“Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.” The Buddha (Dhammapada, verse 118)
Posted by: Michael | 02/08/2020
Happy Uposatha- Do Good
Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada, Uposatha | Tags: Dhammapada, sila
Posted by: Michael | 02/07/2020
Simile of the Saw
Looking for teachings on stilling anger this morning and I came across this gem again. Whenever there’s any doubt about just how serious Lord Buddha was about eradicating anger I need only recall this verse.
Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Metta, Theravada | Tags: anger, majjhima nikaya, simile of the saw
Posted by: Michael | 02/04/2020
Boundless Loving-Kindness
Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Metta, Theravada | Tags: fetters, itivuttaka, loving-kindness
Posted by: Michael | 02/03/2020
Blame – Dhammapada 227
227. O Atula! Indeed, this is an ancient practice, not one only of today: they blame those who remain silent, they blame those who speak much, they blame those who speak in moderation. There is none in the world who is not blamed.
This being the case it seems that the best we can do is to cultivate an inner refuge. I am still in the habit of looking to others for approval and praise which means I’m yet a prisoner to their blame. But, knowing that blame comes irrespective of our attempts to avoid it does help to put it in context.
Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: Blame, inner refuge, suffering
Posted by: Michael | 02/02/2020
A Wrestling Match
“The art of true living in this world is more like a wrestler’s, than a dancer’s practice. For in this they both agree, to teach a man whatsoever falls upon him, that he may be ready for it, and that nothing may cast him down.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS
I keep looking for the sutta where Lord Buddha exhorts is to accept short term pain for long term gain but can’t find it. Nonetheless, it definitely seems to this putthujana that the unenlightened life is more akin to a constant struggle against the kilesas than it is a dervish dance. And yet, the bliss of blamelessness or Anavajjasukha is the highest happiness of the lay life and we would do well to recall that.
Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Stoicism, Theravada | Tags: Anavajjasukha, blameless, Marcus Aurelius
Posted by: Michael | 02/01/2020
Memento vivere
Working only with one perception, in this case the perception of death, leads me sometimes to be lopsided in my thinking. I have to recall that life is also to be lived, even under the long and ever present shadow of sickness and death. And, as Marcus Aurora reminds us, it is to be lived nobly and in the light of the Dhamma.
So, precisely due to the fact that this is now (I believe) the fourth weekend in a row the kids are sick with fevers and sure throats it’s time to remember not illness and death but to live well in the midst of it all with sīla, dāna and karuna. Memento vivere.
Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dana, Dhamma, Dukkha, Family Life, Karuna, Maranassati, Sila, Stoicism, Theravada | Tags: compassion, death, Kids, memento vivere, sickness
Posted by: Michael | 01/30/2020
Coronavirus and Other Endings
“If you do not contemplate death in the morning, the morning is wasted. If you do not contemplate death in the afternoon, the afternoon is wasted. If you do not contemplate death in the evening, the evening is wasted.”
-Atisha
Worried about coronavirus? The flu? Nuclear war? Climate catastrophe? A civilization killing asteroid? Good.
These and ten thousand other things could kill you today. Let us not waste our time. Let us do good and purify our minds while there is yet time.
Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Maranassati, Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism | Tags: Atisha, coronavirus, death recollection
Posted by: Michael | 01/30/2020
Aṭṭhaṅgiko Maggo – The Eightfold Path
Ayam-eva ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, seyyathīdam:
It is this noble path with eight factors, as follows:
sammādiṭṭhi
right view
sammāsaṅkappo
right thought
sammāvācā
right speech
sammākammanto
right action
sammā-ājīvo
right livelihood
sammāvāyāmo
right effort
sammāsati
right mindfulness
sammāsamādhi.
right concentration
-Dhammacakkhapavattana Sutta
Posted in Dhamma
Posted by: Michael | 01/29/2020
Innocents
137. He who inflicts violence on those who are unarmed, and offends those who are inoffensive, will soon come upon one of these ten states:
138-140 Sharp pain, or disaster, bodily injury, serious illness, or derangement of mind, trouble from the government, or grave charges, loss of relatives, or loss of wealth, or houses destroyed by ravaging fire; upon dissolution of the body that ignorant man is born in hell.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.10.budd.
Posted by: Michael | 01/27/2020
On Love
I’ve stumbled upon Ajahn Jayasaro’s book On Love and have to admit that I’m taken with his terse and incisive analysis. The quote above struck me perhaps due to my own recent musings over the state of my marriage now and the feelings and choices that brought me to this place.
As much as I am loathe to admit it, twenty some years ago when I met my wife I really did believe that love would make everything better. I really did believe that a romantic partner was the answer to life’s suffering. How far I’ve come since then buy outs pretty clear just how dangerous such a belief and view is.
Still, seeing that we were both deeply mired in delusion at least opens a space for compassion now, even if I cannot always be so open with my wife about it these days. Anyway, the book is enlightening to read as I perform the post mortem for this marriage and I would highly recommend it to all.
Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Family Life, Taṇhā, Theravada | Tags: Ajahn Jayasaro, love, marriage
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