Jata Sutta (SN7.6)

Bharadvaja went to the Blessed One and......
addressed the Blessed One with a verse:

A tangle within,
a tangle without,
people are entangled in a tangle.

Gotama, I ask you this: who can untangle this tangle?

[The Buddha:]
A man established in virtue,
discerning,
developing discernment & mind,
a monk ardent, astute:
he can untangle this tangle.

A pint or a prayer? Monks in Japan put Buddhism on the menu

PUBLISHED: 9:51 AM, APRIL 8, 2016

TOKYO — The hum of conversation and the clinking of spoons and coffee cups fills the wood-panelled cafe in a fashionable Tokyo neighbourhood as more than a dozen customers sip drinks and nibble desserts.

At first glance, the cafe, that also serves alcohol, looks like any other except for an altar next to the counter top bar with a Buddha statue set against a gold backdrop.

Its name, Tera Cafe, is a another hint — Tera is Japanese for temple.

The menu confirms this is something different. It lists classes for 1,500 yen (S$18.64) in weaving prayer beads, calligraphy with sutras, or lines of scripture, and consultations with a Buddhist priest.

The first step is that we must develop samatha-bhāvanā

“…In order to do this, we need mindfulness or sati. Sati is the Dhamma that will stop the mind from thinking, a process that will bring the mind into calm, into concentration, into oneness, into singularity, into the real mind, into the one who knows—all characteristics of the healthy mind.

Right now we don’t discern the knowing from the knower. We see the thoughts. We have been constantly thinking from the time we are born to the present. We might stop thinking when we go to sleep, but the rest of the time we are constantly thinking and cannot see the thoughts or the knower behind the thoughts.

The highest goal can only appear by rigorous meditation

Question : Is it possible for a free thinker or follower of another religion to practice meditation to eliminate defilements and gain wisdom? How will Tan Ajahn advise a free thinker to practice meditation?

Guardian reporter Dave Stewart tells about time with Buddhist monks

by Dave Stewart, The Guardian (Prince Edward), April 3, 2016

Guardian reporter Dave Stewart spent the afternoon recently with a group of monks with the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Society monastery in Little Sands. The group bakes thousands of rolls of bread each week for a number of non-profit organizations in an attempt to pay back the kindness Islanders have shown them. The monks also presented Stewart with some treats, which he is holding, as a token of their appreciation for his visit.

Prince Edward Island, Canada -- Buddhist monks believe they are making the world a better place, one kind act at a time.

I had the pleasure of seeing that first-hand recently by spending the afternoon with a group with the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Society monastery in Little Sands.

I watched as they turned massive amounts of dough into thousands of bread rolls, reiterating over and over again how at the very core of their beliefs is a desire to help out the less fortunate.

"We believe the more we do to help others, the more happy we will be,'' Venerable Dan told me.

Sayādawgyi U Paṇḍita, Passed Away at 94

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Sayādawgyi U Paṇḍita

(July 29, 1921 — April 16, 2016)

by Lion's Roar Staff April 16, 2016
The modern Vipassanā meditation teacher Sayādawgyi U Paṇḍita 
has passed away, at the age of 94.

A highly influential Theravada teacher, U Paṇḍita was, at the time 
of his death, the abbot of Paṇḍitārāma Meditation Center in Yangon, 
Myanmar, which he founded in 1991. He had himself been trained 
by the famed Mahāsi Sayādaw, and took over the Mahāsi Meditation 
Center after Mahāsi’s death in 1982.

U Paṇḍita’s influence in the West was strong with students and 
teachers alike, due in part to his time teaching at Insight Meditation 
Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts in 1984. (Read IMS teacher
Sharon Salzberg’s account of training with U Pandita.) The talks he 
gave there were later collected in the book In This Very Life: 
Liberation Teachings of the Buddha. He also authored several 
other writings, including the book The State of Mind Called 
Beautiful.

Founding IMS teacher Joseph Goldstein told LionsRoar.com:

So many of us here are saddened to hear
of Sayādaw U Paṇḍita’s passing.
He was such a powerful influence in all of our lives,
urging us on to realize our highest aspirations.
His great service to the Dhamma is inestimable.
It feels like the passing of an era.

Karaniya Metta sutta

"Let him not deceive another nor despise anyone anywhere. 
In anger or ill will let him not wish another ill.
Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings."