umbrella in his hand, walk about in the air.”

The Teacher said: “I know your supernatural power,” but declined to permit him to perform the miracles. Moggallāna said: “Doubtless the Teacher knows of someone able to perform a miracle more wonderful than any that I am able to perform.” So saying, he stepped aside.

Then the Teacher said to him: “Moggallāna, this basket of flowers was not prepared for you. The burden which I bear is like the burden of none other; mine is a burden which none other is able to bear. Indeed it is not strange that there is now no one who can bear my burden. In previous states of existence, also, in which, solely through my own volition, I was born as an animal, no one was able to bear my burden.”

When the Teacher had thus spoken, the elder asked him: “When was this, venerable Sir, and how was this?” The Teacher then related in detail.
===
Part 1 of 2:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/dhammapadas/2986


Part 2 of 2:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/wordsofbuddha/4213

===

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11. Mase mase kusaggena
balo bhuñjetha bhojanam
Na so saïkhatadhammanam
kalam agghati soëasim. 70.

REALIZATION IS FAR SUPERIOR TO MERE FASTING

11. Month after month a fool may eat only as much food as can be picked up on the tip of a kusa grass blade; 5 but he is not worth a sixteenth part of them who have comprehended the Truth. 6 70.

Story

An ascetic, as the result of a past evil action, used to live on excreta. One day, with the tip of a blade of grass, he placed on the tip of his tongue a little butter and honey. The Buddha visited him and made him attain Arahantship.
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Ajahn Chah, Buddhist teacher of Thai forest meditation of Theravada Buddhism channel:


https://news.1rj.ru/str/ajahnchah_buddhism
===

Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Sangham Saranam Gacchami

I go to the Buddha for refuge.
I go to the Dhamma for refuge.
I go to the Sangha for refuge.

बुद्धं शरणं गच्छामि। धर्मं शरणं गच्छामि। संघं शरणं गच्छामि।

If you find an alert companion, an attentive friend to live happily together, then, overcoming all adversities, wander with them, joyful and mindful.

If you find no alert companion, an attentive friend to live happily together, then, like a king who flees his conquered realm, wander alone like a tusker in the wilds.

Partial excepts from Snp 1.3 : Khaggavisāṇasutta

Free Buddha Dharma ebook


Good Question, Good Answer
By Bhante Shravasti Dhammika


Free download available:

https://budblooms.org/good-question/
===

Free Buddha Dharma ebook


Good Question, Good Answer
By Bhante Shravasti Dhammika

QUESTION: What is Buddhism?

ANSWER: The name Buddhism comes from the word budhi which means ‘to wake up’ and thus Buddhism can be said to be the philosophy of awakening. This philosophy has its origins in the experience of the man Siddhattha Gotama, known as the Buddha, who was himself awakened at the age of 35. Buddhism is now more than 2,500 years old and has about 380 million followers worldwide. Until a hundred years ago Buddhism was mainly an Asian philosophy but increasingly it is gaining adherents in Europe, Australia and the Americas.

Free download available:

https://budblooms.org/good-question/
===

Grande Buda de Ibiraçu, gigantic Buddha statue located in Morro da Vargem Zen Buddhism Monastery,
Ibiraçu, Espírito Santo, Brazil, the largest Buddha statue in America continent.

12. Na hi papam katam kammam
sajju kharam'va muccati
ôahantam balam anveti
bhasmacchanno'va pavako. 71.

EVIL TAKES EFFECT AT THE OPPORTUNE MOMENT

12. Verily, an evil deed committed does not immediately bear fruit, just as milk curdles not at once; smouldering, it follows the fool like fire covered with ashes. 71.

Story

An indignant farmer set fire to the hut of a Private Buddha and was born as a Peta resembling a snake. The Buddha related why he was born in such a state and commented on the effects of evil deeds.
===
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===

Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan Buddhist temple, Thonburi, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand.

Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

“When an ethical person with trusting heart gives a proper gift to unethical persons, trusting in the ample fruit of deeds, that offering is purified by the giver.

When an unethical and untrusting person, gives an improper gift to ethical persons, not trusting in the ample fruit of deeds, that offering is purified by the receivers.

When an unethical and untrusting person, gives an improper gift to unethical persons, not trusting in the ample fruit of deeds, I declare that gift is not very fruitful.

When an ethical person with trusting heart gives a proper gift to ethical persons, trusting in the ample fruit of deeds, I declare that gift is abundantly fruitful.

