'People hold dear him who embodies virtue and insight,
who is principled, has realized the truth, and
who himself does what he ought to be doing.'

- Dhammapada Verse 217

'Health is the most precious gain and
contentment the greatest wealth.
A trustworthy person is the best kinsman,
Nibbana the highest bliss.'

- Dhammapada Verse 204

Dhamma Sharing (Audio)
'Mangala Sutta Explained' by Ajahn Gavesako

Follow this link  www.cittaviveka.org/…/379-ajahn-gavesako-mangala-sutta-expl…

Life's Highest Blessings - The Maha Mangala Sutta
translation and Commentary by Dr. R.L. Soni
revised by Bhikkhu Khantipalo

Ven Sariputta MN 32 (1.215)

The Five Khandhas Of Clinging Are Dukkha

Peaceful Uplifting Monasteries

Questioner: I have studied the text the monks chant in the morning, about the khandhas of clinging, upadana khandhas. There is clinging to the five khandhas and this is dukkha. What does this mean?

Find something for the mind to do

“We have to find something for the mind to do in order for it to forget about everything else.”

Thag.1.63

Let’s Stand Up Together

BY BHIKKHU BODHI| JANUARY 18, 2017 Lion's Roar

This commentary from the coming Spring issue of Buddhadharma is too timely not to share now. In it, monk-scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi urges Buddhists to become “more visible as advocates of peace, basic sanity, and social justice” — and explains why doing so transcends party politics.

Official White House photo by Pete de Souza.

I recently came across a news report stating that 2,500 religious leaders had signed a petition urging Congress to reject Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees as “a cabinet of bigotry.” I looked over the list of signatories, designated by religion, and saw only one who identified as Buddhist. This observation reinforced my puzzlement as to why Buddhist teachers and leaders in the U.S. are not more outspoken in addressing issues of public concern. Considering that Buddhism is widely hailed as the preeminent religion of peace and compassion, why, I ask myself, aren’t we more visible as advocates of peace, basic sanity, and social justice?

The mind is above everything

Why Buddhist ritual of ‘saving lives’ is a death sentence for animals

The superstitious practice seen in Hong Kong and elsewhere of saving animals from imminent death only ensures the early demise of the innocent creatures BY JASON WORDIE 20 JAN 2017Buddhist notions of “saving life” can be observed in various rituals across Hong Kong. Contrary to popular belief, most of these customs are not Chinese in origin, but are a consequence of the spread of (originally Hindu) beliefs following the introduction of Buddhism into China, mainly via the overland Silk Road from Central Asia, around 200BC. Such traditions became prominent when, during the long period of international openness that characterised the Tang dynasty (618-907), modified versions of Buddhist cultural practices became integrated into mainstream Chinese life. Maritime links with Southeast Asia, where assorted Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms held sway for more than 1,000 years, reinforced such practices.

On Methods

(This) method was taught and made famous by the Mahāsi Sayādaw, so they call it the Mahāsi method, rather than simply Satipaṭṭhāna or Dhātumanasikāra or Catudhātuvavatthāna, but it's also often called Satipaṭṭhāna Vipassanā, or simply Vipassanā meditation.

Dances of the Luminous Bardo

By Joseph Houseal Buddhistdoor Global  2017-01-06 

Dungtse Lhakhang, Paro, Bhutan, 14th century. File photo, 2016. Department of Transportation, Government of Bhutan

A most amazing mural is painted on a six-meter-high cylinder on the second floor of Dungtse Lhakhang in Paro, Bhutan. The temple was designed by the Tibetan yogic adept Thangtong Gyalpo, (1385–1481?) better known in legend and lore as The Iron Bridge Builder, a great engineer who erected iron-chain bridges across raging rivers throughout Bhutan. Dungtse Lhakhang has an unusual three-story structure, with a square ground floor, a circular second floor with a towering cylinder inside, and a third floor consisting of a square platform within a circle. The mural was commissioned in the 19th century by the 25th Je Khenpo, head abbot of all monks in Bhutan. It depicts a yogic vision of the after-death state centered on a wrathful form of Guru Padmasambhava known as Gong Due. 

Nibbana, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 14 January 2017 by Buddhism Now

The meaning of the word Nibbana clearly extends to the absence of mental defilements the cause of Dukkha. So that at any moment that our minds are empty of ‘self’ and ‘belonging to self’ then that is Nibbana. For example, at this moment as you sit here I will attest that everyone, or almost everyone, has a mind empty of the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ because there is nothing engendering them. In listening attentively you give no opportunity for self – consciousness to arise. So look and see whether or not the mind is empty of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. If there is some emptiness (and I merely use the word some, it’s not comp­letely or unchangingly empty) then you are dwelling within the sphere of Nibbana. Even though it is not absolute or perfect Nibbana, it is Nibbana just the same.

Shit is fertilizer

An excerpt of SN 22.2

Peaceful Uplifting Monasteries

Venerable Sāriputta:

“There are, friends, wise khattiyas, wise brahmins, wise householders, and wise ascetics who question a bhikkhu when he has gone abroad—for wise people, friends, are inquisitive: ‘What does your teacher say, what does he teach?’ Being asked thus, friends, you should answer: ‘Our teacher, friends, teaches the removal of desire and lust.’

SAMATHA ― VIPASSANĀ 止观

Then, for example, when we read The Buddha explain the bhikkhu’s training to King Ajātasattu, in the ‘Sāmañña ∙Phala ∙Sutta ’ of the Dīgha ∙Nikāya , we may understand that even though He does not mention the words ‘samatha’ and ‘vipassanā’, He in fact describes the bhikkhu’s practice of those two things. 
例如，当我们读到佛陀在《长部·沙门果经》中向未生怨王(Ajàtasattu)解释比库的禅修时，虽然没有提到“止”和“观”的字句，但我们仍然清楚他其实是在谈论比库对此二法的修习。

SHAKE THEM ALL OFF

"As long as you’re still alive and breathing, 
don’t let yourself be heedless or complacent.

