From a Buddhist perspective, anything to do with other people can be considered social action: how we relate to the individuals close to us such as family or neighbours, to society at large and to the world around us. The field of social action expands out, but it begins with ourselves and our relationships to others. The individual is at the core of all relationships between any parts of society.…

The world is in a very feverish state. The mind changes from like to dislike with the feverishness of the world. If we can learn to make the mind still, it will be the greatest help to the world. This reflection by Ajahn Chah is from the book, No Ajahn Chah, (pdf) p. 40.

Doesn’t the teaching on kamma teach people to be callous toward the sufferings of others? No. Knowing that you have both good and bad seeds in your field that haven’t yet matured, the teaching on kamma teaches you to ask this question instead: What’s the wisest way to view other people whose bad seeds are currently sprouting? And the answer is: with compassion. Is your compassion so rarified that…

Sometimes it’s good to bear in mind how our uncertainties or fears compare to what other people have to go through. At times, this can help us to gain a perspective on our own situation. Nevertheless, we’re still affected by what we’re feeling… So when we have a life circumstance that brings up uncertainty or fear, the key thing is to practice with that mind-state. We can learn to bring awareness…

It is hard to think of fighting the forces of greed, hatred and delusion ‘out there’ when they are very much within us. We march for peace and attend rallies and vigils but true peace in the world must begin with personal disarmament. It is an interior work that each of us can nurture through moral vigilance and spiritual discipleship and its hiddenness does not make it any less powerful. We can s…

There are a lot of things you could focus on right now, so focus on something that’s good, that brings the mind a sense of peace and well-being. Just pay careful attention to what you’re doing right now and the effect that it’s having on the mind. One of the reasons why we meditate is to train the mind to realize how important it is where it chooses to focus its attention. As for things right now…

The first things we feel we don’t require so much are the sensual objects: fine clothes, entertainment, and sexual activity. When I first entered the monastery, it was easy to relinquish entertainment and relationships. I’d had enough of all that anyway, at least for the time being! But in the monastery one also has to give up one’s own time to following a routine, which is a testing thing. Giving…

Q: I’ve come to meditation to help me bear the atrocities of the world. What is awakening? Is it a moment of conscience when one embraces all the sorrows of the world, and in that case means hello to all sorrows or is it on the contrary a state of total forgetfulness and egotism, in that case it would be hello to guilt? So, which is it? A: Neither. Remember the image of feeding. Ordinarily, we fee…

Conditions all go their own natural way. Whether we laugh or cry over them, they just go their own way. And there is no knowledge of science which can prevent this natural course of things. You may get a dentist to look at your teeth, but even if they can fix them, they still finally go their natural way. Eventually even the dentist has the same trouble. Everything falls apart in the end. This ref…

We can take these next few minutes as a time to establish mindfulness and provide ourselves with a break. We can break the momentum of the mind, which so easily gets caught up in the process of becoming, especially when we have ongoing projects and duties to attend to. It can be so easy for the mind to obsess about unfinished tasks, keeping itself in a chaotic world. If we find ourselves stuck thi…