Bhikkhus, saying ‘a heap of the unwholesome,’ it is about the five hindrances that one could rightly say this.

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.

Students who are well-trained in Mindfulness cope with dukkha in a very different fashion from the rest of us whose minds are still at the “drunken monkey” stage.

Dr. Ashby explores how human suffering (dukkha) is not merely an external condition but is compounded by our internal responses, such as clinging, aversion, and self‑identification. She argues that by understanding and transforming these reactions, one can see suffering clearly and move toward its cessation.

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 a mendicant has faith, approaches, pays homage, asks questions, actively listens to the teachings, remembers the teachings, reflects on the meaning, and practices accordingly, the Realized One feels inspired to teach [them].

How we should approach the Dhamma and Dhamma teachers.

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.

Bhikkhus, these six bases for contact—if untamed, unguarded, unprotected, unrestrained—are bringers of suffering.

A series of verses encouraging us to guard well our senses.

the abbot Shadeu Trulshik wrote down whatever came to mind and offered it from Māratika cave.

Four simple, but direct, instructions on cultivating the Dharma.

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.

We demonstrate that exertion of self-control for as little as 45 min can lead to an increased propensity for engaging in aggressive acts in the context of socially relevant choices, as measured by a set of economic games. Also, we show that such behavioral changes are associated with increased sleep-like (delta) activity within frontal brain areas related to decision-making and impulse control.

how you experience life is a representation of what you believe about it. If you attack your core beliefs about yourself and your life, you can change your thoughts and feelings, which automatically changes your behavior.

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.

Once a person understands the rise and fall of all phenomena, then experiencing the worst that human life can give does not make one tremble.

Ajahn Brahm explains the meaning of emptiness, or nothingness, as he puts it, as the self-less and impermenant nature of all phenomena. After this detailed explanation, the Ajahn points out that not realizing this emptiness causes most people’s suffering; therefore, one should strive “to still the mind and see the most beautiful jewel there could ever be—nothingness.”

A discussion and Pāli edition of this text’s (16th century? Cambodian?) commentary by Venerable Ñāṇamaṅgala can be found on Academia.edu, here.

This paper offers a comparative study of a cluster of stories in which the Buddha-to-be makes a sacrifice – of flesh, family members or wealth – in exchange for a single verse of teaching. […] The paper argues that these tales reveal new perspectives on the oft-studied relationship between Buddha and Dharma, and between the Buddha’s physical body and his body of teachings

That was not the earth splitting open, Samiddhi. That was Mara…

When Māra repeatedly pesters the monk Samiddhi when he is on retreat, the Buddha encourages him to press on in his practice.

No ties torment one who has nothing

A series of Satullapa gods address the Buddha in verse.

So, for Buddhists, as long as they try to cultivate a mind of equinimity and fortrightness, as long as they are compassionate, or use wisdom and an objective attitude to deal with whatever comes up, then there is no need to worry about whether one has a good fortune or not, or whether Fengshui is correct or not.

Ven. Master Sheng Yen explains that, while supernatural things such as fortunetelling or fengshui are not totally superstitious, they are also not accurate. The mind has the ability to transform and change its fate, so Buddhists need only be concerned with developing a wholesome mind.

We historians of religion find ourselves in possession of rare and hard-won skills that are directly relevant to understanding this phenomenon and which may help in developing solutions.

Dr. Salguero reads his JBE paper on how the current conversation around adverse meditation experiences lacks a proper grounding in Buddhist history.

If evil unwholesome states that have arisen in me are not abandoned, this may lead to my harm.

Sāriputta approaches Kassapa and asks how it is that only someone who is keen and conscientious can realize freedom.

These are the five benefits of good conduct.

One who gets drowsy from overeating

I stepped up on the path for walking meditation…

one accomplished in vision is a disciple of the Buddha.

I’ll stay in the grove.

Zhiyi was notable as a systematizer and domesticator of Buddhist knowledge, and particularly for his writings on śamatha and vipaśyanā meditation. The excerpt translated below is a complete chapter from the shorter of his meditation treatises. It focuses specifically on how various strands of Indian and Chinese medical and religious knowledge could be employed to diagnose and treat illness while the practitioner remained engaged in seated meditation.

