Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. True Honesty
    As I mentioned this afternoon, one of the amazing things about coming to teach the Dhamma in America is how difficult people find it to really sincerely have goodwill for themselves—how hard they find it to really wish for their own true happiness. This may be because the way our culture teaches us to hate ourselves. We may be the wrong race, the … 
  3. When the Mind Is Still
     … Where is that extent? Where is the boundary? We’re not here just to give our allegiance to the Buddha and say, “Yes, he’s right.” These three things are built into the world, as the passage we chanted just now said, “Whether a Tathagata arises in the world or not, there’s this quality of the Dhamma: All fabrications are inconstant. All fabrications … 
  4. Brahmaviharas & Noble Truths
     … As the Buddha said, of all the dhammas of the world that are fabricated, the path is the highest. But of all the dhammas of the world, whether fabricated or unfabricated, dispassion is higher. Dispassion comes when you see that the best you can do with fabrication is to develop long-term happiness—but the long-term is eventually going to end, and you … 
  5. The Karma of Self
     … She wants him to come and teach her the Dhamma. There are two versions of the story. One—this is in the Sarvastivadin version—is where she lies in the bed, and as soon as he comes into the room, she throws off the covers and she’s totally naked. The Theravadan version—which I think is probably more true to what can happen … 
  6. Learning by Doing
    Many of the Thai ajaans would like to start their Dhamma talks by saying, “Make a survey of your body; make a survey of your mind.” With the body, make sure that it’s sitting up straight, hands in your lap. With the mind, make sure that it’s sitting up straight, too. In other words, it’s not leaning forward into the future … 
  7. Choices
     … That’s one reason we listen to the Dhamma: to get an idea of what these other choices are. And then we listen further to see how we can dig down to see what choices we’re making that we’re not aware of. Because the big problem is that we keep making choices in the hopes that they will bring happiness but they … 
  8. Thinking & Evaluating
     … I noticed, when I was living with Ajaan Fuang, sometimes I’d ask him a Dhamma question and I’d get a one-word, two-word answer. That was it. I realized that what he was doing was giving me the one-word or two-word answer that should cut through the particular problem. These were the quick answers that he had learned to … 
  9. Guarding Against Trouble
     … The problem is that sometimes, when we’re practicing the Dhamma, we lack common sense. We hear about the Dhamma protecting us or we hear about our good intentions protecting us, and we think that we don’t have to be wary about the world around us. Our good intentions will protect us. But the Buddha never said that. The protection you get from … 
  10. Recollection of Hell
     … All fabrications are stressful.” Then there’s: “All dhammas are not-self.” The word dhamma here applies to unfabricated phenomena, like the deathless, as well. Whatever passion you fabricate for that, you have to learn how to let go of that, too. Only then can there be full awakening. So it is possible to use these aggregates as a path to a truly safe … 
  11. A Much Better Place
     … There are also the four worldly dhammas:* loka-dhammas.* Actually, there are eight altogether, but they come in four pairs: there’s gain/loss, status/loss of status, praise/criticism, pleasure/pain. We don’t like to think of these things as pairs that have to go together. We like to think we could have the gain and the status and the praise and … 
  12. A Path for a Noble Desire
    The passage we chanted just now, Setting the wheel of Dhamma in Motion, was when the Buddha introduced his basic teachings, his very first sermon. He started with the noble eightfold path. It’s interesting that he would depict his teaching as a path, not just a body of descriptions. It was a set of instructions to follow. As he pointed out, everybody lives … 
  13. Meaning & Purpose
     … When the mind gets still and is not analyzing dhammas, it’s suffering from delusion, which is another unskillful state. But: If you can’t have any desire in your practice, and you have to spend all your time analyzing dhammas, you’re not going to be able to complete the whole path, because concentration is part of the path. That person was saying … 
  14. Reflecting on Karma
     … This is why teaching the Dhamma is one of the best gifts you can give somebody else. But you have to be careful. Who’s going to listen to your Dhamma? A lot of people don’t want to hear it. The best way, of course, is through creating a good example in your own actions. But your attitude toward other people regardless is … 
  15. Solid in the Face of Death
     … He cited four Dhamma summaries, and they were all about the facts of aging, illness, and death. The world is swept away—that’s aging. It offers no shelter, there’s no one in charge—that’s illness. You can’t tell other people to share your illness or take it from this person and give it to that person so that the first … 
  16. Dethinking Thinking
     … When these things come in and say things, ask yourself, “What if the opposite is true? And why do I have to believe those concepts anyhow?” When I was in Thailand at Wat Asokaram, we’d have Dhamma talks every night. They had a rotating roster of monks. And out of the fourteen monks on the roster, maybe two could give good Dhamma talks … 
  17. To Certify Yourself
     … This principle applies all the way through the practice of the Dhamma. There’s a spot where the Buddha says the Dhamma is nourished in your mind by two things: by committing yourself to the practice and then by reflecting on the results. If the results are good, you keep it up. If the results are not good, you change. So, right now, experiment … 
  18. Breaking the Arrows
     … They talk about taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, which means is that you take refuge in their example. The Buddha was someone who found a way to experience aging, illness, and death without suffering. The Dhamma he taught was the body of instructions that he left behind: This is how you do it. And the Sangha is composed of … 
  19. Nibbana Is Better than You Think
     … You’ve got the opportunity to practice the Dhamma. The Dhamma is available. The opportunity to practice is here. So, take advantage of it. As for what it means to finally put an end to suffering, what it would be like to have no more suffering, it’s really going to change your mind. The meaning we have in life is the meaning that … 
  20. The Joy of Growing
     … It’s not simply a matter of following instructions… You have to think for yourself, observe for yourself, as well This is how the Buddha found the Dhamma, and this is how we’re going to find it, too. We have the advantage that he came before us and pointed out what the good questions are. But it’s up to us to ask … 
  21. Overconfidence & Underconfidence
     … There must be something wrong with me.” That seems to be the voice of the Dhamma saying, “Here, you’re bad. You’re not up to snuff.” Well, that’s not the voice of the Dhamma. It’s Mara, Mara coming to discourage you. This is where the Buddha’s simile to Ven. Sona comes in. When you’re going to play the lute … 
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