But when a passionless one gives to the passionless a proper gift with trusting heart, trusting in the ample fruit of deeds, that’s truly the best of material gifts.”

Partial excerpts from MN 142 : Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅgasutta

Dragon Temple, Amphoe Sam Phran, Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. The dragon's body is the stairs leading to the main Buddhist temple on top of the building.

13. Yavadeva anatthaya
ñattam balassa jayati
Hanti balassa sukkamsam
muddham assa vipatayam. 72.

KNOWLEDGE AND FAME TEND TO THE RUIN OF FOOLS

13. To his ruin, indeed, the fool gains knowledge and fame; they destroy his bright lot and cleave his head. 7 72.

Story

A vicious pupil learnt the art of shooting and misused his skill by shooting a stone at a Private Buddha and killing him instantaneously. In consequence of this evil deed he was born as a sledge-hammer Peta. Referring to his past skill, the Buddha remarked that the knowledge of the vicious tends to their own ruin.
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===

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsaṃbuddhassa

Free Buddhism ebook

Handful of Leaves
An Anthology from the Sutta Pitaka
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Anthology from the Digha Nikaya. This volume is the first in a four-volume anthology of suttas (discourses) drawn from the Sutta Pitaka (Discourse Basket or Repository) of the Pali Canon. This volume contains suttas drawn from the first of the five collections comprising the Sutta Pitaka: the Digha Nikaya, or Long Collection.

Free download available:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NU7C-AEfFqAq-uj4gd1X-1dEvhHNkjBd/view?usp=drive_link
===

Free Buddhism ebook

Handful of Leaves
An Anthology from the Sutta Pitaka
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Anthology from the Digha Nikaya. This volume is the first in a four-volume anthology of suttas (discourses) drawn from the Sutta Pitaka (Discourse Basket or Repository) of the Pali Canon. This volume contains suttas drawn from the first of the five collections comprising the Sutta Pitaka: the Digha Nikaya, or Long Collection.

Free download available:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NU7C-AEfFqAq-uj4gd1X-1dEvhHNkjBd/view?usp=drive_link
===

Now how is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit?

"There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.

"Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.'He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.'

Partially excerpted from MN 118 : Anapanasati Sutta.

Buddha's twin miracles

The Story about the Twin Miracle

Yamakapāṭihāriyavatthu

From the Dhammapada Aṭṭhakathā
By E W Burlingame and Ānandajoti Bhikkhu

Part 1 of 2

The Birth Story about the Bull Blackie:


In the past when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life as a bull. And while he was still a young calf, his owners, who had been lodging with an old woman, made him over to her in settlement of their reckoning. She reared him like her own child, feeding him on rice-gruel and rice and on other good cheer. The name he became known by was: “Granny’s Blackie (Ayyikā Kāḷaka).”

Growing up, he used to range about with the other cattle of the village, and was as black as jet. The village urchins used to catch hold of his horns and ears and dewlaps, and have a ride; or they would hold on to his tail in play, and mount on his back.

One day he thought to himself: “My mother is very poor; she has painfully reared me, as if I were her own child. What if I were to earn some money to ease her hard lot?” Thenceforth he was always looking out for a job. Now, one day a young merchant at the head of a caravan came with five hundred wagons to a ford the bottom of which was so rough that his oxen could not pull the wagons through. And even when he took out the five hundred pairs of oxen and yoked the lot together to form one team, they could not get a single cart by itself across the river.

Close by that ford the Bodhisatta was about with the other cattle of the village, and the young merchant, being a judge of cattle, ran his eye over the herd to see whether among them there was a thoroughbred bull who could pull the wagons across. When his eye fell on the Bodhisatta, he felt sure he would do so; and, to find out the Bodhisatta’s owner, he said to the herdsmen: “Who owns this animal? If I could yoke him on and get my wagons across, I would pay for his services.” They said: “Take him and harness him, then; he has got no master hereabouts.”

But when the young merchant slipped a cord through the Bodhisatta’s nose and tried to lead him off, the bull would not budge. For, we are told, the Bodhisatta would not go till his pay was fixed. Understanding his meaning, the merchant said: “Master, if you will pull these five hundred wagons across, I will pay you two coins per cart, or a thousand coins in all.”

It now required no force to get the Bodhisatta to come. Away he went, and the men harnessed him to the carts. The first he dragged over with a single pull, and landed it high and dry; and in like manner he dealt with the whole string of wagons.

