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What Buddhist Believe
By Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda

This book is written with a specific aim in mind: to introduce the original teaching clearly and without recourse to exaggeration, cultural implications or disparaging of particular schools of Buddhism, so that the reader can understand the Buddha Dhamma its modern context. There is a growing interest in Buddhism the world over because many informed people have grown rather weary of religious dogmatism and superstition, on one hand, and greed and selfishness arising from materialism, on the other. Buddhism can teach humanity to walk the Middle Path of moderation and have a better understanding on how to lead a richer life of peace and happiness.

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The Five Mindfulness Trainings

by Thich Nhat Hanh

The five mindfulness trainings are an expression of the five precepts, the core of Buddhist ethics. Thich Nhat Hanh offers a down-to-earth method of practicing mindfulness in daily life.


The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.

1. Reverence For Life

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.

2. True Happiness

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming.

3. True Love

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.

4. Loving Speech and Deep Listening

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations.

Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.

5. Nourishment and Healing

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.

About Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was a renowned Zen teacher and poet, the founder of the Engaged Buddhist movement, and the founder of nine monastic communities, including Plum Village Monastery in France. He was also the author of At Home in the World, The Other Shore, and more than a hundred other books that have sold millions of copies worldwide.


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Dhammapada Verse 65
Timsapaveyyakabhikkhu Vatthu

Muhuttamapi ce vinnu
panditam payirupasati
khippam dhammam vijanati
jivha suparasam yatha.

Verse 65: An intelligent man, even though he is associated with a wise man only for a moment, quickly understands the Dhamma, just as the tongue knows the taste of soup.

The Story of Thirty Bhikkhus from Paveyyaka

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (65) of this book, with reference to thirty bhikkhus from Paveyyaka.

Thirty youths from Paveyyaka were, on one occasion, enjoying themselves with a prostitute in a forest, when the prostitute stole some of their valuable ornaments and ran away. While searching for her in the forest, they met the Buddha on the way. As the Buddha delivered them a discourse the youths attained Sotapatti Fruition, and all of them joined the Order of the Buddha and followed him to the Jetavana monastery. While staying at the monastery, they strictly observed the austerity or purification practice (dhutanga). Later, when the Buddha delivered the Anamatagga Sutta (Discourse on Countless Existences), all those bhikkhus attained arahatship.

When other bhikkhus commented that Paveyyaka bhikkhus were very quick in attaining arahatship, the Buddha replied to them in verse, as follows:

Verse 65: An intelligent man, even though he is associated with a wise man only for a moment, quickly understands the Dhamma, just as the tongue knows the taste of soup.


Words of the Buddha channel:

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I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There Ven. Sariputta addressed the monks, saying, "Friend monks!"

"Yes, friend," the monks responded.

Ven. Sariputta said: "Friends, just as the footprints of all legged animals are encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is reckoned the foremost among them in terms of size; in the same way, all skillful qualities are gathered under the four noble truths. Under which four? Under the noble truth of sufferings, under the noble truth of the origination of sufferings, under the noble truth of the cessation of sufferings, and under the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of sufferings.

Maha-hatthipadopama Sutta: The Great Elephant Footprint Simile.

MN 28

Dhammapada Verse 66
Suppabuddhakutthi Vatthu

Caranti bala dummedha
amitteneva attana
karonta papakam kammam
yam hoti katukapphalam.

Verse 66: With themselves as their own enemies, fools lacking in intelligence, move about doing evil deeds, which bear bitter fruits.

The Story of Suppabuddha, the Leper

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (66) of this book, with reference to Suppabuddha, a leper.

Suppabuddha, the leper, while sitting at the back of the crowd and listening attentively to the discourse given by the Buddha, attained Sotapatti Fruition. When the crowd had dispersed, he followed the Buddha to the monastery as he wished to tell the Buddha about his attainment of Sotapatti Fruition. Sakka, king of the devas, wishing to test the leper's faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha, appeared to him and said, "You are only a poor man, living on what you get by begging, with no one to fall back on. I can give you immense wealth if you deny the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha and say that you have no use for them." To this, Suppabuddha replied. "I am certainly not a poor man, with no one to rely on. I am a rich man; I possess the seven attributes which the ariyas possess; I have faith (saddha), morality (sila), sense of shame to do evil (hiri), sense of fear to do evil (ottappa), learning (sula), generosity (caga) and knowledge (panna).

