Mnemonics & Tipitaka
“At the time now, the lay-follower Nandamata got up in the morning when it was still dark, and recited in a loud voice the Parayana[Sutta Nipata v.976-1149] ” AN, VII, 50. “‘So be it, Lord !’, said the Venerable Sona…
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Ox and crops
From the Theragatha, the Verses of the Elders. 445. Uppajje te sace kodho, āvajja kakacūpamaṃ; Uppajje ce rase taṇhā, puttamaṃsūpamaṃ sara. (1) 446.‘‘Sace dhāvati cittaṃ te, kāmesu ca bhavesu ca; Khippaṃ niggaṇha satiyā, kiṭṭhādaṃ viya duppasun”ti; 445. If anger arises…
Buddhism: More Than Mere Philosophy
A dear friend of mine–that happens to be a fairly new convert to Theravada Buddhism–emailed me with a question. Is Buddhism more than just a philosophy? A colleague of hers, upon hearing of her new-found religion, quickly dismissed her ambition…
Buddhists without the Word of the Buddha
The other day I came across this very true statement: ”It is a sad fact that whereas we rarely find Muslims without the Quran or Christians without the Bible, yet we find many Buddhists without the Nikayas.” This quote is from…
Science of the present moment
What is the difference between right mindfulness and wrong mindfulness? [1] Both of them are part of an electric drill, if you excuse the mundane simile for a moment: It is the direction of the drill that ultimately matters, and…
Purifying Thoughts
[Part of our series: Arahant Stories.] Once, they say, the monk Elder called “Rag-robe” (Paṃsukūlikatthero), who lived in Pacinakhandaraji, decided to travel to the great pagoda-mountain* in order to worship the stupa there. After he had venerated the stupa, he…
A thera’s ancient remarks on vipassanā
In addition to an earlier post on Ven. Malunkyaputta‘s most interesting analysis of vipassanā meditation (right in front of the Buddha) which clarified what “bare awareness” actually boils down to in terms of meditation practice there is another beautiful personal…
Anussati – Sinking away from the wet in a stream of life
Practical ideas on anussati, sati and apilapanā. Today I would like to invite you to a short experiment. It is going to be very simple. Here is the experiment: Think of a random number, for instance “1325”. Now close your…
A “religion” of the year 2460 CE
“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which based on experience, which refuses dogmatic. If there’s any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism….”[1] said the famous Albert Einstein. Even before…
The Heretic Sage
Many of you already know about my deep gratitude towards Ven. Ñāṇananda who I consider to be one of the greatest living Dhamma and Meditation masters. If anything you ever read on this blog might have helped you, all that…