When does the practice of Dhamma comes to completion?

Regardless of time and place, the whole practice of Dhamma comes to completion at the place where there is nothing.

It's the place of surrender, of emptiness, of laying down the burden.

This is the finish............Ajahn Chah.

Rebirth of Ajanta Cave Paintings

by Mayura Pimpare, The Buddhist Channel, March 28, 2017

Aurangabad, India -- This story is as much about Indian history of Buddhism as it is of a will and perseverance of an artist; whose relentless efforts will be revered by generations to come.

Everyone knows about the great caves of Ajanta in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Millions of tourists come here every year from all corners of planet to see the gigantic caves in rocky mountains as well as minutely detailed Budhist paintings dating back centuries.

Its a fact that historic monuments and UNESCO’s historic site such as Ajanta is in dilapidated state; even continuous efforts by government aren’t enough.

In this situation one artist devoted his life and took the mantle of recreating these painting single handily. Its been half century that his work began hours and hours of observation inside caves throughout the year, huge canvases, collecting unique colors to match the originals needed herculean effort! 

Free Will in Buddhism: metaphysical bank accounts of karma

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Emptinez

Everyday in our lives we see tremendous inequalities of wealth, intelligence, talent and so on, seemingly caused by natural contingencies of birth. Natural contingencies such as taking birth with a silver spoon in mouth, someone with a beautiful voice, prodigal talents in linguistics or mathematics etc., there seems to be no explanation to this from a secular perspective, but to regard such inequalities in our lives as simply arbitrary and as a matter of natural lottery. But Buddhism has a different answer. It is from that answer which necessarily entails the question of free agency in human action. This blog entry is a cursory look into free will in Buddhism as I freely “chose” to go on a hunger strike against the heavy rain from going out to eat and write this.

What is called "following the Buddha"?

Buddhist meditation center in contract to purchase historic Grange Hall

by Katharine Schroeder and Denise Civiletti, Riverhead Local, Mar 23, 2017 Riverhead, NY (USA) -- After a long and varied history of uses, the historic Grange Hall on Sound Avenue in Northville is now slated to become a Buddhist meditation center and community hub. The 186-year-old Grange Hall is in contract to be sold to the Long Island Buddhist Meditation Center, presently located in Port Jefferson. “We’re excited,” Anthony Manetta, a member of the Long Island Buddhist Meditation Center said in a phone interview Monday. The second floor of the two-story building will be devoted to the practice of Buddhism and meditation; the first floor will be used to serve the community, hosting things like AA meetings, he said.

Breaking retreat and taking the practice home

Spirit Rock 2015 Retreat: Shared by Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Morning Instruction Day 13 (2:08-12:35)

SUT: When we talk more, we find that we have more thinking after that as well. And the thinking mind needs to be seen as an object. When there is thinking, that there are thoughts, is not an indication of whether the mind has samadhi or not. Just because the mind is thinking doesn’t mean that the mind has lost samadhi.

Samadhi is in the observing mind; being able to watch steadily is samadhi. If you’re able to maintain awareness, it means that there is samadhi.

Understanding of the rules when listening to Dhamma talk

Peaceful Uplifting Monasteries 

There are sixteen of the Sekhiya Training rules setting down how and to whom a bhikkhu should teach Dhamma. These rules are also concerned with the etiquette of showing respect, respect not only for the bhikkhu but more importantly for the Dhamma that he is teaching. These rules prohibit a bhikkhu from teaching anyone he considers to be showing disrespect to the Dhamma. Therefore laypeople need to know these rules. Here is a summary of these Sekhiya Trainings: