Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. Clearing Your Space
     … If we started killing them off, we’d get further and further away from the Dhamma. We have to put up with the fact that this is an imperfect world. We’re developing our perfections, but the world around us will always be imperfect. We have to look after our own space. This principle applies to the practice in general. As the Buddha said … 
  3. Learning Right Speech
    There’s a tendency to think of practicing the Dhamma as meaning what you do when you sit here with your eyes closed, trying to get the mind into concentration, trying to develop discernment. But we have to remember that the path to awakening is not a one-fold path or a two-fold path. It’s a noble eightfold path. And each of … 
  4. Honest & Observant
     … The image of a mirror appears again and again in the Dhamma. The Dhamma itself is a mirror; the practice is the act of holding a mirror up to yourself. You look into the mirror and if you see anything unskillful, the Buddha says, treat it as if someone who’s fond of beauty looks in the mirror and sees a blemish, sees some … 
  5. Mindfulness over Time
     … the body in and of itself, feelings in and of themselves, mind in and of itself, dhammas in and of themselves. These are the messages he would have you send on. So first you create a sense of feeling at home here where you can settle in and be concentrated. Then, once there’s concentration, you can look at whatever else comes up as … 
  6. Meticulousness
     … This is why the training is not just a matter of sitting around and talking about Dhamma. It’s a matter of your ability to be observant. Realize the teacher’s teaching you lessons not only during Dhamma talks, but also throughout the day, even when he’s not saying anything. I remember Ajaan Fuang’s instructions to me. He said, “You’ve got … 
  7. Learning from the Precepts
     … The Buddha doesn’t matter; the teachings of the ajaans and all the effort they went to re-establish the Dhamma, they don’t matter. When you have that kind of wall in your mind, you’re not going to learn anything. It’s when you act on impulses that are skillful that the mind is a lot more open to itself, more open … 
  8. Feeding on Ardency
     … You’re supposed to take delight in the Dhamma, delight in developing, delight in abandoning. Realize that this is really good food for you. Not only good for you, but you learn to see that it tastes good, too. So we’re not here just to be passive, not here just to watch things come and watch things go, and say “Gee, things come … 
  9. Calm
     … Right now, listen to the voices that are in line with the Dhamma. As for the other voices, you can ignore them. If you stay in line with the Dhamma, then you’re on the path going in the right direction, the path to the end of suffering. It’s a good path to be on.
  10. The Wisdom of Incongruity
     … Are you that kind of meditator? If you are, do want to keep on being that kind of meditator? Or can you see the wisdom of being more willing to listen to the Dhamma before things really dig into your bones? Learn how to think about things in terms of these analogies instead of your normal ones, and they give you a new perspective … 
  11. Not-self in Context
     … In that passage we chanted just now, the Buddha said the teaching that all dhammas are not-self is true whether there are Buddhas or no Buddhas. That might lead to the conclusion that it’s a categorical truth—true across the board—and it is true across the board. But it’s not always beneficial. There are places in the Canon where the … 
  12. Inner Authorities
     … I was having a conversation one time with someone whose background was in Christianity and Zen, and he said, “Really, you Theravadins, what do you have faith in?” He added, “It has to be something specific, not something general like the Dhamma.” I said, “I have faith in the Buddha’s awakening—that he really was awakened through his own efforts, and that he … 
  13. 1. The Entertaining Breath
     … You look at Ajaan Lee’s Dhamma talks. He talks about the breath energy in the body in lots of different ways. As for Method Two in Keeping the Breath in Mind, he developed that when he was stuck up in the forest in northern Thailand. He had walked in three days, and he was going to spend the rains retreat in a very … 
  14. Bring the Right Attitude
     … Ajaan Fuang, when you would first come to meditate with him, would have you pay homage to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as examples of the values you want to have in your life. Then he’d have you focus on the breath. But in some cases, he’d have people spread thoughts of goodwill, to realize that the search for happiness … 
  15. Unburdensome, Part 2
     … That’s the deciding factor as to whether they’re in line with the Dhamma or not. There’s a story in the Canon, one of the origin stories for the rule against the storing of food. There’s an arahant whose name was Ven. Velaṭṭhasīsa. He was Ānanda’s preceptor. The commentary says he had been the leader of the Kassapa brothers, the … 
  16. A Conglomeration of Germs
     … We need the body to practice, but for a lot of us the body has very little to do with practicing the Dhamma, and everything to do with practicing things that are not Dhamma. This is why we have to contemplate it to ask ourselves, “What in here is of any essence?” It’s all going to die someday. If you’re attached to … 
  17. Admirable Friendship
     … not only teaching us the Dhamma but also giving us the patterns and the protocols to show how a group of people living together practicing the Dhamma can live together so that they continue the principle of admirable friendship. He was giving each person space so we have the solitude and the quiet that can be conducive to the mind. At the same time … 
  18. Goodwill in Action
     … Think about the Buddha’s teachings to Gotami, about how to test what’s true Dhamma and what’s not. That’s a good way of checking if you really do have metta when you’re influencing other people. One, are you unburdensome? Are you placing burdens on other people that you really don’t have to? Two, are you modest? Are you trying … 
  19. Persistence
     … As the Buddha said, if you attain the Dhamma eye, the amount of suffering left ahead of you is like dirt under a fingernail, whereas if you haven’t, the amount of suffering ahead of you is like all the dirt in the Earth. So which is more painful? Which is longer? Think about these things until you have a sense that you really … 
  20. The Acrobat
     … Several years back, I gave a Dhamma talk to a small group, and after the Dhamma talk, people came up and presented little things, like a leaf: The leaf was what sticks in my mind. There were other things, some of them were useful and some of them were just sentimental little things that I was going to have to throw away as soon … 
  21. Living Honorably
     … There’s a mountain moving in from the west, crushing all living beings; and another mountain coming from the north—altogether four mountains moving in.” He then asks, “Considering that human life is so precious and hard to obtain, what would you do?” The king replies, “What else could I do but calm my mind and practice the Dhamma?” And then the Buddha says … 
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