(2) It has, in the present moment, the power of choice, together with the ability to change direction quickly. The power of choice allows you to commit to a course of action; the luminosity allows you to reflect on the results of following that course, and at the same time it gives you the ability to check to see whether the mind has switched direction, away from its commitment, while its ability to change course allows you to make adjustments as they seem advisable.

In terms of dependent co-arising, this approach is the way to overcome the ignorance—avijjā, which can also mean lack of skill—that causes your intentional activities to lead to suffering. As you observe for yourself which desires work and which don’t work, and as your standards for “what works” grow higher as you develop virtue, concentration, and discernment, you weaken ignorant desires and replace them with knowledgeable and skillful ones. In that way, you grow closer and closer to total freedom.

Those are some of the qualities of character that the Buddha taught to Rahula.

If we want to understand virtue as taught by the Buddha, we have to understand the rules of behavior he laid down, clearly delineating right and wrong, as well as the qualities of character he praised and tried to inculcate in his students. The rules are there to alert you to specific unskillful desires and passions that could hide behind general principles, as when you claim to be acting on compassion when it’s nothing more than an excuse for what’s actually careless behavior. The rules teach you that no unskillful desire is too small to merit your attention. After all, big fires come from little ones. At the same time, the qualities of character mentioned above enable you to deal skillfully with areas calling for integrity that can’t properly be covered by rules.

It’s in this way that the training in virtue offered by the Buddha is both thorough and all-around.

Excerpted from Beyond Desire & Passion: The Buddha’s Training for Freedom By Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

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, and is a frequent contributor to Tricycle. 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:
www.dhammatalks.org
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Part 1 of 2:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha/3659


Part 2 of 2:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/wordsofbuddha/4491
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Words of the Buddha channel:

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2. Sahassam api ce gatha
anatthapadasamhita
Ekam gathapadam seyyo
yam sutva upasammati. 101.

ONE USEFUL VERSE IS BETTER THAN A THOUSAND USELESS VERSES

2. Better than a thousand verses, comprising useless words, is one beneficial single line, by hearing which one is pacified. 101.

Story

A ship-wrecked person swam with difficulty to the shore and saved himself. As be went about clothed with the bark of trees people mistook him for an Arahant. Realizing his folly, he went to see the Buddha and was converted by His beneficial words of wisdom.

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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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Sangoku Daiichisan Arakura Fuji Sengen Pagoda viewing snow capped Mount Fuji, at Mount Arakura, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

Brahma Palace, Ling Shan scenic area, the costliest Buddhist compound in modern history. The large complex has world tallest standing bronze Amitabha Buddha statue, world largest Buddha's hand square, Indian style gigantic Brahma Palace, Tibetan style Five Mudras Mandala Palace, Nine Dragons Buddha bathing fountain, Maitreya Buddha with 100 children, Xiangfu Buddhist temple, Thai style Flying Dragon stupas, Buddha's footprints altar and two man-made lakes.

Free Buddha Dharma ebook

Yogavacaropadesa
GUIDANCE FOR A MEDITATIVE LIFE
Most Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Thero


Free download here:

https://ftp.budaedu.org/ebooks/pdf/EN466.pdf
===

Free Buddha Dharma ebook

Yogavacaropadesa
GUIDANCE FOR A MEDITATIVE LIFE
Most Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Thero

Most Venerable Ñāṇārāma thero was a genuine yogāvacara in its utmost depth of the meaning. When writing this guide, Venerable thero combined his deep knowledge of Dhamma as well as his piercing intuition forged by meditation, and consequently (this book) has become a valuable handbook for those who follow the path of Dhamma.


Free download here:

https://ftp.budaedu.org/ebooks/pdf/EN466.pdf
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Kinkaku Ji temple, made of real gold petals, Kyoto, Japan.

3. Yo ce gathasatam bhase
anatthapadasamhita
Ekam dhammapadam seyyo 2
yam sutva upasammati. 102.
4. Yo sahassam sahassena
sangame manuse jine
Ekan ca jeyya attanam
sa ve sangamajuttamo. 103.

BETTER THAN A HUNDRED USELESS WORDS IS ONE WORD OF THE DHAMMA.
SELF-CONQUEST IS THE BEST OF ALL CONQUESTS

3. Should one recite a hundred verses, comprising useless words, better is one single word of the Dhamma, by hearing which one is pacified. 102.

4. Though one should conquer a million 3 men in battlefield, yet he, indeed, is the noblest victor who has conquered himself. 103.

Story

A wealthy maiden fell in love with a thief and married him. Later, the husband took the wife to the top of a cliff and wanted to rob her of her jewellery and kill her. The wife's entreaties proved useless. Under the pretext of paying her last respects to him she got behind him and pushed him down the cliff. Later, she became a nun and, meeting the Venerable Sariputta, heard the Dhamma, and attained Arahantship. The bhikkhus discussed how she had battled with a bandit and later, hearing a few words of the Dhamma, had become an Arahant. The Buddha then spoke on the efficacy of the words of Truth and on the importance of self-conquest.

