Search results for: "Dhamma"

  1. Page 66
  2. Shame & Compunction
     … There are passages where he says you test the Dhamma on your own by putting it into practice and seeing what results. He’s also asking here, though, to look at the behavior of others—because it’s easier to see the harm caused by others than it is to see the harm you cause to yourself or to others. The principle here being … 
  3. When Your Head Is on Fire
     … The purpose of these Dhamma talks is to help you see what areas you should reflect on, how you should measure progress. If you find that it’s easier and easier to get out of an unskillful state, you’re making progress. If it’s getting harder to get out of an unskillful state, something’s wrong. But the important thing is that you … 
  4. Fear & Insecurity
     … the bank of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. That way, if something happens to your body, your feelings, your perceptions, your fabrications, or your consciousness, there’s still something you can fall back on that gives you at least some sense of security. It’s not the ultimate security, but it’s heading you in the right direction, because, as I said … 
  5. Self-doubts
     … So you have to ask yourself, looking back on your life, “How often have those voices really been in your own best interest?” To say nothing of the Dhamma, even in the world: If you’re going to get ahead, if you’re going to make something of yourself, you can’t listen to belittling voices, dismissive voices. You’ve got to show some … 
  6. Self Esteem
     … He told me, “You have to think like a thief if you want to learn the Dhamma.” In other words, don’t expect everything to be handed to you on a platter. It’s up to you to be observant. When you’re listening to somebody talk, whether they’re aiming at teaching you a lesson or not, what can you learn from what … 
  7. Lessons in Fabrication
     … We say we take refuge in the Buddha, refuge in the Dhamma, refuge in the Sangha, and one of the ways we keep taking refuge in them is that we keep them in mind. That’s another meaning of sarana: things you remember. Always remember that the most important event in the world—that should have an impact on everything you do, say, and … 
  8. In the Driver’s Seat
     … So when you have your mind set on the Dhamma, you become rich; as you develop more and more good qualities, you become richer. So remember, you’re in the driver’s seat. What matters as you’re driving is not your past driving record, except for reminding yourself that you’ve made those mistakes in the past and you don’t want to … 
  9. Wilderness Lessons
     … Make it a Dhamma exploring trip, not just a picnic as I heard one of you say. Use your ears, use your eyes, and keep your mind alert for the lessons of the forest. The National Park Service sign says take only pictures and memories, leave only footprints. Well, our attitude is to give what you can of your goodwill and bring back whatever … 
  10. Respect Your Center
     … Ajaan Mun has a nice image in one of his final Dhamma talks. You’re going into battle, and you’ve got a series of weapons. Your concentration practice is your food; discernment, your weapon; mindfulness and all the other aspects of the practice, the other things you need as a soldier. The question is: Who’s the soldier? It’s your determination not … 
  11. A Happy Tradition
     … Soon after he was taught, he gained the Dhamma eye and then he died. He was reborn as a deva and, as a deva, he outshone all the other devas in heaven. That’s a story that’s told in one of the udanas. In another sutta there’s what seems to be a continuation of the story where the devas are kind of … 
  12. Taking the Long View
     … One of the strange tendencies in modern Dhamma is to tell people, “Don’t try too hard, don’t place too many demands on yourself. Don’t make yourself miserable over the fact that the mind isn’t centered, the mind’s not settling down. Don’t even try. Just let it happen naturally.” But death doesn’t say that. Death says, “You’re … 
  13. Respect for Tranquility & Insight
     … They hadn’t read much Dhamma at all. When they came to him, he’d say, “Do this.” So they would do this. When they had done that, then he’d say, “Well, now do this.” They’d come and report on what happened, “Well, now do this.” Step by step by step—treating it as an exploration. Try to have that same attitude … 
  14. Admirable Friendship
    Admirable Friendship November 13, 2002 Practicing the Dhamma is primarily an issue of looking at yourself, looking at your own thoughts, your own words, your own deeds, seeing what’s skillful, seeing what’s not. It’s not so much an issue of self-improvement as one of action-improvement, word-improvement, and thought-improvement. This is an important distinction, because people in the … 
  15. On Your Own Two Feet
     … This is why we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha to begin with. They give us examples of how to train ourselves, so that we can eventually stand on our own two feet. And particularly so that we can gain a sense of what’s right and wrong, what should be believed and what shouldn’t be believed. And here … 
  16. Remembering Luang Lung
     … When Luang Lung moved to Wat Makut, he suggested that the abbot go listen to Ajaan Lee, who was giving Dhamma talks at the time at another monastery in Bangkok. The abbot was very impressed. The abbot eventually became Supreme Patriarch, and it was at Luang Lung’s instigation that he invited Ajaan Fuang to teach at Wat Makut. Luang Lung looked after Ajaan … 
  17. Don’t Limit Yourself
     … Even the word Dhamma has, as one of its meanings, action. So we’re focusing on actions. We’re trying to expand our ability and see what good use we can put them to. One very good use is to notice ways in which we’re creating unnecessary stress and suffering for ourselves and for other people, and to learn how to stop. In … 
  18. Anger
     … If meditation were simply a matter of learning how to get very still in the present moment, how do you think all of those different Dhamma teachings would have developed? All of what they call the 84,000 different division of the Dhamma in the Canon came from someone who was really focused on the issue of skill and lack of skill, trying to … 
  19. Determined to Be Undefeated by Death
     … You notice it, you’re aware of it, you watch it, take it as a good Dhamma lesson: These things, too, pass away. But there’s something in the mind that doesn’t die. The more you’ve been meditating, the clearer that will become. So the skills you develop—the determination to get the mind to settle down and all the qualities that … 
  20. What’s Getting in the Way
    What’s Getting in the Way August 19, 2013 One of the main purposes of listening to the Dhamma is to get a sense of possibilities. We read the life of the Buddha to get a sense of what a human being can do, but all too often his story seems to be off there in never-never land, something someone far away in … 
  21. Victory in Battle
     … All too often, Dhamma practice is viewed as simple acceptance. You basically give up on any kind of battle and say, “Well, things are just going to pass away. They’re inconstant, impermanent. There’s nothing out there that’s really worth getting anyhow”— which is very defeatist. The Buddha definitely said there are things that are worth getting. It’s simply a matter … 
  22. Load next page...