Incorporating both foreign and domestic knowledge into the framework of śamatha and vipaśyanā , this chapter represents one of the earliest examples of systematic Indo-Sinitic medical syncretism, and one of the most important expressions of a unique medieval Chinese Buddhist perspective on healing.

Overall, the results of this first review on the topic support the efficacy of MBIs for changing obesity-related eating behaviours, specifically binge eating, emotional eating and external eating.

If you are like most people, there is a gap between the person you are and the person you wish to be.

Mendicants, meditate in retreat. A mendicant in retreat truly understands.

Bhikkhus, live under a protector, not without a protector. One without a protector lives in suffering. There are these ten qualities that serve as a protector.

Greed is to be abandoned neither by body nor by speech…

Some things are to be abandoned through wisdom.

The Mindfulness group showed significant improvement relative to the Sleep Hygiene group on secondary health outcomes of insomnia symptoms, depression symptoms, fatigue interference, and fatigue severity (P < .05 for all).

You should train like this: ‘We will fear the fault apparent in the present life, and we will fear the fault to do with lives to come.’

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

They are a kind of spiritual materialism, but they are a good kind—the kind you work at developing, the kind you can amass. And there is no greed in amassing them. It’s a sign of initiative. A sign of the right effort.

Five spiritual treasures (conviction, virtue, shame, compunction, generosity, learning, and discernment) are worth hoarding, as they lead the practitioner toward nibbāna and also bring benefit to others around them.

When you understand the world that you are in and you are in that place of mental fortitude, then you’re not looking for anything “out there.” But maybe you have something to offer people who are caught up in their fears.

In this heartfelt dhamma talk, Venerable Panyavati explains how the mind creates problems such as fear and insecurities, but once it is cultivated by the Buddhist path, it becomes peaceful and able to give peace to others.

One who does not seek delight in suffering, I say, is freed from suffering.

If you enjoy the six senses, you enjoy suffering.

The eight eligible studies comprised two mindfulness studies, four vipassana meditation studies, and two studies utilizing other Buddhist-Derived Interventions. Intervention participants demonstrated significant improvements across five key criminogenic variables: (i) negative affect, (ii) substance use (and related attitudes), (iii) anger and hostility, (iv) relaxation capacity, and (v) self-esteem and optimism. There were, however, a number of major quality issues. It is concluded that BDIs may be feasible and effective rehabilitative interventions for incarcerated populations. However, if the potential suitability and efficacy of BDIs for prisoner populations is to be evaluated in earnest, it is essential that methodological rigor is substantially improved.

For an alternate understanding of this sutta, Evans, 2007.

Though many creatures crawl about,
Many terrors, flies, serpents,
The great sage gone to his empty hut
Stirs not a hair because of them.

Māra manifests as a huge serpent, but the Buddha remains unshaken.

Leave behind the analogies of foolish minds and modes of speech,
And look instead into the mind for which there can be no analogy.

In this poetical advice, Mipham Rinpoche calls on his listeners to forget conceptions of reality, no matter how grand, and to look directly at the mind in order to gain wisdom.

When those seven days have passed, having emerged from their hiding places and embraced each other, they will come together and cry in one voice, ‘Fantastic, dear foe, you live!’

In illustration of his dictum that one should rely on oneself, the Buddha gives a detailed account of the fall of a kingly lineage of the past, and the subsequent degeneration of society. This process, however, is not over, as the Buddha predicts that eventually society will fall into utter chaos. But far in the far future, another Buddha, Metteyya, will arise in a time of peace and plenty.

How can one make sense of ethical action when one is always already partly the other?

A medical anthropologist analyzes the Thai concept of the เจ้ากรรมนายเวร (čhao kam nāi wēn) and explores how a more porous sense of self helps Chiang Mai Buddhists to manage pain and assemble good lives.

Kamma gives us opportunities to learn.

