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The Blessed One's City of Dhamma : From the Milindapañha
by I.B. Horner

This booklet contains chapter 5 of The Questions of King Milinda: An Abridgement of the Milindapañha, edited by N.K.G. Mendis. This work is based on existing translations of the Pali original, primarily upon the rendition by I.B. Horner, published in the Sacred Books of the Buddhists series by the Pali Text Society.

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Dhammapada Verse 223
Uttara Upasika Vatthu

Akkodhena jine kodham
asadhum sadhuna jine
jine kadariyam danena
saccena' likavidinam.

Verse 223: Conquer the angry one by not getting angry (i.e., by loving-kindness); conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.

The Story of Uttara the Lay-Disciple

While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (223) of this book, with reference to Uttara, a female lay-disciple.

Uttara was the daughter of a farm labourer named Punna and his wife. Punna worked for a rich man named Sumana, in Rajagaha. One day, Punna and his wife offered alms-food to Thera Sariputta soon after his arising from sustained deep mental absorption (nirodha samapatti), and as a result of that good deed they suddenly became very rich. Punna came upon gold in the field he was ploughing, and the king officially declared him a royal banker. On one occasion, the family of Punna offered alms-food to the Buddha and the bhikkhus for seven days. and on the seventh day, after hearing the Buddha's discourse, all the three members of the family attained Sotapatti Fruition.

Later, Uttara the daughter of Punna married the son of the rich man Sumana. That family being non-Buddhist, Uttara did not feel happy in her husband's home. So, she told her father, "My father, why have you put me in this cage? Here, I do not see any bhikkhu and I have no chance to offer anything to any bhikkhu." Her father felt sorry for her and sent her fifteen thousand in cash. With this money, after getting permission from her husband, Uttara engaged a courtesan to look to the needs of her husband. So it was arranged that Sirima, a well-known and very beautiful courtesan, was to take her place as a wife for fifteen days.

During that time, Uttara offered alms-food to the Buddha and the bhikkhus. On the fifteenth day, as she was busy preparing food in the kitchen, her husband saw her from the bedroom window and smiled, and then muttered to himself, "How foolish she is! She does not know how to enjoy herself. She is tiring herself out with this alms-giving ceremony!" Sirima saw him smile, and forgetting that she was only a paid substitute wife felt very jealous of Uttara. Being unable to control herself, Sirima went into the kitchen and got a ladleful of boiling butter with the intention of pouring it over the head of Uttara. Uttara saw her coming, but she bore no ill will towards Sirima. She reflected that because Sirima had stood in for her, she had been able to listen to the dhamma, make offerings of alms-food for fifteen days, and perform other acts of charity. Thus she was quite thankful to Sirima. Suddenly, she realized that Sirima had come very close to her and was going to pour boiling-hot butter over her; so she made this asseveration: "If I bear any ill will towards Sirima may this boiling-hot butter burn me; if I have no ill will towards her may it not burn me."

As Uttara had no ill will towards Sirima, the boiling butter poured over her head by Sirima was just like cold water. Then Sirima thought the butter must have gone cold; and as she went for another ladleful of boiling butter, the attendants of Uttara fell upon her and beat her hard. Uttara stopped her attendants and instructed them to rub Sirima with medicinal ointment.

Then, Sirima remembered her true position and she regretted that she had done wrong to Uttara and asked Uttara to forgive her. To her Uttara replied, "I have my father; I shall ask him whether I should accept your apology." Sirima then said that she would readily go and apologize to the rich man, the father of Uttara. Uttara then explained to Sirima, "Sirima,. when I said 'My father', I did not mean my real father, who had brought me into this round of rebirths. I was referring to my father, the Buddha, who had helped me break the chain of rebirths, who had taught me the Dhamma, the Noble Truths." Sirima then expressed her wish to see the Buddha.

So it was arranged that Sirima should offer alms-food to the Buddha and the bhikkhus on the following day at the house of Uttara.

