"Absolute truth and conventional truth."

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

23 March 2024

"Absolute truth and conventional truth."

Q:  Recently a close family member had suffered a sudden loss and was very upset about it and when I was speaking to this family member, I also found that I took on board that kind of sadness and sorrow that he was experiencing. If this happens to somebody who is not close to me, I will be relatively neutral. Is this a negative reaction or muditā (where I feel sad for him when he was sad)?

Than Ajahn:  Actually you should have equanimity regarding everything that you come into contact with. 

Everything happens and is not under your control. 

Whether you become sad or happy doesn’t change things so the best thing to do is to know it for what it is and let it be. If you have to comfort them, you can always use compassion or loving kindness but inside your mind you should have equanimity. In term of your reaction with other people, you still want to comfort them, to make them feel good whenever you can.  

So they are two separate things: one is to look after your mind first and the best position for your mind is to remain equanimity in every situation; as far as your reaction to other people, you can use loving kindness, compassion or muditā but if you find that it’s not possible to use it, then you just remain silent.

All your reaction should be based on equanimity. If you lose your equanimity then you become sad again. 

This is because you don’t see things as natural phenomena – anattā (no self in them). You put on label on each body and then you have information regarding that body, ‘Who this person is, what relationship is this person to you,’ then you have this attachment to this label and information. 

But you have to look at it on the absolute scale. You have to look at it as natural phenomena like a tree. 

The body is like a tree, really! It’s made up of the four elements and one day it will return to the four elements. 

No matter what you do, you cannot stop this process of rising and ceasing or birth and death. So this is what you want to teach your mind when your mind becomes overwhelmed with things around you. 

The problem is you get lost in the labelling. 

You forget to look at the absolute picture that all bodies are just the composition of four elements and one day the four elements will go on their separate ways. Dust to dust. 

Water to water. Wind to wind. Fire to fire. So this is what you want to teach your mind. 

If you have the absolute information dominant in you, then you will not feel anything because you’d just say that it’s the work of nature. Things formed and unformed. 

Things come and go, rise and cease. So you have to teach your mind to look at everything as the work of nature then you’d say, ‘What can I do? I can’t stop nature.’ 

You also have to practice a lot of meditation to have this equanimity, to remain non-reactive. If you don’t have equanimity, although you focus on this wisdom part a lot, you cannot follow through with what your wisdom is telling you. So you really have to do both: do meditation 50 percent of the time and do contemplation 50 percent of the time. 

When you come out of meditation, you contemplate on the Three Characteristics and on the four elements. 

Everything in this world is all made up of the four elements. If you want to use scientific terms, they are solid, liquid, heat and gas. When they combined, they form things like trees, human bodies, animal bodies. 

They are not stable. 

They keep changing. One day they will go separate ways. Everything.  

In order to be able to apply this knowledge, you have to have equanimity to support your mind so you have to practice. First, if you haven't got any equanimity yet, you should concentrate more on developing mindfulness and doing meditation. Once you have equanimity, when you come out of meditation, you can then move from mindfulness to contemplation of the truth, on the Three Characteristics of existence. 

You’re alternating between contemplation and going back to meditation when your mind seems to have lost the equanimity. 

If you haven't yet got any equanimity, then your primary goal is to get to equanimity first because without equanimity you cannot apply wisdom. Without equanimity, your mind will not be able to accept the truth because the defilement is still very strong inside your mind. But you also have to contemplate when you're not meditating to remind yourself about the truth because your delusion will keep you away from the truth, make you forget about the truth and it makes you keep thinking of the conventional information instead of thinking of things as natural phenomena. You’d keep thinking about them as ‘My parents, my wife, my husband, my children, my possession’. If you think like this, you will be afflicted when something happens to them. But if you can see all the time that they're just natural phenomena, they are just four elements, then you won’t be afflicted if something happens to them. 

This is the purpose of contemplation and you do it until it becomes second nature to you. Whenever you see things, you see them as four elements, as work of nature, not as your brothers, your sisters, friends, relatives and so forth. 

But you also have to have this conventional information behind your mind. You don’t let the conventional information come in the forefront. You have to have both information (absolute and conventional) because if you only have the absolute information, you might treat everybody like dirt. 

You have to look at people as human and relate to them in the conventional way. It’s just that we have extra knowledge of the world we live in that others don’t have. 

Student:  Okay, that's very helpful. Thank you.

- - - - -

Q:  I love the part when Ajahn expounded on the conventional truth and the absolute truth. 

Than Ajahn:  If you have the absolute truth then you can stop all your attachment or your craving toward things. If you see everything as anicca, anattā – there is nothing you can do about it – then to be attached to it is just useless. You will not always get what you crave for because nature is something you can’t control. So if you don’t want any dukkha, then you don’t want to have any craving for things. 

Q:  Do we keep the conventional truth behind our mind for practical reason? 

