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Having heard the Buddha speak, a householder or a householder's son or
one born in some other family, hears that Buddha-Dhamma. On hearing this
sublime Dhamma, he acquires faith in the Tathagata. Possessing that faith,
he considers thus: Household life is crowded, cramped, frustrating & dusty!
The Life gone forth is out in the wide open... It is not easy, while living in a
home, to live this Noble life utterly perfect and pure, as a polished shell...
Suppose I shave off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth
from the home life into homelessness. On a later occasion, leaving behind any
small or large fortune, leaving behind a small or a large circle of relatives,
he shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the ochre robe, & then goes forth
from the home life into the free and open homelessness...
So is the faith of those, who after countless lives finally have accumulated
and possesses the right and ripe conditions for attaining the advantageous
state of a Bhikkhu under a Buddha! This is indeed the quickest step towards
winning the Bliss of the deathless Nibbana!
Neither Stealing nor Cheating, Taking only what is Given!
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
What, householder friends, is the Dhamma explanation befitting to oneself?
Here, householder friends, a Noble Disciple reflects thus: If someone were to
take from me, what I have not given, that is, to commit theft, to steal, that would
neither be pleasing, nor agreeable to me.
If I were to take from whatever kind of another being, what he has not freely given,
that is also to commit theft, to steal, that would neither be pleasing, nor agreeable
to that other being either.... What is displeasing and disagreeable to me, is thus also
displeasing and disagreeable to any other being too! How can I inflict upon another
being, what is displeasing and disagreeable to myself? Having reflected repeatedly
thus, then gradually: 1: One will carefully avoid all taking, what is not freely given...
2: One will persuade others also to abstain from all stealing and theft...
3: One will praise only accepting, what is freely and righteously given...
In exactly this way is this good bodily behaviour purified in 3 respects!!!
Comments:
Cheating with valuables & scales, fraud, false insurance claims, swindling,
tax evasion, and any illegitimate misappropriation of values is theft...
DO NOT MAKE OTHERS SUFFER BY STEALING WHAT THEY CLING TO!
The one who destroys life;
The one who speaks false;
The one who takes what is not given;
The one who mates with the partner of another;
The one who is addicted to drinking and drugging;
Such one - even in this world - digs up his own root!!! Dhammapada 246-47
The one who never takes, what is not freely given,
whether long or short, fine or foul, exquisite
or repulsive, such one is a pure one. Dhammapada 409
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:354]
section 55: Sotapattisamyutta. Thread 7: To the people at the Bamboo gate...
Poya is the full-moon of Poson (June), which is specially noteworthy to the Sri Lankan
Buddhists as the day on which Emperor Asoka's son, the Arahat Mahinda, officially
introduced Buddhism to the island in the 3rd century B.C. Accordingly, in addition to
the normal ritualistic observances undertaken on a Poya day, on Poson day devotees
flock to Mihintale & Anuradhapura, the ancient holy capital city of the country, for
it was there that Arahat Mahinda converted the then ruler, King Devanampiya Tissa,
and his court to Buddhism, thereby setting in motion a series of events that finally
made Sri Lanka the stronghold home of Theravada Buddhism.
On such Uposatha 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 and
head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms in front of the heart,
one recite 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 & 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!
This is the very start on the path towards Nibbana -the Deathless Element-
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Bliss, 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 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..." signed with name, date, town & country
to me or join here. A public list of this new Saddhamma-Sangha is here!
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Overcome the angry with friendliness;
Overcome the wicked with goodness;
Overcome the miser with generosity;
Overcome the liar with truth. Dhammapada 223
And what is the treasure of generosity?
There is the case where a disciple of the Noble Ones,
having cleaned his mind of the stain of stinginess,
living at home, freely generous, and open-handed,
delighting in being magnanimous, enjoying any request,
delighting in the giving of alms to those needy & worthy...
This is called the treasure of generosity! AN 7.6
There are these five future rewards of generosity:
One is admired and liked by an overwhelming majority of the people.
One is respected by the good, the intelligent and the wise persons.
One's good reputation is spread easily, rapidly and far about.
One fulfills the rightful duties of the householder, and
With the break-up of the body, one will reappear in a good destination,
in the heavenly and exquisitely divine worlds! AN 5.35
Faith is the first of the 5 Elements of Effort (padhaniyanga): 1: Faith, 2: Health, 3: Sincerity, 4: Energy, and 5: Understanding.
Faith is main factor of the 4 Streams of Merit (puñña-dhara): 1: Unshakable faith in the Buddha,
2: Unshakable faith in the Dhamma,
3: Unshakable faith in the Sangha,
4: Quite Perfected Morality.
Faith is the first of the 7 Treasures (dhana): 1: Faith,
2: Morality,
3: Shame,
4: Fear of Wrongdoing,
5: Learning,
6: Generosity,
7: Understanding.
Faith is seed, the entrance, the initiator, the ticket, the beginning. Understanding is the highest, the goal, the diamond-cutter, the end! Both are Floods of Advantage, Fabulous Fruits, Leading to Happiness!
Thus have I heard the Blessed Buddha saying it:
Whatever, Bhikkhus and Friends, there are here of worldly merit making,
all these are not worth 1/16 of mental release by All-Embracing Kindness...
The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, emanates and shines,
far surpassing it all! Like the light of the stars is not 1/16th of the moonlight,
which radiates, beams and shines, surpassing all the stars, even & exactly so:
Whatever there are of simple worldly and meritorious things, all these are not
worth one 1/16th of the mental release reached by All-Embracing Kindness...
The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, beams, sparkles and
shines, far surpassing it all... Just as in autumn, in the last month of the rainy
season, on a clear and cloudless day the sun rises and dispels all the darkness
bright and brilliant, even & quite exactly so: Whatever there are of worldly,
meritorious, admirable, and attractive things, all these even summed up are
not worth even one 1/16 of the release of mind by All-Embracing Kindness!
The release of mind, which liberates the heart, by All-Embracing Kindness,
radiates, dazzles and shines, far surpassing them all...
The Blessed Buddha once asked: What is real Richness?
Bhikkhus, when a Noble Disciple possesses 4 things, then he is said to be rich,
with much wealth and prosperous property. What four?
Here, Bhikkhus, a Noble Disciple possesses the faith of confirmed confidence
in the Supreme Buddha ... in the Perfect Dhamma ... and in the Noble Sangha....
He possesses the moral purity that is praised by the Noble Ones, unbroken ...
unspotted ... untorn ... pure ... intact ... leading to absorbed concentration....
Any Noble Disciple, who possesses these 4 things is indeed really quite rich,
with much heavy wealth and a lush and vast property.... SN V 402
Buddha to the Ploughman:
Faith is my seed, simplicity the rain, Understanding my yoke and plough,
Modesty is pole, and mind is the strap, Awareness is my ploughshare & goad! Sn 77
Suffering is the cause of Faith...
Elated Joy is the effect of Faith... Entrance is the function of Faith...
Trusting is the characteristic of Faith...
Decisiveness is the manifestation of Faith...
Faith is the Hand, that lifts one out of Suffering...
Faith is the Seed, that makes one grow much good Future...
Faith is the Real Wealth, since it produces the best Advantage... Vism XIV 140
How does Faith save one from pain?
When one has faith in the Tathagata, Unshakable and quite well established,
And good behaviour built on morality, Liked by the Noble Ones and praised!
When one has confidence in the Sangha, And a view straight and clear!
Then they say, that one is not poor, That one's life is not wasted...
Therefore should any intelligent person, aware of the Buddha-Dhamma,
be devoted to the fine faith & moral purity, which gives confirmed conviction
in this safe saving Dhamma. SN V 405
Alavaka once asked the Blessed Buddha:
What wealth here is best for any man? What well practiced brings happiness?
What is the sweetest of all the flavours? How lived, is this life best?
The Buddha:
Faith is the best wealth here for any human!
Dhamma well practiced brings happiness! Truth indeed is unsurpassable sweet!
A wise life lived in understanding is best...
Alavaka:
How does one cross the flood of ills? How is the ocean of existence crossed?
How is all suffering stilled? How is one purified?
The Buddha:
By Faith is the flood of evil crossed! By attention is this existence crossed!
By effort is all suffering stilled! By wisdom one is finally purified! Sn 182-184
A certain, not very well known Bhikkhu once asked Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, it is said: One is well equipped with the 5 mental abilities!
In what way, Venerable Sir, is one well equipped with these five abilities? The Blessed Buddha then pointed out:
When, Bhikkhu, a Bhikkhu thoroughly trains and fully develops:
The ability of Faith, which leads to stilling, which leads to enlightenment..
The ability of Energy, which leads to peace, which leads to awakening..
The ability of Awareness, which leads to harmony, which leads to safety..
The ability of Concentration, which leads to rest, which leads to ending..
The ability of Understanding, which leads to ease, which leads to bliss..
Then he becomes one, who is well equipped with the 5 mental abilities!
Worthy, honourable & perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha!
Consummated in knowledge and behaviour, totally transcended, expert in
all dimensions, knower of all worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those who
can be tamed, both teacher & guide of gods as well as of humans, blessed,
exalted, awakened and enlightened is the Buddha!
Perfectly formulated is this Buddha-Dhamma, visible right here and now,
immediately effective, timeless, inviting each & everyone to come and see
for themselves, inspect, examine and verify! Leading each and everyone
through progress towards perfection. Directly observable, experiencable
and realizable by each intelligence...
Perfectly training is the Noble Sangha community of Buddha's disciples.
Training the right way, the true way, the good way, and the direct way!
Therefore do these eight kinds of individuals, the 4 Noble pairs, deserve
both gifts, self-sacrifice, offerings, hospitality and reverential salutation
with joined palms, since this Noble Sangha community of Noble disciples,
is an unsurpassable and forever unsurpassed field of merit, in and for this
world, to support, worship, respect, protect, give to and gain from ...
A Brahmin Priest once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause of being unable to remember something
that has been memorized over a long period & also that which has not?
Brahmin, when mind is obsessed by evil-will, enraged & dominated by evil-will,
and one does not understand any safe escape from this arisen ill of evil-will,
in that very moment, one neither sees nor understands, what is advantageous,
neither for oneself, nor for others, nor for both... On such enraged occasions,
even texts, that have been long memorized, cannot be recalled by mind.
Why is this neglect so? Imagine a bowl of water boiling and bubbling being
well heated over a blazing fire. If a man with good eye-sight were to inspect
the reflection of his own face in it, he would neither see nor recognize his
own face, as it really is! So too, brahmin, when mind is obsessed by evil-will,
maddened, beset & dominated by evil-will, on that occasion even those texts,
that have been long memorized do not recur to the mind, not to speak of
those texts, events and information, that have not been memorized at all…
The Blessed Buddha once said:
When one attends carelessly and irrationally then:
Greed, Lust, and Sense-desire arise, increase, and expand...
Hate, Anger and Ill-will arise, increase, and expand...
Sloth, Lethargy and Laziness arise, increase and expand...
Agitation, Restlessness and Regret arise, increase and expand...
When one attends carelessly and irrationally then:
Doubt, confusion and uncertainty arise, increase and expand...
Furthermore the Awareness link to awakening does not arise!
The Investigation link to awakening does not arise!
The Energy link to awakening does not arise!
The Joy link to awakening does not arise!
The Tranquillity link to awakening does not arise!
The Concentration link to awakening does not arise!
The Equanimity link to awakening does not arise!
And if these qualities are present in mind, then they instantly cease, when
one attends carelessly, neglectful, absent-minded, sloppy and irrationally...
However if one attends carefully and rationally, the 5 mental hindrances
do not arise and if already arisen, then they gradually fade out and cease!
Secondly, any of the 7 mental links to awakening, that has not yet arisen,
arise and is gradually completed by mental development by this repeated
reflection and meditation...
A Brahmin Priest once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause of being unable to remember something
that has been memorized over a long period & also that which has not been?
Brahmin, when the mind is obsessed, beset, and dominated by sense-desire,
and one does not understand any safe escape from this arisen sense-desire,
in that moment, one neither sees nor understands, what is advantageous,
neither for oneself, nor for others, nor for both...
On such occasions, even texts, that have been long memorized, cannot be
recalled by mind. Why is this neglect so? Imagine a bucket of water mixed
with dyes or paints: Yellow, blue, and crimson red. If a man with good eyes
were to inspect the reflection of his own face in it, he would neither see nor
recognize his own face! So too, brahmin, when the mind is obsessed, beset,
and dominated by sense-desire, on that occasion those texts, that have been
long memorized does not recur to the mind, not to speak of those texts,
events and things, that have not been memorized at all…
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus by possessing 3 qualities, one lives this life full of pleasure & joy!
Furthermore, one has thereby prepared for the elimination of the subtle
mental fermentations... What are these 3 advantageous qualities?
I: One guards the doors of the senses,
II: One is moderate in eating, and
III: One is devoted to wakefulness...
How, Bhikkhus, is a Bhikkhu devoted to wakefulness?
During daytime, while doing either walking or sitting meditation, a Bhikkhu
purifies his mind of detrimental states. In the 1st watch of the night, while
walking back & forth & sitting, he also purifies mind of obstructive states!
In the middle watch of the night, he lies down on the right side in the lion's
posture, with one foot lying upon the other, aware & clearly comprehending,
determining when to rise again. After rising, in the last watch of the night,
while walking back & forth and sitting, he cleans out any disadvantageous
mental states again. It is in this way, Bhikkhus, that a true Bhikkhu is fully
devoted to wakefulness! Bhikkhus, it is by possessing these three qualities,
that a Bhikkhu lives full of happiness and Joy in this very life, and that he
has prepared for the final destruction of the mental fermentations...
When have you last been Wide Awake before Sunrise?
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, if one does not really understand both the cause, the ceasing,
the satisfaction, the danger, & the escape from the 6 sources of contact,
then one has not lived the Noble life, and is far away from comprehending
this Dhamma and from practicing this Discipline...
Then a certain Bhikkhu said to the Blessed One: Venerable Sir, I am lost,
for I do neither understand the cause, the ceasing, nor the satisfaction,
nor the danger, nor the escape from any of these 6 sources of contact! The Buddha then asked him:
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Eye as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Ear as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Nose as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Tongue as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Body as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Mind as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
Very good, Bhikkhu! So should you continue to clearly comprehend the eye,
ear, nose, tongue, body, and the mind through correct understanding thus:
This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self!
In this way will the six sources or contact gradually be left behind, by not
creating any future renewed existence! This itself is the End of Suffering!
Comments:
The cause of the six senses is the arising of name-&-form, body-&-mind...
The six senses cease at the ceasing of name-&-form, and body-&-mind...
The satisfaction of the six senses is the pleasure & joy they generate...
The danger of the six senses is their inherent unstable impermanence...
The escape from the six senses is the elimination of craving: Nibbana!
You ragged shed of a chain of bones, sewn together with flesh and sinews.
Fie upon you evil-smelling body worshipping those who have another's limbs.
You bag of shit, tied up with skin, you demon with lumps on your chest...
Nine holes is there in you body, ever streaming with disgusting things...
You body, with your nine oozing holes, makes an evil smell and is all brimful
of smelly mess. Any Bhikkhu desiring purity avoids this putrid form as one
avoids any stinking heap of rotten excrement...
If any person knew you body, as I know you, he would violently avoid you,
keeping far away, as one avoids a fetid toilet-pit in the rainy season...
This is so, Great Hero, as you say, Ascetic and here many sink down as an
old drowning bull in deep, wet, and fatal mud.. Feverishly desiring the foul!
See this painted puppet, a heap of sores, a constructed form, diseased,
decaying, falling apart, with many evil intentions, of no permanent stability,
or safety...
In whomever such Awareness of the body as a dangerous & disgusting trap
is not developed, not pursued, Mara gains entry, Mara gains a foothold...
These 'body-lovers' becomes Mara's - the Evil Ones' - friends and soldiers!
Not knowing, not seeing Suffering - the 1st Truth - they run about claiming:
Body is beautiful, form is happiness, there is neither sickness, decay, ageing
nor any death! When Mara contacts them, they say: Come on in Sir, touch me!,
it will be my honour and pleasure ... Because of this false & wrong view, such
feverish 'body-lovers' share a future painful destiny with Mara the Evil One!
Awareness of the Body gives fearlessness of even death!
Meditation on the Body disables greed, lust, and lewd desire!
The 9 Corpse Meditations induces a bold, brave, and confident joy!
Definitions:
There is Pleasant Feelings = mental gladness and bodily pleasure.
There is Painful Feelings = mental sadness and bodily pain.
There is neither Pleasant nor Painful Feeling = Neutral indifference.
Dynamics:
Pleasant Feeling is agreeable when arising, yet disagreeable when ceasing!
Painful Feeling is disagreeable when arising, yet agreeable when ceasing!
Neutral Feeling is quite agreeable, when one is aware of its presence,
yet quite dull and disagreeable, when one is unaware of its presence!
Deleterious Side-Effects:
If Unaware, Pleasant Feeling will inevitably cause the arising of Desire...
If Aware, Pleasant Feeling will not cause the arising of this Desire!
If Unaware, Painful Feeling will inevitably cause the arising of Aversion...
If Aware, Painful Feeling will not cause the arising of this Aversion!
If Unaware, Neutral Feeling will inevitably cause the arising of Ignorance.
If Aware, Neutral Feeling will not cause arising of this Ignorance!
Near Causes:
The Cause of Feeling is Contact: Eye-contact, Ear-contact, Nose-contact,
Tongue-contact, Body-contact or Mental-contact. At the moment this
contact ceases, the associated feeling also instantly ceases...
Effects:
The Effect of the phenomena Feeling is -in the case- of Unawareness:
Craving towards the object = Attraction, when the feeling is pleasant.
Craving away from the object = Repulsion, when the feeling is painful.
Craving towards 'other' than object = neglect, when the feeling is neutral.
Characteristics:
Feeling is - as everything else - that is conditioned and constructed:
1: Transient, impermanent, passing, unkeepable, and unmaintainable!
2: Dissatisfying, disappointing, frustrating, painful, and miserable!
3: Impersonal, selfless, ownerless, and not-Me-nor-Mine-nor-Self!
Paradox:
There is this changing phenomena Feeling, yet there is no Feeler...
Buddha once said:
Everything, every mental state, converges on Feeling...
Comments:
We run after pleasant feeling and away from painful feeling, even without
knowing it or being aware of it! Feeling is thus the property our autopilot
mind is controlled by. Unaware of that we become blind slaves of feeling!
Such robot-maniac run after the objects, which when contacted gives rise
to pleasant feeling such as: Porn, drugs, booze, sex, entertainment, food!
Pleasant feeling is thus the proximate cause of any destructive addiction!
Prior or later good kamma dilutes evil kamma performed now!
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Regarding the effects of actions, Ananda, as to the person here who kills
living beings, who takes what is not given, who misconducts himself in sex,
who speaks false, divisively, who speaks aggressively, who speaks gossip,
who is envious & jealous, who is of ill will, and who holds wrong views, yet
who at the breakup of the body, right after death, reappears in a happy
destination, maybe in the divine dimensions: Either earlier - prior to this -
such one also did some good actions resulting in existence felt as pleasure,
or later after this, such one did quite good actions to be felt as pleasure,
or at the death-moment such one entered and maintained right views!
Caused by that such one is reborn in a happy destination, even in heaven!
But since such one, here & now in the present, has also killed living beings,
taken what is not given, misconducted himself in sensual pleasures, spoken
false, spoken divisively, spoken aggressively, & spoken idle & empty gossip,
and since such one has been envious and jealous, been of ill will, and held
wrong views, such one will experience the result of that either here and
now, or in the next rebirth, or in some subsequent even later existence...
Behaviour (kamma=action) is almost always mixed: Some good, some bad!
The later effects are therefore similarly mixed: Sometimes pleasure, and
sometimes pain... Good begets good and dilutes and delays evil, while Evil
begets evil and dilutes and delays the effects of prior good behaviour!
Morality is the Cause of No Regrets and thus Gladness!
What are the Advantages of Morality? The Gladness of No Regrets and No Remorse!
Wealth well acquired by righteous diligence!
The Fine Fame of a Good Reputation!
The Purity of a Clean Conscience...
Assured and Natural Self-Confidence in any assembly!
Neither confusion, nor any panic at the moment of death!
A Happy and occasionally even Divine Destiny after death!
What are the Similes of Morality? Morality is like a good foothold!
Morality is like a purifying bath!
Morality is like a solid cement foundation!
Morality is like a key to success! Morality is like a cool breeze!
Morality is like a hidden fortune!
Morality is like a scent drifting even against the wind!
Morality is like a staircase to heaven!
Morality is like an aura of fine radiance!
Morality is like an innocent and rapturous joy!
Morality is like a much respected fame!
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
How, Bhikkhus, do the five mental hindrances multiply into ten?
Own internal sense-desire is a hindrance. Other's external sense-desire
is also a hindrance. Sense-desire is thus twofold: Internal and external!
Own internal ill-will is a hindrance. Other's ill-will is a hindrances too...
Lethargy is a mental hindrance. Any laziness is also a mental hindrance.
Lethargy-and-laziness is therefore a dual mental hindrance.
Restlessness is a mental hindrance. Regret & worry is also a hindrance.
Therefore can restlessness-and-regret be explained as two hindrances.
Any doubt and uncertainty about any internal condition, is a hindrance.
Any doubt & uncertainty about an external condition, is a hindrance too.
Thus does doubt-and-uncertainty become like a matched mirror pair...
1: Review the Danger in Hate like this:
This Anger can bring me to a bad destination, downfall, pain, even to hell!
2: Know the outlet is Patience, Tolerance and Forbearance:
The Blessed Buddha once said: The greatest praxis is patience...
3: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite Friendliness:
Sit down a silent & empty place with closed eye and beam from your heart:
May I be successful, happy, calmed & freed from all hostility and anger!
May my friends be successful, happy, calmed & freed from all hostility!
May my enemies be successful, happy, calmed & freed from all hostility!
May all in this village be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this town be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this city be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this country be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this earth be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this galaxy be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this universe be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
so gradually expanding beyond the limitations of space & into infinitude!
4: Note the elation & Joy of mind so trained by infinite goodness as object!
Whenever aversion, anger or irritation reappears, then immediately redirect
mind to this remembered sign of the mind released into infinite good-will.
Please indeed note that the anger instantly evaporates and an ability to
smile of ones own foolish temper can begin to shine outward again. :-)
5: Training of Infinite Friendliness can induce the first jhana absorption,
and thus can lead to a high rebirth as a divinely fine material brahma deva. 6: Keep on doing that 15-45 min every day. Note difference during the day!
May all beings be free from suffering, pain and frustration and be happy.
May all beings be free from anger, irritation, opposition & stubbornness!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Let no one deceive another,
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer... Khuddakapatha 9
Slay anger and you will be happy,
Slay anger and you will not sorrow.
For the slaying of anger in all its forms
with its poisoned root and sweet sting,
that is the only slaying the Nobles praise;
With anger slain one sorrows no more! Samyutta Nikaya I, 161
Not by anger is Hate ever quenched.
Only by Kindness is Hate always quenched.
This Ancient Law is an Eternal Truth ... Dhammapada 5
Cruelty, Mercilessness & Revengefulness are diluted Hate:
How to cure these evil derivatives of Cruelty:
1: Review the Danger in Cruelty like this:
This can bring me to a bad destination, the downfall, to pain, even to hell!
This is a path of thorns, an evil way, a dark state, conflict, violence, pain!
2: How does a friend dwell pervading all with his heart endued with pity?
Just as he would feel pity on seeing an unlucky, unfortunate person, so he
pervades all beings with infinite pity. Therefore first of all he imagines a
poor man, unlucky, unfortunate, in every way a fit object for pity, ugly,
reduced to utter misery, with hands and feet cut off, sitting in the shelter
for the helpless, with an empty pot in front of him, with maggots oozing
from sores on hands and legs, moaning, infinite pity should be felt for him
in this way: 'This being has been reduced to utter misery! If he just could
be freed from this misery...' Then later one can arouse the same pity and
compassion for a neutral person and later for even a wrong-doing person!
This is the complete mastery of pity: Compassion even with the Evil One!
3: All wrong doing is caused by blindness: A real pity for the wrong-doers!
All wrong-doers will thus suffer immensely in the future. How sad for them!
4: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite pity:
Sit down a silent, empty place with closed eyes & beam this from the heart:
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating awareness of pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating examination of pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating energetic pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating joyous infinite pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating stilled infinite pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating concentrated pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating imperturbable pity.
Beaming first out in front, then right, left, down below and also up above:
May all beings live happily and free from suffering, pain and frustration.
May all beings be free from hate, cruelty, mercilessness & revengefulness!
One who is virtuous and wise
Shines like a blazing fire;
Like a bee collecting nectar
He acquires wealth by harming none! Digha Nikaya III, 188
May all breathing creatures, all living things,
All beings, every one without exception,
Experience good fortune only!
May they not fall into harm. Anguttara Nikaya II, 72
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees.
Non-violence is happiness in the world
Harmlessness towards all living beings. Udana 10
JOY
Oh let us live happily! Freed from all cruelty!
Living even among those, who always flames by hate!
Among those dominated by anger, let us live free from anger! Dhammapada 197
The Blessed Buddha once explained Loving-Kindness like this:
This is what is to be done by one who is clever in arousing the advantageous:
Having attained the peaceful state. He should be capable, straight, and very
upright, easy to speak to, gentle and not proud, contented & easy to support,
with few duties, living simple, with senses calmed, devoted, & neither angry
nor greedy. He should not do any mean thing, which wise men would criticize.
Always should he wish: Let all beings be happy, joyous, glad, safe and secure.
Whatever living creatures there exists still or moving, small or large, seen or
unseen, far or near, already existing or coming into being, let all living beings
without any even single exception be solely fully happy!
One should never despise anyone anywhere, nor humiliate anyone anywhere,
nor ever wish for any beings misery or harm, because of anger or irritation.
Just as a mother would protect her only little son even risking her own life,
exactly so should one cultivate an unbounded mentality towards all beings,
loving-kindness towards all in this universe. One should cultivate an infinite
mind, above, below and across, without barriers, without enmity, matchless.
Whether standing, going, sitting, or lying down, even when slumbering should
one practise this exalted infinite goodwill. This is said to be a Holy state! Sn 143-151
The Buddha teaching about Infinite Friendliness = Metta
How to cure these agonizing mental states of Envy & Jealousy:
1: Review the Danger in Envy and Jealousy like this:
ThisAcidis eating up my mind from within! All joy & happiness is destroyed!
2: Know that Envy arises because one wants something that others have!
The aversion towards these persons arise due to greed for a desired object.
Wanting=greed is craving towards an object, while aversion=hate is craving
away from an object. All forms of Craving causes Suffering! Know that Envy
and Jealousy is the proximate cause of Discontent!
3: Envy is cured by rejoicing in others success= Mutual Joy! (Mudita) like:
How good that this being, having done good in the past, now earns the well
deserved fruit!!! Thus one substitutes an disadvantageous mental state with
an advantageous mental state. Know that this subtle Mutual Joy! (Mudita) is
the proximate cause of Contentment! Contentment is the highest Treasure...
4: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite Mutual Joy:
Sit down a silent & empty place with closed eye and beam from the heart:
May I be successful, rich, beautiful, famous, intelligent, popular & praised!
May my friends be successful, rich, beautiful, famous, intelligent, & praised!
May my enemies be successful, rich, beautiful, famous, intelligent, & praised!
May all in this village be successful, beautiful, famous, intelligent, & praised!
May all in this country be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, & praised!
May all in this earth be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, and praised!
May all in this galaxy be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, and praised!
May all in the universe be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, and praised!
Beaming this tender sympathy out from the heart first out in front, the right,
left, back, above as below, so gradually expanding beyond the limitations of
space and into the infinitude! When a cause is infinite, so will be the effect!
5: Keep on doing that 15-45 min every day. Note the difference in day joy! May all beings rejoice in Mutual Joy celebrating all beings success & progress!
One should not despise any giving.
One should neither envy others.
One who envy others cannot attain absorption
and will never enter any concentrated trance. Dhammapada 365
Neither nice speech, nor serene behaviour
Makes one accomplished, if one is still
Possessed of envy, miserliness or deceit. Dhammapada 262
Absorbed in distractions,
Not paying appropriate attention,
Giving up the goal, following after the pleasant,
One comes to envy those, who enjoy right effort! Dhammapada 209
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 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!
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!
How to cure Confusing Uncertainty and Skeptical Doubt?
What if doubt leading to confusion and indecisiveness, keeps coming back?
Undertaking these 5 simple actions gains assured certainty over time:
1: The praxis of living under a Teacher...
2: The effort of learning the True Dhamma...
3: The work of examining the meaning of the Dhamma...
4: The habit of listening to/reading the Dhamma repeatedly...
5: The quality of inquiring into the Cause & Non-Cause of all phenomena...
Through these 5 behaviours is both ignorance, skeptical doubt, uncertainty,
and bewildered confusion gradually eradicated by the invested effort!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Knowing that the other person is angry,
The one who remains aware and calm
acts in and for his own best interest,
and for the other's interest, too! Samyutta Nikaya I, 162
Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware,
the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:
One who is such, calmed and ever mindful,
He has no sorrows! Udana IV, 7
Calm is his mind.
Calm is his speech.
Calm is his action.
So is the tranquillity;
So is the equanimity;
of one freed by the insight
of right understanding... Dhammapada 96
Three kinds of gift are mentioned in Buddhism, namely:
1: Amisa dana: The gift of material things,
2: Abhaya dana: The fearless gift of life,
3: Dhamma dana:The gift of real Truth...
Amisa dana: – or the gift of material things is practised by people
of all religions and is very common. Food, clothes and houses are
given to people of little means or to refugees through various
religious and social organizations. It is, no doubt, a good thing to
satisfy the hunger of the starved & the yearning of the thirsty.
This type of donations is highly recommended in Buddhism and
is called the Amisa dana. (The donations of material things).
Next comes the Abhaya dana: - or giving life to those who are in
danger of life caused by fire, water or enemies. Sometimes we
hear of people, who are about to die due to lack of blood.
To donate blood and save another humans life is indeed a great
thing. Donation of eyes and kidneys is also highly appreciated
and they come under Abhaya dana – fearless donation of life.
The last one: Dhamma dana: - or the gift of Truth of the Doctrine
is said to be the highest of all donations on earth. Why so?
Because it opens the Door to the Deathless Dimension!
This no other giving is even remotely capable of...
The gift of Dhamma excels all other Gifts.
The flavour of Dhamma excels all other flavours.
The pleasure in Dhamma excels all other pleasures.
He who has destroyed craving overcomes all sorrow! Dhammapada 354
Most Gods actually became Divine Beings as a result of Giving!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
And what, Bhikkhus, is the Joy not of this world? Aloof and above any lust,
quite secluded from any sense desire, protected from any disadvantageous
mental state, one enters & dwells in the 1st jhana mental absorption; full of
joy & pleasure born of solitude, joined with directed & sustained thought...
With the stilling of directed & sustained thought, one later enters & dwells
in the 2nd jhana of calmed assurance & unification of mind devoid of any
thought & thinking, joined with joy & pleasure now born of concentration!
These are called the joys not of this world!
And what, Bhikkhus, is the joy beyond that joy, which is not of this world?
When a bhikkhu, whose mental fermentations are eliminated, reviews his
mind liberated from lust, freed from hatred, and released from confusion,
there arises a transcendental joy. This is called Joy quite beyond that joy,
that is not of this world...
How to be a Real True Buddhist through Observance?
This Esala Poya day is the full-moon of July, which is noteworthy since on this celebrated day:
1: The Blessed Buddha preached his First Sermon: The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.
2: The Bodhisatta was conceived in Queen Maya who dreamt a white elephant entered her side.
3: The Blessed Buddha made the Great Withdrawal from the world at the age of 29 years.
4: The Blessed Buddha performed the Twin Miracle (yamaka-patihariya) of dual appearance.
5: The Blessed Buddha explained the Abhi-Dhamma in the Tavatimsa heaven to his mother.
6: The ordination of Prince Arittha at Anuradhapura, under Arahat Mahinda on Sri Lanka.
7: The foundation of the celebrated Mahastupa & enshrinement of relics by King Dutugemunu.
8: The next day the yearly 3 months rains retreat (vassa) of Buddhist Bhikkhus start.
The Buddha performing the Twin Miracle of simultaneously producing water & flames from his body.
On such Uposatha 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 and
head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms in front of the heart,
one recite 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 request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time.
I request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd …
I request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time.
I will respect these Three Jewels 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!
This is the very start on the path towards Nibbana -the Deathless Element-
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Bliss, 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 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..." signed with name, date, town & country
to me or join here. A public list of this new Saddhamma-Sangha is here!
The Blessed Buddha once explained Harmlessness like this: May all creatures, many all breathing things,
all beings every 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 an infinite heart and mind:
Beaming above, below, and all around,
unobstructed, without trace of hostility. Sutta Nipata I, 8
Train yourself in doing only the good.
That lasts and brings great happiness!
Cultivate generosity, a peaceful living,
and a mentality of infinite friendliness. Ittivuttuka 16
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Who has heard the Dhamma & clearly understands.
Non-violence is happiness in this world:
Harmlessness towards all living beings! Udana 10
Just after enlightenment the Blessed Buddha stayed under a great Banyan
tree at Uruvela on the bank of the river Neranjara. There he reflected:
There is this single, one and only direct way for the purification of beings,
for the relief from all sorrow and grief, for the fading away of all pain and
frustration, for achieving the right method, for the realization of Nibbana,
that is, these Four Foundations of Awareness! What four? When a Bhikkhu
lives & dwells, aware & clearly comprehending, while always contemplating &
reflecting upon:
1: The Body merely as a disgusting and fragile accumulation..
