The Five Hindrances Arising during Meditation
One of the first discoveries in meditation is how unfree we are. The effort to sustain attention on a meditation object reveals just how little control we have over our mind.
Know the Realms of Happiness
Those who are endowed with eyes of wisdom truly see worldly, bodily, or material happiness for what it is.
Q23. Why is everything, this world and every world, considered to be empty?
People unfamiliar with Buddhism may ask you questions such as, ‘Why did the Buddha say the world is empty when it contains all these things? There is matter. There is mind. Isn’t the world just full up with things? What about all these creations?’
-14- A Miniature India
We intend to build a miniature India, but only the parts that involve the Buddha: the places of his birth, enlightenment, first sermon, and death. Bringing India here can facilitate study. The site has been provided, but the construction has not been done yet, so I don’t have much to talk about.
Remembering Tan Ajahn Buddhadāsa
I’ve always regarded Ajahn Buddhadāsa, along with Luang Por Chah, as one of my primary teachers. I could relate to their way of teaching because it was so direct and simple. Ajahn Chah wasn’t intellectual at all – he hardly ever wrote anything – he always emphasized paṭipadā, practice.
Remembering Tan Ajahn Buddhadāsa
I’ve always regarded Ajahn Buddhadāsa, along with Luang Por Chah, as one of my primary teachers. I could relate to their way of teaching because it was so direct and simple. Ajahn Chah wasn’t intellectual at all – he hardly ever wrote anything – he always emphasized paṭipadā, practice.
Don’t Take the Feeling That You Are Being Rational as Proof That You Are
There is a well-known story of a man sitting by the side of a sack of chilli peppers. He bites on a chilli, grimaces and spits it out. He picks out another chilli and does the same thing. He repeats the same process again and again, even though it is unpleasant for him to do so. When asked what he’s doing, he replies that he’s searching for a sweet one.
Beware of False Happiness
As soon as these people get what they want, they become disturbed! And if they do not get what they want, they are disturbed ! As soon as darkness pervades their lives, they think that pleasure seeking is “nibbana.”
Q22. What sort of daily inner life did the Buddha experience?
The Buddha once said concerning himself, ‘The Tathāgata dwells in the Temple of Emptiness (suññatā-vihāra).’ This ‘temple’ is a spiritual dwelling, not a physical one. Vihāra refers to a spiritual dwelling place, that is, a dwelling of mind and heart.
How did Buddhism arrive in Thailand?
Two hundred years or so after the Buddha’s passing away, the great Buddhist emperor Asoka arranged for small groups of monastics to travel throughout the world…
-13- Rare, Exotic Things to See
This aspect has almost nothing to do with Dhamma. Among the exotic things we have here are the sala trees, which are grown in front of the Spiritual Theater. Try to study them.
A Universal Teaching
One of my favorite teachings is from a Greek philosopher I came across years ago called Pyrrho of Elis, about 250 BC. He’s generally called the Greek Buddha. But it’s very succinct, very direct, by the fact that it says,
The Living Computer
“I experience anicca, so I understand it. I experience dukkha, so I understand it. I do not experience anattā. How can I know it and understand it? How to experience anattā?”
Reflecting on Unfair Criticism
One helpful way of reflecting on unfair criticism is to recollect how normal it is, how many times even the purest of beings have been subjected to such treatment. The most famous example is perhaps the occasion when a woman called Ciñca Manavika accepted payment from religious teachers jealous of the Buddha to accuse him of making her pregnant.
Q21. Did the Buddha end karma?
If asked this, we must not denigrate the Buddha by answering carelessly or recklessly with words that misquote him and belittle his worth.
What is the Buddhist attitude to women?
One helpful way of reflecting on unfair criticism is to recollect how normal it is, how many times even the purest of beings have been subjected to such treatment. The most famous example is perhaps the occasion when a woman called Ciñca Manavika accepted payment from religious teachers jealous of the Buddha to accuse him of making her pregnant.
-12- A Graveyard for Narcotics and Causes of Ruin
This is actually the Sculpture Studio, where Venerable Sawai conducts his activities. Narcotics to be abandoned here include those drugs taken into the body through smoking, eating, or rubbing, and the ruin-causing habits.
The Living Computer
In general this is not possible because wisdom and foolishness are not interchangeable like this.