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Free Buddhism books, teachings, podcasts and videos from Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions:

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

There are four places that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence, said the Buddha.

Lumbini is where the Tathagata was born.

Bodhgaya is where the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment.

Sarnath is where the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dharma.

Kushinagar is where the Tathagata passed away into the state of Parinirvana in which no element of clinging remains.

These, Ananda, are the four places that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. And truly there will come to these places pious monks and nuns, and laymen and laywomen to reflect on the life of the Tathagata.

~paraphrased from Mahaparinibbana Sutta

Every kind of delighting or longing,
So often attaching to all kinds of stuff,
Yearned for because of deep-rooted confusion
— All these, with their roots, have been vanquished by me (Buddha)

I'm devoid of attachment, longing, or thirst,
And see clearly amidst all phenomena.
Having gained the sublime, highest awakening,
I meditate in ripened seclusion (a desolate forest)

Katthaharaka Sutta: Buddha in the Forest
Samyutta Nikaya 7.18

5. Atta have jitam seyyo
ya ca'yam itara paja
Attadantassa posassa
niccam sannatacarino. 104.
6. N'eva devo na gandhabbo
na maro saha brahmuna
Jitam apajitam kayira
tatharupassa jantuno. 105.

BE RATHER A VICTOR OF YOURSELF THAN A VICTOR OF OTHERS.
NONE CAN TURN INTO DEFEAT SELF-VICTORY

5-6. Self-conquest 4 is, indeed, far greater than the conquest of all other folk; neither a god nor a gandhabba, 5 nor Mara 6 with Brahma, 7 can win back the victory of such a person who is self-subdued and ever lives in restraint. 104-105.

Story

A gambler questioned the Buddha about the causes of loss. The Buddha answered his question and inquired of him how he earned his living. When he replied that it was by gambling, which resulted in both gain and loss, the Buddha explained that real victory was self-victory.

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Buddha dharma teachings channel:

https://news.1rj.ru/str/lorddivinebuddha
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Three giant standing Buddha at Muang Boran, Samut Prakan, Thailand.

Free Buddha Dharma ebook

The Miracle of Contact
By Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda

Free download available:

https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2039-miracle-of-contact_Nanananda.pdf
===

Free Buddha Dharma ebook

The Miracle of Contact
By Bhikkhu Katukurunde Nanananda

The series of 20 sermons on ‘Paṭicca Samuppāda’ which I delivered at Pothgulgala Āraṇya in Devalegama seems to have had an appeal to those who listened to the sermons, or read them when the series came out in 4 volumes. Although the translation of the first ten sermons have already appeared (‘The Law of Dependent Arising’ – The Secret of Bondage and Release – volumes I & II), due to failing health I have not been able to translate them all myself. So I delegated the task to someone who is competent and the last two volumes will be issued in due course.
However I have translated the 15th sermon on ‘Contact’ (phassa) because of its pivotal significance and the special way of presentation. Hence I thought of giving it priority by bringing it out as a separate booklet noscriptd: ‘The Miracle of Contact’. Even to those who are disinclined to go through the entire series, it is hoped that this booklet would at least give a foretaste of the depth of the Law of Dependent Arising and its practical value to our lives.

Free download available:

https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2039-miracle-of-contact_Nanananda.pdf
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Mikoshi arai purification ceremony, Kaisuka Kashima shrine, Japan.

Borobudur temple, Java island, Indonesia.

Jack Kornfield

Tree Root Practice

American Theravada teacher Jack Kornfield reflects on the lessons he learned from nature while studying in the forest tradition.
By Jack Kornfield


As a Buddhist teacher, I want to acknowledge how important trees are in Buddhist teachings. The Buddha was born under a tree. He practiced under trees, he got enlightened under the Bodhi tree. He taught under a tree, wandered under the trees, and died between two sal trees in a grove. I lived for a number of years in Ajahn Chah’s forest monastery on the border of Northeast Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. We lived in an ancient rhythm where we would get up in the dark and walk through the forest, sit and chant in the morning, and walk barefoot on dusty paths to the nearby villages for people to offer alms. We lived in that forest. We watched the changing of the seasons and the moons, and we heard the cicadas and the civets. One of the practices there was called tree root practice, where we would sit in meditation at the base of a tree. Like the Buddha himself, we were called forest monks. And we were taught that our breath and our body and our life was connected with the forest all around us. I remember the sign on one tree in a monastery where I visited. It was near the stump of another sandalwood tree, and the sign there said that the sandalwood tree is so generous that it even shelters the axe-man who cuts it down.

What does it mean to learn from the trees? The generosity of taking in carbon dioxide and giving us back oxygen. How extraordinary it is that trees turn light into sugar. What a fabulous thing to turn light into sugar. It makes me think of my five-year-old grandson who loves sugar, like I do. So we start with a sense of gratitude, amazement, and interbeing so that we can feel the generosity of the trees and the earth.

