• Advice on Meditation...

  • Vyagghapajja Sutta: The conditions of welfare

  • Brief History of the Buddha

  • Aim of Buddhist Education

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The two Nibbana-elements


These two Nibbana-elements were made known
By the Seeing One, stable and unattached:
One is the element seen here and now
With residue, but with the cord of being destroyed;
...The other, having no residue for the future,
Is that wherein all modes of being utterly cease.

Having understood the unconditioned state,
Released in mind with the cord of being destroyed,
They have attained to the Dhamma-essence.
Delighting in the destruction (of craving),
Those stable ones have abandoned all being.

[Iti 2.17; Iti 38]
(translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland)

His Holines Dalai Lama



"Self-confidence is knowing that we have the capacity to do something good and firmly decide not to give up."

The Buddha



Entangled by the bonds of hate, he who seeks his own happiness by inflicting pain on others, is never delivered from hatred. [Dhp. 290]

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross


It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limit time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.

Lama Yeshe


"Self-confidence is not a feeling of superiority, but of independence."

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche


"Real peace and happiness has to come from the heart, from within. So therefore, to eliminate wars and destroying each other, to eliminate famine, disease and earthquakes, and to eliminate all other disasters an unfavorable experiences, all this can be stopped by having loving kindness toward each other. From having a... good heart with loving kindness, negative action cannot arise." 
-Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

Monday, May 24, 2010

WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU



We were talking - about the space between us all
And the people - who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth - then it's far too late - when they pass away.

We were talking - about the love we all could share - when we find it
To try our best to hold it there - with our love
With our love - we could save the world - if they only knew.

Try to realise it's all within yourself no-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul - they don't know - they can't see - are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself - then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there -
And the time will come when you see we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

~Lyrics; George Harrison, 1967

Thich Nhat Hanh


Peace is every step.
The shining red sun is my heart.
Each flower smiles with me.
How green, how fresh all that grows.
How cool the wind blows.
Peace is every step.
It turns the endless path to joy.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Lama Zopa Rinpoche


Live with compassion, Work with compassion, Die with compassion, Meditate with compassion, Enjoy with compassion, When problems come, Experience them with compassion. -Lama Zopa Rinpoche

His Holines Dalai Lama


Every human being has the same potential for compassion; the only question is whether we really take any care of that potential, and develop and implement it in our daily life. -H.H Dalai Lama

The meaning of life


Some people, I’ve heard
Are mighty confused
They are looking for something
They never did lose
What’s the meaning of life
They cry and they shout
Not looking within
But seeking without
Some say that it’s god
In Heaven on high
Some say that there is none
You just live and die
That no god is scripting
The things that you’re doing
That he is not clapping
And never pooh-poohing
The meaning of life
Is simple and clear
It’s the life that you lead
And the things you hold dear
It’s the things that you do
And the things that you say
The thoughts that you have
That give meaning each day.

[Unknown]

THE TODAY


TODAY

This day is a special day, it is yours.
Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning.
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another.
This day is a special day, it is yours.

[A Buddhist Reflects on Happy Living, 2004]
-Vijaya Samarawickama

Venerable Ayya Khema Bhikkhuni


"From contact comes feeling. From feeling comes reaction. This is what keeps us in the cycle of birth and death. Our reactions to our feelings are our passport to rebirth." -Venerable Ayya Khema Bhikkhuni

All processes are impermanent


All processes are impermanent. When one sees this with understanding, then one is disillusioned with the things of suffering. This is the Path of Purification.[Dhp.277] - The Buddha

The recollection of peace


There is one thing which, if practiced and developed conduces to letting go, giving up, stilling, calming, higher knowledge, awakening and to Nirvana. And what is that one thing? It is the recollection of peace.  -Anguttara Nikaya I.29

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Which is greater, good or bad?


The king asked: "Venerable Nagasena, which is greater, good or bad?"
"Good is greater, Sire; bad is only small."
"In what way?"

