~ Itivuttaka 15

"Monks, I don't envision even one other fetter — fettered by which beings conjoined go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time — like the fetter of craving. Fettered with the fetter of craving, beings conjoined go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time."

Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta - "And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action?

There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. 

Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them.

Abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. 

This is how one is made pure in three ways by bodily action."

5 Practices for Nurturing Happiness

BY THICH NHAT HANH| JANUARY 2, 2016 Lion's RoarPhoto © Unified Buddhist Church.

The great Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh suffered a serious stroke in November of 2014. (You can contribute to his relief effort, here.) We join practitioners around the world in sending our prayers and good wishes for his full recovery. Thich Nhat Hanh’s life is inspiring, his benefit great, and his teaching, like the dharma itself, profound and practical.

Nibbedhika Sutta, AN 6.63

"'Kamma should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.' Thus it has been said. In reference to what was it said?

"Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect.

"And what is the cause by which kamma comes into play? Contact is the cause by which kamma comes into play.

"And what is the diversity in kamma? There is kamma to be experienced in hell, kamma to be experienced in the realm of common animals, kamma to be experienced in the realm of petas, kamma to be experienced in the human world, kamma to be experienced in the world of the devas. This is called the diversity in kamma.

"And what is the result of kamma? The result of kamma is of three sorts, I tell you: that which arises right here & now, that which arises later [in this lifetime], and that which arises following that. This is called the result of kamma."

“It is easy to see the faults of others, but difficult to see one’s own faults....

“It is easy to see the faults of others, but difficult to see one’s own faults. One shows the faults of others like chaff winnowed in the wind, but one conceals one’s own faults as a cunning gambler conceals his dice.”

The Illustrator of Ultimate Meaning, 21

Sānusayakilesabyādhiharaṇasamatthatāya vā kusalo vejjo viya buddho, sammā payuttabhesajjamiva dhammo, bhesajjapayogena samupasantabyādhi viya janasamudāyo samupasantakilesabyādhānusayo saṅgho. (Paramatthajotikā, 21)

The Buddha is like a skilled physician because he is able to cure the sickness of the latent defilements. The Dhamma is like the rightly applied medicines. The Sangha, with their latent defilements cured, are like people whose sicknesses are cured by that medicine. 

Upaddha sutta, SN 45.2

And how does a monk who has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, develop & pursue the noble eightfold path? There is the case where a monk develops right view dependent on seclusion, dependent on dispassion, dependent on cessation, resulting in relinquishment. He develops right resolve... right speech... right action... right livelihood... right effort... right mindfulness... right concentration dependent on seclusion, dependent on dispassion, dependent on cessation, resulting in relinquishment. This is how a monk who has admirable people as friends, companions, & colleagues, develops & pursues the noble eightfold path.

"And through this line of reasoning one may know how admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life."