Nirvana Now Nirvana, Says Ajahn Sumedho, Is Not Some Far-Off Goal That Can Only Be Attained Through Years of Effort
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The Island, the Refuge, the Beyond
T H E I S L A N D AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS ON NIBBANA Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro T H E I S L A N D An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbæna Edited and with Commentary by Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro Abhayagiri Monastic Foundation It is the Unformed, the Unconditioned, the End, the Truth, the Other Shore, the Subtle, the Everlasting, the Invisible, the Undiversified, Peace, the Deathless, the Blest, Safety, the Wonderful, the Marvellous, Nibbæna, Purity, Freedom, the Island, the Refuge, the Beyond. ~ S 43.1-44 Having nothing, clinging to nothing: that is the Island, there is no other; that is Nibbæna, I tell you, the total ending of ageing and death. ~ SN 1094 This book has been sponsored for free distribution SABBADÆNAM DHAMMADÆNAM JINÆTI The Gift of Dhamma Excels All Other Gifts © 2009 Abhayagiri Monastic Foundation 16201 Tomki Road Redwood Valley, CA 95470 USA www.abhayagiri.org Web edition, released June 13, 2009 VI CONTENTS Prefaces / VIII Introduction by Ajahn Sumedho / XIII Acknowledgements / XVII Dedication /XXII SEEDS: NAMES AND SYMBOLS 1 What is it? / 25 2 Fire, Heat and Coolness / 39 THE TERRAIN 3 This and That, and Other Things / 55 4 “All That is Conditioned…” / 66 5 “To Be, or Not to Be” – Is That the Question? / 85 6 Atammayatæ: “Not Made of That” / 110 7 Attending to the Deathless / 123 8 Unsupported and Unsupportive Consciousness / 131 9 The Unconditioned and Non-locality / 155 10 The Unapprehendability of the Enlightened / 164 11 “‘Reappears’ Does Not Apply…” / 180 12 Knowing, Emptiness and the -
Intuitive Awareness
IntuitiveIntuitive AAwarenesswareness Ajahn Sumedho HAN DD ET U 'S B B O RY eOK LIBRA E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. Intuitive Awareness Ajahn Sumedho Intuitive Awareness 1 Dedications Dedicated to Ajahn Sumedho on his seventieth birthday with love and respect. In loving memory of my parents, David and Sheila Miles. And my son Riccardo Cattabiani, with gratitude for everything they have taught me. With gratitude for the life of Sritorn Hagyard. May she know the peace of Nirvana. Intuitive Awareness Ajahn Sumedho Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Awareness is your refuge: Awareness of the changingness of feelings, of attitudes, of moods, of material change and emotional change: Stay with that, because it’s a refuge that is indestructible. It’s not something that changes. It’s a refuge you can trust in. This refuge is not something that you create. It’s not a creation. It’s not an ideal. It’s very practical and very simple, but easily overlooked or not noticed. When you’re mindful, you’re beginning to notice, it’s like this. For Free Distrubution Publications from Amaravati are for free distribution. In most cases, this is made possible by individuals or groups making donations specifically for the publication of Buddhist teachings, to be made freely available to the public. Amaravati Publications Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Great Gaddesden Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 3BZ England ISBN 1 870205 17 0 © Amaravati Publications 2004 www.amaravati.org www.forestsangha.org www.dhammatalks.org -
Buddhist Revivalist Movements Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement Buddhist Revivalist Movements Alan Robert Lopez Buddhist Revivalist Movements
Alan Robert Lopez Buddhist Revivalist Movements Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement Buddhist Revivalist Movements Alan Robert Lopez Buddhist Revivalist Movements Comparing Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Movement Alan Robert Lopez Chiang Mai , Thailand ISBN 978-1-137-54349-3 ISBN 978-1-137-54086-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-54086-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956808 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image © Nickolay Khoroshkov / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. -
The Way It Is
