Losel Anicca

23/10/2021

"Once you understand non-self,
then the burden of life is gone.
You'll be at peace with the world.
When we see beyond self,
we no longer cling to happiness
and we can truly be happy.

Learn to let go without struggle,
simply let go, to be just as you are
- no holding on, no attachment, free."

~ Ajahn Chah




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16/10/2021

If there is no hope to be a great person,
if the potential for enlightenment is not there,
why bother?

But we know deep down that we have potential.
You have seen glimpses already
along the way of your life,
felt those moments of real understanding
and clarity and true happiness.

~ The Gyalwang Drukpa ~

09/10/2021

"If the mind doesn’t really know
conditions and determinations,
it is moved by them.
Encountering good, bad, pleasure, or pain,
it proliferates about them.

Why does it proliferate?
Because there is still a cause.
What is the cause?
The cause is the understanding that
the body is one’s self,
or belongs to the self;
that feelings are self or belonging to self;
that perception is self or belonging to self;
that conceptual thought is self or belonging to self;
that consciousness is self or belonging to self.

The tendency to conceive things
in terms of self is the source of happiness,
suffering, birth, old age, sickness and death.
This is the worldly mind, spinning around and
changing at the directives of worldly conditions.
This is the conditioned mind."

~ Ajahn Chah




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25/09/2021

Q: What’s peacefulness like?

A: What’s confusion?
Well, peacefulness is the end of confusion.

~ Ajahn Chah




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18/09/2021

Genuine compassion ~ 14th Dalai Lama

Compassion involves a feeling of
closeness to others,
a respect and affection that is
not based on others’ attitude toward us.

We tend to feel affection for people
who are important to us.
That kind of close feeling
does not extend to our enemies—
those who think ill of us.

Genuine compassion, on the other hand,
sees that others, just like us,
want a happy and successful life
and do not want to suffer.

That kind of feeling and concern can be
extended to friend and enemy alike,
regardless of their feelings toward us.
That’s genuine compassion.

from the book The Middle Way: Faith Grounded in Reason
translated by Thupten Jinpa

11/09/2021

The important thing is
simply to investigate the truth.
You don’t have to look very far away,
just observe what’s happening
in the present moment.

Watch what is happening
in your own mind.

Let go of the past.
Let go of the future.

Just be mindful
of the present moment,
and wisdom will arise from
investigating and seeing clearly
the characteristics of impermanence,
suffering and non-self.

If you are walking see that
it’s impermanent,
if sitting see that
it’s impermanent,
if lying down see that
it’s impermanent –
whatever you are doing,
these characteristics will be
manifesting the whole time,
because this is the way things are.

That which is permanent is
this truth of the way things are.
That never changes.

If you cultivate insight to the point
where the way you view things is
completely and unwaveringly
in line with this truth,
you will be at ease with the world.

~ Ajahn Chah




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04/09/2021

From within oneself ~ 14th Dalai Lama

Human happiness and human satisfaction
must ultimately come from within oneself.
It is wrong to expect some final satisfaction
to come from money or from a computer.

from the book The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom

28/08/2021

Students today have much more knowledge
than students of previous times.

They have all the things they need;
everything is more convenient.
But they also have a lot more suffering
and confusion than before.

Why is this?

~ Ajahn Chah



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21/08/2021

Learning to open our hearts ~ 14th Dalai Lama

Recognizing our shared humanity
and our biological nature as beings
whose happiness is dependent on others,
we learn to open our hearts,
and in so doing we gain a sense of purpose
and a sense of connection with those around us.

(from the book Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World)

14/08/2021

"A woman wanted to know
how to deal with anger.
I asked when anger arose
whose anger it was.
She said it was hers.

Well, if it really was her anger,
then she should be able to
tell it to go away, shouldn’t she?
But it really isn't hers to command.
Holding on to anger as a personal
possession will cause suffering.
If anger really belonged to us,
it would have to obey us.
If it doesn't obey us,
that means it's only a deception.

Don't fall for it.
Whenever the mind
is happy or sad,
don't fall for it.
Its all a deception."

~ Ajahn Chah



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07/08/2021

Shifting the focus ~ 14th Dalai Lama

If you cannot stop worrying over something
in the past or what might happen
in the future, shift your focus to the
inhalation and exhalation of your breath.
Or recite this mantra: om mani padme hum.

Since the mind cannot concentrate
on two things simultaneously,
either of these meditations
causes the former worry to fade.