In his usual wit and humor, Ajahn Brahm explains the functioning of kamma in our daily lives and its relation to the various rebirths one can have.

someone who has gained a footing
and stands on dry land
need not strive

Dāmali the god suggests that a true brahmin must strive to abandon desire. The Buddha disagrees, saying that a true brahmin already has.

You may fall prey to the curses and spells of demons and other ethereal entities…

Some practical advice.

What is the cause, Reverend Sāriputta, what is the reason why some sentient beings aren’t fully extinguished in the present life?

For the Buddha’s answer to this question, see SN 35.131.

Someone like that is truly amazing, is truly a friend!

A translation of a short, encouraging talk on how to move towards freedom.

Here, I’d like to talk about those things that the meditator will often misunderstand to be unbeneficial or improper practice or a sign that the practice is going wrong when in fact these things are a sign that one is practicing correctly.

A talk about how right perception of the three characteristics is often misunderstood by meditators as “wrong” when they expect meditation to always lead immediately to “blissful” states.

Progress in meditation is about giving up and letting go, not becoming and taking on new constructs.

A list of common questions on vipassanā practice along with Ajahn Yuttadhammo’s insightful and practical answers.

But then, a mendicant grounded on these five things should develop four further things. They should develop the perception of ugliness to give up greed, love to give up hate, mindfulness of breathing to cut off thinking, and perception of impermanence to uproot the conceit ‘I am’.

Venerable Meghiya, while attending on the Buddha, wants to go off and meditate in a forest alone. The Buddha discourages him, but he goes anyway. When his meditation doesn’t go well, he returns chastened to the Buddha, who teaches him the importance of getting the fundamentals right.

Therefore it is very important to learn to shape the mind, and when you learn to shape the mind then you can achieve a mind that is free. So the importance of meditation is learning to achieve a mind that is free, a mind that is happy, a mind that is peaceful, a mind that has loving-kindness.

This is a representation of Goodwin Samararatne’s talks given in Hong Kong in 1997.

In these talks, Samararatne explains a variety of topics related to meditation on loving-kindness and mindfulness, especially in daily life.

Exert yourself in the Dharma, therefore, Lodrö, Before you must bear the burden of your misdeeds. Don’t squander this freedom while you have the chance, O child, but apply your mind to the cultivation of virtue.

A short poem meant to remind the author of the importance of sustained practice and recognizing our shortcomings, especially in the face of impending death.

If you have the type of anatomy that isn’t suited to lotus pose, time and effort won’t change a thing. There is a saying in yoga that “practice and all is coming”. In this context all that will be coming is pain.

A short video explaining the anatomy of the lotus pose and why some people cannot meditate in this posture.

… for a long time you have learned the teachings, remembering them, reciting them, mentally scrutinizing them, and comprehending them theoretically. But a disciple should value following the Teacher, even if asked to go away …

A group of mendicants have taken to socializing too much, so the Buddha teaches on the importance of seclusion in order to enter into emptiness.

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.

Now, for as long as I live, bless me so that I shall not deceive myself with so many pointless acts, But end my days striving in the practice of profound Dharma.

In this short lamentation, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö invokes the blessings of his guru, Jamyang Loter Wangpo, to live an honest life of Dharma practise, despite his shortcomings.

Your job isn’t to cure. It’s to care.

Ajahn Brahm’s seventh talk during the 2009 rains retreat.

… if a monk avoids positive or negative inclinations when using his senses, Mara would not get access, would not get a hold.

A brief description of Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s sermon on sense-restraint (SN 35.243 / SA 1176) along with a translated Sanskrit fragment of this sermon found in Turfan (Turpan).

Look at the body with wisdom and realize this. If your house is flooded or burnt to the ground, whatever the threat to it, let it concern only the house. If there’s a flood, don’t let it flood your mind. If there’s a fire, don’t let it burn your heart. Let it be merely the house which is outside of you that is flooded or burned. Now is the time to allow the mind to let go of its attachments.

Ajahn Chah gives an inspiring talk to a dying disciple.

