1. The importance of human life

    Comment August 31, 2021

    Novice Ananda at Wat Kiryvongsa Bopharam

    If we realize, “I am a human being. A human being can do anything,” this determination, courage, and self-confidence are important sources of victory and success. Without will power and determination, even something that you might have achieved easily cannot be achieved. If you have will power and reasonable courage — not blind courage but courage without pride — even things that seemed impossible at a certain stage turn into being possible because of continuing effort inspired by that courage. Thus, determination is important.

    How can this be developed? Not through machines, not by money, but by our own inner strength based on clear realization of the value of human beings, of human dignity. For, once we realize that a human being is much more than just material, much more than just money, we can feel the importance of human life, from which we can feel the importance of compassion and kindness. ~ 14th Dalai Lama

  2. Dhammatthavagga: The Just

    Comment June 9, 2021

     

    1. Not by passing arbitrary judgments does a man become just; a wise man is he who investigates both right and wrong.

    2. He who does not judge others arbitrarily, but passes judgment impartially according to the truth, that sagacious man is a guardian of law and is called just.

    3. One is not wise because one speaks much. He who is peaceable, friendly and fearless is called wise.

    4. A man is not versed in Dhamma because he speaks much. He who, after hearing a little Dhamma, realizes its truth directly and is not heedless of it, is truly versed in the Dhamma.

    5. A monk is not an elder because his head is gray. He is but ripe in age, and he is called one grown old in vain.

    6. One in whom there is truthfulness, virtue, inoffensiveness, restraint and self-mastery, who is free from defilements and is wise — he is truly called an Elder.

    7. Not by mere eloquence nor by beauty of form does a man become accomplished, if he is jealous, selfish and deceitful.

    8. But he in whom these are wholly destroyed, uprooted and extinct, and who has cast out hatred — that wise man is truly accomplished. Continue reading →

  3. Discipline for the sake of restraint

    Comment September 11, 2020

    Novice Ananda at Kiryvongsa Bopharam Pagoda on June 21, 2019

    Discipline is for the sake of restraint,
    restraint for the sake of freedom from remorse,
    freedom from remorse for the sake of joy,
    joy for the sake of rapture,
    rapture for the sake of tranquillity,
    tranquillity for the sake of pleasure,
    pleasure for the sake of concentration,
    concentration for the sake of knowledge
    and vision of things as they are,
    knowledge and vision of things as they are
    for the sake of disenchantment,
    disenchantment for the sake of release,
    release for the sake of knowledge and vision of release,
    knowledge and vision of release
    for the sake of total unbinding without clinging.

    — Parivaara.XII.2 (BMC p.1)

     

    A Guide for Laypeople
    Compiled and explained by Bhikkhu Ariyesako © 1999

  4. The disciples of Gotama

    Comment September 2, 2020

    The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on their body. —The Dhammapada

    Novice Ananda and Novice Calvin at Kiryvongsa Bopharam Pagoda

  5. Looking at things truthfully

    Comment April 15, 2019

    The external world is only a manifestation of the activities of the mind itself, and the mind grasps it as an external world simply because of its habit of discrimination and false-reasoning. The disciple must get into the habit of looking at things truthfully. ~Buddha

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

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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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