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Karuna is feeling the pain of other beings, either partially or completely;
Possible translations: 1: Pity not from above: “I am better”, but as if in the other being’s shoes… 2: Compassion is OK, but that is difficult to reach up to for many beings… 3: Fellow feeling, sympathy, empathy, understanding are all OK, but somewhat missing these essential points:
A: It is an inability to see and accept other being’s suffering and distress! B: It is a deep desire to make others feel free, glad, happy and peaceful! C: It is extended to and pervaded over many beings simultaneously…
The proximate cause of Karuna = pity is noticing other being’s helplessness . The immediate effect of Karuna = pity is evaporation of all evil cruelty!
The Blessed Buddha once said: What, Bhikkhus, is the ability of Energy? Here, Bhikkhus, the Noble Disciple lives with energy aroused for the elimination of disadvantageous mental states and for gaining a firm foundation in advantageous states. He is determined, resolute in all his efforts, not evading any good opportunity to train advantageous mental states. This is called the ability of Energy. Source: Samyutta Nikaya V 48
Without Energy, there is neither advantageous action, nor effort! Without any advantageous action, there is neither any good result! No cause gives no effect! Therefore: Raise and stir up yourself!
How is constant Awareness Established only by Breathing?
Sitting cross-legged, with straight back, elevated chin, in a silent place, the yogi remains focusing all attention on the touch point of air in his nostrils:
Fully aware one inhales and fully aware one exhales... When inhaling a long breath, one notices that... When exhaling a long breath, one notices that... When inhaling a short breath, one notices that... When exhaling a short breath, one notices that... Experiencing the whole body, one inhales... Experiencing the whole body, one exhales... Calming all bodily activity, one inhales... Calming all bodily activity, one exhales...
One trains thus: Experiencing joyous rapture, I will inhale... One trains thus: Experiencing joyous rapture, I will exhale... One trains thus: Experiencing a happy pleasure, I will inhale... One trains thus: Experiencing a happy pleasure, I will exhale... One trains thus: Experiencing all mental activity, I will inhale... One trains thus: Experiencing all mental activity, I will exhale... One trains thus: Calming all mental activity, I will inhale... One trains thus: Calming all mental activity, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing all mentality as mood, I will inhale... One trains thus: Experiencing all mentality as mood, I will exhale... One trains thus: Satisfying and gladdening the mind, I will inhale... One trains thus: Satisfying and gladdening the mind, I will exhale... One trains thus: Focusing the mind by concentration, I will inhale... One trains thus: Focusing the mind by concentration, I will exhale... One trains thus: Releasing the mind from hindrance, I will inhale... One trains thus: Releasing the mind from hindrance, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Considering the impermanence of change, I will inhale... One trains thus: Considering the impermanence of change, I will exhale... One trains thus: Considering the detachment in disillusion, I will inhale... One trains thus: Considering the detachment in disillusion, I will exhale... One trains thus: Considering the stilling within cessation, I will inhale... One trains thus: Considering the stilling within cessation, I will exhale... One trains thus: Considering open and freed relinquishing, I will inhale... One trains thus: Considering open and freed relinquishing, I will exhale...
This is how continuous Awareness is established just by breathing!!! Breathing meditation can bring the yogi into 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Jhana... It is a unique praxis used by all Buddhas at their very Enlightenment!!!
The Blessed Buddha once said: Bhikkhus, this sweet concentration by Awareness by Breathing, when it is developed and cultivated, is peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself, and it disperses and quells right on the very spot all evil detrimental mental states, whenever and wherever they arise...! Exactly as in a hot summer month, when a cloud of dust and dirt has been swirled up, then a sudden great & heavy rainfall makes it vanish by quelling it on the spot, so too does this concentration by Awareness by Breathing, when developed and cultivated often, and which is peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself, disperse, scatter, evaporate and quell right on the spot all evil & disadvantageous mental states whenever & wherever they arise. And how is this so? Bhikkhus, when one have gone to the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, there & then one sits down cross-legged, having straightened one's body and back, & set up awareness around the nostrils, then just plainly aware of only that breathing itself one breathes in, and just solely aware of only that very breathing itself one breathes out... Feeling only the touch of air passing! Breathing in long, one knows, notes and understands: I inhale long! Breathing out long, one knows, notes and understands: I exhale long! ... ... ... (steps 2-15) ... ... ... One trains thus: Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe in! One trains thus: Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe out! It is in exactly this way, Friends & Bhikkhus, that this fine concentration by Awareness by Breathing is developed & cultivated so that it indeed is peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself! And it is in this way that it disperses and quells on the spot all evil detrimental states whenever and wherever they arise!
A wandering friend once asked the Great Disciple: Friend Sariputta, Nibbana, Nibbana is it said! What is this Nibbana? The destruction of Greed, the destruction of Hate, and the destruction of Ignorance! This, friend, is called Nibbana … But, friend, is there a method, is there a way to reach this Nibbana? There is indeed a method, friend, there is indeed a way to reach Nibbana! What, friend, is then this method, what is then that way to reach Nibbana? It is, friend, simply the completion of this Noble 8-fold Way, namely:
Right View (samma-ditthi) Right Motivation (samma-sankappa) Right Speech (samma-vaca) Right Action (samma-kammanta) Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva) Right Effort (samma-vayama) Right Awareness (samma-sati) Right Concentration (samma-samadhi)
This is undeniably the very method, friend, the only way to reach Nibbana! Oh excellent is this unique method, exquisite is this way to reach Nibbana! This –in itself- is enough for me, friend Sariputta, to begin the endeavour!
He possesses unwavering faith in the Buddha thus: The Blessed One is Worthy, & Perfectly Self-Enlightened, completed in knowledge and behaviour, happily transcended, sublime, expert in all dimensions, knower of all worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those beings who can be tamed, teacher and guide of both gods and men, an enlightened, exalted and a blessed One!
He possesses unwavering faith in the Dhamma thus: Perfectly formulated by the Blessed One is the Dhamma, obviously seen right here and now, instantly effective, timeless, inviting anyone to come and see, investigate and verify for themselves, leading through gradual progress to perfected freedom, directly observable, experiencable and realizable by each intelligence!
He possesses unwavering faith in the Noble Sangha Community of Disciples thus: Perfectly training is the Blessed One’s Order of Noble Disciples, the right way, the good way, the true way, the direct way. The Blessed One’s Sangha of Disciples i.e. the four Noble pairs, the eight sorts of individuals are therefore worthy of gifts, of hospitality, of self-sacrifice, worthy of respectful salutation with joined palms, since they embody the most supreme field for gaining merit in this world!
Unwavering Faith in the 3 Jewels is the Key that opens the doors to Nibbana
Remembering all Details of a 1000 Universal Cycles!
Once when the Venerable Anuruddha was dwelling at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park, a number of Bhikkhus went to the Venerable Anuruddha and exchanged polite greetings with him. Then they sat down and asked the Ven. Anuruddha: Venerable Sir: What has the Venerable Anuruddha developed and cultivated so that he has attained to his famous greatness of direct knowledge? He answered: It is, friends, because I have developed and cultivated these four Foundations of Awareness that I have won great direct knowledge. What four? Here, friends, I dwell constantly contemplating upon: 1: The body only as a frame of transient form, neither as I, me, mine, nor a self... 2: The feelings only as passing sense reactions, neither as I, me, mine, nor a self... 3: The mind only as habitual & transient moods, neither as I, me, mine, nor any self... 4: All phenomena only as momentary mental states, not as any real static existents... while eager, clearly comprehending, and acutely aware, by that removing all desire and therefore also all frustration rooted in this world! It is thus, friends, because I have developed and cultivated these Four Foundations of Awareness, that I have attained to greatness of direct knowledge. Furthermore, friends, it is indeed, because I have developed and completely refined these 4 Foundations of Awareness, that I clearly & easily can remember all the historical details of a Thousand Aeons ... !!!
Comments: In Buddhist cosmology an Aeon (kappa) means a universal cycle, where space first expands, then stands almost still, then contracts and lastly implodes usually caused by extreme heat. This is said to happen, when 7 suns, due to the contraction of space, have come so close, that they can be seen from earth. All the oceans will have evaporated, when 5 suns can be seen! It is worth noting that this non-steady-state model of the universe described in detail by the Buddha ~ 2500 years ago, first was "rediscovered" in the 1920ties as the Big Bang theory, based on measurements using telescopes and spectrometers not available to the Buddha...!
By seeing that: If only happy at one's own success, such egoistic Joy is rare and limited! If happy at others success also, the Joy is more frequent & even infinite!
By observing that: It starts with basic sympathy, develops into acceptance, genuine approval, & appreciation. It culminates in rejoicing altruistic sympathy by directing mind to initiation, much cultivation & boundless expansion of Mutual Joy!
By knowing that: Mutual Joy is the proximate cause of sweet, fully satisfied contentment! Lack of mutual joy is therefore the proximate cause of discontentment! Mutual Joy instantly eliminates acidic jealousy, grudge and green envy! Mutual Joy is an infinite, truly divine, elevating and sublime mental state! Mutual Joy is 1 of the 4 mental states of the Brahma-devas (Brahmavihara)
The Blessed Buddha pointed out: If it were impossible to cultivate this Good , I would not tell you to do so!
Buddhaghosa: See how this worthy being is very Happy! How fine! How excellent! How sweet!
Let there be Happiness. Let there be open Freedom. Let there be Peace. Let there be Bliss from cultivating this. Let there be Understanding of this mental state of Mutual Joy!
Ageing is suffering: And what is ageing? Whatever decay, decrepitude, broken teeth, greying of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of strength, weakening of the mental abilities, feebleness, and senility of whatever kind of being, that is called aging. Its function is to lead on to death! It is manifested as the vanishing of youth. It is suffering because of the change into decay and the gradual, but steadily falling apart of the body. The loss of memory and intelligence in senile dementia is also distressing.
With leadenness in every limb, With every ability declining, With vanishing of youthfulness, With memory all evaporated, With intelligence eroded away, With strength now drained, With growing unattractiveness Now looking and smelling bad To both wife, friends and family: This is the unavoidable misery Any mortal must expect to find! Since ageing all of this will bring, Ageing is well named suffering. Vism 502 + MN 141
The Blessed Buddha once insisted: The nature of Ageing and Death has to be Understood. The Cause of Ageing and Death has to be Understood. The End of Ageing and Death has to be Understood. The Way to End Ageing and Death has to be Understood.
The nature of Birth has to be Understood. The Cause of Birth has to be Understood. The End of Birth has to be Understood. The Way to End Birth has to be Understood.
The nature of Clinging has to be Understood. The Cause of Clinging has to be Understood. The End of Clinging has to be Understood. The Way to End Clinging has to be Understood.
The nature of Craving has to be Understood. The Cause of Craving has to be Understood. The End of Craving has to be Understood. The Way to End Craving has to be Understood.
The nature of Feeling has to be Understood. The Cause of Feeling has to be Understood. The End of Feeling has to be Understood. The Way to End Feeling has to be Understood.
The nature of Contact has to be Understood. The Cause of Contact has to be Understood. The End of Contact has to be Understood. The Way to End Contact has to be Understood.
The nature of the 6 Senses has to be Understood. The Cause of the 6 Senses has to be Understood. The End of the 6 Senses has to be Understood. The Way to End the 6 Senses has to be Understood.
The nature of Name-and-Form has to be Understood. The Cause of Name-and-Form has to be Understood. The End of Name-and-Form has to be Understood. The Way to End Name-and-Form has to be Understood.
The nature of Consciousness has to be Understood. The Cause of Consciousness has to be Understood. The End of Consciousness has to be Understood. The Way to End Consciousness has to be Understood.
The nature of Mental Construction has to be Understood. The Cause of Mental Construction has to be Understood. The End of Mental Construction has to be Understood. The Way to End Mental Construction has to be Understood.
The nature of Ignorance has to be Understood. The Cause of Ignorance has to be Understood. The End of Ignorance has to be Understood. The Way to End Ignorance has to be Understood.
The Blessed Buddha once said: Kayamunim vacamunim, manomunimanasavam, munim moneyyasampannam. Ahu ninhatapapakam.
Silenced in body, silenced in speech, silenced in mind, without inner noise, blessed with silence is the sage! He is truly washed of all evil... Itivuttaka 3.67
Calm is his mind. Calm is his speech. Calm is his action. So is the tranquillity; So is the serenity; of one freed by the insight of right understanding... Dhammapada 96
The Blessed Buddha once explained: On any occasion, Bhikkhus, when mind is excited and high, then it is time for training the Tranquillity Link to Awakening, the Concentration Link to Awakening, and the Equanimity Link to Awakening. Why is it so? Because when the mind is excited and high, Bhikkhus, then it is easy to calm it down with exactly those mental states... Imagine, Bhikkhus, a man wants to extinguish a great fire. If he throws wet grass, wet cow-dung, wet timber into it, sprays it with water, and scatters soil over it, would he be able to extinguish that great bonfire? Yes, Venerable Sir. Even so here, Bhikkhus, on any occasion, when the mind is excited and high, then it is convenient to train & develop the Tranquillity Link to Awakening, the Concentration Link to Awakening, & the Equanimity Link to Awakening. Why is it so? Because when the mind is excited and high, Bhikkhus, then it is easy to calm it down & still it with the qualities of exactly those states! Awareness, however, Bhikkhus, I tell you, is always useful & good to train!
Ultra Aware and Alert, but not the least Agitated!
What is the Starting Point of Advantageous States?
Venerable Bahiya once approached the Blessed Buddha and asked: Sir, Please teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that I can withdraw into retreat and dwell secluded, keen, ardent, alert and determined. Well, Bahiya, purify the very starting point of all advantageous states. And what is the starting point of all advantageous states?
Morality that is well purified, and a view that is made straight #... Then, Bahiya, when your Morality is well purified and your view is straight, based upon Morality, established upon Morality, you should develop these Four Foundations of Awareness. What four? Here, Bahiya, live reflecting on:
1: The Body merely as a transient and compounded Form.. 2: Feelings just as vanishing Reactions to sense-contact.. 3: Mind only as a group of habitual and conditioned Moods.. 4: All Phenomena simply as discrete momentary Mental States..
Thereby removing any desire, jealousy, envy & discontent rooted in this world.. When, Bahiya, based upon Morality, established upon Morality, you develop these Four Foundations of Awareness in such a way, then both night and day, you will grow in all advantageous states, and not decline into any degradation! Then the Venerable Bahiya, delighted, enjoying and rejoicing in what the Blessed Buddha had explained, rose from his seat, and, after kneeling for the Blessed One, keeping him on his right, he left. Then dwelling all alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, the Venerable Bahiya, realizing it by direct experience, in this very life entered that incomparable goal of the Noble life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from this household life into homelessness. He directly knew: Destroyed is rebirth, the Noble life is completed, done is what had to be done, there is no more coming into any state of being. Venerable Bahiya had become another one of the awakened Arahats!
The 4 great frames of Reference!
Comment #: Efficacy of Kamma! The Straight View is understanding that everyone is responsible for their own actions & that all beings experience the delayed resulting effects - good as bad - not only in this life, but in many future lives!
The Blessed Buddha once said: Truly, caused by craving for sense pleasure, conditioned by craving for simple sense pleasure, propelled by craving for sense pleasure, wholly induced by craving for sense pleasure, kings fight with kings, princes with princes, priests with priests, citizens with citizens and the mother quarrels with the son, the son with the mother, the father with the son, the son with the father; brother quarrels with brother, brother with sister, sister with brother, & friend brawl with friend! Thus, pushed into conflict, quarrelling, & fighting, they readily attack each other with fists and eapons, thereby suffering both pain & death! Furthermore, caused by craving for plain sense pleasure, conditioned by craving for simple sense pleasure, propelled by craving for sense pleasure, wholly induced by craving for sense pleasure, burglars break into houses, rob, plunder, steal from friends, commit highway robbery, and seduce the wives of others. Then the rulers have such people caught and inflict upon them various forms of punishment. Thereby they meet death or deadly pain... Such is the misery of craving for sense pleasure, accumulation of pain & suffering in this present life, caused, initiated, prepared & entirely dependent upon this evil urge for sense pleasure! Finally: Beings engage in evil mental, verbal & bodily behaviour; as a consequence of that, at breakup of the body, right after death, they are whirled into the downfall, and re-arise in a state of misery, in an unhappy destination, in the abyss of one of the many inferno hells... Such also is the misery of craving for sense pleasure: Accumulation of suffering in the future life, entirely due to craving for low pleasure, created by craving for pleasure, caused by craving for pleasure, utterly dependent on this malign sense pleasure craving. MN 13...
The Blessed Buddha once said: What, Ananda, is the experience of Ceasing? When a Bhikkhu retires to the forest, to the root of a tree, or an empty hut & thinks thus: This is Peace, this is sublime, namely, the stilling of all mental construction, the ending of all kammic formation, the evaporation of all fuel for becoming, the ceasing of all craving, the relinquishing of all by detachment, cessation, Nibbana Then this very reflection itself is the experience of Ceasing ...
Some Simple Comments: Ceasing means complete ending of & total absence of all greed, hate & ignorance! Cultivating reflection on ceasing reduces all desire for initiation, and origination..
Simile: Greed, lust, & desire fades away slowly like the colours of cloth hanging in the sun!
Even evaluation is characteristic of the Equanimity Link to Awakening. (Upekkha-Sambojjhanga). Preventing both deficiency & excess and securing impartiality is the function of Equanimity. Imperturbable ballance is the manifestation of the Equanimity Link to Awakening. Equanimity just looks on whenever new phenomena arises and ceases. This stable yet plastic patience purifies all the other advantageous mental states, which reach maximum, when joined with Equanimity...
Equanimity (Upekkha) is a moderating mental construction. Equanimity is also a mood of neither gladness nor sadness. Equanimity is also a feeling of neither pain nor pleasure. Equanimity is also the neutral ability to be indifferent. Equanimity is also the 4th infinitely divine dwelling. Equanimity is also a quite high form of happiness. Equanimity is also a refined mental purification. Equanimity is therefore a Link to Enlightenment...
There is Equanimity both regarding live beings and dead things. There is Equanimity both regarding all internal & external states. There is Equanimity both regarding all past, present and future. There is Equanimity both regarding all mentality & all materiality.
