Buddha Words

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

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

How I am in this moment - is all that matters. What my state of mind is, is it clear, is it relaxed, calm. Once I become aware of this moment, only then I can appreciate all the beauty it contains. For that, I need to slow down and see, actually look what is here. My feelings and emotions are my making. So why not make it pleasant and joyful? Once I saw only the quality of my inner experience matters, I can cultivate inner joy consciously. What's my relationship to the present moment - that's a vital question. Whether I'm trying to accomplish something or I'm honouring and enjoying what is here with me. The way I am inside of me is how my life experience would be. So why not be fully present and experience all that the life offers with open arms, wholeheartedly.

It doesn't matter what you have or don't have. If you are present, you are alive and what's a greater gift in life than being able to enjoy the present moment? --- "To dwell in the here and now does not mean you never think about the past or responsibly plan for the future. The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future." "Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor." "There is no need to run, strive, search or struggle. Just be. Just being in the moment in this place is the deepest practice of meditation." "The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive." "Don't do any task in order to get it over with. Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention. Enjoy and be one with your work." "I will practice coming back to the present moment…not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past or letting anxieties, fears, or cravings pull me out." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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 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

Lay People is the topic Saṁyutta Nikāya SN 7.12 UdayaSutta: Udaya Near Sāvatthī. Then early in the morning, the Blessed One, having adjusted his under robe and carrying his bowl & outer robe, went to the home of the brahman Udaya. The brahman Udaya filled the Blessed One’s bowl with rice. Then a second time, [on the next day,] the Blessed One, having adjusted his under robe and carrying his bowl & outer robe, went to the home of the brahman Udaya. And a second time, the brahman Udaya filled the Blessed One’s bowl with rice. Then a third time, [on the following day,] the Blessed One, having adjusted his under robe and carrying his bowl & outer robe, went to the home of the brahman Udaya. And a third time, the brahman Udaya, having filled the Blessed One’s bowl with rice, said to him, “This pesky Gotama contemplative keeps coming again & again.” The Buddha:

“Again & again    they sow the seed. Again & again     the deva-kings rain. Again & again     farmers plow the fields. Again & again     grain comes to the kingdom. Again & again     beggars wander. Again & again     lords of giving give. Again & again     having given, the lords of giving Again & again     go to a heavenly place. Again & again     dairy farmers draw milk. Again & again     the calf goes to its mother. Again & again     one wearies & trembles. Again & again     the dullard goes to the womb. Again & again     you take birth & die. Again & again     they carry you to the charnel ground. But on gaining the path to no again-becoming, you, deep in discernment, don’t take birth    again & again.”

When this was said, the brahman Udaya said to the Blessed One, “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama—through many lines of reasoning—made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the Saṅgha of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forward, for life.” https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN7_12.html

The Source of Suffering The suffering that arises in the world starting with old age and death takes many and diverse forms. But what is the source of this suffering? When what exists do old age and death come to be? And when what does not exist do old age and death not come to be? The source of this suffering is attachment. When attachments exist old age and death come to be. And when attachments do not exist old age and death don’t come to be. But what is the source of this attachment? The source of this attachment is craving. But where does that craving arise and where does it settle? That craving arises and settles on whatever in the world seems nice and pleasant. And what in the world seems nice and pleasant? The eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, the mind in the world seems nice and pleasant, and it is there that craving arises and settles. - Buddha, SN 12.66

NO ANGER, NO SUFFERING Whoever returns insult to one who is insulting, returns taunts to one who is taunting, returns a berating to one who is berating, is said to be exchanging with one another, sharing company with that person. But I am neither exchanging nor sharing your company, Brahmin. It's all yours. How can anger arise in one who is angerless, In the tamed one of righteous living, In one liberated by perfect knowledge, In the Stable One who abides in peace? One who retaliates with anger against one who is angry is the worse of the two. But one who does not retaliate wins a battle hard to win. He works for the welfare of both— himself and the other— when, knowing the other is angry, he remains mindful and calm. The ignorant regard him as a fool— but only because they do not know the truth. - Buddha, SN 7.2: Akkosa Sutta

What needs to be done, I will do. The duty of one whose energy is strong; the duty of one who longs for awakening: that I’ll do, I won’t fail. See my energy and vigor! Teach me the path, the direct route whose objective is freedom from death. I’ll know it with wisdom, as the Ganges knows the ocean. - Thag 2.24

NO ANGER, NO SUFFERING Whoever returns insult to one who is insulting, returns taunts to one who is taunting, returns a berating to one who is berating, is said to be exchanging with one another, sharing company with that person. But I am neither exchanging nor sharing your company, Brahmin. It's all yours. How can anger arise in one who is angerless, In the tamed one of righteous living, In one liberated by perfect knowledge, In the Stable One who abides in peace? One who retaliates with anger against one who is angry is the worse of the two. But one who does not retaliate wins a battle hard to win. He works for the welfare of both— himself and the other— when, knowing the other is angry, he remains mindful and calm. The ignorant regard him as a fool— but only because they do not know the truth. - Buddha, SN 7.2: Akkosa Sutta

Accurately evaluating ourselves and our practice without over-estimation or under-estimation is not easy. The inner evaluator is just another voice in our head, and for a long time is not a particularly reliable one. Meditators often give too much significance to 'wow' moments and too little significance to incremental improvements. An example of a person able to evaluate himself accurately is the anāgāmi householder, Ugga of Vesali. After the Buddha praised him to the Sangha as having 'eight astounding and marvellous qualities', a monk asked Ugga to elaborate on them. That he was able to do so in a remarkably measured and objective way, might arguably count as a ninth astounding and marvellous quality. The sutta may be found at AN8.21. Here, I will give just one of his qualities, chosen because it demonstrates Ugga's awareness of absence, something we often miss. "It is not unusual for deities to come and report to me: 'Householder, the Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One'. I then say to these deities: 'Whether you say so or not, the Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One.' Still, I do not recall any mental exultation arising because deities come to me or because I converse with deities." Ajahn Jayasāro