Search results for: "Dhamma"

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  2. Be Precise
     … Ajaan Suwat gave a Dhamma talk on how you should regard anything that comes to disturb your concentration as stress, as suffering, even though it may not seem all that onerous or heavy. That’s how the perfection of concentration leads to discernment, moving it into the four noble truths. But you don’t have to think in terms of the four noble truths … 
  3. Clear of Defilement
     … This is why the Buddha taught the Dhamma, the practice, in clusters of qualities. There’s no place where he said just one quality will take care of everything. Even when he talks about mindfulness as being the one quality that’s always skillful, it has to be used in conjunction with other qualities—alertness, discernment, right effort—if it’s going to be … 
  4. The Craft of the Heart
     … One of the most affecting passages in Ajaan Maha Boowa’s Dhamma talks is when he tells of how, when Ajaan Mun passed away, he felt totally lost. Here was the teacher he’d gone to many, many times for help. Now the teacher was gone. But as he sat and reflected on it for a while, he began to realize, “What about the … 
  5. It’s What You Give
     … Think of that statement by Luang Pu Dune, that the things of the world come in pairs—there’s giving and taking—but the Dhamma is one thing clear through. It’s giving all the way. The various strengths we develop are there to help us keep on giving, and not to get resentful when we see other people going faster than we are … 
  6. No Foolproofing
     … There’s a translation of a Dhamma talk by Ajahn Chah in which the original translation said that when you’re focusing on the breath, any thoughts that come up, you want to let go. And the Thai transcription of the talk was actually skewed to follow the English version. But we found out that when you actually listened to the talk, he was … 
  7. Training Wheels
     … He said all of these things are dhammas. They’re phenomena. We want to go to beyond phenomena. But before that point, at the very least, you want to have some control over the phenomena. You want to have a sense of direction and a sense that you can actually go in the direction you want. These are some of the skills we develop … 
  8. Metta Math
     … He says that if you let any ill will arise in your mind toward those bandits, you’re not following the Dhamma; you’re not following his teachings. You have to have goodwill for them even as you’re dying, because after all, if you die with ill will, you’re going to die with a vengeful attitude, wanting to get back at those … 
  9. Respect for What’s Noble
     … When the Buddha himself was giving Dhamma talks, the texts say that he’d give talks of four kinds: instructing, urging, rousing, and encouraging. Notice that: four verbs. Only one is “instructing.” The other three basically give you the energy you need to follow through, convincing you that, Yes, you can do this. So here, again, the Buddha’s asking you to have respect … 
  10. The Wisdom of Wising Up
    The Wisdom of Wising Up February 15, 2011 When you meditate during a Dhamma talk, pay very little attention to the talk. Give your primary attention to the meditation, to what you’re doing right now: focusing on the breath. If you find the mind wandering off, bring it back. The talk helps you realize when you’ve wandered off. It acts like a … 
  11. Generating Good Energy
     … Ajaan Lee talks about this in one of his last Dhamma talks, “Crossing the Ocean of Life.” There’s the energy of your goodwill, which other people can pick up if you have any karmic connection with them. The people who’ve helped you in the past: You can help them through the energy of your mind when it’s well-trained. He makes … 
  12. Defilements at the Door
     … xx Then with dhammas, the fourth frame of reference, he talks about seeing the events in the mind as events, coming and going. You begin to see that there’s a pattern, so that you can understand why they come, why they go. If they’re unskillful, you can figure out how to use that understanding of cause and effect to make sure they … 
  13. Strong & Heedful
     … I’ve had many long talks with other Dhamma teachers about how to translate the word appamāda from Pali into English, and they keep saying, “Isn’t there a better word than heedful? It sounds strange.” But maybe that’s a sign that we need to listen to this particular teaching, because the concept of heedfulness implies that there are dangers, as the phrase … 
  14. Judging Mindfulness & Concentration
     … That’s how you find out how really good the Dhamma can be.
  15. Things that Arise & Pass Away
     … There’s a Dhamma talk where Ajahn Chah is talking to a group of monks and makes the point that they really have to pay attention to arising and passing away. And he adds, “But that’s not the end of the problem.” You have to turn around and look into your mind. What’s causing it? What’s pushing that change? Because that … 
  16. Mistakes
     … That’s the only way your Dhamma practice is going to progress. Otherwise, it’s just a lot of theories, theories that take you nowhere. Whereas if you learn how to learn from your mistakes, they can take you far. Look at the Buddha himself. He made many mistakes in the course of his path. But he was able to recognize them as mistakes … 
  17. The Path of Action
     … In Thailand, a lot of my training in the Dhamma was not just sitting there with my eyes closed but it was also sitting there with my eyes open, watching what was going on, how people behaved. Particularly seeing Ajaan Fuang interact with other people: what he would say, what he wouldn’t say; what he would do, what he wouldn’t do. And … 
  18. Joy in Effort
     … The other approach is to realize that the Dhamma is all around you in the present moment. You just relax into the present moment and there you are. Now, if those were the two only alternatives, the second would obviously be the only reasonable approach. But there are other alternatives as well. It’s possible to relax into the present and still be filled … 
  19. Persistence
     … You remember to apply right effort and remember where to apply it, based on what you’ve been learning, either from Dhamma talks you’ve heard, from your own reading, or from your own practice. You learn your lessons and you try to keep them in mind so that you can apply them. Then you gain your own sense of touch as to how … 
  20. The Allure of Sensuality
     … You may ask yourself, “Why do I keep siding with those?” Think of that image in the Dhamma summaries, about the world being a slave to craving. That goes together with an image in the sutta it’s drawn from. It’s about a king who’s got everything he really needs, he’s eighty years old, he’s about ready to die. And … 
  21. Surprise Yourself
     … One tetrad deals with the body, one with feelings, one with the mind, and one with dhammas. In other words, they deal with the frames of reference that we use to establish mindfulness. But the question is, do you follow them 1 through 16? The way the Buddha describes how they embody mindfulness practice suggests that you could focus on any one tetrad all … 
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