The Buddha once said: What mental fermentations (asava) should be overcome by development? If a Bhikkhu by alert & rational attention develops the Equanimity Link to Awakening based on seclusion, based on disillusion, on ceasing, culminating in full renouncing relinquishment, then neither can mental fermentation, nor any fever, nor discontent ever arise in him. MN2 [i 11]
When mind is concentrated one can observe all closely in equanimity. The Equanimity Link to Awakening arises right there. He develops it, and for him repeatedly meditating it goes gradually to the completion of its development. MN118 [iii 85]
Bedside proof of the Non-Locality of Consciousness...
Dr. Pim van Lommel on the fact of a Consciousness Beyond Biological Brain Life... Like the bottle contains the beer, but DOES NOT produce the beer... Similarly: The brain contains consciousness, but the brain DOES NOT produce consciousness!
REBIRTH VIDEOS: Scientific Rebirth Research: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation01.html BBC documentary on Near Death Experiences: Near-Death Experiences on the Intensive Care Unit Reincarnation research by Ian Stevenson Children's past life memories: Scientific Evidence of Rebirth by Dr Jim Tucker: The Cardiologist on the Near-Death Experience 1 The Cardiologist on the Near-Death Experience 2 Near-Death Website: http://near-death.com/
The Blessed Buddha once said: As a mother would risk even her own life to protect her only child, exactly so let us cultivate immeasurable loving-kindness towards all living beings!
I am a friend of the footless, I am a friend of all bipeds, I am a friend of those with four feet, I am a friend of the many-footed! Anguttara Nikaya 4.67
Among tigers, lions, leopards & bears I lived in the jungle. No one was frightened of me, nor did I fear anyone. Uplifted by such universal friendliness, I enjoyed the forest. Finding great solace in such sweetly silenced solitude… Suvanna-sama Jataka 540
May all creatures, all breathing things, all beings one and all, without exception, experience good fortune only. May they not fall into any harm. Anguttara Nikaya II, 72
With good will for the entire cosmos, cultivate a limitless heart & mind: Beaming above, below, & all around, unobstructed, without trace of hostility. Sutta Nipata I, 8
Train yourself in doing only good that lasts and brings great happiness. Cultivate generosity, a peaceful living, and a mentality of infinite friendliness. Ittivuttuka 16
Medin Poya day is the full-moon of March. This holy day celebrates that the Buddha visits his parental home after his supreme Enlightenment, and ordains his son prince Rahula, & half brother Nanda. This day is also called: The Sangha Day, since on this full-moon 1250 Arahats spontaneously met & assembled around the Buddha without any call. Buddha then spoke the famous Ovada Patimokkha core teaching!
On such Full-Moon Uposatha Poya Observance days: Any Lay Buddhist simply joins the Three Refuges and undertakes the Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, shaved, white-clothed, with clean bare feet, one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue, and bows first three times, so that feet, hands, elbows, knees & head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms at the heart, one recites these memorized lines in a loud, calm & steady voice:
As long as this life lasts: I hereby take refuge in the Buddha. I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma. I hereby take refuge in the Sangha. I hereby seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time. I hereby seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time. I hereby seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time. I hereby request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time. I hereby request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time. I hereby request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time. I will hereby respect these Three Jewels the rest of my life!
I accept to respect, keep & undertake these 5 training rules: I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Lying & Cheating. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs. As long as this life lasts: I am thus protected by these 5 precepts...
As long as this life lasts, I am thus protected by these 5 precepts... Then, one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's own eyes & children!, since they protect you & all other beings much better than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in & to this world! The journey towards Nibbana: The Deathless is hereby started! This is the Noble Way to Absolute Peace, to Complete Freedom, to Ultimate Happiness, initiated by Morality, developed further by Dhamma-Study and fulfilled by training of Meditation...
Today indeed is Pooya or Uposatha or observance day, where any lay Buddhist normally keeps also the Eight Precepts from sunrise until the next dawn... If any wish an official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha, they may simply forward the lines starting with "I hereby ..." signed with name, date, town, & country to me or join here. A public list of this new quite rapidly growing global web Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
Friendliness means Goodwill Friendliness means Kindness Friendliness means Helpfulness Friendliness means Assistance Friendliness means Support Friendliness means Benevolence Friendliness means Concern Friendliness means Care Friendliness means Compassion Friendliness means Cooperation Friendliness means Mutual Aid Friendliness means Mutual Advantage Friendliness means Sympathy Friendliness means Symbiosis
Only friendliness can completely evaporate the poison of hate and anger! Its characteristic is promoting other being's welfare, its function is to do only good, and its manifestation is kindness, sympathy, and gentleness... The proximate cause of friendliness is seeing the good aspects of things! The proximate cause of understanding compassion is this very friendliness!
The Blessed Buddha said about friendliness (Metta): "Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth one sixteenth part of the release of mind by universal friendliness; in shining, glowing and beaming radiance, this release of mind by universal friendliness far excels & surpasses them all..."
What are the 11 Advantages of cultivating such Universal Friendliness? The four Brahma Viharas; The four Divine States: The four Supreme States; The four Infinite States:
"Friends, eleven advantages are to be expected as effect from the release of mind into friendliness by the practice of Goodwill, by cultivating amity, by making much of it frequently, by making friendliness the vehicle, the tool, the basis, by insisting on it, by being well established in it as a sublime habit! What are these eleven advantages ? One falls asleep well! One wakes up Happy! One dreams no evil dreams! One is liked and loved by all human beings! One is liked and loved by all non-human beings too! One is guarded and protected by the divine devas! One cannot be harmed by fire, poison, or weapons! One easily attains the concentration of absorption! Ones appearance becomes serene, calm, and composed! One dies without confusion, bewilderment, or panic! One reappears after death on the Brahma level, if one has penetrated to no higher level in this very life!
When the mind is released into friendliness by the practice of goodwill, by manifesting friendliness, by cultivating amity, by frequently making much of it, by making friendliness the vehicle, the tool, the basis, the medium, the foundation, by persisting in it, by insisting on it, by properly consolidating it, by thoroughly undertaking it, by making it a familiar supreme habit, by so being well established in it, these eleven blessings can be expected!" Anguttara Nikaya V 342
There, Oohh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of friendly loving-kindness pervading first one direction, then a 2nd one, then a 3rd one then the 4th one, as below so above, across and all around, everywhere identifying himself with all sentient beings, he is encompassing the whole world with a mind of friendly loving-kindness, with a wide mind, vast, refined, unbounded, cleared, exalted, pure and bright, free from all hate and ill will ...
There, Oh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of understanding compassion pervading first the front, then the right side, then the back, then the left side, as below so above, across & all around, all over, far & wide; identifying himself with all sentient beings, he is perfusing the whole universe with a mind imbued with pity, with a spacious mind, a refined mind, infinite, purified, all luminous, freed from all anger and any trace of enmity ...
There, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of altruistic, sympathetic and mutual Joy pervading the North, then the East, then the South, then the West, as below so above, across & all around, universally, infinitely; identifying himself with all sentient beings, he is suffusing all galaxies with a mind elevated by genuine mutual and altruistic sympathetic joy, with an open mind, immeasurable, wide, limitless, pure & shining, free from all aversion and bitterness ...
There, Oohh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of balanced equanimity is pervading first the frontal quadrant, then the right, then the rear & then the left quadrant, as below so above, across and all around, everywhere placing himself with all sentient beings, he is permeating the whole world with a mind satiated of stilled and balanced equanimity, calmed, with a mountain-like mind, cultivated, endless, clean, dazzling, freed from any irritation and resentment."
"So too, Bhikkhus, others may speak to you timely or untimely, true or untrue, gentle or harsh, beneficial or harmful, based on kindness or on bitter hate! If they abuse you verbally, you should train yourselves in this way: "Our minds will remain unaffected, we shall speak no angry words, will dwell friendly and understanding, with thoughts of kindness and no inward anger! We shall remain friendly and beam goodwill towards that very person, and we shall dwell extending it to the entire universe, mentally overflowing, exalted, measureless and infinite in friendliness, without any trace hostility or ill-will." That is how you should train yourselves. Even if bandits were savagely to cut you up, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, one who harbours hate on that account, would not be one who carried out my teaching. Bhikkhus, you should keep this instruction on this Simile of the Saw constantly in mind... Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 21
Thus he who both day and night takes delight in harmlessness sharing love with all that lives, finds enmity with none... Samyutta Nikaya. I 208
When one with a mind of love feels compassion for the entire world above, below and across, unlimited everywhere. Jataka 37
The Bodhisatta once was born as the righteous king Ekaraja. His kingdom was taken by force and he and his son was buried in a pit to the neck... King Ekaraja, however neither resisted, nor bore even slight ill will against the invaders. Later he remembered this as his ultimate perfection of friendliness. Ekaraja Jataka 303
Enthusiastic Energy Boosts Advantageous Right Effort!
By it one strives and struggles, thus is it energetic effort. Any advantageous exertion of endeavour is a right effort. By it one works in the right direction, thus is it right effort. It is right, because it eliminates all the ugly evil mentalities. It is effort, because it brings progress of well-being and bliss. Therefore is it called Right Effort. It is a name for Energy... Right Effort achieves these four functions: 1: Elimination of already arisen detrimental mental states! 2: Prevention of detrimental mental states not yet arisen! 3: Initiation of advantageous mental states not yet arisen! 4: Maintenance of already arisen advantageous mental states! Thus is it fourfold. That is why it is called the 4 right efforts...
A friend asked: What is Mind? Mind (Mano) is an ever changing cyclic sequence of these 5 phenomena: Contact1 => Feeling1 + Perception1 => Intention1 => Attention1 => Contact2 => Feeling2 + Perception2 => Intention2 => Attention2 => Contact3 => etc.
Regarding Consciousness itself: Consciousness is NOT created by the brain, but RESIDES WITHIN the brain! Just like the beer is inside the bottle, but is not created by the bottle... To identify Mind only with Brain is a (false) view, which actually is a philosophical (often dogmatic) standpoint, and NOT a scientifically & experimentally verified fact. This tantalizing IDEA is called physicalism or materialism! On this common, yet wrong assumption named Mind-Brain Identity Theory see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_physicalism http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-identity/ http://www.philosophyofmind.info/mindbrainidentity.html
Consciousness is information. Information is definitely real, but not material...
Luminous is the Mind said the Buddha: Interestingly: When one person sees light in a dark room, another distant person's brain emits low level light, if they are magnetically identically pulsed: Full text here: http://what-buddha-said.net/library/pdfs/Brain.Photon.Entanglement.pdf Furthermore: So do cell cultures also! When one receives light, the other shines!
The characteristic of patience is acceptance, its function is to endure, and its manifestation is non-opposing tolerance! The cause of patience is understanding how things really are.. The effect of patience is calm tranquility despite presence of intensely stirring provocation.. Patience of the will produces forgiving forbearance! Patience of the intellect produces faith, confidence and certainty! Patience of the body produces resolute and tenacious endurance! Internal tolerance of states within oneself is patient endurance... External tolerance of other beings is forbearance and forgiveness...
He who patiently protects himself, protects also all other beings! He who patiently protects all other beings, protects also himself!
Not from speaking much is one called clever. The patient one is free from anger and free from fear, only such steady persisting one, is rightly called clever... Dhammapada 258
Patient tolerance is the highest praxis... Nibbana is the supreme Bliss! So say all the Buddhas. Dhammapada 184
The innocent one, who has done nothing wrong, Who endures abuse, flogging and even imprisonment, Such one, armed with stamina, the great force of tolerance, Such stoic one, who self-possessed can accept, I call a Holy One! Dhammapada 399
One should follow those who are determined, tolerant, and enduring, intelligent, wise, diligent, clever, good-willed and evidently Noble. One shall stick to them as the moon remains in its regular orbit. Dhammapada 208
Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, you should not get angry, but do my bidding: Remain pervading them and all others with a friendly Awareness imbued with an all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, and immeasurable! Free from hostility, free from any ill will. Always remembering this very Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves. Majjhima Nikaya 21
The five ways of removing irritating annoyance: Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which any irritation can be entirely removed by a Bhikkhu, when it arises in him. What are these five ways? 1: Friendliness can be maintained towards an irritating person or state.. 2: Understanding can be undertaken towards an irritating person or state.. 3: On-looking Equanimity can be kept towards an irritating person or state.. 4: One can forget and ignore the irritating person, mental or physical state.. 5: Ownership of Kamma of the irritating person can be reflected upon thus: This good person is owner of his actions, inherit the result his actions, is indeed born of his actions and only he is responsible for his actions be they good or bad. This too is how annoyance with the irksome can be instantly removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, and by which any irritation can be entirely removed in a friend, exactly when it arises... Anguttara Nikaya V 161
Buddha to his son Rahula: Develop an Imperturbable Mind like the elements: Rahula, develop a mind like earth, then contacts of arisen like and dislike will not obsess your mind! Rahula, on the earth is dumped both the pure and the impure: excreta, urine, saliva, pus, blood, but the earth does not detest any of those... Even and exactly so make your mind stable like the earth! Rahula, develop a mind like water, then contacts of arisen pleasure and pain will not seize your mind. Rahula with water both the pure and the impure are cleaned... Washed away with water are excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood, yet the water does not despise any of that! Even so make the mind fluid and adaptable like the water! Rahula, develop a mind like fire, then the contacts of any arisen attraction or aversion will neither consume, nor hang on to your mind! Rahula, fire burns both the pure and the impure, burns excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood, yet the fire does not loathe any of that.. In the same manner refine the mind into a tool like an all consuming and purifying fire! Rahula, develop a mind similar to space, then contacts of arisen delight and frustration does neither take hold of, nor remain in your mind. Space does not settle anywhere! Similarly make the mind unsettled and unestablished like open space. When you expand mind like space, contacts of delight and frustration will neither be able to dominate, nor obsess your mind... Majjhima Nikaya 62
Any Buddhist disciple should avoid taking anything from anywhere knowing it belongs to another. He should neither steal, nor swindle, nor incite others to steal or cheat. He should completely avoid all theft, deception and fraud. Sutta Nipata 2.397
A radiant deity once asked the Buddha: Those who dwell deep in the forest, Peacefully living the Noble life, Eating only a single meal a day, Why is their appearance so serene?
The Blesses Buddha responded: They do not trouble over the past, Nor do they crave for any future, They live just with what is present, Therefore are their looks so serene!
By urging towards the yet unreal future, By longing back into a forever lost past, Fools verily dry up and wither away, Like a green creeper cut at the root...
The Blessed Buddha once explained: How is the release of mind by infinite mutual joy (Mudita) achieved? What does this liberation have as its destination, what is its culmination, what is its sweet fruit, and what is the ultimate goal of mental release by universally mutual, unselfish, altruistic, appreciative & rejoicing joy? Here, Bhikkhus, a Bhikkhu dwells pervading the frontal quadrant with a mind imbued with infinite mutual joy, so the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quadrant. As above, so below, across, and everywhere to all beings as for himself, he dwells pervading the entire cosmos with a mind fully saturated with unlimited mutual joy, immense, exalted, measureless, without hostility, without any enmity, without any trace of ill will, of jealousy or of envy! Thus prepared and mentally quite expanded, he then develops: 1: The Awareness Link to Awakening joined with limitless mutual joy. 2: The Investigation Link to Awakening fused with such mutual joy. 3: The Energy Link to Awakening together with infinite mutual joy. 4: The Joy Link to Awakening accompanied with absolute mutual joy. 5: The Tranquillity Link to Awakening linked with noble mutual joy. 6: The Concentration Link to Awakening associated with mutual joy. 7: The Equanimity Link to Awakening joined with endless mutual joy. Based upon seclusion, disillusion, ceasing, and culminating in release...
If he then wishes: May I dwell experiencing repulsion by any attractive & tempting object, then he can dwell experiencing repulsiveness therein. If he wishes: May I dwell experiencing the unrepulsive in any disgusting and repulsive object, then he experiences pleasing beauty in whatever disgusting & ugly thing! If he wishes: Avoiding both the repulsive & the unrepulsive, may I dwell in equanimity, just aware & clearly comprehending, then he experiences equanimity, just aware and clearly comprehending! When meditating he can completely transcend the realm of infinitude of space, only aware that consciousness is infinite, he can enter and dwell in the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness.. I tell you Bhikkhus for a quite wise Bhikkhu here, who has not yet penetrated to an even more superior mental release, the mental release by infinite, altruistic and mutual joy has the sphere of the infinitude of consciousness as its culmination!
Comments: Are you Discontent? Here is Why! Mutual joy is the proximate cause of contentment. Consequentially: Lack of mutual joy produces frustrated discontent! Mutual joy also eliminates jealousy and envy! Absence of mutual joy therefore induces the acid like mental pain called envy and jealousy!
Source of reference (edited extract): The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book [V: 115-21] 46: The Links. 54: Joined by Friendliness...
One can advantageously donate funds for food, which is needed every month here. Whoever gives food later gains bodily strength, vitality, vigor and health.
The Buddha indeed pointed out Gratitude as an important mental quality: These two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one who is grateful and thankful for a kindness done. Anguttara Nikaya 2.118
I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, & were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs, and they were to defecate and urinate right there on your shoulders, you would not thereby repay your parents. Even if you were to establish your mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way repay your parents! Why is that? Mothers and fathers do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them for long, and they introduce them to this world. But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes them in faith; rouses his immoral mother & father, establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity; rouses his unwise mother & father, settles & establishes them on a new level of understanding: It is in this way that one truly repays one's mother's and father's many longstanding services. Anguttara Nikaya 2.32
Mother & father, compassionate to their family, are called Brahma, first teachers, honour them with food & drink, clothing & bedding, and anointing, bathing, washing their feet. Performing these services to their parents, the wise are praised right here and after death rejoice in heaven. Itivuttaka 106
If this is what you think of me: The Blessed One, is sympathetic, is seeking our well-being, teaches us this Dhamma out of sympathy, then you should train yourself in being in harmony, cordial, and without conflict and train in yourselves cultivation of all the 37 best mental qualities: The 4_Foundations_of_Awareness, the 4 right efforts, the 4_Feet_of_Force, the 5 Abilities, 5 powers, the 7 Links to Awakening, & the Noble_8-Fold_Way. Majjhima Nikaya 103 A Tathagata is worshipped, honoured, respected, thanked & shown gratitude by any follower, who keeps practicing the Dhamma in accordance with true Dhamma, who keeps practicing masterfully, who lives in and by the Dhamma! Digha Nikaya 16
We will undertake & practice those qualities that makes one a contemplative, so that all those who helped us by services of robes, alms-food, lodging, and medicines will bring them great fruit and great future reward. Majjhima Nikaya 39
Comments: In Pali, the word for gratitude = kataññu literally means to have a sense of what was done for one in the past even when long ago. Remembering all help! A network of kindness and gratitude is what sustains whatever goodness there is and ever will be in this - otherwise destitute & impoverished - world!