[from the book How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life]

31/07/2021

"The nature of our mind is such that
whenever it clings and grasps
there is agitation and confusion.
First it might wander over there,
then it might wander over here.

When we come to observe this agitation,
we might think that it’s impossible to train
the mind and so we suffer accordingly.

We don’t understand that
this is the way the mind is.
There will be thoughts and feelings
moving about like this
even though we are practising,
trying to attain peace.
That’s the way it is.

When we have contemplated many times
the nature of the mind,
we will come to understand that
this mind is just as it is
and can’t be otherwise.

We will know that the mind’s ways
are just as they are.
That’s its nature.

If we see this clearly,
then we can detach from thoughts and feelings.
And we don’t have to add on anything more
by constantly having to tell ourselves that
‘that’s just the way it is.’

When the mind truly understands,
it lets go of every thing.
Thinking and feeling will still be there,
but that very thinking and feeling
will be deprived of power."

~Ajahn Chah



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28/07/2021

Happy Birthday Luang Por !!

Today(27th July) was Luang Por's 87th birthday. It was a happy day.

Luang Por came out to the marquee to receive a couple dozen visitors and old friends. There is a video recording of this on the Amaravati website. This afternoon, the Sangha gathered in the temple to pay respects to him and ask forgiveness as is the tradition on these auspicious occasions, and Luang Por offered a truly wonderful Dhamma reflection, which you can listen to here:

This dhamma talk was given by Luang Por Sumedho on the 27th of July 2021 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK.------------------------------------------------...

24/07/2021

The Buddha has already laid down
the path of practice fully,
but we have not yet practiced,
or if we have,
we've practiced only in speech.

Our minds and our speech
are not yet in harmony,
we just indulge in empty talk.
But the basis of Buddhism is not something
that can be talked about or guessed at.

The real basis of Buddhism is
full knowledge of the truth of reality.
If one knows this truth
then no teaching is necessary.

If one doesn't know,
even if he listens to the teaching,
he doesn't really hear.
This is why the Buddha said,
"The Enlightened One only points the way."
He can't do the practice for you,
because the truth is something
you cannot put into words or give away.

~Ajahn Chah



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17/07/2021

Willingness to change

Many people who approach
the practice of Buddhism
are willing to sacrifice
one or two hours of their day
in order to perform some ritual practice
or engage in meditation.

Time is relatively easy to give up,
even though their life may be very busy.
But, they are not willing to change
anything of their personality
– they are not willing to forgo anything
of their negative character.

With this type of approach to Buddhism,
it hardly matters how much meditation we do,
our practice remains merely a hobby or a sport.
It does not touch our lives.

In order actually to overcome our problems,
we have to be willing to change
– namely to change our personality.

We need to renounce and rid ourselves of
those negative aspects of it
that are causing us so much trouble.

~ 14th Dalai Lama ~

10/07/2021

When I had been practicing
for only a few years,
I still could not trust myself.
But after I had experienced much,
I learned to trust my own heart.

When you have this deep understanding,
whatever happens, you can let it happen,
and everything will just rise and pass away.

You will reach a point where
the heart tells itself what to do.



#阿姜查

03/07/2021

Right effort and virtue
are not a question of what you do outwardly
but of constant inner awareness and restraint.

Thus, charity, if given with good intention,
can bring happiness to oneself and to others.

But virtue must be the root of
this charity for it to be pure.




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02/07/2021

Another interesting dhamma talk by Late Chief on Kamma.

Vol 18Kamma&Rebirth - Part 2The Buddhist doctrine of Kamma teaches that every 'intentional' action (Kamma), whether wholesome or unwholesome, produces its in...

26/06/2021

If the body could talk,
it would be telling us all day long,
"You’re not my owner, you know."

Actually it’s telling it to us all the time,
but it’s Dhamma language,
so we’re unable to understand it.





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�

19/06/2021

SERVE OTHERS

The message is that
we are all here to serve others,
in whatever way we can.

Our mind should always be vigilant
and ready to act for the welfare of others.

~ The Gyalwang Drukpa ~

12/06/2021

When practising meditation,
we take an object,
such as the in and out breathing,
as our foundation.
This becomes the focus of
our attention and reflection.

We look at the breathing.
To look at the breathing means
to follow the breathing with awareness,
noting its rhythm, its coming and going.
We put awareness into the breath,
following the natural in and out breathing
and letting go of all else.

