"THE WORLD DISAPPEARS" ~ Ajahn Jayanto

Be in a position not to follow the strongly embedded habits of mind -- where we see the delusional mind as that, and not need to follow it.

It's not going to go away, as long as we are alive and until we're an Arahant, each one of us is going to have delusional mind going on.

Everything You Need to Know About Meditation Posture

BY LODRO RINZLER  |  JUN 2, 2015

Do you sit down for meditation and wonder if you’re doing it right? Learn all about the universal meditation posture here.

Other human beings are not our enemies

Other human beings are not our enemies. Our enemy is not the other person. Our enemy is the violence, ignorance, and injustice in us and in the other person. When we are armed with compassion and understanding, we fight not against other people, but against the tendency to invade, to dominate, and to exploit. We don't want to kill others, but we will not let them dominate and exploit us or other people.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

You must see suffering first

”Don’t let your mind wander and think about everything, going here and there and everywhere.”

We normally feel good by doing something or having something. But this is the opposite. We feel good by not doing anything, and it is better. Why is that so? Because you don’t have to rely on anything to make you feel good.

Sri Lanka: So you want to take out ‘Buddhism’?

by Malinda Seneviratne, The Daily Mirror, Jan 19, 2017

Colombo, Sri Lanka -- The ‘enlightened’ people entrusted with the grave task of recommending changes to the constitution have sought to turn Sri Lanka into an official secular state. Although the Final Report of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) doesn’t mention it, this particular recommendation clearly seeks to do away with Article 9 of the Constitution. 

Article 9 reads thus:
The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e).

Articles 10 and 14(1)(e) are as follows:
10. Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

14. (1) (e) the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

Our body and our mind are two aspects of the same reality

Our breathing has the function of helping our body and mind to calm down. As we walk, we can say, Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I bring peace into my body. Calming the breath calms the body and reduces any pain and tension.

When we walk like this, with our breath, we bring our body and our mind back together. Our body and our mind are two aspects of the same reality. If we remove our mind from our body, our body is dead. If we take our body out of our mind, our mind is dead. Don’t think that one can be if the other is not. - Thich Nhat Hanh

You can still meditate when your body becomes sick

“Even when your body becomes sick, you still can have this kind of pleasant feeling. You can still meditate.”

“…Basically what you have to do first is to develop your ability to focus or concentrate. This is something you have to do all day long, from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. And when you have time to sit down and meditate, you need to find a quiet environment, such as a place like this where there are no sounds, sights, smells, or tastes to distract you when you sit down and focus your mind on a particular object.

Kitagiri Sutta (MN 70)

“And how is final knowledge achieved by gradual training, gradual practice, gradual progress? Here one who has faith in a teacher visits him; when he visits him, he pays respect to him; when he pays respect to him, he gives ear; one who gives ear hears the Dhamma; having heard the Dhamma, he memorises it; he examines the meaning of the teachings he has memorised; when he examines their meaning, he gains a reflective acceptance of those teachings; when he has gained a reflective acceptance of those teachings, zeal springs up in him; when zeal has sprung up, he applies his will; having applied his will, he scrutinises; having scrutinised, he strives; resolutely striving, he realises with the body the supreme truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom."

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Your hold wisdom in your own hands

Buddhist office urges ex-abbot to surrender

by Sanitsuda Ekachai, The Bangkok Post, Jan 19, 2017 Bangkok, Thailand -- The National Office of Buddhism (NOB) is attempting to encourage Phra Dhammajayo, the embattled former abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, to turn himself in to officials in the money laundering case associated with the multi-billion-baht Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement scandal. Monks pray on the steps of the Dhammakaya sect's main "spaceship" temple. The National Office of Buddhism has called on fugitive Phra Dhammajayo to turn himself in and face the music. (Reuters photo) Prime Minister's Office Minister Ormsin Chivapruck, who oversees the NOB, acknowledged this Wednesday after being asked if he had assigned the NOB to negotiate with Wat Phra Dhamakaya regarding the arrest warrant issued for the monk.