Than Ajahn:  When you deal with people, you don’t see them as the absolute truth, you see them as the conventional truth. Like when you go to Vietnam, you speak Vietnamese language, you have to speak the same language that the people in Vietnam use. 

The absolute truth is more for yourself to let go, to have no attachment or craving toward anything. The conventional truth is for you to use it when you meet people or do things with people.  

“Dhamma in English, May 9, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

“You need samādhi and you need wisdom.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

1 October 2023

“You need samādhi and you need wisdom.”

Question:  “Is it possible to attain Sottāpanna if one already has a family in this very life?”

Than Ajahn:  “Yes, a Sotāpanna has the wisdom to see that the body isn’t himself or herself. The body is just a gift from parents. 

The one who possesses the body is not the body. The one who possesses the body is the mind, the one who thinks, the one who knows. Once he or she understands that he isn’t the body, then he can relinquish the body, let go of the attachment to the body, and will not be affected by the condition of the body, whether the body gets old, gets sick or dies, it will not bother him or her. 

Then, he becomes a Sotāpanna. 

You can do this. You don’t have to become a monk. But you have to meditate. You need to have samādhi, at least you have to have appanā-samādhi. You have to have the wisdom to see aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā of the body. Once you see aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā of the body and you have the strength to let go of your attachment, you become a Sotāpanna. 

You need samādhi to give you the strength to let go of your attachment. If you have no (mental) strength, even though you know the body is aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā, you still cannot let go of your body. So, you need samādhi and you need wisdom to see that the body is aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā. It’s impermanent. It’s not yourself. It will make you sad if you cling to it.”

Q&A, Jun 01, 2017

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

"The real happiness is a mind that is calm and peaceful."

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart_

21 September 2023

"The real happiness is a mind that is calm and peaceful."

Question:  “If one has family responsibilities, how can one have a proper retreat while still having to do his duty towards his family? Can these two be done together?” 

Than Ajahn:  “When you first start, you might not be able to do it completely. You might have to do it partially. You do it on your spare time, like going for retreat on your days off when you’re free from your work. You use that time to be alone, rather than doing the normal things that you used to do on your days off.

 For example, if you usually go to watch a movie, or go for shopping on your day off, you cut down these activities. You go find a quiet place to meditate. You have to switch off your usual way of finding pleasure. 

Normally, on your days off, you find pleasure by using your senses. You want to stop those kinds of pleasure and look for a different kind of pleasure, the pleasure from meditation. 

You have to start from the free time you have. 

You use that free time to calm the mind, stopping the mind so that the mind can become peaceful and content. 

Once you could do this, then you’ll find more inspiration to find more time to do it. So, you start by cutting down the activities that you feel you don’t really have to do. As you move along, you will find more time that you can cut down in terms of the path for acquiring material things. When you have happiness and contentment, you’ll find that you don’t need much. 

You don’t need to have so much money. You don’t need to have so many things to make you happy. This is because you’ve found a different way of making yourself happy. 

You will reduce your acquisition for material things, your desire for money or other material things. Then, you can reduce the amount of work that you need to do. 

Gradually you can reduce everything, and then it will allow you to have more time to be alone and to practice, to calm your mind. 

The Buddha has said that the real happiness is a mind that is calm and peaceful. That is real contentment. 

Once you can calm your mind, make your mind peaceful, you’ll be happy and content. You don’t need anything. 

You don’t need to see a movie. You don’t need to go out to a party. At that point, you don’t even need to have a wife. You live as a hermit, live as a monk.”  

Dhamma for the Asking,

Layperson from England, Dec 15, 2017.

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

“You have to force yourself to practice because normally, you don’t want to practice.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

20 September 2023

“You have to force yourself to practice because normally, you don’t want to practice.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ 

Upāsikā: The most important thing for me is to have a place to practice but I could not find any. Going back to Germany is the only opportunity I have. 

Than Ajahn: I understand. If you think you want to go back, you must divide your time, giving half the time for yourself and the other half for helping other people, although this is still not as good as staying in a place where you can have all the time for yourself.

Upāsikā: I could not find a place to practice. 

It’s very difficult for a female to find a place. 

Than Ajahn: Yes. But it may also that you have the time to practice, yet you don’t make use of your time fully. Instead of practicing, you run around doing some other things because your defilement is so strong and it will irritate you if you are not doing anything.  

Upāsikā: If I go back to Germany, I may have the peace because I don’t have to apply for visa. It’s like being a Thai person in Thailand. I feel that I’m not strong enough to deal with the obstacles I have to face either in Thailand or in Burma because I am a farang (foreigner). 

Than Ajahn: You just have to manage your time. You have to divide your time. Try to find as much time as possible for yourself. And do only what is absolutely necessary for other people. You have to do something to pay for your food and rent, but just do the necessary. 

Try to have time for yourself each day, or at least have time for yourself in the evening. 

