Search results for: "The Sangha"

  1. Facing Danger & Hardship
    Again and again, when we’re facing hardships or danger, we’re told to recollect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and there are many reasons for this. One of the reasons is that the Buddha and the noble Sangha were free of passion, free of aversion, free of delusion, and for that reason, they’re free of fear. We should take heart … 
  2. The Dhamma Without Price
     … Kondañña did was ask to become a member of the Sangha. Here he was, already a member of the noble Sangha, but he wanted to become a member of the conventional Sangha as well. The Buddha immediately said yes. He invited him to become a monk to practice to put an end to suffering. So the Sangha was established almost immediately after the Dhamma … 
  3. Worlds to Watch Out For
     … Try to make sure that the world you inhabit has space for the example of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This is why we have them as recollections. But if you find yourself focused on a desire, or focused on a particular mental world, and there’s no space for the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha there, okay, you’re in … 
  4. A Culture of Self Reliance
     … Similarly with the Dhamma and the Sangha: There is a path of practice, and the Sangha, the noble Sangha, shows that it yields results. That noble Sangha is not just composed of monks and nuns. There are a lot of laymen and laywomen who have followed the Dhamma and found that what the Buddha said is true. So when taking refuge in the Buddha … 
  5. Being a Buddhist
     … The word “Sangha” has developed many meanings, especially in the past couple of decades, but at the time of the Buddha it meant the Sangha of monks, and secondarily, the Sangha of nuns. When you make merit, you make merit there first. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re not generous to other people. The idea is simply that if you really want … 
  6. Three Recollections
     … So we look at the Saṅgha, and we can see ourselves there someplace in the members of the Saṅgha who eventually did gain awakening. There’s a tendency in the biographies of the ajaans in Thailand to make it sound as though they were ready to become arahants as soon as they came out of the womb. But as you get to know them … 
  7. Harmony, Right & Wrong
     … As the Buddha said, “Happy is harmony in the Sangha.” One of the conditions conducive for gladness that can bring the mind into concentration is peace in the Sangha, harmony in the Sangha. It’s worth whatever effort is needed to learn how to bring things to harmony, and not regard it as a luxury. That’s another thing that’s strange about our … 
  8. Refuge in the Dhamma
     … We take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. We’ve talked about how taking refuge in the Buddha means developing his qualities, taking him as an example in terms of wisdom, compassion, and purity. The same with the Sangha. You take the Sangha as an example. They practice well. They practice straightforwardly. For the sake of knowledge. They practice masterfully. You … 
  9. Refuge
     … taking the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha as refuge. I think it’s useful to consider why. It’s not that we’re expecting the Buddha to come and help us, or that the Dhamma’s going to jump out of the books and help us, or that the noble Sangha will appear to us and help us solve our problems. They solved … 
  10. Heedful of What’s Precious
     … We talk of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as being jewels. When you have a jewel, you want to protect it. You have to be heedful that you don’t leave it around where it might get lost. In the case of the Triple Gem, being protective of these jewels means trying to develop their qualities in your mind. As the Buddha … 
  11. Technique & Attitude
     … Recollection of the Sangha: the people who have followed this path and gotten results. Sometimes when we think about the Buddha, he seems superhuman. So it’s good to think about the Sangha, the Noble Sangha, what kind of people they are. They come from all walks of life, all types of people: men, women, children, young, old, middle-aged, wealthy, poor, sick, healthy … 
  12. Recollecting the Buddha
     … So when you think about the Buddha, think about the Dhamma and the Sangha as well. Here again, though, it’s a balancing act because sometimes you want to think about how amazing the Dhamma is and how amazing the members of the Sangha are. Think about Ajaan Mun, who, together with Ajaan Sao, founded the Forest Tradition in the face of a lot … 
  13. A Refuge from Karma
     … As for the Sangha, you look around and you see that there are all kinds. What you’ve got to do is to take what’s good in the external level and bring it inside. The external level is there to remind us not to listen to anything that goes against what the Dhamma has to say, because there are other external influences: lots … 
  14. Recollection of the Buddha
     … If you find the example of the Buddha a little too far out of reach—in other words, you don’t feel that you’re up to following his example—you can also reflect on the Sangha. There are stories in the Canon about monks and nuns who were desperate, who had lots of difficulties in the practice. There was one monk who was … 
  15. For When the World Can’t Help You
     … So you keep directing the mind in, directing the mind in, and as you do this, you’re also internalizing the qualities of the Sangha: The Sangha practices well, practices straightforwardly, practices masterfully. You really want to master this practice as a skill, because this is the one skill that will hold you in good stead, when, as I said, even the best doctors … 
  16. A Refuge in Quiescence
     … Traditionally, we talk about taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. In the Buddha’s time, it seems to have been a common pattern: People who knew nothing about the Buddha’s teachings would come and listen to him once, and their first reaction was to want to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This may be … 
  17. The Rewards of Stream Entry
     … The texts say that they’re confirmed in their conviction in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. And they have precepts that are pleasing to the noble ones: untorn, conducive to concentration. We look at ourselves and say, “Well, we have conviction in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, too. And we observe the five precepts. What’s the difference?” The difference … 
  18. Heedful of Ruts in the Mind
     … If death came, would they be ready to go? Would they be able to handle it well? So they would think about the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This is something the Buddha himself recommended: When you’re in the forest and you fear the dangers you might find there, think about the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha: one, as a way … 
  19. Your Ancestral Territory
    We begin each meditation session with chants about the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, developing thoughts of goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity, partly so that you can develop the right environment, the right mental environment, for the practice as you’re sitting here right now, but also so that you can associate these ideas with your breath. That way—when, in the course … 
  20. Heightened Skillfulness
     … Māgha Pūjā,* *we’re told, is the day of the Sangha, but it’s also the day of the Dhamma, because without the Dhamma there wouldn’t be the Sangha. Without the Sangha to carry out the Dhamma, we wouldn’t have it today. So they always go together. So what was that Dhamma? It starts with avoiding all evil. Anything that’s unskillful … 
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