, whose sister was also a Dhamma practitioner. Instead of chanting, we made a Dhamma conversation. Or Ajaan Fuang had a Dhamma conversation with the hosts. The woman’s sister said, “I’ve been meditating, trying to get my mind as empty as … 
  17. Right Speech, Inside & Out
     … He liked to appoint himself as a defender of the Dhamma and he would go around asking different ajaans very high-level questions, basically to test their knowledge. So he asked a question of Ajaan Fuang—again, high-level Dhamma, on a high level of practice. Ajaan Fuang asked him, “Has your own practice reached that stage yet?” “Well, no.” Ajaan Fuang said, “In … 
  18. To Look after Yourself with Ease
     … As the Buddha said, when you practice the Dhamma, you know the Dhamma is true when it makes you unburdensome. And part of being unburdensome is having the ability to look after yourself, where you don’t have to depend on other people for all your well-being. You can develop some of the resources you have inside and you can depend on those … 
  19. Over-informed
     … He told the five brethren that he would teach them the Dhamma, and “Dhamma” basically meant doctrine. Which doctrine? The doctrine of putting an end to suffering and stress. His criticism of other paths was that they didn’t lead to the end of suffering, whereas the noble eightfold path did lead to the end of suffering. It led to awakening. It led to … 
  20. Wisdom for Dummies
    Wisdom for Dummies April 9, 2009 If you read a lot of books about the Dhamma, it can get pretty confusing after a while, for there are so many different takes on exactly what the Dhamma is. On top of that, there are people who will tell you it’s all very complex, very subtle; only a very erudite scholar or subtle logician could … 
  21. Stick to Your Duties
     … There are a lot of things that people think are really high-level Dhamma—when you start talking in terms of the three perceptions, or emptiness, or dependent co-arising—but as long as it’s just concepts, it’s low-level Dhamma. High-level Dhamma, as he said, is learning how to master this skill: getting the mind to settle down, getting the … 
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