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Spontaneous is the antonym of ingrained. The opposite of conditioned. Of manipulated. Spontaneous leaves nothing standing of what the dhammanuvatti [1] perceives in his delusion as ‘fixed’. Spontaneous is space: shapeless, nameless, timeless, without dimension, unsullied. Without a past, without a future, without desire, without revulsion, without attachment. The fullness of the present. Of the […]
Now please pay attention, not allowing your mind to wander off after other things. Create the feeling that right now you are sitting on a mountain or in a forest somewhere, all by yourself. What do you have sitting here right now? There are body and mind, that’s all, only these two things. All that […]
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Gaya, at Gaya’s Head, together with a thousand bhikkhus. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what, bhikkhus, is the all that is burning? The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever feeling […]
The life of the Buddha has been described extensively and with a great deal of devotion in the suttas. Siddhartha’s odyssey comes down to this: he was born in the 5th century B.C. in Lumbini, an unsightly village in the Terai plain of Nepal, at the foot of the Himalayas. He spent the first 29 […]
Practicing mindfulness means keeping something in mind. Practicing right mindfulness means keeping in mind two activities that we’ll be doing here as we meditate. One is being with the breath. The Buddha calls this keeping track of the body in and of itself. In other words, you don’t think about your body in the context […]
We often come to the meditation to gain a sense of peace and calm, to find some rest. And it is important that we gain these things from the meditation: We learn how to breathe in a way that calms the body, calms the mind; we think in ways that calm the body, calm the […]
When the Buddha lists the factors for awakening, equanimity comes at the end of the list, which gives the impression that it’s the highest of the list. And in one way it is, but in many ways it’s not. It’s listed as one of the factors that’s useful on some occasions. When the mind is […]
Focus your attention right here. The mind will be creating other “heres” to carry you away from right here. But you don’t have to go with them. Ajaan Lee’s image is of a post at the edge of the sea. The sea rises, but the post doesn’t rise with the sea. The sea ebbs away, […]
As we meditate, we try to bring the mind to a state of calm. But you notice, if you look at the Buddha’s explanations for the factors for awakening, there are times when calm is appropriate and times when it’s not. The fact that there are times when it’s not doesn’t mean that you’re not […]
Take a few deep, long in-and-out breaths and think of the breath energy filling the body. When we talk of the breath energy being full, it’s not a matter of having your lungs stuffed with air. It’s more that the energy channels throughout the body are open and they feel saturated with comfortable energy. So […]
The Buddha says that three factors of the path hover around all the other factors. There’s right view, which helps you to know what’s, say, right speech or wrong speech, right action or wrong action, right mindfulness or wrong mindfulness. Then there’s right mindfulness, which keeps in mind the fact that you want to develop […]
We all come to the practice with doubts and questions. But we don’t get past our doubts by not asking questions. We do it by learning how to ask the right questions. There’s a passage where the Buddha talks about how to overcome doubt. He says it’s by paying appropriate attention to the qualities of […]
When the Buddha lists the factors for awakening, he says that there are some that are appropriate when the mind is sluggish. Those factors are analysis of qualities, rapture, and persistence: the qualities that energize the mind. Then there are qualities appropriate when the mind is overly excited, overly energetic: calm, equanimity, and concentration. Those […]
Several years back, I was asked to give a talk on the factors for awakening: mindfulness, analysis of qualities, persistence, rapture, calm, concentration, and equanimity. And it turned out that the people who’d organized the event had asked for that topic under the impression that the factors for awakening were a description of the awakened […]
These are some pictures of Ahba from old. They are slides made in Myanmar around 1978, taken by Jaap and Maria Guijt. You can see pictures of Ahba in his monastery in Yangon, an inauguration of land in the monastery, a dhamma-talk by Ahba and some general pictures with Buddhist content of Myanmar from that […]
Every month more than two thousand people visit our website, including many returning visitors. We are touched by the donations and positive reactions we have received from lay people in the Netherlands and abroad, but to our surprise also from monks and nuns from Germany to Sri Lanka and Myanmar. It is also always special […]
Below is a selection of texts from the Nikāyas (ancient Buddhist scriptures) on samatha (calmness) and vipassanā (insight) chosen by Bhikkhu Bodhi as an introduction to these two variations of Buddhist meditation, with here and there his own commentary. 1. The Three Stages (Dīgha Nikāya 16) And the Blessed One often taught the bhikkhus thus: […]
These videos by Bhikkhu Bodhi include a short introductory course to Buddhism. The course took place in the summer of 2018 at Woo Ju Memorial Library, sponsored by The Buddhist Association of the United States and shared by Chuang Yen Monastery. It is a course for which included reading material. This material is linked to […]
One of the hardest things for meditation practitioners, whether just starting out or quite experienced, is to have the discipline to meditate every day. Yet it is precisely meditating every day that is crucial. By meditating every day you keep the fire burning and slowly but surely develop your mind. Every time you skip one […]
At the invitation of Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Nyanadhammo (also in this video) Ahba has blessed the relics of the new hall in Wat Ratanawan in 2012. Earlier we posted a video of Ahba’s paritta chant during this occasion. In this video ‘iti pi so‘ is chanted 38x and you can see how the relics […]
In 2012 Bhikkhu Bodhi taught the Abhidhamma at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center for the Dedicated Practitioners Program. Listen here to these valuable lessons from one of the most respected western monks. The above audio files are from Dhamma Seed.