You shouldn’t overdo things in helping other people. 

Just do it during the day. In the evening, you can have time for your own practice. You have to force yourself to practice because normally, you don’t want to practice. You have excuses for not practising. 

By the time you get to the evening time, you’ll say, ‘I’m tired. I work so much. I work so hard.’ These are all excuses although it may be true that sometimes you work hard and you become tired. 

Youtube: “Dhamma in English, Nov 9, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

DO HUNGRY GHOSTS EXIST?

Summary of Dhamma Talk by Venerable K. Rathanasara on 2nd September 2018

DO HUNGRY GHOSTS EXIST?

According to Tao religious belief, the gates of hell are opened during the seventh lunar month, and hungry ghosts will be wondering on the earth. Various practices during this ‘hungry ghost festival’ stem from this belief. 

In Taiwan and Hong Kong, people send decorated paper boats with lotus lanterns to the sea with the intention of helping the wondering ghosts see in the dark. In Singapore and Malaysia, ‘wayang’ shows (a form of traditional theatrical performance) are held at night in the neighbourhoods to entertain these hungry ghosts. Joss papers, paper houses, and luxurious items made from paper such as televisions, cars, radios, or cell phones, are burnt with the view that these ghosts can benefit from them in their realm. Some believe that it is dangerous to swim during this month, for fear of drowning caused by ghosts whom one might have offended. Children are advised to come home early to avoid being possessed. People avoid scheduling auspicious events such as moving house or wedding in this period. 

These are some of the common beliefs that are inherited in the Chinese culture and originated mainly from the Tao religion. 

Buddhism spread into China during an era when Taoism was the dominant religion, together with Confucianism. 

Buddhism, being a peaceful teaching, co-existed harmoniously with these existing teachings in China. 

Eventually when the people embraced Buddhism, they combined Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, and created Chinese Buddhism, which is a blend of these three. So Taoist friends and Buddhist friends have co-existed peacefully together for many years without any issue.

So what is the Buddhist concept of hungry ghosts? 

Buddhists recognise the hungry ghost realm (or peta realm) as one of the four unhappy realms of existence, but Buddhists do not believe that the gates of hell are opened during any particular period of time. Peta is a Pali word that means spirit-like or shadow-like beings who do not have gross level physical bodies but subtle level astral bodies. 

In Buddhist arts in monasteries, these beings are depicted as having tiny mouths but very big bellies, this clearly explains who exactly is the hungry ghost – its belly is so big with the desire to eat a lot but the tiny mouth will never be able to eat sufficient food to satisfy the big tummy. What does this mean? These are beings who are suffering from excessive greed for food, drinks, sense pleasures, power, wealth, popularity – for everything. 

Their greed can never be satisfied as there is no saturation point. These beings are tormented with so much greed, desire, and attachment that they are in a suffering state. 

But beings who are in this suffering realm will not be there forever. Once their negative karmic energy is over, they can be born somewhere else, even as divine beings, or as human beings, or in any other realm. Just like human beings who will have to move on depending on our own karmic energy when we die, these hungry ghosts are fellow sentient beings who are in this long journey of birth-death cycle together with us. 

A question may arise – what could lead someone to be born as a hungry ghost? 

According to Buddhist teaching, if one develops the mind-set of a hungry ghost now as a human being, here and now one will be a hungry ghost. There are people who are never satisfied in life, these people have wealth, power, popularity, in fact they have everything except one thing – happiness. They are always hungry and wanting more and more. These people have so much wealth but they do not spend on themselves nor others. Governed by their own greed and self-centred blind desire, they are so greedy that they live such a miserable life here on the earth. Developing such a mind-set which is suitable to be born in such a realm will definitely lead one to be born as a hungry ghost after death.

So the dominant defilement here is greed. When coupled with self-centred blind desire, the intense greed can result in the loss of common sense, causing one to behave in such a way that other defilements will also arise. Out of greed, one might go to the extent of doing evil, wicked, immoral actions to achieve more, in the process producing hatred, ill will, jealousy, anger, cruelty. It is because of delusion that all these come into existence. So the causes that lead someone to be born in the hungry ghost realm are none other than greed, hatred, and delusion, with the dominant defilement being excessive greed. 

We are so blessed and fortunate to be born as human beings, as the human life is so difficult to achieve. 

Having achieved this human life, strive to behave and cultivate in such a way that after death, we will be born again either as a human being or as a divine being, so that we can have favourable conditions to develop and cultivate further.

So why is it that we cannot see these hungry ghost beings? Buddhism recognises that realms related to the earth include human beings, animals, earth bound deities and various other spirits, and hungry ghosts. So from the Buddhist point of view, the hungry ghost realm is not recognised as another planet, but is associated with the earth atmosphere. So if we can see animals and humans, why do we not see earth bound deities, hungry ghosts, or such other “invisible” beings? 