Don’t let time pass you by to no purpose.

Hurry up and accelerate your efforts at developing goodness—

for when there’s no more breath for you to breathe, 
you’ll have no more opportunity to do good ...

China's hidden Buddha emerges: Long-lost stone statue appears from a lake after water level lowers by 30 feet

• By Tracy You For Mailonline PUBLISHED: 11 January 2017 
• 
  
• - The ancient Buddha was carved on a cliff face and could date to China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
• - Villagers of Nancheng County saw its head emerging from the surface of the water on Zuixian Lake
• - The water level had been lowered by more than 30 meet due to a hydropower gate renovation project
• - Archaeologists are carrying out an underwater detection project to find out more about the stone relic 

Forgotten by time: A long-lost Buddha appeared from under a lake in south-east China after the water level lowered 

Chinese archaeologists are trying to solve the mystery of a long-lost Buddha statue which appeared from a lake after the water level lowered dramatically.

The stone relic, found in Nancheng County in Fuzhou, could date as far as the 14th century, according to state media Xinhua News Agency. 

The holy figure was discovered at the end of last year when a few villagers saw its head emerging from the surface of the water in the lake in Fujian Province.

butterflies on a sea wind: beginning zen

by Chris Faiers 9 January 2016

Ontario, Canada -- I found this book at an area used bookstore in a sort of zen happenstance. At the end of last summer I sold my little retreat, ZenRiver Gardens, and part of the clearing up process has been finding new homes for the poetry books from the small library.

As someone involved with writing and promoting poetry for my entire adult life, hundreds of other books of poetry have found refuge on my bookshelves. Now that I'm in my late 60s, though, I feel it's time to 'wabi sabi' my life, to simplify my surroundings and myself, so I've been taking small boxes of books to The Bookworm used bookshop in the nearby village of Madoc.

A solemn promise to buy no more books, not to even glance at the store's bookshelves, proved beyond my powers to keep. A slim volume, beautiful cover in pristine condition, caught my eye. The dollar donation would go to benefit the Madoc Library, and I might learn something from butterflies on a sea wind: beginning zen. A fair trade, really, a box of books unloaded, with just a slim volume returning home ;  )

Experiencing the unlimited nature of the mind ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

For most of us, our natural mind or buddha-nature is obscured by the limited self-image created by habitual neuronal patterns - which, in themselves, are simply a reflection of the unlimited capacity of the mind to create any condition it chooses. Natural mind is capable of producing anything, even ignorance of its own nature. In other words, not recognizing natural mind is simply an example of the mind's unlimited capacity to create whatever it wants. Whenever we feel fear, sadness, jealousy, desire, or any other emotion that contributes to our sense of vulnerability or weakness, we should give ourselves a nice pat on the back. We've just experienced the unlimited nature of the mind. – Mingyur Rinpoche

from the book "The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness" ISBN: 978-0307347312 - http://amzn.to/12JaSjo

Mingyur Rinpoche on the web: http://tergar.org
Mingyur Rinpoche biography: http://tergar.org/ab…/mingyur-rinpoche/mingyur-rinpoche-bio/

“The Story of God” Reincarnated Teachers

January 11, 2017 by Daniel Scharpenburg 

source: Wonderlane, flickr cc.

The second season of “The Story of God”(airing January 16th on National Geographic) is about “chosen ones”. It purports to be about people who were chosen by God (for example: Moses), but that doesn’t make much sense in a Buddhist context.

How did suffering arise

Isn’t Buddhism Supposed to Be Apolitical?

JIRYU RUTSCHMAN-BYLER| JANUARY 11, 2017 Lion's Roar

Encouraging Buddhist communities to rally against the incoming Trump administration, San Francisco Zen Center priest Jiryu Rutschman-Byler argues that the idea of “apolitical Buddhism” is flawed from the start, based on four misconceptions.

Buddhism is apolitical! Buddhism needs to stay apolitical!”I’ve been hearing this a lot lately. It’s a tempting idea, and there are some good intentions behind it.

But it’s not true, and it’s not helpful. And it’s certainly not timely.

Don't follow your moods

Desire : 'Taṇhā' versus 'Chanda'

'The craving (Taṇhā) of one given to heedless living grows like a creeper. Like the monkey seeking fruits in the forest, he leaps from life to life (tasting the fruit of his kamma).

Meditation: Why It Helps, Even Though It’s Not Doing Anything

January 12, 2017 by Domyo Burk 

Those of us who practice meditation sometimes have a hard time explaining the practice to people who don’t. Basically, we just sit there, doing nothing. We forgo entertainment, and we even try not to think when we’re sitting there!

Why would we want to take precious time out of our busy lives, just to waste it?

There are different ways to answer this question, but in a way, the answer doesn’t matter. The best thing to do is just try meditation and see if doing it makes a positive difference in your life. Many of us find it does. When we regularly meditate, we feel more sane as we go about our everyday life. We feel a little calmer, more able to handle difficult emotions, and make good decisions. When I started meditating, I quit biting my nails so much. Sometimes the difference is subtle, sometimes it’s dramatic. Just try it!

TRIBUTE TO AJAHN CHAH (1918 – 1992)

16 January 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of Ajahn Chah’s passing. Venerable Ajahn was one of the most revered and influential Buddhist teachers in the modern era. He was a doyen of the “forest tradition” who attracted many Thai and foreign practitioners to be ordained under him.