Category: vipassana

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…

Paticcasamuppada – Stop the burning flames

Famous words by the Buddha: Vuttaṃ kho panetaṃ bhagavatā: yo paṭiccasamuppādaṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati; yo dhammaṃ passati so paṭiccasamuppādaṃ passatīti. Paṭiccasamuppannā kho panime yadidaṃ pañcupādānakkhandhā. Yo imesu pañcasu upādānakkhandhesu chando ālayo anunayo ajjhosānaṃ so dukkhasamudayo. Yo imesu pañcasu upādānakkhandhesu chandarāgavinayo…

As pure as the full moon – Theory and Practice

[This story is part of our Arahant series.] Once, they say, the elder Mahāsīva of ‘Mountainpeak’ 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…

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…

Nirodha – “Where” is Nibbana?

While preparing the post on Anapanasati I came across several discussions on the topic of “nirodho”. Currently re- reading the SN on the Khandhas myself I stumbled over one sutta which kept me pondering. In that particular sutta, the Buddha was…

The process of awakening

In the  “Group-Section” (Khandhasamyutta) of the Samyutta Nikaya numerous short suttas can be found which – if we squeeze them in the right manner – provide valuable information how a puthujjana (or unenlightened being) turns into an ariyapuggalo (an enlightened…

From Vipassana Hater to Vipassana Lover

And I show you how 🙂 Okay, caught your attention (did you see what happened when you read this headline)? Now, let me rephrase a bit: This post is about how a Vipassana-opponent turned into a Vipassana-proponent. Interested? This is the…

Mindfulness is not Sati?

Many people  (especially those who intensively try to put the Buddhas eightfold path into practice) have thought about the meaning of samma sati or “right mindfulness”. In fact, the meaning of this important aspect of Buddhist practice had troubled me…

Bhaddekaratta

In the Middle Length sayings, one of the few parts of the Pali Canon most Western Buddhists actually do get exposed to, there is a very interesting and beautiful triage of suttas which circle around the following stanza uttered by…