If you’re peaceful, learn from peace. If you’re not peaceful, learn from not-peace.

Ajahn Jayasaro offers a talk covering a wide variety of themes on Buddhist practice during and outside formal meditation practice, such staying mindful and cultivating wholesome thoughts.

One who has fully realized the truth of not-self thereby goes beyond the fear of death.

Surveying various suttas and agamas on the topic of death and translating a discourse that outlines the practice of the recollection of death, Bhikkhu Analyo brings out the importance of death in early Buddhism and contributes to modern research concerning how the thought of death affects human behavior.

Mindfulness provides a breathing space to take stock and re-energize our actions from a place of care, awareness and creativity.

A look at how mindfulness can reduce burnout and increase resilience, particularly for those working with non-governmental organizations in areas of extreme conflict.

The wild elephant of the mind, long accustomed to roam in the jungle of desires, does not take readily to taming, or to being tied to the post of practice …

This short book addresses common problems that modern practitioners encounter and how to best handle them so one can continue to progress along the Buddhist path.

Mendicants, all the hard work that gets done depends on the earth…

… when a bhikkhu develops and cultivates the Noble Eightfold Path, whenever evil unwholesome states have arisen, he intercedes to disperse and quell them.

Rather, the breakthrough to the Four Noble Truths is accompanied only by happiness and joy.

Even more than if you’re being tortured with spikes, you should make an effort to realize Nibbāna.

Having made a basket of acacia leaves or of pine needles or of myrobalan leaves, I will bring water…

Monk, don’t be bitter. If you’re bitter, corrupted by putrefaction, flies will, without a doubt, plague and infest you.

The Buddha helps a monk in distress by teaching of “bitterness”, “rotting flesh”, and “insects”.

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.

The deep silence that is underneath all things is always present, always available.

who wants to listen, memorizes the teachings, examines their meaning, and practices accordingly, and is diligent when it comes to skillful qualities can expect growth, not decline, in skillful qualities, whether by day or by night.

At Naḷakapāna the Buddha invites Sāriputta to teach. He speaks of ten qualities that lead to decline or non-decline.

Wisdom doesn’t get itself entangled, bogged down…

A small collection of three Dhamma talks on how to orient our thoughts and practice in the right direction.

To better understand how meditation influences the sensory experience, we used arterial spin labeling functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the neural mechanisms by which mindfulness meditation influences pain in healthy human participants. After 4 d of mindfulness meditation training, meditating in the presence of noxious stimulation significantly reduced pain unpleasantness by 57% and pain intensity ratings by 40% when compared to rest.

Sensual pleasures are suffering, Eraka!

The Buddha spoke of two kinds of desire: desire that arises from ignorance and delusion which is called taṇhā—craving—and desire that arises from wisdom and intelligence, which is called kusala-chanda

Adapted from a Dhamma talk of Ajahn Jayasāro, this article explains the role that skilful desires (chanda) and the four right exertions (sammappadhāna) play in a practitioner’s development.

In response to a question from a Sakya geshé, asking what should be done in the event of sickness and the rest, I, the monk Tokmé, who discourses on the Dharma, set down these ways of bringing sickness and other circumstances onto the spiritual path.

… mindfulness of postures served as a way of facing fear

Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in Dharamsala, India, this article considers how sems pa chen po (vast or spacious mind) can be understood as emblematic of the Tibetan Buddhist view of resilience.

The “big mind” view acts as a kind of north star principle, guiding the way, even and especially among those who are struggling. A spacious mind is not merely an outcome, but a pathway, a method, and a horizon, orienting those who are suffering toward recovery. This article explores resilience from a perspective that suffering is inherently workable, and in fact, can be a great teacher. This argument is framed theoretically within an “anthropology of the good,” which seeks to understand resilience as moral experience; more aptly explaining what Tibetan Buddhists do in the face of adversity than the dichotomy of trauma/resilience, which is rooted narrowly in a Euro-American view of mental health.