Seeing the Spontaneous Dissolution of all phenomena!
The Ancient Elders explained: All past constructions & all past formations, whether mental or material have dissolved, and they continue to break up into any future, just as they do now! Clearly observing the inevitable impermanence of all the present constructions, one can infer those past & future to be the same: All formations will disappear! Like dew-drops, when the morning sun comes up. All Aggregates cease & nothing else really exists. Breakup of these 5 clusters of clinging is known as death... One should watch and reflect upon their destruction carefully, just as one who with a diamond drills a hole through a jewel. Since:
One who regards all phenomena: As lasting as a bursting bubble; As illusive as a mirage; One regarding all worldly life exactly so, is forever unseen even by the King of Death! Dhammapada 170
Seeing the breakup of all phenomena therefore makes one approach Nibbana with the acute imperative urgency & efficacy of one with a burning turban... Vism 645
The Blessed Buddha once said: Bhikkhus and Friends: There are these four infinite mental states: The Bhikkhu pervades all beings with all-embracing friendliness... The Bhikkhu encompass all creatures with universal & endless pity... The Bhikkhu permeates all individuals with infinite and mutual joy... The Bhikkhu suffuses all living mortals with unlimited equanimity... First in one direction, then in the 2nd, then the 3rd, & finally the 4th, above, below, all around, in every location, unifying himself with all beings, he pervades the entire universe with a kind and all-embracing friendliness, with an all-encircling compassion & pity, with an all-enveloping mutual and altruistic joy, and with an all-encompassing imperturbable equanimity, fully utilizing a refined mind, made great, vast, profound, infinite, immeasurable, released from all hate, anger, irritation, opposition and stubbornness... Source: DN 33
Because of hate, overwhelmed and obsessed by hate, one lives while doing evil deeds, speaking wrong words, and thinking bad thoughts... Thus one neither really understands one's own welfare, nor the welfare of others, nor the welfare of both... If, however, this hate is overcome and subdued, then one lives while doing good deeds, speaking kind words, and thinking advantageous thoughts... Therefore one really knows, what is one's own welfare, for the welfare of others, & for the welfare of both one self & others... Source: AN 3:55
Any Buddhist disciple should avoid taking anything from anywhere knowing it belongs to another. He should neither steal, nor swindle, nor incite others to steal or cheat. He should completely avoid all theft, deception and fraud. Sutta Nipata 2.397
The Detrimental & Advantageous topics of Conversation:
The disadvantageous subjects of bestial conversation are: conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state, armies, alarms, & battles, food & drink, clothing, furniture, garlands, & scents, relatives, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, the countryside, women & heroes, the gossip of the street & the well, tales of the dead, tales of diversity, the creation of the world & of the sea, talk of whether things exist or not.
The 10 advantageous subjects of conversation are: Talk on the Modesty of having few wants, Talk on the Bliss of Contentment, Talk on the Joy of Seclusion, Talk on the Ease of Disentanglement, Talk on the Energy of Enthusiasm, Talk on the Advantage of Morality, Talk on the Calm of Concentration, Talk on the Insight of Understanding, Talk on the Freedom of Release, Talk on the Direct Knowledge and Vision of Release ... http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/conversation.html
The brahmin Magandiya once asked the Buddha about how to detach:
Question:How does one quench all this urge of craving and clinging?
Answer: One should stop all mental diversification and proliferation by giving up the conception "I am"! This internal craving for existence should be dispelled... Whatever theory one understands should neither induce pride, nor thereby regarding of 'Me' as better, worse or equal to anyone. When contacted by various forms, one should not form a mental image or concept about a self! Such friend is at peace within himself & need not seek peace from another! He neither takes up, nor lays down anything. Therefore he cannot be moved! He does not desire any sights, sounds, flavours, amusements or common talk. He would not cherish or delight in any phenomena at all, in the entire world... When affected by pain, he does not lament, nor does he long for survival or tremble, when in great danger. He would not accumulate anything, whether things, eatables or clothes. Nor is he afraid of not receiving or loosing all... Such Bhikkhu is a meditator, not foot-loose, pure, not negligent, dwelling in remote lodgings, where there is little noise & no disturbance from company... Sutta-Nipata 915-925 Edited excerpt.
Comment: What is it, that is quenched? It is the fire of greed, hate and ignorance, that is quenched. There is nothing else - here or there - to quenche...
It is a great pity with all those thinking like this: Pleasure is the only good; by that they fall! Terror is a necessary way; by that they fall! Sensuality is innocent; by that they fall! Violence is allowable; by that they fall! Money makes happiness; by that they fall! Power is progress; by that they fall! Falsehood is acceptable; by that they fall! Stealing gives wealth; by that they fall! Conceit can conceal; by that they fall! Science knows all; by that they fall! Killing can be good; by that they fall! Hunting is only fun; by that they fall! Adultery is mature; by that they fall! Paedophilia is harmless; by that they fall! Drugs are fantastic; by that they fall! Booze is medicine; by that they fall! Giving does not help; by that they fall! After death is nothing!; by that they fall! The Hells do not exist; by that they fall! Intentional Action has no effect; by that they fall! I am the better than...; by that they fall! I know better ...; by that they fall! Making merit cannot elevate; by that they fall!
It is a great pity with all those poor beings: who are veiled by wrong view; by that they fall! who are fooled by own opinion; by that they fall! who are gripped by greed and lust; by that they fall! who are stirred by hate and anger; by that they fall! who are clinging to all worldly things; by that they fall! who are confused by not knowing; by that they fall! who prostitute themselves; by that they fall! who cheat and deceives; by that they fall! who pretend what is not; by that they fall! who hide what is actual fact; by that they fall! who destroy beings or things; by that they fall! who pollute the milieu and society; by that they fall! who deliberately do evil willing it; by that they fall! who fail their duties and obligations; by that they fall! who miss the obvious opportunities; by that they fall! It is a great pity with all those blinded by ignorance, bound and dragged by craving, while pushed by aversion: By that they surely fall into states of pain, agony and despair! As if gripped by the arms of two strong men and hurled into a big fire...
For What do Men of good family go forth into Homelessness?
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this: Bhikkhus, whatever clansmen in the past rightly went forth into homelessness, all did so in order to breakthrough to the Four Noble Truths as they really are. Whatever clansmen in the future will rightly go forth into homelessness, all will do so in order to breakthrough to see these 4 Noble Truths as they really are! Whoever clansman at present has rightly gone forth into homelessness, he has only done so by breakthrough to the same Four Noble Truths just as they are! What four?
The Noble Truth of Suffering, The Noble Truth on the Cause of Suffering, The Noble Truth on the End of Suffering, The Noble Truth on the Way leading to the End of Suffering.
Whatever clansmen rightly went forth... will rightly go forth... have rightly gone forth from household life into homelessness, all have done so in order to make the breakthrough to these Four Noble Truths as they actually and really are. Therefore, Bhikkhus, an effort should be mobilized to completely understand: This is Suffering; This is the Cause of Suffering; This is the End of Suffering; This is the way leading to the End of Suffering... An effort should be made to understand, comprehend, penetrate, recognize & realize these 4 Noble Truths!
Comments: Only the perfect Buddhas breakthrough to, discover & explain these 4 truths! Those who makes that effort and understands, shortens the Samsaric round... Those who neglects that effort and ignores it, prolongs the Samsaric round... Friends, it is by not understanding, by not penetrating these 4 Noble Truths that both you & I have cycled bewildered in birth-&-death for an eternity...
The Blessed Gotama Buddha once explained: Bhikkhus & friends, see this little dust, I have taken up upon the nail of my little-finger, what do you think is most: This tiny dust or this great planet Earth? The Bhikkhus then responded: Venerable Sir, this great planet Earth is much more, incomparable more... The minute speck of dust is trifling, microscopic, negligible in comparison. The Blessed Gotama Buddha then succinctly and importantly pointed out: Similarly and exactly so too, Bhikkhus & friends, those beings are few and quite rare, who are reborn among humans or devas! Beings who are reborn elsewhere, lower, as non-humans, in the screaming hell, as scared animals, as hungry ghosts, or as angry demons are much more numerous and common... Why is it so? Because: Few are those beings who avoid destruction of life, who avoid all killing... Few are those beings who avoid mutilating, murder, robbery, and violence... Few are those beings who avoid taking what is not given by not stealing... Few are those beings who avoid using false weights, cheating with papers... Few are those beings who avoid being crooked by bribery, deceit, & fraud... Few are those beings who avoid sexual misconduct and all forms of abuse... Few are those beings who avoid booze and drugs making careless & negligent... Few are those beings who avoid false lying, pretending and double-dealing... Few are those beings who avoid divisive speech, slandering and defamation... Few are those beings who avoid harsh and aggressive scolding and blaming... Few are those beings who avoid idle chatter, gossiping, and empty hear-say... Few are those beings who avoid damaging the nature, seeds and plant life... Few are those beings who respect father, mother, elders, and recluses... Few are those beings who possess the Noble Eye of Dhamma-Understanding! But those beings, who are immersed in ignorance, are much more numerous! Why is it so? Because, Bhikkhus, they have not yet seen the 4 Noble Truths! What four? This is Suffering; Craving is the Cause of all this Suffering; No Craving is the End of Suffering; The Noble 8-fold Way Ends all Suffering, Therefore, Bhikkhus & friends, exertion should be made Now to understand: All This is Suffering; This Greedy Craving is the sole Cause of all Suffering; No Craving is the End of Suffering; The Noble 8-fold Way Ends all Suffering, Therefore should effort to fathom these 4 Noble Truths be made now!
The 4 stepping stones to entering the Stream Supreme!
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this: Bhikkhus, there are these four factors of Stream-Entry. What four? 1: Association with excellent persons, is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry. 2: Hearing the true Dhamma is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry. 3: Careful and rational attention is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry. 4: Praxis in agreement with the Dhamma is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry. These 4 factors of Stream-Entry does any Noble Disciple possess!
The First Buddhist Council took place at the Sattapanni Rock Cave in: Rajagaha now Rajgir, India. 3 months after the Buddha's final Nibbana, 500 Arahants met here to recite the Dhamma and the Vinaya, so that it could be passed on to future generations exactly as spoken by the historical Buddha Gotama and his disciples. This council was headed by Mahakassapa Thera and it lasted 7 months. It established the original authentic Tipitaka: The 3 Baskets of Sacred Text = The Pali Canon: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html
Believing in an EGO locks the Clusters of Clinging:
At Savatthi the blessed Buddha once said: Herein, friends, the untaught ordinary people, who do not know the Nobles, who are unskilled in the Teaching of the Nobles, who do not know the Worthy, who are untrained in the Worthy teachings, they regard the body as the self, or they regard the self as having a body, or the body as being inside the self, or they regard the self as being inside the body ... Such belief is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the bonds of body, one bound to the inner and the outer, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond, one who is born bound, and who dies bound. One who from this world goes to the next world ever again!
Such poor friend may also regard feeling as the self, or regard the self as having feeling, or regard feeling as being inside the self, or regard the self as being inside feeling ... Such belief is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the bonds of feeling, one bound to the concepts of the internal and the external, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond, one who is born mentally bound, and who dies mentally bound, one who is reborn forever and ever again...
Such poor yet worthy friend may also regard perception as the self, or regard the self as having perception, or regard the perception as being inside the self, or regard the self as being inside perception ... Such one is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the bonds to perception, one bound to the notions of ‘the inner is own’ and ‘the outer is other’, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond, one who is born bound, and who also dies tied up to & by these clusters of clinging, repeating the round.
Such poor friend may also regard mental constructions as the self, or regard the self as having, possessing, or owing mental constructions, or regard the mental constructions as being inside the self, or regard the self as being inside the mental constructions ... Such person is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one who is fettered by the bonds of mental constructions, one bound to the duality of the inner and the outer, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond yet, one who is born bound, and who dies bound, chained and constrained by ideas.. One who endlessly repeats the cycle of birth and death....
Such confused friend may regard consciousness as the self, or regard the self as having a consciousness, or regard the consciousness as being inside the self, or regard the self as being inside the consciousness ... Such one is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the bonds of consciousness, one bound to the inner and the outer, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond, one who is born bound, who dies bound, one who from this world goes to the world after this one ever again...
But, friends, the well-taught Noble disciple, who indeed recognizes the Nobles, who is skilled in the Teaching of the Nobles, who indeed recognizes the Worthy, who is trained in the Worthy teachings, Such Noble One does not imagine the body as being a self, neither does such Noble Friend regard this imagined self as having a body, nor does such Noble Friend regard the body as being inside any fake self, nor does such Noble Friend regard such faked self as being inside any body ... This one, friends, is called a well-taught friend, not fettered by the bounds of body, nor bound to the inner nor the outer, one who has sighted the further shore, one who has sighted the beyond. I tell you: Released is such Noble from suffering. Such Noble Friend does neither regard feeling as beings the self, nor does he regard perception as the self, nor does he regard mental constructions as the self, nor does he regard consciousness as the self ... Such one is indeed called a well-taught friend, who does not regard consciousness or any other quality or state as an inner 'self', & who is neither fettered by the bounds of consciousness or any other quality or state, nor bound to any internal phenomena, nor any outer phenomena... Such one has indeed sighted the further shore, such one has assuredly sighted the beyond of all being... Released is such Noble friend, I declare, from all suffering ... !
Source: The Buddha Gotama in the Samyutta Nikaya on the Clusters of Clinging
Only that is true unbound autonomy, Yeah! Having broken the mental bonds! Go for it, reach for it, keep on keeping on, on the way to it! Attain it, since only that is real genuine & lasting freedom ...
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this: How, Ananda, are the Four Foundations of Awareness trained and developed so that they fulfil the Seven Links to Awakening? Whenever, Ananda, a Bhikkhu is reflecting upon body only as an accumulation, right on that occasion, unconfused and undistracted awareness is established in that Bhikkhu. Therefore on that occasion the Awareness Link to Awakening is aroused, and as it gradually develops, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. Dwelling thus aware, he investigates & examines that state by understanding. Whenever, Ananda, a Bhikkhu dwells investigating a state, on that occasion the Investigation Link to Awakening is aroused, & as it gradually develops by many repetitions, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. While he investigates states with understanding, examines them, his energy is aroused without slackening! On that occasion the Energy Link to Awakening is enlivened, and as it gradually develops by many reiterations, it comes to reach fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. When his enthusiastic energy is aroused, there arises in him a rapturous joy! On that occasion the Joy Link to Awakening is instigated, and as it gradually develops by many renewals, it comes to reach fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. Both the body and mind becomes tranquil, in whoever is mentally elated by joy. On that occasion the Tranquillity Link to Awakening is therefore induced, and as it gradually develops by maturation, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. In one whose body is tranquil & who is happy, the mind becomes concentrated! On that occasion, the Concentration Link to Awakening is therefore stimulated, and as it gradually develops by training, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. He then just looks on this concentrated mind with imperturbable equanimity... On that occasion is therefore induced the Equanimity Link to Awakening, and as it gradually develops by rehearsal, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. It is, Ananda, when the four Foundations of Awareness are trained and refined in exactly this very way, that they fulfill the Seven Links to Awakening...!
SACRED is NON-VIOLENCE.. None should harm any other being. Nor should anyone retaliate. Why not? Great future pain returns to any who harms another. Future suffering also returns to any-one who retaliates! Dhammapada 389
ViDeO: Back-2-Basics #1 = No Kill! Standard Quality: High Definition:
The Blessed Buddha once said: Just as the oil-lamp burns on oil and wick, but after consuming of all oil and wick, through lack of fuel, the flame comes to ceasing, similarly the Bhikkhu knows when sensing a feeling limited to this body: I am sensing a feeling limited to this body. Sensing a feeling limited to life, he knows: I am sensing a feeling limited to life. He knows that: With the break-up of this fragile frame, at the ceasing of life, all sensed, not being clung to, will grow cold and cease right there & then... Here this monk, thus cooled, is endowed with the highest unshakable wisdom... This is the highest and most sacred truth, to know how all Suffering will cease! Whatever untrue can be mistaken & mislead! Only the absolute Nibbana is true...
1: Awareness is a link to Awakening (sati-sambojjhanga). 2: Investigation of the states is a link to Awakening (vicaya-sambojjhanga). 3: Energy is a link to Awakening (viriya-sambojjhanga). 4: Joy is a link to Awakening (piti-sambojjhanga). 5: Tranquillity is a link to Awakening (passaddhi-sambojjhanga). 6: Concentration is a link to Awakening (samadhi-sambojjhanga). 7: Equanimity is a link to Awakening (upekkha-sambojjhanga). These are the seven links leading to final Enlightenment...
Those whose minds are well-developed in these 7 factors of self-awakening, who delight in non-clinging, who relinquish all grasping, whose minds are all around luminous, whose mental fermentations are all stilled: They, even while still in this world, are all unbound right here!
The blessed Buddha once said: Solitude is happiness for the one who is content, Who understands and clearly sees this Dhamma. Harmlessness is happiness in all worlds, Kindness towards all living beings. Udana 10
View all in this world as Empty - Void of Core Substance - Thus always Wide Open and Aware, Friend Mogharaja, Giving up belief in all and any form of a "Ego or Self"!, One may escape even Death, since Mara - the king of Death- cannot see a Noble one with such subtle void, and empty view! Sutta Nipata 1119
Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who see the True Dhamma. More blissful is gentle harmlessness towards all breathing beings without exception. Even more blissful is complete freedom from all urge for sense pleasures whatsoever. Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit “I am”!’ Udana 11
The ability (faculty) of faith, The ability of energy, The ability of awareness, The ability of concentration, The ability of understanding.
These five abilities are purified in these 15 aspects: When the Noble Friend avoids faithless persons, and cultivates, frequents & honours faithful persons, and reviews Suttas that inspire confidence, then the faith ability is purified in these 3 aspects. When the Noble Friend avoids idle or lazy persons, and cultivates, frequents, & honours energetic persons, and reviews own practise of the 4 best Efforts, then the energy ability is purified in these 3 aspects. When the Noble Friend avoids negligent, forgetful persons, and cultivates, frequents & honours acutely aware and mindful persons, while reviewing the 4 Foundations of Awareness, then the awareness ability is purified in these 3 aspects. When the Noble Friend avoids unconcentrated persons, and cultivates, frequents & honours focused & concentrated persons, and reviews the 4 Jhanas and liberations, then the concentration ability is purified in these 3 aspects. When the Noble Friend avoids ignorant persons, cultivates, frequents, & honours persons who understand, and reviews the insight of profound knowledge, then the understanding ability is purified in these 3 aspects. So when the Noble Friend avoids these 5 kinds of ordinary persons, while cultivating, visiting, and honouring these 5 kinds of excellent persons, and reviews these 5 kinds of teachings, then the five abilities is purified in these 15 aspects.
