Participants were more aware of Present Moment Experience (PME) when they had an activated intention to be mindful and when they felt good, and not very busy or hurried, and were not involved in social interaction. They were more reactive to PME when they experienced unpleasant affect, and when they were hurried or tired.

A scientific study confirms that the hindrances are indeed hindrances.

Seemingly, we might have boundless knowledge, all derived from study and reflection, but if our fundamental character is not attuned to the Dharma, we will not tame the enemy, the destructive emotions.

Longchen Rabjam urges practitioners to go beyond mere study and rituals, to rest in pure awareness free of grasping, dedicate all virtue to others, and thereby realize the ultimate meaning of the Dharma.

Together with the Silla dynasty scholiast Wonhyo (617-686), Chinul is one of the two most important figures produced by Korean Buddhism. Chinul was the inheritor of a mature tradition already rich after seven hundred years of symbiotic development with its Chinese counterpart.

This pivotal work in Korean Buddhist Studies provides an extensive introduction to Chinul’s life and thought alongside the complete translations of all his surviving writings.

This paper investigates the impacts worldviews have on the nature and trajectory of meditation-related challenges, as well as how worldviews change or are impacted by such challenges. […] We identify and discuss the various impacts that religious and scientific worldviews have on meditation practitioners and meditation teachers who navigate periods of challenge associated with the practice.

When you live with good friends, good companions, and good associates, you should live supported by one thing: diligence in wholesome qualities.

if occasionally, due to a lapse of mindfulness, evil unwholesome memories and intentions connected with the fetters arise in him, slow might be the arising of his mindfulness, but then he quickly abandons them, dispels them, puts an end to them

The Buddha urges mendicants to be free of desire for the six senses, giving a series of vivid similes.

Jhāna practice is deeply embedded within other practices that help with the reemergence—The Noble Eightfold Path, the Saṅgha—so that once you come to these moments of malleability, the momentum of living a certain way will carry you through and allow you to come out of these states more beautifully.

In Buddhist traditions, mindfulness is not limited to meditation; it applies to the entire path. Moreover, mindfulness cannot be regarded as something purely instrumental…

Mindfulness functions as a foundational ethical practice in Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher. Sustained mindfulness, meta-awareness, and self-examination are essential to cultivating moral agency and embodying the ethos of the Great Perfection, ultimately leading to the realization of Dzogchen’s “instantaneous awareness.”

The faculty of conviction, the faculty of persistence, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, & the faculty of discernment.

The Buddha defines the Five Spiritual Faculties (indriya).

through nonclinging find delight
In the relinquishment of grasping

The eightfold path leads from the near to the far shore.

Those bhikkhus who are accomplished in virtue, accomplished in concentration, accomplished in wisdom, accomplished in liberation, accomplished in the knowledge and vision of liberation: even the sight of those bhikkhus is helpful

A description of the path, from hearing the good teachings up to enlightenment explained via the seven awakening factors.

Mendicants, there are four ways of practice. What four?

1. Painful practice with slow insight,
2. painful practice with swift insight,
3. pleasant practice with slow insight, and
4. pleasant practice with swift insight.

Reverends, what is the vital condition for the development of the awakening factors?

A mendicant grounded on these five things should develop four further things.

How spiritual friendship forms the foundation of the holy life.

if you practice fully you succeed fully. If you practice partially you succeed partially. These five faculties are not a waste…

To give up these five weaknesses in your training you should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.

Meditation relies on ethics, but ethics is also supported by meditation.

Later published by the Buddhist Publication Society as The Requisites of Enlightenment.

If you want to be a good person, make sure you know where true goodness really lies. Don’t just go through the motions of being good

A brief collection of Ajahn Fuang Jotiko’s teachings in the form of stories and sayings. These teachings cover the essentials for a stable and fruitful practice.

Nature is understood as a process of life, of which human beings are an immanent part. Returning to nature and remembering that we are nature is essential for health and wellbeing.

To practise Dhamma means to apply the Dhamma, to use the Dhamma in conducting your life and work.

This work is a translation of “Thamma chabap rian lat”, designed to help newcomers to Buddhism understand key principles and their practical applications. It is also valuable for those already practicing the Dharma, furthering their understanding. The book is divided into four sections, each with a focus on different aspects of practice.

The same scanning procedure can be employed for the next body contemplation, which instead takes up the four elements as basic constituents of matter in general and the human body in particular. These four are earth, water, fi re, and wind, which represent the qualities of solidity or hardness, cohesion or wetness, temperature, and motion.

A brief introduction to the Four Satipaṭṭhānas.

Results showed that this meditation practice produced increases over time in daily experiences of positive emotions, which, in turn, produced increases in a wide range of personal resources. In turn, these increments in personal resources predicted increased life satisfaction and reduced depressive symptoms.

Discussion centers on how positive emotions are the mechanism of change for the type of mind-training practice studied here and how loving-kindness meditation is an intervention strategy that produces positive emotions in a way that outpaces the hedonic treadmill effect.

Karotha buddhasāsanaṁ
Do what the Buddha taught…

A poem which humbly and brilliantly summarizes the Buddhist path at all its various levels.

