Search results for: vinaya

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  2. Observe Your Concentration
    The Vinaya tells us that after the Buddha gave his first sermon, Añña-Kondañña gained the Dhamma eye. In the days after that, the Buddha gave more Dhamma talks. And two by two, the others of the five brethren gained the Dhamma eye as well. Then, a few days later, the Buddha gave the sermon that we call the Anatta-lakkhana Sutta, the Sutta … 
  3. Dethinking Thinking
     … When you look at all the suttas in the Canon, all the rules in the Vinaya: Those didn’t come from someone who didn’t think. They came from someone who thought a lot and knew how to think. One of the first lessons in learning how to think is learning how to dethink. This doesn’t mean to stop thinking. It means questioning … 
  4. Page search result icon MvV: cammakkhandhako
     … What if I were to, return to the lower life, enjoy wealth, and make merit?’” evaṁ bhanteti. “Yes, lord.” taṁ kiṁ maññasi soṇa kusalo tvaṁ pubbe āgārikabhūto vīṇāya tantissareti. “Now what do you think, Soṇa? Before, when you were a house-dweller, were you skilled at playing the vīṇā?” evaṁ bhanteti. “Yes, lord.” taṁ kiṁ maññasi soṇa yadā te vīṇāya tantiyo accāyikā honti apinu … 
  5. Equanimity Isn’t Apathy
     … Even after his Awakening, he spent 45 years establishing the teaching, the Dhamma and the Vinaya. It took a lot of work. And he didn’t do it with an apathetic attitude, thinking, “I don’t care whether it works or not.” He put a lot of effort into making it a teaching that would last. He noticed that some people would take the … 
  6. A True Man of No Rank
     … In terms of the Vinaya, we have our duties. In terms of our practice, in terms of the four noble truths, we have our duties. And even the things that we do voluntarily—when you look around and see something should be done, and there’s nobody doing it, well, you go ahead and do it. That’s a good trait to have as … 
  7. Protest Your Virtue & Right View
     … They don’t want to hear the Vinaya. In that way, the pursuit of power can actually close off the path. So the Buddha’s basically saying you have power within you to put an end to suffering if you understand the workings of your own mind. This is why we meditate. You could sit here and follow your thoughts for the hour. That … 
  8. Don’t Sell the Buddha Short
     … Then he set himself the goal of establishing the Dhamma and Vinaya so that it would last. When he taught, before explaining the path, he told where it led: to knowledge, to stilling, to unbinding. When he set forth the four noble truths, he put the goal before the path. The third noble truth: total dispassion without any trace for any craving. Release. The … 
  9. Resourceful
     … It may seem paradoxical that, on one hand, here is a tradition that holds very strictly to the Vinaya and has a very clear idea about what is Dhamma and what’s not Dhamma, and yet they say, “Be ingenious. Be resourceful.” But actually, there’s no paradox at all within the parameters of what’s skillful and what’s not. You have to … 
  10. The Not-Self Discourse
     … In the succeeding days, the Vinaya texts say that the Buddha taught the Dhamma to the remaining four brethren, so that they all gained the Dhamma eye. We don’t know how many days it took. But there’s a tradition in Thailand that on the fifth day, he gave his second recorded sermon, which we chanted just now. We know it now as … 
  11. Remembering Ajaan Lee
     … They got a good training in Vinaya. And those like Ajaan Lee who were really curious did read in the texts. Ajaan Fuang tells of how, when they would have their evening meditation at one of the monasteries that Ajaan Lee founded, where Ajaan Fuang was number two in command, they would have a meditation session in the evening that lasted from 6 p … 
  12. Customs of the Noble Ones
     … Ajaan Mun was still a wild monk, you might say, living in the forest, eating only one meal a day, wandering around, and being very strict about the Vinaya. That was why people accused him of not following Thai or Laotian customs. He would tell them he aspired to be a noble one, and if you want to be a noble one, you have … 
  13. As Days & Nights Fly Past, Fly Past
     … Especially now with the Internet, you can get all kinds of suttas, read lots about the Vinaya… Are you taking advantage of that? We’ve got all these suttas in translation. We’ve got the works of the ajaans in translation. If you’re going to spend some time reading—read that. Think about it, and think about what the Buddha said: When you … 
  14. Cook Your Mind
     … For instance, in the Vinaya there are lots and lots of wheels, dealing with the different factors that go into how you might or might not commit an offense under a particular rule. That’s one meaning of wheel. The second meaning of wheel has to do with power. The king gets up in his chariot, and the wheels of his chariot can go … 
  15. Modest, Unentangled, Unburdensome
    In the principles that the Buddha taught to his stepmother, Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī on how to distinguish what is Dhamma and Vinaya and what is not, there are three that have to do with how your practice affects other people. The first is that genuine Dhamma leads to modesty. In other words, you don’t go bragging about your attainments or about how much you … 
  16. Nothing Wrong with Right & Wrong
     … Even the Vinaya, with its many thousands of rules, has lots of wiggle room. When you try to live by the rules, you’ll notice that. So the Buddha, in pointing out right and wrong, gives you some room to use your own powers of observation. After all, you’re here to develop your discernment, and that’s how discernment gets developed: by using … 
  17. Talking Among Your Selves
     … Angulimala, Devadatta, Saccaka, and then all the monks and nuns who created trouble in ways that forced him to formulate the Vinaya. The Buddha went to great lengths to teach people to talk to themselves in new ways. And of course, from the talking to themselves in new ways, then they would learn to act in new ways, too. This is why meditation starts … 
  18. Eight Principles
     … You can find them in the Buddha’s teaching to Gotami about the eight basic principles for measuring what’s Dhamma and Vinaya what’s not. The three are these: how you relate to yourself in the practice, what goals you’ve set for the practice, and how your practice has an impact on other people. For your practice to be good in a … 
  19. Ajaan Fuang’s Stories
     … Finally, the naga appears to Ajaan Mun and says, “I’ve been watching you, and unlike other monks, you’re actually hold by the Vinaya.” That’s why Ajaan Mun was then able to teach him. So have a sense that you’re being watched. Live frugally. Speak frugally. The more careful you are with your mouth, the more value your words will have … 
  20. The Art of Right Speech
     … Look at his teachings to the monks, especially in the Vinaya. Someone does something wrong and he calls him a “worthless person,” which is harsh, and then he gives that person a real dressing down. And in all of those cases, we notice, when the Buddha asked him, did you actually do this? The person will ‘fess up and say, “Yes, that’s something … 
  21. Page search result icon Nobility is the Best Policy
     … In the Vinaya, the monks’ rules, there’s a very large section devoted to medical care. The Buddha recognized that some illnesses respond to medicine and others don’t. When the medicines are available, use them. Think of that story about Ajaan Mun that Ajaan Fuang told. When there was a monk who was be sick, and there was no medicine, if the monk … 
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