2: The Feelings just as instantly passing conditioned reactions..
3: The Mind only as a set of recurring, banal and habituated moods..
4: Phenomena only as mentally manifested, fake & artificial appearances..
The 4 Great Frames of Reference!
He thereby removes any lust, urge, envy & frustration rooted in this world..
This is verily the one and only direct way for the purification of all beings,
for the relief from all sorrow and grief, for the fading away of all pain and
frustration, for achieving the right method, for the realization of Nibbana,
that is, these Four Foundations of Awareness... Then the Brahma Samapatti,
knowing this, instantly appeared before the Blessed One & having arranged
his upper robe over one shoulder, he raised his joined palms towards the
Blessed One, and said to him: So is it! Blessed One. So be it! Well-Gone One.
Venerable sir, this is the one & only direct way for purification of beings...
The Great Seer of the Silencing of all Becoming,
Compassionate, understands this unique One Way:
By which they all in the past crossed the flood,
By which they all cross now in the present, and
By which they all will cross over in any future...
Comment: The 'Flood' (Ogha) here means:
The Flood of sense-desire (kama-ogha)
The Flood of wanting to (re-)become (bhava-ogha)
The Flood of wrong views (dittha-ogha)
The Flood of ignorance (avijja-ogha)
These floods overwhelm and destroy all beings in Samsara! Ever again and again!
Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 167-8] 47 The Foundations of Awareness: 18 Brahma...
The Buddha on the Beauty of Bliss:
Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who sees the Dhamma.
Blissful is harmlessness towards all beings without any exception.
Blissful is freedom from any sensual urge whatsoever.
Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit “I am”! Udana – Inspiration: II – 1
Mind initiates and precedes all Phenomena...
Mind is their chief! They are all mind-made!
Therefore:
If a person thinks, speaks or acts with a pure mind:
Happiness then follows him like the cart-wheel that
follows the foot of the ox... Dhammapada 2
Oh let us live happily! Possessing nothing at all!
Let us feed on joy, just like the shining Devas! Dhammapada 200
Nibbanam paranam sukham... Nibbana is the Highest Bliss! Dhammapada 203/204
Ceasing of Kamma comes only by Exhaustion of Effect!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
I tell you, Bhikkhus and Friends, that it is absolutely impossible, that willed,
intended, performed, & accumulated actions (kamma) will cease to be effective
as long as one has not yet experienced their results, be it in this life,
or in the next life, or in even further future lives!
And it is equally impossible, that without having experienced these results of
one's accumulated, intended, & performed past actions, that one will be able
to put an end to Suffering. May this hereby be well known!
Kamma is an accumulated interference with a universal wavefunction
determining the probability of all the various possible future events!
Kammic moral efficacy of action is thus not a metaphysical postulate,
but a experimentally verified -yet subtle- quantum-mechanical fact!
Equanimity (Upekkha) entails a composed equipoise of solid mental balance!
It is Tatra-majjhattata = keeping to the moderate middle of all phenomena.
Equanimity balances consciousness so it prevents both all excessiveness and
any deficiency. In equanimity mind is neither attracted by attractive things,
nor repelled by repulsive things. The cause of equanimity is seeing the law of
kamma: All beings are born and created by their kamma, they are owners of
their kamma, inherit their kamma, whatever they do, whether good or bad,
the effects of that will be theirs only, following them like a shadow of past!
The effect of Equanimity is threefold:
Exquisite, relaxed & subtle peace felt as calm happiness is instantly gained.
Equanimity purifies and completes all the 7 crucial Links to Awakening...
Equanimity is the proximate cause of knowledge and vision (ñanadassana)!
The Blessed Buddha often noted contentment as the highest treasure:
There is the case where a Bhikkhu is quite content with whatever old robe,
quite content with whatever old almsfood, quite content with whatever hut,
and quite content with whatever bitter medicine for curing sickness.
This Dhamma is for one who is content, not for one who is discontent!
Thus was it said. And with reference to exactly this salient contentment
with whatever little one has, was this simple, serene modesty well spoken...
AN VIII 30
Contentment with whatever little one has!
And how is a Bhikkhu content?
Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden,
even so is he content with a single set of robes to protect his body and
begged almsfood to pacify his hunger. Wherever he goes, he takes only
these few simple necessities as robes, belt, bowl and razor along with him.
This is how a Bhikkhu is content...
DN 2
There is the case where a Bhikkhu is content with whatever old robe at all,
with whatever old almsfood at all, with whatever old hut at all. He speaks in
praise of being content with any old requisite at all. He does not, for the sake
of any requisite, do anything unsuitable or inappropriate. When not getting any
requisites, he is not troubled. When getting requisites, he just uses it without
being attached to it. He is not obsessed, blameless, and seeing the drawbacks
and dangers of possessions, he realizes the escape from them. He does not,
on account of his contentment with any old requisite at all, exalt himself or
disparage others. Thus is he modest, clever, energetic, alert, & acutely aware!
This, Bhikkhus, is called a Bhikkhu standing quite firm in the ancient, original
lineage of the Noble Ones... AN IV 28
Good are friends, when need arises.
Good is contentment with just what one has.
Good is merit done well, when life is at the end.
Good is the elimination of all Suffering!
Dhammapada 331
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
who has heard the Dhamma and clearly understands.
Harmlessness is happiness in all worlds!
Harmlessness towards all breathing beings.
Udana 10
Therefore be capable, upright, and straight,
easy to instruct, gentle, and not proud,
content and easy to support with little,
with few duties, living simple and light,
with peaceful abilities, mastering all,
modest, and with no greed for support.
Do not do even a minor thing that the
wise and noble would later criticize.
Sutta Nipata I, 8
Ill will is the wishing evil for others: 'May they meet much pain and perish!'
It is a derivative of hate usually provoked by possessive defensiveness... What to do if such malevolent grudge often recurs?
1: Develop Infinite Friendliness (Metta) by starting daily meditation.
2: Cultivate Endless Pity (Karuna) by regular daily meditation.
3: Increase Universal Equanimity (Upekkha) by daily meditation.
4: Stop all thinking on the disliked object. Attend to a liked object.
5: Know that everyone is then owner of the consequences of
their actions (Kamma) whether good or bad...
6: Remember the Simile of the Saw... The Blessed Buddha once said:
Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb,
with a two-handled saw, you should not be angry, but do my bidding:
Remain pervading them with a friendly Awareness imbued with an
all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, immeasurable & free
from hostility, free from all ill will. Always remembering this very
Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves... Majjhima Nikaya 21
7: All phenomena are only combinations of the Elements of:
Solidity, Fluidity, Heat, Motion, Space and Consciousness...
Then think like this:
"Which of these elements am I angry at and why so?"
Then the evil ill-will may momentarily vanish right on the spot!!!
Remember and repeat this good-will-cure whenever necessary...
Awareness of Mind just as transient Moods & Mentality!
The Blessed Buddha said regarding Contemplation of Mind:
How, Bhikkhus & Friends, does one reflect on Mind just as Moods?
One simply notices when the mind is greedy or not greedy, angry or not angry,
confused or assured, cramped or scattered, exalted or plain, surpassable or
unsurpassable, concentrated or distracted, and released or not yet released!
One lives thus while internally observing one's own mind, or externally the
mind of others, or the minds of both. One notices how any new mood arises,
and how it passes away. One is fully aware: Mind is now in this or that mood!
This is enough for mindful & clear comprehension of the actual mental state.
Caused by this mindful mental presence and acute ultra clear comprehension
of the flow of momentary mental states, one comes to live independent, free,
unattached, not clinging to any mood or anything in this world whatsoever....
Thus does one dwell and live immersed in contemplation of the mind as mood!
What is the Fuel on which any momentary state of Mind burns?
The proximate causes for the arising of any conscious mental state are:
Presence of 1: Ignorance, 2: Craving, 3: Kamma, and 4: Name-&-Form..
The proximate causes for ceasing of any mood and mentality are therefore:
Absence of the same: Ignorance, Craving, Kamma, and Name-&-Form..
The Buddha once explained how to enter the stream leading to Nibbana:
One can cut off the 5 lower fetters and enter the Stream to Nibbana by
resolving on this with unwavering determination: What is present here now,
what has come into being, all that I relinquish and leave behind here & now!
If it is neither 'Me' nor 'Mine' now, nor will it then ever be 'Me' or 'Mine'
in any future... All this accumulation is not-I, not what I am, not my self!
There is no reason to fear a peace, that is not frightening since:
All form is impermanent, painful, selfless, dependent and vanishing.
All feeling is transient, hurting, egoless, conditional and fading away.
All perception is passing, distress, not me, contingent and leaving instantly.
All construction is temporary, tender, not mine, reliant and always lost.
All consciousness is brief, misery, not-self, contingent and evaporating.
So nothing whatsoever is lost al all by leaving behind lust for form, feeling,
perception, construction and consciousness! When this desire, this craving
for these 5 elements, is all eliminated, then there remains neither object,
nor foundation, nor basis for the establishing of any consciousness...!
When that consciousness remains un-established, without any foot-hold,
without any object, disengaged, neither generating, nor proliferating, nor
propagating anything, then it is released, detached by non-construction,
non-display, non-projection, in a non-manifesting all stilled quietness...
Being thus liberated from its usual tasks, then consciousness stabilizes,
and settles. When consciousness becomes steady in this ease of peace,
it also becomes quite content... When content, then it is also unagitated!
Being thus fully imperturbable, one attains Nibbana right there and then,
and instantly understands: Birth is ended, this Noble Life is completed,
done is what should be done, there is no state beyond this ...!!!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
It is impossible, Bhikkhus and Friends, and cannot ever happen,
that one possessed of right understanding should ever regard
any phenomenon as really permanent ... or
any phenomenon as lasting happiness ... or
any state as an identical, same, and own self...
But it is quite possible, that the ordinary worldling may indeed
have, entertain and act upon such naive and distorted beliefs...!
1: Redirect attention to a different advantageous object:
Like when driving out a coarse peg from a piece of wood, using a fine peg,
one can substitute and thereby replace :
A: Desire for living forms with thinking on a disgusting rotting corpse...
B: Desire for inanimate things with thinking on their impermanence...
C: Aversion towards living beings with the mental release of friendliness... Aversion towards inanimate things with noting their composition...
E: Delusion, doubt, uncertainty & confusion with thorough investigation...
2: Consider the Danger in thoughts mixed with hate, greed & ignorance:
These thoughts of mine are disgusting, dangerous, bringing much misery
now & later, just like a young man or woman is disgusted & humiliated, if
somebody hang a rotting carcass of a snake, dog or human around their
neck, so should one regard disturbing distractions!
3: Stopping all flow of thought by Non-Attention and Non-Reflection:
Like a man not wishing to see close his eyes & turn away from the object.
4: Repeat reflection of the Root Cause of these Distractions:
Searching for the reason of these mental afflictions can cure them:
Like a running man wishing calm finding no reason to run, starts walking...
Then finding no reason to walk, he sits down, finding no reason to sit,
he lies down... Now cured!
5: Beating the evil mind down with the force of the good mind:
By clenching the lower teeth against the upper teeth, and pressing the
tongue up against the palate, like a strong man holds down a weak man by
the shoulders so should one beat down mind with mind. Then these evil, ill
& detrimental thoughts rooted in greed, hate, & ignorance are eliminated,
and they vanish. By their evaporation mind settles down, becomes focused,
concentrated and unified on the purely good thought!
Attention Deficit occurs, when following after Distracting Thoughts!
At Savatthi The Buddha once said:
All form is transient, all feeling is transient, all perception is transient,
all mental constructions are transient, all consciousness is transient...
This transience is suffering! What is suffering is no-self! What is no-self
should be seen as it really is with correct understanding in this very way:
'All this is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self!'...
When one sees and understands this thus, as it really is with correct and
penetrating understanding, then one maintains no views on what is past.
When one maintains no more views regarding the past, then one neither
maintains any views about the future. When one has relinquished all views
about the future, then one is not being possessed by stubborn clinging...
Having no trace of immovable clinging left, the mind becomes disillusioned
regarding all form, all feeling, all perception, all mental constructions, and
all consciousness. By that it is released from the 3 mental fermentations
through detached non-clinging... By being released, the mind is all silenced!
By being thus stilled, the mind becomes content... Being content, it is not
agitated anymore... Being thus unagitated, one indeed attains Nibbana!
Right there and then, one instantly understands: Ended is this process of
rebirth, this Noble Life has been lived, done is all what had to be done,
there is no state beyond this...
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, there are joys of the flesh, there are joys not of this world, &
there are rapturous joys far beyond even such subtle unworldly joys ...
There is happiness of the flesh, there is a happiness not of this world, &
there is exquisite bliss far beyond even such subtle unworldly happiness!
There is indifference of the flesh, there is Equanimity not of this world,
and there is a serenity far beyond even such subtle unworldly Equanimity!
There is satiety of the flesh, there is a mental release not of this world,
and there is a liberation far beyond even such subtle unworldly release ...
And what, bhikkhus, are then these simple joys of the flesh?
There are these five strings of sense-pleasure. What five?
Visible forms experiencable by the eye ...
Hearable sounds experiencable by the ear ...
Smellable odours experiencable by the nose ...
Tastable flavours experiencable by the tongue ...
Touchable objects experiencable by the body ...
All are attractive, captivating, desirable, irresistible, lovely, agreeable,
tempting, pleasing, sensually enticing, seductive, alluring, & tantalizing!
These are the 5 strings of sense-pleasure. Joy that arises from these
five strings of sense-pleasure: This is simply the Joy of the flesh ...
Blissful is being without passions in this world,
Blissful is the overcoming of all sense-desires! Udana II, 1
Kamma is Intention behind a mental, verbal or bodily action:
Kamma is intention to push and act and not the later resulting effects!
Buddha emphasized the core Law of Kamma: Moral Efficacy of any Action!
He said: Kamma should be known and understood:
The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known.
The diversity in kamma should be known.
The result of kamma should be known.
The ending of kamma should be known.
The way of practice for the ending of kamma should be known.
Thus it has been said. In reference to what was it said?
Intention, I tell you, is kamma.
Intending, one makes kamma by way of body, speech, and mind.
And what is the cause by which kamma comes into play?
Contact is the cause by which kamma comes into play.
And what is the diversity in kamma?
There is kamma to be experienced in hell,
kamma to be experienced in the realm of the various animals,
kamma to be experienced in the realm of the hungry ghosts,
kamma to be experienced in this human world,
kamma to be experienced in the world of the divine devas.
This is called the diversity in kamma.
By intending something one plants an egg of future hatching resultants!
And what is the result of kamma?
The result of kamma is of three sorts, I tell you:
that which arises right here and now, or later in this very lifetime,
and that which arises in later lives. This is called the result of kamma.
And what is the ending of kamma?
The ending of contact thereby also ends kamma.
And what is the way of practice for the ending of kamma?
Just this Noble eightfold path:
right view,
right motivation,
right speech,
right action,
right livelihood,
right effort,
right mindfulness,
right concentration
This is the way of praxis leading to the end of kamma.
Now when a disciple of the Noble Ones comprehends kamma in this way,
the cause, the diversity, the result, the end, and the way of practice
leading to the ending of kamma in this way, then he sees the fulfilment
of the Noble life as the end of kamma.
Kamma should be known.
The cause by which kamma comes into play...
The diversity in kamma...
The result of kamma...
The ending of kamma...
The way of practice for the ending of kamma should be known.
Thus it has been said, and in reference to this was it said.
Reference: AN VI.63
Intention has in future entangled physical effects outside the individual!
The Buddha to his son:
How do you consider this, Rahula: What is a mirror for?
Rahula: For reflection, Sir.
The Buddha: In the same way, Rahula, bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental
acts are to be done with constant reflection. Whenever you want to do a
bodily act, then you should reflect: This bodily act I want to do, would it
lead to misery to myself, to the misery of others, or to both?
Is it a detrimental bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?
If, on reflection, you come to know that it would lead to your own misery,
to the misery of others, or to both, and it would be an harming bodily act
with painful consequences, painful results, then any bodily act whatsoever
of that sort is absolutely unacceptable for you to do! But if on reflection
you know that it would not cause misery. That it would be an advantageous
bodily action with happy consequences, & pleasant results, then any bodily
act of that sort is proper for you to do.
Any intention produces a ladder into the future upon which one climbs!
While you are doing a bodily act, you should reflect: This bodily act I am
doing now does it lead to self-misery, to the misery of others, or to both?
Is it an detrimental bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?
If, on reflection, you come to know that it is leading to self-misery, or to
the misery of others, or to both, then you should instantly stop doing it!
But if on reflection you know that it is not disadvantageous to anybody,
then you may continue with it.
Having done a bodily act, you should again reflect .... If, on reflection,
you come to know that it led to self-misery, to the misery of others, or to
both; that it was an detrimental bodily act with painful consequences,
painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, and lay it open to the
teacher or to a knowledgeable friend in the holy life. Having confessed it,
you should exercise restraint and self-control in the future.
