Search results for: "Dhamma"
- Page 70
- Preparing to Die Well… So why did you ordain?” Ratthapala replies that he had reflected on four Dhamma summaries from the Buddha. These four summaries are mentioned nowhere else in the Canon, but they were lessons Ratthapala claimed he learned from the Buddha. One, the world is swept away. It does not endure. Two, the world offers no shelter. There is no one in charge. Three, the world …
- Four Roles to Play… That’s how the Dhamma is nourished. So feed it well.
- Cleansing the Mind… The Buddha had compassion for him, was able to teach him the Dhamma, and Angulimala was able to escape a lot of the bad karma that would have come to him if he’d continued his ways. A lot of people, however, were not happy for him. They wanted to see him suffer first. They would throw things at him when he was on …
- Cause & Effect Right Now… Ask yourself, ‘What’s the Dhamma lesson here? What’s something you can take from it as a guide to how you’re going to develop your mind?’ And particularly how you’re going to understand how the mind creates a lot of unnecessary suffering for itself.” Now that’s something that’s really useful. Because that principle of causality: If you sat down …
- It’s Good to Talk to Yourself… contemplation of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha to deal with times when you’re feeling discouraged in the practice, and contemplation of death for when you’re feeling lazy. You realize that death could come at any time, and you’ve got work to do in your mind if you want to be ready to die and not suffer from it. Contemplation …
- Elemental Energy… In Pali, they use the word *vihāra-dhamma, *which literally means a home for the mind, shelter for the mind. That’s what the breath can be. It can also be nourishment. When the breath is comfortable, it gives you something good to feed on so that you’re not hungry for praise from other people, or for this or that from other people …
- Great Expectations… This is how we find the Dhamma, as the Buddha said: through commitment and then reflection. We commit to seeing how greed, aversion, and delusion come and how they go, why they come, why they go, and then we look for their allure. Why is it that when they go, we go back and dig them up again? What is it that we like …
- Taking Responsibility… That’s the point, as he says, where you become independent in the Dhamma. Prior to that point, you have to depend on other people to give you advice, to point out where you’re wrong. With stream-entry, you reach the stage where you can begin to monitor yourself reliably. That doesn’t mean you can’t use advice from other people. The …
- You Can Do Better… This is what the Dhamma means: There’s something better, and here’s the opening. So let that thought pull you along. You can do better. And it will be better when you do better. In other words, it’s worth all the effort that goes into it. The results will be good. That’s what drives our practice, what gives power to the …
- The Skillful Heart… There are so many intellectual explanations of the Dhamma that we tend to forget that it starts with a quality of the heart. The word **citta in Pali, which is usually translated “mind,” also means “heart.” Unlike Western languages, the languages of the Buddhist countries don’t make a clear distinction between the heart and the mind. The heart has its reasons. The mind …
- Magha Puja… His listeners were arahants, they didn’t need to hear the Dhamma in order to gain awakening, but they were about to begin teaching others themselves. So the Buddha gave a summary of the main points they should teach. First point is that khanti, patience and endurance, is the foremost energy of the practice. The word used for energy, tapas, means the kind of …
- The Anatomy of the Present… That’s quite a radical statement, as is another statement, that all dhammas, all things you experience through the senses, are rooted in desire. It’s because of your desires that you have these experiences. So you’re not simply on the receiving end of experience. The mind is not just a byproduct of physical processes. The mind, through its desires, is actually the …
- Three Parts of Right View… This is the essence of the Dhamma, as the Buddha said. It’s something of essential value, and it’s free for us to look for. This path is open to everyone who wants it—something of true value, something that really is noble in life. So try to make the most of this opportunity.
- Analysis of Qualities… This is why we have those other meditation topics—like recollection of death, recollection of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, recollection of your own generosity and virtue—to incline the mind to see the importance of getting trained, settling down, developing some concentration. That’s one thing you have to watch out for in the mind. The other thing you have to …
- De-thinking… I once received a letter from a monk who had 600 Dhamma questions he wanted me to answer. And my feeling was if you that many questions, none of them are really life-and-death questions. So I didn’t feel motivated to answer. If someone writes a letter with one question, I believe that person. So as you’re sitting here, try to …
- Compassion Without Clinging… That’s because it’s in the context of affection that the Dhamma is best transmitted, best taught. When there’s affection, then there’s a sense that when there’s criticism, it’s well-meaning. That way, both sides can learn. That’s a good example to try in the family. As long as your affection is clear, then it’s a lot …
- The Right Attitude to the Body… The story in the Commentary is a lot more detailed, saying that when the bhikkhunis went to listen the Dhamma from the Buddha, he would always talk about the unattractiveness of the body. She didn’t like hearing about this because after all she had a really nice body, a really nice appearance. So she’d always sit in the back so that she …
- Greed for Outer & Inner Wealth… The other treasures are learning, in other words, learning about the Dhamma, having a fund of knowing what the Buddha said on different topics so you can call them to mind when you need them; generosity; and discernment. Now, you’ll notice that some of these treasures are qualities of that admirable friend you’re looking for. That’s because admirable friendship leads beyond …
- Keeping the Buddha in Mind… It’s like a wind that blows in, blowing all the Dhamma out of your mind. Especially when you’re living in a world of wrong view, which most of the world is. What gets blown into your mind are attitudes that other people say are important, the issues they have. Remember that the Buddha was very particular about which issues he would address …
- A Meditator is a Good Friend to Have… Don’t worry about my turning away from the Dhamma. In fact, I’ll be going to the monastery even more now. So put your mind at rest.” And it turns out that the husband doesn’t die, at least not then. He recovers and he goes to tell the Buddha what his wife told him. The Buddha replies, “Do you realize how fortunate …
- Load next page...