The way it is By Ajahn Sumedho 1 Ajahn Sumedho 2 Venerable Ajahn Sumedho is a bhikkhu of the Theravada school of Buddhism, a tradition that prevails in Sri Lanka and S.E. Asia. In this last century, its clear and practical teachings have been well received in the West as a source of understanding and peace that stands up to the rigorous test of our current age. Ajahn Sumedho is himself a Westerner having been born in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1934. He left the States in 1964 and took bhikkhu ordination in Nong Khai, N.E. Thailand in 1967. Soon after this he went to stay with Venerable Ajahn Chah, a Thai meditation master who lived in a forest monastery known as Wat Nong Pah Pong in Ubon Province. Ajahn Chah’s monasteries were renowned for their austerity and emphasis on a simple direct approach to Dhamma practice, and Ajahn Sumedho eventually stayed for ten years in this environment before being invited to take up residence in London by the English Sangha Trust with three other of Ajahn Chah’s Western disciples. The aim of the English Sangha Trust was to establish the proper conditions for the training of bhikkhus in the West. Their London base, the Hampstead Buddhist Vihara, provided a reasonable starting point but the advantages of a more gentle rural environment inclined the Sangha to establishing a forest monastery in Britain. This aim was achieved in 1979, with the acquisition of a ruined house in West Sussex subsequently known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery or Cittaviveka. -
Dependent Origination: Seeing the Dharma
Dependent Origination: Seeing the Dharma Week Six: Interconnectedness and Interpenetration Experiential Homework Possibilities The experiential homework is essentially the first exercise we practiced in class involving looking for the boundary between oneself and other than self while experiencing seeing. This is the exercise my dissertation subjects were given for my data collection portion of my dissertation research. It relates directly to the transition from the link of nama-rupa to the link of vinnana, and then sankhara, that I spoke about in my talk this week. Just so that you can begin to have some experiential relationship to my research before I present my dissertation in our last session in two weeks, I’m including the exact instructions as they were given to my participants as well as the daily journal questionnaire they were asked to fill out. Exercises like these are meant not as onetime exercises but for repeated application. Your experience of them will often change and deepen if they are applied regularly over an extended period of time. My subjects used this exercise as part of their daily meditation practice for 15 minutes a day over a period of 10 days. Each day they filled out the questionnaire, their answers to which then became a significant part of my data. See below. Suggested Reading “Subtle Energy” This reading is a selection of excerpts from my dissertation Literature Review regarding the topic of subtle energy. See below. Transcendental Dependent Origination by Bhikkhu Bodhi. This is a sutta selection translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi with his commentary. While the ordinary form of Dependent Origination describes the causes and conditions that lead to suffering, in this version, the Buddha also enumerates the chain of causes and conditions that lead to the end of suffering. -
The Stillness of Being
THE STILLNESS OF BEING VIRADHAMMO BHIKKHU This book has been printed for free distribution. sabbadanam dhammadanam jinati The gift of Dhamma surpasses all other gifts. Copyright © Viradhammo Bhikkhu 2005 All commercial rights reserved. This book may be copied or reprinted for free distribution without permission from the publisher. An online version may be viewed at: www.buddhamind.info/stillness/ Inquiries concerning this book can be sent from this site. The concept of this book was originally developed by the lay sangha in New Zealand to commemorate Ajahn Viradhammo’s thirty years as a monk. Many people in New Zealand and Canada have given generously, both of time and money, to make this publication possible. May their kind generosity bring them happiness and freedom. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction 5 So What 17 Bringing the Teachings Alive 29 Trying to Find a Sweet One 43 Affectionate Living 51 Dhamma and Family Life 67 The End of Rebirth 79 Acceptance and Responsibility INTRODUCTION Welcome! For those of you who don’t know him, what you have in your hands is an introduction, a sampling of teachings from Ajahn Viradhammo. For those of you who do, I’m sure it will be a pleasure to be reminded of “Ajahn V” and to have a collection of his talks that you can carry around and dip into from time to time. I’ll let the teachings speak for themselves. My part in this is just to offer a brief introduction to a good Dhamma friend. I met Ajahn V. in 1978, when I came over to England from Thailand. -
Small Boat, Great Mountain
