Search results for: "Wisdom"

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  2. Introduction
     … But this is the basic principle of what the Buddha said lies at the heart of wisdom: seeing that the happiness that’s worth working for will have to be long-term, and you should be willing to sacrifice other things for its sake. Now, notice that wisdom doesn’t mean you ignore your own needs or your own happiness for the sake of … 
  3. Refuge in an Admirable Friend
     … The first quality is wisdom, discernment. As he says, the question that lies at the beginning of discernment is going to someone who is knowledgeable and asking, “What is skillful?” “What is unskillful?” “What, when I do, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?” “What, when I do, will lead to my long-term harm and suffering?” The wisdom there is in … 
  4. Living Honorably
     … One of the marks of wisdom is that you don’t push it away. You try to figure out how to live in the presence of the possibility of death. The Canon has two very striking images in this regard. One is the image that came to the Buddha when he was still a young prince. He saw life as a dwindling stream. The … 
  5. How the Dhamma Protects
     … That’s where you have to exercise as much discernment, as much wisdom as possible. We tend to think of the Buddha’s teachings on wisdom is being very abstract, but they’re not. They’re very down-to-earth: What are you doing, what are the consequences of what you’re doing? If you know that there’s something you like to do … 
  6. The Intelligent Heart
     … That, in fact, is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom begins by going and finding people who look like they really know—in the Buddha’s terms, contemplatives: people who have been contemplating their life and living a very deliberate life, living their lives wisely. Then you ask them: What can I do that will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness? What can … 
  7. Warm Your Heart
     … After all, acts of merit—generosity, virtue, developing universal goodwill—are the first answer to the question that the Buddha says lies at the beginning of discernment, wisdom: “What when I do it will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?” Think about the wisdom there: One, you see that happiness is going to depend on your actions. Two, long-term is possible … 
  8. The Cost of Happiness
     … It’s the beginning of wisdom: “What when I do it will be for my long-term welfare and happiness?” It’s not as if you’ve suddenly decided to look for happiness. Everybody’s looking for happiness all the time. The wisdom lies, simply in realizing, one, happiness will have to depend on what you do, and two, you want a happiness that … 
  9. Learning by Doing
     … Of those three qualities that the Buddha recommends for mindfulness practice, and which also slough over into concentration practice—the mindfulness, alertness and ardency—ardency is the wisdom factor. That’s a fact that’s often overlooked. It requires wisdom to motivate yourself to do this to begin with. There are lots of voices in the mind that would rather be doing something else … 
  10. To Purify the Heart
     … This is how wisdom connects with compassion. You want a happiness that doesn’t harm you, doesn’t harm others. So you have to keep their well-being in mind. And the quality of purity comes when you look at your actions, your words, and your thoughts to see how they fit in with these principles that you’ve set up as your goal … 
  11. The Wisdom of Dualities
    The Wisdom of Dualities February 2, 2020 When I was in Thailand this last time, I went to pay my respects to Ajaan Uthai. When I got there he was talking to a group of lay people, and he invited me to join the conversation. He started asking questions about the monastery here. One of his questions was, “When Westerners come to the monastery … 
  12. Free Like a Wild Deer
     … So, try to make your wisdom the wisdom of qualities of the mind instead of the wisdom of things—knowing this thing is that way and that thing is this way—and try to learn what are the qualities the Buddha is talking about when he’s talking about contentment. He explains it in his discussion of the traditions of the noble ones. You … 
  13. Right Effort
     … There’s no one blanket piece of wisdom that’s going to cover all situations. The word for wisdom, pañña, actually means discernment, the ability to detect differences. Sometimes you accept the way things are if you can’t do anything about them, and other times you realize, “I’ve got to push.” And accepting the way things are may sometimes mean realizing that … 
  14. Treasures from the East
    There’s a long tradition in Western culture that wisdom comes from the East. Socrates claimed to have gained his wisdom from a woman who came from the East, Diotima. She’s the only person in all of the Socratic dialogues whose teachings Socrates doesn’t argue with. Later, the Stoics came into Athens, and they too claimed to bring their wisdom from the … 
  15. Things that Arise & Pass Away
     … All of this is done in the pursuit of happiness in a noble way, trying to become happy in a way that develops wisdom, compassion, and purity. Of course, the wisest pursuit of happiness is one that goes for a happiness that doesn’t change. This is where the Buddha’s premises about fabrication come in, and they give focus to your practice. We … 
  16. Working from the Inside
     … He said the wisdom faculty in all this comes from your desire to do it well. Wisdom is not just knowing the names for things or being able to analyze things. You’re trying to understand things through doing—through doing things skillfully. This is why the Buddha talked about a level of understanding that comes not just from listening or from thinking but … 
  17. Faith in the Buddha’s Awakening
     … That’s how wisdom begins. As the Buddha once said, when you see an abundant happiness that comes from sacrificing a lesser happiness, you should be willing to sacrifice that lesser happiness for the greater one. It sounds obvious but when you look at the way people live their lives, it’s as if they’d never heard of this idea. Everyone goes running … 
  18. The Middleness of the Path
     … Your willingness to feel your way, to learn from your mistakes, is what develops your wisdom, develops your discernment. Sometimes it’s a little chastening to see how little wisdom and discernment you have, but what are you going to do? You make use of what you’ve got. There’s no way you can get more without using what you’ve got. It … 
  19. Refuge
     … From wisdom then comes purity. If you want long-term welfare and happiness, it’s going to have to depend on your actions, and your actions have to really be in line with what you want—in other words, actions that don’t harm yourself, actions that don’t harm others. You have to look at your actions to make sure they really are … 
  20. Merit: Actively Happy
     … That’s the beginning of the wisdom, realizing there are things you can do. From there, you’re convinced in what the Buddha taught, that there is such a thing as long-term happiness, and that long-term is better than short-term. That’s how these questions are wise. But beyond the wisdom of the questions lies the wisdom of the answers that … 
  21. Sensuality
     … There are those chocolates that come with little bits of chocolate wisdom written inside the wrappers. Chocolate wisdom tends to be, “Take another one, indulge yourself, be nice to yourself, give yourself more cholesterol problems.” Even without the advertising industry, though, you have that way of thinking when you’re feeling really miserable and you tell yourself, “Give yourself an ice cream cone, give … 
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