Patience is not silence, but speaking and acting at the right time with a calm mind, in a correct, polite, gentle and harmless way.
Generosity is not giving everything you have or spending all of your time for the benefit of others, but not keeping your mind hanging onto what you temporarily have on loan.
Compassion is not putting yourself into more trouble, but lifting others out of their trouble..
Rev. Thalawathugoda Chandawimala, Sri Lanka Oxford International Meditation Centre http://www.oxfordimc.com
The Blessed Buddha once said: I am a friend and helper to all, I am sympathetic to all living beings. I develop a mind full of love & one who always delight in harmlessness! I gladden my mind, fill it with joy, and make it immovable and unshakable. I develop these divine states of mind not cultivated by simple men. Theragatha 648-9
I am a friend of the footless, I am a friend of the bipeds; I am a friend of those with four feet, I am a friend of the many-footed. May not the footless harm me, may not the bipeds harm me, may not those with four feet harm me, & may not those with many feet harm me. AN II 72
A friend, who always lends a hand, a friend both in sorrow and joy, a friend who offers good counsel, a friend who sympathizes too. These are the four kinds of true friends: One who is wise, who have understood much, will always cherish and serve such friends just as a mother tends her only child. DN III, 188
Among tigers, lions, leopards & bears I lived in the jungle. No one was frightened of me, nor did I fear anyone. Uplifted by such universal friendliness, I enjoyed the forest. Finding great solace in such sweetly silenced solitude… Suvanna-sama Jataka 540
And how does a Bhikkhu abide with his mind imbued with friendliness extending over one direction? Just as he would feel friendliness on seeing a dearly favourite person, so he extends this same loving-kindness to all beings in all directions, one by one, & as above so below. Abhidhamma Pitaka: Appamañña-vibhanga
Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth one sixteenth part of the release of mind by universal friendliness; in shining, glowing and beaming radiance, in invisible shielding protection, such release of mind by universal friendliness far excels & surpasses them all... Itivuttaka 27
The Bak Poya day is the full-moon of April. This holy day celebrates that the Buddha visits Ceylon for the second time to reconcile two local chiefs Mahodara and Culodara, uncle & nephew, who had fallen into war threatening hostility about a jewel-beset throne... The story shows the Buddha as fine diplomat & is given in full below!
On such Full-Moon Uposatha Poya Observance days: Any Lay Buddhist simply joins the Three Refuges and undertakes the Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, white-clothed, clean bare feet, one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue, and bows first 3 times, so that feet, hands, elbows, knees & head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms at the heart, one recites these memorized lines in a loud, calm & steady voice:
As long as this life lasts: I hereby take refuge in the Buddha. I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma. I hereby take refuge in the Sangha. I hereby seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time. I hereby seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time. I hereby seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time. I hereby request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time. I hereby request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time. I hereby request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time. I will hereby respect these Three Jewels for the rest of my life!
I accept to respect & undertake these 5 training rules: I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Dishonesty. I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs. As long as this life lasts, I am thus protected by these 5 precepts...
Then, one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's own eyes & children!, since they protect you & all other beings much better than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in & to this world! A journey towards the deathless Nibbana is thus started! This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Ease, to Happiness, initiated by Morality, developed further by Dhamma-Study and fully completed by training of Meditation...
Today indeed is Pooya or Uposatha Observance day, where any lay Buddhist normally keeps also the Eight Precepts from sunrise until next dawn. If any wish official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha, they may easily forward the lines starting with "I hereby" signed by name, date, town, & country to me or join here. A Public list of this new quite rapidly growing global Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
Reuniting those who are divided, by inducing harmony: Now the most compassionate Teacher, the Conqueror, rejoicing in the salvation of the whole world, when dwelling at Jetavana in the fifth year of his Buddhahood, saw that war, caused by a gem beset throne, was like to come to pass between the nagas Mahodara and Culodara, uncle and nephew and their followers! The SamBuddha, then on the Uposatha day of the dark half of the month Citta, in the early morning, took his sacred alms bowl and his robes, and, out of compassion for the nagas, sought the Nagadipa. At that time the same naga Mahodara was then king, gifted with miraculous powers, in a nagas kingdom in the ocean, that covered half a 1000 yojanas. His younger sister had been given in marriage to the naga king on the Kannavaddhamana mountain; her son was Culodara. His mother's father had given to his mother a splendid throne of jewels, then the naga had died and therefore was this war between nephew & uncle threatening!
The bejewelled throne, the Buddha and the deva Samiddhisumana. Mural painting. Kelaniya Temple http://www.kelaniyatemple.com/
The nagas of the mountains were also armed with many miraculous powers. The deva Samiddhisumana took his rajayatana tree standing in Jetavana, his own fair habitation, holding it like a parasol over the Conqueror, he, with the Teacher's leave, attended him to that spot, where he had formerly dwelt. That very deva had been, in his latest birth, a man in Nagadipa. On the very spot where thereafter the rajayatana tree stood, he had seen PaccekaBuddhas taking their meal. And at the sight his heart was glad & he offered branches to cleanse their alms bowls. Therefore he was reborn in that very same tree in the pleasant Jetavana garden, outside of the gate rampart. The God of all gods saw in this an advantage for that deva, and, for the sake of the good, which should spring therefrom for Ceylon, he brought him there together with his tree. Hovering there in midair above the battlefield, the Master, who drives away
spiritual darkness, called forth dreadful darkness over the nagas! Then comforting those who were distressed by terror, he once again spread light abroad. When they saw the Blessed One, they joyfully did reverence to the Masters feet. Then the Vanquisher preached to them the Dhamma that makes concord, & both nagas gladly gave up the throne to the Sage. When the Master, having alighted on the earth, had taken his place on a seat there, and had been refreshed with divine food and drink served by the naga kings, he, the Lord, established in the three refuges and in the 8 moral precepts eighty kotis of snake-spirits, dwellers in the ocean and on the mainland. The naga-king Maniakkhika of Kalyani, maternal uncle to this naga Mahodara, who had come there to take part in the battle, and who before, at the Buddhas first coming, having heard the true Dhamma preached, had become established in the 3 refuges & in the moral duties, prayed now to the Tathagata: Great is the compassion that you have shown us here, Master! Had you not appeared we had all been consumed to ashes. May your compassion yet settle also and especially on me, you who are rich in friendly loving kindness, please peerless one, come again back here to my home country. When the Lord had consented by his silence to return, then he planted the rajayatana tree on that very spot as a sacred memorial, & the Lord of the Worlds gave over the rajayatana tree & the precious throne seat to the naga kings to do homage thereto: In remembrance that I have used these, do homage to them naga kings! This, well beloved, will bring to pass many blessings & happiness for you for a long time! When the Blessed One had uttered this and other exhortations to the nagas, he, the compassionate saviour of all the worlds, returned to the Jetavana monastery.
Here ends the explanation of the Visit to Nagadipa.
Comments
Karunã: The Great Good Helper!
Karuna is feeling the pain of other beings, either partially or completely;
Possible translations:
1: Pity not from above: “I am better”, but as if in the other being’s shoes…
2: Compassion is OK, but that is difficult to reach up to for many beings…
3: Fellow feeling, sympathy, empathy, understanding are all OK, but somewhat
missing these essential points:
A: It is an inability to see and accept other being’s suffering and distress!
B: It is a deep desire to make others feel free, glad, happy and peaceful!
C: It is extended to and pervaded over many beings simultaneously…
The proximate cause of Karuna = pity is noticing other being’s helplessness .
The immediate effect of Karuna = pity is evaporation of all evil cruelty!
Pity (Karuna) is one of the four divine and infinite dwellings (Brahmavihara):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Great_Compassion.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Compassionate_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Space_Compassion.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Seeing other being's Helplessness...
Great Compassion!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
What is the Definition of Energy?
The Blessed Buddha once said:
What, Bhikkhus, is the ability of Energy? Here, Bhikkhus, the Noble Disciple lives
with energy aroused for the elimination of disadvantageous mental states and for
gaining a firm foundation in advantageous states. He is determined, resolute in all
his efforts, not evading any good opportunity to train advantageous mental states.
This is called the ability of Energy. Source: Samyutta Nikaya V 48
Without Energy, there is neither advantageous action, nor effort!
Without any advantageous action, there is neither any good result!
No cause gives no effect! Therefore: Raise and stir up yourself!
For details on the Enthusiastic Ability of Energy see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Definition_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Arising_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Ability_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Origin_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Enthusiastic_is_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Power_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Ballanced_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Chief_Hero.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energetic_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Avoiding_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energy_Viriya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Dual_Energy.htm
Get Going Good!
Energy is the Main Motor...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Definition_of_Energy.htm
How is constant Awareness Established only by Breathing?
Sitting cross-legged, with straight back, elevated chin, in a silent place, the
yogi remains focusing all attention on the touch point of air in his nostrils:
Fully aware one inhales and fully aware one exhales...
When inhaling a long breath, one notices that...
When exhaling a long breath, one notices that...
When inhaling a short breath, one notices that...
When exhaling a short breath, one notices that...
Experiencing the whole body, one inhales...
Experiencing the whole body, one exhales...
Calming all bodily activity, one inhales...
Calming all bodily activity, one exhales...
One trains thus: Experiencing joyous rapture, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing joyous rapture, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing a happy pleasure, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing a happy pleasure, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing all mental activity, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing all mental activity, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Calming all mental activity, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Calming all mental activity, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing all mentality as mood, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Experiencing all mentality as mood, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Satisfying and gladdening the mind, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Satisfying and gladdening the mind, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Focusing the mind by concentration, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Focusing the mind by concentration, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Releasing the mind from hindrance, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Releasing the mind from hindrance, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Considering the impermanence of change, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Considering the impermanence of change, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Considering the detachment in disillusion, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Considering the detachment in disillusion, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Considering the stilling within cessation, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Considering the stilling within cessation, I will exhale...
One trains thus: Considering open and freed relinquishing, I will inhale...
One trains thus: Considering open and freed relinquishing, I will exhale...
This is how continuous Awareness is established just by breathing!!!
Breathing meditation can bring the yogi into 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Jhana...
It is a unique praxis used by all Buddhas at their very Enlightenment!!!
Details are found in this Meditation Manual:
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/pdfs/anapanasati.pdf
More on Awareness by Breathing (Anapana-sati):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_I.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_II.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/1_Producing_4.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_IV.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_III.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Four_Fulfilling_Seven.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Magnificent_Meditation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/anapana_sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Experiencing_the_Breath.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Breathing_Calm_and_Insight.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Peaceful_and_Sublime_on_the_Spot.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unique_Thing_Awareness_by_Breathing.htm
Source:
Middle Length Sayings of the Buddha. Majjhima Nikaya 118 Anapanasati:
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=25072X
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjhima/mn118.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Breath Meditation!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Awareness_by_Breathing.htm
Winning Calm & Serene Bliss by Breathing..!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, this sweet concentration by Awareness by Breathing, when it is
developed and cultivated, is peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant
dwelling in itself, and it disperses and quells right on the very spot all evil
detrimental mental states, whenever and wherever they arise...!
Exactly as in a hot summer month, when a cloud of dust and dirt has been
swirled up, then a sudden great & heavy rainfall makes it vanish by quelling
it on the spot, so too does this concentration by Awareness by Breathing,
when developed and cultivated often, and which is peaceful and sublime,
an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself, disperse, scatter, evaporate and
quell right on the spot all evil & disadvantageous mental states whenever &
wherever they arise. And how is this so? Bhikkhus, when one have gone to
the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, there & then one
sits down cross-legged, having straightened one's body and back, & set
up awareness around the nostrils, then just plainly aware of only that
breathing itself one breathes in, and just solely aware of only that very
breathing itself one breathes out... Feeling only the touch of air passing!
Breathing in long, one knows, notes and understands: I inhale long!
Breathing out long, one knows, notes and understands: I exhale long!
... ... ... (steps 2-15) ... ... ...
One trains thus: Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe in!
One trains thus: Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe out!
It is in exactly this way, Friends & Bhikkhus, that this fine concentration
by Awareness by Breathing is developed & cultivated so that it indeed is
peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself! And it is in
this way that it disperses and quells on the spot all evil detrimental states
whenever and wherever they arise!
More on this sublime technique used by all Buddhas at Awakening:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unique_Thing_Awareness_by_Breathing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Concentration.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Awareness_by_Breathing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Concentration_Samadhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/Manual/Meditation.Manual.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/anapana_sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_IV.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_III.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_II.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_LAMP_I.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/anapanasati.pdf
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:321-22]
section 54: Anapanasamyutta. Thread 9: At Vesali!
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Breathing Meditation Offers Calm Clarity!
On the Spot!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Peaceful_and_Sublime_on_the_Spot.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/samsaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Samsaric_Round.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_is_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Samsaric_Dread.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Endless_Round.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Samsara.htm
The Absolute and Ultimate Release Beyond!
A wandering friend once asked the Great Disciple:
Friend Sariputta, Nibbana, Nibbana is it said! What is this Nibbana?
The destruction of Greed, the destruction of Hate, and the destruction of
Ignorance! This, friend, is called Nibbana …
But, friend, is there a method, is there a way to reach this Nibbana?
There is indeed a method, friend, there is indeed a way to reach Nibbana!
What, friend, is then this method, what is then that way to reach Nibbana?
It is, friend, simply the completion of this Noble 8-fold Way, namely:
Right View (samma-ditthi)
Right Motivation (samma-sankappa)
Right Speech (samma-vaca)
Right Action (samma-kammanta)
Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva)
Right Effort (samma-vayama)
Right Awareness (samma-sati)
Right Concentration (samma-samadhi)
This is undeniably the very method, friend, the only way to reach Nibbana!
Oh excellent is this unique method, exquisite is this way to reach Nibbana!
This –in itself- is enough for me, friend Sariputta, to begin the endeavour!
More on Nibbana: A Quenched State of Maximum Peace, Freedom, and Bliss:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Peace.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Final_Freedom.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/climax_of_calm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Reaching_Peace.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Entrance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Nibbana_Still.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Enter.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Uncreated.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Proximate_Cause.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Unborn_State.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Nibbana_or_non-return.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Nibbana_True_Peace.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/nibbaana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Signless_Nibbana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Imperturbable_Equanimity.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [251]
section 38:1 Questions on Nibbana ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
What is Nibbãna?
Absolute Peace, Ultimate Freedom, and Supreme Bliss!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Nibbana.htm
Noble disciples posses unwavering Faith:
He possesses unwavering faith in the Buddha thus:
The Blessed One is Worthy, & Perfectly Self-Enlightened, completed in knowledge
and behaviour, happily transcended, sublime, expert in all dimensions, knower of all
worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those beings who can be tamed, teacher and guide
of both gods and men, an enlightened, exalted and a blessed One!
He possesses unwavering faith in the Dhamma thus:
Perfectly formulated by the Blessed One is the Dhamma, obviously seen right here
and now, instantly effective, timeless, inviting anyone to come and see, investigate
and verify for themselves, leading through gradual progress to perfected freedom,
directly observable, experiencable and realizable by each intelligence!
He possesses unwavering faith in the Noble Sangha Community of Disciples thus:
Perfectly training is the Blessed One’s Order of Noble Disciples, the right way,
the good way, the true way, the direct way. The Blessed One’s Sangha of Disciples
i.e. the four Noble pairs, the eight sorts of individuals are therefore worthy of gifts,
of hospitality, of self-sacrifice, worthy of respectful salutation with joined palms,
since they embody the most supreme field for gaining merit in this world!
Unwavering Faith in the 3 Jewels is the Key that opens the doors to Nibbana
More on Faith (Saddha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Faith_Summary.htm
Full Faith Frees..
Unwavering Conviction in the 3 Jewels is the Key that opens Nibbana!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Full_Faith_Frees.htm
Remembering all Details of a 1000 Universal Cycles!
Once when the Venerable Anuruddha was dwelling at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove,
Anathapindika's Park, a number of Bhikkhus went to the Venerable Anuruddha
and exchanged polite greetings with him. Then they sat down and asked the Ven.
Anuruddha: Venerable Sir: What has the Venerable Anuruddha developed and
cultivated so that he has attained to his famous greatness of direct knowledge?
He answered: It is, friends, because I have developed and cultivated these four
Foundations of Awareness that I have won great direct knowledge. What four?
Here, friends, I dwell constantly contemplating upon:
1: The body only as a frame of transient form, neither as I, me, mine, nor a self...
2: The feelings only as passing sense reactions, neither as I, me, mine, nor a self...
3: The mind only as habitual & transient moods, neither as I, me, mine, nor any self...
4: All phenomena only as momentary mental states, not as any real static existents...
while eager, clearly comprehending, and acutely aware, by that removing all desire and
therefore also all frustration rooted in this world! It is thus, friends, because I have
developed and cultivated these Four Foundations of Awareness, that I have attained
to greatness of direct knowledge. Furthermore, friends, it is indeed, because I have
developed and completely refined these 4 Foundations of Awareness, that I clearly &
easily can remember all the historical details of a Thousand Aeons ... !!!
Comments:
In Buddhist cosmology an Aeon (kappa) means a universal cycle, where space first expands,
then stands almost still, then contracts and lastly implodes usually caused by extreme heat.
This is said to happen, when 7 suns, due to the contraction of space, have come so close, that
they can be seen from earth. All the oceans will have evaporated, when 5 suns can be seen!
It is worth noting that this non-steady-state model of the universe described in detail by the
Buddha ~ 2500 years ago, first was "rediscovered" in the 1920ties as the Big Bang theory,
based on measurements using telescopes and spectrometers not available to the Buddha...!
Details and references for further study:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Sati_Studies.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/g_m/kappa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_and_only_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Four_Foundations_of_Awareness.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:301-2]
section 52: Anuruddha. Thread 11: A Thousand Aeons!
Remembering 1000 Aeons!
The Power of Perfected Awareness ...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Thousand_Aeons.htm
Unselfish Joy! How to Rejoice in Others Success:
By seeing that:
If only happy at one's own success, such egoistic Joy is rare and limited!
If happy at others success also, the Joy is more frequent & even infinite!
