The Buddhist Path
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The progressive practice which leads to liberation.
"Coming Home" (歸棹) 1695. Painting #5 by Shí Tāo (石濤).
The Met
The Buddha often compared his teachings to a raft which ferries beings across a dangerous river to a far shore of safety: nibbāna. In a poem facing this swift and foggy river, Yuán Jǐ (原濟) wrote:
⟨ 放眼江天外，賒心寸草亭。⟩
"Looking beyond the river and sky, lose [your] heart in a grass hut."
Table of Contents
- Articles (14)
- Audio/Video (25)
- Booklets (31)
- Canonical Works (71)
- Essays (15)
- Excerpts (5)
- Monographs (8)
- Papers (1)
- Reference Shelf (1)
- Subtopics (3)
Articles (14)
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A dense and Pāli-laden survey explaining the different kinds of vimutti (liberation).
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how lust, hatred, delusion and other negative emotions are considered to cause physical and mental pain among [unenlightened beings]
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the eightfold path is but one of several differently worded statements of Gotama’s course of practice
Audio/Video (25)
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A more detailed commentary on MN 2 (the Sabbāsava Sutta).
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⭐ Recommended
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Ayya Santussika gives a guided meditation, followed by a talk about her own practice of The Sallekha Sutta.
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An introduction to the contemplation of the Buddha and the use of faith on the path.
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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
Booklets (31)
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🥇 Featured
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A short anthology of texts from the Pali Canon framed by the Noble Eightfold Path. An excellent study guide.
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⭐ Recommended
[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.
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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.
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⭐ Recommended
Tucked away in the Samyutta Nikaya 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.
Canonical Works (71)
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in three cases one may be understood to have faith and confidence
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give up sense pleasures even if it’s painful:
they call this person “one who goes against the stream.” -
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.
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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.
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Once upon a time, householder, there was a brahmin named Velāma…
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a bhikkhu who is without ardour and without fear of wrongdoing is incapable of attaining enlightenment
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Diverse problems demand a diverse range of responses. Rather than selling a “one size fits all” solution, in this sutta the Buddha outlines seven methods for dealing with the afflictions of life and in so doing gives us a comprehensive overview of Buddhist practices.
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The Vattha Sutta is a beautiful and somewhat unusual description of the path to stream entry and beyond.
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‘Others will be cruel; we shall not be cruel here’
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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.
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⭐ Recommended
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.
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Venerable Ānanda discusses the qualities of a noble trainee.
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a young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion ‘identity,’ so how could identity view arise in him?
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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”
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One should not pursue a course
That is painful and harmful. -
The Faculty of Faith, the Faculty of Energy, the Faculty of Mindfulness, the Faculty of Concentration, the Faculty of Wisdom.
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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.
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Association with people of integrity, lord, is a factor for stream entry.
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how a wise lay follower should advise another wise lay follower who is sick
Essays (15)
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meditation is carried out for the purpose of realising nibbāna and thereby escaping from the ills of life
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⭐ Recommended
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.
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With your own mind under control, help others in any way you can,
And take whatever you experience onto the path to liberation. -
🥇 Featured
Kammaṭṭhāna meditation should be practised so as to reach Nibbāna, thereby escaping from all kinds of misery
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So, keep on practicing. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ll have to reap results, there’s no doubt about it.
Excerpts (5)
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Effort plays a central role in the Buddhist Path, yet needs to applied skillfully and in a balanced manner.