I was a householder
when I heard the Dhamma…

I’ve entered the path to realize freedom from death

Venerables, how does a noble disciple have right perspective?

Venerable Sāriputta gives a detailed explanation of Right View, the first factor of the noble eightfold path. At the prompting of the other mendicants, he approaches the topic from a wide range of perspectives.

It smashes the mechanism of deeds,
And drops the thunderbolt of knowledge
On the taking up of consciousnesses.

A poem extolling the virtues of the Noble Eightfold Path.

I saw this population flounder,
like a fish in a little puddle.
Seeing them fight each other,
fear came upon me.

The Buddha speaks in poignant terms of the saṁvega that led him to leave the household life. He concludes with recommendations for practice and a description of the person who has attained the goal.

Just as pain arises as an affliction for a healthy person, even so the attention to perceptions dealing with directed thought that beset me was an affliction for me.

The householder Tapussa reflects that it is renunciation that distinguishes lay from monastic. The Buddha agrees by giving a long account of his cultivation of immersion leading up to his awakening.

And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of the knowledge and vision of things as they really are?

The purpose of ethics, concentration, and wisdom are that they lead to liberation.

Having undertaken them, train in the training rules. When you have done so, what further should be done?

Reverends, an unethical person, who lacks ethics, has destroyed a vital condition for right immersion.

One is unripe but seems ripe,
One is ripe but seems unripe…

Four people similar to mangoes.

I want to go through these points with the idea of giving you a Western approach to understanding them. You might take more extensive teachings from some of the Tibetan lamas later on, and if I am able to at least introduce you to some of those topics through the Westernized approach, then when you hear the standard Tibetan approach, it will go in more smoothly for you.

A series of lectures delivered in Seattle from 1991 to 1994 going systematically through Atiśa’s presentation of the gradual path of training.

Mindfulness is well established in oneself: ‘In this way I’ll experience through freedom the teaching that I haven’t yet experienced, or support with wisdom in every situation the teaching I’ve already experienced.’ That’s how mindfulness is its ruler.

How training benefits, wisdom oversees, freedom is the heartwoos, and mindfulness is in charge.

This selection from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand was published for free distribution by the Lam Rim Buddhist Centre of South Africa.

Being censured in this way by the Teacher, by wise companions in the holy life, by gods, and by himself, he realises no superhuman state, no distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. Why is that? That is how it is with one who does not fulfil the training in the Teacher’s Dispensation.

Venerable Bhaddāli refuses to follow the rule forbidding eating after noon, but is eventually filled with remorse and confesses to the Buddha who stresses the importance of following the monastic rules before forgiving him.

When mindfulness of breathing is well-established internally in front of you, there will be no distressing external thoughts or wishes. When you meditate observing the impermanence of all conditions, ignorance is given up and knowledge arises.

A pithy summary of the path.

True confidence only comes about once the teachings have led the disciple to personal verification of their efficacy.

Faith is a starting point for the realization of truth.

Whatever Arahants, Perfectly Enlightened Ones arose in the past, all those Blessed Ones had first abandoned the five hindrances, corruptions of the mind and weakeners of wisdom; and then, with their minds well established in the four establishments of mindfulness, they had developed correctly the seven factors of enlightenment; and thereby they had awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.

When one holds no more views concerning the past, one holds no more views concerning the future.

How penetrating the aggregates leads to liberation.

Of these Four Noble Truths, there is one to be completely understood, one to be abandoned, one to be realized, and one to be developed.

Remote jungle-thicket resting places in the forest are hard to endure, seclusion is hard to practise, and it is hard to enjoy solitude.

The Buddha explains the difficulties of living in the wilderness, and how they are overcome by purity of conduct and meditation. He recounts some of the fears and obstacles he faced during his own practice and how he overcame them all.

Those who have awakened don’t talk of what they’ve awakened to, because it lies above and beyond all words.

A collection of pithy teachings from a notoriously reticent, modern-day “Zen Master” of the Thai Forest Tradition.

… consumers faced with mortality salience tend to increase overconsumption likelihood when they have a weak belief in karma.

You have to have Right View first for the contemplation of death to have positive effects.

The concept of the Paccekabuddha presented the opportunity to include pre-Buddhist recluses and seers in Buddhism and in doing so it continued these pre-Buddhist traditions. In this respect it becomes clear why Paccekabuddhas are referred to in the scriptures with all other terms that could be used to denote ascetics: muni, isi, samaṇa, tāpasa, jaṭila, terms which emphasise different aspects of asceticism

An in-depth study of the Paccekabuddha as described in Pali Canonical and Commentarial Literature. This includes pre-Buddhist ideas of sages, i.e. munis, and the importance given to renunciation and solitude in the suttas. Also, this work looks at a Paccekabuddha’s way of life and meditation practices, leading to nibbāna. As the Buddha tells us, “no one but me equals a paccekabuddha” (Isigili Sutta).

It is natural that non-regret arises in a virtuous person, one whose behavior is virtuous.

There’s no need to make a wish to get enlightened; it happens naturally when the conditions are there.