Buddhism teaches that in fact we can see them if we develop a special ability. The human mind have so much latent power that if this power and knowledge is greatly enhanced, it is possible to produce two types of supernormal powers: 

(i) Dibba-Chakku (divine eye) – the ability to see beyond the ordinary capacity of the physical eyes to include seeing subtle beings; and 

(ii) Dibba-Sota (divine ear) – the ability to go beyond the ordinary hearing capacity to hear these sounds. 

These two types of supernormal powers are accessible by human beings if they dedicate themselves to train for it through meditation and attainment of at least the fourth stage of jhanas. 

The Buddha Himself and some of His ordained disciples who have developed these supernormal powers have encountered these beings, and there were even some dialogues between them. 

These stories were compiled into one book known as the Petavatthu – the collection of the stories of these unhappy beings and their encounter with these enlightened ones who have supernormal powers. 

So it is possible for us to see these beings if we develop such special knowledge and powers. Perhaps in time to come, it is possible that scientists might invent some instruments that would enable us to see these beings. 

Just as a long time ago we did not know much about micro-organisms, viruses and germs, and when human beings became sick with diseases, people thought that these were the works of evil beings, but science and technology have advanced and we now know that such sicknesses are due to viruses and germs. 

Do we think that what we see and what we hear is the only world that exists? What we see, what we hear, what we sense, and what we recognise through the ordinary mind is only a fraction of the world. 

Like a child who peeps through a window and sees the garden only from that perspective, so too do we perceive the universe based on our limited capacity. 

That is why the Buddha says that ordinary human beings are sleeping, while He is awakened. It is easy to understand through our common sense that what we recognise through our five sense faculties is not the only world, because scientists have discovered and invented many things that have expanded our five sense faculties. Telescopes for example, have expanded our vision by allowing us to see clearly at a far greater distance. There have been a fair amount of good works in the field of science but the work is still not complete and hence there are still limitations.

From the Buddhist point of view, the world that we see is a distorted one based on our own distorted view as we do not see things as they really are. So what we are lacking that the enlightened beings have is Dhamma-Chakku – the eye of the Truth. We ordinary human beings perceive the world with delusion, while the enlightened ones who have the knowledge and vision to see things as they really are (yathā bhūta ñānadassana) perceive the world with realisation. 

According to scientists, the visual capacity of our eyes ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers (this visible spectrum is essentially the seven colours of the rainbow), any wavelengths below or above this range will not be visible to us. But the world is much bigger than what we can visibly observe. Scientists postulate that the universe might have either 10 or 11 dimensions, but human beings are living only in the third dimension calculated by length, width, and depth, so if there are beings in the other dimensions, we may not see them. 

Likewise, the hearing capacity of our ears is limited to frequencies between 20 and 20,000 hertz. We cannot hear sounds below 20 hertz (known as infrasound), and it is said that elephants can hear them. 

Likewise, we are unable to hear sounds above 20,000 hertz (known as ultrasound), and it is said that bats and dolphins can detect them. 

Hence, we should not believe that what we see and what we hear is the only world that exists. There is much more to this world than what we experience through our limited five sense faculties.

Lastly, we should recognise that even though the concept of hungry ghost in Buddhism and Taoism are different, both Buddhists and Taoists believe that hungry ghosts exist. In Buddhism, we do meritorious actions in the name of the departed ones and share the merits with them, because we believe that it is only the merits that will come forward for the well-being and happiness of the deceased.

Copied 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

17 September 2023

#hungryghosts #7months #buddhism #taoism

Heart Mountain Sutra Stones

In 1956, a metal drum containing nearly two thousand stones was unearthed at the former Heart Mountain concentration camp's cemetery. The meaning and purpose of these stones remained a complete mystery until 2001 when a team of scholars examining the stones realized that some of the characters written on them could be combined to form Buddhist terms. Could they be part of a sutra or sacred Buddhist text? Using computational analysis, the research group found the first six volumes of the Lotus Sutra perfectly matched what were known as the "Heart Mountain Mystery Stones."

During the wartime period, it was made clear to the Japanese American community that goods made in Japan or featuring Japanese script could potentially be used to prove their disloyalty. Many families burned or buried such items in the weeks and months leading up to incarceration. When they arrived at the so-called Assembly Centers, they discovered that their fears had not been unfounded; anything written in Japanese, including collections of poetry and Buddhist sutras, were confiscated by the US Army as contraband.

The fact that the sutra stones were very nearly lost to time and history is itself a lesson. 

Confronted by hostility, ignorance, and indifference, the Heart Mountain Sutra Stones nevertheless survived, testament to the persistence and resilience of faith in the camps.

You can see the Heart Mountain Sutra Stones on view in the exhibition, "Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration" at JANM!

https://50objects.org/object/the-heart-mountain-mystery-stones-2/

Copied 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

16 September 2023

Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism 

So the question is why should we meditate? What is the importance of meditation? Why is it emphasized so much in the Buddha's teaching? So these are some of the questions that I'm going to explore in my talk.

