Stopping

อาจารย์ ปสันโน

Stopping

The other night Ajahn Sucitto gave a Dhamma talk about the type of kamma that leads to the end of kamma. And one type of kamma he spoke about was stopping. The importance of stopping is often overlooked. We get so caught up in doing, becoming, activity, and engagement that we don’t attend to stopping—it’s a neglected aspect of our practice. This isn’t about sitting around doing nothing, because th…

PURPOSE 3

อาจารย์ ปัญญาวัฒโฑ

PURPOSE 3

The way of developing meditation is not a straightforward, cut and dried process. Each person must find their own way, which means you must be resourceful, and even, to some extent, inventive in choosing meditation techniques. If you encounter a hindrance with no prescribed method to circumvent it, you will have to rely on wisdom to devise a method on the spot. You can’t depend only on what the bo…

Wisdom Over Justice

ฐานิสสโร ภิกขุ

Wisdom Over Justice

The Buddha never encouraged his followers to seek retribution, i.e., punishment for old wrongs. The conflict between retributive justice and true happiness is well illustrated by the famous story of Aṅgulimāla (MN 86). Aṅgulimāla was a bandit who had killed so many people—the Canon counts at least 100; the Commentary, 999—that he wore a garland (māla) made of their fingers (aṅguli). Yet afte…

Timeless and True

อาจารย์ เฟื่อง โชติโก

Timeless and True

Now, how do you use your powers of observation to get acquainted with the breath? Ask yourself: Do you know the breath yet, or not? Is the breath truly there, or not? If you can’t see whether the breath is true, look further in until it’s clearly there. There’s no trick, no mystery to it. It’s always true, right there. The important thing is whether or not you’re true. Are you? Yes. Then that’s al…

Cheerfulness

เจ้าคุณนรรัตน์ราชมานิต

Cheerfulness

‘Discouraged’ is a word we shouldn’t use and a thing we shouldn’t allow in our hearts. Let it go and get it out. If you see it arising, let it go. Don’t take it in. If you are careless and let it sneak into the heart, then as soon as you are aware that discouragement has snuck in, you must immediately get it out. Don’t let it feed on the heart. Otherwise it will become a habit, and you will become…

Giving Rise to Rapture

ฐานิสสโร ภิกขุ

Giving Rise to Rapture

A frequent question is how to give rise to rapture, and the Buddha gives a very vague answer: There are potentials for rapture in the body, so you pay appropriate attention to them. That doesn’t give you much to work with, but from personal experience I’ve found that there are certain parts of the body that have a nice pleasant feeling, nothing particularly impressive. But if you can locate them a…

Dedication of Merit

ท่าน เหิงสื่อ

Dedication of Merit

May every living being, Our minds as one and radiant with light, Share the fruits of peace, With hearts of goodness, luminous and bright. If people hear and see, How hands and hearts can find in giving, unity, May their minds awake, To Great Compassion, wisdom and to joy. May kindness find reward, May all who sorrow leave their grief and pain; May this boundless light, Break the darkness of their…

Patience

อาจารย์ สุเมโธ

Patience

Peacefulness and tranquility can be incredibly boring, and can bring up a lot of restlessness and doubt. Restlessness is a common problem because the sensory realm is a restless realm; bodies are restless and minds are restless. Conditions are changing all the time, so if you are caught up in reacting to change, you’re just restless. Restlessness needs to be thoroughly understood for what it is; t…

Words of Wisdom 1

คณะสงฆ์

Words of Wisdom 1

“All that I have said up to now has merely been words. When people come to see me, I have to say something. But it is best not to speak about these matters too much. Better to begin practice without delay. I am like a good friend inviting you to go somewhere. Do not hesitate, just get going. You won’t regret it.” § One day a young woman was sitting in meditation with Ajaan Fuang and everything see…

Santi

อาจารย์ เลี่ยม

Santi

Farmers need to take the season, the environment, and the location into consideration in order to do their work. The crops are dependent upon the season, because they require water. The rainy season is therefore the most appropriate season for planting rice. But the field has to be well prepared – the farmer must make it ready first. The tools and methods for working the rice fields are numerous a…