𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 & 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆

2600 Years old Staircase to Tavatimsa Heaven - History of Sankisa Sankasya (also Sankissa, Sankassa) is one of the ‘Eight Great Places’ (Ashtamahasthan, in the Pali canons) of the Buddhist pilgrimage. According to Buddhist literature, it was here that the Buddha performed the ‘miracle of descending from the heavens accompanied by Indra and Brahma’. Samuel Beal in his translated account of Fa Hian – Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist pilgrims, from China to India mentions that:

"As per legend, Bodhisattva Maitreya was born here in Sankassa as a millionaire named Siriwardhana at the period of the Buddha Gautama, and on this exact day, the day the Buddha descended from heaven Tavatimsa, Siriwardhana arrived to this area and was admitted to the Buddha’s dispensation here. "

Hiuen Thsang saw a 70-foot high staircase at the spot where the Buddha had descended from heaven. On the top of the stairs was a temple with a stone image of the Buddha that according to Fa Hian was 16 cubit (16 ft) tall. Close to the stairs was a 70 ft high Ashokan pillar, he wrote. Both Hwen Thsang and Fa Hien saw three ladders in the decaying shrine, which had been made of bricks and stone by the ancients to mark the Buddha’s descent, but the ladders were practically submerged in the ground. (James B Pratt, The Pilgrimage of Buddhism, 1928) Sankisa was rediscovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1842.

“In March 1876, I went there (to Sankisa) for the express purpose of searching for the remains of the great Asoka pillar, of which only the elephant capital now exists above ground,” - Cunningham (ASI, Vol XI).

Cultivation of Metta Whatever grounds for making merits there are associated with acquisitions, all of them do not amount to a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind by loving-kindness. Surpassing them by far, the liberation of mind by loving-kindness shines forth, radiates, and is brilliant. One who develops loving-kindness, boundless, and cultivated with mindfulness; their fetters become weak, and they see the wearing away of attachment. Even if one harbors no ill will towards a single being, and develops loving-kindness, that is wholesome; intent on compassion towards all beings, the noble one generates abundant merit. - ITI 27 Mettābhāvanā sutta

A Mind Free From Hatred Truly, we live happily, free from hatred among the hateful; among those who are hostile, we dwell free from hostility. Truly, we live happily, untroubled among the troubled; among those who are afflicted, we dwell free from affliction. Truly, we live happily, unworried among the restless; among those who are anxious, we dwell without anxious striving. Truly, we live happily, we who possess no impediments; we shall be nourished by joy, like the radiant gods. - Buddha, Dhammapada (Sukha Vagga) https://www.wordsofthebuddha.org/dhp197-208

Who burnt the Bodhi Tree at Bodhgaya? Historical accounts identify several figures and groups responsible for destroying or damaging the original Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, with the tree being replanted each time from surviving cuttings. King Shashanka: The ruler of Gauda (Bengal), is historically reputed to have cut down and damaged the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. Shashanka, a staunch Shaivite Hindu, persecuted Buddhists and ordered the destruction of the Bodhi tree where the Buddha attained enlightenment. King Pushyamitra Shunga: A ruler of the Shunga dynasty who destroyed the tree during his persecution of Buddhism in the 2nd century BCE. Bhaktiar Khalji: The tree has also been destroyed by various invaders, including Bhaktiar Khalji (1194 CE), and damaged by natural disasters like storms. Queen Tissarakkha: The wife of Emperor Ashoka, who ordered the original tree cut down around 254 BCE out of jealousy toward the king's devotion to Buddhism.  Restoring and replanting the Bodhi Tree The tree currently standing at the Mahabodhi Temple was planted in 1881 by British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham after the previous specimen died of old age. Cunningham sourced a cutting specifically from the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) to replant at the original enlightenment site in Bodh Gaya.  The Bodhi tree was propagated after each destruction primarily through vegetative cuttings taken from surviving predecessors, maintaining an unbroken genetic lineage.