But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to misery, that it was a
advantageous bodily action with happy consequences, happy results, then
you should stay mentally elated and joyful, training day & night in all the
advantageous mental qualities.
...[similarly for verbal and mental acts]...
Intention is a choice, which reduces entropy, thus rolling out the future!
Rahula, all past bhikkhus and recluses who purified their bodily, verbal, &
mental acts, did it through repeated reflection on their bodily, verbal, and
mental acts in exactly this way. All the future bhikkhus and recluses & all
the bhikkhus and recluses who at present purify their bodily, verbal, and
mental acts, do it by repeated reflection on their bodily, verbal, & mental
acts in exactly this way. Therefore, Rahula, you should train yourself:
I will purify my bodily acts by repeated reflection.
I will purify my verbal acts by repeated reflection.
I will purify my mental acts by repeated reflection.
Thus should you train yourself!
reference MN 61
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus & friends: There is one contemplation, which when often practised
and developed leads to a complete turning away from this captivating world,
to detachment, to silencing, to ceasing, to Peace, to penetrating knowledge,
to Enlightenment, and thus to Nibbana...
Any Noble Disciple, who by progress have understood this Dhamma, dwells
frequently in this state. Which is that unique contemplation?
The Noble Disciple contemplates on the divine beings in this very way:
There are the divine beings on the plane of the Four Great Kings, there are
the divine beings of the World of the Thirty-three, there are a Yama World,
there are the Contented Devas, there are also those enjoying own creation!
There are those with power over others creations, those of the Brahma world,
and those still far above them... Now, such faith, morality, wisdom, generosity,
concentration and understanding, which these divine beings acted upon and
which made them re-appear on a divine plane after leaving this world, such
good qualities as these, are also found in me! When a Noble Disciple reflects
thus, his mind is neither obsessed by any greed, nor by any hate, nor by any
confusion! Uplifted and elated is his mind, and this makes the Noble Disciple
gain further deeper understanding of the Dhamma, & thus makes the Noble
Disciple delight in the Dhamma! Being delighted, there arises rapturous joy
in him. Being filled with rapture & joy, he is inwardly satisfied & he becomes
quite calm. Being calmed makes him enjoy bliss and happiness and the mind of
the Happy One becomes collected, condensed and concentrated...
Of this Noble Disciple, friends, it is said that among many misguided humans,
among suffering humankind, he lives freed from suffering! And as one who
has entered the stream to Nibbana, he cultivates further his contemplation.
When, friends, a Noble Disciple has reached the fruit of understanding the
Dhamma, he dwells often with a calm smile in this state! Source: AN 6:10
Sakka king of the 33 devas, hovering about with some of his many nymphs. A devata = goddess
Many devas can attain whatever form and colour at will. Some is made of light!
They do not like the smell of humans like we don't like the smell of eg. pigs…
There are 31 levels of existence (Human is level 5!). There thus numerous devas.
Really Deep Truths can sometimes be told by a Wise Junior:
A pious Sri Lankan Boy once stated it stout, steady & straight:
I am a Buddhist, not merely because my parents are Buddhists, but out of assured conviction!
After coming to an understanding of the truth of the Noble Triple Gem, I decided to be a Buddhist...
Whenever here a religious, private, social or national event starts, the blessings of the Triple Gem are
invoked. But what does taking refuge in the Triple Gem really mean? We must really understand this!
Taking refuge in the Buddha means seeking and understanding Nibbana (Nirvana). Man's freedom, or
the road, which leads to Nibbana, is closed from time to time. The Noble Person, who finds this closed
road and reveals it to the world is always the Buddha! The Dhamma, which we take refuge in, is the path
to Nibbana, preached by the Buddha. There are many eminent persons, who went along that path and
understood Nibbana. They also teach us to go along this correct path. Those eminent persons are called
the Maha Sangha. However, the Buddha is not an automatic rescuer. We cannot get the freedom we are
seeking by just praying to the Buddha. Most Buddhists offer flowers to the Buddha statues. They hold
religious festivals. But Buddhists do not do those things to satisfy the Buddha. They do it as a way to
Nibbana for all living beings. Many offer flowers and go to temples to prove that they are practicing
Buddhists. But if we observe the precepts & the religious teachings and gain a good understanding of
the Dhamma, it will help us to become good Buddhists and win a pleasurable and happy future. However,
we can seek & gain the truth of the Dhamma, only if we live according with it. Seeking the Dhamma is
seeking the Buddha. So, I observe Buddhism by taking refuge in the Noble Triple Gem…
Dulani Dananga Kiriella, Rajasinghe Central College School, Grade 10, Ruwanwella, Sri Lanka. Sadhu – Quite well spoken IMHO - …!!!
Image at the Kelaniya Temple close to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Blessed Buddha once said: Bhikkhus, there are these three feelings:
Which three?
1: Pleasant Feeling,
2: Painful Feeling,
3: Neither-Painful-nor-Pleasant Feeling.
The latent tendency to lust induced by pleasant feeling should be left...
The latent tendency to aversion induced by painful feeling should be left...
The latent tendency to ignorance induced by neither-painful-nor-pleasant
feeling should also be abandoned. When one has abandoned all the latent
tendency to lust rooted in pleasant feeling, all latent tendency to aversion
rooted in painful feeling, and all the latent tendency to ignorance rooted
in neither-painful-nor-pleasant neutral feeling, then he is indeed called a
Bhikkhu freed of latent tendencies, one who sees & understands rightly!
He has thus stilled all craving, thus cut off the mental chains, and by also
breaking completely through the conceit: "I am", he has ended Suffering...
When one experiences pleasure, if one does not understand feeling, then
the tendency to lust is present in anyone not seeing the escape from it.
When one experiences pain, if one does not understand feeling, then the
tendency to aversion is present in any one not seeing the escape from it. T
he One of Vast Wisdom has taught that even if one seeks delight in this
peace of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, then one is still not freed
from suffering! But a bhikkhu who is enthusiastic, who does not neglect
clear comprehension, such wise man fully understands feelings entirely.
Having fully understood feelings, he is in this very life freed of all mental
fermentation. Standing in this Dhamma, in this exquisite state, at body's
breakup, such a master cannot be reckoned, assessed or estimated...
Take-home: Pleasant feeling produces greed! Painful feeling produces hate!
Neither-painful-nor-pleasant neutral feeling causes neglect and will thus
generate ignorance...
Comments
How is the Faith leading to the Going Forth?
Having heard the Buddha speak, a householder or a householder's son or
one born in some other family, hears that Buddha-Dhamma. On hearing this
sublime Dhamma, he acquires faith in the Tathagata. Possessing that faith,
he considers thus: Household life is crowded, cramped, frustrating & dusty!
The Life gone forth is out in the wide open... It is not easy, while living in a
home, to live this Noble life utterly perfect and pure, as a polished shell...
Suppose I shave off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth
from the home life into homelessness. On a later occasion, leaving behind any
small or large fortune, leaving behind a small or a large circle of relatives,
he shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the ochre robe, & then goes forth
from the home life into the free and open homelessness...
So is the faith of those, who after countless lives finally have accumulated
and possesses the right and ripe conditions for attaining the advantageous
state of a Bhikkhu under a Buddha! This is indeed the quickest step towards
winning the Bliss of the deathless Nibbana!
For more Fabulously Fine Faith (Saddha) please see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Buddha_on_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Unwavering_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Power_of_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Highest_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Leaping_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fruitful_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Mutual_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Dual_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fine_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Rich_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Lay_Faith.htm
Source:
MN 27: Culahatthipadopama Sutta. Short Simile on Elephant Footprint
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.027.than.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Fabulously Fine is Faith!
Going Forth Faith!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/Going_Forth_Faith.htm
Neither Stealing nor Cheating, Taking only what is Given!
Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
What, householder friends, is the Dhamma explanation befitting to oneself?
Here, householder friends, a Noble Disciple reflects thus: If someone were to
take from me, what I have not given, that is, to commit theft, to steal, that would
neither be pleasing, nor agreeable to me.
If I were to take from whatever kind of another being, what he has not freely given,
that is also to commit theft, to steal, that would neither be pleasing, nor agreeable
to that other being either.... What is displeasing and disagreeable to me, is thus also
displeasing and disagreeable to any other being too! How can I inflict upon another
being, what is displeasing and disagreeable to myself? Having reflected repeatedly
thus, then gradually:
1: One will carefully avoid all taking, what is not freely given...
2: One will persuade others also to abstain from all stealing and theft...
3: One will praise only accepting, what is freely and righteously given...
In exactly this way is this good bodily behaviour purified in 3 respects!!!
Comments:
Cheating with valuables & scales, fraud, false insurance claims, swindling,
tax evasion, and any illegitimate misappropriation of values is theft...
DO NOT MAKE OTHERS SUFFER BY STEALING WHAT THEY CLING TO!
The one who destroys life;
The one who speaks false;
The one who takes what is not given;
The one who mates with the partner of another;
The one who is addicted to drinking and drugging;
Such one - even in this world - digs up his own root!!!
Dhammapada 246-47
The one who never takes, what is not freely given,
whether long or short, fine or foul, exquisite
or repulsive, such one is a pure one.
Dhammapada 409
More on Stealing and Consequences:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hungry_Ghost_Rebirth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Ways_to_the_Barbeque.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Threefold_Right_Action.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Inevitable_Consequences.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Optimal_Observance_II.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:354]
section 55: Sotapattisamyutta. Thread 7: To the people at the Bamboo gate...
Have a nice clean & honest day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Avoid all Stealing, Cheating & Fraud!
How to be a Real Buddhist through Observance?
Poya is the full-moon of Poson (June), which is specially noteworthy to the Sri Lankan
Buddhists as the day on which Emperor Asoka's son, the Arahat Mahinda, officially
introduced Buddhism to the island in the 3rd century B.C. Accordingly, in addition to
the normal ritualistic observances undertaken on a Poya day, on Poson day devotees
flock to Mihintale & Anuradhapura, the ancient holy capital city of the country, for
it was there that Arahat Mahinda converted the then ruler, King Devanampiya Tissa,
and his court to Buddhism, thereby setting in motion a series of events that finally
made Sri Lanka the stronghold home of Theravada Buddhism.
Arahat Mahinda arrives
and tests the king's intelligence.
Mihintale, Sri Lanka.
Mahinda Thera's cave there.
Essays about the significance of Poson Poya Days in Theravada Buddhism:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Poson_Poya_Day.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Poson_Poya_artikel1.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Poson_Poya_artikel2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Poson_Poya_artikel3.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Poson_Poya_artikel4.htm
On such Uposatha 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 and
head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms in front of the heart,
one recite 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 & 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!
This is the very start on the path towards Nibbana -the Deathless Element-
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Bliss, 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 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..." signed with name, date, town & country
to me or join here. A public list of this new Saddhamma-Sangha is here!
The New Noble Community of Disciples: The Saddhamma Sangha:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
Join Here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
For Details on Poya Uposatha Observance Days
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/uposatha.html
May your journey hereby be eased, light, swift and sweet. Never give up!
Mihintale, Sri Lanka, where the Arahat Mahinda, arrived in 3rd century B.C.
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Arahat Mahinda arrives at Mihintale!
Poson Poya:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Poson_Poya_Day.htm
How to Win the Social Game using Wisdom?
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Overcome the angry with friendliness;
Overcome the wicked with goodness;
Overcome the miser with generosity;
Overcome the liar with truth.
Dhammapada 223
And what is the treasure of generosity?
There is the case where a disciple of the Noble Ones,
having cleaned his mind of the stain of stinginess,
living at home, freely generous, and open-handed,
delighting in being magnanimous, enjoying any request,
delighting in the giving of alms to those needy & worthy...
This is called the treasure of generosity!
AN 7.6
There are these five future rewards of generosity:
One is admired and liked by an overwhelming majority of the people.
One is respected by the good, the intelligent and the wise persons.
One's good reputation is spread easily, rapidly and far about.
One fulfills the rightful duties of the householder, and
With the break-up of the body, one will reappear in a good destination,
in the heavenly and exquisitely divine worlds!
AN 5.35
On this Future Wealth Creating and Wisely Open-Handed Generosity (Dana):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/giving.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Pure_Merit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Glad_Giving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_3_Gifts.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Kathina_Ceremony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/caaga.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/daana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Openhanded_Generosity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Reviewing_Generosity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Generosity_Contemplation.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
How to Win the Social Game using Wisdom?
Winning Wisdom!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Winning_Wisdom.htm
How is Faith & Confidence Advantageous?
Faith is the first of the 5 Elements of Effort (padhaniyanga):
1: Faith, 2: Health, 3: Sincerity, 4: Energy, and 5: Understanding.
Faith is main factor of the 4 Streams of Merit (puñña-dhara):
1: Unshakable faith in the Buddha,
2: Unshakable faith in the Dhamma,
3: Unshakable faith in the Sangha,
4: Quite Perfected Morality.
Faith is the first of the 7 Treasures (dhana):
1: Faith,
2: Morality,
3: Shame,
4: Fear of Wrongdoing,
5: Learning,
6: Generosity,
7: Understanding.
Faith is seed, the entrance, the initiator, the ticket, the beginning.
Understanding is the highest, the goal, the diamond-cutter, the end!
Both are Floods of Advantage, Fabulous Fruits, Leading to Happiness!
Yeah! So it is Really and not otherwise!
For Fabulously Fine Faith (Saddha) please see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Buddha_on_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Going_Forth_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Unwavering_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Power_of_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Highest_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Leaping_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fruitful_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Mutual_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Dual_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fine_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Rich_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Lay_Faith.htm
Have a nice confident day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Freeing and Fruitful is Faith!
Release of Mind by All Embracing Kindness!
Thus have I heard the Blessed Buddha saying it:
Whatever, Bhikkhus and Friends, there are here of worldly merit making,
all these are not worth 1/16 of mental release by All-Embracing Kindness...
The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, emanates and shines,
far surpassing it all! Like the light of the stars is not 1/16th of the moonlight,
which radiates, beams and shines, surpassing all the stars, even & exactly so:
Whatever there are of simple worldly and meritorious things, all these are not
worth one 1/16th of the mental release reached by All-Embracing Kindness...
The release of mind by all-embracing kindness radiates, beams, sparkles and
shines, far surpassing it all... Just as in autumn, in the last month of the rainy
season, on a clear and cloudless day the sun rises and dispels all the darkness
bright and brilliant, even & quite exactly so: Whatever there are of worldly,
meritorious, admirable, and attractive things, all these even summed up are
not worth even one 1/16 of the release of mind by All-Embracing Kindness!
The release of mind, which liberates the heart, by All-Embracing Kindness,
radiates, dazzles and shines, far surpassing them all...
Gotama Buddha gives the teaching on Infinite All-Embracing Kindness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm PS: Note his radiance!
More on infinite Friendliness (Metta):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_BIG_Family.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Good_Friend.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm
All-Embracing, Universal and Infinite Kindness Dazzles and Shines!
Source Text: The Itivuttaka 27: Thus was it said:
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=404214
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.1.024-027.irel.html
Have a nice and noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Blazing and Bright is Release by Friendliness!
All-Embracing Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
Faith is the Seed, Hand, & Wealth of Beings!
The Blessed Buddha once asked: What is real Richness?
Bhikkhus, when a Noble Disciple possesses 4 things, then he is said to be rich,
with much wealth and prosperous property. What four?
Here, Bhikkhus, a Noble Disciple possesses the faith of confirmed confidence
in the Supreme Buddha ... in the Perfect Dhamma ... and in the Noble Sangha....
He possesses the moral purity that is praised by the Noble Ones, unbroken ...
unspotted ... untorn ... pure ... intact ... leading to absorbed concentration....
Any Noble Disciple, who possesses these 4 things is indeed really quite rich,
with much heavy wealth and a lush and vast property.... SN V 402
Buddha to the Ploughman:
Faith is my seed, simplicity the rain, Understanding my yoke and plough,
Modesty is pole, and mind is the strap, Awareness is my ploughshare & goad!
Sn 77
Suffering is the cause of Faith...
Elated Joy is the effect of Faith... Entrance is the function of Faith...
Trusting is the characteristic of Faith...
Decisiveness is the manifestation of Faith...
Faith is the Hand, that lifts one out of Suffering...
Faith is the Seed, that makes one grow much good Future...
Faith is the Real Wealth, since it produces the best Advantage...
Vism XIV 140
How does Faith save one from pain?
When one has faith in the Tathagata, Unshakable and quite well established,
And good behaviour built on morality, Liked by the Noble Ones and praised!
When one has confidence in the Sangha, And a view straight and clear!
Then they say, that one is not poor, That one's life is not wasted...
Therefore should any intelligent person, aware of the Buddha-Dhamma,
be devoted to the fine faith & moral purity, which gives confirmed conviction
in this safe saving Dhamma.
