Buddhist traditions have long agreed that the Buddha was a strategist in the way he taught, particularly when it came to teaching the insights that lead to awakening. Various ways of analyzing the Buddha’s strategies have been devised over the centuries, one of the most prominent—both in Theravada and Mahayana traditions—being the theory that the Buddha taught two levels of truth: conventional tru…

The first Noble Truth is the understanding of suffering, and the second is the insight into letting go. The suffering that we are talking about comes from attachment out of ignorance, out of habit, greed, hatred and delusion. We tend to react to sensory impingement: either wanting the pleasant or not wanting the unpleasant. So the tendency is to react and grasp, and grasping also implies trying to…

We might ask ourselves: How much energy, time and attention do I want to give to the practice? What place does the spiritual practice have in my life? Here, spiritual practice does not only mean formal meditation practice. It also means giving attention to our spiritual friends, spending quality time with people who are on the same path. Giving time and attention to a friend who might need some he…

Who isn’t touched by acts of kindness? Who isn’t moved by the intention to ‘pervade the all-encompassing world - to others as to myself - with a mind imbued with kindness - abundant, exalted, without boundaries, free from hatred and ill-will’? Or by the phrase ‘even as a mother protects with her life, her child, her only child - so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings.’? The…

The fourth jhāna has two factors. Ekaggatā: Your object becomes absolutely one. Upekkhā: You can let go of all thoughts of past and future; the five hindrances are completely cut away. The mind is solitary, clear, and radiant. The six properties – earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness – become radiant. The heart feels spacious and clear, thoroughly aware all around through the power o…

As you continue practicing for a length of time, the sense of fullness and pleasure in the body becomes greater. Ekaggatā – interest and absorption in your one object – becomes more intense because you have seen the results it produces. The mind becomes steady and determined, focused with full mindfulness and alertness, thoroughly aware of both body and mind, and thus you can let go of your thinki…

Right Concentration: This starts with threshold concentration, which acts as the basis for the four jhānas, beginning with the first: vitakka, thinking of whichever aspect of the body you choose to take as your object, such as the four physical properties, starting with the in-and-out breath. And then vicāra: adjusting, expanding, letting the breath sensations flow throughout the body, and at the…

The essence of our daily life as samanas consists of putting forth effort to abandon defilements and develop wholesome qualities through meditation practice. We spend hours a day sitting cross-legged and walking on our walking meditation paths. Even if we may not always be so satisfied with the results of our efforts, we can at least take heart from the fact that we’ve done something practical to…

We begin another day, reflecting on the tasks that we all have, the lists of things to do, the never-ending need to attend to the kitchen, the various work projects, guest-monk duties, construction, and so forth. There’s a sense of continuity, of things carrying on from where we were before, going on and on. Ajahn Chah once came up with a wonderful simile: “Saṃsāra is like the ruts left behind the…

[From a Morning Reflection, 2005] One of the American monks in Thailand, Tan Paññāvuḍḍho, has just died. He had been spending the Rains Retreat at Ajahn Dtun’s monastery. Yesterday morning, he didn’t show up for alms round. A monk was sent to check on him, and he was found lifeless in the bathroom. It looked like he fainted while standing up, fell, and hit his head on the way down. We remind ourse…