After the meal, the Buddha was told everything that had happened between Sirima and Uttara. Sirima then owned up that she had done wrong to Uttara and entreated the Buddha that she should be forgiven, for otherwise Uttara would not forgive her. The Buddha then asked Uttara how she felt in her mind when Sirima poured boiling butter on her head, and Uttara answered, "Venerable Sir, because I owed so much to Sirima I had resolved not to lose my temper, not to bear any ill will towards her. I sent forth my love towards her". The Buddha then said, "Well done, well done, Uttara! By not bearing any ill will you have been able to conquer one who has done you wrong through hate. By not abusing, you should conquer one who abuses you; by being generous you should conquer one who is stingy; by speaking the truth you should conquer one who tells lies."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 223: Conquer the angry one by not getting angry (i.e., by loving-kindness); conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.

At the end of the discourse Sirima and five hundred ladies attained Sotapatti Fruition.


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Make Your Practice a Continuous Stream

A lesson in disenchantment from one of the Thai Forest Tradition’s most influential teachers
By Ajahn Chah, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Part 2 of 3

Things that are inconstant: the Buddha taught that they’re the truth. If you see that there’s no truth to things, that’s the truth. That’s constant. When there’s birth, there has to be aging, illness, and death. That’s something constant and for sure.

How is it constant? It’s constant in that that’s the way things keep on being. Even if you try to get in the way, you don’t have an effect. Things just keep on being that way. They arise and then they disband, disband and then arise. That’s the way it is with inconstancy. That’s how it becomes the truth. The Buddha and his noble disciples awakened because of inconstant things.

If you see that there’s no truth to things, that’s the truth. That’s constant.

When you see inconstancy, the result is nibbida. Disenchantment isn’t disgust, you know. If you feel disgust, that’s wrong, the wrong kind of disenchantment. The Buddha’s disenchantment is something else: leaving things alone, putting them down. You don’t kill them, you don’t beat them, you don’t punish them, you’re not nice to them. You just put them down. Everything.

The problems that we get involved with and cling to will gradually unravel. As the Buddha said, see simply that things arise and then disband, disband and then arise, arise and then disband. Keep watching this dhamma constantly, doing it constantly, developing it constantly, cultivating it constantly, and you’ll arrive at a sense of disenchantment. Disenchanted with what? Disenchanted with everything of every sort.

The things that come by way of the ears, we already understand them; by way of the eyes, we already understand them; by way of the nose, we already understand them; by way of the tongue, we already understand them. The things that arise in the mind, we already understand them. They’re all the same sort of thing—all of them, the same sort of thing: eko dhammo, one dhamma. This dhamma is inconstant, stressful, and not-self. You shouldn’t cling to anything at all. That way, disenchantment will arise. If the mind is peaceful and you feel, “Ah, it’s nice and peaceful,” the peace doesn’t matter either. Peace is inconstant too. There’s nothing but things that are inconstant. You can sit and watch the dhamma right there.

For this reason, if we gather things together as eko dhammo—one single dhamma—and see that their characteristics are all the same, it gives rise to disenchantment. This disenchantment isn’t disgust. The mind simply loosens its grip, it’s had enough, it’s empty, it’s sobered up. There’s no love, no hatred, no fixating on anything. If you have things, OK. If you don’t, it’s still OK. You’re at ease. At peace.

Nibbanam paramam sukham

Nibbanam paramam suññam

Nibbana is the ultimate happiness. Nibbana is the ultimate peace, emptiness. Listen carefully. Worldly happiness isn’t the ultimate happiness. Worldly emptiness isn’t the ultimate emptiness. The ultimate emptiness is empty of clinging. The ultimate happiness is peace. There’s peace and then there’s emptiness, the ultimate emptiness. At the moment, though, the mind is at peace, but it’s not ultimate. It’s happy, but it’s not ultimate.

This is why the Buddha described nibbana as the ultimate emptiness, its happiness as the ultimate happiness. It changes the nature of happiness to be at peace. It’s happy but not fixated on any object. The objects we like and don’t like are equal to each other.

The reason we live in physical seclusion (kaya-viveka) is to get the mind in mental seclusion (citta-viveka) from the objects that stir up its moods. These things are synonyms that follow one after the other. Upadhi-viveka refers to seclusion from our defilements: when we know what’s what, we can pull out of them; we pull out from whatever state the mind is in.