A short dhamma-talk from Ahba about the importance of sati (mindfulness) and samadhi (concentration) to protect the mind and develop wisdom. After Abha has given his dhamma-talk it is translated into English by Tan Ajahn Moshe. LP Opart – How to Look after our Mind (Thai & English)Watch this video on YouTube
Today the practice of insight meditation has gained global popularity, yet in achieving this success it has undergone a subtle metamorphosis. Rather than being taught as an integral part of the Buddhist path, it is now often presented as a secular discipline whose fruits pertain more to life within the world than to supramundane release. […]
Prior to the group meditation, and for those who wish to do so prior to the meditation at home, we chant ‘iti pi so’. In this chant you reflect on the qualities of the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. For everyone who likes to make this chant a part of their […]
In this issue of the newsletter we have combined the feature essay with the “Sutta Study” column as we take a fresh look at an often quoted discourse of the Buddha, the Kalama Sutta. The discourse has been described as “the Buddha’s Charter of Free Inquiry,” and though the discourse certainly does counter the decrees of […]
I heard thus. Once the Blessed One, while wandering in the Kosala country with a large community of bhikkhus, entered a town of the Kalama people called Kesaputta. The Kalamas who were inhabitants of Kesaputta: “Reverend Gotama, the monk, the son of the Sakyans, has, while wandering in the Kosala country, entered Kesaputta. The good […]
The arahant ideal and the bodhisattva ideal are often considered the respective guiding ideals of Theravāda Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism. This assumption is not entirely correct, for the Theravāda tradition has absorbed the bodhisattva ideal into its framework and thus recognizes the validity of both arahantship and Buddhahood as objects of aspiration. It would therefore […]
Samatha meditation on buddho is a form of buddhānussati, meditation focused on the qualities of the Buddha. In this method, the meditation object (the object you focus on) is initially the sound of the mantra buddho, pronounced as ‘bodaw’. Later, when the concentration is high, you can switch to the mental recitation of buddho and then, for […]
Anicca vata sankhara — “Impermanent, alas, are all formations!” — is the phrase used in Theravada Buddhist lands to announce the death of a loved one, but I have not quoted this line here in order to begin an obituary. I do so simply to introduce the subject of this essay, which is the word sankhara itself. Sometimes […]
A year ago, Ahba announced the construction of a new Uposatha Hall. This hall would be entirely built in Burmese style, with a central Buddha statue in the style of the famous Mahamuni Buddha from Mandalay. What made this announcement very special is that Ahba indicated that the temple would be finished in just one […]
At home through an app, at your yoga class or at work, mindfulness ‘without Buddhism‘ can be found everywhere these days. Usually it is taught as a form of meditation by people who have followed an appropriate teachers course. Sometimes there remains a vague notion where mindfulness originally comes from, sometimes the source is simply […]
When I first went to study with my teacher, Ajaan Fuang, he handed me a small booklet of meditation instructions and sent me up the hill behind the monastery to meditate. The booklet—written by his teacher, Ajaan Lee—began with a breath meditation technique and concluded with a section showing how the technique was used to […]
In this video Ahba talks briefly about meditation. He emphasizes the importance of daily practice, limiting yourself to one meditation system and keeping the intention focused on the Buddha, in order to slowly develop concentration. The message is of clean simplicity and is intended to give everyone in the Netherlands the opportunity to see Ahba […]
A Talk to an aging lay disciple approaching death translated from the Thai by the Sangha at Wat Pah Nanachat: Now determine in your mind to listen with respect to the Dhamma. During the time that I am speaking, be as attentive to my words as if it was the Lord Buddha himself sitting in […]
The word “retreat” means as much as “withdrawing yourself” and, in a narrower sense in this context, withdrawing yourself from everyday life for spiritual or religious self-examination. Nowadays you can do all kinds of retreats, at home and abroad. Yoga retreats, Christian retreats, Zen retreats, vipassanā retreats and so on. They are retreats because in […]