By observing that:
It starts with basic sympathy, develops into acceptance, genuine approval,
& appreciation. It culminates in rejoicing altruistic sympathy by directing
mind to initiation, much cultivation & boundless expansion of Mutual Joy!
By knowing that:
Mutual Joy is the proximate cause of sweet, fully satisfied contentment!
Lack of mutual joy is therefore the proximate cause of discontentment!
Mutual Joy instantly eliminates acidic jealousy, grudge and green envy!
Mutual Joy is an infinite, truly divine, elevating and sublime mental state!
Mutual Joy is 1 of the 4 mental states of the Brahma-devas (Brahmavihara)
The Blessed Buddha pointed out:
If it were impossible to cultivate this Good , I would not tell you to do so!
Buddhaghosa:
See how this worthy being is very Happy!
How fine! How excellent! How sweet!
Let there be Happiness. Let there be open Freedom.
Let there be Peace. Let there be Bliss from cultivating this.
Let there be Understanding of this mental state of Mutual Joy!
Cultivation of Mutual Joy is the specific medicine against Envy & Jealousy:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mutual_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Rejoicing_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm
Mudita: The Buddha's Teaching on Unselfish Joy: BPS Wheel Publication No. 170
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/various/wheel170.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Mutual Joy Rejoices in Other's Success...
Mutually Rejoicing Bliss!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
Ageing Reproduces same Suffering ever Again!
Ageing is suffering: And what is ageing? Whatever decay, decrepitude, broken teeth,
greying of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of strength, weakening of the mental abilities,
feebleness, and senility of whatever kind of being, that is called aging. Its function is
to lead on to death! It is manifested as the vanishing of youth. It is suffering because
of the change into decay and the gradual, but steadily falling apart of the body.
The loss of memory and intelligence in senile dementia is also distressing.
With leadenness in every limb,
With every ability declining,
With vanishing of youthfulness,
With memory all evaporated,
With intelligence eroded away,
With strength now drained,
With growing unattractiveness
Now looking and smelling bad
To both wife, friends and family:
This is the unavoidable misery
Any mortal must expect to find!
Since ageing all of this will bring,
Ageing is well named suffering.
Vism 502 + MN 141
Regarding Death & the Deathless State:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Death.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Thorn.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Game_Over.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/End_Making.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Problem.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Bag_of_Bones.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Deathless.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Momentary_Life.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Ageing_and_Death.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Death_Contemplation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/g_m/marana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Deathless_Dimension.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Inevitable_but_not_the_End.htm
Ageing Again!
Ageing Reproduces the same Suffering ever Again!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Ageing_Again.htm
What has to be Understood?
The Blessed Buddha once insisted:
The nature of Ageing and Death has to be Understood.
The Cause of Ageing and Death has to be Understood.
The End of Ageing and Death has to be Understood.
The Way to End Ageing and Death has to be Understood.
The nature of Birth has to be Understood.
The Cause of Birth has to be Understood.
The End of Birth has to be Understood.
The Way to End Birth has to be Understood.
The nature of Clinging has to be Understood.
The Cause of Clinging has to be Understood.
The End of Clinging has to be Understood.
The Way to End Clinging has to be Understood.
The nature of Craving has to be Understood.
The Cause of Craving has to be Understood.
The End of Craving has to be Understood.
The Way to End Craving has to be Understood.
The nature of Feeling has to be Understood.
The Cause of Feeling has to be Understood.
The End of Feeling has to be Understood.
The Way to End Feeling has to be Understood.
The nature of Contact has to be Understood.
The Cause of Contact has to be Understood.
The End of Contact has to be Understood.
The Way to End Contact has to be Understood.
The nature of the 6 Senses has to be Understood.
The Cause of the 6 Senses has to be Understood.
The End of the 6 Senses has to be Understood.
The Way to End the 6 Senses has to be Understood.
The nature of Name-and-Form has to be Understood.
The Cause of Name-and-Form has to be Understood.
The End of Name-and-Form has to be Understood.
The Way to End Name-and-Form has to be Understood.
The nature of Consciousness has to be Understood.
The Cause of Consciousness has to be Understood.
The End of Consciousness has to be Understood.
The Way to End Consciousness has to be Understood.
The nature of Mental Construction has to be Understood.
The Cause of Mental Construction has to be Understood.
The End of Mental Construction has to be Understood.
The Way to End Mental Construction has to be Understood.
The nature of Ignorance has to be Understood.
The Cause of Ignorance has to be Understood.
The End of Ignorance has to be Understood.
The Way to End Ignorance has to be Understood.
These have to be Understood...
Answers here! More on Dependent Origination:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Caused_by_What.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Cohesive_Co-Origination.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Collapsible_Co-Cessation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Causes_of_Emergence.htm
Source: The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya II 16
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
The Crucial Necessity!
Having cleaned and polished the mind like a mirror one will understand!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Crucial_Necessity.htm
Doing Time, Doing Vipassana:
The Dhamma Brothers:
3 Excellent & Complete Meditation Manuals are here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/anapanasati.pdf
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/Main_Meditation_Manual.pdf
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/PathofPurification2011.pdf
Sweet is Verbal, Bodily & Mental Silence!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Kayamunim vacamunim,
manomunimanasavam,
munim moneyyasampannam.
Ahu ninhatapapakam.
Silenced in body, silenced in speech,
silenced in mind, without inner noise,
blessed with silence is the sage!
He is truly washed of all evil...
Itivuttaka 3.67
Calm is his mind.
Calm is his speech.
Calm is his action.
So is the tranquillity;
So is the serenity;
of one freed by the insight
of right understanding...
Dhammapada 96
More on Mental Tranquillity:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Tranquillity_Passaddhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Tranquillity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Tranquil_One.htm
Meditation dampens the electroencephalographic brain-wave frequency almost 10 fold!
from ~30Hz to 3 Excellent & Complete Meditation Manuals are here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/anapanasati.pdf
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/Main_Meditation_Manual.pdf
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/PathofPurification2011.pdf
Triple Silenced...
Sweet Silence is Verbal, Bodily & Mental Calm!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Silenced.htm
What to Train when Mind is High and Alert?
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
On any occasion, Bhikkhus, when mind is excited and high, then it is time
for training the Tranquillity Link to Awakening, the Concentration Link
to Awakening, and the Equanimity Link to Awakening. Why is it so?
Because when the mind is excited and high, Bhikkhus, then it is easy to
calm it down with exactly those mental states...
Imagine, Bhikkhus, a man wants to extinguish a great fire. If he throws
wet grass, wet cow-dung, wet timber into it, sprays it with water, and
scatters soil over it, would he be able to extinguish that great bonfire?
Yes, Venerable Sir.
Even so here, Bhikkhus, on any occasion, when the mind is excited and high,
then it is convenient to train & develop the Tranquillity Link to Awakening,
the Concentration Link to Awakening, & the Equanimity Link to Awakening.
Why is it so? Because when the mind is excited and high, Bhikkhus, then it
is easy to calm it down & still it with the qualities of exactly those states!
Awareness, however, Bhikkhus, I tell you, is always useful & good to train!
Ultra Aware and Alert, but not the least Agitated!
On the training these condensing mental abilities:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Tranquillity_Passaddhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Concentration_Samadhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
Sources (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 114-5] 46: Links. 53: Fire....
Agitation and Irritation can be converted into Advantageous Alertness!
Alert or Agitated?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/High_and_Alert.htm
What is the Starting Point of Advantageous States?
Venerable Bahiya once approached the Blessed Buddha and asked:
Sir, Please teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that I can withdraw into
retreat and dwell secluded, keen, ardent, alert and determined.
Well, Bahiya, purify the very starting point of all advantageous states.
And what is the starting point of all advantageous states?
Morality that is well purified, and a view that is made straight #...
Then, Bahiya, when your Morality is well purified and your view is straight,
based upon Morality, established upon Morality, you should develop these
Four Foundations of Awareness. What four? Here, Bahiya, live reflecting on:
1: The Body merely as a transient and compounded Form..
2: Feelings just as vanishing Reactions to sense-contact..
3: Mind only as a group of habitual and conditioned Moods..
4: All Phenomena simply as discrete momentary Mental States..
Thereby removing any desire, jealousy, envy & discontent rooted in this world..
When, Bahiya, based upon Morality, established upon Morality, you develop
these Four Foundations of Awareness in such a way, then both night and day,
you will grow in all advantageous states, and not decline into any degradation!
Then the Venerable Bahiya, delighted, enjoying and rejoicing in what the
Blessed Buddha had explained, rose from his seat, and, after kneeling for
the Blessed One, keeping him on his right, he left. Then dwelling all alone,
withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, the Venerable Bahiya, realizing it
by direct experience, in this very life entered that incomparable goal of the
Noble life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from this household
life into homelessness. He directly knew: Destroyed is rebirth, the Noble life is
completed, done is what had to be done, there is no more coming into any state
of being. Venerable Bahiya had become another one of the awakened Arahats!
The 4 great frames of Reference!
Comment #: Efficacy of Kamma!
The Straight View is understanding that everyone is responsible for their own
actions & that all beings experience the delayed resulting effects - good as bad -
not only in this life, but in many future lives!
[color=#40FFFF]Details On Foundations of Awareness (Sati):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Causes_of_sati.htm
Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 165-6] 47 The Foundations of Awareness: 47 Bahiya..
Straight View + Morality ...
What is the Starting Point of all Advantageous States?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Straight_View.htm
Craving causes conflict, competition, & catastrophic calamity!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Truly, caused by craving for sense pleasure, conditioned by craving for simple
sense pleasure, propelled by craving for sense pleasure, wholly induced by craving
for sense pleasure, kings fight with kings, princes with princes, priests with priests,
citizens with citizens and the mother quarrels with the son, the son with the mother,
the father with the son, the son with the father; brother quarrels with brother,
brother with sister, sister with brother, & friend brawl with friend! Thus, pushed
into conflict, quarrelling, & fighting, they readily attack each other with fists and
eapons, thereby suffering both pain & death! Furthermore, caused by craving for
plain sense pleasure, conditioned by craving for simple sense pleasure, propelled by
craving for sense pleasure, wholly induced by craving for sense pleasure, burglars
break into houses, rob, plunder, steal from friends, commit highway robbery, and
seduce the wives of others. Then the rulers have such people caught and inflict upon
them various forms of punishment. Thereby they meet death or deadly pain...
Such is the misery of craving for sense pleasure, accumulation of pain & suffering in
this present life, caused, initiated, prepared & entirely dependent upon this evil urge
for sense pleasure! Finally: Beings engage in evil mental, verbal & bodily behaviour;
as a consequence of that, at breakup of the body, right after death, they are whirled
into the downfall, and re-arise in a state of misery, in an unhappy destination, in the
abyss of one of the many inferno hells... Such also is the misery of craving for sense
pleasure: Accumulation of suffering in the future life, entirely due to craving for low
pleasure, created by craving for pleasure, caused by craving for pleasure, utterly
dependent on this malign sense pleasure craving. MN 13...
More on this painful Craving:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Why_Not.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Cut_Craving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Sandcastles.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Craving_is_Pain.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Craving_is_Cause.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3_kinds_of_Craving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Feeling_Causes_and_Effects.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Proximate_Causes.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_2nd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Cause_of_Suffering.htm
Craving causes Conflict!
Craving is Catastrophic both now & later!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Craving_is_Catastrophic.htm
The Stilling of Craving Ceases all Suffering!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
What, Ananda, is the experience of Ceasing?
When a Bhikkhu retires to the forest, to the root of a tree, or an empty hut
& thinks thus: This is Peace, this is sublime, namely, the stilling of all mental
construction, the ending of all kammic formation, the evaporation of all fuel
for becoming, the ceasing of all craving, the relinquishing of all by detachment,
cessation, Nibbana Then this very reflection itself is the experience of Ceasing ...
Some Simple Comments:
Ceasing means complete ending of & total absence of all greed, hate & ignorance!
Cultivating reflection on ceasing reduces all desire for initiation, and origination..
Simile:
Greed, lust, & desire fades away slowly like the colours of cloth hanging in the sun!
More on the experience of Ceasing (Nirodha-Sañña):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/9_Stillings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Ceasing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Escape.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Stilled_but_not_Dead.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_18_Principal_Insights.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/anupubba_nirodha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Fulfilling_Release_by_Wisdom.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/nirodha_samaapatti.htm
The reward is:
Approach to Nibbana by the destruction, stilling and ceasing of all Craving!
Source (edited extract):
The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya AN 10:60, AN V 108ff.
Girimananda Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.060.than.html
The Experience of Ceasing!
The Stilling of Craving Ceases all Suffering!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Experiencing_Ceasing.htm
What is the Equanimity Link to Awakening?
Even evaluation is characteristic of the Equanimity Link to Awakening.
(Upekkha-Sambojjhanga). Preventing both deficiency & excess and
securing impartiality is the function of Equanimity. Imperturbable
ballance is the manifestation of the Equanimity Link to Awakening.
Equanimity just looks on whenever new phenomena arises and ceases.
This stable yet plastic patience purifies all the other advantageous
mental states, which reach maximum, when joined with Equanimity...
Equanimity (Upekkha) is a moderating mental construction.
Equanimity is also a mood of neither gladness nor sadness.
Equanimity is also a feeling of neither pain nor pleasure.
Equanimity is also the neutral ability to be indifferent.
Equanimity is also the 4th infinitely divine dwelling.
Equanimity is also a quite high form of happiness.
Equanimity is also a refined mental purification.
Equanimity is therefore a Link to Enlightenment...
There is Equanimity both regarding live beings and dead things.
There is Equanimity both regarding all internal & external states.
There is Equanimity both regarding all past, present and future.
There is Equanimity both regarding all mentality & all materiality.
The Buddha once said: What mental fermentations (asava) should be
overcome by development? If a Bhikkhu by alert & rational attention
develops the Equanimity Link to Awakening based on seclusion, based
on disillusion, on ceasing, culminating in full renouncing relinquishment,
then neither can mental fermentation, nor any fever, nor discontent
ever arise in him. MN2 [i 11]
When mind is concentrated one can observe all closely in equanimity.
The Equanimity Link to Awakening arises right there. He develops it,
and for him repeatedly meditating it goes gradually to the completion
of its development. MN118 [iii 85]
Further inspirations on the imperturbable quality of Equanimity:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Even_is_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/High_and_Alert.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Divorced_Freedom.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Serene_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Empty_Equanimity.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Exquisite_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/u_v/upekkhaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unshakable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Imperturbable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Serene_Equanimity_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/tatra_majjhattataa.htm
Imperturbable is Equanimity...
Equanimity = Upekkhaa!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
Dr. Pim van Lommel on the fact of a Consciousness Beyond Biological Brain Life... Like the bottle contains the beer, but DOES NOT produce the beer... Similarly: The brain contains consciousness, but the brain DOES NOT produce consciousness!
Rebirth from an Early Buddhist Perspective:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Rare_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Divine_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Animal_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Samsaric_Dread.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Minor_Hells.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Five_Destinations.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Birth_is_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Hell_Destiny.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_is_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_5_Destinations.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Kamma_and_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mad_Demon_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Samsaric_Round.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Human_Being_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hungry_Ghost_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Past_Cause_Present_Effect.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/What_passes_on_by_Rebirth-Linking.htm
The Truth of Rebirth And Why it Matters for Buddhist Practice by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/truth_of_rebirth.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/truth_of_rebirth.pdf
REBIRTH VIDEOS:
Scientific Rebirth Research:
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation01.html
BBC documentary on Near Death Experiences:
Near-Death Experiences on the Intensive Care Unit
Reincarnation research by Ian Stevenson Children's past life memories:
Scientific Evidence of Rebirth by Dr Jim Tucker:
The Cardiologist on the Near-Death Experience 1
The Cardiologist on the Near-Death Experience 2
Near-Death Website:
http://near-death.com/
Mettã is likened to a Mother's Love:
The Blessed Buddha once said:
As a mother would risk even her own life to protect her only child, exactly
so let us cultivate immeasurable loving-kindness towards all living beings!
I am a friend of the footless,
I am a friend of all bipeds,
I am a friend of those with four feet,
I am a friend of the many-footed!
Anguttara Nikaya 4.67
Among tigers, lions, leopards & bears I lived in the jungle.
No one was frightened of me, nor did I fear anyone.
Uplifted by such universal friendliness, I enjoyed the forest.
Finding great solace in such sweetly silenced solitude…
Suvanna-sama Jataka 540
May all creatures, all breathing things,
all beings one and all, without exception,
experience good fortune only.
May they not fall into any harm.
Anguttara Nikaya II, 72
With good will for the entire cosmos,
cultivate a limitless heart & mind:
Beaming above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without trace of hostility.
Sutta Nipata I, 8
Train yourself in doing only good
that lasts and brings great happiness.
Cultivate generosity, a peaceful living,
and a mentality of infinite friendliness.
Ittivuttuka 16
On this mighty Friendly Goodwill (Metta):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Hey_Friend.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Mothers_Love.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kalyanamitta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unique_Unity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Loving-Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Across_Borders.htm
As a Mother's Love...
Mega Mighty is Mettã :-)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/As_Mothers_Love.htm
How to be a Real Buddhist through Observance?
Medin Poya day is the full-moon of March. This holy day celebrates
that the Buddha visits his parental home after his supreme Enlightenment,
and ordains his son prince Rahula, & half brother Nanda. This day is
also called: The Sangha Day, since on this full-moon 1250 Arahats
spontaneously met & assembled around the Buddha without any call.
Buddha then spoke the famous Ovada Patimokkha core teaching!
On such Full-Moon Uposatha Poya Observance days:
Any Lay Buddhist simply joins the Three Refuges and undertakes the
Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, shaved, white-clothed, with clean
bare feet, one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue, and bows first
three times, so that feet, hands, elbows, knees & head touch the floor.
Then, with joined palms at the heart, one recites these memorized lines
in a loud, calm & steady voice:
As long as this life lasts:
I hereby take refuge in the Buddha.
I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma.
I hereby take refuge in the Sangha.
I hereby seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time.
I hereby seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time.
I hereby seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time.
I hereby request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time.
I hereby request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time.
I hereby request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time.
I will hereby respect these Three Jewels the rest of my life!
I accept to respect, keep & undertake these 5 training rules:
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Lying & Cheating.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs.
As long as this life lasts: I am thus protected by these 5 precepts...
As long as this life lasts, I am thus protected by these 5 precepts...
Then, one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's
own eyes & children!, since they protect you & all other beings much
better than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in & to
this world! The journey towards Nibbana: The Deathless is hereby started!