The word meditation comes from the Pali word Bhavana which means cultivating the mind, developing the mind, mental culture. So the whole emphasis is on the mind. When you read the Buddhist text, you are so amazed about the Buddha's profound and deep statement about the human mind. It is amazing that he should have made this statement 2,600 years ago. In fact, modern psychologists, psychotherapists are also deeply inspired by the Buddha's statement on the human mind.   

https://bsheal.blogspot.com/2022/08/why-we-should-meditate.html?fbclid=IwAR0vEPTmdi_hpz-ruAAXj3BlAsLl4bMsHUFtz_hKlb4E0r27F7GdY69DM7w&m=1&fs=e&s=cl

Copied.

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

15 September 2023

A sharing on observing 8 Precepts during Pilgrimage....

A sharing on observing 8 Precepts during Pilgrimage....

QUESTION : 

Hi, Bhante. Undertaking the 8 precepts during a meditation retreat is not difficult but I'm not quite sure about undertaking the 8 precepts when I'm travelling all the time with a group of people.

My doubt is:

I will be travelling with a group of ppl to India visiting the Buddha's Trails in November, and if I undertake the 8 precepts during the trip, can I still talk or communicate with my fellow travellers or it must be noble silence?

Would appreciate if Bhante can enlighten regarding my doubt.

With metta & mudita

Ankura Chiam

ANSWER : 

There is no such precept as to keep one's mouth shut. 

Only one of the verbal precepts in the eight precepts is abstaining from telling lie (musavada). While keeping these eight precepts, one can talk mindfully and meaningfully. Please remember that Dhamma discussion (dhamma-sakaccha) is one of the thirty-eight blessings.

However, during today’s meditation retreats, the rule of noble silence is applied. It is meant for easy establishment of concentration and it encourages the meditators to put more effort in meditation, which is after all their principal act in a retreat. And even if you are practising at a noble silence meditation retreat, you are allowed to talk when it is really necessary. Keeping silent even when there is a need for meaningful communication is definitely not meaningful.

Thus, there can be verbal communication with your fellow travelers even when you are keeping the eight precepts during your trip to India.

With Metta,

Ashin Acara

Copied

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

14 September 2023

A Counterfeit of the True Dhamma Saddhammapaṭirūpaka Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya 16:13)

A Counterfeit of the True Dhamma
Saddhammapaṭirūpaka Sutta
(Samyutta Nikaya 16:13)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. 

Then Ven. Mahā Kassapa went to the Blessed One and on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. 

As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, “What is the cause, lord, what is the reason, why before there were fewer training rules and yet more monks established in final gnosis, whereas now there are more training rules and yet fewer monks established in final gnosis?”

“That’s the way it is, Kassapa. When beings are degenerating and the true Dhamma is disappearing, there are more training rules and yet fewer monks established in final gnosis. 

There is no disappearance of the true Dhamma as long as a counterfeit of the true Dhamma has not arisen in the world, but there is the disappearance of the true Dhamma when a counterfeit of the true Dhamma has arisen in the world. Just as there is no disappearance of gold as long as a counterfeit of gold has not arisen in the world, but there is the disappearance of gold when a counterfeit of gold has arisen in the world, in the same way there is no disappearance of the true Dhamma as long as a counterfeit of the true Dhamma has not arisen in the world, but there is the disappearance of the true Dhamma when a counterfeit of the true Dhamma has arisen in the world.

1 “It’s not the earth property that makes the true Dhamma disappear. It’s not the water property… the fire property… the wind property that makes the true Dhamma disappear.

2 It’s worthless people who arise right here [within the Saṅgha] who make the true Dhamma disappear. The true Dhamma doesn’t disappear the way a ship sinks all at once.

“These five downward-leading qualities tend to the confusion and disappearance of the true Dhamma. 

Which five? There is the case where the monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers live without respect, without deference, for the Teacher. They live without respect, without deference, for the Dhamma… for the Saṅgha… for the training… for concentration. 

These are the five downward-leading qualities that tend to the confusion and disappearance of the true Dhamma.

“But these five qualities tend to the stability, the non-confusion, the non-disappearance of the true Dhamma. 

Which five? There is the case where the monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers live with respect, with deference, for the Teacher. They live with respect, with deference, for the Dhamma… for the Saṅgha… for the training… for concentration. These are the five qualities that tend to the stability, the non-confusion, the non-disappearance of the true Dhamma.”

Notes

1. Gold, of course, does not go out of existence simply because there is counterfeit gold. What happens is that it goes out of use: People find that counterfeit gold is easier to use. 

An added implication of this statement may be that as long as there is only genuine gold, people will not doubt its authenticity. When there is both genuine and counterfeit gold, doubts will arise as to what is genuine—all gold becomes doubtful—and people will end up using whichever is easier or more to their liking.