Practice: Sit Like A Tree

I’m going to share a very simple practice that helps people become steady, grounded, and connected to the earth through all the ups and downs of daily life. You can do this when you are in the middle of concerns or anxiety, hopes or plans, or anything that takes you away from being here on this earth and in this mystery.

Let yourself settle and find a way to sit that’s stable and comfortable and steady. Let your posture settle, allow your eyes to close gently or lower your gaze, and take two long breaths. Let your eyes and face be soft. Loosen the jaw, allow the shoulders, arms, and hands to relax and rest easily. Feel the weight of your body, gravity pulling you back to Mother Earth, and the connection between your body and the seat. The earth completely supports your breathing and you can relax knowing you are fully supported just where you are.

Now let yourself feel or imagine that you are a tree. Imagine that your body is like a great tree and that you are seated halfway between heaven and earth in this tree form. Imagine as you sit steady and strong that you have roots, and that the roots go deep into the earth. These are powerful, deep roots and you can feel a strong connection with the earth. The trunk of your body rises up from these deeply rooted connections that bind you in a nourishing and deep way to the earth. Now you are a great tree, with powerful roots and a strong trunk. Because you are generous, your branches and leaves drink sunlight, and with the chlorophyll in your leaves, you turn it into sugar. The sweetness of the sunlight and the sugar goes through your branches, down into your roots, and even spreads from your roots to other nearby trees when needed. What power you have. What a gift that how you breathe as a tree, with every whispering breeze, you can transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, the life oxygen that you offer to the animals and other beings around you. Feel yourself in this inter-breathing.

And notice, if you can, how your arms stretch up like great tree limbs and small branches. That all the weather and changes in the atmosphere will come through your body. Rain, sweet nourishing rain, and wild storms that blow you about. Sunlight, rainbows, snow, heat. Feel the steadiness of your trunk and the flexibility of your branches that can sway in the storms and the winds while you remain rooted in the earth. All the weather comes and goes. Here you stand rooted deep into the earth, steady and joyful. You can sit like a tree, strong and quiet, connected deeply to the earth. You are steady amidst all the changes.

Now imagine that you can step out of being a tree. Now at some distance away, in your regular body, you can gaze at the tree. This is what the Buddha is said to have done after his enlightenment. He moved a little distance from the Bodhi tree that sheltered him and he spent seven days in gratitude, quietly gazing and breathing together with the tree of enlightenment. Feel the support of this connection and gratitude for the mystery. When you’re ready, let your eyes open gently. Continue to feel the strength and rootedness. You are Earth herself.

As the story goes, when the Buddha was seated under the Bodhi tree, the tree of enlightenment, he was attacked by the armies of Mara: delusion, greed, and anger. He stayed steady like the tree as the armies of Mara came in, meeting them all with a compassionate heart. Finally, Mara brought the most difficult army of all: doubts. Do you know this army? It’s too hard, I can’t do it. Climate change is too big, enlightenment is impossible. What’s asked of me in this life is beyond my capacity. The big doubts and the little doubts all flooded in, and in the great doubt, Mara asked what right do you have as a human being to awaken? At this point, the Buddha took his right hand, and reached down to touch the earth, and he called upon Mother Earth, to bear witness to his right, as a human being, to sit and be connected with this earth, and to see with awakened eyes and an awakened heart. And out of the earth, it is said, came the goddess of the earth. From her hair, came a flood of water that washed the armies of Mara away. The Buddha sat, peaceful and steady, until he saw the morning star. And all was revealed: the fundamental truth that, wherever we are, the heart can be free.

This is also your seat under your Bodhi tree, under your tree of enlightenment. And this is also your earth, that celebrates you and will protect you. You can reach down and touch the earth any time, just as the Buddha did. And you can say the earth is my witness to the right to awaken in the midst at all.

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Jack Kornfield was trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India, and holds a PhD in clinical psychology. He is a psychotherapist and founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and the Spirit Rock Center. His books include Seeking the Heart of Wisdom and Still Forest Pool.
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Dhammapada, beloved and favorite teachings of the Buddha channel:

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7. Mase mase sahassena
yo yajetha satam samam
Ekan ca bhavitattanam
muhuttam api pujaye
Sa y'eva pujana seyyo
yan ce vassasatam hutam. 106.

A MOMENT'S HONOUR TO THE WORTHY IS BETTER THAN LONG CONTINUED HONOUR TO THE UNWORTHY

7. Though month after month with a thousand, one should make an offering for a hundred years, yet, if, only for a moment, one should honour (a Saint) who has perfected himself - that honour is, indeed, better than a century of sacrifice. 106.

Story

The Venerable Sariputta's uncle used to spend much money monthly on the naked ascetics with the object of being reborn in a heavenly realm. The Venerable Sariputta took him to the Buddha, who directed him on the proper path.

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Words of the Buddha channel:

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