We rely on the past for a sense of security in a changing world. We become very attached to what we remember because it gives a sense of continuity to our lives. It’s as though, if we can remember something, it still somehow exists. Although we can’t actually go back in time, there is comfort in recalling the memory of it. Memories easily become a refuge from the uncertainty of impermanence. But s…

In the beginning, when you first notice the power of perception, you can easily feel overwhelmed by how pervasive it is. Suppose you’re focusing on the breath. There comes a point when you begin to wonder whether you’re focusing on the breath itself or on your idea of the breath. Once this question arises, the normal reaction is to try to get around the idea to the raw sensation behind it. But if…

Wat Pah Pong was established without capital and with no plan of development. Luang Por’s belief was that if the Sangha practised sincerely, the material evolution of the monastery would gradually take care of itself, because lay Buddhists, inspired by the monks’ dedication, would offer the necessary funds of their own volition. In the long term, buildings would be needed, but they were not an urg…

Maybe one day we will succeed in wishing someone we don’t like well. It’s not about liking where we disliked, or pretending to like, but about seeing whether we can develop a capacity of heart, of kindness that is independent of the experiences we encounter. That needs a gradual training of the heart. And a very strong empowerment comes with it, because it means that our heart becomes more indepen…

The Buddha prefaced his instructions [to Rāhula] with the image of a mirror: Just as you use a mirror to see how you look to other people, Rāhula was to look at his actions to see how he appeared in the eyes of the wise. And the wise would have him judge his actions like this: Whatever he did in thought, word, and deed, he was first to examine his intentions: If he anticipated that the act he plan…

We don’t have all that much control, do we? Much as we would like to be able to control our lives, we recognise we really don’t have that much control. Some things just get out of our control. Things happen and Mother Nature has her ways of letting us know that she’s not just going to follow our desires. Then fashions and revolutions, and changing conditions, and population problems, and airplanes…

Naturally enough, I’d like the mind to be happy or at least co-operative, and may assume that that necessitates being in a good mood. There’s attachment to pleasant contact, or contact with things that we understand and feel familiar with. There is a powerful inclination to just contact that which is stable and secure. There is a middle way here: it’s not that one should be choiceless and unguarde…

At its heart, a monastery is sustained as a spiritual sanctuary. What creates a monastery is that everyone who comes through the gate undertakes to live by a certain standard, to conduct themselves in a certain way in terms of honesty, nonviolence, modesty, restraint and sobriety. Within that zone, it’s a safe place: no one is going to rob you, to chat you up, to try to sell you anything, to attac…

I have found that a much more open-hearted approach works for me. For example, if desire or anger is present, well, first of all I try to listen to all the judgements that may arise: ‘desire!… anger!… wrong! Be restrained, do something about this.’ I notice that if I relate to the experience in a wrong way, it increases the sense of struggle or tension – which doesn’t lead to the ending of sufferi…

Do you ever find yourself dominated by a chain of thought that tells you that you’re not good enough, and don’t deserve much? Are you convinced that other people look down on you? Does your mind recite memories of things you did wrong in dramatic detail? Do you find that when you admire someone, you simultaneously feel unworthy of them? Or that, although you really ought to be a success and help t…