SN V 405
Alavaka once asked the Blessed Buddha:
What wealth here is best for any man? What well practiced brings happiness?
What is the sweetest of all the flavours? How lived, is this life best?
The Buddha:
Faith is the best wealth here for any human!
Dhamma well practiced brings happiness! Truth indeed is unsurpassable sweet!
A wise life lived in understanding is best...
Alavaka:
How does one cross the flood of ills? How is the ocean of existence crossed?
How is all suffering stilled? How is one purified?
The Buddha:
By Faith is the flood of evil crossed! By attention is this existence crossed!
By effort is all suffering stilled! By wisdom one is finally purified!
Sn 182-184
For fine further Faith (Saddha) please see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Going_Forth_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Unwavering_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Power_of_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Faith_Summary.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Highest_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fruitful_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Leaping_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Mutual_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Dual_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fine_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Rich_Faith.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Lay_Faith.htm
Have a nice, Noble and faithful day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Faith is the Seed, Hand, and Prime Mental Wealth...
Faith is the only Real Richness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Rich_Faith.htm
How is one well equipped with the 5 Abilities?
A certain, not very well known Bhikkhu once asked Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, it is said: One is well equipped with the 5 mental abilities!
In what way, Venerable Sir, is one well equipped with these five abilities?
The Blessed Buddha then pointed out:
When, Bhikkhu, a Bhikkhu thoroughly trains and fully develops:
The ability of Faith, which leads to stilling, which leads to enlightenment..
The ability of Energy, which leads to peace, which leads to awakening..
The ability of Awareness, which leads to harmony, which leads to safety..
The ability of Concentration, which leads to rest, which leads to ending..
The ability of Understanding, which leads to ease, which leads to bliss..
Then he becomes one, who is well equipped with the 5 mental abilities!
On these 5 Crucial Mental Abilities (indriya) see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Final_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Origin_of_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Finding_the_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Five_Abilities_Summary.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Fruits_of_the_Abilities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_the_Abilities.htm
Stretch the Range of Ur mental Abilities by Training them!
Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 203] 48 The Mental Abilities: 19 Equipped..
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Your Abilities Determines & Limits your Future!
Enjoying Nice Mental Gear!
Faith in the Three Jewels is the Entrance!
Worthy, honourable & perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha!
Consummated in knowledge and behaviour, totally transcended, expert in
all dimensions, knower of all worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those who
can be tamed, both teacher & guide of gods as well as of humans, blessed,
exalted, awakened and enlightened is the Buddha!
Perfectly formulated is this Buddha-Dhamma, visible right here and now,
immediately effective, timeless, inviting each & everyone to come and see
for themselves, inspect, examine and verify! Leading each and everyone
through progress towards perfection. Directly observable, experiencable
and realizable by each intelligence...
Perfectly training is the Noble Sangha community of Buddha's disciples.
Training the right way, the true way, the good way, and the direct way!
Therefore do these eight kinds of individuals, the 4 Noble pairs, deserve
both gifts, self-sacrifice, offerings, hospitality and reverential salutation
with joined palms, since this Noble Sangha community of Noble disciples,
is an unsurpassable and forever unsurpassed field of merit, in and for this
world, to support, worship, respect, protect, give to and gain from ...
Therefore:
Buddham saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami
Sangham saranam gacchami
I take refuge in the Buddha!
I take refuge in the Dhamma!
I take refuge in the Sangha!
Thereby Honouring:
The Torch-bearer of Mankind!
On How to become a real true Buddhist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_(Buddhism)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Refuges_and_Precepts.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Honouring the 3 Jewels is the Entrance!
The 3 Jewels: Tiratana!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Three_Jewels.htm
Evil Will Infuriate an Enraged Mind!
A Brahmin Priest once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause of being unable to remember something
that has been memorized over a long period & also that which has not?
Brahmin, when mind is obsessed by evil-will, enraged & dominated by evil-will,
and one does not understand any safe escape from this arisen ill of evil-will,
in that very moment, one neither sees nor understands, what is advantageous,
neither for oneself, nor for others, nor for both... On such enraged occasions,
even texts, that have been long memorized, cannot be recalled by mind.
Why is this neglect so? Imagine a bowl of water boiling and bubbling being
well heated over a blazing fire. If a man with good eye-sight were to inspect
the reflection of his own face in it, he would neither see nor recognize his
own face, as it really is! So too, brahmin, when mind is obsessed by evil-will,
maddened, beset & dominated by evil-will, on that occasion even those texts,
that have been long memorized do not recur to the mind, not to speak of
those texts, events and information, that have not been memorized at all…
Hate (Dosa) is one of the 3 Roots (Mula) of all Evil present in most beings!
Anger, irritation, opposition & stubbornness are diluted derivatives of Hate:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Slaying_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Break_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/No_Revenge.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Appeasing_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hot_Hostile_Hate.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Anger_and_Irritation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Ill_Will.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Elimination_of_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Release_of_Resentment.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Anger_and_Irritation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:121-2] section 46: The Links. 55: To Sangarava...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The Enraged Mind!
Careless Attention grows Mental Hindrances!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
When one attends carelessly and irrationally then:
Greed, Lust, and Sense-desire arise, increase, and expand...
Hate, Anger and Ill-will arise, increase, and expand...
Sloth, Lethargy and Laziness arise, increase and expand...
Agitation, Restlessness and Regret arise, increase and expand...
When one attends carelessly and irrationally then:
Doubt, confusion and uncertainty arise, increase and expand...
Furthermore the Awareness link to awakening does not arise!
The Investigation link to awakening does not arise!
The Energy link to awakening does not arise!
The Joy link to awakening does not arise!
The Tranquillity link to awakening does not arise!
The Concentration link to awakening does not arise!
The Equanimity link to awakening does not arise!
And if these qualities are present in mind, then they instantly cease, when
one attends carelessly, neglectful, absent-minded, sloppy and irrationally...
However if one attends carefully and rationally, the 5 mental hindrances
do not arise and if already arisen, then they gradually fade out and cease!
Secondly, any of the 7 mental links to awakening, that has not yet arisen,
arise and is gradually completed by mental development by this repeated
reflection and meditation...
More on Attention, rational and careful (yoniso manasikara):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Careful_Attention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/g_m/manasikaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Careful_and_Rational_Attention.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:84-5] section 46: The Links. 24: Careless Attention...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Careless Attention causes a Scattered Mind!
Careless Attention!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Careless_and_Irrational_Attention.htm
How does Sense-Desire Muddle the Mind?
A Brahmin Priest once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause of being unable to remember something
that has been memorized over a long period & also that which has not been?
Brahmin, when the mind is obsessed, beset, and dominated by sense-desire,
and one does not understand any safe escape from this arisen sense-desire,
in that moment, one neither sees nor understands, what is advantageous,
neither for oneself, nor for others, nor for both...
On such occasions, even texts, that have been long memorized, cannot be
recalled by mind. Why is this neglect so? Imagine a bucket of water mixed
with dyes or paints: Yellow, blue, and crimson red. If a man with good eyes
were to inspect the reflection of his own face in it, he would neither see nor
recognize his own face! So too, brahmin, when the mind is obsessed, beset,
and dominated by sense-desire, on that occasion those texts, that have been
long memorized does not recur to the mind, not to speak of those texts,
events and things, that have not been memorized at all…
More on the folly vanity of desire for simple Sense Pleasure (Hedonism):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Why_Not.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Craving_is_Pain.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.1-2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Charcoal_Pit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4c.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Colourful_but_Muddy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Craving_is_Catastrophic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Fire_of_Sense-Desire.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/What_is_Disadvantageous.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happiness_of_the_Flesh_and_Beyond.htm
Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights...
Blissful is being without passions in this world,
Blissful is the overcoming of all sense-desires!
Udana II, 1
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:121-2] section 46: The Links. 55: To Sangarava...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Sense pleasure cannot ever give lasting Happiness!
Is Hedonism Happiness?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Colourful_but_Muddy.htm
Self-Control means Guarding the 6 Senses!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus by possessing 3 qualities, one lives this life full of pleasure & joy!
Furthermore, one has thereby prepared for the elimination of the subtle
mental fermentations... What are these 3 advantageous qualities?
I: One guards the doors of the senses,
II: One is moderate in eating, and
III: One is devoted to wakefulness...
How, Bhikkhus, is a Bhikkhu devoted to wakefulness?
During daytime, while doing either walking or sitting meditation, a Bhikkhu
purifies his mind of detrimental states. In the 1st watch of the night, while
walking back & forth & sitting, he also purifies mind of obstructive states!
In the middle watch of the night, he lies down on the right side in the lion's
posture, with one foot lying upon the other, aware & clearly comprehending,
determining when to rise again. After rising, in the last watch of the night,
while walking back & forth and sitting, he cleans out any disadvantageous
mental states again. It is in this way, Bhikkhus, that a true Bhikkhu is fully
devoted to wakefulness! Bhikkhus, it is by possessing these three qualities,
that a Bhikkhu lives full of happiness and Joy in this very life, and that he
has prepared for the final destruction of the mental fermentations...
When have you last been Wide Awake before Sunrise?
The first 3 Basics of Self-Control:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Guarding_the_Senses.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Moderate_in_Eating.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Devoted_to_Wakefulness.htm
Sit up! Rise Up! Let not the King of Death find you sloppy!
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [176-7]
Section 35: The 6 Senses. Salayatana. The Horse-Wagon. Rato 239.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Get Moving! Train & Prepare! There is no free ride lunch!
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Only those who Train will Win Freedom & Happiness...
Devoted to Wakefulness!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Devoted_to_Wakefulness.htm
Only Absence of Contact is Peace!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, if one does not really understand both the cause, the ceasing,
the satisfaction, the danger, & the escape from the 6 sources of contact,
then one has not lived the Noble life, and is far away from comprehending
this Dhamma and from practicing this Discipline...
Then a certain Bhikkhu said to the Blessed One: Venerable Sir, I am lost,
for I do neither understand the cause, the ceasing, nor the satisfaction,
nor the danger, nor the escape from any of these 6 sources of contact!
The Buddha then asked him:
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Eye as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Ear as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Nose as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Tongue as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Body as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
What do you think, Bhikkhu, do you regard the Mind as:
This is mine, this I am, this is my self? No, Venerable Sir...
Very good, Bhikkhu! So should you continue to clearly comprehend the eye,
ear, nose, tongue, body, and the mind through correct understanding thus:
This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self!
In this way will the six sources or contact gradually be left behind, by not
creating any future renewed existence! This itself is the End of Suffering!
Comments:
The cause of the six senses is the arising of name-&-form, body-&-mind...
The six senses cease at the ceasing of name-&-form, and body-&-mind...
The satisfaction of the six senses is the pleasure & joy they generate...
The danger of the six senses is their inherent unstable impermanence...
The escape from the six senses is the elimination of craving: Nibbana!
More on this deepest self-deception: The conceit that "I Am!" (Asmi-mana):
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
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Clinging_to_the_notion_I_Am.htm
Source:
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [43]
Section 35: On The 6 Senses. The six sources or contact: 71-2.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Only Absence of all Sense Contact is Peace!
Sense Contact!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Ending_Pain_Itself.htm
Mahãmoggallãna on the Foul Body:
You ragged shed of a chain of bones, sewn together with flesh and sinews.
Fie upon you evil-smelling body worshipping those who have another's limbs.
You bag of shit, tied up with skin, you demon with lumps on your chest...
Nine holes is there in you body, ever streaming with disgusting things...
You body, with your nine oozing holes, makes an evil smell and is all brimful
of smelly mess. Any Bhikkhu desiring purity avoids this putrid form as one
avoids any stinking heap of rotten excrement...
If any person knew you body, as I know you, he would violently avoid you,
keeping far away, as one avoids a fetid toilet-pit in the rainy season...
This is so, Great Hero, as you say, Ascetic and here many sink down as an
old drowning bull in deep, wet, and fatal mud.. Feverishly desiring the foul!
See this painted puppet, a heap of sores, a constructed form, diseased,
decaying, falling apart, with many evil intentions, of no permanent stability,
or safety...
In whomever such Awareness of the body as a dangerous & disgusting trap
is not developed, not pursued, Mara gains entry, Mara gains a foothold...
These 'body-lovers' becomes Mara's - the Evil Ones' - friends and soldiers!
Not knowing, not seeing Suffering - the 1st Truth - they run about claiming:
Body is beautiful, form is happiness, there is neither sickness, decay, ageing
nor any death! When Mara contacts them, they say: Come on in Sir, touch me!,
it will be my honour and pleasure ... Because of this false & wrong view, such
feverish 'body-lovers' share a future painful destiny with Mara the Evil One!
Body (Kaya) understood only as being a Fragile Form:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Foul_Frame.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Bag_of_Bones.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Skeleton.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_32_Parts.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Body_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Corpse_Meditation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Body_Contemplation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Body_as_only_Form.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_9_Corpse_Meditations.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Immersing_the_Body_in_the_Mind.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Meditation_On_the_Body_Kayagata-Sati.htm
Awareness of the Body gives fearlessness of even death!
Meditation on the Body disables greed, lust, and lewd desire!
The 9 Corpse Meditations induces a bold, brave, and confident joy!
Source: Theragatha: verses 1150-1157
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The Body is a Bag of Bones; a Painted Puppet!
The Foul Frame...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Evil_smelling_body.htm
Feeling (Vedanã): Causes and Effects:
Definitions:
There is Pleasant Feelings = mental gladness and bodily pleasure.
There is Painful Feelings = mental sadness and bodily pain.
There is neither Pleasant nor Painful Feeling = Neutral indifference.
Dynamics:
Pleasant Feeling is agreeable when arising, yet disagreeable when ceasing!
Painful Feeling is disagreeable when arising, yet agreeable when ceasing!
Neutral Feeling is quite agreeable, when one is aware of its presence,
yet quite dull and disagreeable, when one is unaware of its presence!
Deleterious Side-Effects:
If Unaware, Pleasant Feeling will inevitably cause the arising of Desire...
If Aware, Pleasant Feeling will not cause the arising of this Desire!
If Unaware, Painful Feeling will inevitably cause the arising of Aversion...
If Aware, Painful Feeling will not cause the arising of this Aversion!
If Unaware, Neutral Feeling will inevitably cause the arising of Ignorance.
If Aware, Neutral Feeling will not cause arising of this Ignorance!
Near Causes:
The Cause of Feeling is Contact: Eye-contact, Ear-contact, Nose-contact,
Tongue-contact, Body-contact or Mental-contact. At the moment this
contact ceases, the associated feeling also instantly ceases...
Effects:
The Effect of the phenomena Feeling is -in the case- of Unawareness:
Craving towards the object = Attraction, when the feeling is pleasant.
Craving away from the object = Repulsion, when the feeling is painful.
Craving towards 'other' than object = neglect, when the feeling is neutral.
Characteristics:
Feeling is - as everything else - that is conditioned and constructed:
1: Transient, impermanent, passing, unkeepable, and unmaintainable!
2: Dissatisfying, disappointing, frustrating, painful, and miserable!
3: Impersonal, selfless, ownerless, and not-Me-nor-Mine-nor-Self!
Paradox:
There is this changing phenomena Feeling, yet there is no Feeler...
Buddha once said:
Everything, every mental state, converges on Feeling...
Comments:
We run after pleasant feeling and away from painful feeling, even without
knowing it or being aware of it! Feeling is thus the property our autopilot
mind is controlled by. Unaware of that we become blind slaves of feeling!
Such robot-maniac run after the objects, which when contacted gives rise
to pleasant feeling such as: Porn, drugs, booze, sex, entertainment, food!
Pleasant feeling is thus the proximate cause of any destructive addiction!
More on Feeling (Vedana):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Three_Basic_Kinds_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_8_Aspects_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Bodily_and_Mental_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Detached_from_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Dependent_on_Contact.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Focusing_on_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_108_Feelings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Emotional_Storm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Latent_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Five_Feelings.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Everything Converges on Feeling!
Prior or later good kamma dilutes evil kamma performed now!
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
Regarding the effects of actions, Ananda, as to the person here who kills
living beings, who takes what is not given, who misconducts himself in sex,
who speaks false, divisively, who speaks aggressively, who speaks gossip,
who is envious & jealous, who is of ill will, and who holds wrong views, yet
who at the breakup of the body, right after death, reappears in a happy
destination, maybe in the divine dimensions: Either earlier - prior to this -
such one also did some good actions resulting in existence felt as pleasure,
or later after this, such one did quite good actions to be felt as pleasure,
or at the death-moment such one entered and maintained right views!
Caused by that such one is reborn in a happy destination, even in heaven!
But since such one, here & now in the present, has also killed living beings,
taken what is not given, misconducted himself in sensual pleasures, spoken
false, spoken divisively, spoken aggressively, & spoken idle & empty gossip,
and since such one has been envious and jealous, been of ill will, and held
wrong views, such one will experience the result of that either here and
now, or in the next rebirth, or in some subsequent even later existence...
