Free Buddhism ebook


My Way or The Middle Way
By Ajahn Amaro

Free download here:

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/28/MyWay20Jan22.pdf
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Free Buddhism ebook


My Way or The Middle Way
By Ajahn Amaro

The theme for this Dhamma talk is ‘My way or the Middle Way?’ As people might recognize, the title was borrowed from the famous Frank Sinatra song, written by Paul Anka, ‘My Way’, which is the supreme anthem of self-confidence:

Through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall, And did it my way!’

Confidence is definitely a part of the Buddhist path; having faith, having confidence and resolution, these are all aspects of it. But any of us who have spent much time in life trying to follow that voice of self-assurance, of, ‘Even though there is resistance and it is difficult, I’m just going to keep pushing. I will do it my way.’ Or when we are living in a community, or we are in a role of leadership, if we adopt the attitude of, ‘My way or the highway. Either you do it the way I want or you’re on your bike, you are kicked out’ – that leads to stress and difficulty and conflict. Reflecting on this theme, ‘My way or the Middle Way’, there are certainly beneficial aspects to the quality of self-confidence, self-assurance and resolution, but if that is out of balance, if that is wrapped up in self-view and selfcentred thinking, then necessarily the results are going to be painful. You might get what you want but then there might be a lot of wreckage as well, considerable damage created along the way. Probably most of us have had some situations in life where we have come to the conclusion, ‘Well, I got what I wanted, but was it really worth it?’ or ‘I didn’t realize it was going to be like this.’ Or ‘I thought this was going to make me happier. I got what I wanted but ugh!’

Free download here:

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/28/MyWay20Jan22.pdf
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Himedera Buddhist temple, more popular known as Himeji castle, Japan.

8. Appamàdaratà hotha
sacittam anurakkhatha
Duggà uddharath' attànam
païke sanno' va kuñjaro. 327.

AVOID THE EVIL WAY

8. Take delight in heedfulness. Guard your mind well. Draw yourselves out of the evil way as did the elephant sunk in the mire. 327.

Story

An elephant got stuck in the mud. The mahout appeared as if ready for battle and battle drums were also beaten. Soon the elephant exerted itself and extricated itself from the mud. This matter was reported to the Buddha and He advised the monks to exert themselves as did the elephant stuck in mud.
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Tibetan Buddhism - Vajrayana, Tantrayana and esoteric Buddhism channel:

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Big Buddha Vietnam, Kim Son Bao Thang Buddhist temple, Fansipan mountain, Sapa, Vietnam.

Piprahwa gems Buddha's relics, Siddharthnagar city, Lumbini, Uttar Pradesh, Bharat Ganarajya. The relics were stored in a stupa during Emperor Ashoka period c. 230 BCE with the inscription reads ...Sukiti-bhatinaṃ sabhaginikanam sa-puta-dalanam iyaṃ salila-nidhane Budhasa bhagavate sakiyanam "Relics of the Buddha Lord".

9. Sace labetha nipakam sahàyam
saddhim caram sàdhuvihàridhãram
Abhibhuyya sabbàni parissayàni
careyya ten' attamano satãmà. 328.
10. No ce labetha nipakam sahàyam
saddhim caram sàdhuvihàridhãram
Ràjà' va raññham vijitam pahàya
eko care màtaïgaraññ' eva nàgo. 329.
11. Ekassa caritam seyyo
natthi bàle sahàyatà
Eko care na ca pàpàni kayirà
appossukko màtaïgaraññ' eva nàgo. 330.

ASSOCIATE WITH THE WISE

9. If you get a prudent companion (who is fit) to live with you, who behaves well and is wise, you should live with him joyfully and mindfully, overcoming all dangers. 328.

WANDER ALONE IF THERE IS NO SUITABLE COMPANION

10. If you do not get a prudent companion who (is fit) to live with you, who behaves well and is wise, then like a king who leaves a conquered kingdom, you should live alone as an elephant does in the elephant forest. 329.