This is the Noble Way to Absolute Peace, to Complete Freedom, to Ultimate
Happiness, initiated by Morality, developed further by Dhamma-Study and
fulfilled by training of Meditation...
Today indeed is Pooya or Uposatha or observance day, where any lay
Buddhist normally keeps also the Eight Precepts from sunrise until the
next dawn... If any wish an official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha,
they may simply forward the lines starting with "I hereby ..." signed with
name, date, town, & country to me or join here. A public list of this new
quite rapidly growing global web Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
The New Noble Community of Buddha's Disciples: The Saddhamma Sangha:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
Can quite advantageously be Joined Here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
May your journey hereby be light, swift, and sweet. Never give up !!
Bhikkhu Samahita: what.buddha.said@gmail.com
For Details on The Origin of Uposatha Observance Days:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/uposatha.html
Buddha with his Rahula, who also awakened into enlightenment!
Have a nice observance day!
Sangha Poya Day!
Real Buddhists Respect the Observance Days...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/Medin_Poya_Day.htm
Friendly Goodwill is the 9th Mental Perfection:
Friendliness means Goodwill
Friendliness means Kindness
Friendliness means Helpfulness
Friendliness means Assistance
Friendliness means Support
Friendliness means Benevolence
Friendliness means Concern
Friendliness means Care
Friendliness means Compassion
Friendliness means Cooperation
Friendliness means Mutual Aid
Friendliness means Mutual Advantage
Friendliness means Sympathy
Friendliness means Symbiosis
Only friendliness can completely evaporate the poison of hate and anger!
Its characteristic is promoting other being's welfare, its function is to
do only good, and its manifestation is kindness, sympathy, and gentleness...
The proximate cause of friendliness is seeing the good aspects of things!
The proximate cause of understanding compassion is this very friendliness!
The Blessed Buddha said about friendliness (Metta):
"Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth
one sixteenth part of the release of mind by universal friendliness;
in shining, glowing and beaming radiance, this release of mind by
universal friendliness far excels & surpasses them all..."
What are the 11 Advantages of cultivating such Universal Friendliness?
The four Brahma Viharas; The four Divine States:
The four Supreme States; The four Infinite States:
"Friends, eleven advantages are to be expected as effect from the release
of mind into friendliness by the practice of Goodwill, by cultivating amity,
by making much of it frequently, by making friendliness the vehicle, the tool,
the basis, by insisting on it, by being well established in it as a sublime habit!
What are these eleven advantages ?
One falls asleep well! One wakes up Happy!
One dreams no evil dreams!
One is liked and loved by all human beings!
One is liked and loved by all non-human beings too!
One is guarded and protected by the divine devas!
One cannot be harmed by fire, poison, or weapons!
One easily attains the concentration of absorption!
Ones appearance becomes serene, calm, and composed!
One dies without confusion, bewilderment, or panic!
One reappears after death on the Brahma level, if one
has penetrated to no higher level in this very life!
When the mind is released into friendliness by the practice of goodwill,
by manifesting friendliness, by cultivating amity, by frequently making much
of it, by making friendliness the vehicle, the tool, the basis, the medium, the
foundation, by persisting in it, by insisting on it, by properly consolidating it,
by thoroughly undertaking it, by making it a familiar supreme habit, by so
being well established in it, these eleven blessings can be expected!"
Anguttara Nikaya V 342
There, Oohh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of friendly loving-kindness
pervading first one direction, then a 2nd one, then a 3rd one then the 4th one,
as below so above, across and all around, everywhere identifying himself with
all sentient beings, he is encompassing the whole world with a mind of friendly
loving-kindness, with a wide mind, vast, refined, unbounded, cleared, exalted,
pure and bright, free from all hate and ill will ...
There, Oh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of understanding compassion
pervading first the front, then the right side, then the back, then the left side,
as below so above, across & all around, all over, far & wide; identifying himself
with all sentient beings, he is perfusing the whole universe with a mind imbued
with pity, with a spacious mind, a refined mind, infinite, purified, all luminous,
freed from all anger and any trace of enmity ...
There, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of altruistic, sympathetic and mutual Joy
pervading the North, then the East, then the South, then the West, as below
so above, across & all around, universally, infinitely; identifying himself with
all sentient beings, he is suffusing all galaxies with a mind elevated by genuine
mutual and altruistic sympathetic joy, with an open mind, immeasurable, wide,
limitless, pure & shining, free from all aversion and bitterness ...
There, Oohh friends, the Bhikkhu with a mind full of balanced equanimity is
pervading first the frontal quadrant, then the right, then the rear & then the
left quadrant, as below so above, across and all around, everywhere placing
himself with all sentient beings, he is permeating the whole world with a mind
satiated of stilled and balanced equanimity, calmed, with a mountain-like mind,
cultivated, endless, clean, dazzling, freed from any irritation and resentment."
"So too, Bhikkhus, others may speak to you timely or untimely, true or untrue,
gentle or harsh, beneficial or harmful, based on kindness or on bitter hate!
If they abuse you verbally, you should train yourselves in this way:
"Our minds will remain unaffected, we shall speak no angry words, will dwell
friendly and understanding, with thoughts of kindness and no inward anger!
We shall remain friendly and beam goodwill towards that very person, and we
shall dwell extending it to the entire universe, mentally overflowing, exalted,
measureless and infinite in friendliness, without any trace hostility or ill-will."
That is how you should train yourselves. Even if bandits were savagely to cut
you up, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, one who harbours hate on that
account, would not be one who carried out my teaching. Bhikkhus, you should
keep this instruction on this Simile of the Saw constantly in mind...
Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 21
Thus he who both day and night
takes delight in harmlessness
sharing love with all that lives,
finds enmity with none...
Samyutta Nikaya. I 208
When one with a mind of love
feels compassion for the entire world
above, below and across,
unlimited everywhere.
Jataka 37
The Bodhisatta once was born as the righteous king Ekaraja. His kingdom was
taken by force and he and his son was buried in a pit to the neck...
King Ekaraja, however neither resisted, nor bore even slight ill will against the
invaders. Later he remembered this as his ultimate perfection of friendliness.
Ekaraja Jataka 303
On the Practice of Loving-Kindness (Metta):
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh006.pdf
On Universal Friendliness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Good-Will_Again.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Bon_Benevolence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Goodwill_Encore.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Released_by_GoodWill.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/All-Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Infinite_and_Divine_Classic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
More on the 10 mental perfections (paramis):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ten_Perfections.htm
Have a friendly, nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Friendliness Frees!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
Enthusiastic Energy Boosts Advantageous Right Effort!
By it one strives and struggles, thus is it energetic effort.
Any advantageous exertion of endeavour is a right effort.
By it one works in the right direction, thus is it right effort.
It is right, because it eliminates all the ugly evil mentalities.
It is effort, because it brings progress of well-being and bliss.
Therefore is it called Right Effort. It is a name for Energy...
Right Effort achieves these four functions:
1: Elimination of already arisen detrimental mental states!
2: Prevention of detrimental mental states not yet arisen!
3: Initiation of advantageous mental states not yet arisen!
4: Maintenance of already arisen advantageous mental states!
Thus is it fourfold. That is why it is called the 4 right efforts...
For a full Study on Energy (Viriya): The root Hero of all Success:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Definition_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Arising_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Ability_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Origin_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Enthusiastic_is_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Power_of_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Ballanced_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Chief_Hero.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energetic_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Avoiding_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Energy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energy_Viriya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Dual_Energy.htm
Source: The Path of Purification:
Visuddhimagga by Ariya Buddhaghosa from 5th century AC.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=771100
Energy Boosts Endavour!
Energy Thrusts Advantageous Right Effort!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energetic_Effort.htm
What is Mind and Consciousness?
A friend asked: What is Mind?
Mind (Mano) is an ever changing cyclic sequence of these 5 phenomena:
Contact1 => Feeling1 + Perception1 => Intention1 => Attention1 =>
Contact2 => Feeling2 + Perception2 => Intention2 => Attention2 =>
Contact3 => etc.
Regarding Consciousness itself:
Consciousness is NOT created by the brain, but RESIDES WITHIN the brain!
Just like the beer is inside the bottle, but is not created by the bottle...
To identify Mind only with Brain is a (false) view, which actually is a philosophical
(often dogmatic) standpoint, and NOT a scientifically & experimentally verified fact.
This tantalizing IDEA is called physicalism or materialism!
On this common, yet wrong assumption named Mind-Brain Identity Theory see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_physicalism
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-identity/
http://www.philosophyofmind.info/mindbrainidentity.html
Consciousness is information. Information is definitely real, but not material...
Luminous is the Mind said the Buddha:
Interestingly: When one person sees light in a dark room, another distant person's
brain emits low level light, if they are magnetically identically pulsed: Full text here:
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/pdfs/Brain.Photon.Entanglement.pdf
Furthermore: So do cell cultures also! When one receives light, the other shines!
>What is going from this life to the next?
In brief: Causal Conditioning! Please see:
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/What_passes_on_by_Rebirth-Linking.htm
Regarding Buddhist Theory of Rebirth-Linking (patisandhi) see also:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/patisandhi.htm
For an Orthodox Buddhist explanation of the transmigration of consciousness:
Rebirth Explained: V. F. Gunaratna, BPS, Kandy, Wheel Publication No. 167-69
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh_167_169.html
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh_167_168_169.pdf
More on the Mind (Citta, Nama):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/In_Control.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Non-Control.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/What_is_Mind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mind_Reading.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Luminous_is_Mind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mind_is_Home.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.5-6.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.6-7.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.8-10.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Core_Duality.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Magnificent_Mind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/citta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/naama.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Highway_to_Nibbana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Focusing_on_Mentality.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Omniscient_Quantum_Mind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Immersing_the_Body_in_the_Mind.htm
Mind Dhammapada with soothing music and images Citta-Vagga:
What is Mind?
Like light consciousness is a non-local field of radiation.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/What_is_Mind.htm
Patience is the 6th Perfection:
The characteristic of patience is acceptance, its function is to endure,
and its manifestation is non-opposing tolerance! The cause of patience
is understanding how things really are.. The effect of patience is calm
tranquility despite presence of intensely stirring provocation..
Patience of the will produces forgiving forbearance!
Patience of the intellect produces faith, confidence and certainty!
Patience of the body produces resolute and tenacious endurance!
Internal tolerance of states within oneself is patient endurance...
External tolerance of other beings is forbearance and forgiveness...
He who patiently protects himself, protects also all other beings!
He who patiently protects all other beings, protects also himself!
Not from speaking much is one called clever.
The patient one is free from anger and free from fear,
only such steady persisting one, is rightly called clever...
Dhammapada 258
Patient tolerance is the highest praxis...
Nibbana is the supreme Bliss!
So say all the Buddhas.
Dhammapada 184
The innocent one, who has done nothing wrong,
Who endures abuse, flogging and even imprisonment,
Such one, armed with stamina, the great force of tolerance,
Such stoic one, who self-possessed can accept, I call a Holy One!
Dhammapada 399
One should follow those who are determined, tolerant, and enduring,
intelligent, wise, diligent, clever, good-willed and evidently Noble.
One shall stick to them as the moon remains in its regular orbit.
Dhammapada 208
Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb,
with a two-handled saw, you should not get angry, but do my bidding:
Remain pervading them and all others with a friendly Awareness imbued
with an all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, and immeasurable!
Free from hostility, free from any ill will. Always remembering this very
Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves.
Majjhima Nikaya 21
The five ways of removing irritating annoyance:
Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which any
irritation can be entirely removed by a Bhikkhu, when it arises in him.
What are these five ways?
1: Friendliness can be maintained towards an irritating person or state..
2: Understanding can be undertaken towards an irritating person or state..
3: On-looking Equanimity can be kept towards an irritating person or state..
4: One can forget and ignore the irritating person, mental or physical state..
5: Ownership of Kamma of the irritating person can be reflected upon thus:
This good person is owner of his actions, inherit the result his actions, is
indeed born of his actions and only he is responsible for his actions be they
good or bad. This too is how annoyance with the irksome can be instantly
removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, and by which any
irritation can be entirely removed in a friend, exactly when it arises...
Anguttara Nikaya V 161
Buddha to his son Rahula: Develop an Imperturbable Mind like the elements:
Rahula, develop a mind like earth, then contacts of arisen like and dislike
will not obsess your mind! Rahula, on the earth is dumped both the pure and
the impure: excreta, urine, saliva, pus, blood, but the earth does not detest
any of those... Even and exactly so make your mind stable like the earth!
Rahula, develop a mind like water, then contacts of arisen pleasure and pain
will not seize your mind. Rahula with water both the pure and the impure
are cleaned... Washed away with water are excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and
blood, yet the water does not despise any of that! Even so make the mind
fluid and adaptable like the water!
Rahula, develop a mind like fire, then the contacts of any arisen attraction
or aversion will neither consume, nor hang on to your mind! Rahula, fire burns
both the pure and the impure, burns excreta, urine, saliva, pus, and blood,
yet the fire does not loathe any of that.. In the same manner refine the mind
into a tool like an all consuming and purifying fire!
Rahula, develop a mind similar to space, then contacts of arisen delight and
frustration does neither take hold of, nor remain in your mind. Space does
not settle anywhere! Similarly make the mind unsettled and unestablished
like open space. When you expand mind like space, contacts of delight and
frustration will neither be able to dominate, nor obsess your mind...
Majjhima Nikaya 62
More on the 10 mental perfections (paramis):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ten_Perfections.htm
Have a nice, noble & patient day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Very Advantageous is Patience, Tolerance & Endurance!
Patience is the Highest Praxis!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Patient_is_Tolerance.htm
HD:
SD:
Any Buddhist disciple should avoid taking anything from anywhere knowing it belongs to another. He should neither steal, nor swindle, nor incite others to steal or cheat. He should completely avoid all theft, deception and fraud. Sutta Nipata 2.397
The second Basic Buddhist Training-rule (precept) is avoiding taking what is not given. Avoidance of all stealing, cheating, fraud, theft, embezzlement and misappropriating of any kind of valuables from any individual or organization that pure and for all advantageous behaviour induces a safe harmony personally and also in any society.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Not_Stealing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Back_to_Basics.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Action.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hungry_Ghost_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Optimal_Observance_II.htm
STEALING induces future POVERTY!
The Ease of Serene Forest Calm:
A radiant deity once asked the Buddha:
Those who dwell deep in the forest,
Peacefully living the Noble life,
Eating only a single meal a day,
Why is their appearance so serene?
The Blesses Buddha responded:
They do not trouble over the past,
Nor do they crave for any future,
They live just with what is present,
Therefore are their looks so serene!
By urging towards the yet unreal future,
By longing back into a forever lost past,
Fools verily dry up and wither away,
Like a green creeper cut at the root...
More on Forest Bliss:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/forest_bliss.htm
Source: The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya I 5
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Forest Bliss :-)
Solitary serene calm is Bliss in the Forest!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Forest_Bliss.htm
How is the Mental Release by Mutual Joy?
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
How is the release of mind by infinite mutual joy (Mudita) achieved?
What does this liberation have as its destination, what is its culmination,
what is its sweet fruit, and what is the ultimate goal of mental release
by universally mutual, unselfish, altruistic, appreciative & rejoicing joy?
Here, Bhikkhus, a Bhikkhu dwells pervading the frontal quadrant with a
mind imbued with infinite mutual joy, so the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quadrant.
As above, so below, across, and everywhere to all beings as for himself,
he dwells pervading the entire cosmos with a mind fully saturated with
unlimited mutual joy, immense, exalted, measureless, without hostility,
without any enmity, without any trace of ill will, of jealousy or of envy!
Thus prepared and mentally quite expanded, he then develops:
1: The Awareness Link to Awakening joined with limitless mutual joy.
2: The Investigation Link to Awakening fused with such mutual joy.
3: The Energy Link to Awakening together with infinite mutual joy.
4: The Joy Link to Awakening accompanied with absolute mutual joy.
5: The Tranquillity Link to Awakening linked with noble mutual joy.
6: The Concentration Link to Awakening associated with mutual joy.
7: The Equanimity Link to Awakening joined with endless mutual joy.
Based upon seclusion, disillusion, ceasing, and culminating in release...
If he then wishes:
May I dwell experiencing repulsion by any attractive & tempting object,
then he can dwell experiencing repulsiveness therein. If he wishes: May I
dwell experiencing the unrepulsive in any disgusting and repulsive object,
then he experiences pleasing beauty in whatever disgusting & ugly thing!
If he wishes: Avoiding both the repulsive & the unrepulsive, may I dwell
in equanimity, just aware & clearly comprehending, then he experiences
equanimity, just aware and clearly comprehending! When meditating he
can completely transcend the realm of infinitude of space, only aware
that consciousness is infinite, he can enter and dwell in the sphere of the
infinitude of consciousness.. I tell you Bhikkhus for a quite wise Bhikkhu
here, who has not yet penetrated to an even more superior mental release,
the mental release by infinite, altruistic and mutual joy has the sphere of
the infinitude of consciousness as its culmination!
More on Mutual Joy (Mudita):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Rejoicing_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mutual_Joy.htm
Comments: Are you Discontent? Here is Why!
Mutual joy is the proximate cause of contentment.
Consequentially: Lack of mutual joy produces frustrated discontent!
Mutual joy also eliminates jealousy and envy! Absence of mutual joy
therefore induces the acid like mental pain called envy and jealousy!
Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 115-21] 46: The Links. 54: Joined by Friendliness...
Rejoice!
Mutual joy is the cause of contentment!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm
Food is dire Needed here!
One can advantageously donate funds for food, which is needed every month here.
Whoever gives food later gains bodily strength, vitality, vigor and health.
Giving Food is giving & thus later getting Life!
Click link here for online food Dana donation:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/various/Dana_via_Keels.htm
Gratitude appreciates all assistance!
The Buddha indeed pointed out Gratitude as an important mental quality:
These two people are hard to find in the world. Which two?
The one who is first to do a kindness, and
the one who is grateful and thankful for a kindness done.
Anguttara Nikaya 2.118
I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay.
Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother
on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, & were
to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs,
and they were to defecate and urinate right there on your shoulders, you
would not thereby repay your parents. Even if you were to establish your
mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in
the seven treasures, you would not in that way repay your parents!
Why is that? Mothers and fathers do much for their children. They care for
them, they nourish them for long, and they introduce them to this world.
But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes
them in faith; rouses his immoral mother & father, establishes them in virtue;
rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity;
rouses his unwise mother & father, settles & establishes them on a new level
of understanding: It is in this way that one truly repays one's mother's and
father's many longstanding services.
Anguttara Nikaya 2.32
Mother & father, compassionate to their family, are called Brahma, first teachers,
honour them with food & drink, clothing & bedding, and anointing, bathing, washing
their feet. Performing these services to their parents, the wise are praised right
here and after death rejoice in heaven. Itivuttaka 106
If this is what you think of me:
The Blessed One, is sympathetic, is seeking our well-being, teaches us this
Dhamma out of sympathy, then you should train yourself in being in harmony,
cordial, and without conflict and train in yourselves cultivation of all the 37
best mental qualities: The 4_Foundations_of_Awareness, the 4 right efforts,
the 4_Feet_of_Force, the 5 Abilities, 5 powers, the 7 Links to Awakening,
& the Noble_8-Fold_Way. Majjhima Nikaya 103
A Tathagata is worshipped, honoured, respected, thanked & shown gratitude
by any follower, who keeps practicing the Dhamma in accordance with true
Dhamma, who keeps practicing masterfully, who lives in and by the Dhamma!
Digha Nikaya 16
We will undertake & practice those qualities that makes one a contemplative,
so that all those who helped us by services of robes, alms-food, lodging, and
medicines will bring them great fruit and great future reward.
Majjhima Nikaya 39
Comments:
In Pali, the word for gratitude = kataññu literally means to have a sense of
what was done for one in the past even when long ago. Remembering all help!
A network of kindness and gratitude is what sustains whatever goodness
there is and ever will be in this - otherwise destitute & impoverished - world!
Thus: Thank you for reading this!
Source (edited extract): The Lessons of Gratitude by Thanissaro Bhikkhu:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/lessonsofgratitude.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Appropriate_Appreciation.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Appropiate Appreciation is Advantageous!
Gracious is Gratitude!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/The_Grace_of_Gratitude.htm
Seeing the Spontaneous Dissolution of all phenomena!
The Ancient Elders explained:
All past constructions & all past formations, whether mental or material have
dissolved, and they continue to break up into any future, just as they do now!
Clearly observing the inevitable impermanence of all the present constructions,
one can infer those past & future to be the same: All formations will disappear!
Like dew-drops, when the morning sun comes up. All Aggregates cease & nothing
else really exists. Breakup of these 5 clusters of clinging is known as death...
One should watch and reflect upon their destruction carefully, just as one who
with a diamond drills a hole through a jewel. Since:
One who regards all phenomena:
As lasting as a bursting bubble;
As illusive as a mirage;
One regarding all worldly life exactly so,
is forever unseen even by the King of Death!
Dhammapada 170
Seeing the breakup of all phenomena therefore makes one approach Nibbana
with the acute imperative urgency & efficacy of one with a burning turban...
Vism 645
On the 8 Advantages of noting and contemplating the Dissolution:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Noting_the_Breakup.htm
Spontaneous is the Dissolution of all States...
Have a nicely fading day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The Burning Turban!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Burning_Turban.htm
Development of Infinite All-Embracing Kindness!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus and Friends: There are these four infinite mental states:
The Bhikkhu pervades all beings with all-embracing friendliness...
The Bhikkhu encompass all creatures with universal & endless pity...
The Bhikkhu permeates all individuals with infinite and mutual joy...
The Bhikkhu suffuses all living mortals with unlimited equanimity...
First in one direction, then in the 2nd, then the 3rd, & finally the 4th,
above, below, all around, in every location, unifying himself with all beings,
he pervades the entire universe with a kind and all-embracing friendliness,
with an all-encircling compassion & pity, with an all-enveloping mutual and
altruistic joy, and with an all-encompassing imperturbable equanimity, fully
utilizing a refined mind, made great, vast, profound, infinite, immeasurable,
released from all hate, anger, irritation, opposition and stubbornness...
Source: DN 33
Because of hate, overwhelmed and obsessed by hate, one lives while
doing evil deeds, speaking wrong words, and thinking bad thoughts...
Thus one neither really understands one's own welfare, nor the
welfare of others, nor the welfare of both... If, however, this hate
is overcome and subdued, then one lives while doing good deeds,
speaking kind words, and thinking advantageous thoughts...
Therefore one really knows, what is one's own welfare, for the
welfare of others, & for the welfare of both one self & others...
Source: AN 3:55
More on these 4 Infinite and Divine States (Appamañña Brahma-Vihara):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/United_in_Harmony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Good_Friend.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Goodwill_Encore.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kalyanamitta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
Have a nice infinite day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The 4 Infinite States!
All-Embracing is Universal Kindness :-)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Infinite_and_Divine_Classic.htm
SD:
HD:
Any Buddhist disciple should avoid taking anything from anywhere knowing it belongs to another. He should neither steal, nor swindle, nor incite others to steal or cheat. He should completely avoid all theft, deception and fraud. Sutta Nipata 2.397
The second Basic Buddhist Training-rule (precept) is avoiding taking what is not given. Avoidance of all stealing, cheating, fraud, theft, embezzlement and misappropriating of any kind of valuables from any individual or organization that pure and for all advantageous behaviour induces a safe harmony personally and also in any society.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Not_Stealing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Back_to_Basics.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Action.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hungry_Ghost_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Optimal_Observance_II.htm
The Detrimental & Advantageous topics of Conversation:
The disadvantageous subjects of bestial conversation are:
conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state, armies, alarms, & battles, food & drink,
clothing, furniture, garlands, & scents, relatives, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, the countryside,
women & heroes, the gossip of the street & the well, tales of the dead, tales of diversity,
the creation of the world & of the sea, talk of whether things exist or not.
The 10 advantageous subjects of conversation are:
Talk on the Modesty of having few wants,
Talk on the Bliss of Contentment,
Talk on the Joy of Seclusion,
Talk on the Ease of Disentanglement,
Talk on the Energy of Enthusiasm,
Talk on the Advantage of Morality,
Talk on the Calm of Concentration,
Talk on the Insight of Understanding,
Talk on the Freedom of Release,
Talk on the Direct Knowledge and Vision of Release ...
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/conversation.html
Other detrimental subjects of conversation see:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an10-069.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an10-070.html
The 10 Good Topics of Conversation.
What are Good Topics of Conversation?[/b ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Disadvantageous_Subject.htm
Quenching all Craving & Clinging Releases!
The brahmin Magandiya once asked the Buddha about how to detach:
Question: How does one quench all this urge of craving and clinging?
Answer:
One should stop all mental diversification and proliferation by giving up the
conception "I am"! This internal craving for existence should be dispelled...
Whatever theory one understands should neither induce pride, nor thereby
regarding of 'Me' as better, worse or equal to anyone. When contacted by
various forms, one should not form a mental image or concept about a self!
Such friend is at peace within himself & need not seek peace from another!
He neither takes up, nor lays down anything. Therefore he cannot be moved!
He does not desire any sights, sounds, flavours, amusements or common talk.
He would not cherish or delight in any phenomena at all, in the entire world...
When affected by pain, he does not lament, nor does he long for survival or
tremble, when in great danger. He would not accumulate anything, whether
things, eatables or clothes. Nor is he afraid of not receiving or loosing all...
Such Bhikkhu is a meditator, not foot-loose, pure, not negligent, dwelling in
remote lodgings, where there is little noise & no disturbance from company...
Sutta-Nipata 915-925 Edited excerpt.
On this Craving (Tanha) and Clinging (Upadana) that has to be quenched:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/tanhaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/u_v/upaadaana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Craving_is_Catastrophic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3_kinds_of_Craving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_kinds_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Clinging_to_the_notion_I_Am.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_are_the_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_2nd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Cause_of_Suffering.htm
Comment:
What is it, that is quenched? It is the fire of greed, hate and ignorance,
that is quenched. There is nothing else - here or there - to quenche...
Quenched...
The fire of greed, hate & ignorance has to be put out!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Quenched.htm
Feel Pity for all those Falling Beings:
It is a great pity with all those thinking like this:
Pleasure is the only good; by that they fall!
Terror is a necessary way; by that they fall!
Sensuality is innocent; by that they fall!
Violence is allowable; by that they fall!
Money makes happiness; by that they fall!
Power is progress; by that they fall!
Falsehood is acceptable; by that they fall!
Stealing gives wealth; by that they fall!
Conceit can conceal; by that they fall!
Science knows all; by that they fall!
Killing can be good; by that they fall!
Hunting is only fun; by that they fall!
Adultery is mature; by that they fall!
Paedophilia is harmless; by that they fall!
Drugs are fantastic; by that they fall!
Booze is medicine; by that they fall!
Giving does not help; by that they fall!
After death is nothing!; by that they fall!
The Hells do not exist; by that they fall!
Intentional Action has no effect; by that they fall!
I am the better than...; by that they fall!
I know better ...; by that they fall!
Making merit cannot elevate; by that they fall!
It is a great pity with all those poor beings:
who are veiled by wrong view; by that they fall!
who are fooled by own opinion; by that they fall!
who are gripped by greed and lust; by that they fall!
who are stirred by hate and anger; by that they fall!
who are clinging to all worldly things; by that they fall!
who are confused by not knowing; by that they fall!
who prostitute themselves; by that they fall!
who cheat and deceives; by that they fall!
who pretend what is not; by that they fall!
who hide what is actual fact; by that they fall!
who destroy beings or things; by that they fall!
who pollute the milieu and society; by that they fall!
who deliberately do evil willing it; by that they fall!
who fail their duties and obligations; by that they fall!
who miss the obvious opportunities; by that they fall!
It is a great pity with all those blinded by ignorance,
bound and dragged by craving, while pushed by aversion:
By that they surely fall into states of pain, agony and despair!
As if gripped by the arms of two strong men and hurled into a big fire...
More on this caring Great Compassion (maha-karuna)!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Compassionate_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Space_Compassion.htm
Great is Compassion!
Feel Infinite Pity for all those Falling beings!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Great_Compassion.htm
For What do Men of good family go forth into Homelessness?
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
Bhikkhus, whatever clansmen in the past rightly went forth into homelessness,
all did so in order to breakthrough to the Four Noble Truths as they really are.
Whatever clansmen in the future will rightly go forth into homelessness, all will
do so in order to breakthrough to see these 4 Noble Truths as they really are!
Whoever clansman at present has rightly gone forth into homelessness, he has
only done so by breakthrough to the same Four Noble Truths just as they are!
What four?
The Noble Truth of Suffering,
The Noble Truth on the Cause of Suffering,
The Noble Truth on the End of Suffering,
The Noble Truth on the Way leading to the End of Suffering.
Whatever clansmen rightly went forth... will rightly go forth... have rightly gone
forth from household life into homelessness, all have done so in order to make
the breakthrough to these Four Noble Truths as they actually and really are.
Therefore, Bhikkhus, an effort should be mobilized to completely understand:
This is Suffering; This is the Cause of Suffering; This is the End of Suffering;
This is the way leading to the End of Suffering... An effort should be made to
understand, comprehend, penetrate, recognize & realize these 4 Noble Truths!
Comments:
Only the perfect Buddhas breakthrough to, discover & explain these 4 truths!
Those who makes that effort and understands, shortens the Samsaric round...
Those who neglects that effort and ignores it, prolongs the Samsaric round...
Friends, it is by not understanding, by not penetrating these 4 Noble Truths
that both you & I have cycled bewildered in birth-&-death for an eternity...
More on these 4 Noble Truths (Cattari Ariya Saccani):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/truths.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sacca.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/index.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Noble_Truths.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/wings/part3.html#part3-h-1
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_1st_Noble_Truth_on_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_2nd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Cause_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3rd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Ceasing_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4th_Noble_Truth_on_The_Way_to_End_Suffering.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:415]
section 56: Saccasamyutta. Thread 3: Clansmen...
Breaking Through!
Why do Men go forth into Homelessness?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/ClansMan_Breakthrough.htm
Few are those who can Avoid all Evil Action!
The Blessed Gotama Buddha once explained:
Bhikkhus & friends, see this little dust, I have taken up upon the nail of
my little-finger, what do you think is most: This tiny dust or this great
planet Earth? The Bhikkhus then responded:
Venerable Sir, this great planet Earth is much more, incomparable more...
The minute speck of dust is trifling, microscopic, negligible in comparison.
The Blessed Gotama Buddha then succinctly and importantly pointed out:
Similarly and exactly so too, Bhikkhus & friends, those beings are few and
quite rare, who are reborn among humans or devas! Beings who are reborn
elsewhere, lower, as non-humans, in the screaming hell, as scared animals,
as hungry ghosts, or as angry demons are much more numerous and common...
Why is it so? Because:
Few are those beings who avoid destruction of life, who avoid all killing...
Few are those beings who avoid mutilating, murder, robbery, and violence...
Few are those beings who avoid taking what is not given by not stealing...
Few are those beings who avoid using false weights, cheating with papers...
Few are those beings who avoid being crooked by bribery, deceit, & fraud...
Few are those beings who avoid sexual misconduct and all forms of abuse...
Few are those beings who avoid booze and drugs making careless & negligent...
Few are those beings who avoid false lying, pretending and double-dealing...
Few are those beings who avoid divisive speech, slandering and defamation...
Few are those beings who avoid harsh and aggressive scolding and blaming...
Few are those beings who avoid idle chatter, gossiping, and empty hear-say...
Few are those beings who avoid damaging the nature, seeds and plant life...
Few are those beings who respect father, mother, elders, and recluses...
Few are those beings who possess the Noble Eye of Dhamma-Understanding!
But those beings, who are immersed in ignorance, are much more numerous!
Why is it so? Because, Bhikkhus, they have not yet seen the 4 Noble Truths!
What four? This is Suffering; Craving is the Cause of all this Suffering;
No Craving is the End of Suffering; The Noble 8-fold Way Ends all Suffering,
Therefore, Bhikkhus & friends, exertion should be made Now to understand:
All This is Suffering; This Greedy Craving is the sole Cause of all Suffering;
No Craving is the End of Suffering; The Noble 8-fold Way Ends all Suffering,
Therefore should effort to fathom these 4 Noble Truths be made now!
On Kamma (In Sanskrit=Karma=intentional action) and it's result (vipaka)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Buddha_on_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_dilutes_Evil_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_short_&_long_life.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Health_&_Sickness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Low_or_High_Birth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Wealth_or_Poverty.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Beauty_&_Ugliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Effect_of_kammic_Action_is_Delayed.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Power_or_Disrespect.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Evil_Kamma_enhances_other_Evil_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_enhances_other_Good_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_leading_to_Stupidity_or_Intelligence.htm
Further Literature on the efficacy of Kamma = Karma:
Karma and Rebirth, by Nyanatiloka (WHEEL 9);
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh394.pdf
Survival & Karma in Buddhist Perspective, by K.N. Jayatilleke (WHEEL 141/143);
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh141.pdf
Kamma and its Fruit (WHEEL 221/224).
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Wheels/wh221.pdf
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:467-70]
section 56: Saccasamyutta. Thread 63-78: Killing living beings & etc...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Few are Fine!
Cause & Effect. Seed & Fruit. Kamma & Vipaka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Few_are_Fine.htm
The 4 stepping stones to entering the Stream Supreme!
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
Bhikkhus, there are these four factors of Stream-Entry. What four?
1: Association with excellent persons, is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry.
2: Hearing the true Dhamma is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry.
3: Careful and rational attention is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry.
4: Praxis in agreement with the Dhamma is a stepping-stone for Stream-Entry.
These 4 factors of Stream-Entry does any Noble Disciple possess!
OBS: The Stream Winner!
A Stream-Enterer (Sotapanna) has maximum 7 lives left before Enlightenment!
He/she cannot be reborn in hell, as a ghost, as an animal, nor as an angry demon,
and is thereby safe from the danger of kammic downfall! Further details see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Entering_the_Stream_Supreme.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sotaapanna.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Stream_Entrance.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:343-4]
section 55: Sotapattisamyutta. Thread 50: The 4 Factors...
The Stream-Winner!
The 4 Steps to Stream Entrance ...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_4_Steps_to_Stream-Entry.htm
The First Buddhist Council took place at the Sattapanni Rock Cave in:
Rajagaha now Rajgir, India. 3 months after the Buddha's final Nibbana,
500 Arahants met here to recite the Dhamma and the Vinaya, so that it
could be passed on to future generations exactly as spoken by the historical
Buddha Gotama and his disciples. This council was headed by Mahakassapa
Thera and it lasted 7 months. It established the original authentic Tipitaka:
The 3 Baskets of Sacred Text = The Pali Canon:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html
This crucial 1st council is described in detail in the:
Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Ceylon pp: 14-19
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/pdfs/mahavamsa.geiger.pdf
Other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Buddhist_council
http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=The_Sattapanni_Cave
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/Nikini_Poya_Day.htm
http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=First_Buddhist_council
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/sa/sattapanniguha.htm
Believing in an EGO locks the Clusters of Clinging:
At Savatthi the blessed Buddha once said:
Herein, friends, the untaught ordinary people, who do not know the Nobles,
who are unskilled in the Teaching of the Nobles, who do not know the Worthy,
who are untrained in the Worthy teachings, they regard the body as the self,
or they regard the self as having a body, or the body as being inside the self,
or they regard the self as being inside the body ...
Such belief is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the
bonds of body, one bound to the inner and the outer, one who have not sighted
the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond, one who is born bound,
and who dies bound. One who from this world goes to the next world ever again!
Such poor friend may also regard feeling as the self, or regard the self as having
feeling, or regard feeling as being inside the self, or regard the self as being inside
feeling ... Such belief is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one fettered by
the bonds of feeling, one bound to the concepts of the internal and the external,
one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond,
one who is born mentally bound, and who dies mentally bound, one who is reborn
forever and ever again...
Such poor yet worthy friend may also regard perception as the self, or regard
the self as having perception, or regard the perception as being inside the self,
or regard the self as being inside perception ... Such one is called one of the
untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the bonds to perception, one bound to
the notions of ‘the inner is own’ and ‘the outer is other’, one who have not sighted
the further shore, one who have not sighted the beyond, one who is born bound,
and who also dies tied up to & by these clusters of clinging, repeating the round.
Such poor friend may also regard mental constructions as the self, or regard the
self as having, possessing, or owing mental constructions, or regard the mental
constructions as being inside the self, or regard the self as being inside the mental
constructions ... Such person is called one of the untaught ordinary people, one who
is fettered by the bonds of mental constructions, one bound to the duality of the
inner and the outer, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who have not
sighted the beyond yet, one who is born bound, and who dies bound, chained and
constrained by ideas.. One who endlessly repeats the cycle of birth and death....