2. The point here is that the true Dhamma will not disappear through natural disasters, such as landslides, floods, fires, or windstorms. For an account of how people in the time of the Buddha understood natural events in terms of the four properties.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN16_13.html

https://www.dhammatalks.net/Sayalay_Susila/Counterfeit-of-the-True-Dhamma.pdf

Copied 

13 September 2023

❖ Holding On to Your Principles in a Skilful Way ❖ ~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

❖ Holding On to Your Principles in a Skilful Way ❖
~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

Holding on to your principles in a skilful way is not easy. Some people make compromises too easily. 

Others can be too harsh and judgemental. Here is a story about my teacher Ajahn Chah, told by one of his disciples.

“One day a layman from Ubon brought a car to offer to Ajahn Cha. He said, ‘I absolutely refuse to take it back; you must accept this gift from me.’ He drove the car in and parked it behind Ajahn Cha’s kuti, at the foot of a big old tree, and placed the keys in Ajahn Cha’s shoulder bag. He was so proud of himself that he was laughing.

Not even once did Ajahn Cha go out to look at the car. When he left his kuti he always took a different path. If he had to go out of the monastery on business he would rely on someone elses car. He never showed the slightest interest in the car, even so much as to go and see what make of car it was or what colour. After seven days Ajahn Cha asked a lay supporter to go and tell the donor of the car to come and pick it up. Ajahn Cha had accepted it, the man had made is merit, and now Ajahn Cha would like to return it. A car was not a proper possession for a monk.”

- - ❖ - -

"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

https://forestsangha.org/teachings/books/food-for-the-heart?language=English

- - ❖ - -

Copied 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

10 September 2023

Thai Forest Kammaṭṭhāna Tradition

Thai Forest Kammaṭṭhāna Tradition

 

ONE AFTERNOON HE LEFT his meditation seat to sit in the open air not far from the cave, reflecting on the Dhamma that the Lord Buddha had so compassionately given to mankind. 

He felt this Dhamma to be so very profound that he understood how difficult it was going to be to practice it to perfection, and to fully realize its essential truths. 

He felt a sense of satisfaction, thinking how fortunate he was to be able to practice Dhamma and realize its many insights and truths – an amazing feeling.

Even though he had yet to reach the ultimate realization, a dream he’d long desired to fulfill, still the spiritual contentment he experienced was very rewarding. He was sure now that, unless death intervened, his hopes would surely be realized one day. 

Savoring his contentment, he reflected on the path he took to practice Dhamma and the results he hoped to achieve, proceeding step by step, until he reached a complete cessation of dukkha, eliminating all traces of discontent still existing within his heart.

Ajahn Maha Boowa. Ajahn Mun's biography

Copied 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it. 

11 September 2023

Scientific Buddhist

Good morning Bro,

My understanding of this is that when radiating loving kindness whether in the presence of the person we are radiating to or without their presence there are energy radiated. 

However, how far it reaches when radiating without anyone present  is unknown to us. For whatever, it is worth our kind heart in wishing others well is most important. Ajahn says that you are to radiate loving kindness when you meet people is correct. It is your transmission of loving kindness from the bottom of your heart that reaches to the others and you are not emitting loving kindness like radiation of light or just thinking about it.

Maybe there are reasons only known to Ajahn for saying its a myth, presently our enlightened mind are unable to comprehend such matters. Perhaps when having a chance to meet Ajahn we can request him to elaborate more for our understanding. 

Mind projection is a very strong phenomena where we know little of unless we are at  their level. At present I can only think that as lay person our mind is not formidable enough especially when we are confronted with our earthly life infused with stress of modern living and perhaps can be a waste of mental energy if we do metta. Again, it would be beneficial if we can radiate it because it can cultivate our heart and mind to rid it of negative energy. I do a lot of meditation and I would send the merits to those near and afar seen and unseen. 

This metta that I do has changed my perception of the people who I live with as well as others that I meet. I have tone down quite a fair bit as to not be critical and judgmental of others as prior to radiating loving kindness. 

🙏🙏🙏 😋 😃

The above content was put fwd with a student of Bhante Mahinda who is teaching Metta meditation, he explained these:

Of course action of loving kindness is more important than we just sitting there and radiating metta. But we can't say that it is not real.

We will share merits no matter how small the merits are, it's not about until practice well n it is fruitful.

Buddhist: Peer Reviewed Studies Demonstrate Buddhist Metta Loving Kindness Meditation Can Slow Aging, Increase Brain Matter, and Decrease PTSD and Schizophrenia —Ten Benefits of Compassion

Scientific Buddhist

https://buddhaweekly.com/scientific-buddhist-peer-reviewed-studies-demonstrate-buddhist-metta-loving-kindness-meditation-can-slow-aging-increase-brain-matter-decrease-ptsd-schizophrenia-ten-benefits-com/

12 September 2023

The Ego Trick

For those who find the sutta too dense, I think these passages written by a British philosopher best described the Buddhist understanding of the 'self':

"The problem with talk of illusion, I think, is that most people contrast the illusory with the real, so to say the self is an illusion is to imply it is not real. But it is.