The Buddha taught us to live in the wilderness. The proper way, when a monk goes into the wilderness, is to stay in a quiet place; to wander in the quiet wilderness; not to be entangled with friends and companions and other sorts of things. That’s the right way to do it. But most of us don’t follow the right way. We live in a quiet place and get attached to the quiet. As soon as we see a form, it gives rise to defilement. In our ears there’s nothing but defilement. That’s going too far. It lacks discernment.

Make the mind know the dhamma. When it knows the dhamma, make it see the dhamma. Practice the dhamma so that the mind is dhamma. The strategies you’ll need will grow from within the mind. Whoever has discernment gains intuitive knowledge. Whoever has intuitive knowledge gains discernment. That’s the way it is.

I once read in a Jataka tale about our Buddha when he was still a bodhisattva. He was like you: he had ordained and encountered a lot of difficulties, but when he thought of disrobing, he was ashamed of what other people would think—that he had ordained all these years and yet still wanted to disrobe. Still, things didn’t go the way he wanted, so he thought he’d leave. As he was about to leave, he came across a squirrel whose baby had been blown into the ocean by the wind. He saw the squirrel running down to the water and then back up again. He didn’t know what it was doing. It ran down to the water and stuck its tail in the water, and then ran up to the beach and shook out its tail. Then it ran down and stuck its tail in the water again. So he asked the squirrel, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, my baby has fallen into the water. I miss it, and I want to fetch it out.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I’m going to use my tail to bail water out of the ocean until it’s dry so that I can fetch my baby out.”

“Oh, no. When will the ocean ever go dry?”

“That’s not the issue. This is the way it is with practice. You keep bailing out the water, bailing out the water, and don’t care whether it ever goes dry. When you’re going to be a Buddha, you can’t abandon your efforts.”

When the bodhisattva heard this, it flashed in his heart. He got up and pushed through with his efforts. He didn’t retreat. That’s how he became the Buddha.

It’s the same with us. Wherever things aren’t going well, that’s where they will go well. You make them happen where they aren’t yet happening. Wherever you’re deluded, that’s where knowledge will arise. If you don’t believe me, spit right here. That’ll make it dirty. But when you wipe it away, it’ll be clean right here—right where it’s dirty.

This is the practice. You contemplate right where you’re deluded so that you’ll know right there. Any other issue is just duck shit and chicken shit. You don’t have to go groping after it. That’s how you have to take things on in meditation.

But actually, it’s not a matter of taking. You take them on by abandoning them. This is how the suppositions of language have things all backwards. You let things go. You practice letting go.

Wherever you’re deluded, that’s where knowledge will arise.
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Ajahn Chah, Buddhist teacher of Thai forest meditation of Theravada Buddhism channel:


https://news.1rj.ru/str/ajahnchah_buddhism
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Make Your Practice a Continuous Stream

A lesson in disenchantment from one of the Thai Forest Tradition’s most influential teachers
By Ajahn Chah, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Part 3 of 3

Think about it in a simple way. If someone yells at you but you don’t rear up in response, that’s the end of the matter. It doesn’t reach you. But if you grab hold of it and won’t let go, you’re in bad shape. Why put their words into yourself? If they yell at you, just leave it at that. But if they yell at you over there in the ordination hall and you bring it into your ears while you’re sitting here, it’s as if you like to suffer. This is called not understanding suffering.

You need to have patience and endurance. You need to make an effort. Whatever happens, you don’t have to pick it up and carry it around. When things are a certain way, that’s all they are. When we see the dhamma in this way, we don’t hold on to anything. Pleasure we know. Pain we know.

The Buddha and his arahant disciples, when they gain awakening: It’s not the case that coconut-milk sweets aren’t sweet for them. They’re sweet in the same way they’re sweet for us. When the noble ones eat a sour tamarind, they squeeze their eyes shut just like us. Things are just the same way they were before, but the difference is simply that the noble ones don’t hold on to them or get fixated on them. If you argue with them that the tamarind is sour, they’ll say, “Sour is fine. Sweet is fine. Neither sour nor sweet is fine.”

It’s a matter of practice. You learn to be content with little. You learn a sense of moderation in eating, a sense of moderation in sleep. You don’t have to look elsewhere. You don’t have to read a lot of books. Watch your own mind. The basic principles lie right here. This way you can meditate without getting deluded.

