“But what makes these ‘experts’ preach their opinion and call it truth?” asked the inquirer. “Is it an inheritance of humankind to do this, or is it merely something they gain satisfaction from?”
“Apart from consciousness,” answered the Buddha, “no absolute truths exist. False reasoning declares one view to be true and another view wrong. It is delight in their dearly held opinions that makes them assert that anyone who disagrees is bound to come to a bad end. But no true seeker becomes embroiled in all this. Pass by peacefully and go a stainless way, free from theories, lusts and dogmas.”
- Majjhima Nikaya
Category Archives: Buddhist Wisdom
WEEKLY WISDOM 15/08/2011
Defilements are like a cat. If you feed it, it will keep coming around. Stop feeding it, and eventually it will not bother to come around anymore.
- Ajahn Chah, “Still Forest Pool”
WEEKLY WISDOM 08/08/2011
“Great Teacher,” said Upashiva, “when one is free from attachment and craving, when everything is let go and one depends on emptiness, will one be permanently in that state?”
“When you are free from craving for sense pleasures and when you are aware of emptiness, you are free in a supreme way and that will not change. It is like a flame struck by a gust of wind. In a flash the flame has gone out. Similarly, the person is suddenly free and no more words can be said. When all the ways of being a self are let go and when all phenomena are seen to be empty, then all the ways of describing this have also vanished.”
- Sutta Nipata
WEEKLY WISDOM 01/08/2011
Sakuladayi the Wanderer asked the Buddha: “What is the past and what is the future?”
“Let the past be,” answered the Buddha, “and forget the future. I will teach you that which is now.”
When this condition is, that condition comes to be,
With the arising of this, that arises,
When this is not here, that does not come into existence,
With the ceasing of this, that too ceases.- Majjhima Nikaya
WEEKLY WISDOM 25/07/2011
Though in thought we range throughout the world,
We’ll nowhere find a thing more dear than self.
So, since others hold the self so dear,
He who loves himself should injure none.
- Samyutta Nikaya
WEEKLY WISDOM 18/07/2011
Guard against anger
erupting in body;
in body, be restrained.
Having abandoned bodily misconduct,
live conducting yourself well in body.Guard against anger
erupting in speech;
in speech, be restrained.
Having abandoned verbal misconduct,
live conducting yourself well in speech.-Dhammapada [17]
WEEKLY WISDOM 11/07/2011
This body is not yours, nor does it belong to others. It should be seen as the product of the whole of history. In regard to it the wise person will reflect on the nature of conditioning, saying: If this comes into being, that will arise; if this does not come into being, that will not arise.
- Samyutta Nikaya
WEEKLY WISDOM 04/07/2011
A name is imposed on what is thought to be a thing or a state and this divides it from other things and other states. But when you pursue what lies behind the name, you find a greater and greater subtlety that has no divisions. Atoms of dust are not really atoms of dust but are merely called that. In the same way, a world is not a world but is merely called that.
- Visuddhi Magga
WEEKLY WISDOM 27/06/2011
One who stays focused on the beautiful,
is unrestrained with the senses,
knowing no moderation in food,
apathetic, unenergetic:
Mara overcomes him
as the wind, a weak tree.One who stays focused on the foul,
is restrained with regard to the senses,
knowing moderation in food,
full of conviction & energy:
Mara does not overcome him
as the wind, a mountain of rock.
- Dhammapada
WEEKLY WISDOM 20/06/2011
Right speech, harmlessness,
Restraint in speaking ill of others,
Moderation in food, at peace in remoteness and solitude,
Devotion to higher meditation.
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
- Dhammapada [185]