Behaviour (kamma=action) is almost always mixed: Some good, some bad!
The later effects are therefore similarly mixed: Sometimes pleasure, and
sometimes pain... Good begets good and dilutes and delays evil, while Evil
begets evil and dilutes and delays the effects of prior good behaviour!
For details on the Mechanics of Kamma = Intentional Action see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_is_intention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Buddha_on_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_Action_(kamma)_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
Source:
The Moderate speeches of the Buddha: The great speech on Action. MN 136
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=25072X Full Text:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn136.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Kamma is just Cause and Effect of Action!
Your Kamma Leaks into the Future!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_dilutes_Evil_Kamma.htm
Morality is the Cause of No Regrets and thus Gladness!
What are the Advantages of Morality?
The Gladness of No Regrets and No Remorse!
Wealth well acquired by righteous diligence!
The Fine Fame of a Good Reputation!
The Purity of a Clean Conscience...
Assured and Natural Self-Confidence in any assembly!
Neither confusion, nor any panic at the moment of death!
A Happy and occasionally even Divine Destiny after death!
What are the Similes of Morality?
Morality is like a good foothold!
Morality is like a purifying bath!
Morality is like a solid cement foundation!
Morality is like a key to success! Morality is like a cool breeze!
Morality is like a hidden fortune!
Morality is like a scent drifting even against the wind!
Morality is like a staircase to heaven!
Morality is like an aura of fine radiance!
Morality is like an innocent and rapturous joy!
Morality is like a much respected fame!
Source: The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga.
Written by 'the great explainer' Ven. Buddhaghosa in 5th century AC.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=771100
More on this Basic First Cause of all Good: Morality (Sila)!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Sila_1_to_5.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happy_Habbit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Virtue.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Best_Protection.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Five_Basics.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Best_Buddhist_Praxis.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sila_Contemplation.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Pure Morality is a Happy Habit!
How do the 5 Mental Hindrances become 10?
The Blessed Buddha once explained:
How, Bhikkhus, do the five mental hindrances multiply into ten?
Own internal sense-desire is a hindrance. Other's external sense-desire
is also a hindrance. Sense-desire is thus twofold: Internal and external!
Own internal ill-will is a hindrance. Other's ill-will is a hindrances too...
Lethargy is a mental hindrance. Any laziness is also a mental hindrance.
Lethargy-and-laziness is therefore a dual mental hindrance.
Restlessness is a mental hindrance. Regret & worry is also a hindrance.
Therefore can restlessness-and-regret be explained as two hindrances.
Any doubt and uncertainty about any internal condition, is a hindrance.
Any doubt & uncertainty about an external condition, is a hindrance too.
Thus does doubt-and-uncertainty become like a matched mirror pair...
More on these 5 Mental Hindrances (Nivaranas):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_5_Mental_Hindrances.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Feeding_the_Hindrances.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Starving_the_Hindrances.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Canal.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Naturally_Radiant.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Suitable_Substitution.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4c.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Fire_of_Sense-Desire.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Colourful_but_Muddy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Anger_and_Irritation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Lethargy_and_Laziness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Restlessness_and_Regret.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Doubt_and_Uncertainty.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V:110] section 46: The Links. 52: The Explanation...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The 5 mental Hindrances!
Anger, Irritation and Aversion are diluted Hate:
How to cure these painful derivatives of Hate:
1: Review the Danger in Hate like this:
This Anger can bring me to a bad destination, downfall, pain, even to hell!
2: Know the outlet is Patience, Tolerance and Forbearance:
The Blessed Buddha once said: The greatest praxis is patience...
3: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite Friendliness:
Sit down a silent & empty place with closed eye and beam from your heart:
May I be successful, happy, calmed & freed from all hostility and anger!
May my friends be successful, happy, calmed & freed from all hostility!
May my enemies be successful, happy, calmed & freed from all hostility!
May all in this village be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this town be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this city be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this country be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this earth be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this galaxy be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
May all in this universe be successful, happy, calmed & freed from hostility!
so gradually expanding beyond the limitations of space & into infinitude!
4: Note the elation & Joy of mind so trained by infinite goodness as object!
Whenever aversion, anger or irritation reappears, then immediately redirect
mind to this remembered sign of the mind released into infinite good-will.
Please indeed note that the anger instantly evaporates and an ability to
smile of ones own foolish temper can begin to shine outward again. :-)
5: Training of Infinite Friendliness can induce the first jhana absorption,
and thus can lead to a high rebirth as a divinely fine material brahma deva.
6: Keep on doing that 15-45 min every day. Note difference during the day!
May all beings be free from suffering, pain and frustration and be happy.
May all beings be free from anger, irritation, opposition & stubbornness!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Let no one deceive another,
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer...
Khuddakapatha 9
Slay anger and you will be happy,
Slay anger and you will not sorrow.
For the slaying of anger in all its forms
with its poisoned root and sweet sting,
that is the only slaying the Nobles praise;
With anger slain one sorrows no more!
Samyutta Nikaya I, 161
Not by anger is Hate ever quenched.
Only by Kindness is Hate always quenched.
This Ancient Law is an Eternal Truth ...
Dhammapada 5
See also: Anger is a diluted derivative of hate = Dosa:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Elimination_of_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Ill_Will.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Anger_and_Irritation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Subduing_Irritation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Appeasing_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Boiling_but_burnt.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/No_Revenge.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Break_Anger.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Slaying_Anger.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Curing inner Hate is a Crucial Salvage!
Appeasing Anger...
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Anger_and_Irritation.htm
Cruelty, Mercilessness & Revengefulness are diluted Hate:
How to cure these evil derivatives of Cruelty:
1: Review the Danger in Cruelty like this:
This can bring me to a bad destination, the downfall, to pain, even to hell!
This is a path of thorns, an evil way, a dark state, conflict, violence, pain!
2: How does a friend dwell pervading all with his heart endued with pity?
Just as he would feel pity on seeing an unlucky, unfortunate person, so he
pervades all beings with infinite pity. Therefore first of all he imagines a
poor man, unlucky, unfortunate, in every way a fit object for pity, ugly,
reduced to utter misery, with hands and feet cut off, sitting in the shelter
for the helpless, with an empty pot in front of him, with maggots oozing
from sores on hands and legs, moaning, infinite pity should be felt for him
in this way: 'This being has been reduced to utter misery! If he just could
be freed from this misery...' Then later one can arouse the same pity and
compassion for a neutral person and later for even a wrong-doing person!
This is the complete mastery of pity: Compassion even with the Evil One!
3: All wrong doing is caused by blindness: A real pity for the wrong-doers!
All wrong-doers will thus suffer immensely in the future. How sad for them!
4: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite pity:
Sit down a silent, empty place with closed eyes & beam this from the heart:
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating awareness of pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating examination of pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating energetic pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating joyous infinite pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating stilled infinite pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating concentrated pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating imperturbable pity.
Beaming first out in front, then right, left, down below and also up above:
May all beings live happily and free from suffering, pain and frustration.
May all beings be free from hate, cruelty, mercilessness & revengefulness!
One who is virtuous and wise
Shines like a blazing fire;
Like a bee collecting nectar
He acquires wealth by harming none!
Digha Nikaya III, 188
May all breathing creatures, all living things,
All beings, every one without exception,
Experience good fortune only!
May they not fall into harm.
Anguttara Nikaya II, 72
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees.
Non-violence is happiness in the world
Harmlessness towards all living beings.
Udana 10
JOY
Oh let us live happily! Freed from all cruelty!
Living even among those, who always flames by hate!
Among those dominated by anger, let us live free from anger!
Dhammapada 197
Regarding Pity and Compassion (Karuna) see also:
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/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/harris/bl141.html
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://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an05-161.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an06-013.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Mercy, Pity & Compassion Soften the Mind!
Cure your Cruelty!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness.htm
Infinite Loving-Kindness is an Exalted State!
The Blessed Buddha once explained Loving-Kindness like this:
This is what is to be done by one who is clever in arousing the advantageous:
Having attained the peaceful state. He should be capable, straight, and very
upright, easy to speak to, gentle and not proud, contented & easy to support,
with few duties, living simple, with senses calmed, devoted, & neither angry
nor greedy. He should not do any mean thing, which wise men would criticize.
Always should he wish: Let all beings be happy, joyous, glad, safe and secure.
Whatever living creatures there exists still or moving, small or large, seen or
unseen, far or near, already existing or coming into being, let all living beings
without any even single exception be solely fully happy!
One should never despise anyone anywhere, nor humiliate anyone anywhere,
nor ever wish for any beings misery or harm, because of anger or irritation.
Just as a mother would protect her only little son even risking her own life,
exactly so should one cultivate an unbounded mentality towards all beings,
loving-kindness towards all in this universe. One should cultivate an infinite
mind, above, below and across, without barriers, without enmity, matchless.
Whether standing, going, sitting, or lying down, even when slumbering should
one practise this exalted infinite goodwill. This is said to be a Holy state!
Sn 143-151
The Buddha teaching about Infinite Friendliness = Metta
On this exalted Infinite Friendliness (Metta) see also:
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/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/United_in_Harmony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Goodwill_Encore.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Good_Friend.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
Have a nice good-willed day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Exalted bliss is Infinite Loving-Kindness!
Envy and Jealousy is a mix of Greed and Hate!
How to cure these agonizing mental states of Envy & Jealousy:
1: Review the Danger in Envy and Jealousy like this:
This Acid is eating up my mind from within! All joy & happiness is destroyed!
2: Know that Envy arises because one wants something that others have!
The aversion towards these persons arise due to greed for a desired object.
Wanting=greed is craving towards an object, while aversion=hate is craving
away from an object. All forms of Craving causes Suffering! Know that Envy
and Jealousy is the proximate cause of Discontent!
3: Envy is cured by rejoicing in others success= Mutual Joy! (Mudita) like:
How good that this being, having done good in the past, now earns the well
deserved fruit!!! Thus one substitutes an disadvantageous mental state with
an advantageous mental state. Know that this subtle Mutual Joy! (Mudita) is
the proximate cause of Contentment! Contentment is the highest Treasure...
4: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite Mutual Joy:
Sit down a silent & empty place with closed eye and beam from the heart:
May I be successful, rich, beautiful, famous, intelligent, popular & praised!
May my friends be successful, rich, beautiful, famous, intelligent, & praised!
May my enemies be successful, rich, beautiful, famous, intelligent, & praised!
May all in this village be successful, beautiful, famous, intelligent, & praised!
May all in this country be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, & praised!
May all in this earth be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, and praised!
May all in this galaxy be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, and praised!
May all in the universe be successful, rich, beautiful, intelligent, and praised!
Beaming this tender sympathy out from the heart first out in front, the right,
left, back, above as below, so gradually expanding beyond the limitations of
space and into the infinitude! When a cause is infinite, so will be the effect!
5: Keep on doing that 15-45 min every day. Note the difference in day joy!
May all beings rejoice in Mutual Joy celebrating all beings success & progress!
One should not despise any giving.
One should neither envy others.
One who envy others cannot attain absorption
and will never enter any concentrated trance.
Dhammapada 365
Neither nice speech, nor serene behaviour
Makes one accomplished, if one is still
Possessed of envy, miserliness or deceit.
Dhammapada 262
Absorbed in distractions,
Not paying appropriate attention,
Giving up the goal, following after the pleasant,
One comes to envy those, who enjoy right effort!
Dhammapada 209
How to cure envy and jealousy by substitution with the opposite see:
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/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm
Have a nice rejoicing & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Envy and Jealousy is a Mix of Greed and Hate!
Envy and Jealousy!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Envy_and_Jealousy.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 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!
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
How to cure Confusing Uncertainty and Skeptical Doubt?
What if doubt leading to confusion and indecisiveness, keeps coming back?
Undertaking these 5 simple actions gains assured certainty over time:
1: The praxis of living under a Teacher...
2: The effort of learning the True Dhamma...
3: The work of examining the meaning of the Dhamma...
4: The habit of listening to/reading the Dhamma repeatedly...
5: The quality of inquiring into the Cause & Non-Cause of all phenomena...
Through these 5 behaviours is both ignorance, skeptical doubt, uncertainty,
and bewildered confusion gradually eradicated by the invested effort!
See also:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Barren_Stagnation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Doubt_and_Uncertainty.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Curing_Doubt_and_Uncertainty.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Certainty dispels doubt & indecisiveness!
Doubt and Uncertainty!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Overcome_Doubt.htm
Imperturbable Calm!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Knowing that the other person is angry,
The one who remains aware and calm
acts in and for his own best interest,
and for the other's interest, too!
Samyutta Nikaya I, 162
Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware,
the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:
One who is such, calmed and ever mindful,
He has no sorrows!
Udana IV, 7
Calm is his mind.
Calm is his speech.
Calm is his action.
So is the tranquillity;
So is the equanimity;
of one freed by the insight
of right understanding...
Dhammapada 96
More on this sweetly silenced Tranquillity (Passaddhi):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Forest_Bliss.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Tranquillity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Tranquillity_Passaddhi.htm
Have a nice calm Sunday!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Sweet Serene Calm!
What are the 3 kinds of Buddhist Gifts?
Three kinds of gift are mentioned in Buddhism, namely:
1: Amisa dana: The gift of material things,
2: Abhaya dana: The fearless gift of life,
3: Dhamma dana: The gift of real Truth...
Amisa dana: – or the gift of material things is practised by people
of all religions and is very common. Food, clothes and houses are
given to people of little means or to refugees through various
religious and social organizations. It is, no doubt, a good thing to
satisfy the hunger of the starved & the yearning of the thirsty.
This type of donations is highly recommended in Buddhism and
is called the Amisa dana. (The donations of material things).
Next comes the Abhaya dana: - or giving life to those who are in
danger of life caused by fire, water or enemies. Sometimes we
hear of people, who are about to die due to lack of blood.
To donate blood and save another humans life is indeed a great
thing. Donation of eyes and kidneys is also highly appreciated
and they come under Abhaya dana – fearless donation of life.
The last one: Dhamma dana: - or the gift of Truth of the Doctrine
is said to be the highest of all donations on earth. Why so?
Because it opens the Door to the Deathless Dimension!
This no other giving is even remotely capable of...
Openhanded Giving is the 1st Mental Perfection...
Sabba danam Dhamma danam jinati
Sabbam rasam Dhamma raso jinati
Sabbam ratim Dhamma rati jinati
Tanhakkayo sabba dukkham jinati
The gift of Dhamma excels all other Gifts.
The flavour of Dhamma excels all other flavours.
The pleasure in Dhamma excels all other pleasures.
He who has destroyed craving overcomes all sorrow!
Dhammapada 354
Most Gods actually became Divine Beings as a result of Giving!
More on Generosity (Dana) = The 1st mental perfection:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Glad_Giving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_3_Gifts.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Kathina_Ceremony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/caaga.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/daana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Openhanded_Generosity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Generosity_Contemplation.htm
Sumedha - the young millionaire - gives away all his property!
Source:
Ven. Weragoda Sarada Maha Thero http://www.buddhist-book.com Singapore
Have a nice generous day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
The 3 Golden Gifts!
Joys neither of this world, nor even Beyond!!!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
And what, Bhikkhus, is the Joy not of this world? Aloof and above any lust,
quite secluded from any sense desire, protected from any disadvantageous
mental state, one enters & dwells in the 1st jhana mental absorption; full of
joy & pleasure born of solitude, joined with directed & sustained thought...
With the stilling of directed & sustained thought, one later enters & dwells
in the 2nd jhana of calmed assurance & unification of mind devoid of any
thought & thinking, joined with joy & pleasure now born of concentration!
These are called the joys not of this world!
And what, Bhikkhus, is the joy beyond that joy, which is not of this world?
When a bhikkhu, whose mental fermentations are eliminated, reviews his
mind liberated from lust, freed from hatred, and released from confusion,
there arises a transcendental joy. This is called Joy quite beyond that joy,
that is not of this world...
More on quite rapturous Joy (piti) here hihihi ;-):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Joy_Piti.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Rejoicing_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Alert_Elevated_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Super-Human_Delight.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Super-Human_Delight.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_Beyond_This_World.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happiness_of_the_Flesh_and_Beyond.htm
Regarding Joys of this World: Balance - Sara Tavares seems infectious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C9mWN8vKHQ
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [235-7]
section 36:11 On Feeling: Vedana. Joys beyond this world ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Joys beyond this World!
Have a nice, noble, and joyous day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
There is a Supra-Human kind of Delight!
Joys beyond this World!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_Beyond_This_World.htm
How to be a Real True Buddhist through Observance?
This Esala Poya day is the full-moon of July, which is noteworthy since on this celebrated day:
1: The Blessed Buddha preached his First Sermon: The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.
2: The Bodhisatta was conceived in Queen Maya who dreamt a white elephant entered her side.
3: The Blessed Buddha made the Great Withdrawal from the world at the age of 29 years.
4: The Blessed Buddha performed the Twin Miracle (yamaka-patihariya) of dual appearance.