Then, Sakka went to the Buddha ahead of Suppabuddha and related the conversation between himself and Suppabuddha. To him the Buddha replied that it would not be easy even for a hundred or a thousand Sakkas to coax Suppabuddha away from the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha. Soon after this, Suppabuddha arrived at the monastery and reported to the Buddha about his attainment of Sotapatti Fruition. On his way back from the Jetavana monastery, Suppabuddha was gored to death by an infuriated cow, who, in fact, was an ogress assuming the form of a cow. This ogress was none other than the prostitute who was killed by Suppabuddha in one of his previous existences and who had vowed to have her revenge on him.

When the news of Suppabuddha's death reached the Jetavana monastery, the bhikkhus asked the Buddha where Suppabuddha was reborn and the Buddha replied to them that Suppabuddha was reborn in Tavatimsa deva realm. The Buddha also explained to them that Suppabuddha was born a leper because, in one of his previous existences, he had spat upon a paccekabuddha.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 66: With themselves as their own enemies, fools lacking in intelligence, move about doing evil deeds, which bear bitter fruits.


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Suffering and the End of Suffering
Did the Buddha only teach one thing?
By Thanissaro Bhikkhu


There’s a fake Buddha quote you may have heard. It quotes the Buddha as saying, “I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering.” The fake part is the “one thing and one thing only.” He did say, “All I teach is suffering and the end of suffering,” but people tend to focus on the “one thing only.”

I’ve read some teachers interpret this, saying that there’s a subtle teaching here: that suffering and the end of suffering are the same thing. From there, they go on to say, “What this means is that if you learn to accept the fact of suffering, then there’s no more suffering,” which is a pretty bleak teaching. It goes together with the One Method and One Method Only teaching, i.e., that the basic teaching is simply to watch things arising and passing away, and that’s all you have to do. Learn not to get involved and everything will be okay. That’s the highest happiness you can expect.

Again, the Buddha didn’t teach that. Suffering is one thing; the end of suffering is something else. They both come from actions—different actions—which makes all the difference in the world. If there’s only one thing to do, such as just passively accepting whatever’s going on, then you’re let off the hook. There wouldn’t be a need for very much discernment to go into the path because there wouldn’t be many choices made. In fact, you’d be learning how not to make choices—trying to develop choiceless awareness.

But the fact is that you’re making choices all the time, and what you’re experiencing right now is the result of choices you’ve made in the past plus choices you’re making right now. A major part of the path is learning how to accept that fact and then to work with it—to do something positive with it. In other words, if there’s suffering right now, you’ve been making some bad choices in the past and you’re making some bad choices right now. If you weren’t making bad choices right now, there wouldn’t be any suffering. So wherever there’s any stress or dukkha in any of its forms, you’ve got to look into what you’re doing. Then you can change what you’re doing and shape a different present: that’s the positive point.

Now, because what you’re experiencing right now is a combination of different factors, that means you have to look and look again. Those pleasures and pains don’t come marked with a country of origin, i.e., past karma or present karma. A large part of the meditation is learning how to sort that out: which things are coming from past intentions and which things are coming from present intentions. And what are your present intentions right now? This throws all the responsibility on you. The teacher’s here to give advice, to see if you’re going off course and to help with a little course correction. But then again, you have to be responsible for deciding whether you want to take the advice or not.

This is the hard part of the path, and it’s one of the reasons why people like to hear that there’s a One Size Fits All meditation method, and the method itself has just one option: accept. It takes the responsibility off their shoulders. But you’re not going to gain discernment that way. You gain discernment from making choices and then learning how to read them. It’s not the case that you’ll go immediately to total understanding of what’s the past karma you’re experiencing right now and what’s the present karma. You learn bit by bit.

Start by trying to get the mind as still as possible. This is the basic pattern in all the tetrads of the breath meditation. You sensitize yourself to what you’re doing, and then you try to do it in a way that leads to greater calm, to more subtle forms of concentration and more subtle levels of pleasure. You work through this process of sensitizing and refinement step by step by step, which means that you have to be very observant.

The Buddha gives you some guidance. If you notice that things are inconstant in the mind, especially if the level of stress or ease in the mind is inconstant, look at what you’re doing. When the level of stress goes up, what did you do? When it goes down, what did you do? When things seem to be perfectly still and perfectly at ease, try to maintain that stillness and see if you can begin to sensitize yourself to more subtle ups and downs.