A SOLITARY CAREER IS BETTER

11. Better it is to live alone. There is no fellowship 3 with the ignorant. Let one live alone doing no evil, care-free, like an elephant in the elephant forest. 330.

Story

The Buddha on one occasion lived alone in a forest. Commenting on His solitary life, the Buddha uttered these verses.
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Uttararama Gal Viharaya, ancient city Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, the best rock carvings art of Sinhalese culture.

Free Buddhism ebook

Seeds of Dhamma
By Ajahn Sundara

A small booklet containing short texts drawn from various Dhamma talks given by Ajahn Sundara at Amaravati Buddhist monastery. This collection includes teachings offered to both lay and monastic communities at meditation retreats, as well as excerpts from articles written by Ajahn Sundara over the past two decades. Randomly chosen, these passages address themes and aspects of the Buddha’s practice for readers to contemplate from the perspective of their own experience.

Free download here:

https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1905-Seeds-of-Dhamma_Sundara.pdf
===

Free Buddhism ebook

Seeds of Dhamma
By Ajahn Sundara

A small booklet containing short texts drawn from various Dhamma talks given by Ajahn Sundara at Amaravati Buddhist monastery. This collection includes teachings offered to both lay and monastic communities at meditation retreats, as well as excerpts from articles written by Ajahn Sundara over the past two decades. Randomly chosen, these passages address themes and aspects of the Buddha’s practice for readers to contemplate from the perspective of their own experience.

Free download here:

https://www.lotuslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1905-Seeds-of-Dhamma_Sundara.pdf
===

12. Atthamhi jàtamhi sukhà sahàyà
tuññhã sukhà yà itarãtarena
Puññam sukham jãvitasaïkhayamhi
sabbassa dukkhassa sukham pahànam. 331.
13. Sukhà matteyyatà loke
atho petteyyatà sukhà
Sukhà sàmaññatà loke
atho brahmaññatà sukhà. 332.
14. Sukham yàva jarà sãlam
sukhà saddhà patiññhità
Sukho paññàya pañilàbho
pàpànam akarauam sukham. 333.

BLESSED ARE FRIENDS IN NEED

12. When need arises, pleasant (is it to have) friends. Pleasant is it to be content with just this and that. Pleasant is merit when life is at an end. Pleasant is the shunning of all ill. 331.

BLESSED IS MINISTERING UNTO PARENTS

13. Pleasant in this world is ministering to mother. 4 Ministering to father too is pleasant in this world. Pleasant is ministering to ascetics. Pleasant too is ministering to the Noble Ones. 5 332.

BLESSED ARE VIRTUE, FAITH AND WISDOM

14. Pleasant is virtue (continued) until old age. Pleasant is steadfast confidence. Pleasant is the attainment of wisdom. Pleasant is it to do no evil. 333.

Story

Màra, the Evil one, invited the Buddha to become a King. The Buddha remarked that He has nothing in common with him and mentioned the causes of happiness.
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Words of the Buddha channel:

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===

“Having ventured out from my day’s abiding
at Vulture’s Peak Mountain,
I saw an elephant going in and out
the river by the shore.

A man took a pole with a hook,
and said to him: ‘give me your foot.’
The elephant held out his foot,
and the man mounted him.

Once I saw the untamed tamed,
brought under human control,
from there I sought one-pointedness of mind—
This is why I went to the forest."

Thig 3.4 Dantikātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Dantikā

Free Buddha dharma ebook


The Secret of Happiness
By Ajahn Candasiri


Free download available:

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/28/Secret-of-Happiness-web.pdf
===

Free Buddha dharma ebook


The Secret of Happiness
By Ajahn Candasiri

The idea for the topic and title, ‘The Secret of Happiness’, came about after reflecting on my first meeting with Ajahn Sumedho in 1977, just a few weeks after his arrival in the UK. I had been very impressed by the sense of ease and joy that he seemed to carry with him. That, in itself, it was remarkable. What made it even more remarkable was what I had been told about the monks: that they followed an extremely exacting way of life and a discipline that required them to rise at 4.00 a.m. for meditation, and to eat only one meal a day before noon. They had no money, no entertainment, no sexual contact of any kind. The list of things they had given up was long – and yet… and yet… they seemed deeply happy and at ease.