There is an Ego Trick, but it is not that the self doesn't exist, only that it is not what we generally assume it to be. 

Perhaps the simplest analogy is with a cloud. From a distance it looks like an object with fairly clear edges, but the closer you get to it, the more indistinct it becomes. Get really close and you can see it's just a collection of water droplets. Does this mean clouds don't exist? Of course not, it just means they are not chunks of cotton wool. The self is like a cloud that not only looks like a single object from the outside, but feels like one from the inside too. 

Knowing the truth doesn't change the way it either looks or feels, and nor does it conjure it out of existence. It simply makes us recognize that at root each of us is an ever-changing flux, not a never-changing core. The solidity of the self is an illusion; the self itself is not. 

The Ego Trick is not to persuade us that we exist when we do not, but to make us believe we are more substantial and enduring than we really are.... "

~Julian Baggini, The Ego Trick, Granta (2011), p.151-152

https://www.academia.edu/26372692/Book_Review_The_Ego_Trick_What_Does_It_Mean_To_be_You_By_Julian_Baggini_London_Granta_Publications_2011_304_pp_ISBN_978_1847081926_paperback_Journal_of_the_Oxford_Centre_for_Buddhist_Studies_Volume_2_2012_p_266_273

P.S. I reviewed this book in the Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, Vol. 2 (2012)

Copied 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

9 September 2023

The ten repulsiveness meditations

The ten repulsiveness meditations

1) Uddumātaka –  the bloated

The bloated means the corpse is bloated by gradual dilation and swelling after death. 

2) Vinīlaka – the livid 

The livid means the corpse has patchy discorlouration. 

3) Vipubbaka – the festering 

The festering means the corpse is trickling with pus in the broken places. 

4) Vicchiddaka – the cut up 

The cut up means the corpse has been opened up by cutting it in two. 

5) Vikkhāyitaka – the gnawed 

The gnawed means the corpse has been chewed here and there in various ways by dogs, jackals and any other animals. 

6) Vikkhittaka – the scattered 

The scattered means the corpse has strewed here and there in this way: "Here a hand, there a foot, there a head." 

7) Hatavikkhittaka – the hacked and scattered 

The hacked and scattered means the corpse is hacked and scattered in the way mentioned above after it has been hacked with a knife in a crow's foot (pigeon's foot) pattern on every limb. 

8) Lohitaka – the bleeding 

The bleeding means the corpse sprinkles, scatters, and is smeared with trickling blood here and there. 

9) Puḷavaka – the worm-infested 

The worm-infested means the corpse sprinkles worms and is full of maggots. 

10) Aṭṭhika – a skeleton

Aṭṭika means a single bone or a framework of bones. 

These are dead repulsiveness meditation objects.

Copied 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

8 September 2023

"Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Good at Thinking"

"Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Good at Thinking"

Long-term happiness is going to depend on your actions. You can’t blame your happiness or sorrow on other people. It’s not that you blame them on yourself — the word “blame” is not appropriate here — you simply try to figure out where these things come from, so that you can solve the problem. So instead of saying that, “I’m to blame,” you say, “What mental states are to blame?” The mind has all kinds of mental states: There’s mindfulness, and there’s lack of mindfulness. 

There’s sensual desire, ill-will, torpor and lethargy, restlessness and anxiety, uncertainty, which are all things that get in the way, that cause you to do unskillful things. On a deeper level, passion, aversion, and delusion: These are the qualities of the mind that cause you to do unskillful things. But there are also times in the mind when there’s no passion, no aversion, no delusion — everything is very clear. And in times like that, you tend to act in skillful ways.

So it’s not an issue of, “You are a bad person causing suffering.” It’s just that some of your thoughts, some of the qualities in your mind, cause suffering. Other qualities *don’t* cause suffering. You’ve got to learn how to sort them out. And a still mind is the best place to do that."

Thanks Antony.

Copied. 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

7 September 2023

Connected discourses on the six sense bases: -- Saṃyutta Nikāya 35 translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi. 74. Sick (1)

Connected discourses on the six sense bases: -- 
Saṃyutta Nikāya 35 translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
74. Sick (1)

At Savatthi. Then a certain bhikkhu approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Venerable sir, in such and such a dwelling there is a certain newly ordained bhikkhu, not well known, who is sick, afflicted, gravely ill. It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One would approach that bhikkhu out of compassion.”

Then, when the Blessed One heard the words “newly ordained” and “sick,” and understood that he was not a well-known bhikkhu, he went to him. That bhikkhu saw the Blessed One coming in the distance and stirred on his bed. The Blessed One said to him: “Enough, bhikkhu, do not stir on your bed. There are these seats ready, I will sit down there.”