Meghiya, when the heart’s release is not ripe, five things help it ripen. What five? Firstly, a mendicant has good friends…

A monk leaves the Buddha to go into solitude, only to find his mind overcome by unskillful thoughts. When he asks the Buddha about this, he gets a heartfelt summary of the entire path.

But because it is known by me, seen, found, realised, contacted by wisdom thus: ‘Here, when someone feels a certain kind of pleasant feeling, unwholesome states increase in him and wholesome states diminish,’ that I therefore say: ‘Abandon such a kind of pleasant feeling.’

The Buddha admonishes a group of monks who refused to give up eating in the afternoon with a unique teaching on the stages of the path.

I say that this person is like the warrior who is killed and finished off by his foes. Some people are like that.

Some warriors, like some monks, are killed or injured in battle, while others emerge victorious.

What kind of person does not torment himself, not being interested in self-torture, and does not torment others, not being interested in torturing others?

Contrasting the openness of animals with the duplicity of humans, The Buddha explains how to lead the religious life in a way that is truly admirable.

Bhikkhus, whether for a layperson or one gone forth, I praise the right way.

The wrong eightfold path is the wrong way; the right eightfold path is the right way.

… the fourth meditative absorption, this is just like that tree gradually blooming.

A translation of a discourse from the Ekottarika-āgama which parallels the Pāricchattaka Sutta.

… based upon virtue, established upon virtue, a bhikkhu develops and cultivates the seven factors of enlightenment…

Dragons nurture their strength in the Himalayas, then enter the rivers and reach the ocean. So too, a mendicant nurtures ethics and then develops the seven awakening factors to reach nibbāna.

And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu, based upon virtue, established upon virtue, develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path?

As for the person who has neither serenity nor discernment: in order to get those skillful qualities, they should apply intense enthusiasm…

How each kind of person should practice.

When a mendicant is committed to development, they might not wish: ‘If only my mind was freed from the defilements by not grasping!’ Even so, their mind is freed…

Liberation doesn’t happen because you wish for it, but because you develop the factors of the path.

When they’ve been given up and eliminated, there are fine corruptions: thoughts of family, country, and being looked up to. A sincere, capable mendicant gives these up, gets rid of, eliminates, and obliterates them.

Meditation is like purifying gold. A meditator should progressively eliminate more and more refined corruptions.

A seed sown in a field that possesses these eight factors brings forth abundant fruits, its fruits are delectable, and it yields a profit.

A strange simile for the Eightfold Path, illuminating something of how we might think about each aṅga.

If, bhikkhus, that log does not veer towards the near shore, does not veer towards the far shore, does not sink in mid-stream, does not get cast up on high ground, does not get caught by human beings, does not get caught by nonhuman beings, does not get caught in a whirlpool, and does not become inwardly rotten, it will slant, slope, and incline towards the ocean.

A cowherd named Nanda overhears a teaching by the Buddha.

This divine vehicle unsurpassed
Originates from within oneself.
The wise depart from the world in it,
Inevitably winning the victory.

Ānanda sees the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi resplendent on his all-white chariot. He asks the Buddha whether there is a similarly divine vehicle in Buddhism.

…the seven factors of enlightenment go to fulfilment by development.

… there is no true wandering: that is how it appears to me

Venerable Udena explains to a polite but sceptical Brahmin what makes someone a true recluse.

Then it occurred to me, ‘I can’t achieve that pleasure with a body so excessively emaciated. Why don’t I eat some solid food, some rice and porridge?’

The Buddha tells the story of his striving to a faithful Brahmin.

It cannot be stressed too strongly that the ariyan (Noble) Eightfold Path, culminating in sammāsamādhi defined as the four jhānas, is the exclusive province of the ariyasāvaka. It is beyond the knowledge and experience of the puthujjana or outsider, despite what is said in popular books

An unorthodox reading of the final step of the path.

When right view is assisted by five factors, it has liberation of mind as its fruit…

… a bhikkhu develops right view, which is based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release

On the kind of right view necessary to attain Nibbāna.

… right view is the forerunner and precursor of skillful qualities

What did you expect, Aggivessana? For Prince Jayasena—living in the midst of sensuality, consuming sensuality, chewed on by thoughts of sensuality, burning with the fever of sensuality, intent on the search for sensuality—to know or see or realize that which is to be known through renunciation, seen through renunciation, attained through renunciation, realized through renunciation: That’s impossible.

The Buddha gives an outline of the ideal monastic life: from the level of the untamed to the level of the tamed.

… heaping sand in a bucket, sprinkling it thoroughly with water, and pressing it out. But by doing this, they couldn’t extract any oil, regardless of whether they made a wish

It’s not wishing for nibbāna that leads there, but rather putting in the intelligent effort required to walk the path.

These eight things don’t arise to be developed and cultivated except when a Realized One, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha has appeared.

An important sutta in which the Buddha reiterates the uniqueness of his discovery.

Let them enjoy the filthy, lazy pleasure of possessions, honor, and popularity.

The Buddha declares the antidote to greed.

Mendicants, these six things are unsurpassable. What six? The unsurpassable seeing, listening, acquisition, training, service, and recollection.

But none of them compare with the Dhamma.

