1. The First Noble Truth

    Comment

    What is the Noble Truth of Suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering: in short the five categories affected by clinging are suffering.

    There is this Noble Truth of Suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before.

    This Noble Truth must be penetrated by fully understanding suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before.

    This Noble Truth has been penetrated by fully understanding suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before.

    [Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11]

    The First Noble Truth with its three aspects is: “There is suffering, dukkha. Dukkha should be understood. Dukkha has been understood.”

    This is a very skilful teaching because it is expressed in a simple formula which is easy to remember, and it also applies to everything that you can possibly experience or do or think concerning the past, the present or the future. Continue reading

  2. Running away from suffering

    Comment

    People have suffering in one place, so they go somewhere else. When suffering arises there, they run off again. They think they’re running away from suffering, but they’re not. Suffering goes with them. They carry suffering around without knowing it. If we don’t know suffering, then we can’t know the cause of suffering. If we don’t know the cause of suffering, then we can’t know the cessation of suffering. There’s no way we can escape it. ~ Ajahn Chah

    Beautiful Dawn. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

  3. Everything is based on mind

    Comment

    Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a polluted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of the oxcart follow the footsteps of the ox. ~Buddha

  4. If you are filled with anger…

    Comment

    If you are filled with anger, you create more suffering for yourself than for the other person. When you are inhabited by the energy of anger, you want to punish, you want to destroy. That is why those who are wise do not want to say anything or do anything while the anger is still in them. So you try to bring peace into yourself first. When you are calm, when you are lucid, you will see that the other person is a victim of confusion, of hate, of violence transmitted by society, by parents, by friends, by the environment. When you are able to see that, your anger is no longer there. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

     

  5. Those who cause me suffering

    Comment

    Buddha

    Those who cause me suffering
    Are like Buddhas bestowing their blessings.
    Since they lead me to liberating paths,
    Why should I get angry with them?

    “Don’t they obstruct your virtuous practice?”
    No! There is no virtuous practice greater than patience;
    Therefore, I will never get angry
    With those who cause me suffering.

    If, because of my own shortcomings,
    I do not practice patience with my enemy,
    It is not he, but I, who prevents me from practicing patience,
    The cause of accumulating merit.

    —Shantideva

     

  6. Two kinds of suffering

    Comment

    There are two kinds of suffering. There is the suffering you run away from, which follows you everywhere. And there is the suffering you face directly, and so become free. ~Ajahn Chah

     

  7. Karma moves in two directions

    Comment

    Karma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant will result in happiness. If we act non-virtuously, suffering results. ~Sakyong Mipham

    Ven. Toum Vachana

    Ven. Toum Vachana

  8. When suffering arises

    Comment

    Whenever we feel that we are definitely right, so much so that we refuse to open up to anything or anybody else, right there we are wrong. It becomes wrong view. When suffering arises, where does it arise from? The cause is wrong view, the fruit of that being suffering. If it was right view it wouldn’t cause suffering. ~Ajahn Chah

    ocean

  9. If we use our intelligence to cause more suffering

    Comment

    Human beings are the most intelligent and resourceful species on earth. If we use our intelligence to cause more suffering, rather than to bring some real benefit to others and ourselves, we are no better than beasts. ~17th Karmapa

     

Live & Die for Buddhism

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Me & Grandma

My Reflection

This site is a tribute to Buddhism. Buddhism has given me a tremendous inspiration to be who and where I am today. Although I came to America at a very young age, however, I never once forget who I am and where I came from. One thing I know for sure is I was born as a Buddhist, live as a Buddhist and will leave this earth as a Buddhist. I do not believe in superstition. I only believe in karma.

A Handful of Leaves

A Handful of Leaves

Tipitaka: The pali canon (Readings in Theravada Buddhism). A vast body of literature in English translation the texts add up to several thousand printed pages. Most -- but not all -- of the Canon has already been published in English over the years. Although only a small fraction of these texts are available here at Access to Insight, this collection can nonetheless be a very good place to start.

Major Differences

Major Differences in Buddhism

Major Differences in Buddhism: There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly Judgement Day ...read more

Problems we face today

jendhamuni pink scarfnature

Of the many problems we face today, some are natural calamities and must be accepted and faced with equanimity. Others, however, are of our own making, created by misunderstanding, and can be corrected...

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