How Meditation Slows Skin Aging, Reduces Wrinkles, & More In the Metta Sutta (AN 11.15) Buddha states 11 benefits of cultivating loving-kindness meditation, one of them is "One’s facial complexion becomes clear". Research by Elizabeth Hoge at Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that women who practiced Loving-Kindness Meditation had significantly longer telomeres than age-matched controls, suggesting a direct link between this specific practice and cellular longevity.  According to research meditation can help you look younger by slowing biological aging processes and improving physical appearance through stress reduction and cellular health. Meditation significantly lowers cortisol levels, a stress hormone that breaks down collagen and elastin, which are vital for maintaining skin elasticity and preventing wrinkles. Reference: https://shamathaproject.org/

The Power of Karma - Ajahn Thannisaro We tend to think of karma as something negative that comes from the past and cannot be changed, and that the present moment is totally shaped by our past actions—which sounds fatalistic. But actually, that’s not how the Buddha taught karma. As he said, if everything were determined by the past, there would be no path to the end of suffering. His actual explanation was that what you experience in the present moment is a combination of three things: the results of past karma, your present karma—the choices you’re making right now, which are not necessarily determined by the past—and then the results of your present actions. As the Buddha said, your present moment experience comes from the raw material coming in from the past, but your actual experience of the present moment requires that you shape that raw material with your intentions in the present moment. Those intentions are your present karma. The Buddha calls those intentions saṅkhāras, which we translate as fabrication. So even if some bad situations are presenting themselves because of your past karma, what you do with that raw material in the present moment will determine whether you suffer from that raw material or not. It’s like being a good cook. You open the refrigerator and there’s nothing but bad food in the refrigerator. But because you’re a good cook, you can still make good food out of it. The food in the refrigerator is your past bad karma; your skill as a cook is your present karma. One, the Buddha says, is that you try to develop your virtue. Two, you try to develop discernment. Three, you learn to train your mind so that it’s not easily overcome by pain or pleasure. This is basically what we learn in concentration practice. As the Buddha said, if you develop these skills, then even though you have some past bad karma, you don’t have to suffer from it. https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/PowerOfKarma/Section0004.html

Buddha's Statue found in Egypt / Alexandria The most significant evidence is the Berenike Buddha, a 71 cm (28 in) marble statue discovered in 2022 in the forecourt of a Temple of Isis. It is the first ancient Buddha image found west of Afghanistan, proving that Buddhist devotional practices occurred within Roman Egypt, not just among transient travelers. Dated to the 2nd century CE, it depicts the Buddha in a Gandharan style (Greco-Buddhist art) with a halo of sunrays and a lotus flower. The statue is made of Mediterranean marble (Parian or Anatolian), not Indian stone.  This proves that artisans in Alexandria possessed the technical knowledge and iconographic familiarity to sculpt the Buddha in the Gandharan style for a local or regional patron. The existence of such a workshop implies a resident community of Indian Buddhists in Alexandria wealthy enough to commission religious art, or at least a high demand for such objects among the Indian diaspora passing through the city.

What is Nirvana? Buddha describes the state of Nirvana as a transcendent dimension, as the highest bliss. Nirvana is not a physical location or a place one travels to; it is an unconditioned state and reality that transcends space and time. Because it is beyond space, it has no location ("where"), and because it is beyond time, it has no beginning or end. It is often called the "Unborn, Unbecome, Unmade, Unconditioned" Nirvana is primarily experienced as the extinction of the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. It can be attained in this very life (Nirvana with remainder) upon enlightenment, and fully realized upon the death of the physical body (Nirvana without remainder).

Bhikkhus, there exists a base, where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither the base of boundless space, nor the base of boundless consciousness, nor the base of nothingness, nor the base of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the other world, nor both, nor sun nor moon. Here, bhikkhus, I say there is no coming, no going, no stagnation, no passing away, no rebirth. It is without support, without occurrence, and without object. This, bhikkhus, is the end of suffering. - Udana 8.1

"Hard it is to see the unconstructed, the undistorted! This independent state is not easily realized. Craving is all cut for the One, who so knows, since he sees, that there is nothing to cling to." - Udana 8.2

Bhikkhus, there is the unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned. If there were not the unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, there would be no discernment of escape from the born, become, made, conditioned. But since there is the unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, therefore the escape from the born, become, made, conditioned is discerned. - Udana 8.3

