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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
Any society prospers and flourishes when its members cultivate spiritual qualities. Having fully developed the human potential, the capacity for profound thoughts, people will be diligent and skilled in earning their livelihood without intending even the slightest harm to one another. If we wish to so prosper, again, it goes without saying how much we have to be grateful for to our parents and tea…
Ajahn Chah would often give the following example: we can take a glass and call it kaew nam in Thai; in the Pāli language we would refer to it differently; in Chinese, in Hindi, in English it is called something different still. Because actually there is no glass. It’s just elements that humans have brought together in a certain way to produce this thing. If the elements are pulled apart again th…
Outside the walls they stand, & at crossroads. At door posts they stand, returning to their old homes. But when a meal with plentiful food & drink is served, no one remembers them: Such is the kamma of living beings. Thus those who feel sympathy for their dead relatives give timely donations of proper food & drink – exquisite, clean – [thinking:] “May this be for our relatives. May our relatives b…
It’s normal that when people practicing concentration start getting results, they can have their doubts about what they’ve experienced—for example, when they experience conflicting visions or start seeing parts of their own bodies. Many people came to Luang Pu, asking him to resolve their doubts or to give them advice on how to continue with their practice. And a lot of people would come to say th…
One of my favourite very short stories is of a seeker of some kind, coming across a wise man (in some versions it is a wise woman), and engaging him in conversation. At the end of their conversation the sage reveals from within a carefully folded piece of cloth a most incredible jewel. The young man, the young traveller or seeker, is absolutely dazzled by the jewel, and says, ‘Can I have this jewe…