This keeps throwing the responsibility back on you. The Buddha’s there with guidance. He gives you lots of different meditation methods to deal with specific problems as they come up. Breath meditation is your home base because it’s a method that sensitizes you directly to bodily, verbal, and mental fabrication, and points you in the direction of learning how to calm these things.

But sometimes issues come up in the mind that are a lot more blatant than that. That’s when you need contemplation of the body, contemplation of death, contemplation of the principle of karma, reflections on the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha: all of these things are there to help you with whatever the specific problem that’s coming up, whether it’s laziness or lack of self-confidence. There are ways of thinking that can get you around those problems, all with the purpose of getting you back to the breath—because it’s when you’re with the breath that you can see your subtle intentions most clearly.

Those are the troublemakers. Those are the things you want to see more and more clearly so that you can figure out exactly where you’re making choices right now, and who, in the bureaucracy of your mind, is making the choice. Sometimes decisions get sent up to the top, and you realize that there’s an issue you have to deal with. But there are a lot of lower-level management people who will make quick decisions and send things back down again without consulting you. If there weren’t, your mind would be totally flooded with all kinds of stuff. The problem is, though, that some of those middle-level decisions are not very wise. So you’ve got to get the mind more and more still to see where the subtle decisions are being made and if they’re actually in your best interest.

So suffering is not the same thing as the end of suffering. The Buddha didn’t teach just one thing; he didn’t teach just one method. The mind, after all, is a complex thing, and you need lots of approaches to work with it. Which is why we need all this time to meditate: to get to know things, to stick with something for a while until you can see where you’re doing it wrong. Then you can do a course correction.

So, accept the fact that there will be some right and some wrong in what you’re doing all the time. You have to approach this with a certain amount of humility: Okay, yup, you are doing something wrong. But you’ve also got some rightness, too, and a lot of the practice is learning to figure out which is which so that you can increase the rightness. It’ll be up to you to make the distinction. After all, when awakening comes, nobody else does it for you. That’s a matter of your powers of observation, your discernment, and your sensitivity to the choices the mind is making. This gets more subtle with practice as you take on the responsibility.

You say, “Okay, there’s suffering there, I know. I’m not going to blame anybody else.” But blaming yourself doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person—simply that there’s been a lack of skill, and that’s something that can be corrected. This will take time; it requires patience. Just as the Buddha said that to get to know someone well, you have to spend time with that person and be with them in lots of different situations to get a rounded view, the same principle applies to your mind. To get a rounded view of what’s going on in your mind—where there’s suffering and stress, and what’s causing it—you have to spend time and be observant.

Remember that the responsibility lies here. You are making choices. You’ve made some bad ones, but you’ve also made some good ones, and you want to be able to learn from both.

This article originally appeared on dhammatalks.org.
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, dhammatalks.org.


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Free Buddha Dharma ebook

Brahmavihara Dhamma

A dhamma discourse by Mahasi Sayadaw Gyi

This “ Brahamavihara Dhamma” was delivered by Mahasi Sayadaw in 1965, at the “Fan-Yin” Dhamma Hall of Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha of Yangon. Sayadaw delivered these Dhamma discourses for sixteen separate times, and were tape-recorded.


In 1977 September, these dhamma discourses were compiled and printed for the first time in Myanmar to facilitate the Yogis in their meditation practices. Then, it was translated into English and was published by U Min Swe, the executive member of the Mahasi Buddha Sasana Nuggaha Organization, in July 1985.


We are very pleased to publish this Edition, which will be of great use and benefits to the foreign yogis, when they start practise the Vipassana Insight Meditation, according to the method of Mahasi Sayadaw and we hope they will be able to practise this method easily and gain various insights.

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Dhammapada Verse 67
Kassaka Vatthu

Na tam kammam katam sadhu
yam katva anutappati
yassa assumukho rodam
vipakam patisevati.

Verse 67: That deed is not well done, if one has to repent for having done it, and if, with a tearful face, one has to weep as a result of that deed.

The Story of a Farmer

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (67) of this book, with reference to a farmer who handled poison.

One day, some thieves having stolen some valuables and cash from the house of a rich man came to a field. There, they divided the stolen property among themselves and dispersed; but a packet containing one thousand in cash, having dropped from one of the thieves, was left behind unnoticed.