As a result of staying on
one object of awareness,
our mind becomes refreshed.
If we let the mind think of this,
that and the other,
there are many objects of awareness;
the mind doesn't unify,
it doesn't come to rest.

The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah,
Aruna Publications, 2011.

#
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05/06/2021

HONEST WITH YOURSELF

You have to be honest with yourself.
When others speak ill of you,
if what is said is not true and
is just malicious or ignorant gossip,
you don't have to feel pity for yourself,
let go and move on.

If what is said has some truth to it,
you can reflect, correct
and look to make improvements,
and after that let go of any regretful feeling.

Learning to leave things behind
is one of the best practises to develop patience,
and in turn compassion and wisdom.

~ The Gyalwang Drukpa



***ic

29/05/2021

When people are thinking,
“This is mine! This is mine!”
they feel happy.
But when the thing that is “mine” is lost,
they will cry over it.
This is the path for suffering to come about.

We can observe this.
If there is no “mine” or “me”,
we can make use of things while we are living,
without attachment to them as being ours.

If they are lost or broken,
that is simply natural;
we don't see them as ours,
or as anyone's,
and we don't conceive of self or other.

The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah,
Aruna Publications, 2011.




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26/05/2021

“All things appear and disappear
because of the concurrence
of causes and conditions.
Nothing ever exists entirely alone;
everything is in relation to everything else.”

~ The Buddha ~

Wishing all a peaceful Wesak🙏🙏🙏

26/05/2021

SN 20.5 Satti Sutta: The Spear

translated from the Pali by
Venerable Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Staying at Savatthi. "Monks, suppose there were a sharp-bladed spear,
and a man were to come along saying,
'With my hand or fist I will bend back this sharp-bladed spear,
fold it in two, and roll it up.'
What do you think? Would that man be able with his hand or fist
to bend back that sharp-bladed spear, fold it in two, and roll it up?"

"No, lord. Why is that? Because a sharp-bladed spear isn't easy to bend back,
fold in two, or roll up. The man would simply reap his share of trouble & vexation."

"In the same way, monks, when a monk's awareness-release
through good-will is cultivated, developed, pursued, handed the reins
and taken as a basis, given a grounding, steadied, consolidated,
& well-undertaken, any non-human being who would think of
possessing that monk's mind would simply reap his share of trouble & vexation.

"Thus you should train yourselves:
'Our awareness-release through good-will will be cultivated,
developed, pursued, handed the reins and taken as a basis,
given a grounding, steadied, consolidated, & well-undertaken.
That's how you should train yourselves."

22/05/2021

Direct Connection with Mother Nature

When we are completely honest and
aligned with our own nature,
then we become spiritual.
This is a very natural process.

"Nature" means free of fabrication,
free of nonsense.
Most of us cannot be close to our nature
through passive methods,
so one of the best ways is to be actively
in touch with nature.

When our feet touch the earth,
we make a direct connection
with Mother Nature.

With this connection,
we will appreciate Mother Nature more.

With this appreciation,
we become more aware of
the environmental hazards that
we, humans, have created
due to our ignorance,
our egoistic and careless way of living. ~

~ The Gyalwang Drukpa




***ic

17/05/2021

Q&A with Luang Por Sumedho

Kamma vs Anatta

This dhamma talk was given by Luang Por Sumedho on the 16th of May 2021 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK.

https://youtu.be/QkE6rASJNJs

Q&AThis dhamma talk was given by Luang Por Sumedho on the 16th of May 2021 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK.----------------------------------------------...

15/05/2021

The world is in a very feverish state.
The mind changes from like to dislike
with the feverishness of the world.

If we can learn to make the mind still,
it will be the greatest help to the world.

~Ajahn Chah




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07/05/2021

“We must remember that
we have been nourished
by our mothers and nurtured
by her selfless love
and care since our birth,
whether as humans or animals,
and we have to understand, remember,
and repay their kindness in any way possible.”

~ The Gyalwang Drukpa

01/05/2021

Because people don’t see themselves,
they can commit all sorts of bad deeds.
They don’t look at their own minds.

When people are going to do something bad,
they have to look around first
to see if anyone is looking:
"Will my mother see me?"
"Will my husband see me?"
"Will my children see me?"
"Will my wife see me?"

If there’s no one watching,
then they go right ahead and do it.
This is insulting themselves.
They say no one is watching,
so they quickly finish their bad deed
before anyone will see.

And what about themselves?
Aren’t they a "somebody" watching?

~Ajahn Chah



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