Newcomers to Buddhism often ask whether a person’s lifestyle has any special bearing on their ability to progress along the Buddha’s path, and in particular whether the Buddha had a compelling reason for establishing a monastic order governed by guidelines quite different from those that hold sway over the lay Buddhist community. Doesn’t it seem, […]
Today, in both East and West, a general breakdown of law and order has planted in us an implacable sense of uneasiness that creeps up on us on the streets, in our workplace, and even in our homes. The rising number of drug addicts, the increase in petty crime, the decline of respect for others […]
While the present book was in preparation, its author, the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma, passed away at the age of 78. Thus, unexpectedly — as death so often comes — this publication has turned out to be a memorial issue in honor of one of the outstanding contemporary teachers of Theravada Buddhism, especially in […]
When it comes to practicing samatha meditation on buddho, Ahba regularly speaks about the series saddhā , viriya , sati , samādhi , paññā and overarching khanti and mettā . If you don’t immediately know what these terms mean than don’t worry, just keep on reading. Saddhā Saddhā means as much as confidence, faith or […]
One of the most challenging issues facing Theravada Buddhism in recent years has been the encounter between classical Theravada vipassana meditation and the “non-dualistic” contemplative traditions best represented by Advaita Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism. Responses to this encounter have spanned the extremes, ranging from vehement confrontation all the way to attempts at synthesis and hybridization. […]
Those who like it can study the Abhidhamma as an addition to the meditation. The prefix ‘abhi‘ means ‘transcending’ or ‘higher’; in this case the word ‘dhamma‘ has the meaning of ‘truth or teaching’. So together the approximate meaning is ‘higher teaching’. Bhikkhu Bodhi writes in his translation of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha (a summary of […]
Two thousand five hundred years ago, Siddharta Gautama penetrated reality under the Bodhi tree in present day northern India and became a Buddha, an ‘awakend’ or ‘enlightend’ one. Through his deep insight into reality he destroyed his desire, hatred and ignorance, the chains that bound him to the round of rebirth (samsāra), and thus freed […]
The Buddha advised five moral precepts (pañca-sīla) for the development of morality (sīla). The first of these precepts is ‘abstaining from killing’. How does Buddhism then look at eating meat? And was the Buddha vegetarian? In Theravāda Buddhism the Sangha (the monastic order) lives on alms. It is considered very beneficial to provide the Sangha […]
Buddhism is about liberating the mind. To accomplish this, the Buddha taught his path of morality (sīla), concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā). These three trainings support and strengthen each other. It is through paññā that the practitioner eventually realizes from his or her own experience that everything in this world is changeable, unsatisfactory and without […]
Anyone who meditates daily, year after year, anyone who regularly does long retreats, knows that a meditation teacher is indispensable. Intensive meditation reveals the deepest caves of your mind. Sometimes slowly and surely, sometimes like a hatch that suddenly opens and simply overwhelms you. All sorts of things surface and often those things are also […]
In general terms, Right Concentration means establishing the mind rightly. On one level, this can apply to all the factors of the path. You have to start out by setting the mind on Right View. In other words, you use your discernment to gather together all the Dhamma you’ve heard. Then when you set the […]
Meditation is not a fast process. It is important to continue to make patient efforts without desiring anything. The Buddha once gave the example (in SN 22.101) of a carpenter who does not know, cannot perceive that the handle of his ax is wearing out day after day. He only knows that his ax is […]
When the Buddha talks about meditation in the suttas (sutras), he almost always talks about samādhi. Even minfdulness (sati) is often taught by the Buddha as being part of samādhi. The word samādhi has many nuances. The essence of samādhi is to bring together all aspects of the mind and focus them one-pointedly on the […]
The Buddha taught with great regularity that concentration (samādhi) is a cornerstone of the path to liberation from suffering. On this path, sooner or later, you will encounter the five hindrances (pañca nīvaraṇāni) that prevent the development of concentration: Sensory desire (kāmacchanda) Aversion (vyāpāda) Sloth and torpor (thīna-middha) Restlessness and Remorse (uddhacca-kukkucca) Doubt (vicikicchā) These […]
