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"Friends, four things have been declared to us by the Blessed One who knows and sees, accomplished and fully enlightened...What are the four? We have confidence in the Teacher, we have confidence in the Dhamma, we have fulfilled the precepts, and our companions in the Dhamma are dear and agreeable to us whether they are laymen or those gone forth."
-Majjhima Nikaya
In "Help! Kalama Sutta, Help!", Buddhadasa Bhikkhu wrote that people "should listen carefully and only believe something to be true after having seen for themselves its real meaning and the advantages that will come from such belief, then practice accordingly."
"...we can touch the present moment at all times."
-Pramahachanya Khongchinda (from "Meditation is Fun")
Please join us for Magha Puja--one of the primary auspicious days in Theravadan Buddhism. The ceremony will be on Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 10 am.
"Knowing is just knowing here and now, but thinking can go back to the past and be the bridge to receive or recall memory. If I ignore this moment and follow thinking, knowing the present moment disappears. Thinking brings more imagination, concoction, and creation."
-Pramahachanya Khongchinda (from "Meditation is Fun")
Please join us for a non-residential meditation retreat from February 27 to March 4, 2018. The hours of the retreat are from 7 am to 5 pm daily. Please dress warmly, as the retreat will take place outdoors.
There is no fee to participate in the retreat. Meditation instruction can be provided to those who request it.
For more information, contact Phramaha Khamjan at 805-724-7109
"Ma samano no garu ti: Don't believe something simple because the monk (more broadly, any speaker) is 'my teacher'. The Buddha's purpose regarding this important point is that nobody should be the intellectual slave of anybody else, not even the Buddha himself. The Buddha emphasized this point often, and there were disciples, such as the Venerable Sariputta, who confirmed it in practice. They didn't believe the Buddha's words immediately upon hearing them; they only did so after reasoned reflection and the test of practice...In Buddhism there is no dogmatic system that pressures us to believe without the right to examine and decide for ourselves. This is the greatest uniqueness of Buddhism that keeps its practitioners from being anybody's intellectual slave."
-From "Help! Kalama Sutta, Help!" by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
"...the main duty of mindfulness is to recognize phenomena from both body and mind, activities that appear and disappear, arise and cease."
-Pramahachanya Khongchinda (from "Meditation is Fun")
"It is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing. The teaching of the Buddha is qualified as 'ehi-passika', inviting you to 'come and see', but not to come and believe."
Walpola Rahula in "What the Buddha Taught"
Sabbe sankhara anicca
All fabrications are inconstant
Sabbe dhamma anattati
All phenomena are not-self
-The Buddha
"The gift of the teacher is not just his words but the inspiration to put his words into action."
-Luang Por Viradhammo
"...Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic...It looks at things objectively...It tells you exactly and objectively what you are and what the world around you is, and shows you the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness."
Walpola Rahula in "What the Buddha Taught"
Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one's mind--This is the advice of the Buddhas.
Forbearing patience is highest asceticism. Nibbana is supreme--say the Buddhas. For he is not a recluse who harms another, nor is he an ascetic who molests others.
Not indulging, not harming, restraint in the fundamental precepts, moderation in food, secluded abode, intent on higher thoughts--This is the advice of the Buddhas.
"O Brahmana, it is just like a mountain river, flowing far and swift, taking everything along with it; there is no moment, no instant, no second when it stops flowing, but it goes on flowing and continuing. So Brahmana, is human life, like a mountain river."
The Buddha
"There is no unmoving mover behind the movement. It is only movement. It is not correct to say that life is moving, but life is movement itself."
Walpola Rahula in "What the Buddha Taught"
"Everything can be stemmed down to the three marks of existence which are impermanence, non-patience or suffering, and non-self."
-Pramahachanya Khongchinda (from "Meditation is Fun")
"...a true Buddhist is the happiest of beings. He has no fears or anxieties. He is always calm and serene, and cannot be upset or dismayed by changes or calamities, because he sees things as they are."
Walpola Rahula in "What the Buddha Taught"
Yam kinci samudayadhammam sabbam tam nirodhadhammam
Whatever is of the nature of arising, all that is of the nature of cessation
"The Buddha was not interested in discussing unnecessary metaphysical questions which are purely speculative and which create imaginary problems. He considered them as a 'wilderness of opinions'."
Walpola Rahula in "What the Buddha Taught"
"One must always be mindful of the movement within the body and mind from moment to moment."
-Pramahachanya Khongchinda (from "Meditation is Fun")
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