Category: Buddhism

If someone were to ask you

“Tell me, which part of the Tripitaka is the most ancient? Which part would I want to read, study and practice if I look for the most authentic instructions?” The answer is very simple. There are two little collections of…

A Peaceful Vesakh 2553

…to you all! May you “live long and prosper” šŸ˜‰ The above image, quite appropriate for the day, is one of the most skilled artistic representations of the “Buddha visiting the devas” (looks like 33) I have ever seen…thanks go…

Paticcasamuppada – Stop the burning flames

Famous words by the Buddha: Vuttaį¹ƒ kho panetaį¹ƒ bhagavatā:Ā yo paį¹­iccasamuppādaį¹ƒ passati so dhammaį¹ƒ passati; yo dhammaį¹ƒ passati so paį¹­iccasamuppādaį¹ƒ passatÄ«ti. Paį¹­iccasamuppannā kho panime yadidaį¹ƒ paƱcupādānakkhandhā. Yo imesu paƱcasu upādānakkhandhesu chando ālayo anunayo ajjhosānaį¹ƒ so dukkhasamudayo. Yo imesu paƱcasu upādānakkhandhesu chandarāgavinayo…

More Metta for stream enterers

From time to time I wonder: How many of you out there scratch their heads when they read the first line of the metta sutta? Sure enough, translations of the metta sutta abound and almost every (Theravadin) monastery in East…

As pure as the full moon – Theory and Practice

[This story is part of our Arahant series.] Once, they say, the elder MahāsÄ«vaĀ of ā€˜Mountainpeakā€™ lived in the city of Mahagama, in Tissa’s Abbey. There, he taught eighteen groups of young monks in the three baskets – the traditional teachings…

Coming back to remember – Sati II

You do not need to see the end of your dish washing activity and the beginning of you moving to the fridge. That is not going to stop mental proliferation from happening. And it won’t stop suffering – not in…

Old Snow Lion’s sharp vision

What do Vibhajjavada and Early Tibetan Meditation have in common?Ā Quick answer: they knew about the importance of insight meditation. Long answer: Just stumbled over this very interesting academic paper on a technical term called “bhÅ«ta-pratyavekį¹£Ä” used by the Mahayana Buddhist…

Chattamanavaka Gatha

Sappuriso ca kho, bhikkhave, kataĆ±Ć±Å« hoti katavedÄ«. Sabbhi hetaį¹ƒ, bhikkhave, upaƱƱātaį¹ƒ yadidaį¹ƒkataƱƱutāĀ kataveditā. Kevalā esā, bhikkhave, sappurisabhÅ«mi yadidaį¹ƒĀ kataƱƱutāĀ kataveditāā€™ā€™ti. Katannu – Sutta, AN Just wanted to say “thank you” to all of you who came and shared time with me. Hope the…

Mālunkyaputta’s vipassana instruction

In an earlier post I pointed out to one of my personal favorite suttas in the pali canon, Bahiyas instruction. While the story surrounding Bahiya is very exciting and the instruction the Buddha gave him summarizes the gist of vipassana…

Buddha’s path

This post is based on some of the observations made in this post. It might help to understand this article. One day the Buddha mentioned to his students that his own meditation object with which he realized Nibbana was the…