Sexual abuse plays a role in an unacceptably high percentage of the member organizations of the Buddhist Union of the Netherlands (BUN). This concerns abuse committed by teachers in the Netherlands or highly placed teachers who belong to organizations active in the Netherlands. We emphatically distance ourselves from these Buddhist teachers and our compassion goes […]
In the West, we live in a time of unparalleled material prosperity, rellative world peace (never before has there been as little war as today), security, freedom of speech, freedom of choice with regard to religion, spirituality, sexuality, and access to education and health care, to name but a few things. And yet… Look into […]
Mālā is the Sanskritword for chain or necklace. Specifically, it refers to the beaded necklace that is often used during meditation. The moment man began to use the beaded necklace for meditation is not certain. The oldest image of a beaded necklace in a religious context comes from ancient Greece (around 1700 BC). However, its […]
Since the death of the Buddha in present day India in the 5th B.C., Buddhism has spread around the world. It is not surprising that it has changed over time by coming into contact with all kinds of peoples and cultures. As the Buddha teaches, everything is subject to change. As a philosophy, religion, spiritualpath […]
You started meditating, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s a way to relax a bit more, to let go of stress, or to make suffering that you have experienced more bearable. Maybe the meditation is driven by the feeling that there is more we can access, or it is part of an investigation of reality. It […]
The Pali word metta is a multi-significant term meaning loving-kindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness and non-violence. The Pali commentators define metta as the strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others (parahita-parasukha-kamana). Essentially metta is an altruistic attitude of love and friendliness as distinguished from mere amiability based on self-interest. Through metta one refuses to […]
If you start with samatha meditation on ‘buddho’, or any other meditation object, it may well be that after a short time you notice that it is quite difficult to keep up the practice. There are so many other things that demand attention, it’s so tempting to do something else. Here are seven practical tips […]
In this Dhamma talk Ahba answers some questions asked by two Dutch disciples during their visit to his monastery. We realize that Ahba can be difficult to understand for people who do not know him, and that the greatest power of his words is in the energy he conveys while he speaks. Nevertheless, we want […]
The Buddha repeatedly discouraged any excessive veneration paid to him personally. He knew that an excess of purely emotional devotion can obstruct or disturb the development of a balanced character, and thus may become a serious obstacle to progress on the path to deliverance. The history of religion has since proved him right, as illustrated […]
There are two ways to support Buddhism. One is known as āmisapūjā, supporting through material offerings. These are the four requisites of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. This is to support Buddhism by giving material offerings to the Sangha of monks and nuns, enabling them to live in reasonable comfort for the practice of Dhamma. This fosters the […]
One of the most delightful ways to receive instruction from Achaan Chah is to sit at his cottage and listen as he answers questions for the monks of the monastery and the constant stream of lay visitors. It is here that one can see the universality of this way of practice, for although on some […]
The new year is coming and many people are thinking about what they will do differently the coming year. This often results in intentions to refrain from certain things or to reduce them, for example losing weight, drinking less, not getting angry so often, etc. In good spirits they get going, quickly find out that […]
Words like citta (consciousness) or cetasika (mental factor) can be quite abstract (see also Ultimate Reality and Ethical Quality in the Abhidhamma). Your own experience is (I suppose) not a bunch of independent citta’s but the dynamic character of the cognitive process. Citta and cetasika come more to life when you look at the process […]