The Blessed One then sat down on the appointed seat and said to that bhikkhu: “I hope you are bearing up, bhikkhu, I hope you are getting better. I hope that your painful feelings are subsiding and not increasing, and that their subsiding, not their increase, is to be discerned.”

“Venerable sir, I am not bearing up, I am not getting better. Strong painful feelings are increasing in me, not subsiding, and their increase, not their subsiding, is to be discerned.”

“I hope then, bhikkhu, that you are not troubled by remorse and regret.”

“Indeed, venerable sir, I have quite a lot of remorse and regret.”

“I hope, bhikkhu, that you have nothing for which to reproach yourself in regard to virtue.”

“I have nothing, venerable sir, for which to reproach myself in regard to virtue.”

“Then, bhikkhu, if you have nothing for which to reproach yourself in regard to virtue, why are you troubled by remorse and regret?”

“I understand, venerable sir, that it is not for the sake of purification of virtue that the Dhamma has been taught by the Blessed One.”

“If, bhikkhu, you understand that the Dhamma has not been taught by me for the sake of purification of virtue, then for what purpose do you understand the Dhamma to have been taught by me?”

“Venerable sir, I understand the Dhamma to have been taught by the Blessed One for the sake of the fading away of lust.”

“Good, good, bhikkhu! It is good that you understand the Dhamma to have been taught by me for the sake of the fading away of lust. For the Dhamma is taught by me for the sake of the fading away of lust.

“What do you think, bhikkhu, is the eye permanent or impermanent?”—“Impermanent, venerable sir.”… “Is the ear … the mind permanent or impermanent?”—“Impermanent, venerable sir.”—“Is what is impermanent suffering or happiness?”—“Suffering, venerable sir.”—“Is what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change fit to be regarded thus: ‘This is mine, this I am, this is my self’?”—“No, venerable sir.”

“Seeing thus … He understands: ‘… there is no more for this state of being.’”

This is what the Blessed One said. Elated, that bhikkhu delighted in the Blessed One’s statement. And while this discourse was being spoken, there arose in that bhikkhu the dust-free, stainless vision of the Dhamma: “Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.”

Copied. 

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

5 September 2023

Jack Kornfield

 Jack Kornfield 

As a nation and a globe, we are going through divisive and painful times. Now is the season to stand up for what matters. To stand against hate. To stand for respect. To stand for protection of the vulnerable.

It is a misunderstanding to think that meditation and contemplation are the fulfillment of the Buddhist Path. 

Inner peace, freedom and joy develop only when paired with the outer teachings of virtue, respect and mutual care. 

In his life, the Buddha intervened to try to stop wars. 

He counseled kings and ministers, and guided those around him with teachings of peace and respect.

This is about standing up for the most basic of human principles, for moral action and the prevention of harm. 

It is embodying Dharma amidst the troubles of the world. Now is time to step forward, bringing your equanimity and courage, wisdom and compassion to the world. With peacefulness and mutual respect, our Buddhist communities can become centers of protection and vision.

Protection can take many forms. Protection can be providing sanctuary for those in danger. 

Protection can be skillfully confronting those whose actions would harm the vulnerable among us. 

Protection can be becoming an active ally for those targeted by hate and prejudice.

Now a time of change has come.

We must listen deeply, bear witness, and choose our actions wisely and courageously.

https://jackkornfield.com/moral-action-and-the-dharma/

Copied.

Photo credit. The owner who posted it.

6 September 2023

Life fatigue.

Life fatigue.

When the Buddha described disillusionment with what was perceived as ordinary life two thousand six hundred years ago in India, he called it 'world weariness.' The feeling of deep fatigue as we perceive the emptiness of a life style that has been conditioned into us as having value.

In Dhamma training in all that time of course nothing has changed and as disciples of Dhamma we find ourselves becoming tired of the routine of everyday life and the endless chasing after the things we have been told are important.

We often find ourselves busier and busier but never further ahead in our pursuit of peace or happiness. 

Sometimes it feels as though we borrow more and more money, simply to pay off what we already owe. 

The balance then comes from understanding the expression, 'to live in the world and not be part of the world.' 

The potential to live without attachment to the things that ultimately disappoint, but still be a part of life itself.

Life is not suffering, but it is unsatisfactory as long as we grasp at those things that cannot be held. The loving Dhamma teaching is always the same, let go, let go, let go, not to the thing itself, but only to the attachment.

It is attachment that fuels the unsatisfactoriness and desire that fuels the intention.

To live in the world and be free from its entanglement is the promise of Dhamma. 

When the Buddha awakened a smile arrived on his lips, the same smile waits for you the moment you put down the belief that it can ever fully satisfy.

May all beings be happy.

~ Michael Kewley.

4 September 2024