Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. 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 … 
  3. 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 … 
  4. 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 … 
  5. 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 … 
  6. 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 … 
  7. 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 … 
  8. 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 … 
  9. 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 … 
  10. 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 … 
  11. 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 … 
  12. 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 … 
  13. “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 … 
  14. 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 … 
  15. 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.
  16. Admitting Mistakes
     … The Dhamma and the Vinaya are all of a piece, simply that they approach the question of training the mind from different sides. The Dhamma focuses primarily on principles; the Vinaya, primarily on rules. The general principles can’t cover the whole territory nor can rules with their specifics. The combination of the two puts the question of how to train the mind into … 
  17. Stand Your Ground
    Every day we chant in which we take the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as our refuge. What does that mean? It doesn’t mean that we’re hoping for the Buddha to come and help us. The Buddha entered nibbana a long time ago. As for the Sangha, they may not be around when we need them. What we need is a … 
  18. King Asoka’s Vow
     … But on the other hand, all the forest ajaans really had to depend on themselves, even to the extent of depending on themselves to recognize the true Dhamma when it came. It’s not the case that everybody who listened to Ajaan Mun was immediately taken by his teachings. I once read a Dhamma talk by Ajahn Chah where he was pointing out how … 
  19. Contentment vs. Initiative
     … Finally, you have good friends, people whose values are in line with the Dhamma, so that you can pick up good habits from them. Avoid people who would lead you astray. You don’t want to associate with the type of people who say, “Let’s go and have a little bit of fun,” and not really care about the consequences. You want people … 
  20. A Greater Happiness
     … Part of the exam was to write a little Dhamma talk, and you were supposed to quote a few Buddhist sayings in the course of the Dhamma talk. They gave you a whole book of sayings that you could memorize if you wanted to, and you’d see little novices out memorizing the whole book. But instead of memorizing the whole book, I decided … 
  21. The Most Important Thing to Be Doing
     … There’s a pun they have in Thai where they talk about how practicing the Dhamma is basically practicing yourself. The word “practice” there in Thai can also mean looking after something or looking after another person. So when you’re practicing the Dhamma you’re looking after yourself. You’re taking care of this big issue inside you. And notice, the Buddha never … 
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