Conditioned Reality, The Cycle of Delusion & Seeing Truth and Reality

We create and make our own reality, our own world. We live in that world. We condition that world.

The Buddha very clearly outlined the whole process of conditioning. He explained that we see the world through tinted glasses. He explained that what we take to be truth, to be real, is far from reality. He called the whole process of conditioning and brainwashing, coming mostly from within us, vipallasas.

“Buddha in Central Asia”

An interview with Indian travel writer Sunita Dwivedi

eTurbonews.com, Sept 22, 2014

New Delhi, India -- Sunita Dwivedi is a successful writer, and her book “The Buddhist Heritage Sites of India,” published in 2005 had a foreword by The Dalai Lama. Its Russian translation was released in Moscow by Ocean of Wisdom Publications in 2012.

<< Sunita Dwivedi, writer of “Buddha in Central Asia"
The next one on “In Quest of the Buddha: A Journey on the Silk Road” was published in 2009 and released simultaneously in Kathmandu and Delhi. The third one, “Buddha in Central Asia,” was published recently in September, 2014 and is on the stands. Sunita is not a Buddhist. She just happens to love the Buddha.
Her first book takes the reader through the better-known sites of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and even across the borders to Nepal – covering the entire Dhamayatra of the Buddhist circuit. She has been traveling all over South Asia and Central Asia to document archeological spots related with Buddhist history. She is moved with the hospitality of Central Asia and spellbound with the beauty and grandeur of Samarkand—the Jewel of Central Asia. She wishes to spend her whole life in Samarkand.

MahaParinibbana sutta

This is an excerpt from a long sutta which records the days leading to the Buddha's Parinibbana. Here the Buddha tells Ven Ananda of his conversation with Mara, and of the mission he had set for himself just after his Enlightenment. It also makes clear that the Buddha intended that the teaching and preservation of the Dhamma is not the responsibility of the sangha alone but of all his disciples.

Everything is based on mind

Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak

and act with a polluted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of the 

oxcart follow the footsteps of the ox. 

Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak 

and act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you, as a shadow clings to a 

form. ~ The Buddha.

Dhammapada Verse 122

Verse 122

      Do not ignore the effect of right action
         saying, "This will come to nothing."
      Just as by the gradual fall of raindrops
                   the water jar is filled,
                     so in time the wise
                become replete with good.

Change/Cause

Vipassana [mindfulness] meditation class @SABS Part 6

Lesson  6, June 6, 2013. 

Bro. KC started the class by checking with the yogis if they have any question or experience to share pertaining to their practice?

1. Walking meditation difficult to practice because of objects blocking inside the house?

Bro KC suggested walk outside e.g. car porch.  Focus is not on seeing, observe walking movements as the primary object.

2. Bro. KC asked the yogis if they engage in informal practice of mindfulness. Since yogis are not sure what does informal practice of mindfulness constitute, he went on to explain the difference between formal and informal practice of mindfulness meditation.


Formal practice refers to sitting and walking meditation. Informal practice of mindfulness  involves practising mindfulness in daily life amidst daily activities like brushing the teeth, changing clothes, eating, drinking, walking, working, etc. The way to engage in informal practice of mindfulness is to be present using the task/activity one is performing as the primary object. At the same time one can observe one's feeling or mental state as appropriate. As for the quality of mindfulness, formal practice of mindfulness meditation can lead to detail and continuous mindfulness. Whilst informal practice of mindfulness produces general mindfulness akin to 'touch and go' mindfulness; not continuous. Engaging in both the formal and informal practice of mindfulness meditation would help towards one's progress in the practice.

The Bodhi Tree

His body calm, still with a purpose reached
With eyes shut, but aglow with penetrating insight
In a world aflame with fire, craving and passion
He sits, our wisest teacher with infinite compassion.

Vijja-bhagiya Sutta: A Share in Clear Knowing (AN 2.32)

This sutta makes it clear that both Samatha and Vipassana are required to be developed in meditation.