Reflections on the Buddhist Path

My thoughts and experiences as a lay Buddhist in the Theravadan tradition Link to Kayana Mitta Blog

[abiding-in-peace]

[aspiritualwarrior]

One day some people came to the master and asked: “How can you be happy in a world of such impermanence, where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness or death?” 

The master held up a glass and said: “Someone gave me this glass; It holds my water admirably and it glistens in the sunlight. I touch it and it rings! One day the wind may blow it off the shelf, or my elbow may knock it from the table. I know this glass is already broken, so I enjoy it - incredibly.”

–  Ajahn Chah

[aspiritualwarrior]

“Don’t think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or even dancing. When coming out of sitting, don’t think that you’re coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself.”

— Ajahn Chah

[pinkumiilku]

“Just like a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, So with a boundless heart, one should cherish all living beings; Radiating kindness over the entire world.”

[wruith]

“For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say ‘of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.”

-Ajahn Chah

[spiritualityquotes]

The fragrance of sandalwood and rosebay Does not travel far. But the fragrance of virtue Rises to the heavens.

[kalyana-mitta]

Introduction to Meditation

“People have all sorts of ideas about what meditation is, based on a wide variety of experiences and influences. For example, we might have the idea that meditation is about seeing into past lives, reading people’s minds, making the mind go off into some sort of blissful state or inhabit some kind of wonderful esoteric realm while we take a break from our busy lives, and so on. Perhaps we have come to believe that meditation will enable us to lose weight or make a lot of money, give us healing powers, or, at least, make us into a wonderfully glorious interesting attractive person who can dazzle people at cocktail parties. We see the word “meditation” in books and magazines. We hear it talked about and discussed on television talk shows. So we can get all kinds of impressions about the purpose of meditation and how you do it. The following is intended to clarify, from the Buddhist perspective and the tradition in which I was trained, that meditation is not really about those kinds of effects.”

Excerpt From: Ajahn Amaro. “Finding the Missing Peace.”

An excellent, easy to understand introduction to meditation using Buddhist techniques but written in such a way as to be accessible to all, and the one I most frequently recommend to beginners. Available for free in pdf, mobi, and epub formats at:

 https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/finding-the-missing-peace-a-primer-of-buddhist-meditation/

[kalyana-mitta]

The Three Refuges

Image by Honey Kochphon Onshawee from Pixabay

How do you become a Buddhist? Is it complicated? Well no, actually, it can be very simple. In some traditions all you need to do is take the three refuges, these being the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. The Buddha is of course the Buddha himself, the Dhamma is the teachings, and the Sangha is the community of monastics and lay practitioners. In the tradition of Buddhism that I practice there is no formal ceremony such as a Bodhisattva vow, a baptism, or a pledge to take to signify that you are now a Buddhist. To become a Buddhist you simply take the three refuges using these words -

Buddham saranam gacchami, Dhammam saranam gacchami, Sangham saranam gacchami

To the Buddha I go for refuge, to the Dhamma I go for refuge, to the Sangha I go for refuge.

That's it, that's all you do. It doesn’t have to be public, and you don't even need to say it out loud, you can just make an intention to yourself to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha from this point onwards.Sometimes the mind can find this lack of formality off putting, but I really like how much emphasis it puts on you making your own personal decision to take on the practice of Buddhism, to decide when that time is right for you, and how it underpins right from your very first action as a Buddhist that your focus should be on your own inner world and your intentions.

Read the rest at:

https://kalyanamitta.home.blog/2020/01/10/the-three-refuges/