I do not perceive another single factor so helpful as good friendship…

Friendship with admirable people is the prime external factor to help those in training.

So long as researchers are investigating “meditation” in the abstract, they will miss out on the process by focusing too much on the goals. They will assume that the “goal” is a particular state that can be attained and stabilized, and will fail to understand the various techniques that are required for getting there in the first place.

A comparison of the path of meditative attainment as presented by the fifth-century, Sri Lankan author Buddhaghosa and by the sixteenth-century, Tibetan author Dakpo Tashi Namgyal along with some reflections on what this might mean for contemporary, “scientific” research on meditative states of consciousness.

… there are these four ways of taking a wrong course

Making decisions prejudiced by favoritism, hostility, stupidity, and cowardice will lead in a bad direction.

Now he lay among the Sal trees, about to enter Nirvana. The time was the middle of the night, calm and noiseless. For the sake of all the disciples, he briefly spoke of the most important doctrines…

An English translation of a popular Zen liturgical sutra.

The faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom are the five faculties.

One who has developed the five faculties fully is a perfected one. Developing them to a lesser degree, one reaches lesser attainments.

This article surveys references to mindfulness-related meditations found in Pāli discourses in the first five chapters of the Majjhima-nikāya and their parallels, showing the ubiquity of a concern with contemplative practices in early Buddhist thought.

Association with people of integrity, lord, is a factor for stream entry.

The Buddha asks Sāriputta about the four factors for stream-entry: association with good people, hearing the teaching, proper attention, and right practice. He also defines the “stream” and the “Sotāpanna” in this omnibus sutta on Sotāpatti.

One should know what it is to extol and what it is to disparage, and knowing both, one should neither extol nor disparage but should teach only the Dhamma. One should know how to define pleasure, and knowing that; one should pursue pleasure within oneself.

Achieving peace is no simple matter. The Buddha explains how to avoid conflict through contentment, right speech, understanding pleasure, and not insisting on provincial conventions.

We must recall here that it is attachment to these five aggregates that has to be given up and that this is a gradual process. We must not expect our habitual likes and dislikes, our enjoyments and desires to vanish all at once; nor can they be broken by force.

A translation and analysis of Snp 1.1.

… what, bhikkhus, is the person whose speech is like dung?

… meditation is carried out for the purpose of realising nibbāna and thereby escaping from the ills of life

By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood.

How the Buddha crossed the flood of suffering.

One should not pursue a course
That is painful and harmful.

Kokanada gives a pithy teaching in verse.

Mendicants, don’t engage in all kinds of low talk, such as…

When we guard our mind, the thinking is unable to continue, unable to proliferate.

This is all a misunderstanding because reality is based on the mind.

Monks, there are these four modes of practice. Which four? Intolerant practice, tolerant practice, self-controlled practice, and even practice.

Once upon a time, householder, there was a brahmin named Velāma…

[…but] it would be more fruitful to develop the perception of impermanence—even for as long as a finger-snap—than to do all of these things

The wealthy and devoted lay supporter Anāthapiṇḍika rather curiously says that only poor alms are given in his home. The Buddha praises gracious and bounteous generosity, but meditation surpasses even the greatest offering.

give up sense pleasures even if it’s painful:
they call this person “one who goes against the stream.”

This sutta defines a person who goes with the stream; a person who goes against the stream; a stable person; and one who has crossed over.

… in three cases one may be understood to have faith and confidence

How to know a faithful person.

… someone with a mind of love…

I have been aware of loving-kindness,
limitless and well-developed

The mindful one grows better each day
but isn’t totally freed from animosity.

The spirit Maṇibhadda speaks in praise of mindfulness, opining that a mindful one is free of hate. The Buddha responds that yes, mindfulness is wonderful, but only through developing love is one free of hate.

… while I was seeking one door to the Deathless, I have come—all at once—to hear of eleven!

Venerable Ānanda teaches a wealthy merchant how to use eleven different meditative states as gateways to enlightenment.

The Lord Buddha bestowed the Sāsana impartially to all human beings. [Buddhism] can become the wealth of people at each and every level depending on the interest they take in it.

A dozen transcribed Dhamma talks delivered during Luangta Mahabua’s June 1974 trip to London.

I am not lazy nor conceited,
so why have I not attained Nirvana?

This beautiful poem elegantly captures the stages of the path in subtle prose.

… when the teachings have been followed by ear, recited by speech, examined by mind, and well penetrated by view, four rewards can be expected

The Buddha assures us that we can attain stream entry as a deva.

Mendicants, there are these five opportunities for freedom.

… this study critically examines the traditional Buddhist distinction between the ‘practice of serenity’ (samatha-bhāvanā) and the ‘practice of insight’ (vipassanā-bhāvanā); doing so challenges the traditional positioning of the four jhānas under the category of ‘serenity (or concentration) meditation’ and the premise regarding their secondary and superfluous role in the path

‘root texts’ are summaries of teachings, that traditionally have been celebrated, memorized and commented on by teachers.

A collection of “root texts” of the Tibetan Tradition forming a basic outline of the practice.

