“‘‘Yathāvādī kho, āvuso, sadevake loke samārake sabrahmake sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiyā pajāya sadevamanussāya na kenaci loke viggayha tiṭṭhati, yathā ca pana kāmehi visaṃyuttaṃ viharantaṃ taṃ brāhmaṇaṃ akathaṃkathiṃ chinnakukkuccaṃ bhavābhave vītataṇhaṃ saññā nānusenti – evaṃvādī kho ahaṃ, āvuso, evamakkhāyī’’ti.” According to whatever doctrine, friend, one…
When the actor Talaputta went to the Buddha, he had an important question on his mind. And it was one of the few times when the Buddha at first did not want to answer. Not, because he did not know,…
The monk elder Tissa, the hillman, we are told, was born in the land Rohana* in a hunting family and grew up in the vicinity of the Abbey Gamendavala. After he had reached a certain age and started a family, he…
A beautiful and very convincing modern rendering of the first discourse given by the Buddha happened to cross my path this afternoon. If you thought you’d already read the famous “Dhammacakkapavattana” sutta before, think again. Richard Blumberg’s translation is contemporary…
I am sitting in a movie theater. But I don’t know. I am lost in the story in front of my eyes, around my ears. I am immersed, completely engulfed in the story of the movie. I don’t know where…
It is quite easy to mistake the Buddha’s encouragement to lead a virtuous and moral life with the call to blindly adhere to a religious codex or engulf into some form of social trend setting crusade. Nothing could be further from…
Regarding the current Bhikkhuni ordination excitement in Ajahn Chah’s Sangha and the resulting “excommunication” (LOL) of Bhikkhu Brahmavamsa, the following Dhammapada verse came to mind: Other’s faults are easy to see yet hard it is to see one’s own, and so…
Sometimes, when we study literature about Buddhist meditation, it can seem very technical and … almost artificial. One of the great benefits of having such a structured and methodical approach to mental cultivation can become a hindrance on the path-…
Have you ever wondered what an Anāgāmī (a non-returner) needs to do or work on in order to attain Arahantship (or final and complete realization of Nirvana)? Or, for that matter, how – if there are any necessary changes –…
One way our ego and conceit expresses itself is the infatuation with this will or should go on forever, it will not change. at least not now, when it is, or should be, the way I want it to be……