Free download available:

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/28/Secret-of-Happiness-web.pdf
===

There Is No Other: The Way to Harmony and Wholeness by Ram Dass and edited by Parvati Markus.

An Invitation to Freedom

Meditation teacher Jack Kornfield on how to view our suffering as a gateway to liberation.
By Jack Kornfield

When I was first in Buddhist monasteries in Thailand and Burma, I was taught three keys to the basic nature of life: everything is anicca, all is impermanent; everything is dukkha, which means “unsatisfactory”; and everything is anatta, which means “selfless,” empty like a dream. They are gateways to liberation. If you can see these qualities, you see with the eyes of wisdom.

Dukkha means all things are insecure and uncertain; sometimes this is translated as “suffering.” All we have to do is turn on the news to see our human struggles with continuing wars, climate change, pandemics, and the scourge of racism to see dukkha. Aging, sickness, and death are dukkha. Grasping, clinging, and fear are dukkha. These are all inevitable parts of human incarnation, folks.

So when the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he saw beings everywhere wanting to be happy, yet often doing the very things that made them unhappy. The great heart of compassion arose in him and tears rolled down his cheeks. Seeing the suffering of the world, he began to shine his compassion in every direction. Let me help beings be free so that they can live with peaceful and loving hearts amidst it all.

He explained that there are three kinds of dukkha. There’s anicca, which is the dukkha of change—the unstoppable cycles of joy and sorrow, praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, fame and disrepute. We try to hold on to the pleasure and joy, but it doesn’t last. Of course, the good thing is that when things are terrible, they don’t last either. You can’t hold on.

The second kind of dukkha is the dukkha of physical and mental pain. We live in a culture that basically wants to sell you a prescription [or] a painkiller the moment you’re a little uncomfortable. Good luck. It doesn’t work that way. My friend, the surgeon general of the United States, said that more than half of what comes into the hospitals and clinics across America is really based on emotional pain and suffering. So this is the second kind of dukkha, physical and mental pain. You all know it because it’s part of incarnation. We all have it.

The third kind is called “samsara dukkha.” “Samsara” means the cycles of existence, the whole world of duality. Samsara dukkha is the nature of things. We have a globe and a world and a moon and a solar system and galaxies, all a play of duality; there’s light and dark, birth and death. There is unbearable beauty, amazing beauty, and an ocean of tears. Built into this human life are birth and death. Did you never see a man or a woman aged, bent down and walking with a cane, or sick and lying in bed? Did you never see a corpse after their life energy has passed from the body? Did the thought never happen to come to you, “Oh, this will happen to me too?”

How can you be so joyful? He said, “I am loving awareness. I love it all—the joy, the sorrow, the birth, the death, the spring, and the winter.”

When you really see anicca and dukkha deeply, this makes room for something new to be born. You begin to trust the process. The waves of life and the emotions come and there’s sadness and fear and gain and loss, and if you allow them all, letting them open in a spacious way, if you stay with it, it all passes and there you are, still the loving witness of it all. So anicca is the doorway to trust, and dukkha gives birth to compassion. Your grief becomes a doorway. They come together to make a courageous heart.

There’s a story of an old Hasidic rabbi who used to talk about the practice of prayer and meditation. He would say, “When you meditate, when you pray, when you offer your prayers, when you recite them, feel them and place them on your heart.” One day a student said, “Rabbi, why do you always use that strange phrase, ‘place them on your heart’? Shouldn’t we put them in our heart?” The rabbi got quiet and said, “It’s not us who can put them in the heart.

Our practice is to recite them and place them on the heart so that someday, when the heart breaks, they will fall in.” This is how grief and dukkha become the doorway to compassion.

