A second fundamental principle underlying our lives as samanas is that of contentment. We are taught to cultivate gratitude and appreciation for the robes, almsfood, lodgings and medicines that we receive, whatever their quality. We go against the worldly desire for the biggest, the finest and best. We’re willing to make do with second best or third best. We find we can be happy with the worst, th…

You don’t have to straighten out your thoughts. A thought comes up that’s not related to your object of meditation; you just let it go. You don’t have to figure out what it’s about or turn it into an intelligent thought, because the mind turns out a lot of random stuff. You have no need to keep track of everything. What you want to keep track of is the breath and that it’s not destroyed by the wor…

I say, friend, that where one is not born, does not age or die, or pass from one state to another, or arise again — that ‘world’s end’ is not to be known, seen or reached by travelling. Yet I say that there is no end of dukkha without reaching world’s end. Rather, it is in this fathom-long body, endowed with perception and mind, that I make known the world, the arising of the world, the cessation…

I would like to consider the application of these brahmaviharas. Buddhist practice is sometimes criticized as being ineffectual and quiescent—that basically the Buddha’s teaching is to sit in a quiet meditation room and placidly think thoughts of loving-kindness. But that’s not at all the Buddha’s teaching nor indeed his example. The cultivation of the brahmaviharas conditions action, as the inten…

(sent to Luang Por [Sumedho] from Thailand in June 2007) When the one who knows still listens Like a still jewel that glistens Turning the light of awareness back within It fills the present full to the brim With richest, silent meaning Past and future are no more Virtue steps to the fore And suckling turns to weaning For craving’s children They will try to drive us on Or pull us back Until we tak…

So learn how to gain some control over your feelings. Now this may sound strange. How can you control your feelings? Sometimes we have the sense that our feelings are who we really are and that they’re a given. But that’s not how the Buddha explains them. He says that in every feeling there’s an element of fabrication, i.e., an element of intention. This applies to physical feelings as well as to…

Monks, these two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one who is grateful for a kindness done and feels obligated to repay it. These two people are hard to find in the world. This reflection in the Pāli Canon is from “Hard to Find,” Dullabha Sutta AN 2:118, translated into English by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.

Another aspect that is really important is how we are a good friend to ourselves. Sometimes we are able to be good friends with others, but sometimes we may not be a good friend to ourselves. It may be that a friend makes a mistake or may have done something a bit foolish. We might say something, but it would rarely be harsh or overly critical. One would say something, but it would be out of care…

It is not easy to break through the illusion of being a separate self. We spend a lot of energy trying to fill the gap of loneliness with distractions and passions. We want to be fulfilled, to find meaning so as to lose that sense of loneliness because experiencing oneself as a separate entity in this vast universe is quite frightening. When I was very young, every time I looked at the stars at ni…

Rãgataçhã the defilement of sexual craving is comparable to a kitchen fire – both are necessary to establishing and maintaining a successful family. Marriage is necessarily a sexual partnership, while a kitchen fire is indispensable for preparing the family’s food. Just as heat and electricity are common requisites of human life, so too is rãgataçhã a fundamental aspect of human relations and the…