… it is necessary to work for the total removal within oneself of sakkāya-diṭṭhi, which is the root cause of rebirth in the miserable states of existence. Sakkāya-diṭṭhi can only be destroyed completely by the noble path and fruit: the three supramundane virtues of morality, concentration, and wisdom. It is therefore imperative to work for the development of these virtues. How should one do the work? By means of noting

Fulfill One’s Duties and be Responsible

A basic introduction to Chinese Mahayana Buddhism.

The only time we can live is now

Explaining the fundamentals of meditation practice and the Buddhist outlook in accessible and winning prose, Being Nobody, Going Nowhere is a much-beloved, classic introduction.

Ours, of course, is not the only culture threatened by feelings of world-weariness. In the Siddhartha story, the father’s reaction to the young prince’s discovery stands for the way most cultures try to deal with these feelings: He tried to convince the prince that his standards for happiness were impossibly high, at the same time trying to distract him

A collection of short essays outlining how to approach the Buddhist Path.

“Right View” is to see and let go.

A meditative reflection on Right (and Wrong) Views and starting the practice on the Right foot.

Just as I was talking about the unhindered Light,
In rolled the morning fog

A collection of “waka” verses on chanting the nembutsu.

Armed with the attitude of loving-kindness and compassion, we naturally no longer have any external enemies.

A commentary on the classic, Tibetan summary of Bodhisattva practices explaining how they transform our mind and character.

Restraint of the sense faculties, Kuṇḍaliya, when developed and cultivated, fulfils the three kinds of good conduct.

On the pivotal role of sense restraint in establishing both virtuous conduct and mindfulness.

For an even more detailed analysis, see MN 117.

It is interesting to compare this sutta to AN 5.71 which seems to compare Enlightenment with tearing down a city.

Concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, when developed & pursued, brings the four establishings of mindfulness to completion. The four establishings of mindfulness, when developed & pursued, bring the seven factors for awakening to completion. The seven factors for awakening, when developed & pursued, bring clear knowing & release to completion.

For the longer (and more famous) sutta on mindfulness of breathing, see MN 118.

… when thereʼs fuel, fire will keep burning until thereʼs nothing left

The Faculty of Faith, the Faculty of Energy, the Faculty of Mindfulness, the Faculty of Concentration, the Faculty of Wisdom.

A sutta good to contemplate or chant, the analysis of the five spiritual faculties provides a fascinating alternative perspective on the path to awakening.

[We have to have] that sense of social responsibility and the phenomena of mind.

If there isn’t a sense of voluntary commitment, […] it wouldn’t have the connection with the training of emotion and the training of wisdom which is necessary for it to be a “Buddhist” morality.

A talk on the seven skills of a wise person.

There’s enough overlap to make conversation possible and enough difference to make that conversation worthwhile.

Philosopher Jay Garfield talks about getting into Buddhist philosophy from the Western, academic tradition, and introduces the classic book of Mahāyana ethics by Śāntideva.

To be able to let go of the past and future, it’s not seeing the negativity of the past or a waste of time thinking about the future, but it’s actually appreciating the joy and the beauty and the compassion of being right here right now. This is Kindfulness of the present moment. When you’re kindful of where you are right now, it means you’re here and you’re kind to this moment: Appreciating the beauty of being here and now

In the Nikāyas and Āgamas, dependent origination serves as the portal to the first breakthrough to the Dhamma. […] When the Susīma-sutta states that “the knowledge of the persistence of principles” precedes “the knowledge of nibbāna”, the intention may well have been the same as that of the other versions, namely, that knowledge of the arising sequence of dependent origination precedes knowledge of the cessation sequence.

A sequel to Bhikkhu Bodhi’s previous study of the Susīma Sutta, attempting a reconstruction of the sutta’s history from its parallels and giving a master class on comparitive hermeneutics.

[In Buddhism, morality] is not concerned so much with the result of one’s actions on other people as it concerns the result of one’s actions on one’s own mind.

An excellent introduction to Buddhist ethics and its place in the path to liberation, including answers to many frequently asked questions.

As a result of seeing the truth of how craving leads to suffering, we have a moment where our minds cease all craving and release us from the incessant arising of experience

A clear and concise description of what enlightenment is, is not, and how it arises.

When confrontation occurs with diligent attention, you directly meet all objects entering your stream of consciousness. You keep the object immovable in your awareness, as if it were a stone penetrating to the bottom of a glass of water, instead of allowing the object to float like a cork

A meandering series of talks on the seven bojjhanga from the perspective of the Mahasi tradition, which should prove interesting and encouraging for beginners and advanced students alike.

With your own mind under control, help others in any way you can,
And take whatever you experience onto the path to liberation.

Therefore, inspect your mind, make it ready now, And consider this: Were you to die now, what would become of you?

Longchen Rabjam emphasizes that a true meditation practitioner must renounce worldly distractions, diligently stabilize the mind, uphold ethical conduct and devote themselves day and night to the profound path of liberation.

Given the fact that the praiseworthy qualities of the Buddha are the main theme of the Mahāsakuludāyi-sutta and its parallel, it is not surprising if the tendency to elevate the Buddha’s status would to some degree also have influenced the reciters responsible for transmitting the discourse. A comparison of the two versions in fact reveals several instances where this tendency is at work

A translation and analysis of MA 107, a short parallel to MN 77.

