All over the Pali canon we can find a frequent recurring pattern in the Buddha’s instruction. First the Buddha would describe a problem – very often he would analyse what that particular problem might cause. Eventually he would offer a…
If you happen to be interested in Math, you may know about Benford’s Law and how it was recently “solved”**. The fascinating part of this little story is how close the problem and its solution are related to the idea…
‘‘Ayaṃ loko santāpajāto, This world is filled with sorrow[1] Phassa-pareto rogaṃ vadati attato; Overcome by (sense-)“contact”, it calls a disease its “self” [2] Yena yena hi maññati In what ever terms they imagine it Tato taṃ hoti aññathā. Thereby it…
From the “Arahant stories” collection: Once, it is said, two Brahmins sat together in the north Indian city of Patna in a hall and listened to the praise of the virtues of Nāga the elder, a monk from Kālavallimaṇḍapa*. When they…
Recently, in our local Dhamma study group, we had a look at Kāma Sutta (it’s the older Buddhist version of the Kāma Sutra and besides being much shorter its content is diametrically opposed to the more famous worldy Hindu version…
Here is how it works: Our mind is an empty wrapper. It can encapsulate any of our five senses and replay them. It is like an echo chamber. That’s why thoughts are in essence sense-less. They can contain (better: reflect)…
One of the most essential terms used by the Buddha in reference to developing wisdom and pointing out the path to Nibbana is the Pali verb “manasi karoti” especially in the phrase yoniso manasi karoti. It is so essential to…
Comparing Buddhist techniques of observing (vipassana) we can distinguish three approaches: The first one defines itself as merely “observing what is” in a supposedly neutral fashion. Various traditions define this to be simple a “looking at what is happening” without…
2500 years lie between us and Buddha Gotama, but even though the historical and cultural gap seems so unbridgeable to our intellect, it is moments like the following that remind us of the eternal presence of the Dhamma – not…
That plan of yours which you carry within you, those goals and ideals, dreams and motives: You have had them before. If you accept rebirth then logic dictates, that maybe at a different time and different place you may have…