Pali Terms

Some Pali terms

anapanasati: mindfulness of breathing
anatta: not-self
anicca: impermanence; inconstancy
Arahat: Liberated one
bhavana: meditation
bhikku: monk
bhikkuni: nun
bodhi: awakening; enlightenment
bodhicitta: awakened heart-mind
Bodhisatta (Sanskrit-Bodhisattva) A future Buddha
Buddha: an Enlightened being

Dhamma - In a Nut Shell

The Four Noble Truths

1. Dukkha exists – unsatisfactoriness, suffering, discontent, stress (to be Investigated)
2. The cause or origin of dukkha is craving (tanha-lit. thirst) or clinging (to be Abandoned)
3. Dukkha ceases with the relinquishment of that craving (to be Realized)
4. The path leading to the cessation of dukkha is the Noble Eightfold Path (to be Developed)

A small light does make a difference

Complete 180°: Hippie to monk

Ven. Nanadhaja Bhikkhu, who has been giving many Dhamma talks around Malaysia gives an excellent testimonial on how the Dhamma turned his life around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPkwcEY6o8&feature=share

Ajahn Chah, Living Dhamma

Buddhism has been around for thousands of years now, and most people have continued to practice as their teachers have taught them, regardless of whether it's right or wrong. That's stupid. They simply follow the example of their forebears.

Vipassana [mindfulness] meditation class @SABS Part 7

Lesson 7, July 5, 2013. 

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

1. How to apply mindfulness in busy life?

  
Even when you are busy you are still doing something at any single moment. Pay attention to whatever you are doing e.g. attending a meeting, being engaged with a client, talking on the telephone, performing some other work, driving, doing household chores, etc. Just as in formal practice, focus on the primary object [task/activity at hand] and pay attention and attend to the secondary objects e.g. bodily sensations, thoughts, feelings [pleasant, unpleasant and neutral], mental states and sensing [seeing, hearing, thinking, etc.] accordingly as they occur.

Kathina article

An essay on the meaning of the Buddhist Kathina celebration, published in Chicago Buddhist Vihara’s newsletter Oct 2009.

Religions around the world celebrate their many holy days, although few can with any accuracy be traced back to a particular date, and fewer still can be traced back to instructions from the religion’s founder. However, the Kathina celebration, one of the two most vital Buddhist holy days, differs on both counts.

Seasons of India are winter, summer, and rainy season. The Buddha required his bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (male and female monks) to spend three of the four months of rainy season staying put in a residence, not traveling around casually. The rains being a rich time of growth of plants and new life, lay people had complained that the Buddha’s monks traveling around in rainy season were harming too many tender crops and small creatures. The Buddha therefore instituted this three-month Vassa rainy-season residency, starting from the full moon of July, during which time monks generally cannot travel away overnight, except briefly for urgent matters (returning within 7 days).# Kathina takes place after the end of the Vassa residency.