A Birthday Today
Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh turned 92 today. For nearly 80 years, he has walked the Dhamma path, inspiring millions of people as a living example of peaceful existence.
Return to the Breath
In times of stress, discomfort or worry, remember to return to the breath.
Sila, Samadhi & Pañña
While sitting before the large Buddha image at the temple the other evening, Ajahn Khamjan and I were talking about the importance of putting into practice the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, which can be broken down into its three constituent parts: sila, samadhi and pañña. I'll paraphrase some of what Ajahn shared with me:
"It's important that one practices sila (virtue), samadhi (concentration) and pañña (wisdom). If one practices only pañña, it's like holding a candle in a breeze; if one practices only samadhi, it's like being in a dark room without a candle to see; and if one practices only sila, it's like wearing a suit of armor without having any idea what it's for. Practicing all three, though, is itself the path to liberation."
After all, virtue leads to concentration, which provides the stability of mind that allows wisdom to arise. This wisdom leads to the deepening of virtue, which of course deepens concentration which, in turn, deepens understanding. And so on.
Jataka Stories (The Crow Birth)
Dissolving Attachment
"The very essence of all spiritual teaching is about dissolving attachment to the self, and about dissolving every attachment to form, sound, smell, taste, touch, good and bad ideas, and all concepts. It is about dropping all attachment without exception."
-Anam Thubten Rinpoche ("No Self, No Problem")
Thinking
"...if there's thinking going on in the mind, simply watch it, simply let it go, and its cycling will slow down. Fewer and fewer thought-fabrications will occur. Even if the mind doesn't stop completely, it will form fewer and fewer thoughts. You'll be able to stop to watch, stop to know more and more. And this way, you'll come to see the tricks and deceits of thought-fabrication, mental labels, pleasure and pain, and so on. You'll be able to know that there's really nothing inside--that the reason you were deluded into latching on to things was because of ignorance, and that you made yourself suffer right there in that very ignorance..."
-Upasika Kee Nanayon ("An Unentangled Knowing")
Arising and Disbanding
"...there's nothing at all--just the arising and disbanding occurring every moment in emptiness. If there is no attachment, there are no issues. There is simply the natural phenomenon of arising and disbanding."
-Upasika Kee Nanayon ("An Unentangled Knowing")
What Life Is All About
"...suffering is basically what life is all about. This point is something we really have to comprehend so that we can live without being oblivious. The pains and discontent that fill our bodies and minds all show us the truths of inconstancy, stress, and not-selfness within us."
-Upasika Kee Nanayon ("An Unentangled Knowing")
Short Documentary: Wat Pah Nanachat
Its Own Course
"...when you see that something is true, don't try to get in its way. Let it follow its own course."
-Ajahn Lee ("Food for Thought")
Enough
"If all the other scriptures, the rest of the Tipitaka and so forth, suddenly vanished out of sight, and all we had left were the Four Noble Truths, that would be enough. They are the way to non-suffering. They are a tool I encourage you to use."
-Ajahn Sumedho
Pain and Pleasure
"Pain is not a punishment. Pleasure is not a reward."
-Pema Chödrön ("Comfortable With Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion")
Protection
"Look inwardly at your mind and outwardly at your actions so that you can protect them both."
-Luang Por Chah (from "Stillness Flowing: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah" by Ajahn Jayasaro)
Luang Pu Mun
"It would be no exaggeration to say that the Thai Forest Tradition, as we know it, was established almost single-handedly by Luang Pu Mun...Throughout his monastic life, he shunned fame and status as a pestilent disease. In 1928, while staying at Wat Chedi Luang, one of the oldest and most prestigious monasteries in Chiang Mai, he received a letter from the powers-that-be in Bangkok, informing him of his appointment as the monastery's new abbot. Before long, he had gathered his possessions and disappeared into the mountains. It was another eleven years before he was seen in the city again."
-Ajahn Jayasaro ("Stillness Flowing")
Bowing
"Bow slowly, mindful of the body...Bowing helps to cure conceit."
-Luang Por Chah (from "Stillness Flowing: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah" by Ajahn Jayasaro)
Spiritual Maturity
"There can never be any cast-iron proof of the presence of [another's] spiritual maturity, only of its absence."
-Ajahn Jayasaro ("Stillness Flowing")
In What Is Proper
"One should first establish oneself in what is proper, then only should one instruct others."
Dhammapada
Withdraw Your Mind
"Take as many moments as possible to withdraw your mind from habitual interactions. Frequently disengage from activity and rest in awareness."
-Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi
Judging Others
"Judging others will only increase your pride. Watch yourself instead."
-Luang Por Chah (from "Stillness Flowing: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah" by Ajahn Jayasaro)