If people speak to you in a way that grates on your ears, that makes you mad, tell yourself, “It’s not for sure. It’s inconstant.” If you eat something delicious and think, “Mmm. It’s really good,” remind yourself that it’s not for sure. Whatever comes your way, tell yourself, “It’s not for sure.” Why? Because that’s where the dhamma lies.

If you really see inconstancy, you see the dhamma. Why wouldn’t you see it?—for the truth lies right there. If you see the dhamma, you see the Buddha. These things go in both directions. When the dhamma is in charge, the mind is always aware of things. It knows that “This is wrong. This is right. This is good. This is evil. This is suffering. This is the cause of suffering. This is the disbanding of suffering. This is the practice that reaches the disbanding of suffering.”

That’s the path. Everything gathers into the path. As you strengthen the path, your defilements decrease. You stay only with what’s right. Whatever’s wrong, you give it up, give it all up, and the wrong path peters out.

That’s when the right path gets established, and you can live wherever you want. Gaining is the same as losing; losing, the same as gaining.

Pleasure isn’t the highest level of dhamma. It’s peace because it’s no longer disturbed by pleasure or pain. It’s empty. It stays unfixated, unattached. Wherever you go, it keeps staying that way.

For instance, if somebody’s mood comes to hit you—You know, venerable father, you’re just like a dog”—you stay at your ease. Once you’re sure of yourself, that’s the way it is. But if they call you a dog and you really become a dog, biting them, that shows you’re not sure of yourself. You’re not for sure. Once you’re for sure, you’re not anything.

For the most part, the good things are what lead people to be very deluded. They’re deluded by what’s good. When good isn’t just right, it’s not good, you know. Have you noticed the rainfall this year? It was so good that it went past just right, flooding people’s houses. This is what happens when good goes past just right.

The Buddha taught us to be intelligent.

In practicing, don’t think that you have to sit in order for it to be meditation, that you have to walk back and forth in order for it to be meditation. Don’t think like that. Meditation is simply a matter of practice. Whether you’re giving a sermon, sitting here listening, or going away from here, keep up the practice in your heart. Be alert to what’s proper and what’s not.

Ajahn Mun once said that we have to make our practice the shape of a circle. A circle never comes to an end. Keep it going continually. Keep the practice going continually without stop. I listened to him and I thought, “When I’ve finished listening to this talk, what should I do?”

The answer is to make your alertness akaliko: timeless. Make sure that the mind knows and sees what’s proper and what’s not, at all times.

It’s like the water in this kettle. If you tilt it so that there’s a long time between the drops—glug … glug—those are called water drops. If you tilt it a little farther, the drops become more frequent: glug-glug-glug. If you tilt it a little bit farther, the water flows in a stream. What does the stream of water come from? It comes from the drops of water. If they’re not continuous, they’re called drops of water.

The water here is like our awareness. If you accelerate your efforts, if your awareness is continuous, your mindfulness will become full. Both by day and by night, it’ll keep staying full like that. It becomes a stream of water. As we’re taught, the noble ones have continuous mindfulness. The water is a stream of water. Make your awareness continuous. Whenever there’s anything wrong or lacking in any way, you’ll know immediately. Your awareness will be a circle, all around. That’s the shape of the practice.

There’s nothing in the dhamma taught by the Buddha that lies beyond human capabilities. Don’t go focusing on things you can’t see: heaven or nibbana up there in the sky. All the dhammas we need to know and see, the Buddha explained in full. As for things you can’t see, don’t pay them any mind. Don’t pay them any attention. Look instead at the present. How are you leading your life? If suffering arises, why is there suffering? What’s going on? How can you settle the problem right there? What are you stuck on?

Excerpted and adapted from Still, Flowing Water by Venerable Ajahn Chah. Translated from Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Sangha, Wat Pah Nanachat, Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani 34310, Thailand.

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Ajahn Chah (1918–1992), a teacher in the Thai forest tradition, founded several monasteries, including Wat Pah Nanachat in Thailand and Cittaviveka in England.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu is an American Theravada Buddhist monk trained in the Thai Forest Tradition. He currently serves as abbot of the Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County, California. His latest book is Good Heart, Good Mind: The Practice of the Ten Perfections. Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s talks, writings, and translations are all freely available at his website
dhammatalks.org
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Dhammapada Verse 224
Mahamoggallanapanha Vatthu

Saccam bhane na kujjheyya
dajja appampi yacito
etehi tihi thanehi
gacche devana santike.

