Search results for: "Dhamma"

  1. Page 30
  2. 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 … 
  3. 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 … 
  4. 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 … 
  5. 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 … 
  6. 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 … 
  7. The Reality Principle
     … And then the fourth is not having seen the true dhamma, having doubts about the true dhamma. Now if we can learn to overcome these four fears of death, death won’t bring suffering. And only when we’ve got a handle on these things can we really be helpful to other people. This doesn’t mean that you have totally overcome the fear … 
  8. 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 … 
  9. The Basic Medicine
    You all know the old image of the Buddha as a doctor and the Dhamma as medicine. When you come to practice the Dhamma, it’s as if you’re learning to be your own doctor, looking after the illnesses of your own mind. Everyone comes up here wounded in one way or another, suffering either from things outside or from things inside. At … 
  10. Values
     … You can focus on the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha either by simply repeating one of those words in your mind as you breathe in, breathe out, or by focusing on their qualities. Think about the Buddha, think about the Dhamma and the Sangha—what you find inspiring about them. You could think about your generosity or your virtue. Think about the times when … 
  11. Blowing Bubbles
     … Otherwise, you get engrossed in the colors of the bubbles and you want to get in—especially when the thoughts are about Dhamma. You can give yourself a whole Dhamma discourse while you’re sitting here. In other words, you’re not really looking at the breath. You’re going off in some Dhamma bubble. Regardless of what the content of the thought is … 
  12. The Triple Training
     … Because we’re people who practice the Dhamma, that’s where our primary focus has to be: What are we doing, to what extent are we committed to the path, and to what extent are we actually learning from it? The Buddha said there are two big obstacles to gaining the Dhamma. One is not being committed, and other is not reflecting. In other … 
  13. Outside the Box
     … Not all of us here practicing are going to be able to teach the Dhamma to other people, but you can be a good influence. You can be a good example. So in that way, your Dhamma practice does help others. When you take joy in finding happiness that doesn’t harm anybody, that comes from this desire to be helpful. So learn to … 
  14. Noble Treasures
    Ajaan Lee once gave a Dhamma talk on the topic of the noble treasures: seven qualities of mind that, as the Buddha said, are not burned by fire, not washed away by floods, can’t be stolen, can’t be seized by robbers or kings. You probably know the list: conviction, virtue, a sense of shame, a sense of compunction, learning, generosity, and discernment … 
  15. Unlimited Mind, Limited Resources
     … It’s not the case that a Buddha can save everybody or bring everybody to the Dhamma. Even Buddhas have had to recognize their limitations. When our Buddha was teaching, a horse trainer came to him once, and he asked the horse trainer, “When you train horses how do you train them?” The trainer said, “There are those that are easy to train, and … 
  16. Evaluation
     … This falls in line with what the Buddha said about how you nourish the Dhamma by committing yourself to it and then reflecting on what you’ve done. The commitment there is in directed thought and singleness of preoccupation: focusing your mind solely on the breath and trying to keep it there, not letting anything else come in to pull your awareness away. When … 
  17. To Be an Adult
     … We have to use our opportunity to meditate, to practice the Dhamma in all ways—in terms of generosity, virtue, concentration, and discernment—as protection, both from dangers within ourselves and from dangers outside. As the Buddha says, the real dangers outside are not so much what people can do to us, they’re what other people can get us to do. They can … 
  18. A Doctor’s Strategies
     … And the Dhamma he taught wasn’t a Dhamma that was designed to sell. He simply told the truth as he discovered it—what worked to free the mind from suffering, what worked to take it beyond just the end of suffering. Because with the end of suffering, there also comes a realization of the Deathless. So that’s the kind of teacher we … 
  19. “My Way”
     … We bow down to the Buddha every night, but the real bowing down, he said, is when you practice the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma—in other words, not in line with your own preconceived notions or in line with your old habits. You want to learn how to change your habits so they fit in with the Buddha’s way of thinking … 
  20. The Five Faculties Confirmed
     … Based on that, we see that the Dhamma is well taught. Those who have followed the Dhamma have found awakening as well. That’s part of our conviction, too, which gives us the energy to say, “Well, if they can do it, so can we.” The fourth aspect of conviction is virtues pleasing to the noble ones: pleasing both in the sense that you … 
  21. The Power of Intention
     … It’s through commitment and reflection that the Dhamma grows, that the Dhamma inside you is nourished. So you intentionally make the effort to stay and then you reflect on how to do that skillfully. That’s how the practice of concentration leads to discernment—the discernment that the mind gets freed.
  22. Load next page...