Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. The Brightness of Life
     … The Buddha said this is how the Dhamma is found—by committing to the path, and particularly committing to what he calls the heightened mind: getting the mind in concentration, getting in right concentration—which implies all of the factors of the path—and then watching what you’re doing. It’s in this ability to watch ourselves in action that we begin to … 
  3. Rottweilers in the House
     … Everyone here is a friend of the Dhamma, so take that as your assumption. Given that we’re all here meditating, one of the best things you can do to show that you’re friendly is to give other people the space to meditate and be quiet. We all have the same values here. So take that as establishing the fact that you are … 
  4. Circumspection
     … someone who’s newly introduced the Dhamma, really enthusiastic, and they’re giving so much that it’s harming the family. The monks are told not to go to their house so as not to put too much pressure on them, until they seem to have gained a sense of just right or what’s enough for them. There’s also the issue of … 
  5. Focused on Results
     … So you learn how to find some humor in the situation, keep yourself entertained in ways that are in line with the Dhamma. This is how the ajaans became the ajaans. Their senses of humor saw them through. So we do focus on results. We focus on acting in a skillful way and learning from the results of our actions. That’s how the … 
  6. Virtues & Values
     … That’s what the chant about the Dhamma says: “This is to be known by the observant for themselves.” This is why each of us has to develop the skill inside individually. But when we’re all practicing, we all offer support to one another. In that way, our practice acquires strength, and we can reach the goal at which we all aim.
  7. Death World
     … We have the Dhamma. We have communities of practitioners who enable us to feed our goodness, who encourage us to feed our goodness, give us recommendations, give us advice, give us encouragement. So take advantage of that network. That way, at the very least as you leave Death World, your goodness will still survive. And that’s a survival that really matters.
  8. Four Virtues
     … As one of the forest ajaans once said, Dhamma is one thing clear through, starting with generosity and going up all the way to the noble attainments. So as you’re working on your precepts, maintaining them throughout the day, it’s an important element in training and developing the mind. The second kind of virtue is restraint of the senses. The mind goes … 
  9. Correcting, Fostering, Cutting Away
     … Then remind yourself of whatever Dhamma theme is appropriate. You have the choice to think what you’re going to think. Just because a certain mood has taken over doesn’t mean that it’s your mood for right now and you can’t get out. Step back a bit. Breathe. Breathe through all the clouds of whatever that mood is. When things become … 
  10. The Use of the Present
     … The Dhamma is like medicine. He’s like a doctor. And here you are, learning to be a doctor yourself, taking the things that you used to use to poison yourself and figuring out how, if you mix them in a different way, they can actually become medicines. So the present is here to be used. And the teachings are here to teach us … 
  11. The World of Conviction
     … They will understand the Dhamma.” The Buddha surveyed the world with his own knowledge and realized that that was true. So he decided to teach. The commentators get tied into knots about this story. The idea that the Buddha could even entertain the notion of not teaching others bothers them. But it’s related to the fact that when you gain full awakening, you … 
  12. Attached to Concentration
     … In his Method Two, Ajaan Lee gives a fairly detailed guidelines on where you can focus on the breath and the different ways the breath can flow in the body, but if you look in his Dhamma talks, you’ll see that he played with the breath in lots of other ways as well. He was always coming up with new ways of conceiving … 
  13. The Raft of Jhana
     … But when you come to the practice of the Dhamma, you have to think of intelligence in another way: intelligence in terms of seeing where your thoughts are coming from and where they’re going to go, what they lead to. And realizing that what may seem like a really great thought, or something that someone else has to hear, may not be so … 
  14. Sober Up
     … You’re going to follow the voice of the Dhamma, because it’s the voice that has your own true best interest in mind—and at heart. So, use these thoughts to change the conversation in the mind. Any ways of talking to yourself that keep you weak—replace them. Any thoughts that are discouraging—replace them. That’s when you sober up.
  15. Unlearning Helplessness
     … But it turns out that Ajaan Lee would also recommend still other ways in some of his Dhamma talks. In other words, he gives you some ideas to start with, and then you can run with them. And then you can try running in the opposite direction. See what happens. This is how you learn. This is how you develop your sense of agency … 
  16. Inner Wealth
     … having heard the Dhamma, being generous, and having discernment. These are more on the positive side. The precepts, shame, concern: These deal with the negative things you don’t want to do. Generosity is something positive you do like to do, because when you’re generous, you benefit. The people around you benefit. You see this clearly when you’re generous with other people … 
  17. Defilements as Not-self
     … She couldn’t live with anybody but she really wanted to practice the Dhamma. One day she came and offered him some sugarcane juice in the afternoon. He took a slight sip and then he gave the glass back to her and told her to drink the whole glass of juice. That’s when the nasty voices started coming on. So he started talking … 
  18. Focus on the Precepts
     … But you’re getting into dangerous waters that way, because that brings the different principles behind the precepts into conflict with one another, and it’s up to you to decide how to resolve that conflict, because there’s no guidance from the Buddha or from the Dhamma on which principle overrides which other principles. You lose your focus, and you end up breaking … 
  19. The Positive Side of Heedfulness
     … We had a question today about whether creativity was in line with the Dhamma as you work. Well, it’s an exercise of your discernment. Again, all too often, we think of discernment as simply observing things as they’re happening. But you don’t observe things, really, by just watching them. You have to get involved with them. You have to create good … 
  20. Look in the Mirror
     … This image of a mirror has a long history in the Dhamma. When the Buddha was introducing his son to the practice, one of the first images he used was of a mirror. He said that just as you would look into a mirror for reflection, you look into your actions—bodily actions, verbal actions, mental actions—and reflect on them before you act … 
  21. Metta Isn’t Love
    I read a Dhamma talk by someone saying that metta shouldn’t be translated as “loving-kindness,” because loving-kindness is too weak. It should be translated as “love.” Part of the reason, he said, was that nobody writes songs about loving-kindness, but everybody writes songs about love. I didn’t know that we were in the business of taking love songs as … 
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