Verse 224: One should speak the truth, one should not yield to anger, one should give when asked even if it is only a little. By means of these three, one may go to the world of the devas.

The Story of the Question Raised by Thera Maha Moggallana

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (224) of this book, with reference to the question raised by Thera Maha Moggallana.

Once, Thera Maha Moggallana visited the deva world and found many devas living in luxurious mansions. He asked them for what good deed they were reborn in the deva world and they gave him different answers. One of them was reborn in the deva world not because he gave away much wealth in charity or because he had listened to the dhamma, but just because he always spoke the truth. The second one was a female deva who was reborn in the deva world because she did not get angry with her master and had no ill will towards him even though he often beat her and abused her. For keeping her temper and abandoning hatred she was reborn in the deva world. Then, there were others who were reborn in the deva world because they had offered little things like a stick of sugar cane, a fruit, or some vegetables to a bhikkhu or to someone else.

On his return from the deva world, Thera Maha Moggallana asked the Buddha whether it was possible to gain such great benefits by just speaking the truth, or by restraining one's actions, or by giving small amounts of such trifling things like fruits and vegetables. To him the Buddha answered, "My son, why do you ask? Have you not seen for yourself and heard what the devas said? You should not have any doubt. Little deeds of merit surely lead one to the world of the devas."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 224: One should speak the truth, one should not yield to anger, one should give when asked even if it is only a little. By means of these three, one may go to the world of the devas.

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Free Buddha Dharma ebook

Gifts He Left Behind: The Dhamma Legacy of Phra Ajaan Dune Atulo, translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. (revised Dec. 15, 2018)


This book is a compilation of Ajaan Dune’s short teachings—pure truths at the highest level, lessons and admonishments he gave his students, answers to questions, and passages from the Buddha’s words in the Canon that he always liked to quote. Also included are the events, locations, and people who were involved, to help make the passages easier to understand and more inviting to read. Translated from the Thai by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.

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Pindacara. Buddhists offered food as "amisa dana" to the monk during collecting alms food or "pindapata".

Climbing the stairs to the top of Borobudur temple, largest lava stone stupa in the world, Java island, Indonesia.

Dhammapada Verse 225
Buddhapitubrahmana Vatthu

Ahimsaka ye munayo
niccam kayena sarmvuta
te yanti accutam1 thanam
yattha gantva na socare.

Verse 225: The arahats, who do not harm others and are always restrained in their actions, go to the deathless Nibbana, where there is no sorrow.

1. accutam: changeless; deathless. It does not mean immortality.

The Story of the Brahmin who had been the 'Father of the Buddha'

While residing at the Anjana wood, near Saketa, the Buddha uttered Verse (225) of this book, with reference to a brahmin, who claimed that the Buddha was his son.

Once, the Buddha accompanied by some bhikkhus entered the town of Saketa for alms-food. The old brahmin, seeing the Buddha, went to him and said, "O son, why have you not allowed us to see you all this long time? Come with me and let your mother also see you." So saying, he invited the Buddha to his house. On reaching the house, the wife of the brahmin said the same things to the Buddha and introduced the Buddha as "Your big brother" to her children, and made them pay obeisance to him. From that day, the couple offered alms-food to the Buddha every day, and having heard the religious discourses, both the brahmin and his wife attained Anagami Fruition in due course.

The bhikkhus were puzzled why the brahmin couple said the Buddha was their son; so they asked the Buddha. The Buddha then replied, "Bhikkhus, they called me son because I was a son or a nephew to each of them for one thousand five hundred existences in the past." The Buddha continued to stay there, near the brahmin couple for three more months and during that time, both the brahmin and his wife attained arahatship, and then realized parinibbana.

The bhikkhus, not knowing that the brahmin couple had already become arahats, asked the Buddha where they were reborn. To them the Buddha answered:

"Those who have become arahats are not reborn anywhere; they have realized Nibbana."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 225: The arahats, who do not harm others and are always restrained in their actions, go to the deathless Nibbana, where there is no sorrow.

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Pindacara. Buddhists offered food as "amisa dana" to the monk during collecting alms food or "pindapata".