Early in the morning on that day, the Buddha, on surveying the world with his supernormal power, perceived that a farmer, cultivating near that field, would attain Sotapatti Fruition on that very day. So, the Buddha went there, accompinied by the Venerable Ananda. The farmer on seeing the Buddha paid obeisance to him and continued to plough the field. The Buddha seeing the packet of money said to the Venerable Ananda, "Ananda, look at that very poisonous snake," and Ananda replied, "Venerable Sir, yes, it is, indeed, a very poisonous snake!" Then, both the Buddha and the Venerable Ananda continued their way.

The farmer, hearing them, went to find out if there really was a snake and found the packet of money. He took the picket and hid it in a place. The owners of the property coming after the thieves came to the field, and tracing the footprints of the farmer, found the packet of money. They beat the farmer and took him to the king, who ordered his men to kill the farmer. On being taken to the cemetery, where he was to be killed, the farmer kept on repeating, "Ananda, look at that very poisonous snake. Venerable Sir, I see the snake; it is, indeed, a very poisonous snake!" When the king's men heard the above dialogue between the Buddha and the Venerable Ananda being repeated all the way, they were puzzled and took him to the king. The king surmised that the farmer was calling upon the Buddha as a witness; he was therefore taken to the presence of the Buddha. After hearing from the Buddha everything that had happened in the morning, the king remarked, "If he had not been able to call upon the Buddha as a witness of his innocence, this man would have been killed." To him, the Buddha replied, "A wise man should not do anything that he would repent after doing it."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 67: That deed is not well done, if one has to repent for having done it, and if, with a tearful face, one has to weep as a result of that deed.

At the end of the discourse, the farmer attained Sotapatti Fruition.

Ajahn Chah, Buddhist teacher of Thai forest meditation of Theravada Buddhism channel:


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====================

Dhammapada Verse 68
Sumanamalakara Vatthu

Tanca kammam katam sadhu
yam katva nanutappati
yassa patito sumano
vipikam patisevati.

Verse 68: That deed is well done if one has not to repent for having done it, and if one is delightful and happy with the result of that deed.

The Story of Sumana, the Florist

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (68) of this book, with reference to Sumana the florist.

A florist, named Sumana, had to supply King Bimbisara of Rajagaha with jasmin flowers every morning. One day, as he was going to the king's palace he saw the Buddha, with a halo of light-rays radiating from him, coming into town for alms-food accompanied by many bhikkhus. Seeing the Buddha in his resplendent glory, the florist Sumana felt a strong desire to offer his flowers to the Buddha. Then and there, he decided that even if the king were to drive him out of the country or to kill him, he would not offer the flowers to the king for that day. Thus, he threw up the flowers to the sides, to the back and over and above the head of the Buddha. The flowers remained hanging in the air; those over the head formed a canopy of flowers and those at the back and the sides formed walls of flowers. These flowers followed the Buddha in this position as he moved on, and stopped when the Buddha stopped. As the Buddha proceeded, surrounded by walls of flowers, and a canopy of flowers, with the six-coloured rays radiating from his body, followed by a large entourage, thousands of people inside and outside of Rajagaha came out of their houses to pay obeisance to the Buddha. As for Sumana, his entire body was suffused with delightful satisfaction (Piti).

The wife of the florist Sumana then went to the king and said that she had nothing to do with her husband failing to supply the king with flowers for that day. The king, being a Sotapanna himself, felt quite happy about the flowers. He came out to see the wonderful sight and paid obeisance to the Buddha. The king also took the opportunity to offer alms-food to the Buddha and his disciples. After the meal, the Buddha returned in the Jetavana monastery and the king followed him for some distance. On arrival back at the palace King Bimbisara sent for Sumana and offered him a reward of eight elephants, eight horses, eight male slaves, eight female slaves, eight maidens and eight thousand in cash.

At the Jetavana monastery, the Venerable Ananda asked the Buddha what benefits Sumana would gain by his good deed done on that day. The Buddha answered that Sumana, having given to the Buddha without any consideration for his life, would not be born in any of the four lower worlds (Apaya) for the next one hundred thousand worlds and that eventually he would become a paccekabuddha. After that, as the Buddha entered the Perfumed Hall (Gandhakuti) the flowers dropped off of their own accord.

That night, at the end of the usual discourse, the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 68: That deed is well done if one has not to repent for having done it, and if one is delightful and happy with the result of that deed.


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