… the eightfold path is but one of several differently worded statements of Gotama’s course of practice

An astute comparison of five alternative formulations of the path and an excellent example of how to study the Pāli Canon.

Should you find a way to peace and happiness,
Strive constantly to put it into practice

Raise your spirits and encourage yourself.
And always meditate on emptiness.

should laziness or procrastination strike,
Immediately take note of your errors, one by one,
And remind yourself of the heart of your discipline.

Practising like this, you will complete Accumulations of both merit and wisdom,
And eliminate the two forms of obscuration.
You will make this human life meaningful,
And, in time, gain unsurpassable awakening.

… someone with this wholesome state of mind looks at unwholesome, unkind actions and speech in the same way as if he were invited to excrete in the middle of a marketplace

… it’s easy to get out of balance

Deep contemplative experiences and the philosophical conclusions which they yield are beyond history. Or are they?…

One does not obtain sīla, let alone the Dhamma, from the historical process.

We don’t doubt that the Buddha attained nibbāna, but we doubt very much that we can

Bad things are easy to think about! It’s the good things that are difficult, because the kilesas don’t like them.

An afternoon chat about emptiness.

For a more detailed, structural analysis, see “Some Remarks on the Textual History of the Śrāvakabhūmi” by the same author.

… who can untangle this tangle?

A brahmin with matted hair asks the Buddha how we can become disentangled. This short set of verses became one of the most important in all of Theravāda Buddhism when it was used as the cornerstone of Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga.

This treatise explains the progress of insight, together with the corresponding stages of purification. It has been written in brief for the benefit of meditators who have obtained distinctive results in their practice, so that they may more easily understand their experience.

… a bhikkhu who is without ardour and without fear of wrongdoing is incapable of attaining enlightenment

Ostensibly a commentary on a single verse from the Dhammapada, this classic work synthesized the Buddhist Path into a single, comprehensive progression of purification from approaching the path, to purifying ethics, to purifying the mind with meditation and eventually insight. It is from the Visuddhimagga that we get the threefold division of the path into Sīla, Samādhi and Paññā. The ideas of “neighborhood” concentration, the confusion over samatha and vipassana, and much else in the contemporary Theravāda world can all be traced back to this enormously influential tome.

In its day, a landmark of commentarial scholarship and synthesis, today it contains some of the clearest and most detailed descriptions of the advanced stages of meditation that we have from ancient times. Despite, or perhaps even because of, the text’s limitations and subsequent disagreements over their correct interpretation, the Visuddhimagga is certain to remain a vital part of the Buddhist Tradition for centuries to come.

This is the instruction for confusion dawning as wisdom.

A short poem beautifully summarizing the stages of the path: view, ethics, meditation, and wisdom.

One should not neglect wisdom, should preserve truth, should cultivate relinquishment, and should train for peace.

A monk spends the evening in a barn with the Buddha, who rewards the well-mannered disciple with an elaborate and profound discourse on the path and its fruit.

… how a wise lay follower should advise another wise lay follower who is sick

Ending with a rather unusual description of the path as turning the mind progressively higher.

Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, I too, being myself subject to birth, sought what was also subject to birth

The Buddha’s own spiritual autobiography, from searching to finding true deliverance.

… whenever we practise the bodhisattva’s actions–the trainings in generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom–it will cause this bodhicitta that is the union of emptiness and compassion to increase further and further.

A transcript of a short talk on how the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is taught in the Tibetan tradition.

More than 800 of the individual translations from the collection are available for free distribution and have been collected into this open source ebook for your convenience. The rest of the book can be read on the publisher’s website for free (by signing up for an account).

Reverends, all things are rooted in desire. Attention produces them.

The Buddha gives an extraordinary ten-point summary of the path from things to the cessation of things.

Who, concentrated, leaves conceits behind,
His heart and mind set fair, and wholly freed,
Heedful dwelling in the woods alone,
Shall indeed escape the realm of death.

We must use sati-paññā to sound out and see the dukkha. To see clearly the heat with insight. Then turn to see our Heart – is that also red-hot as well? Or is it only the body parts (dhātu-khandha) that are heated? If one possesses discernment then the Heart will not be moved. It will be cool within the mass of fire which is the body burning with the fires of dukkha. This is the way of those who practise.

A series of fiery and inspiring Dhamma talks from Thailand’s famed forest master on the subject of meditation: starting with the foundation of samatha and dwelling at length on the correct way to develop vipassana and paññā.

The magga, then, is not a ‘path’ as a series of steps, but a particular way of approach, a way of operating, an orientation that is fully equipped only when it has eight factors. It can then do its work of perfecting noble sīla, then noble samādhi and then noble paññā.

… the Noble Eight-factored Magga is neither the general practice of Buddhism, including ordinary levels of samatha and vipassanā meditation, nor, as in the developed Abhidhamma-cum-commentarial view, only the instant prior to stream-entry. It is a specific eight-factored way of approach, or skilful method that can arise when the mind is free of the five hindrances, especially during a sermon on the four ariya-saccas or when there is samatha and strong vipassanā into the three marks

So, keep on practicing. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ll have to reap results, there’s no doubt about it.