The young merchant tied round the Bodhisatta’s neck a bundle containing five hundred coins, or at the rate of only one for each cart. Thought the Bodhisatta to himself: “This fellow is not paying me according to contract! I won’t let him move on!” So he stood across the path of the foremost wagon and blocked the way. And try as they would, they could not get him out of the way. “I suppose he knows I’ve paid him short,” thought the merchant; and he wrapped up a thousand coins in a bundle, which he tied round the Bodhisatta’s neck, saying:

“Here’s your pay for pulling the wagons across.” And away went the Bodhisatta with the thousand coins to his mother.

“What’s that round the neck of Kāḷaka?” cried the children of the village, running up to him. But the Bodhisatta made at them from afar and made them scamper off, so that he reached his mother all right. Now he appeared worn out, with his eyes bloodshot, from dragging all those five hundred wagons over the river. The pious woman, finding a thousand coins round his neck, cried out: “Where did you get this, my child?” Learning from the herdsmen what had happened, she exclaimed: “Have I any wish to live on your earnings, my child? Why did you go through all this fatigue?” So saying, she washed the Bodhisatta with warm water and rubbed him all over with oil; she gave him drink and regaled him with due victuals. And when her life closed, she passed away, with the Bodhisatta, to fare according to her deeds.

However onerous the load,
however deep the pathway is,
at that time they harness Kaṇha,
and he carries away the load.

Having related this Birth Story, to make the matter clearer, he related in detail also the Birth Story about the Bull Nandivisāla:


In the past at Taxila in the land of Gandhāra there was a king reigning there, and the Bodhisatta came to life as a bull. When he was quite a tiny calf, he was presented by his owners to a Brahmin who came in – they being known to give away presents of oxen to such-like holy men. The Brahmin called it Nandivisāla (Great Joy), and treated it like his own child, feeding the young creature on rice-gruel and rice. When the Bodhisatta grew up, he thought thus to himself: “I have been brought up by this Brahmin with great pains, and all Jambudīpa cannot show the bull which can draw what I can. How if I were to repay the Brahmin the cost of my nurture by making proof of my strength?” Accordingly, one day he said to the Brahmin: “Go, Brahmin, to some merchant rich in herds, and wager him a thousand pieces that your bull can draw a hundred loaded carts.”

The Brahmin went his way to a merchant and got into a discussion with him as to whose oxen in the town were the strongest. “Oh, So-and-so’s, or So-and-so’s,” said the merchant. “But,” added he, “there are no oxen in the town which can compare with mine for real strength.” Said the Brahmin: “I have a bull who can pull a hundred loaded carts.” – “Where’s such a bull to be found?” laughed the merchant. “I’ve got him at home,” said the Brahmin. “Make it a wager.” – “Certainly,” said the Brahmin, and staked a thousand pieces.

Then he loaded a hundred carts with sand, gravel, and stones, and tied the lot together, one behind the other, by cords from the axle tree of the one in front to the trace-bar of its successor. This done, he bathed Nandivisāla, gave him a measure of perfumed rice to eat, hung a garland round his neck, and harnessed him all alone to the leading cart. The Brahmin in person took his seat upon the pole, and flourished his goad in the air, shouting: “Now then, you rascal! Pull them along, you rascal!”

“I’m not the rascal he calls me,” thought the Bodhisatta to himself; and so he planted his four feet like so many posts, and budged not an inch.
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===

14. Asatam bhavanam iccheyya
purekkharañ ca bhikkhusu
âvasesu ca issariyam
puja parakulesu ca. 73.
15. Mam eva katam maññantu
giha pabbajita ubho
Mam ev'ativasa assu
kiccakiccesu kismici
Iti balassa saïkappo
iccha mano ca vaddhati. 74.

THE IGNORANT SEEK UNDUE FAME

14. The fool will desire undue reputation, precedence among monks, authority in the monasteries, honour among other families. 73.

15. Let both laymen and monks think, "by myself was this done; in every work, great or small, let them refer to me". Such is the ambition of the fool; his desires and pride increase. 74.

Story

A resident monk, jealous of the honour paid to the visiting Chief Disciple by his supporters, insulted him and reported the matter to the Buddha. The Teacher advised the monk to seek his pardon and told him not to be egoistic and ambitious, thinking in terms of "me" and "mine".
===
Words of the Buddha channel:

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===