5: The Blessed Buddha explained the Abhi-Dhamma in the Tavatimsa heaven to his mother.
6: The ordination of Prince Arittha at Anuradhapura, under Arahat Mahinda on Sri Lanka.
7: The foundation of the celebrated Mahastupa & enshrinement of relics by King Dutugemunu.
8: The next day the yearly 3 months rains retreat (vassa) of Buddhist Bhikkhus start.
The Buddha performing the Twin Miracle of simultaneously producing water & flames from his body.
On such Uposatha 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 and
head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms in front of the heart,
one recite 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 request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time.
I request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd …
I request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time.
I will respect these Three Jewels 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!
This is the very start on the path towards Nibbana -the Deathless Element-
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Bliss, 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 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..." signed with name, date, town & country
to me or join here. A public list of this new Saddhamma-Sangha is here!
The New Noble Community of 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 eased, 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
Friendship is the Greatest
Bhikkhu Samahita Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Today Esala Full-Moon Poya day!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Esala_Poya_Day.htm
Happy and Holy is Absolute Harmlessness!
The Blessed Buddha once explained Harmlessness like this:
May all creatures, many all breathing things,
all beings every 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 an infinite heart and mind:
Beaming above, below, and all around,
unobstructed, without trace of hostility.
Sutta Nipata I, 8
Train yourself in doing only the good.
That lasts and brings great happiness!
Cultivate generosity, a peaceful living,
and a mentality of infinite friendliness.
Ittivuttuka 16
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Who has heard the Dhamma & clearly understands.
Non-violence is happiness in this world:
Harmlessness towards all living beings!
Udana 10
On this holy and happy Harmlessness (Ahimsa = Non-violence):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Never_Kill.htm
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/Happy_Harmlessness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/May_all_be_Happy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/avihimsaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Selfless_and_Harmless.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Blessing_all_Beings_by_Bliss.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Harmlessness_and_Tolerance.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Happy, Harmless, and Holy...
The One and Only Way to Purification of Beings!
Just after enlightenment the Blessed Buddha stayed under a great Banyan
tree at Uruvela on the bank of the river Neranjara. There he reflected:
There is this single, one and only direct way for the purification of beings,
for the relief from all sorrow and grief, for the fading away of all pain and
frustration, for achieving the right method, for the realization of Nibbana,
that is, these Four Foundations of Awareness! What four? When a Bhikkhu
lives & dwells, aware & clearly comprehending, while always contemplating &
reflecting upon:
1: The Body merely as a disgusting and fragile accumulation..
2: The Feelings just as instantly passing conditioned reactions..
3: The Mind only as a set of recurring, banal and habituated moods..
4: Phenomena only as mentally manifested, fake & artificial appearances..
The 4 Great Frames of Reference!
He thereby removes any lust, urge, envy & frustration rooted in this world..
This is verily the one and only direct way for the purification of all beings,
for the relief from all sorrow and grief, for the fading away of all pain and
frustration, for achieving the right method, for the realization of Nibbana,
that is, these Four Foundations of Awareness... Then the Brahma Samapatti,
knowing this, instantly appeared before the Blessed One & having arranged
his upper robe over one shoulder, he raised his joined palms towards the
Blessed One, and said to him: So is it! Blessed One. So be it! Well-Gone One.
Venerable sir, this is the one & only direct way for purification of beings...
The Great Seer of the Silencing of all Becoming,
Compassionate, understands this unique One Way:
By which they all in the past crossed the flood,
By which they all cross now in the present, and
By which they all will cross over in any future...
Comment: The 'Flood' (Ogha) here means:
The Flood of sense-desire (kama-ogha)
The Flood of wanting to (re-)become (bhava-ogha)
The Flood of wrong views (dittha-ogha)
The Flood of ignorance (avijja-ogha)
These floods overwhelm and destroy all beings in Samsara!
Ever again and again!
Details on the 4 Foundations of Awareness (Sati):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Sati_Studies.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Causes_of_sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Sati_Summary.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sati_in_Solitude.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Clear_Comprehension.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Noble_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_and_only_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Analysis.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sati_a_la_Anuruddha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Careful_and_Rational_Attention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Clear_and_Aware_Comprehension.htm
Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya.
Book [V: 167-8] 47 The Foundations of Awareness: 18 Brahma...
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Present Awareness is the Crucial First Step!
The One and Only Way!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/One_and_only_Way.htm
The Happiness of Bliss is the Goal of all Life!
The Buddha on the Beauty of Bliss:
Blissful is solitude for one who is content, learned & who sees the Dhamma.
Blissful is harmlessness towards all beings without any exception.
Blissful is freedom from any sensual urge whatsoever.
Yet, the supreme bliss, is the elimination of this abysmal conceit “I am”!
Udana – Inspiration: II – 1
Mind initiates and precedes all Phenomena...
Mind is their chief! They are all mind-made!
Therefore:
If a person thinks, speaks or acts with a pure mind:
Happiness then follows him like the cart-wheel that
follows the foot of the ox...
Dhammapada 2
Oh let us live happily! Possessing nothing at all!
Let us feed on joy, just like the shining Devas!
Dhammapada 200
Nibbanam paranam sukham...
Nibbana is the Highest Bliss!
Dhammapada 203/204
On this precious happiness, pleasure, bliss (Sukha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Happy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Samana-Sukha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Untroubled_Yeah.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sukha.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Beautiful is Bliss!
Ceasing of Kamma comes only by Exhaustion of Effect!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
I tell you, Bhikkhus and Friends, that it is absolutely impossible, that willed,
intended, performed, & accumulated actions (kamma) will cease to be effective
as long as one has not yet experienced their results, be it in this life,
or in the next life, or in even further future lives!
And it is equally impossible, that without having experienced these results of
one's accumulated, intended, & performed past actions, that one will be able
to put an end to Suffering. May this hereby be well known!
Kamma is an accumulated interference with a universal wavefunction
determining the probability of all the various possible future events!
Kammic moral efficacy of action is thus not a metaphysical postulate,
but a experimentally verified -yet subtle- quantum-mechanical fact!
For details on the mechanics of Kamma = Action see:
http://www.mahindarama.com/e-library/whatkammais.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kamma_is_intention.htm
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/Effect_of_Action_(kamma)_is_Delayed.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/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/Kamma_leading_to_Stupidity_or_Intelligence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Good_Action_enhances_other_Good_Kamma.htm
Disadvantageous Action (Kamma) has painful effects!
Source:
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya AN 10:208
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/Index.Numerical.htm
Advantageous is respecting bhikkhus, parents, elders & teachers.
Have a nice good kamma day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Impossible!
Equanimity gives delicate Peace & Happiness!
Equanimity (Upekkha) entails a composed equipoise of solid mental balance!
It is Tatra-majjhattata = keeping to the moderate middle of all phenomena.
Equanimity balances consciousness so it prevents both all excessiveness and
any deficiency. In equanimity mind is neither attracted by attractive things,
nor repelled by repulsive things. The cause of equanimity is seeing the law of
kamma: All beings are born and created by their kamma, they are owners of
their kamma, inherit their kamma, whatever they do, whether good or bad,
the effects of that will be theirs only, following them like a shadow of past!
The effect of Equanimity is threefold:
Exquisite, relaxed & subtle peace felt as calm happiness is instantly gained.
Equanimity purifies and completes all the 7 crucial Links to Awakening...
Equanimity is the proximate cause of knowledge and vision (ñanadassana)!
On the solidified & imperturbable mental balance of Equanimity (Upekkha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/tatra_majjhattataa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Serene_Equanimity_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Imperturbable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unshakable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/u_v/upekkhaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Empty_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Serene_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/High_and_Alert.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Even_is_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Exquisite is Equanimity!
Contentment is the most supreme Treasure!
The Blessed Buddha often noted contentment as the highest treasure:
There is the case where a Bhikkhu is quite content with whatever old robe,
quite content with whatever old almsfood, quite content with whatever hut,
and quite content with whatever bitter medicine for curing sickness.
This Dhamma is for one who is content, not for one who is discontent!
Thus was it said. And with reference to exactly this salient contentment
with whatever little one has, was this simple, serene modesty well spoken...
AN VIII 30
Contentment with whatever little one has!
And how is a Bhikkhu content?
Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden,
even so is he content with a single set of robes to protect his body and
begged almsfood to pacify his hunger. Wherever he goes, he takes only
these few simple necessities as robes, belt, bowl and razor along with him.
This is how a Bhikkhu is content...
DN 2
There is the case where a Bhikkhu is content with whatever old robe at all,
with whatever old almsfood at all, with whatever old hut at all. He speaks in
praise of being content with any old requisite at all. He does not, for the sake
of any requisite, do anything unsuitable or inappropriate. When not getting any
requisites, he is not troubled. When getting requisites, he just uses it without
being attached to it. He is not obsessed, blameless, and seeing the drawbacks
and dangers of possessions, he realizes the escape from them. He does not,
on account of his contentment with any old requisite at all, exalt himself or
disparage others. Thus is he modest, clever, energetic, alert, & acutely aware!
This, Bhikkhus, is called a Bhikkhu standing quite firm in the ancient, original
lineage of the Noble Ones... AN IV 28
Good are friends, when need arises.
Good is contentment with just what one has.
Good is merit done well, when life is at the end.
Good is the elimination of all Suffering!
Dhammapada 331
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
who has heard the Dhamma and clearly understands.
Harmlessness is happiness in all worlds!
Harmlessness towards all breathing beings.
Udana 10
Therefore be capable, upright, and straight,
easy to instruct, gentle, and not proud,
content and easy to support with little,
with few duties, living simple and light,
with peaceful abilities, mastering all,
modest, and with no greed for support.
Do not do even a minor thing that the
wise and noble would later criticize.
Sutta Nipata I, 8
More on Contentment (santutthi), which is caused by rejoicing mutual joy:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_and_Content.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Cause_of_Contentment.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/ariya_vamsa.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Contentment Causes Calm Cool Comfort!
How to prevent, tranquilize, and cure Enmity?
Ill will is the wishing evil for others: 'May they meet much pain and perish!'
It is a derivative of hate usually provoked by possessive defensiveness...
What to do if such malevolent grudge often recurs?
1: Develop Infinite Friendliness (Metta) by starting daily meditation.
2: Cultivate Endless Pity (Karuna) by regular daily meditation.
3: Increase Universal Equanimity (Upekkha) by daily meditation.
4: Stop all thinking on the disliked object. Attend to a liked object.
5: Know that everyone is then owner of the consequences of
their actions (Kamma) whether good or bad...
6: Remember the Simile of the Saw... The Blessed Buddha once said:
Friends, even if bandits were to cut you up, savagely, limb by limb,
with a two-handled saw, you should not be angry, but do my bidding:
Remain pervading them with a friendly Awareness imbued with an
all-embracing good-will, kind, rich, expansive, immeasurable & free
from hostility, free from all ill will. Always remembering this very
Simile of the Saw is indeed how you should train yourselves...
Majjhima Nikaya 21
7: All phenomena are only combinations of the Elements of:
Solidity, Fluidity, Heat, Motion, Space and Consciousness...
Then think like this:
"Which of these elements am I angry at and why so?"
Then the evil ill-will may momentarily vanish right on the spot!!!
Remember and repeat this good-will-cure whenever necessary...
Goodwill releases the all too tight knot of anger:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Invariable_Fact.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
Friendliness Frees!
Some Sequential and Consequential Facts!
Whenever and wherever there is Ignorance of the 4 Noble Truths;
There is also Greed, Voracity, Lust, Desire, Craving and Longing!
Whenever and wherever there is Greed, Lust, Desire, and Craving;
There is also the Hate of Envy & of Jealousy, and Fear of Loosing!
Whenever and wherever there is Hate, Envy, Jealousy and Anger;
There is also Conflict, Clash, Opposition, Hostility & raging Violence!
Whenever and wherever there is Conflict, Hostility and Violence;
There is neither Peace, nor Harmony, nor any Relaxed Contentment!
Whenever and wherever there is neither Peace, nor any Harmony;
There is neither Gladness, nor Joy, nor Bliss, nor any Happiness!
Whenever and wherever there is neither Gladness, nor Happiness;
There is Suffering, Frustration, Misery, Distress and Discomfort!
Whenever and wherever there is Suffering, Frustration, & Misery;
There is no Concentration, nor any Mental Absorption of Mind!
Whenever and wherever there is no Well Focused Concentration;
There is no penetration into the real & true Nature of Phenomena!
Whenever and wherever there is no penetration into the Realities;
There is Ignorance of the 4 Noble Truths, Confusion and Doubt...
Friends, I tell you: It is in this way, that Ignorance grows Ignorance!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Ignorance.htm
Have a nice understanding day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Whenever and Wherever!
Awareness of Mind just as transient Moods & Mentality!
The Blessed Buddha said regarding Contemplation of Mind:
How, Bhikkhus & Friends, does one reflect on Mind just as Moods?
One simply notices when the mind is greedy or not greedy, angry or not angry,
confused or assured, cramped or scattered, exalted or plain, surpassable or
unsurpassable, concentrated or distracted, and released or not yet released!
One lives thus while internally observing one's own mind, or externally the
mind of others, or the minds of both. One notices how any new mood arises,
and how it passes away. One is fully aware: Mind is now in this or that mood!
This is enough for mindful & clear comprehension of the actual mental state.
Caused by this mindful mental presence and acute ultra clear comprehension
of the flow of momentary mental states, one comes to live independent, free,
unattached, not clinging to any mood or anything in this world whatsoever....
Thus does one dwell and live immersed in contemplation of the mind as mood!
What is the Fuel on which any momentary state of Mind burns?
The proximate causes for the arising of any conscious mental state are:
Presence of 1: Ignorance, 2: Craving, 3: Kamma, and 4: Name-&-Form..
The proximate causes for ceasing of any mood and mentality are therefore:
Absence of the same: Ignorance, Craving, Kamma, and Name-&-Form..
Prerequisite understanding:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3_kinds_of_Craving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Buddha_on_Kamma.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Causes_of_Emergence.htm
More on this Moody Mind:
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/II/Blazing_&_Bright.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/drops/II/Highway_to_Nibbana.htm
Source Text: Majjhima Nikaya 10: Satipatthana Sutta:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Good is noting the recurring habitual Mentality!
Mind is just passing Moods!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/III/Focusing_on_Mentality.htm
Selfless Release Disengages and Detaches!
The Buddha once explained how to enter the stream leading to Nibbana:
One can cut off the 5 lower fetters and enter the Stream to Nibbana by
resolving on this with unwavering determination: What is present here now,
what has come into being, all that I relinquish and leave behind here & now!
If it is neither 'Me' nor 'Mine' now, nor will it then ever be 'Me' or 'Mine'
in any future... All this accumulation is not-I, not what I am, not my self!
There is no reason to fear a peace, that is not frightening since:
All form is impermanent, painful, selfless, dependent and vanishing.
All feeling is transient, hurting, egoless, conditional and fading away.
All perception is passing, distress, not me, contingent and leaving instantly.
All construction is temporary, tender, not mine, reliant and always lost.
All consciousness is brief, misery, not-self, contingent and evaporating.
So nothing whatsoever is lost al all by leaving behind lust for form, feeling,
perception, construction and consciousness! When this desire, this craving
for these 5 elements, is all eliminated, then there remains neither object,
nor foundation, nor basis for the establishing of any consciousness...!
When that consciousness remains un-established, without any foot-hold,
without any object, disengaged, neither generating, nor proliferating, nor
propagating anything, then it is released, detached by non-construction,
non-display, non-projection, in a non-manifesting all stilled quietness...
Being thus liberated from its usual tasks, then consciousness stabilizes,
and settles. When consciousness becomes steady in this ease of peace,
it also becomes quite content... When content, then it is also unagitated!
Being thus fully imperturbable, one attains Nibbana right there and then,
and instantly understands: Birth is ended, this Noble Life is completed,
done is what should be done, there is no state beyond this ...!!!
More on the Noble Stream-Entry:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Doors.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Enter.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Stream-Enterer.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Stream_Entrance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fruits_of_the_Noble_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Links_to_Stream_Entry.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/ariya_puggala.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Helpers_to_Stream_Entry.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Entering_the_Stream_Supreme.htm
Source (Edited excerpt):
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya III 55-58
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice, noble & egoless day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
No Ego = No Problems!
What is Right Understanding of the 3 Facts!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
It is impossible, Bhikkhus and Friends, and cannot ever happen,
that one possessed of right understanding should ever regard
any phenomenon as really permanent ... or
any phenomenon as lasting happiness ... or
any state as an identical, same, and own self...
But it is quite possible, that the ordinary worldling may indeed
have, entertain and act upon such naive and distorted beliefs...!
More on this supreme Ability to Understand:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Freed_by_Knowing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Chief_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/n_r/pannaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Right_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Understanding_is_the_Chief.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Supreme_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Revealing_Understanding.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Understanding_Ability.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Outstanding_Understanding.htm
Source:
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya AN 15:1-3
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/Index.Numerical.htm
Have a nice comprehending day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Understand the 3 Basics!