An intimate letter of encouragement, helpful for meditators who haven’t yet entered the insight path.

A highly technical but mostly accurate map of the path, this article in particular shows the places meditators can get stuck on the path without realizing it.

Kammaṭṭhāna meditation should be practised so as to reach Nibbāna, thereby escaping from all kinds of misery

A thorough and concise overview of the entire path of meditative purification. A very helpful map, essentially summarizing the Visuddhimagga.

The book includes detailed descriptions of the qualia of the different stages of enlightenment, along with the insights and practices relevant to each stage. Far from a technical manual though, this book is a hugely inspiring and approachable series of straightforward conversations. A beginning practitioner will benefit immensely from hearing how possible enlightenment is, but it is the most advanced practitioners (think: sakadāgāmī / anāgāmī already) who will reap the highest reward from Arahattamagga: Arahattaphala.

… the common interpretation of the jhānas as absorption-concentration attainments [is] incompatible with the teachings of the Pāli Nikāyas. […] one attains the jhānas, not by one-pointed concentration and absorption into a meditation object, but by releasing and letting go of the foothold of the unwholesome mind […] the entrance into the first jhāna is the actualization and embodiment of insight practice.

While I think that Arbel goes too far in saying that jhāna can only be an insight attainment, I think her thesis is broadly correct: the vipassana jhānas, while not at all like their fixed-concentration cousins, do exist, contain all the jhāna factors and, in fact, constitute sammā-samādhi.

I do recommend actually reading this paper. It has a good summary of other research done on meditation and a rather thoughtful analysis section. It’s less dense and jargon-heavy than other papers I’ve reviewed and gives a good window into the state of scientific research on Buddhist meditation circa 2012.

Meditation can be seen as the ultimate in “[restructuring the] lower-level components” of the mind. We abandon all the higher-level cognition built upon words and concepts and return, as much as possible, to the preverbal experience in order to “re-engage and reshape” our way of being in the world.

For the more straightforward analysis of the Path, see SN 45.8.

And even those disciples of his who fall out with their companions in the holy life and abandon the training to return to the low life—even they praise the Master and the Dhamma and the Sangha; they blame themselves instead of others, saying: “We were unlucky, we have little merit”

The ascetic Sakuludāyin is amazed at how revered the Buddha is by his disciples, and the Buddha explains why his disciples love and respect him so dearly:

Udāyin, when my disciples have met with suffering and become victims of suffering, prey to suffering, they come to me and ask me about the noble truth of suffering. Being asked, I explain to them the noble truth of suffering, and I satisfy their minds

The Buddha then goes on to enumerate in detail the path of tranquility meditation and its fruits, including several uncommon lists, such as the eight liberations and the ten kasiṇas, the perfection of which is the ultimate reason the Sangha honors and respects their teacher.

Note that the “uncommon lists” here aren’t found in this sutta’s Chinese parallel and are somewhat out of proportion to the rest of the sutta, suggesting that they are late additions.

Mendicants, these seven perceptions, when developed and cultivated, are very fruitful and beneficial. They culminate in the deathless and end with the deathless. What seven? The perceptions of ugliness, death, repulsiveness of food, dissatisfaction with the whole world, impermanence, suffering in impermanence, and not-self in suffering.

As for the individual who has attained neither internal tranquillity of awareness nor insight into phenomena through heightened discernment, he should approach an individual who has attained both internal tranquillity of awareness & insight into phenomena

On the importance of attending to the wise in progressing on the path. Also notable in this Sutta is the Buddha’s emphasis on developing both tranquility and insight.

For it is death in the training of the noble one to reject the training and return to a lesser life.

The Buddha explains why some people progress on the path of meditation and why others fall short of the ultimate goal.

Is it possible, venerable sir, to point out any fruit of recluseship that is visible here and now?

One of the greatest literary and spiritual texts of early Buddhism, this sutta gives a thorough account of the path and benefits of renunciation.

What are the qualities that make one a contemplative?

The Buddha gives an overview of the path from the perspective of ethics, from the establishment of shame all the way to the realization of the highest good: Nibbāna.

What is the cause, what is the reason why, of the two persons without a blemish, one is said to be worse and one better?

On the importance of mindfulness in our cultivation of virtue.

‘Others will be cruel; we shall not be cruel here’

The Buddha gives a comprehensive moral rubric we can use to assess and guide our development of self-effacement.

… a monk who is endowed with these fifteen factors including exertion, it is possible for [him to attain] breakthrough, it is possible for [him to attain] awakening, it is possible for [him to attain] arrival at unsurpassable security from bondage.

The Buddha explains various ways one can become cut off.

Here, bhikkhus, someone in pain and grief abstains from killing living beings, and he experiences pain and grief that have abstention from killing living beings as condition.

In this sutta, the Buddha admits that following the ethical path isn’t always pleasant. Still, he assures us it’s worthwhile in the end. But the best path of practice is that which is pleasant now and in the future.

And how is a mendicant not skilled in characteristics? It’s when a mendicant doesn’t understand that a fool is characterized by their deeds

For eleven reasons a cowherd is not able to properly look after a herd. The Buddha compares this to the spiritual growth of a yogi.

