All Brushes One Set Of Footprints' title='All Brushes One Set Of Footprints' />Meditations 4 Dhamma Talks.The daily schedule at Metta Forest Monastery includes a group interview in the late afternoon and a chanting session followed by a group meditation period later in the evening.The Dhamma talks included in this volume were given during the evening meditation sessions, and in many cases covered issues raised at the interviews either in the questions asked or lurking behind the questions.All Brushes One Set Of Footprints' title='All Brushes One Set Of Footprints' />Often these issues touched on a variety of topics on a variety of different levels in the practice.This explains the range of topics covered in individual talks.I have edited the talks with an eye to making them readable while at the same time trying to preserve some of the flavor of the spoken word.In a few instances I have added passages or rearranged the talks to make the treatment of specific topics more coherent and complete, but for the most part I have kept the editing to a minimum.Dont expect polished essays.The people listening to these talks were familiar with the meditation instructions included in Method 2 in Keeping the Breath in Mind by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo and my own essay, A Guided Meditation.If you are not familiar with these instructions, you might want to read through them before reading the talks in this book.Also, further Dhamma talks are available at dhammatalks. How To Install Mds Files there. Vintage-Advertising-Brushes-Pack.jpg' alt='All Brushes One Set Of Footprints' title='All Brushes One Set Of Footprints' />Ten Reasons Why.Ron Rodda. Lincoln, CATen reasons why the Trophy Cup winged 360 sprint car race is so special 10.Drivers keep their best nightWhichever.Whats Hot Your spot for viewing some of the best pieces on DeviantArt.Be inspired by a huge range of artwork from artists around the world.Universal Mania is your 1 source for hunting and fishing gear online.Shop our huge selection of shooting range accessories and outdoor adventure gear.As with the previous volumes in this series, I would like to thank Bok Lim Kim for making the recording of these talks possible.She, more than anyone else, is responsible for overcoming my initial reluctance to have the talks recorded.I would also like to thank the following people for transcribing the talks andor helping to edit the transcriptions John Bullitt, Kathy Forsythe, Roger Fox, Gareth Fysh Foskett, Richard Heiman, Linda Knudsen, Addie Onsanit, Nate Osgood, Xian Quan Osgood, Malcolm Schaeffer, Walter Schwidetzky, Atthau Bhikkhu, Balaggo Bhikkhu, Gunaddho Bhikkhu, Khematto Bhikkhu, and Vijjakaro Bhikkhu.May they all be happy.Thanissaro Bhikkhu.Metta Forest Monastery.September, 2. 00.January 6, 2. 00.Right concentration forms the heart of the path.The other factors of the path serve two functions.One is to get you into concentration the other is to make sure you dont get stuck there.In other words, concentration on its own is a state of becoming thats useful on the path.Even though you eventually want to go beyond all states of becoming, if you dont first master this state of becoming youll be wandering around in other states of becoming where it would be hard to see whats going on in the mind.As the Buddha said, when your mind is concentrated you can see the four noble truths as they actually come to be.When its not concentrated, you cant see these things clearly.Non concentration, he says, is a miserable path, leading nowhere useful at all.So concentration is the essential factor.Only when the mind is stable and still can it really see whats going on inside.To get into right concentration, you need the other path factors right view all the way up through right mindfulness.Right view starts with conviction in the principle of kamma, that there are good and bad actions that give good and bad results not only in this lifetime but also in future lifetimes and that there are people who really know these things from direct experience.Its not just a theory.Whats interesting here is that when the Buddha presents this introduction to his teaching on kamma, he focuses on two types of good actions to stress their importance gratitude to your parents and generosity.These things really do have merit they really do have value.The fact that your parents gave birth to you was not just a set of impersonal processes that just happened to happen.Its not the case that you dont owe any debt of gratitude to your parents for having gone through all the pain of giving birth to you and then raising you once you were born.There really is a personal debt there.They made choices, sometimes difficult choices, that allowed for your survival.Generosity is one of the ways you pay off that debt, and its also one of the valuable ways you interact well with other beings, benefiting both them and yourself in the process.The Buddhas attitude towards generosity is instructive.Hes very clear on the fact that when hes telling you what you should do, the should is based on a condition.After all, the Buddha didnt create you.You might resist his shoulds with the thought, Who is he to tell me what to doYears back I was sitting in on a course on the Metta Sutta.The first line in the Metta Sutta starts This is what should be done by one who aims at a state of peace.As the teacher started out with that line, a hand immediately shot up.A man sitting in the class said, I thought Buddhism didnt have any shoulds.And they spent the rest of the morning going back and forth over that one issue.Actually, Buddhism does have a lot of shoulds.You look at the Dhammapada and youll see that its full of shoulds.But each should is based on a condition, as in the first line of the Metta Sutta This is what should be done by one who aims at a state of peace.The Buddha doesnt tell you that you have to aim at a state of peace, or that you have to want true happiness.Thats your choice.But if that is what you want, this is what youve got to do.The nature of cause and effect is such that these are the practices you have to follow.The Buddha isnt saying, Well, this is what worked for me and it may work for you, but Im not sure, so you have to find your own way.Thats not what he would say.Hed say, This is what works if youre aiming at this goal.And its up to you to decide whether you want to aim at that goal.If you do, then youve got to do it this way.Theres a passage where King Pasenadi comes to visit the Buddha, and his first question is, Where should a gift be given The Buddha responds, Wherever you feel inspired.In other words, there are no shoulds in this area aside from your own sense of inspiration where you feel the gift would be well used or where you just want to give.There are no restraints placed on the act of generosity at all.But then the King follows up with another question Where, when a gift is given, does it bear great fruit And the Buddha says, Thats a different question.This is where the principle of cause and effect kicks in, placing its imperatives.You have to give to someone whose mind is pure or to an institution where the people are being trained to make their minds pure i.Sangha if you want your gift to bear great fruit.So there are shoulds in the Buddhas teachings, but theyre based on the principle of what actually works for the purpose of true happiness.As for what you want to do with your life, theres no imposition there at all.Its your choice. But once you appreciate the principle of generosity and see that it is really worthwhile, youve made the choice to get started on the path.As the Buddha said, its impossible for someone who is stingy to attain jhana, to attain any of the noble attainments.So you start with the principle that generosity is good and that your actions matter.When you dig a little bit deeper into the principle of action, you realize that your intentions are what matter in your actions.This insight leads to the next step in the path right resolve.You want to avoid intentions that would make it difficult to get the mind into concentration, so you want to learn how to go beyond being resolved on sensual passion, being resolved on ill will, being resolved on harmfulness because all these things stir up the mind and interfere with its settling down.Theres a passage in the Canon where Prince Jayasena, walking for exercise through a forest one day, comes across a novice staying in a little wilderness hut.He says to the novice, I hear that when the monks really apply themselves, they can get their minds into a state of one pointedness.Is that true And the novice says, Yes.And the prince says, Well, explain it to me.And the novice, who probably knew the princes reputation, says, You wouldnt understand.The prince responds, Well, I just might.So the novice replies, In that case, Ill explain it to you, but if you dont understand, dont harass me with more questions, okay So the prince agrees.But when the novice explains it to him, the prince says, Thats impossible.Nobody can get their minds concentrated like that.He gets up and leaves.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
Categories |