How to stop recurring Distracting Thoughts?
1: Redirect attention to a different advantageous object:
Like when driving out a coarse peg from a piece of wood, using a fine peg,
one can substitute and thereby replace :
A: Desire for living forms with thinking on a disgusting rotting corpse...
B: Desire for inanimate things with thinking on their impermanence...
C: Aversion towards living beings with the mental release of friendliness...
E: Delusion, doubt, uncertainty & confusion with thorough investigation...
2: Consider the Danger in thoughts mixed with hate, greed & ignorance:
These thoughts of mine are disgusting, dangerous, bringing much misery
now & later, just like a young man or woman is disgusted & humiliated, if
somebody hang a rotting carcass of a snake, dog or human around their
neck, so should one regard disturbing distractions!
3: Stopping all flow of thought by Non-Attention and Non-Reflection:
Like a man not wishing to see close his eyes & turn away from the object.
4: Repeat reflection of the Root Cause of these Distractions:
Searching for the reason of these mental afflictions can cure them:
Like a running man wishing calm finding no reason to run, starts walking...
Then finding no reason to walk, he sits down, finding no reason to sit,
he lies down... Now cured!
5: Beating the evil mind down with the force of the good mind:
By clenching the lower teeth against the upper teeth, and pressing the
tongue up against the palate, like a strong man holds down a weak man by
the shoulders so should one beat down mind with mind. Then these evil, ill
& detrimental thoughts rooted in greed, hate, & ignorance are eliminated,
and they vanish. By their evaporation mind settles down, becomes focused,
concentrated and unified on the purely good thought!
Attention Deficit occurs, when following after Distracting Thoughts!
Source: Moderate speeches of the Buddha: Majjhima Nikaya 21:
The Removal of Distracting Thoughts Full text and commentary is here:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel021.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Distractions Disturb Delight!
Released by Disengaged Non-identification!
At Savatthi The Buddha once said:
All form is transient, all feeling is transient, all perception is transient,
all mental constructions are transient, all consciousness is transient...
This transience is suffering! What is suffering is no-self! What is no-self
should be seen as it really is with correct understanding in this very way:
'All this is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self!'...
When one sees and understands this thus, as it really is with correct and
penetrating understanding, then one maintains no views on what is past.
When one maintains no more views regarding the past, then one neither
maintains any views about the future. When one has relinquished all views
about the future, then one is not being possessed by stubborn clinging...
Having no trace of immovable clinging left, the mind becomes disillusioned
regarding all form, all feeling, all perception, all mental constructions, and
all consciousness. By that it is released from the 3 mental fermentations
through detached non-clinging... By being released, the mind is all silenced!
By being thus stilled, the mind becomes content... Being content, it is not
agitated anymore... Being thus unagitated, one indeed attains Nibbana!
Right there and then, one instantly understands: Ended is this process of
rebirth, this Noble Life has been lived, done is all what had to be done,
there is no state beyond this...
More on this nicely ballanced Equanimity (Upekkha):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Even_is_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Serene_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Exquisite_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Empty_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/drops/IV/Unshakable_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
Source:
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya III 55-58
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice, noble & serene day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Tranquillity ballances out the extreme states...
Not Agitated…
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Imperturbable_Equanimity.htm
Sense Joys, Happiness, Release & Beyond!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, there are joys of the flesh, there are joys not of this world, &
there are rapturous joys far beyond even such subtle unworldly joys ...
There is happiness of the flesh, there is a happiness not of this world, &
there is exquisite bliss far beyond even such subtle unworldly happiness!
There is indifference of the flesh, there is Equanimity not of this world,
and there is a serenity far beyond even such subtle unworldly Equanimity!
There is satiety of the flesh, there is a mental release not of this world,
and there is a liberation far beyond even such subtle unworldly release ...
And what, bhikkhus, are then these simple joys of the flesh?
There are these five strings of sense-pleasure. What five?
Visible forms experiencable by the eye ...
Hearable sounds experiencable by the ear ...
Smellable odours experiencable by the nose ...
Tastable flavours experiencable by the tongue ...
Touchable objects experiencable by the body ...
All are attractive, captivating, desirable, irresistible, lovely, agreeable,
tempting, pleasing, sensually enticing, seductive, alluring, & tantalizing!
These are the 5 strings of sense-pleasure. Joy that arises from these
five strings of sense-pleasure: This is simply the Joy of the flesh ...
Blissful is being without passions in this world,
Blissful is the overcoming of all sense-desires!
Udana II, 1
More on the folly vanity of desire for simple Sense Pleasure (Hedonism):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Why_Not.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Craving_is_Pain.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.1-2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Charcoal_Pit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4c.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Colourful_but_Muddy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Craving_is_Catastrophic.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Fire_of_Sense-Desire.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/What_is_Disadvantageous.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happiness_of_the_Flesh_and_Beyond.htm
Prince Siddhattha realizes the empty folly of sense pleasure...
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [235-7]
section 36:11 On Feeling: Vedana. Joys beyond this world ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Sensing is simple. Ever-lasting Bliss is not...
Beyond Joy!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
Rescue into Salvation is Possible!
There may be no tomorrow,
But do not fear!
Do not feel sorrow.
Salvation is near.
If one puts in the effort,
And does good deeds,
Then one should not worry;
Their kamma harbours good seeds.
Purity is attainable,
If one simply tries.
Impurity is easier,
But that's no surprise.
Keep your focus,
And see your goal.
Always be mindful,
Don't fall in a hole.
Always be vigilant,
And never surrender.
Keep doing what's good,
Let kamma be your tender.
Kindly shared by our friend Kevin Walker. (on the path)
On this Noble Eightfold Way (Ariya Atthangika Magga):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Middle_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_3-fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Noble_8_fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Rare_Emergence.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Noble_8-Fold_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Golden_Middle_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Three_Trainings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Fruits_of_the_Noble_Way.htm
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Escape into Salvation!
Kamma is Intention behind a mental, verbal or bodily action:
Kamma is intention to push and act and not the later resulting effects!
Buddha emphasized the core Law of Kamma: Moral Efficacy of any Action!
He said: Kamma should be known and understood:
The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known.
The diversity in kamma should be known.
The result of kamma should be known.
The ending of kamma should be known.
The way of practice for the ending of kamma should be known.
Thus it has been said. In reference to what was it said?
Intention, I tell you, is kamma.
Intending, one makes kamma by way of body, speech, and mind.
And what is the cause by which kamma comes into play?
Contact is the cause by which kamma comes into play.
And what is the diversity in kamma?
There is kamma to be experienced in hell,
kamma to be experienced in the realm of the various animals,
kamma to be experienced in the realm of the hungry ghosts,
kamma to be experienced in this human world,
kamma to be experienced in the world of the divine devas.
This is called the diversity in kamma.
By intending something one plants an egg of future hatching resultants!
And what is the result of kamma?
The result of kamma is of three sorts, I tell you:
that which arises right here and now, or later in this very lifetime,
and that which arises in later lives. This is called the result of kamma.
And what is the ending of kamma?
The ending of contact thereby also ends kamma.
And what is the way of practice for the ending of kamma?
Just this Noble eightfold path:
right view,
right motivation,
right speech,
right action,
right livelihood,
right effort,
right mindfulness,
right concentration
This is the way of praxis leading to the end of kamma.
Now when a disciple of the Noble Ones comprehends kamma in this way,
the cause, the diversity, the result, the end, and the way of practice
leading to the ending of kamma in this way, then he sees the fulfilment
of the Noble life as the end of kamma.
Kamma should be known.
The cause by which kamma comes into play...
The diversity in kamma...
The result of kamma...
The ending of kamma...
The way of practice for the ending of kamma should be known.
Thus it has been said, and in reference to this was it said.
Reference: AN VI.63
_________________________________________________________________
Reflecting on all one's actions:
Intention has in future entangled physical effects outside the individual!
The Buddha to his son:
How do you consider this, Rahula: What is a mirror for?
Rahula: For reflection, Sir.
The Buddha: In the same way, Rahula, bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental
acts are to be done with constant reflection. Whenever you want to do a
bodily act, then you should reflect: This bodily act I want to do, would it
lead to misery to myself, to the misery of others, or to both?
Is it a detrimental bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?
If, on reflection, you come to know that it would lead to your own misery,
to the misery of others, or to both, and it would be an harming bodily act
with painful consequences, painful results, then any bodily act whatsoever
of that sort is absolutely unacceptable for you to do! But if on reflection
you know that it would not cause misery. That it would be an advantageous
bodily action with happy consequences, & pleasant results, then any bodily
act of that sort is proper for you to do.
Any intention produces a ladder into the future upon which one climbs!
While you are doing a bodily act, you should reflect: This bodily act I am
doing now does it lead to self-misery, to the misery of others, or to both?
Is it an detrimental bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?
If, on reflection, you come to know that it is leading to self-misery, or to
the misery of others, or to both, then you should instantly stop doing it!
But if on reflection you know that it is not disadvantageous to anybody,
then you may continue with it.
Having done a bodily act, you should again reflect .... If, on reflection,
you come to know that it led to self-misery, to the misery of others, or to
both; that it was an detrimental bodily act with painful consequences,
painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, and lay it open to the
teacher or to a knowledgeable friend in the holy life. Having confessed it,
you should exercise restraint and self-control in the future.
But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to misery, that it was a
advantageous bodily action with happy consequences, happy results, then
you should stay mentally elated and joyful, training day & night in all the
advantageous mental qualities.
...[similarly for verbal and mental acts]...
Intention is a choice, which reduces entropy, thus rolling out the future!
Rahula, all past bhikkhus and recluses who purified their bodily, verbal, &
mental acts, did it through repeated reflection on their bodily, verbal, and
mental acts in exactly this way. All the future bhikkhus and recluses & all
the bhikkhus and recluses who at present purify their bodily, verbal, and
mental acts, do it by repeated reflection on their bodily, verbal, & mental
acts in exactly this way. Therefore, Rahula, you should train yourself:
I will purify my bodily acts by repeated reflection.
I will purify my verbal acts by repeated reflection.
I will purify my mental acts by repeated reflection.
Thus should you train yourself!
reference MN 61
For details on the mechanics of Kamma = Intentional Action see:
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_Action_(kamma)_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
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Intention is the Kamma!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Kamma_is_intention.htm
10 Contemplations is Daily Buddhist Routine!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus & friends: There is one contemplation, which when often practised
and developed leads to a complete turning away from this captivating world,
to detachment, to silencing, to ceasing, to Peace, to penetrating knowledge,
to Enlightenment, and thus to Nibbana...
Any Noble Disciple, who by progress have understood this Dhamma, dwells
frequently in this state. Which is that unique contemplation?
The Noble Disciple contemplates on the divine beings in this very way:
There are the divine beings on the plane of the Four Great Kings, there are
the divine beings of the World of the Thirty-three, there are a Yama World,
there are the Contented Devas, there are also those enjoying own creation!
There are those with power over others creations, those of the Brahma world,
and those still far above them... Now, such faith, morality, wisdom, generosity,
concentration and understanding, which these divine beings acted upon and
which made them re-appear on a divine plane after leaving this world, such
good qualities as these, are also found in me! When a Noble Disciple reflects
thus, his mind is neither obsessed by any greed, nor by any hate, nor by any
confusion! Uplifted and elated is his mind, and this makes the Noble Disciple
gain further deeper understanding of the Dhamma, & thus makes the Noble
Disciple delight in the Dhamma! Being delighted, there arises rapturous joy
in him. Being filled with rapture & joy, he is inwardly satisfied & he becomes
quite calm. Being calmed makes him enjoy bliss and happiness and the mind of
the Happy One becomes collected, condensed and concentrated...
Of this Noble Disciple, friends, it is said that among many misguided humans,
among suffering humankind, he lives freed from suffering! And as one who
has entered the stream to Nibbana, he cultivates further his contemplation.
When, friends, a Noble Disciple has reached the fruit of understanding the
Dhamma, he dwells often with a calm smile in this state! Source: AN 6:10
Sakka king of the 33 devas, hovering about with some of his many nymphs. A devata = goddess
More on the many various types of gods (Devas= lit: 'Shining ones'):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Remembering_Deities.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/deva.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/b/brahmaloka.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/t/taavatimsa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/y/yaamaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/t/tusita.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/index.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/n/nimmanarati.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/jootla/wheel414.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/c/caatummahaaraajikaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/pa/paranimmita_vasavatti.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/aa/aakaasaanancaayatana.htm
Many devas can attain whatever form and colour at will. Some is made of light!
They do not like the smell of humans like we don't like the smell of eg. pigs…
There are 31 levels of existence (Human is level 5!). There thus numerous devas.
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Focusing on the next rebirth destination is Clever!
Divine Guiding!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/Divinity_Contemplation.htm
Really Deep Truths can sometimes be told by a Wise Junior:
A pious Sri Lankan Boy once stated it stout, steady & straight:
I am a Buddhist, not merely because my parents are Buddhists, but out of assured conviction!
After coming to an understanding of the truth of the Noble Triple Gem, I decided to be a Buddhist...
Whenever here a religious, private, social or national event starts, the blessings of the Triple Gem are
invoked. But what does taking refuge in the Triple Gem really mean? We must really understand this!
Taking refuge in the Buddha means seeking and understanding Nibbana (Nirvana). Man's freedom, or
the road, which leads to Nibbana, is closed from time to time. The Noble Person, who finds this closed
road and reveals it to the world is always the Buddha! The Dhamma, which we take refuge in, is the path
to Nibbana, preached by the Buddha. There are many eminent persons, who went along that path and
understood Nibbana. They also teach us to go along this correct path. Those eminent persons are called
the Maha Sangha. However, the Buddha is not an automatic rescuer. We cannot get the freedom we are
seeking by just praying to the Buddha. Most Buddhists offer flowers to the Buddha statues. They hold
religious festivals. But Buddhists do not do those things to satisfy the Buddha. They do it as a way to
Nibbana for all living beings. Many offer flowers and go to temples to prove that they are practicing
Buddhists. But if we observe the precepts & the religious teachings and gain a good understanding of
the Dhamma, it will help us to become good Buddhists and win a pleasurable and happy future. However,
we can seek & gain the truth of the Dhamma, only if we live according with it. Seeking the Dhamma is
seeking the Buddha. So, I observe Buddhism by taking refuge in the Noble Triple Gem…
Dulani Dananga Kiriella, Rajasinghe Central College School, Grade 10, Ruwanwella, Sri Lanka.
Sadhu – Quite well spoken IMHO - …!!!
Image at the Kelaniya Temple close to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Real Buddhists take refuge in the triple gem & accept the 5 precepts:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Refuges_and_Precepts.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
Have a nice devoted day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Why the Boy was Buddhist!
Feeling induces Latent Tendencies!
The Blessed Buddha once said: Bhikkhus, there are these three feelings:
Which three?
1: Pleasant Feeling,
2: Painful Feeling,
3: Neither-Painful-nor-Pleasant Feeling.
The latent tendency to lust induced by pleasant feeling should be left...
The latent tendency to aversion induced by painful feeling should be left...
The latent tendency to ignorance induced by neither-painful-nor-pleasant
feeling should also be abandoned. When one has abandoned all the latent
tendency to lust rooted in pleasant feeling, all latent tendency to aversion
rooted in painful feeling, and all the latent tendency to ignorance rooted
in neither-painful-nor-pleasant neutral feeling, then he is indeed called a
Bhikkhu freed of latent tendencies, one who sees & understands rightly!
He has thus stilled all craving, thus cut off the mental chains, and by also
breaking completely through the conceit: "I am", he has ended Suffering...
When one experiences pleasure, if one does not understand feeling, then
the tendency to lust is present in anyone not seeing the escape from it.
When one experiences pain, if one does not understand feeling, then the
tendency to aversion is present in any one not seeing the escape from it. T
he One of Vast Wisdom has taught that even if one seeks delight in this
peace of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, then one is still not freed
from suffering! But a bhikkhu who is enthusiastic, who does not neglect
clear comprehension, such wise man fully understands feelings entirely.
Having fully understood feelings, he is in this very life freed of all mental
fermentation. Standing in this Dhamma, in this exquisite state, at body's
breakup, such a master cannot be reckoned, assessed or estimated...
Take-home: Pleasant feeling produces greed! Painful feeling produces hate!
Neither-painful-nor-pleasant neutral feeling causes neglect and will thus
generate ignorance...
The blessed Buddha Said: Everything converges on Feeling (Vedana):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Indifference_Creates_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Three_Basic_Kinds_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Feeling_Causes_and_Effects.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_8_Aspects_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Bodily_and_Mental_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Detached_from_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Dependent_on_Contact.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Focusing_on_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_108_Feelings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Emotional_Storm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Latent_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Five_Feelings.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [205-6]
36: feeling. Vedana. Focused on Pleasure. 3.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html
Have a nice & noble day!
Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net
Feeling induces Latent Tendencies!