You see a hungry child, a painful injustice, an act of violence to an innocent person and your heart goes out. You want to help. The profound reality of suffering is an invitation to step out of the fiction of separateness, grasping at what is called the “small sense of self” or the “body of fear,” where we are frightened or selfish or self-centered or cut off. This is not who we are. We know there is a reality beyond this. We feel it walking in the high mountains or making love or being there at the mystery of the birth of a child or the death of a human being. All of a sudden we step out of time-bound consciousness, the separateness, and feel ourselves part of the turning of the seasons of life. You can feel it on retreat. You’re doing walking meditation and all of a sudden you realize you’re not doing it. It’s all just doing it itself. It’s amazing. One of my teachers explained this as “No self, no problem.” More self, more clinging; more self-centered, more problem.

Accepting dukkha, anicca, and anatta, you can live in a timeless present.

I loved watching Ram Dass in the last years of his life. He was there in that wheelchair in a broken body where he couldn’t move one arm and one leg, where he had aphasia and he couldn’t really speak fluently. He grappled to find words. He had multiple infections and physical traumas and bedsores at times. Yet he was about the happiest person I’d ever been with. Really joyful amidst all the paralysis and aphasia. How can you be so joyful? He said, “I am loving awareness. I love it all—the joy, the sorrow, the birth, the death, the spring, and the winter.”

So when you understand that this is our incarnation, there comes a beautiful sense of freedom. The heart changes when we come to terms with dukkha and say, “Yes, that’s part of incarnation.” Loss and change and pain and suffering and gain and pleasure all are woven together. It becomes an invitation to freedom. It is here always, a joy that comes when we see with the eyes of wisdom and the great heart of compassion and trust. We can let go and become the loving awareness that holds it all.

Oh, nobly born, remember this teaching for now and forever. Your joy, your peace, your acceptance, your flexibility, your nonrigidity, your openness, even with your own foibles, like I with mine, all of those things finally held in the great heart of compassion.

Teach yourself peace. Pass it on.


Excerpted from There Is No Other: The Way to Harmony and Wholeness by Ram Dass and edited by Parvati Markus.
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Jack Kornfield was trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and India, and holds a PhD in clinical psychology. He is a psychotherapist and founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and the Spirit Rock Center. His books include Seeking the Heart of Wisdom and Still Forest Pool.
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Buddha dharma teachings channel:

https://t.me/lorddivinebuddha
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Chapter 24

Tanhà Vagga
Craving
(Text and Translation by Ven. Nàrada)



1. Manujassa pamattacàrino
tanhà vaddhati màluvà viya
So plavati huràhuram
phalam iccham'va vanasmim vànaro. 334.
2. Yam esà sahatã jammã
tauhà loke visattikà
Sokà tassa pavaddhanti
abhivaññham'va bãrauam. 335.
3. Yo c'etam sahatã jammim
tauham loke duraccayam
Sokà tamhà papatanti
udabindu'va pokkharà. 336.
4. Tam vo vadàmi bhaddam vo
yàvant' ettha samàgatà
Tauhàya mulam khanatha
usãrattho' va bãrauam
Mà vo naëam' va soto' va
màro bhañji punappunam. 337.

CRAVING ARISES IN THE NEGLIGENT

1. The craving 1 of the person addicted to careless living grows like a creeper. He jumps from life to life like a fruit-loving monkey in the forest. 334.

THOSE WHO CRAVE MULTIPLY THEIR SORROWS

2. Whomsoever in this world this base clinging thirst overcomes, his sorrows flourish like well-watered bãraua grass. 335.

THERE IS NO SORROW TO THE CRAVING-FREE

3. Whoso in the world overcomes this base unruly craving, from him sorrows fall away like water-drops from a lotus-leaf. 336.

CUT OFF CRAVING FROM THE ROOT

4. This I say to you: Good luck to you all who have assembled here! Dig up the root of craving like one in quest of bãraua's sweet root. Let not Màra 2 crush you again and again as a flood (crushes) a reed. 337.

Story

The Buddha uttered these verses with reference to an insolent monk, who though well-versed in the Dhamma, was full of craving and through pride used to disparage others.
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Big sitting bronze Sakyamuni Buddha, Fo Guang Shan Buddhist monastery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. One of the largest sitting Buddha statue in the world.