"Sire, someone acting badly is remorseful, saying: 'An evil deed was done by me,' and thus evil does not increase. But someone doing good is not remorseful. Because of freedom from remorse, gladness arises, from gladness comes joy, because of joy the body is tranquil, with tranquil body one is happy, and the mind of one who is happy is concentrated. One who is concentrated sees things as they really are, and in this way good increases." -Milindapanha 84

Hurtful actions and reprisals are different



Hurtful actions and reprisals are different but closely related. Actions once done are finished with, there's no need to answer with revenge and hostility. This is called "action" (kamma). "Reprisal" (vera) means to continue that action further with thoughts of "you did it to me so I'm going to get you back." There's n...o end to this. It brings about the continual seeking of revenge, and so hatred is never abandoned. As long as we behave like this the chain remains unbroken, there's no end to it. No matter where we go, the feuding continues. -Ajahn Chah

Give up all forms of evil and cultivate virtue



The Buddha taught us to give up all forms of evil and cultivate virtue. This is the right path. Teaching in this way is like the Buddha picking us up and placing us at the beginning of the path. Having reached the path, whether we walk along it or not is up to us. The Buddha's job is finished right there. He shows the ...way, that which is right and that which is not right. This much is enough, the rest is up to us. 
-Venerable Ajahn Chah

A person with good eyes



A person with good eyes, encountering a treacherous, uneven place, would try hard to avoid it. A wise person, in the world of life, should avoid evil deeds. [Ud 5.3]
-The Buddha

This holy life is lived for the abandoning of becoming



This world is burning.
Afflicted by contact,
it calls disease a "self,"
for by whatever means it construes [anything],
...that becomes otherwise from that.
Becoming otherwise,
the world is
held by becoming
afflicted by becoming
and yet delights
in that very becoming.
Where there's delight,
there is fear.
What one fears
is stressful.
This holy life is lived
for the abandoning of becoming.

[Ud 3.10 PTS: Ud 32 ]

Bound round with delusion



Bound round with delusion, the world only appears to be competent. Bound with acquisitions, foolish, surrounded by darkness, it seems eternal, but for one who sees, there is nothing. [Ud 7.10 PTS: Ud 79]

This world "Liberation" is itself just a convention, but it refers to that beyond conventions. Having achieved freedom, having reached liberation, we still have to use convention in order to refer to it as liberation. If we didn't have convention we couldn't communicate, so it does have its use. -Venerable Ajahn Chah

Saturday, May 22, 2010

All living beings have the same basic


All living beings have the same basic wish to be happy and avoid suffering, but very few people understand the real causes of happiness and suffering. [Buddhist]

Happiness and suffering are states of mind


Happiness and suffering are states of mind, and so their main causes cannot be found outside the mind. [Buddhist]

Being praised and Blamed


Be careful with being flattered, be mindful with being praised and be thoughtful with being blamed - our mind will be free from pride and resentment.  -Venerable Saloeurm Savath

True happiness



To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. -The Buddha

Feeling of the Dislike for Evil


When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear. -The Buddha

Kill anger, we live happier



Anger creates danger. Kill anger, we live happier.
- The Buddha

The disease of Jealousy


Sympathetic Joy is the unique medicine to cure the disease of Jealousy.
-Venerable Saloeurm Savath

Buddhism is a religion of self-help


"Because Buddhism is a religion of self-help, the first and foremost duty of a Buddhist is to understand the supreme position of the human being and one's responsibility toward both oneself and fellow sentient beings. " -Buddhist

Cure disease of the mind



Doctors prescribe medicine to eliminate disease from the body. The
Teachings of the Buddha are prescribed to cure disease of the mind, to
bring it back to its natural healthy state. So the Buddha can be
considered to be a doctor who prescribes cures for the ills of the mind.
He is, in fact, the greatest doctor in the world.
- Venerable Ajahn Chah

Having Done What should Not be Done



One whose heart is overwhelmed by unrestrained covetousness will do what he should not do and neglect what he ought to do. And through that, his good name and his happiness will come to ruin.[AN 4:61] - The Buddha

Mind produces everything



Mind produces everything, do not let your mind produces destructive thoughts.
-Venerable Saloeurm Savath

Having understood the unconditioned state


Having understood the unconditioned state, Released in mind with the cord of being destroyed, They have attained to the Dhamma-essence. Delighting in the destruction (of craving), Those stable ones have abandoned all being. [Itivuttaka] - The Buddha

