An Auspicious Day

As we read in Bhaddekaratta Sutta, on one occasion while the Buddha was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery, he told the monks that a disciple who has truly had an auspicious day is a disciple who does not chase after the past or place expectations on the future, but whatever quality is present, he/she clearly sees right there. The Buddha clarified that such a disciple does have a firm confidence, unshakable view regard to present qualities which means that he/she does not see the five aggregates as self, or self as possessing five aggregates, or five aggregates as in self, or self as in five aggregates.

Anguttara Nikaya. III,248

What Would the Buddha Think of the Mindfulness Movement?

Posted by Dr. Arnie Kozak

I am connecting with mindfulness colleagues on LinkedIn (thank you!) and I am impressed, no, flabbergasted by the amount of people who have embraced mindfulness, made it the central focus of their lives.

It is humbling. My one voice in a chorus of multitudes. I am no one special. I would say, though, that my interest in mindfulness predates the current bandwagon by decades. I am not sure if this really means anything other than there a lot of newcomers to the movement/revolution. New energy is likely good energy. Not inferior. Yet, there are cautions.

People nowadays think too much

By effort you will cross the raging flood,
By energy you will pass by sorrow......

People nowadays think too much.
There are too many things for them to get interested in,
but none of them lead to any true fulfillment ..... Ajahn Chah

What Happens After Now?

Being in the here and now is what mindfulness is all about. Yes and no, says Barry Boyce. It’s also about being aware of what’s inside and outside, past, present, and future. Once we steady our mind with mindfulness, our awareness shines a light on not just the present moment, but where we’ve come from and where we’re going.

By Barry Boyce | April 8, 2016

Many of us come to mindfulness seeking relief from the confusing jumble of thoughts that dominate our lives much of the time. So the first gift that mindfulness gives us—after we get accustomed to the shocking simplicity of sitting and doing nothing—is a little bit of peace. We’re no longer as tormented by our thoughts, since as we observe them come and go, no single thought seems to be a big deal anymore. It’s like being at a laundromat watching the clothes tumble in a big dryer. We don’t have to tumble along with the clothes; we can just watch them fall through space.

Readings of the Vessantara Jataka

Edited by Steven Collins 

Columbia University Press (2016)

The Vessantara Jataka tells the story of Prince Vessantara, who attained the Perfection of Generosity by giving away his fortune, his children, and his wife. Vessantara was the penultimate rebirth as a human of the future Gotama Buddha, and his extreme charity has been represented and reinterpreted in texts, sermons, rituals, and art throughout South and Southeast Asia and beyond. This anthology features well-respected anthropologists, textual scholars in religious and Buddhist studies, and art historians, who engage in sophisticated readings of the text and its ethics of giving, understanding of attachment and nonattachment, depiction of the trickster, and unique performative qualities. They reveal the story to be as brilliantly layered as a Homeric epic or Shakespearean play, with aspects of tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and utopian fantasy intertwined to problematize and scrutinize Theravada Buddhism's cherished virtues.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven Collins is Chester D. Tripp Professor in the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where he teaches in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and in the Divinity School. His books includeSelfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism andNirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire.

Thirty men washing one man’s feet! - Phra Ajahn Sumedho

“Another experience I learned from was the custom of washing the feet of the senior monks when they returned from the almsround. After they walked barefoot through the village and rice paddies, their feet would be muddy. There were foot baths outside the dining hall. When Ajahn Chah would come, all the monks - maybe twenty or thirty of them - would rush out and wash Ajahn Chah’s feet.