Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. A Message for the Universe
     … One day that Buddha turned to his student and said, “Let’s go to the Brahma world before lunch.” Kind of like, “Let’s zip down to Escondido before lunch.” So they zipped up to the Brahma world, and then Abhibhu started teaching the Dhamma. The Brahmas were upset and said, “Why is the student teaching us? Why don’t we have the teacher … 
  3. Time & Place
     … Can you imagine what it be like if we only had lists of Dhamma topics and definitions? You wouldn’t have any examples of how the Buddha used the teachings. It would be like taking a course of medicine where all you had was the lists of the different medicines that could be used, but you wouldn’t know when or where or how … 
  4. No Happiness Other than Peace
     … The song is directed to his ladylove, telling her how he loves her as much as the arahants love the Dhamma, cataloging her body parts, the parts he loves as much as the arahants love the Dhamma. You can imagine the Buddha smiling to himself with the thought, “This is a totally deluded little deva here.” But at the end of the song, he … 
  5. Explore & Experiment
     … It’s through exploring these things that the Dhamma becomes yours. We’re not here just to hear the Dhamma that the Buddha taught and then try to confirm that “Yes, that’s true.” Think about how the Buddha himself learned the Dhamma: It was through exploration: trying this, trying that. That’s how things become clear. So, think of the meditation as an … 
  6. Something Good to Cling to
     … When you’ve internalized the message of the Dhamma, the lessons of the Dhamma, that gives you something with which you can argue with the crazy voices in your mind. In fact, all three qualities that go into mindfulness—mindfulness, alertness, ardency—are ones you really need to make yourself dependable. In other words, you have to see what you’re doing, you have … 
  7. The Triple Training
     … As for the Dhamma you want to discuss down there in the kitchen, ask yourself: How much of that do you really know? One time early on when I was a young monk, I was sitting with another young monk and we were discussing Dhamma. At one point I said, "Well, I think it’s like this.” Ajaan Fuang happened to be walking past … 
  8. Raise Your Standards
     … When the Buddha listed the qualities that help you know whether a teaching is Dhamma or not, one of the qualities is unburdensomeness. If a particular practice makes you more burdensome, it’s not really Dhamma. So we’re looking for a happiness where we can sit here and create the happiness ourselves without having to depend too much on other people, and without … 
  9. The Values of Stillness
     … The ones that sneak in and seem perfectly innocent and usually come with a voice of authority, the voice of responsibility, “You’ve got to care about this, you’ve got to take care of that.” Or if it’s a Dhamma issue, “You’ve got to figure out this Dhamma issue,” or they tell you you’ve got to figure out inconstancy, stress … 
  10. The Walls of Ignorance
     … And this is the Dhamma. This is how we take refuge in the Dhamma: remembering these principles and actually putting them into practice, so that the qualities of the Buddha appear within us, become embodied within us. By following the examples of the Noble Disciples, the third member of the Triple Refuge, we become Noble Disciples as well. That’s when the Buddha, Dhamma … 
  11. Training Heart & Mind
     … This is why the Dhamma is special. Not just anybody can master the Dhamma. You have to be a good person to master the Dhamma. Being a good person gives you the energy to keep on practicing. For example, with generosity: Someone once asked the Buddha where a gift should be given, and he was expecting the Buddha to say, “Give to the Buddhists … 
  12. Using Perceptions
     … This is one of the reasons why we shouldn’t be in any hurry to change the Dhamma to fit in with our perceptions of the world. After all, our perceptions of the world are the ones that accompany our lack of skill in approaching the issue of suffering. So we have to learn how to step back from them a bit. This is … 
  13. The Noble Truth about Craving
     … As he said, “All dhammas are rooted in desire,” and that term, “all dhammas,” includes the path, includes both skillful and unskillful dhammas. But the desires that lead to states of becoming: Those are the troublemakers, because they require that we change, and that the world around us will have to change as well. If you have a desire on the level of sensuality … 
  14. The Three Perceptions & Their Opposites
     … As he says, when the Buddha is saying, Sabbe dhamma anatta, all dhammas are not-self, it’s his way of saying that you have to let go even of the Dhamma of your insight. It’s only when you let go of everything, even true and false, that the mind is free. So it’s important to see these perceptions as tools. They … 
  15. Commit & Reflect All Around
    We nourish the Dhamma within us through commitment and reflection. We commit to doing it, we stick with that commitment for a while, so that it can have time to show results, and then we reflect on the results: Are they doing well or are they not doing well? Then we make adjustments and commit again. That’s how the Dhamma is found—not … 
  16. Delight in Striving
     … This goes against the grain with a lot of the Dhamma taught here in the West. I was reading an interview just today with a teacher saying that, even after many years of practice, every now and then he catches himself striving. He has to remind himself that he’s already there. There’s no place to go, he’s already where he has … 
  17. Desires Have Their Reasons
    *“*All dhammas are rooted in desire.” It’s a fascinating statement, and one that’s all too often overlooked. What it means is that everything you experience starts with desire. The mind is not simply on the passive side of things. It’s more on the active side. It’s out looking for things. Or you could say the heart is out hunting for … 
  18. Right Resolve & Right Concentration
     … Do you actually love yourself? If so, why are you doing this? Then there’s love of the Dhamma. You’re lucky that you’ve found the Dhamma. Are you going to give up this opportunity? And then there’s that third one, which he calls, “taking the world as a governing principle.” There are people in the world who can read minds. What … 
  19. Right Fear
     … The teaching on skillful means, for example, has basically become a teaching to justify all kinds of ways of changing the Dhamma in order to please people. And what you end up doing is pandering to other people’s desires, pandering to their likes and dislikes. When you’re not selling the Dhamma, you’re trying to sell yourself, present yourself in a certain … 
  20. All Four Tetrads at Once
     … The second tetrad has to do with feelings; the third with the mind; and the fourth with dhammas. It’s not the case that you’re going to focus on the body, and only when the body is all taken care of will you focus on feelings, and then wait until the feelings are all taken care before you focus on the mind and … 
  21. Universal Truths
    Universal Truths June 13, 2007 When you meditate during the Dhamma talk, 99% of your attention should be with your breath. Let the talk be in the background — because the Dhamma is found inside the mind. The Dhamma in words is just pointers. As you listen to the talk, remind yourself that the words are pointing inside your mind. If you’re inside your … 
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