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…
The Buddhist world has seen its fair share of “gurus” and “masters” who introduced “secret meditation techniques” and found instructions nobody had ever seen before because they “allegedly” got lost or distorted over time – only to be (re-)introduced by…
Practical ideas on anussati, sati and apilapanā. Today I would like to invite you to a short experiment. It is going to be very simple. Here is the experiment: Think of a random number, for instance “1325”. Now close your…
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…
Here is a very beautiful description by the Buddha on the progressive stages a meditator goes through until he realizes Nirvana. It sheds some additional light on the progress of insight meditation which the later commentary literature called “insight-knowledges” or “vipassana nyana”….
Yesterday I stopped by at the new asapuwa in Tampa where Bhante Vimala gave a very very interesting little Dhamma talk, which I wanted to share with you. It was not planned or anything, but you know me, I like…
Can a practice that we undertake which does not purify our mind be truly considered “cultivation of the mind”? Let’s forget our concepts and ideas about “meditation” for a moment and look at some words of the Awakened One on…
This is the disciple of the Buddha, living in the house. He has confidence in the Buddha’s awakening. He trains himself to purify his actions and his speech. He cultivates generosity, learns to sacrifice and let go. And this is…
From the Theragatha, the Verses of the Elders. 445. Uppajje te sace kodho, āvajja kakacūpamaṃ; Uppajje ce rase taṇhā, puttamaṃsūpamaṃ sara. (1) 446.‘‘Sace dhāvati cittaṃ te, kāmesu ca bhavesu ca; Khippaṃ niggaṇha satiyā, kiṭṭhādaṃ viya duppasun”ti; 445. If anger arises…
What is the difference between right mindfulness and wrong mindfulness? [1] Both of them are part of an electric drill, if you excuse the mundane simile for a moment: It is the direction of the drill that ultimately matters, and…