Effort is needed, but can be excessive, unreflectively mindless, unaware of gradually developed results, or misdirected. Contentment can be misunderstood to imply that skilful desire has no role in practice, and lead to passivity

Mendicants, there are these five kinds of emotional barrenness. What five? …

… what fuels and what starves the five hindrances and the seven awakening factors

if you’re patient, mindful and calm,
then you act for the good of both
for yourself and the other person

A brahmin visits the Buddha and abuses him, but the Buddha responds with patience.

There are six proper occasions for going to see an esteemed mendicant…

The right time to visit a monastic is when you need guidance and support.

This is how a disciple of the noble ones dwells

… the person in whom the factors of stream entry are altogether and in every way lacking I call an outsider

Changing the work and how we work is the unpleasant task of dealing with what we’ve been denying. It is probably the biggest test in the creative process demanding not only an admission that you’ve made a mistake, but that you know how to fix it.

The story of Twyla Tharp’s Billy Joel musical and the unlikely bicycle-powered airplane.

Staying in your comfort zone isn’t always the best option.

The incredible stories of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies and Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert and why diversity is better than it feels.

For the exciting part two, see Frankenstein versus the Volcano.

Witless fools behave
like their own worst enemies,
doing wicked deeds…

The deity Khema utters a series of verses in praise of good deeds. The Buddha responds with a simile for someone who departs the path of the good.

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

How the Buddha crossed the flood of suffering.

The word “suffering” just means everything that can make you unhappy, that stops you from being a peaceful and happy and content person. When we really look at it, that comes down to just about everything! Everything we come into contact with has the potential to cause us suffering.

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

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.

Because of this meritorious deed, I have been born as a very beautiful deva and enjoy all the wonderful things that delight my heart.

A deva explains the results of taking care of one’s parents and having confidence in monks.

I was a servant working in other people’s houses. But I was very fortunate…

Only those who do good deeds are reborn in heaven.

Even if a thousand mighty princes and great archers,
well trained, with strong bows,
were to completely surround me;
I would never flee.

The early Saṅgha’s foremost poet praises the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha and rouses us to practice.

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.

… you can expect eleven benefits when the heart’s release by love has been cultivated, developed, and practiced, made a vehicle and a basis, kept up, consolidated, and properly implemented.

Asked by a householder to teach a path to freedom, Venerable Ānanda explains no less than eleven meditative states that may serve as doors to the deathless.

… the effects of a brief mindfulness program for emotional regulation and levels of mindfulness on senior students in Brazil.

… the real enemy of man is not man. The real enemy is our ignorance, discrimination, fear, craving, and violence.

The lay life is like farming in that it’s work with many requirements and when it fails it’s not very fruitful; but when it succeeds it is very fruitful.

Working hard is not valuable in and of itself; what matters is the outcome. And just as in lay life, spiritual practice may or may not lead to fruitful results.

Oh, when will I stay in a mountain cave,
alone, with no companion,
discerning all states of existence as impermanent?

Oh, when will I rise up,
intent on attaining freedom from death,
hearing, in the mountain cave, the cry of the crested peacock in the forest?

She hides in the room she painted for herself,
tuning, listening…

If we have agility, we can accommodate both these aspects

David had a hunch about what had caused his panic attack: his meditation practice.

Without a foundation in view and ethics, many Westerners are finding themselves unable to handle the arising of meditative insight.

What advice would you give the meditators in this article?

While the Buddha analyzed and explained the sequence of mind moments in minute detail, to me it’s more like falling out of a tree. As we come crashing down there’s no opportunity to estimate how many feet and inches we’ve fallen. What we know is that we’ve hit the ground with a thud and it hurts!

Whether we are beginners or more advanced, it is impossible to accomplish any of our dharma practices without joy.

When feelings of discouragement come up and we are tired and disheartened we might want to give up our efforts, but once we have given up, there is no chance any more to reap the benefits of the practice. So at least keep trying, everyone. Whether we have already attained peaceful states or not doesn’t matter. Just keep on meditating, sitting or walking. Peaceful or not.

… figuring out what to do with your life and making it happen against all odds

A very American take on Zen.

