A Special Pill
A person suffering from a number of ailments went to see a doctor. The doctor did not reveal his diagnosis but prescribed a certain pill for his patient which he said should be taken three times a day: morning, afternoon and nighttime.
Spiritual Happiness
Even though sometimes these people may refer to spiritual happiness, this really only amounts to name dropping in place of their usual references to physical happiness. Their "spiritual happiness" is something completely different from the real thing.
Q20. Does the Buddha continue to exist at this time?
If we are asked this question, we can answer with this saying of the Buddha: ‘O Ānanda, the Dhamma and the Discipline, which the Tathāgata has taught and demonstrated, let them be your teacher when I have passed away.’
-11- The Map of the Monastery
As for this map, I would like to say only that, if you travel by car along every road of our monastery, you will see many things that stimulate your thinking. But if you travel along only some of the roads, you would not get the idea.
New Translation: Fear
In today's discussion of Ego and Mine, I'd like to discuss fear. Fear is a form of suffering that hugely disturbs human well-being. Some of that fear ought not to be so disruptive, but is.
Thoughts on Practice in a Thai Megalopolis
In response to the question, “May we have your suggestions regarding what else BIA could do, to support Ajahn’s projects and promote Buddha-Dhamma?”
The Dhammic Life Which Is Still a Secret
“Why be so strict with vedanā? Isn’t it possible to enjoy your positive feelings without being attached to them?”
Undermining the Attachment to ‘Me’ and ‘Mine’
All the various challenges that occur during meditation (and, indeed, life itself) involve us attaching to physical and mental phenomena as ‘me’ and ‘mine’. Thus any effective method applied to deal with those challenges must be aimed at undermining this attachment.
Mind Happiness
There is little left of the minds of these people. Whatever they are able to feel, they conclude that "the mind is in the body," that is, the mind is at the whim of the body.
Q19. Where can we find the Buddha?
The Buddha said, ‘Anyone who sees Dhamma, sees the Tathāgata. Anyone who does not see Dhamma, does not see the Tathāgata.
-10- The Dhammaghosana Hall (Buddhadāsa’s Literary Works over the Past Fifty Years)
I hardly see anybody who is interested in seeing that the works collected in the Dhammaghosana Hall have been done by just one person. Few people believe that a person could single-handedly create all those books. Why don’t they try to realize that it took me fifty years of hard work and dedication?
The Living Computer
“Ānāpānasati is a complete path to liberation. What is the cause of it seeming to take many years in order to be liberated?”
The Cultivation of Loving-Kindness
In this period of great stress and uncertainty, one of our most important tools to maintain sanity and balance is the cultivation of loving-kindness for self and others. On one occasion the Buddha listed the benefits that may be realised.
Acceptance and Stability
Some people have to vacillate between crying and laughing several times in the course of each day - their minds constantly expanding and contracting.
Q18. Whom did the Buddha honor?
The Buddha’s own answer was that he paid homage to Dhamma and to Saṅgha communities with exemplary qualities. Saṅgha communities that conduct themselves well and practice properly can be said to possess exemplary qualities. So the Buddha respected Dhamma and Saṅgha communities of exemplary qualities.
-9- Noah Ark-like Ships as a Metaphor for Means of Liberation
The word ‘ship’ is the metaphor for Dhamma. Dhamma is compared to a ship or a raft which carries people across a river or a sea.
Thought in the Mind
Forests in Thailand are not quiet places. Birdsong can be loud and raucous. In the evening the cicadas can make such a din that it is impossible to hold a conversation. On occasions in the past I have had to end (amplified) Dhamma discourses to the Sangha because the croaking of bullfrogs made them inaudible
Don’t Delude Yourself
The gods know full well that those who only seek physical happiness and make merry are deluding themselves, just fantasizing - even though these people have deceived themselves into thinking that this happiness is fashionable and fulfilling.
Q17. What did the Buddha say about people in succeeding ages?
In one of the Numerical discourses*, the Buddha speaks of future generations, which includes our own, as ‘rejoicing in unrighteous pleasures, being too much given to covetousness, and pursuing false Dhamma.’