small boat, great mountain AMARO BHIKKHU Theravadanµ Reflections on The Natural Great Perfection May whatever goodness that arises from reading these pages be dedicated to the welfare of Patricia Horner, my greatly beloved mother. In kindness and unselfishness unsurpassed, she showed me the beauty of the world in her endlessly caring and generous heart. Small Boat, Great Mountain small boat, great mountain Therava-dan Reflections on the Natural Great Perfection AMARO BHIKKHU ABHAYAGIRI MONASTERY Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery 16201 Tomki Road Redwood Valley, CA 95470 www.abhayagiri.org 707-485-1630 © 2003 Abhayagiri Monastic Foundation Copyright is reserved only when reprinting for sale. Permission to reprint for free distribution is hereby given as long as no changes are made to the original. Printed in the United States of America First edition 12345/ 07 06 05 04 03 This book has been sponsored for free distribution. Front cover painting by Ajahn Jitindriyaµ Brush drawings by Ajahn Amaro Cover and text design by Margery Cantor isbn 0-9620640-6-8 Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddhassaµ Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddhassaµ Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammasambuddhassaµ Contents Foreword by Ven. Tsoknyi Rinpoche ix Preface by Guy Armstrong xi Acknowledgements xvii Abbreviations xix essence of mind one Ultimate and Conventional Reality 3 two The Place of Nonabiding 15 being buddha three The View from the Forest 35 four Cessation of Consciousness 55 five Immanent and Transcendent 73 who are you? six No Buddha Elsewhere 97 seven Off the Wheel 121 eight The Portable Retreat 147 Selected Chants 159 Glossary 171 Index 179 Foreword A jahn amaro is a true follower of the Buddha and holder of the teaching lineage of the Theravaµda tradition. -
An Introduction to the Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah
An Introduction to the Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION AJAHN AMARO L&T of AjChah-Cover.indd 1 09/05/2012 11:12 L&T AjChah.indb 1 28/04/2012 12:37 L&T AjChah.indb 2 28/04/2012 12:37 Sometimes there’s thunder and there’s no rain; sometimes there’s rain and there’s no thunder. L&T AjChah.indb 3 28/04/2012 12:37 L&T AjChah.indb 4 28/04/2012 12:37 An Introduction to the Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah AJAHN AMARO L&T AjChah.indb 5 28/04/2012 12:37 L&T AjChah.indb 6 28/04/2012 12:37 An Introduction to the Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah AJAHN AMARO Adapted from: The Introduction to Food for the Heart, Wisdom Publications, 2002. and The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, Aruna Publications, 2011. Amaravati Publications, 2011. L&T AjChah.indb 7 28/04/2012 12:37 An Introduction to the Life and teachings of Ajahn Chah by Ajahn Amaro Produced by Aruna Publications, Northumberland, UK. Published by: Amaravati Publications, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP1 3BZ, UK Contact: [email protected] www.amaravati.org This book is available for free download at www.forestsanghapublications.org ISBN: 978-1-870205-43-6 Copyright 2012 © Amaravati Publications Cover drawing by Gerald Rollason, 1979 If you are interested in translating this text into another language, contact us for formatting guidelines, text material, and help with copyright issues. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. -
The Teachings of Ajahn Chah a Collection of Ajahn Chah’S Dhamma Talks
The Teachings of Ajahn Chah A collection of Ajahn Chah’s Dhamma talks Copyright 2007, The Sangha, Wat Nong Pah Pong. For free distribution “It is the spirit of dana¯ , freely offered generosity, which has kept the entire Buddhist tradi- tion alive for more than 2,500 years.” Sabbadana¯ m˙ dhammadana ¯ m˙ jinati¯ ‘The gift of Dhamma excels all gifts’ This computer edition of ‘The Teachings of Ajahn Chah’ may be freely copied and redis- tributed electronically, provided that the file contents (including this agreement) are not altered in any way and that it is distributed at no cost to the recipient. You may make printed copies of this work for your personal use; further distribution of printed copies requires permission from the copyright holder. Permission to reprint this book for free distribution may be obtained upon notification. Any reproduction (in whole or part, in any form) for sale, profit or material gain is prohibited. The Abbot Wat Nong Pah Pong Tambon Non Peung Ampher Warin Chamrab Ubon Rachathani 34190 Thailand website: www.watnongpahpong.org This edition: 4.3 - june 2007. A pdf, html and lit version are available for download at www.ajahnchah.org. Future editions will include new translations of Ajahn Chah’s Dhamma talks, if available. Preface HE FOLLOWING DHAMMA BOOKS of Ajahn Chah have been in- T cluded in this collection of Ajahn Chah’s Dhamma talks: • Bodhinyana (1982) • A Taste of Freedom (fifth impression – 2002) • Living Dhamma (1992) • Food for the Heart (1992) • The Path to Peace (1996) • Clarity of Insight (2000) • Unshakeable Peace (2003) • Everything is Teaching Us (2004) The formatting used in these books varies, so some changes were nec- essary to make the formatting more uniform. -