The End of Suffering

For the dependent there is agitation, for the disengaged, there is no agitation. When there is no agitation, there is tranquility. When there is tranquility, there is no inclination. When there is no inclination, there is no coming and going. When there is no coming and going, there is no passing way and arising. When there is no passing away and arising, there is neither here, nor there, nor in-between the two. Just this is the end of suffering. - Udana 8.4

Whatever wealth there is, here or in other worlds, or whatever excellent gem is in the heavens; there is none equal to the Tathāgata. This too is the excellent gem in the Buddha; by this truth, may there be well-being. - Ratana Sutta

✨What 5 things causes Awakening in this very Life?✨ In this sutta, the Buddha explains that if a monk wishes to attain the destruction of the mental fermentations (āsavakkhaya) in this very life, they must abandon the five mental bondages (cetokhila) and possess the five qualities. 1) Perfect morality (sīla). 2) Devotion to mental tranquillity (samatha). 3) Not neglecting the mental absorptions (jhāna). 4) Cultivating insight (vipassanā). 5) Frequenting remote and peaceful places. - Cetokhila Sutta (AN 5.20) ⚠️ Ten Obstacles to Spiritual Growth ⚠️ The Buddha teaches that a monk who has not abandoned five kinds of mental barrenness (cetokhilā) and severed five mental bondages (cetaso vinibandhā) cannot achieve growth or fulfillment in the holy life. ❌ The Five Mental Barrennesses (Cetokhilā) 1) Doubt about the Buddha: Uncertainty or lack of confidence in the Teacher.  2) Doubt about the Dhamma: Uncertainty about the teaching.  3) Doubt about the Sangha: Uncertainty about the community of noble disciples. 4) Doubt about the Training: Uncertainty about the course of practice.  5) Dissatisfaction with Past Achievements: Being complacent with any meditative attainment or virtuous quality already achieved, which halts further striving. ❌ The Five Mental Bondages (Cetaso Vinibandhā) 1) Craving for Sensuality: Lust, desire, and affection for sensual pleasures.  2) Craving for the Body: Attachment to one's own physical form. 3) Craving for Visible Forms: Attachment to sights and visual objects. 4) Craving for Food: Over-eating or excessive indulgence in nutrition. 5) Desire for Heavenly Rebirth: The aspiration to be reborn as a deity through merit, rather than seeking Nibbāna.  - MN 16: Cetokhila Sutta

Times that are supportive for meditation practice (AN 5.54) 1) Firstly, a mendicant is a youth, young, with pristine black hair, blessed with youth, in the prime of life. 2) Furthermore, they are rarely ill or unwell. Their stomach digests well, being neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and fit for meditation. 3) Furthermore, there’s plenty of food, a good harvest, so it’s easy to get almsfood, and easy to keep going by collecting alms. 4) Furthermore, people live in harmony, appreciating each other, without dispute, blending like milk and water, and regarding each other with kindly eyes. 5) Furthermore, the Saṅgha lives comfortably, in harmony, appreciating each other, without dispute, with one recitation. When the Saṅgha is in harmony, they don’t abuse, insult, block, or forsake each other. This inspires confidence in those without it, and increases confidence in those who have it.

Guarding one’s speech, well-restrained in mind, and doing no unwholesome actions with the body; purify these three modes of action, and succeed on the path taught by the sage. - Buddha, Dhammapada 281

Buddha on Laziness

By consorting with a lazy person, even a virtuous person sinks; therefore one should steer clear of a lazy person, who is weak in effort. One should dwell together with the wise, with the secluded Noble Ones; with resolute meditators, who are continuously energetic. - Itivutakka 78 Dhātusosaṁsandana sutta

The opposite of laziness is rousing of energy, diligence, vigour, continuous effort.

Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with these four qualities is incapable of decline, and is near to Nibbāna. Well established in virtue, restrained in the sense faculties, Observing moderation in eating, and devoted to wakefulness: Dwelling thus with continuous effort, tireless throughout the day and night; Cultivating wholesome qualities, to attain security from bondage. The bhikkhu who delights in diligence, who sees the danger in negligence; is incapable of decline, and is near to Nibbāna. - AN 4.37 Aparihāniya sutta

Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form We have the mindfulness to give up evil, to be a person who is established in sila. We give up evil, making merit, and purify the mind. We practise like this and ultimately one day the mind will gather together, and it will be amazing what we can see. We see emptiness. We see rupa, form. But there is emptiness in that form. Or in that emptiness, there is form in that as well. Why is that? Because they are not different. Form isn’t different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form. Because that form is emptiness. When we separate the elements, we take the khandas, the 5 aggregates of body and mind, and we separate the form out from it. Whether it is the form of material objects and things, or the form of living beings, when we separate them out, they are emptiness. So the form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. They have become one. There isn’t anything. There is no me, no mine. When the knowing element progresses to know this, then we will see arising, persisting and ceasing. We see arising and ceasing. This is seeing the Dhamma. - Ven. Ajahn Anan https://watmarpjan.org/en/asalha-puja/

🪷Vassa, Monastic Rains Retreat🪷 Vassa, also known as the Rains Retreat or Buddhist Lent, is an annual three-month monastic retreat observed primarily in Theravada Buddhism. Instituted by the Buddha, it requires monks and nuns to remain in a single residence, typically a monastery, to avoid harming living beings during the monsoon season and to engage in intensive spiritual practice. The retreat traditionally begins in July (on the day following the Asalha Puja full moon) and ends in October or November. The retreat concludes with the Pavarana ceremony, followed by the Kathina robe-offering festival. We pay our humble gratitude and respectes to the Noble Sangha of Lord Buddha. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Today is Āsālha Pūjā. It commemorates the Buddha's first sermon, known as the "Sermon in the Deer Park" at Sarnath, where he taught the Four Noble Truths and established the first order of monks (the Sangha). You are warmly invited to join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Saṅgha for a live broadcast of the Asalha Puja ceremony, streamed directly from Wat Marp Jan. May you all be well, happy and healthy. Time: 07:00 PM (Thailand Time, GMT+7) Live stream: https://youtube.com/watmarpjan/live

Unshakeable Mind Train your mind to be indifferent to praise or blame, Honor or dishonor, gain or loss, pleasure or pain. Let your mind remain steady and unmoved, Like a mountain peak unshaken by the wind. - Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva

Brahmā Sahampati Requests Lord Buddha to teach the Dhamma Brahmā Sahampati is one of the most significant divine figures in early Buddhist texts, appearing repeatedly in the Pali Canon. He's portrayed as a compassionate, respectful deity who plays a crucial role in the Buddha's mission to teach the Dhamma. Immediately after attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha hesitated to teach, thinking:

"This Dhamma I have attained is too deep, too hard to understand. It goes against the flow of lust, hatred, and ignorance. Those lost in sensual pleasure won't grasp it."

Brahma Sahampati appeared before the Buddha and said:

"Once there were people with little dust in their eyes. Now they are falling away! Lord, teach the Dhamma! There will be those who will understand!"

Unlike some other gods who merely pay homage, Sahampati actively intervenes to benefit both the Buddha and sentient beings. His motivations align perfectly with the Dharma — not for personal gain, but to ensure the teachings continue.

From now on, I shall go from village to village, from town to town, praising the Buddha and extolling the Dhamma he has taught. - Āḷavaka Sutta

Online Meditation Retreat with Ven. Ajahn Anan from Wat Marp Jan (Thailand) You are warmly invited to join us for this retreat, whether you attend in person at the monastery or online from your own home. Each day will include meditation, chanting, and Dhamma teachings from Ajahn Anan and other members of the Sangha. The meditation sessions are led by the monks at Wat Marp Jan, and you will also be practicing alongside good friends from around the world. This is a good opportunity to sincerely cultivate the Noble Path from wherever you are, developing mindfulness, samādhi, clarity, and wisdom—steadily lightening your burdens and moving ever closer to nibbāna. May this retreat bring you peace, happiness, and deep insight. Register: https://watmarpjan.org/en/live/retreat-jul2026/