There are three ways: best, intermediate and inferior.

Continually, I shall take refuge…

You should not evade self-responsibility for your own actions by blaming them on circumstances.

… you should ignore that person’s impure behavior

A series of remarkable similes illustrate the lengths we should go to to remove resent.

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

… if you’re present, but not too present—available, but not intrusive—if you can create an environment for somebody where you’re available and interested, then this stuff will come up when it’s ready.

A fascinating take on meditation and facing the “trauma of everyday life.”

We talk about “Right View” and “Wrong View,” but what we actually have, if we really look at our minds, is confusion!

You can use logic and reason and so on in a destructive manner and if you do that too much, of course, you can get what we’re all familiar with: the kind of modern nihilism and cynicism and all of these kinds of things. That comes from too much of that. So, obviously there needs to be a balance. There needs to be some ability to deconstruct, but that needs to go hand-in-hand with a constructive and a positive approach, so that the deconstruction has a context

Intuition is just a natural function of the mind, that’s all. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. […] It’s not the infallible voice of God. It’s just a part of us.

People are so difficult to be with —
The good ones won’t lead the way, and the bad ones never stop.

… 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

Through mindfulness based interventions, the author, a psychologist with humanitarian experience, aims to foster a culture of ‘learning and care’ among aid workers and their agencies.

You’re not trying to push the stress away, or annihilate it or get rid of it, but just lifting it up and seeing it and then using it as a bridge so that it can take one to kindness and compassion.

That tree doesn’t need to be more than the tree. A tree just needs to be a tree. But our society always asks us to be more, right? Can’t we just be a human? Can we just be who we are?

There is no way to healing. Healing is the way.

… too many people live life as if they’re in a fast car: looking through the window, always going on to the next thing

Ajahn Brahm explains how going slow allows us to see the beauty in life and ourselves.

… here is a book to take up at quiet times

A haphazard collection of inspirational quotes on the Lord Buddha’s nine virtuous qualities taken mostly from the Pāli Canon.

The book doesn’t pretend to have a thesis or an agenda. It’s merely a ready companion for your devotional recollection.

We manifest our humanity, we are most fully human, in learning.

On how Thai Buddhists respond to death, and how we can use the Buddha’s education system to live the good life.

… extract the essence of leisure and fortune. To do this you must reflect upon impermanence.

A kind and playful letter to a student on how to meditate in the right direction.

If you were then to use the sharp weapon of intelligence to cut and break apart this iron you would find that nothing, not even the subtlemost particle, remains. This is the meaning of ‘form is emptiness.’ … Not seeking to gain [pleasure] and avoid [pain] because neither is genuinely real, you will feel equanimity

Meditation is not a pill.

Meditation is uncovering deeper and deeper messes in the mind, and progressively “letting the dirt out.”

Change how you feel

A similar index can be found over at SuttaFriends.org and for an exhaustive index of terms, subjects, proper names, and similes, see The Comprehensive Index.

Just as the sun is valued not only for its own intrinsic radiance but also for its ability to illuminate the world, so the brilliance of the Buddha is determined not only by the clarity of his Teaching but by his ability to illuminate those who came to him for refuge

The Buddha’s first generation of followers established the traditions and values of the early Sangha. Indeed, it is nearly impossible to understand Buddhism without understanding the lives of the early Buddhist saints. This rich and inspiring series of biographies edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi mainly draws from the traditional commentaries of the Theravāda tradition and so provides an excellent balance between readability and faithfulness to the source material. A must read for all students of Buddhism.

If we accept that there will always be sides, it’s a nontrivial to-do list item to always be on the side of angels. Distrust essentialism. Keep in mind that what seems like rationality is often just rationalization, playing catch-up with subterranean forces that we never suspect. Focus on the larger, shared goals. Practice perspective taking. Individuate, individuate, individuate. […] You don’t have to choose between being scientific and being compassionate.

A magisterial and heart-felt survey of neuroscience, psychology, and biology which paints a broad but rigorous picture of how and why humans act the way they do–for better or for worse–and what we (individual meatbags) can do to be our best selves.