S a N T a C I T T a R a M A
S a n t a c i t t a r a m a T h e f i r s t t h i r t y y e a r s SANTACITTĀRĀMA The First Thirty Years COLOPHON 2 Contents Contents 3 Preface 4 Prologue 7 The beginnings 9 Settling in 13 Consolidating the foundations 17 New plans 23 Changes 27 Patient perseverance 33 The heart in the right place 37 Mother and father of Santacittārāma 45 Development plans 49 New Buddha image 57 Standing Buddha 61 Preceptor appointments 63 Santaloka, mountain hermitage 67 Temple project 73 Adjoining property 77 Gratitude 94 Preface This book is o��ered in appreciation to all those who have have been left out. Hopefully, however, it will convey some contributed in some way to the existence and development sense of how this monastery developed, not from compul‐ of Santacittarama, the rst monastery of the ancient sion or proselytism, but as a owering of faith, generosity Theravada tradition in Italy. Santacittarama, which can be and dedication in the hearts and actions of many friends translated as "The Garden of the Peaceful Heart", was and supporters. During these years there were times when founded in 1990 in order to meet the existing interest it all seemed impossible, but with perseverance, patience among Italian Buddhists as well as the Asian immigrant and goodwill all obstacles were gradually overcome. community. In a way, the fruition of this unfolding is symbolized by a In terms of a human life span, thirty years may seem like a magnicent temple, which this book is also intended to very long time and yet, compared with the 2,600 years celebrate. -
PACIFIC WORLD Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies
PACIFIC WORLD Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies Third Series Number 13 Fall 2011 SPECIAL SECTION: Recent Research on Esoteric Buddhism TITLE iii Forest as Challenge, Forest as Healer: Reinterpretations and Hybridity within the Forest Tradition of Thailand Brooke Schedneck PhD Candidate, Arizona State University The forest has held an ambiguous and ambivalent place in Buddhist history. It is featured prominently in major moments of the Buddha’s life story as the place of his birth, enlightenment, and death. It is also perceived as a place of fear, resistance, escape, sickness, spirits, danger, and temptation. In contrast to these negative attributes, the forest has been described as a place to encounter nature free from distractions; it embodies solitude, peace, and tranquility. How can one resolve these differing notions? Why does this ambivalence exist? How have all of these meanings changed over time? This essay looks at the rhetoric of the forest in Buddhist thought by tracing the ambivalent attitudes of the forest within the Pāli canon, to meanings of the forest as described in popular Thai forest biographies, and finally to contemporary Buddhist writings, both from Thailand and Western countries. The Pāli canon suggests the best place to prac- tice is the natural world; it is isolating and challenging at first but soon can help transform the mind. The forest tradition of Thailand depicts the forest as more than just isolating, but rather dangerous and fearful. In contemporary times there is hardly any trace of the forest as a fear- ful place because it is instead depicted as sacred, and there is a feeling of merging with the natural world that aids awakening. -
Larry Rosenberg: Early Pioneer of Buddhism in the West
The Wisdom Podcast Presents Larry Rosenberg: Early Pioneer of Buddhism in the West TRANSCRIPT Larry Rosenberg: I would say that my interest in what I now know as Dharma -- I didn't have that language -- began with World War II, because I'm old enough (going to be 87) to have been alive when World War II was going on and then the whole Nazi debacle and etc. But just the war in the Asia and so forth. I spent two years in the infantry in Germany, in the occupation of Germany right after the war. So I saw what a war does to a country and I didn't get there by accident. My aunt worked for a general and we engineered my travel plans where I'd be stationed from basic training, because originally I was supposed to go to Washington DC. I wanted to go to Germany. That was the main reason I allowed myself to be drafted because I could not understand how could this have happened, what was going on there. The reason it has relationship to Dharma is that once I got there and I saw the concentration camps and spoke to Germans and saw even with the Germans being Jewish, I had an emotional bias of course. But once I got there and I just saw that, you know, we're all just people and they were just, however that happened, this nightmare did happen. Humans seem to have this ability to be able to be diluted. But in the military I learned about nonviolence because I was good at basic training.