Just like dripping water can penetrate stone,
patience and persistence can break through anything
no matter how great the difficulty. ~Master Cheng Yen
Meditation master Toum Vachana in Cambodia.
Meditation master Toum Vachana in Cambodia.
by Ajahn Chah
Seekers of goodness who have gathered here please listen in peace. Listening to the Dhamma in peace means to listen with a one-pointed mind, paying attention to what you hear and then letting go. Listening to the Dhamma is of great benefit. While listening to the Dhamma we are encouraged to firmly establish both body and mind in samadhi, because it is one kind of dhamma practice. In the time of the Buddha people listened to Dhamma talks intently, with a mind aspiring to real understanding, and some actually realized the Dhamma while listening.
This place is well suited to meditation practice. Having stayed here a couple of nights I can see that it is an important place. On the external level it is already peaceful, all that remains is the internal level, your hearts and minds. So I ask all of you to make an effort to pay attention.
Why have you gathered here to practice meditation? It’s because your hearts and minds do not understand what should be understood. In other words, you don’t truly know how things are, or what is what. You don’t know what is wrong and what is right, what it is that brings you suffering and causes you to doubt. So first you have to make yourselves calm. The reason that you have come here to develop calm and restraint is that your hearts and minds are not at ease. Your minds are not calm, not restrained. They are swayed by doubting and agitation. This is why you have come here today and are now listening to the Dhamma.
I would like you to concentrate and listen carefully to what I say, and I ask permission to speak frankly because that’s how I am. Please understand that even if I do speak in a forceful manner, I am doing so out of good will. I ask your forgiveness if there is anything I say that upsets you, because the customs of Thailand and those of the West are not the same. Actually, speaking a little forcefully can be good because it helps to stir people up who might otherwise be sleepy or drowsy, and rather than rousing themselves to hear the Dhamma allow themselves to drift instead into complacency and as a result never understand anything. Continue reading
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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 lying down.
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.
The heart of the path is quite easy. There’s no need to explain anything at length. Let go of like and dislike and let things be. That’s all that I do in my own practice. ~Ajahn Chah
King Bimbisara offering all his kingly glory
10. King Bimbisara offering all his kingly glory
Now the Future Buddha, having thus retired from the world and become an ascetic for about 7 days, entered the city of Rajagaha and begged for food from house to house. By the beauty of the Future Buddha the whole city was thrown into a commotion as he was a distinct contrast to the usual type of ascetics of those days, who were old and shabby in appearance. The Future Buddha being then only 29 years of age and bearing all the signs of a Universal Monarch naturally became an object of admiration and wonder.
Now the Great Being having collected some food for his sustenance went to the shade of Pandava rock and ate his meal. Thereupon, Bimbisara, the King, approached the Future Buddha, and being pleased with his princely deportment and appearance offered him all his kingly glory. “Great King”, replied the Future Buddha, “I do not seek for the gratification of my senses or my passions, but have retired from the world for the sake of the supreme and absolute enlightenment of a Buddha”.
“Verily”, said the King ,when his repeated offers had all been refused, “you are sure to become a Buddha; but when that happens your first journey will be to my Kingdom
THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
by ASHIN JANAKA BHIVAMSA (Aggamahapandita)
Artist: U Ba Kyi | Link to this post
Buddhist prayer ធម៌នមស្ការ and taking eight precepts by His Holiness Vajirapanno Huot Tat. His Holiness Vajirapanno Huot Tat is the last Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Cambodia before the 1975 take over by communist Cambodian forces. He is the best friend of the late and renowned H.H. the Great Dr. Jotannano Chuon Nath. Audio courtesy Ven. Pannapadipo Sophal Pat
Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is Awakened. ~Buddha, Sutta Nipata
Know from the rivers in clefts and in crevices: those in small channels flow noisily, the great flow silent. Whatever’s not full makes noise. Whatever is full is quiet. ~Buddha, The Sutta Nipata
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Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer badness with goodness. Conquer meanness with generosity. Conquer dishonesty with truth. ~Buddha, The Dhammapada
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They blame those who remain silent, they blame those speak much, they blame those who speak in moderation. There is none in the world who is not blamed. ~Buddha, The Dhammapada
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Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart: This is the teaching of the Buddhas. ~The Buddha
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The future Buddha cutting his hair to become a monk
9. The future Buddha cutting his hair to become a monk
The Future Buddha who left the city at midnight on his Great Renunciation came to the bank of the Anoma (Illustrious) River at day-break. He gave the signal to his horse with his heel, and the horse sprang over the river, which had a breadth of eight usabhas (an usabha is 140 cubits or 210 feet), and landed on the opposite bank. He handed over to Channa his ornaments and the horse, Kanthaka, and asked him to go back home with them. He then cut his hair with the sword on the sandy beach of the Anoma.
Then the Future Buddha seized hold of his top-knot and threw it into the air, saying— “If I am to become a Buddha, let it stay in the sky; but if not, let it fall to the ground”. And Sakka, the King of the gods, received it in a golden casket, and established it in the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods as the Culamani Ceti (Shrine of the Diadem). After that, the Future Buddha put on the robes, the symbol of asceticism, brought by the Maha-Brahma god, Ghatikara, and became an ascetic. His garments, made of Benares cloth, were taken away by Ghatikara, and established in the realm of the higher gods as the “Dussa Shrine”.
THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
by ASHIN JANAKA BHIVAMSA (Aggamahapandita)
Artist: U Ba Kyi | Link to this post
ព្រះត្រៃបិដក ប្រែថា កញ្រ្ចែង ឬ ល្អី ៣ សម្រាប់ដាក់ផ្ទុកពាក្យពេចន៍នៃព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធ
The Tipitaka or Pali canon, is the collection of primary Pali language texts which form the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism. The three divisions of the Tipitaka are: Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, Abhidhamma Pitaka.
វចនានុក្រមសម្តេចសង្ឃ ជួន ណាត
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Listen to Khmer literature and Dhamma talk by His Holiness Jotannano Chuon Nath, Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia Buddhism.
Should anyone wish to ridicule me and make me an object of jest and scorn why should I possibly care if I have dedicated myself to others?
Let them do as they wish with me so long as it does not harm them. May no one who encounters me ever have an insignificant contact.
Regardless whether those whom I meet respond towards me with anger or faith, may the mere fact of our meeting contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes.
May the slander, harm and all forms of abuse that anyone should direct towards me act as a cause of their enlightenment.
As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not shaken by blame and praise. As a deep lake is clear and calm, so the wise become tranquil after they listened to the truth…
Good people walk on regardless of what happens to them. Good people do not babble on about their desires. Whether touched by happiness or by sorrow, the wise never appear elated or depressed. ~The Dhammapada
