Search results for: virtue
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- You Can’t Clone Awakening… Or if our actions were totally under the influence of some outside power, totally determined by what’s happened in the past, there’d be no virtue to generosity. And so why would you be grateful for anything? Just that’s the way the universe was made—the people who helped you didn’t have any choice, or when you’re helping them, you …
- Lessons from Stilling the Mind… This is one of the reasons why we practice generosity, practice virtue. As I said earlier today, if you’re going to watch your mind, the best mind to watch is a good mind—in other words, a mind that’s been doing good things, being generous, being virtuous, extending thoughts of goodwill to everybody. That kind of mind is easy to watch. You …
- Loving Yourself Wisely… And that’s what the practice in generosity, the practice in virtue, and the practice in developing the mind are all about: looking for happiness in ways that you can take pride in. I received a strange letter from a young guy the other day saying that he saw the big flaw in this approach to the practice, which is that you can develop …
- Observing the Mind at the Breath… If something is disturbing the mind, what can you do to undercut it? Sometimes working with the breath directly will help with that; sometimes you have to bring in other topics, like contemplation of the body, goodwill, any of the recollections—the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha; recollections of your own virtue, your own generosity, to give yourself a sense of self-worth; recollection …
- Honesty & Integrity… This is why training in virtue is an essential part of developing insight. You can’t just pull somebody off the street, sit them down, and give them a method and hope that the method will break through to true happiness inside. You’ve got to have that ability to see what you’re doing, what the results are of what you’re doing …
- Your Own Karma… recollection of the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha; your own past generosity, your own past virtue. You can recollect death when you’re getting lazy. Recollect the Buddha when you’re getting discouraged. Recollect the Sangha when you’re getting discouraged. Remember all the people who’ve trod this path in the past—people with lots more problems than you’re having right now …
Introduction: The Authenticity of the Pāli Suttas
… The factors for awakening. “Now, what is the food for the arising of unarisen mindfulness as a factor for awakening, or for the growth & increase of mindfulness as a factor for awakening once it has arisen? There are qualities that act as a foothold for mindfulness as a factor for awakening [well-purified virtue & views made straight]. To foster appropriate attention to them: This …- The Karma Snake… your practice of virtue, concentration, and discernment for the sake of putting an end to suffering. If you use the teachings for other reasons, trying to assign blame, say, outside, or deciding that there are certain people you’re not going to help because they’ve obviously got bad karma, that’s an abuse of the teaching. Or if you’re going to justify …
- Our Sense of Self… That’s why we practice generosity; it’s why we practice virtue. When you learn to identify with a generous mind-state, you find you really enjoy it. It’s much more expansive than a greedy or stingy mind state. You learn how to withdraw from the greedy or stingy mind state. It may come up, but you decide you don’t have to …
- The Same for Everyone… everybody. Now, the Buddha did admit that there are various ways of conceiving the path, but there are a limited number of variations. And they all basically contain the same factors: virtue, concentration, and discernment, sorted out in different ways. When you look at the different lists in the Wings to Awakening, you see that the factors are sometimes listed in different orders. For …
- A Safe Harbor… The Buddha talks about virtue, for example, as universal gift. When you decide that you’re going to stick by a particular precept no matter what, you’re offering safety, say, from killing, safety from stealing, illicit sex, lying, the taking of intoxicants. You offer that safety to everybody at all times. And because that safety is universal, you have a part in that …
- Passion for Dispassion… So we focus our passion on the fourth noble truth, which comes down to virtue, concentration, and discernment. Although ultimately—as we complete the duty with regard to the truth and fully develop it—we have to let it go, too. But we let it go not out of disgust or aversion. We appreciate it. It’s taken us to a really good place …
- Into Position… The poem goes on to talk about the triple training, and yet concentration is part of the triple training; the other parts are heightened virtue and heightened discernment. You may wonder why the Buddha has to mention concentration twice. Well, it’s because it’s easy to overlook. It’s very quiet. It doesn’t have any brand-new ideas, although it does provide …
- Success on the Path… And the practices he recommends that are inspiring are recollection of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha; recollection of your own generosity, virtue; recollection of the qualities of the devas, thinking about the fact that you’ve been developing those qualities as well. And you think about those themes as much as you need to get rid of that fever in the body …
- Choices… by the way you breathe, by the topics you think about, or by reflecting on the fact that you’re living a life of virtue, you’re living a life of generosity. You’re developing the qualities that the Buddha said will make you a deva: whatever theme you find is inspiring so that you’re happy to be here, because when you’re …
Mindful of the Body
VII. Jhana / Discernment
… He discerned that ‘There is no further escape,’ and pursuing it, he confirmed that ‘There isn’t.’ “If someone, rightly describing a person, were to say, ‘He has attained mastery & perfection in noble virtue… noble concentration… noble discernment… noble release,’ he would be rightly describing Sāriputta.… Sāriputta takes the unexcelled wheel of Dhamma set rolling by the Tathāgata, and keeps it rolling rightly.” —MN …- Perceptions & Potentials… He says that when the mind has this inner sense of virtue, it’s well clothed. So, you’ve got all the requisites: food, clothing, shelter, medicine for the mind. You’re going to need all this support because there are going to be difficulties in the path. It’s not going to be an easy path all the way along. A lot of …
- Mature Happiness… true happiness. And he teaches us to find it in ways that are also worthy of respect. You look at the different factors of the path: They’re all honorable things: virtue, concentration, discernment. They’re noble qualities of mind. And the happiness we’re looking for is a happiness that’s mature. It requires mature wisdom to attain it. As the Buddha said …
- Developing the Path… For discernment to become a faculty—in other words, a dominant factor in your mind—you have to actually develop conviction, persistence—which includes developing virtue—and then mindfulness and concentration. In other words, all the factors of the path have to be developed for right view to really become strong, to have a good solid foundation. Not only do you have to do …
- Anchored by Skillful Roots… If your survival is accomplished without generosity, without virtue, without meditation, it’s not worth much. It’s not the sort of survival that keeps you healthy and well- nourished. You look at survivors of war, who had to go and kill and steal and cheat and bomb, and then go into a lot of denial about it. Look at all the veterans of …
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