Earth represents solidity. It represents form and structure, that which resists pressure. It’s what forms the physical structure of our own bodies and the world that we’re a part of. We assume the earth is solid and predictable. We can stomp on it and say, ‘Yes. There it is. This is the Earth.’ But when we start to look more closely and consider the quality of solidity, we realize it’s only relati…

We live in so many worlds. There’s the world of work, the world of our family, the world of our imaginations. When we meditate, we’re creating a world apart, one that’s not involved in the other worlds. We start out by focusing on the breath. As the Buddha said, you focus on the body in and of itself. In the case of the breath, this means simply being with the sensation of the breathing as it come…

Monks intent on the path of practice have always been drawn to forests because secluded environments support the development of sense-restraint, fewness of wishes, contentment, love of solitude and introspection – the core virtues of a monastic vocation. Living in nature demands care and respect for one’s surroundings and a patient acceptance of a world over which one has only limited control. Whi…

The weather these days is itself giving us something to reflect upon: Yesterday and last night it was raining. This weekend it’s expected to be over 100 degrees. It should be obvious to us that this is definitely uncertain! Ajahn Chah kept encouraging us to investigate the truth of uncertainty–that the nature of things is “not sure”–and to resist the inner voice that says, “Without a doubt, things…

Try to be mindful as you keep track of the breath going in and out. Don’t let yourself forget or be distracted. Try to let go of all concepts of past or future. Silently repeat ‘buddho’ in your mind–’bud-’ in with every in-breath, and ‘dho’ out with every out–until the mind settles down and is still. Then you can stop your mental repetition and begin observing the in-and-out breath to see how fast…

Jātipi dukkhā. Birth is suffering. I heard someone recently explaining the Buddha’s list of the different forms of suffering. He came to this one and said, “Well, that’s behind us now.” The problem is that it’s not behind us. We have it behind us, but we also have it ahead of us if we’re not careful. Each time it happens, it’s like a throw of the dice. As they say, the opportunities that are open…

“If someone eats meat and attaches to its taste then that is craving. If someone who doesn’t eat meat sees someone else eating it and feels averse and angry, abuses or criticizes them, and takes [what they see as] their badness into their own heart, then that makes them more foolish than the person they’re angry with. They’re also following craving.” Luang Por said that monks were free to decide f…

Just as the willingness to both give and receive is a mark of any sound human relationship, the giving and receiving of alms ( free-will offering of material support) has always been a part of most cultures. It centres people around kindness and humility and reminds us that although we are all subject to the changeable fortune of the world, our values and relatedness can remain constant. For this…

Once we’ve abandoned doing evil, then even when we make merit only a bit at a time, there’s still hope that our perfections will grow full. Like a basin set upright out in the open: Even if rain falls only a drop at a time, there’s a chance that the basin will get full. But if we make merit without abandoning evil, it’s like putting a basin upside-down out in the open. When the rain falls, it stil…

The Buddha defined viriya as application to four things. The first is if an unwholesome state of mind arises, one recognizes it first, and then one strives to overcome it. For example, if anger arises, one recognizes “I am angry,” and then one strives to overcome that anger. The next aspect is if an unwholesome state of mind hasn’t yet arisen, then one strives to make sure that it doesn’t arise. I…