So this holy life, bhikkhus, does not have gain, honour, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of virtue for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakeable deliverance of mind that is the goal of this holy life, its heartwood, and its end.

Following the incident with Devadatta, the Buddha cautions the mendicants against becoming complacent with superficial benefits of spiritual life and points to liberation as the true heart of the teaching.

All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a reflection, a shadow, or a flash of lightning, or a few drops on the morning grass. So, for example, by the time you see the flash of lightning, it’s already gone. In no time, it’s come from somewhere and it’s gone somewhere else. You see it, and it’s gone. Which is to say that the world is something that you can see and experience but you can’t obtain or possess it.

During my first weeks with my teacher, Ajaan Fuang, I began to realize that he had psychic powers.

There is no single “swiss-army knife” technique that works equally well at all times; instead, we must carefully examine our present conditions and determine what practice is most relevant.

… a young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion ‘identity,’ so how could identity view arise in him?

A little baby has no wrong views or intentions, but the underlying tendency for these things is still there. Without practicing, they will inevitably recur.

But one day your body’s gonna say, “No, I can no longer do it.” Your body becomes old, sick or incapacitated. You cannot do anything. Then, people may think about killing themselves, right? But if you have peace from meditation, then you don’t need the body. Whatever happens to the body doesn’t bother you. You can still have peace and happiness directly. You don’t need a medium like the body and the things that the body consumes to make it happy. All you need is mindfulness to calm your mind, to stop your mind.

But it’s not easy. Mindfulness doesn’t come easily but it’s not impossible. You just have to concentrate on your effort to be mindful

… how lust, hatred, delusion and other negative emotions are considered to cause physical and mental pain among [unenlightened beings]

My favorite part of this lovely article is its subtle normalization of the ariya and pathologizing of puthujjanas—a rhetorical flip from our usual conceptualization that I hope catches on!

… an anthology of discourse excerpts from the Pāli Canon […] best used by readers who have already spent time in study and look to focus more on their practice. It can also be helpful for someone who likes to dive right into practice and prefers to keep reading to a minimum.

Tucked away in the Samyutta Nikāya among the “connected sayings on causality” is a short formalized text entitled the Upanisa Sutta, the “Discourse on Supporting Conditions.” Though at first glance hardly conspicuous among the many interesting suttas in this collection, this little discourse turns out upon repeated examination to be of tremendous doctrinal importance.

Once the mind has been made peaceful, we then allow the mind to rest for some time in this calm state. Once it begins to think and proliferate again, we then take up the body for contemplation. Contemplation and samādhi are practiced in alternation like this.

In this sutta, a bhikkhu named Sāti promulgates the pernicious view that consciousness transmigrates from life to life. The Buddha reprimands him with a lengthy discourse on dependent origination, explaining that all phenomena of existence arise and cease through conditions.

‘Iddhi’ means greatness and ‘pāda’ means path. Together they form the path to success. Whether it be in the Dhamma or the worldly sense, one simply needs the four bases of spiritual power in order to succeed.

A book of short, inspiring quotes organized around the oft-overlooked Iddhipadas.

… beings are intoxicated with life and engage in misconduct by body, speech, and mind. But when one often reflects upon [death], the intoxication with life is diminished.

Topics that are worth regularly reflecting on, whether as a lay person or a renunciant.

Reverend Sāriputta, what things should an ethical mendicant properly attend to?

Mahākoṭṭhita asks and Sāriputta replies that if they focus on the aggregates as impermanent, etc. they may become a stream-enterer.

Upāli, it’s not easy to endure isolated wilderness & forest lodgings. It’s not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not gained concentration.

When Upāli asks to go into retreat, the Buddha warns him that secluded wilderness dwellings are hard to endure unless one is accomplished in meditation. He gives a long account of the training required before going into solitude, and ends by encouraging Upāli to stay in the Saṅgha.

They focus on the cessation of identification, and their mind is eager, confident, settled, and decided about it. You’d expect that mendicant to stop identifying.

A rare sutta about cessation attainment and the final leap.

All of the monks and nuns who declare in my presence that they have attained perfection, did so by one or other of four paths.

Ways of practicing serenity and discernment.

doing his manly duties,
[he] won’t fall away
from ease.

A short poem on arousing energy in the practice.

As for the question of suffering in the future—in this life or the next—don’t overlook your heart that’s suffering right now.

A collection of Luangta’s talks delivered to lay people. A beautiful collection of sermons from one of the great modern masters.

An open-source version can be read online for free at Reading Faithfully or via the links compiled online, but the real book is still recommended for its helpful redactions and notes.

We have to practice step by step to attain succeeding levels of happiness, starting with the happiness that arises from giving, to the happiness from keeping the precepts, not hurting others, to the happiness from samadhi or mental discipline.

A simple and straightforward but powerful summary of the path to wisdom encouraging us all to strive for real, lasting happiness.

When you are repelled by everything, there is nothing to grasp onto and craving becomes impossible.

Ajahn Brahmali explains how ethics and meditation lead to enlightenment.

You can also listen to the book on YouTube.