No need to run anywhere

Making merit and giving dana

Early Buddhist monastery awaits govt attention

By Shehzad Khan, The Express Tribune, January 21, 2017 SWAT, Pakistan -- An ancient double-domed structure still stands tall near Mingora after having survived the cruel ravages of time, vandalism and official neglect. The 1,800-year-old Vihara is situated 25 kilometres from Mingora. PHOTO: SHEHZAD KHAN/ EXPRESS  The 1,800-year-old Vihara or early Buddhist monastery, was discovered by British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein. It had been constructed in the second century as a place of worship by Buddhists, when Buddhism was the dominant religion of Swat. The main building has two domes, one right above the other which led to it being called the double-dome-structure.

AN 1:296-297

"Bhikkhus, if you develop and make much this one thing, it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction. What is it? It is recollecting the Enlightened One. If this single thing is recollected and made much, it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction.

Bhikkhus, if you develop and make much this one thing, it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction. What is it? 
It is recollecting the Dhamma,..re... the Sangha,..re.. virtues,..re... benevolence, ..re.. gods..re.. mindfulness of in breaths and out breaths,.. re.. death, ..re.. mindfulness of the body, ..re.. mindfulness of appeasement. 

If this single thing is recollected and made much, it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction."

Happy Chinese New Year

Ajahn Pannavaddho

"Even though I may be afflicted in body, my mind will be unafflicted.' That is how you should train yourself." Buddha

In September of 2003 Ven. Ajahn Pannavaddho was diagnosed with colon cancer. He decided to treat it with natural herbal remedies. He appeared unfazed by his condition. Over the following nine months the cancer appeared to gradually regress, but in June of 2004 it resurfaced and began to spread rapidly. He showed great equanimity as death approached, never displaying any concern for the failing condition of his body. On August 18, 2004, he passed away in complete stillness. He died in a calm and peaceful manner, as befits a practising bhikkhu. His mental condition was excellent and beyond reproach. He had truly developed a strong spiritual foundation in his heart. Ven. Ajahn Pannavaddho was two months shy of his 79th birthday, with 41 years the senior-most Western bhikkhu.

A FEW GOOD MONKS

Buddha Gotama Vihara, Kampar, Malaysia (27 Dec 2016)

Front (l-r): Bh Tan Meng Gunayutto, 6 vassa; Bh Dhammavuddho (Hye), 31 vassa; Bh Gunasilo, 10 (Jakarta); Bh Tan Jimmy Nyanayutto, 5 (HK).
Standing (l-r) Bh Panya Khunapanyo (Moss), 4 (Thai); Bh Gambhiro, 2; Bh Thavaro, 1.

Those who treasure the historical Buddha's teaching, and so are treasures themselves.

Buddhists in a Democracy: Be Political, but not Partisan

January 19, 2017 by Justin Whitaker 

This year’s election and the impending inauguration of Donald Trump have drawn out some heated discussions about the role Buddhism ought to be playing in our political system. Two articles that come to the forefront, in part for espousing different views on the topic, are Jiryu Mark Rutschman-Byler’s article Buddhism is Apolitical? (Or, Stop Trying to Wiggle Out of the Damn Koan!), updated at Lion’s Roar as Isn’t Buddhism Supposed to Be Apolitical? and Brad Warner’s Should Plumbing Be Political?

Thag. 1:111

How to Practice Vipassana Insight Meditation

BY SAYADAW U PANDITA| DECEMBER 2, 2016   Step-by-step instructions on how to do this important practice ­— the foundation of all Buddhist meditations — from the late Vipassana master Sayadaw U Pandita.Photo by Alexandre Chambon. 
What is Vipassana?
Vipassana, or insight meditation, is the practice of continued close attention to sensation, through which one ultimately sees the true nature of existence. It is believed to be the form of meditation practice taught by the Buddha himself, and although the specific form of the practice may vary, it is the basis of all traditions of Buddhist meditation.

The Buddha DN 31