Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. Issues
     … Disputes are over what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s Dharma, what’s not Dhamma, what’s Vinaya, what’s not Vinaya. Accusation issues: Did so-and-so break one of the principles? And if so, or if not, how do you find out? What do you do when you reach a verdict? The Buddha sets out the processes by which you … 
  3. Inconstant, Stressful, Not-self
     … The other perspective is to view them in terms of the Dhamma summaries that the monk Ratthapala taught to King Koravya: (1) The world is swept away; it does not endure. (2) The world offers no shelter; there’s no on in charge. (3) The world has nothing of its own. One has to pass on, leaving everything behind. (4) The world is insatiable … 
  4. The Power of Intention
    It’s good to think about how much time the Buddha spent searching for the Dhamma, how much energy that went into that, and then how much time and energy that went into spreading the Dhamma—people remembering it and practicing it over the generations and passing it on. Now it’s been passed on to you. They passed it on so that you … 
  5. Self View & Conceit
     … What are they going to think when you’re getting ready to give up? Then there’s the Dhamma as a governing principle: realizing that here’s an excellent Dhamma. It’s very rare that we find a true Dhamma like this. So here’s our chance to practice. If we don’t practice now, when are we going to get another chance? Then … 
  6. Choose Your Actions Wisely
     … This is why it’s good to read the Dhamma, good to listen to the Dhamma, because the Buddha gives you new ways of taking apart that harassing thought, new ways of perceiving the situation, new ways of perceiving the way you’re dealing with it right now. Remember that his word for clinging can also mean to feed on things. Why are you … 
  7. Slings and Arrows of Ordinary Fortunes
     … This is what the Dhamma is for. It’s all for putting an end to suffering. It’s also something we can use. The reflections on aging, illness, and death are not meant to make you discouraged. They’re meant to make you realize that these things are universal. Reflection on separation, again, is supposed to make that point that it’s universal, realizing … 
  8. The Wisdom of Ardency
     … The best use of the Dhamma is not to talk about it, but to use it to get rid of that suffering. It’s in figuring out what you’ve got to do to act more skillfully: That’s where the wisdom lies. That’s where the discernment lies. So you need to develop a sense of how important your actions are. Wisdom is … 
  9. Self Determination
    There’s a theme in several of Ajaan Lee’s Dhamma talks where he says we have a choice: We can be slaves to our defilements or we can be slaves to the Buddha. When we’re slaves to our defilements, there’s no chance for freedom. We may think we’re doing what we want, but it’s usually what our defilements want … 
  10. Goodwill for Snakes
     … It was because of his goodwill for the archer who was sent to kill him that the archer put down his weapons, came in, listened to the Dhamma, and greatly benefited from listening to the Dhamma. That was because the Buddha’s goodwill was so solid. Ours, however, still needs practice, which means we can’t rely only on good intentions. We have to … 
  11. Truths Noble in the Heart
     … This is one of the reasons we have monasteries and why the Buddha set up the institution of what they call dependence, where young monks stay with senior monks for at least five years – not just to hear the Dhamma, because nowadays, you can hear the Dhamma all over the web. What’s special about dependence is that, on the one hand, you see … 
  12. Restlessness & Anxiety
     … In other words, make sure you’re living in a world where a Buddha is still remembered, the Dhamma is taught and practiced, and the Sangha has carried the true Dhamma down for many generations. When you have that context in the world of your mind, it’s a lot easier to hold perceptions that will calm the mind down and give you more … 
  13. Fears
     … There’s nothing I can do for you.” This is where Dhamma practice comes in: facing our realistic fears, our fears of aging, illness, separation, and death. These things are real and they do cause suffering — if you don’t work your way down into exactly where your attachments are. This is precisely the Buddhist take on fear: It comes from clinging and attachment … 
  14. Motivation
     … The second governing principle is the appreciation of the Dhamma. This is a wonderful Dhamma we’ve got here, taught by someone totally free from greed, aversion, and delusion. It’s timeless. That points to the positive aspect of the practice. Then the third governing principle is the world. This is the unusual one. The Buddha says that there are people in the world … 
  15. The World of the Body
     … There’s a great passage in a collection of Ajaan Lee’s Dhamma talks. It’s not actually part of a Dhamma talk. It was a conversation recorded there. A guy comes to Ajaan Lee and says, “My friends have been harassing me. They know that I’m a practicing Buddhist and they say, ‘If this body of yours is not self, why won … 
  16. Bless Yourself
     … There’s conviction—conviction that the Buddha really was awakened, that he taught the Dhamma well, and that there have been people who’ve practiced the Dhamma well and gotten results. That thought gives you energy. Otherwise, you live in a world where no one has found the end of suffering, one in which the Buddha had just a few interesting ideas that might … 
  17. Wise About Pleasure
     … As he said, he doesn’t reject pleasure that’s in accordance with the Dhamma. For example, there’s the pleasure of living in a harmonious community, the pleasure of the wilderness. These pleasures are perfectly fine. The Pali Canon is one of the first bodies of literature that actually contains wilderness poetry. Prior to that, there were poems about the beauties of nature … 
  18. Issues of Control
     … The Buddha once said that the Dhamma is nourished through commitment and reflection. Commitment means that you really give yourself to it, but then you have to reflect on the results of your commitment. This is an important part of developing any skill. All too often, we’re impatient. We try to barge right in, bring some control, the body reacts in a negative … 
  19. The Bright Tunnel
     … No matter how much you tell it, no matter how much you explain, no matter how many Dhamma books you read or Dhamma talks you listen to, it’s still going to hold on because it feels someplace deep down that it has to. It’s afraid to let go. But when you finally train the mind to develop discernment and see through the … 
  20. A Healthy Ego
     … On the one hand, in terms of the shoulds, the passage we chanted from the Dhammacakka just now, which was the actual wheel of the Dhamma, talked about the four noble truths and the three levels of knowledge for each truth. In the time of the Buddha, a wheel was like a table nowadays, where you have different sets of variables that you run … 
  21. Forgiveness
     … The Buddha places a heavy emphasis on harmony within the Sangha but he never advises trying to achieve harmony at the expense of the Dhamma. If someone is advocating a position that’s really against the Dhamma, and you can’t get the person to change his or her mind, then that’s it. The Sangha expels the person. Or if the conflict is … 
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