1. A refuge supreme

    Comment

    Buddha and monks walking - Ariyamagga

    They go to many a refuge,
    to mountains and forests,
    to park and tree shrines:
    people threatened with danger.
    That’s not the secure refuge,
    not the supreme refuge,
    that’s not the refuge,
    having gone to which,
    you gain release
    from all suffering & stress.

    But when, having gone
    to the Buddha, Dhamma,
    & Sangha for refuge,
    you see with right discernment
    the four noble truths —
    stress,
    the cause of stress,
    the transcending of stress,
    & the noble eightfold path,
    the way to the stilling of stress:
    that’s the secure refuge,
    that, the supreme refuge,
    that is the refuge,
    having gone to which,
    you gain release
    from all suffering & stress.

    ~Dhammapada

    Link source

     

  2. Can We Understand the Suffering of our Enemy?

    Comment

    When someone has done us, our loved ones, or our people, a great wrong, this is the very last thing in the world we want to do. We hate and loathe our enemies, and may well have very good reason for this antipathy.

    It takes tremendous courage and insight to break this self-perpetuating cycle, but it is possible. And Buddhism offers unique insights into how we can break down the barriers that separate us and find a path to peace. And one skillful way to do this is through meditation in which we empathetically become one with our enemy and his suffering. Again, this is not easy to do, but in understanding another’s suffering, however much we may think they deserve it or have brought it upon themselves, we find common ground. We all suffer. Being human, we all know what suffering is. We know what it is to lose a love one, to be abused, to be victimized. In our common suffering, and our compassionate response to suffering, we have a basis for finding and seeing our common humanity. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

    Buddha and monks

  3. Not by hating…

    Comment

    Not by hating hatred ceases
    In this world of tooth and claw;
    Love alone from hate releases —
    This is the Eternal Law.

    ~Dhammapada

    white flower

     

     

  4. Learn to detach

    Comment

    Learn to detach…Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent… But detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate fully. That’s how you are able to leave it… Take any emotion–love for a woman, or grief for a loved one, or what I’m going through, fear and pain from a deadly illness. If you hold back on the emotions–if you don’t allow yourself to go all the way through them–you can never get to being detached, you’re too busy being afraid. You’re afraid of the pain, you’re afraid of the grief. You’re afraid of the vulnerability that love entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, ‘All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment. ~ Mitch Albom

    yellow flower

     

  5. Sensuality…

    Comment

    Not even if it rained gold coins
    would we have our fill
    of sensual pleasures.
    ‘Stressful,
    they give little enjoyment’ —
    knowing this, the wise one
    finds no delight
    even in heavenly sensual pleasures.
    He is one who delights
    in the ending of craving,
    a disciple of the Rightly
    Self-Awakened One.

    ~Dhammapada 186 Link source

    Buddha meditating-Ariyamagga

  6. An angry person

    Comment

    Four Sights

    An angry person is ugly & sleeps poorly.
    Gaining a profit, he turns it into a loss,
    having done damage with word & deed.
    A person overwhelmed with anger
    destroys his wealth.
    Maddened with anger,
    he destroys his status.
    Relatives, friends, & colleagues avoid him.
    Anger brings loss.
    Anger inflames the mind.
    He doesn’t realize
    that his danger is born from within.
    An angry person doesn’t know his own benefit.
    An angry person doesn’t see the Dhamma.
    A man conquered by anger is in a mass of darkness.
    He takes pleasure in bad deeds as if they were good,
    but later, when his anger is gone,
    he suffers as if burned with fire.
    He is spoiled, blotted out,
    like fire enveloped in smoke.

    Anguttara Nikaya VII.60

    Link source

     

  7. As beautiful as a flower garden…

    Comment

    A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

    The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ~Buddha

    Jendhamuni with pink lotus

  8. Watch the thought and its ways with care

    Comment

    The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. And the habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care. And let it spring from love, born out of concern for all beings. ~Buddha

    Buddha

  9. A disciplined mind

    Comment

    There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind. ~Buddha

    water-and-trees

  10. Choose the path that leads to wisdom

    Comment

    Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. ~Buddha

    Ven. Munindathero Maha Nhor Tepmony

    Ven. Munindathero Maha Nhor Tepmony

Live & Die for Buddhism

candle

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...