A short demonstration of the samatha meditation on the word buddho, as taught by Ahba (Luang por Opart). The volume and pitch used here are just an example, during your own meditation you can experiment with pitch, speed, volume and cadence. We strongly advise against practising this meditation technique without the guidance of an experienced […]
When you go to study meditation with any group or teacher who is experienced in a particular form of meditation, you should first make your heart confident that your teacher is fully experienced in that form of meditation, and be confident that the form of meditation he teaches is the right path for sure. At […]
According to the Mahāyāna-tradition, the Buddha has told the Shūraṅgama Sutta especially for Ananda, who at that time already was a Sotāpanna (a person who achieved steam entry). The Shūraṅgama Sutta is based on the Perfection of Wisdom Sutta in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutta) en de Perfection of Wisdom Sutta in Twentyfive Thousand […]
The Maha Bodh Chedi (also called Bodhgaya temple) is a 1:1 replica of the temple with the same name in Bodhgaya India, erected on the spot where the Buddha attained enlightenment. The opening ceremony was a big event in Thailand, many famous meditation masters and abbots visited the ceremony and paid homage to Ahba and […]
Ahba has indicated that chanting Pali is beneficial. The chanting of Pali texts that one does not know by heart can even promote concentration because one has to be very alert and can have nothing but the texts in one’s mind. Here are some short and extensive Pali recitations by the monks and novices of […]
This discourse is one of the masterpieces of the Pali canon. At heart, it is a comprehensive portrait of the Buddhist path of training, illustrating each stage of the training with vivid similes. This portrait is placed in juxtaposition to the Buddhist view of the teachings of rival philosophical teachers of the time, showing how […]
Here are images of the opening ceremony of the Dhammacakka-hall in Australia, in Ajahn Kalyano’s monastery. Ajahn Kalyano invited Ahba to oversee this ceremony. Ahba gave a paritta chant and Dhamma talk about generosity, the benefits of meditation and the importance of living harmoniously and attentively.
Ajahn Kalyano, himself a pupil of the famous meditation teacher Ajahn Anan, in the tradition of Ajahn Chah, invited Ahba to oversee the opening of the Dhammacakka hall of his monastery in Australia. In these audio fragments we first hear an introduction by Ajahn Kalyano himself, followed by Ahba’s paritta chant, a blessing in Pali, […]
In our day and age, the practice of going into the forest to meditate and follow the ascetic dhutanga practices began with Phra Ajaan Sao Kantasilo, the teacher of Phra Ajaan Mun and, by extension, Phra Ajaan Singh and Phra Ajaan Lee. Phra Ajaan Sao was inclined to be, not a preacher or a speaker, […]
In 2012 the ground in Ahba’s monastery was blessed for the construction of the Maha Bodhi Chedi (also called Bodhgaya Temple), a 1:1 replica of the temple in Bodhgaya where the Buddha attained enlightenment. In this short video the western monk Ajahn Kalyano is speaking, himself a pupil of the well-known meditation teacher Ajahn Anan. […]
At the invitation of Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Nyanadhammo (also pictured) Ahba gave his blessing by means of an extensive paritta chant (in Burmese style) during a ceremony in Wat Ratanawan in 2012. Ahba sings Pali, the language in which the ancient scriptures are written, and in the meantime sends mettā to the listeners present. […]
The second paragraph in the first chapter of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha by Acariya Anuruddha reads: “In the ultimate sense, the Abhidhamma speaks of four categories: mind (citta’s), mental factors (cetasikas), matter (rūpa) and Nirvana (Nibbāna).” The Four Ultimate Realities in the Abhidhamma Let’s take a closer look at these four categories. We begin with the […]
This short documentary, made in 1977, shows the daily life in the main monastery of Ajahn Chah, Wat Pah Pong in Ubon Rachathani, Thailand. The highlights of the film are inspirational short fragments of Ajahn Chah himself, in which he talks about life as a monk, Dhamma and meditation. We also get a glimpse of […]
Whether it’s about finding new (Buddhist) books, audiofiles of Dhamma-talks, translations of sutta’s, or discussions and questions on a forum, we highly recommend the following websites. For ordering Buddhist Books: Buddhist Publishing Society (BPS) – The BPS is a Sri Lanka based publishing house founded by Nyanaponika Mahathera. After his resignation Bhikkhu Bodhi was at […]
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