The book is based on Sapolsky’s Stanford course, “Human Behavioral Biology”, available for free on YouTube.

… these delightful mountain solitudes,
Are like the family estate to the supreme guide’s heirs,
And, as the best of protectors himself has said,
To rely on solitude is indeed the pinnacle of joys!

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.

Focus on your ability
Now focus on your ability
Focus on your ability
Gain again what they want to steal

Yeah, we’re locked up in ideas
We like to label everything
Well, I’m just gonna do here
What I gotta do here
‘Cause I gotta keep myself free

A fun anthem on ignoring the haters, and on not taking words too seriously.

Such cultivation of mindfulness provides the foundation by establishing the balance within oneself that then enables helping others.

On how mindfulness can help us face climate change productively.

Sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks. Even though a noble disciple has clearly seen this with right wisdom, so long as they don’t achieve the rapture and bliss that are apart from sensual pleasures and unskillful qualities, or something even more peaceful than that, they might still return to sensual pleasures.

A lay person is puzzled at how, despite their long practice, they still have greedy or hateful thoughts. The Buddha explains the importance of absorption for letting go. But he also criticizes self-mortification, and recounts a previous dialog with some Jain ascetics.

Move in your own resort, bhikkhus, in your own ancestral domain. Mara will not gain access to those who move in their own resort.

The parable of the quail and the hawk.

‘What the hell, Kāḷī!’

Mendicants, there are these five ways in which others might criticize you. Their speech may be timely or untimely, true or false, gentle or harsh, beneficial or harmful, from a heart of love or from secret hate. When others criticize you, they may do so in any of these ways. If that happens, you should train like this: ‘Our minds will remain unaffected.’

Even if low-down bandits were to sever you limb from limb, anyone who had a malevolent thought on that account would not be following my instructions.

If you frequently reflect on this advice–the simile of the saw–do you see any criticism, large or small, that you could not endure?”

A discourse full of vibrant and memorable images on the importance of patience and love even when faced with abuse and criticism.

‘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.

Now suppose that in the autumn—when it’s raining in fat, heavy drops—a water bubble were to appear & disappear on the water, and a man with sight were to see it. To him it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance could there be in a bubble? In the same way, a man with wisdom sees a feeling. To him it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance could there be in a feeling?

The Buddha gives a series of similes for the aggregates: physical form is like foam, feeling is like a bubble, perception is like a mirage, choices are like a coreless tree, and consciousness is like an illusion.

A bhikkhu who in such a manner is ardent and afraid of wrongdoing is called constantly energetic and resolute.

A short sutta stressing the foundation of ethics on which insight meditation must rest.

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

In this Sutta, The Buddha emphasizes the importance of wilderness and seclusion for a meditator.

You must carry around this bowl of oil filled to the brim between the crowd and the most beautiful girl of the land. A man with a drawn sword will be following right behind you, and wherever you spill even a little of it, right there he will fell your head.

Now that’s mindfulness!

For those who have one love, they have one suffering.
For those who love nothing, they have no sorrow.

Lady Visākhā wished for many grandchildren.

If a bhikkhu seeks delight in [the senses], welcomes them, and remains holding to them, he is called a bhikkhu who has swallowed Mara’s hook. He has met with calamity and disaster, and the Evil One can do with him as he wishes.

Sense pleasures are like a baited hook.

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

A short poem on arousing energy in the practice.

“What meditation does Venerable Anuruddha practice so that physical pain doesn’t occupy his mind?”

Mendicants, there are these five drawbacks to a charnel ground…

How a person may have the same defects as a cemetery.

…when these people meditate they’re awfully grim.

Ajahn Geoff reminds Westerners to ground their meditation practice in generosity.

… trying to control the breath, it becomes abnormal. Don’t pay attention to any phenomenon that occurs to the body; if you are concerned with it, problems will arise. It is the same with the mind. You will be unable to practice unless you disregard everything that happens to you

A series of retreat talks explaining the Third Chan Patriarch’s famous inscription of the same name.