Such confused friend may regard consciousness as the self, or regard the self as
having a consciousness, or regard the consciousness as being inside the self, or
regard the self as being inside the consciousness ... Such one is called one of the
untaught ordinary people, one fettered by the bonds of consciousness, one bound
to the inner and the outer, one who have not sighted the further shore, one who
have not sighted the beyond, one who is born bound, who dies bound, one who from
this world goes to the world after this one ever again...
But, friends, the well-taught Noble disciple, who indeed recognizes the Nobles,
who is skilled in the Teaching of the Nobles, who indeed recognizes the Worthy,
who is trained in the Worthy teachings, Such Noble One does not imagine the body
as being a self, neither does such Noble Friend regard this imagined self as having
a body, nor does such Noble Friend regard the body as being inside any fake self,
nor does such Noble Friend regard such faked self as being inside any body ...
This one, friends, is called a well-taught friend, not fettered by the bounds of body,
nor bound to the inner nor the outer, one who has sighted the further shore,
one who has sighted the beyond. I tell you: Released is such Noble from suffering.
Such Noble Friend does neither regard feeling as beings the self, nor does he regard
perception as the self, nor does he regard mental constructions as the self, nor does
he regard consciousness as the self ... Such one is indeed called a well-taught friend,
who does not regard consciousness or any other quality or state as an inner 'self', &
who is neither fettered by the bounds of consciousness or any other quality or state,
nor bound to any internal phenomena, nor any outer phenomena... Such one has indeed
sighted the further shore, such one has assuredly sighted the beyond of all being...
Released is such Noble friend, I declare, from all suffering ... !
Source: The Buddha Gotama in the Samyutta Nikaya on the Clusters of Clinging
Only that is true unbound autonomy, Yeah! Having broken the mental bonds!
Go for it, reach for it, keep on keeping on, on the way to it!
Attain it, since only that is real genuine & lasting freedom ...
On the 5 Clusters of Clinging (Khandha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Not_Yours.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Leash.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Like_Foam.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/House_on_Fire.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Burden_and_Prison.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Stilling_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Not_Who_but_What.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Things_that_can_be_clung_to.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/What_are_the_5_Clusters_of_Clinging.htm
Believing in an Ego ...
Breaking the internal Bonds!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Breaking_the_Bonds.htm
How are the Seven Links to Awakening Fulfilled?
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
How, Ananda, are the Four Foundations of Awareness trained and developed
so that they fulfil the Seven Links to Awakening?
Whenever, Ananda, a Bhikkhu is reflecting upon body only as an accumulation,
right on that occasion, unconfused and undistracted awareness is established
in that Bhikkhu. Therefore on that occasion the Awareness Link to Awakening
is aroused, and as it gradually develops, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu.
Dwelling thus aware, he investigates & examines that state by understanding.
Whenever, Ananda, a Bhikkhu dwells investigating a state, on that occasion the
Investigation Link to Awakening is aroused, & as it gradually develops by many
repetitions, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu. While he investigates states
with understanding, examines them, his energy is aroused without slackening!
On that occasion the Energy Link to Awakening is enlivened, and as it gradually
develops by many reiterations, it comes to reach fulfilment in that Bhikkhu.
When his enthusiastic energy is aroused, there arises in him a rapturous joy!
On that occasion the Joy Link to Awakening is instigated, and as it gradually
develops by many renewals, it comes to reach fulfilment in that Bhikkhu.
Both the body and mind becomes tranquil, in whoever is mentally elated by joy.
On that occasion the Tranquillity Link to Awakening is therefore induced, and
as it gradually develops by maturation, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu.
In one whose body is tranquil & who is happy, the mind becomes concentrated!
On that occasion, the Concentration Link to Awakening is therefore stimulated,
and as it gradually develops by training, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu.
He then just looks on this concentrated mind with imperturbable equanimity...
On that occasion is therefore induced the Equanimity Link to Awakening, and
as it gradually develops by rehearsal, it reaches fulfilment in that Bhikkhu.
It is, Ananda, when the four Foundations of Awareness are trained and refined
in exactly this very way, that they fulfill the Seven Links to Awakening...!
More on these Seven Sublime Links to Awakening:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Seven_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Investigation_Vicaya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energy_Viriya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Joy_Piti.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Tranquillity_Passaddhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Concentration_Samadhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:331-33]
section 54: Anapanasamyutta. Thread 13: Ananda
The 7 links to Awakening..
How is Four Fulfilling Seven!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Four_Fulfilling_Seven.htm
None should harm any other being. Nor should anyone retaliate. Why not? Great future pain returns to any who harms another. Future suffering also returns to any-one who retaliates! Dhammapada 389
ViDeO: Back-2-Basics #1 = No Kill!
Standard Quality:
High Definition:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Not_Killing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Holy_Harmlessness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Harmless_Happy_and_Holy.htm
Only Stilling of all Construction is Peace!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Just as the oil-lamp burns on oil and wick, but after consuming of all oil and wick,
through lack of fuel, the flame comes to ceasing, similarly the Bhikkhu knows when
sensing a feeling limited to this body: I am sensing a feeling limited to this body.
Sensing a feeling limited to life, he knows: I am sensing a feeling limited to life.
He knows that: With the break-up of this fragile frame, at the ceasing of life,
all sensed, not being clung to, will grow cold and cease right there & then...
Here this monk, thus cooled, is endowed with the highest unshakable wisdom...
This is the highest and most sacred truth, to know how all Suffering will cease!
Whatever untrue can be mistaken & mislead! Only the absolute Nibbana is true...
On Stilling, Tranquillization, Subsiding & Silenced (Muni):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Calm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Silenced.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Forest_Bliss.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Stilling_of_Clinging.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Tranquillity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Tranquillity_Passaddhi.htm
Source Text (extract): Majjhima Nikaya 140: Analysis of Elements:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.140.than.html
Stilled in sweet Silence!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Stilled_One.htm
What are the 7 Links to Awakening?
1: Awareness is a link to Awakening (sati-sambojjhanga).
2: Investigation of the states is a link to Awakening (vicaya-sambojjhanga).
3: Energy is a link to Awakening (viriya-sambojjhanga).
4: Joy is a link to Awakening (piti-sambojjhanga).
5: Tranquillity is a link to Awakening (passaddhi-sambojjhanga).
6: Concentration is a link to Awakening (samadhi-sambojjhanga).
7: Equanimity is a link to Awakening (upekkha-sambojjhanga).
These are the seven links leading to final Enlightenment...
Those whose minds are well-developed in these 7 factors of self-awakening,
who delight in non-clinging, who relinquish all grasping, whose minds are all
around luminous, whose mental fermentations are all stilled: They, even while
still in this world, are all unbound right here!
Further Study on the 7 Links to Awakening:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Investigation_Vicaya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Energy_Viriya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Joy_Piti.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Tranquillity_Passaddhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Concentration_Samadhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/7_Links_to_7_Wings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Meaning_of_the-7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
The 7 Links to Enlightenment...
What are 7 Links to Awakening?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
What is the Deepest Bliss here?
The blessed Buddha once said:
Solitude is happiness for the one who is content,
Who understands and clearly sees this Dhamma.
Harmlessness is happiness in all worlds,
Kindness towards all living beings.
Udana 10
View all in this world as Empty - Void of Core Substance -
Thus always Wide Open and Aware, Friend Mogharaja,
Giving up belief in all and any form of a "Ego or Self"!,
One may escape even Death, since Mara - the king of Death-
cannot see a Noble one with such subtle void, and empty view!
Sutta Nipata 1119
Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who see the True Dhamma.
More blissful is gentle harmlessness towards all breathing beings without exception.
Even more blissful is complete freedom from all urge for sense pleasures whatsoever.
Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit “I am”!’
Udana 11
Harmlessness!
More on Released & Relaxed Anti-Egoism:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Pride.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Conceit_I_Am.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/I-dentification.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Prison_of_Pride.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anti-EGO-Tool.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anatta_No_Self.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/No_Agent_is_Inside.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Solo_Self-Deception.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Mistaken_Reference.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Selfless_and_Harmless.htm
Selfless and Harmless!
What is the Deepest Bliss here?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Selfless_and_Harmless.htm
In how many aspects are the 5 abilities purified?
There are these 5 mental Abilities:
The ability (faculty) of faith,
The ability of energy,
The ability of awareness,
The ability of concentration,
The ability of understanding.
These five abilities are purified in these 15 aspects:
When the Noble Friend avoids faithless persons, and cultivates, frequents & honours
faithful persons, and reviews Suttas that inspire confidence, then the faith ability
is purified in these 3 aspects.
When the Noble Friend avoids idle or lazy persons, and cultivates, frequents, & honours
energetic persons, and reviews own practise of the 4 best Efforts, then the energy
ability is purified in these 3 aspects.
When the Noble Friend avoids negligent, forgetful persons, and cultivates, frequents &
honours acutely aware and mindful persons, while reviewing the 4 Foundations of Awareness,
then the awareness ability is purified in these 3 aspects.
When the Noble Friend avoids unconcentrated persons, and cultivates, frequents & honours
focused & concentrated persons, and reviews the 4 Jhanas and liberations, then the
concentration ability is purified in these 3 aspects.
When the Noble Friend avoids ignorant persons, cultivates, frequents, & honours persons
who understand, and reviews the insight of profound knowledge, then the understanding
ability is purified in these 3 aspects.
So when the Noble Friend avoids these 5 kinds of ordinary persons, while cultivating,
visiting, and honouring these 5 kinds of excellent persons, and reviews these 5 kinds
of teachings, then the five abilities is purified in these 15 aspects.
On these 5 mental Abilities (indriya):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Elements_Diversity_and_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_the_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fruits_of_the_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Five_Abilities_Summary.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Finding_the_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Ability_Purification.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Developing_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/g_m/indriya.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Analytical_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Dominant_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Origin_of_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Uprooting_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_5_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Final_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Well_Equipped.htm
Source: Sariputta in: The Path of Discrimination: Patidasambhidamagga:
http://store.pariyatti.org/Path-of-Discrimination-2nd-Edition_p_2126.html
On Ability Purification ...
How are the 5 abilities purified?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Ability_Purification.htm
On point clears drops cut short!
Patience is not silence, but speaking and acting at the right time
with a calm mind, in a correct, polite, gentle and harmless way.
Generosity is not giving everything you have or spending
all of your time for the benefit of others, but not keeping
your mind hanging onto what you temporarily have on loan.
Compassion is not putting yourself into more trouble,
but lifting others out of their trouble..
Rev. Thalawathugoda Chandawimala, Sri Lanka
Oxford International Meditation Centre
http://www.oxfordimc.com
Of related interest:
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/Patient_is_Tolerance.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/Openhanded_Generosity.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
Have a nice day!
Some clear drops!
Pure Plain Truth Soothes the Mind...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Clear_Drops.htm
Wise Company gives good Advantage:
The Blessed Buddha once said:
I am a friend and helper to all,
I am sympathetic to all living beings.
I develop a mind full of love & one
who always delight in harmlessness!
I gladden my mind, fill it with joy,
and make it immovable and unshakable.
I develop these divine states of mind
not cultivated by simple men.
Theragatha 648-9
I am a friend of the footless,
I am a friend of the bipeds;
I am a friend of those with four feet,
I am a friend of the many-footed.
May not the footless harm me,
may not the bipeds harm me,
may not those with four feet harm me, &
may not those with many feet harm me.
AN II 72
A friend, who always lends a hand,
a friend both in sorrow and joy,
a friend who offers good counsel,
a friend who sympathizes too.
These are the four kinds of true friends:
One who is wise, who have understood much,
will always cherish and serve such friends
just as a mother tends her only child.
DN III, 188
Among tigers, lions, leopards & bears I lived in the jungle.
No one was frightened of me, nor did I fear anyone.
Uplifted by such universal friendliness, I enjoyed the forest.
Finding great solace in such sweetly silenced solitude…
Suvanna-sama Jataka 540
And how does a Bhikkhu abide with his mind imbued with friendliness
extending over one direction? Just as he would feel friendliness on
seeing a dearly favourite person, so he extends this same loving-kindness
to all beings in all directions, one by one, & as above so below.
Abhidhamma Pitaka: Appamañña-vibhanga
Bhikkhus, whatever kinds of worldly merit there are, all are not worth
one sixteenth part of the release of mind by universal friendliness;
in shining, glowing and beaming radiance, in invisible shielding protection,
such release of mind by universal friendliness far excels & surpasses them all...
Itivuttaka 27
Universal Friendliness (Metta) is 1 of 4 Infinite States (Appamañña Brahma-Vihara):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.1.024-027.irel.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel007.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/United_in_Harmony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Good_Friend.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Goodwill_Encore.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kalyanamitta.htm
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=404214
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
The Buddha on Noble Friendship :-)
Infinite is All-Embracing Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
How to be a Real Buddhist through Observance?
The Bak Poya day is the full-moon of April. This holy day celebrates
that the Buddha visits Ceylon for the second time to reconcile two
local chiefs Mahodara and Culodara, uncle & nephew, who had fallen
into war threatening hostility about a jewel-beset throne...
The story shows the Buddha as fine diplomat & is given in full below!
On such Full-Moon Uposatha Poya Observance days:
Any Lay Buddhist simply joins the Three Refuges and undertakes the
Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, white-clothed, clean bare feet,
one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue, and bows first 3 times,
so that feet, hands, elbows, knees & head touch the floor. Then, with
joined palms at the heart, one recites these memorized lines in a loud,
calm & steady voice:
As long as this life lasts:
I hereby take refuge in the Buddha.
I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma.
I hereby take refuge in the Sangha.
I hereby seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time.
I hereby seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time.
I hereby seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time.
I hereby request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time.
I hereby request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time.
I hereby request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time.
I will hereby respect these Three Jewels for the rest of my life!
I accept to respect & undertake these 5 training rules:
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Dishonesty.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs.
As long as this life lasts, I am thus protected by these 5 precepts...
Then, one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's
own eyes & children!, since they protect you & all other beings much
better than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in & to
this world! A journey towards the deathless Nibbana is thus started!
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Ease, to Happiness,
initiated by Morality, developed further by Dhamma-Study and fully
completed by training of Meditation...
Today indeed is Pooya or Uposatha Observance day, where any lay
Buddhist normally keeps also the Eight Precepts from sunrise until
next dawn. If any wish official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha,
they may easily forward the lines starting with "I hereby" signed by
name, date, town, & country to me or join here. A Public list of this
new quite rapidly growing global Saddhamma-Sangha is set up here!
The New Noble Community of Buddha's Disciples: Saddhamma Sangha:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
Can quite advantageously be Joined Here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
May your journey hereby be light, swift, and sweet. Never give up !!
Bhikkhu Samahita: what.buddha.said@gmail.com
For Details on Uposatha Observance Days:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/uposatha.html
Reuniting those who are divided, by inducing harmony:
Now the most compassionate Teacher, the Conqueror, rejoicing in
the salvation of the whole world, when dwelling at Jetavana in the
fifth year of his Buddhahood, saw that war, caused by a gem beset
throne, was like to come to pass between the nagas Mahodara and
Culodara, uncle and nephew and their followers! The SamBuddha,
then on the Uposatha day of the dark half of the month Citta, in the
early morning, took his sacred alms bowl and his robes, and, out of
compassion for the nagas, sought the Nagadipa. At that time the
same naga Mahodara was then king, gifted with miraculous powers,
in a nagas kingdom in the ocean, that covered half a 1000 yojanas.
His younger sister had been given in marriage to the naga king on
the Kannavaddhamana mountain; her son was Culodara. His mother's
father had given to his mother a splendid throne of jewels, then the
naga had died and therefore was this war between nephew & uncle
threatening!
The bejewelled throne, the Buddha and the deva Samiddhisumana.
Mural painting. Kelaniya Temple http://www.kelaniyatemple.com/
The nagas of the mountains were also armed with many
miraculous powers. The deva Samiddhisumana took his rajayatana
tree standing in Jetavana, his own fair habitation, holding it like a
parasol over the Conqueror, he, with the Teacher's leave, attended
him to that spot, where he had formerly dwelt. That very deva had
been, in his latest birth, a man in Nagadipa. On the very spot where
thereafter the rajayatana tree stood, he had seen PaccekaBuddhas
taking their meal. And at the sight his heart was glad & he offered
branches to cleanse their alms bowls. Therefore he was reborn in
that very same tree in the pleasant Jetavana garden, outside of the
gate rampart. The God of all gods saw in this an advantage for that
deva, and, for the sake of the good, which should spring therefrom
for Ceylon, he brought him there together with his tree. Hovering
there in midair above the battlefield, the Master, who drives away
spiritual darkness, called forth dreadful darkness over the nagas!
Then comforting those who were distressed by terror, he once again
spread light abroad. When they saw the Blessed One, they joyfully
did reverence to the Masters feet. Then the Vanquisher preached
to them the Dhamma that makes concord, & both nagas gladly gave
up the throne to the Sage. When the Master, having alighted on the
earth, had taken his place on a seat there, and had been refreshed
with divine food and drink served by the naga kings, he, the Lord,
established in the three refuges and in the 8 moral precepts eighty
kotis of snake-spirits, dwellers in the ocean and on the mainland.
The naga-king Maniakkhika of Kalyani, maternal uncle to this naga
Mahodara, who had come there to take part in the battle, and who
before, at the Buddhas first coming, having heard the true Dhamma
preached, had become established in the 3 refuges & in the moral
duties, prayed now to the Tathagata: Great is the compassion that
you have shown us here, Master! Had you not appeared we had all
been consumed to ashes. May your compassion yet settle also and
especially on me, you who are rich in friendly loving kindness, please
peerless one, come again back here to my home country. When the
Lord had consented by his silence to return, then he planted the
rajayatana tree on that very spot as a sacred memorial, & the Lord
of the Worlds gave over the rajayatana tree & the precious throne
seat to the naga kings to do homage thereto: In remembrance that
I have used these, do homage to them naga kings! This, well beloved,
will bring to pass many blessings & happiness for you for a long time!
When the Blessed One had uttered this and other exhortations to
the nagas, he, the compassionate saviour of all the worlds, returned
to the Jetavana monastery.
Here ends the explanation of the Visit to Nagadipa.
Nagadipa Temple today.
http://www.amazinglanka.com/heritage/nagadipa/nagadipa.php
Source: Mahavamsa I:44. The Great Chronicle of Ceylon.
Translated. By Wilhelm Geiger 1912; reprinted in 1980.
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/pdfs/mahavamsa.geiger.pdf
Have a nice harmonious reuniting day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Reuniting is Bak Poya Day!
Have a nice harmonious reuniting day!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Bak_Poya_Day.htm