…In Western cultures there is, of course, love and attachment between parents and children, but generally speaking the sense of mutual obligation is much weaker. Values such as independence and individual freedom are given more weight. A special, profound bond between parents and children may be felt by many, but it is not articulated as a moral standard that upholds the society, as it is in Buddh…

When the Buddha formulated his first noble truth–the truth of suffering and stress–he didn’t say something useless like, “Life is suffering,” or obvious like, “There is suffering.” Instead, he said something much more useful, insightful, and to the point: “Suffering is the five clinging-aggregates.” And as he explained elsewhere, the problem isn’t the aggregates of form, feeling, perception, thoug…

The observance of moral precepts creates a strong foundation upon which we can establish our concentration practice. The strength of concentration in turn gives rise to sati-paññā, mindfulness and wisdom. We then use mindfulness to keep a watch on the mind, observing all of its thoughts and emotions. The emotions most easily noticed are the coarser defiling ones of pleasure and displeasure that we…

We should consider having taken birth as humans most dignifying, since we generally regard humans as highly cultivated and superior beings. However, most people’s minds are not yet truly human. There are billions of people living in the world and a great many, despite their human bodies, do not possess minds that make them worthy of being called human. Instead they behave more like fiends from hel…

I expect many of us have read some of the scientific articles around these days that extol the benefits of meditation. Research into the effects meditation practice has on the brain has produced evidence of considerable benefits. I’ve also come across articles disparaging and discouraging Buddhist meditation. Some people who have tried, but after a while given up, claim it can be unhelpful, danger…

There is a rather humorous text in the Middle Length Discourses called the Kukkuravatika Sutta, or The Dog-Duty Ascetic (M 57). In the Buddha’s time, the so-called spiritual scene was full of people who did extreme ascetic practices. In this text, we’re told of an ascetic who likes to practice like he’s a dog. He walks around on all fours, traipsing in and out of puddles, and will only eat food th…

Silence, interestingly, has a way of making one feel connected. We notice our mind is silent, and suddenly we are back at home. A lot of the time our senses are taking us ‘out there.’ We don’t realize that actually the world begins in our hearts/minds (citta) and is triggered by ‘out there.’ The senses and their objects are constantly triggering our citta, so when we bring the [citta(?)] to a plac…

The perfections are a set of qualities traditionally associated with the path of the bodhisatta–the Buddha-to-be–in his quest for the timeless happiness of awakening through the course of many lifetimes. Because these perfections are drawn from the Jātaka tales, stories of the Buddha’s previous lives, and because the bodhisatta is often portrayed as a layperson in those tales, the perfections prov…

Venerable Ajaan Khao had many followers including Bhikkhus, novices and lay people from many areas of Thailand. They came continually to learn and train in moral behaviour with him. But when he grew old, he tried to look after himself by being quiet and calm more than he used to do when he was younger. In that way, his mind and body would last as long as reasonably possible so that he could give v…

Venerable Ānanda saw the brahmin Janussoni riding out of Sāvatthi in a magnificently ornamented white chariot. Later, reporting what he had seen to the Buddha, he asked what was the most divine vehicle according to the Dhamma-Vinaya. The Blessed One named the chariot to Nibbāna as unsurpassed among vehicles, likening its components to the qualities we need for spiritual awakening. As a nun I am a…