Ignorance is our master




Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.
-His Holines Dalai Lama

Sunk in ignorance, lost in delusion



Beings, sunk in ignorance, lost in delusion, hasten from one state of suffering to another, not knowing the real cause, not knowing the escape from it. This insight into the general law of suffering is the real foundation of our compassion, not any isolated fact of suffering. -Venerable Nyanaponika Thera

One should blame neither oneself nor others



When in contact with pleasure or pain in village or forest, one should blame neither oneself nor others. Contacts make contact dependent on a sense of acquisition. Where there's no sense of acquisition, contacts would make contact with what? [Ud 2.4] - The Buddha

A mature companion



If you gain a mature companion, a fellow traveler, right-living & wise, overcoming all dangers go with him, gratified, mindful.[Snp 1.3] -The Buddha

Encouragement is the sacred power



Encouragement is the sacred power pushing ones to reach their destination. Even though, none in the world encourages you, but you should encourage yourself with strong determination and self-confidence. -Venerable Saloeurm Savath

Our contemplation



We can contemplate: Why is it that we still feel discontented, even when we have the best of everything? We are not completely happy even if we have a beautiful house, a car, the perfect marriage, lovely bright children and all the rest of it - and we are certainly not contented when we do not have all these things!.......If we don’t have them, we can think, ‘Well, if I had the best, then I’d be content.’ But we wouldn’t be. The earth is not the place for our contentment; it’s not supposed to be. When we realise that, we no longer expect contentment from planet earth; we do not make that demand. 
-Venerable Ajahn Sumedho

Through the hardship we get stronger



It is easy for us to say anything as much as we want to say, but not many things are easy to do. However, do not give up your effort. Through hardship we are stronger, through hardship we are wiser. The Buddha said " Effort leads to the extinction of suffering." - Venerable Saloeurm Savath

One can never repay two persons



Monks, one can never repay two persons, I declare. What two? Mother and father. Even if one should carry about his mother on one shoulder and his father on the other, and they meanwhile should even void their excrements (as urine or feces) upon him, and so doing should live a hundred years, attain a hundred years; --ev...en so could he not repay his parents. Moreover, monks, if he should establish his parents in supreme authority, in the absolute rule over this mighty earth abounding in the seven treasures, --not even thus could he repay his parents. What is the cause of that? Monks, parents do much for their children: they bring them up, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world. Moreover, monks, whoso incites his immoral parents, settles and establishes them in morality; whoso incites his stingy parents, settles and establishes them in generosity; whoso incites his foolish parents (with a wrong view), settles and establishes them in wisdom (with a right view), --such an one, just by so doing, does repay, does more than repay what is due to his parents.' -The Buddha

Don't be the friend of sensual pleasures



Don't indulge in careless behavior. Don't be the friend of sensual pleasures. He who meditates attentively attains abundant joy. [Dhp.27] -The Buddha

Discipline and self-control



By resolution and attention, by discipline and self-control, a clever man may build himself an island that no flood can overthrow. [Dhp.25] -The Buddha

Disciplined mind leads to happiness



It is good to restrain one's mind, uncontrollable, fast moving, and following its own desires as it is. A disciplined mind leads to happiness.[Dhp. 35]

Dynamic impression




Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent. 
-His Holines Dalai Lama

Steady practice is keeping mindful...



"Don’t think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down. When coming out of sitting, don’t think that you’re coming out of meditation, but that you ...are only changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself." -Venerable Ajahn Chah

Dependent on the eye and forms


"Dependent on the eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting of the three is contact. With contact as condition there is feeling. What one feels, that one perceives. What one perceives, that one thinks about. What one thinks about, that one mentally proliferates. With what one has mentally proliferated as the... source, perceptions and notions tinged by mental proliferation beset a person with respect to past, future, and present forms cognizable through the eye." (source)

Gods hold him dear



"Even the gods hold him dear,
Whose senses are subdued
Like horses trained well by a charioteer,
...Whose pride is destroyed,
And who is free from corruptions." [Dhp.94]

Non-dhamma should be understood



"Bhikkhus, non-dhamma should be understood, and so too dhamma should be understood. Harm should be understood, and benefit should be understood. Having understood all this, one should practice in accordance with dhamma, in accordance with benefit." -The Buddha