The Middle Way, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 22 January 2013 by Buddhism Now

Buddha in wall The bright mind is balanced and the defiled mind is imbalanced. When defilements (kilesa) come in, they take over. Then things are no longer in balance. And when the mind is out of balance, sometimes it goes off to the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes it goes up, sometimes down, or there is too much, or too little. This is what happens with defilements—the natural, pure balance of the mind is interfered with. This shows the importance of getting away from the influence of the defilements in order to live in the balanced Middle Way.

When the instincts are out of control, they become selfish, and this gives rise to all the defilements. The out-of-control instincts pull the mind off the Middle Way into the dead-end of the kilesa (the mental defilements). This is very important to know.

We often call these things the defilements, but we can see that they are just instincts which are out of control. Seeing this gives us an insight into how to bring them under control so that they no longer become defilements. This is something to be very interested in in order to get back on the path, to return to the balanced, right state of mind. To make it easier to understand, we can look at certain pairs of things which take us off the Middle Way. (more…)

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Is Your Hair On Fire? by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 30 June 2012 by Buddhism Now

Burmese Stupa Photo © John AskeImagine a person who feels completely healthy, completely free of all illness, sickness and physical disability. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous for that person to get medicine? What would be the point of that? What would be the rationale in getting medicine when you feel completely healthy? Those people who don’t see any problems, who are not aware of any dukkha, unsatisfactoriness, in their lives, what would be the point in their attempting to study the dhamma and to practise meditation?

If you are new to this thing called ‘dhamma’, and new to meditation, then you are not expected to immediately agree that you have all sorts of problems and are suffering from many burdens in life. However, if you are not completely sure that your health is perfect, you could examine yourself, you could get to know yourself and find out what kind of shape you are in. (more…)

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The Burden of Selfishness, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 26 May 2012 by Buddhism Now

Six Arm Kuan Yin. Photo RSR, V&A, LondonAs soon as there is ‘self’, there is selfishness. These two are very different, nonetheless, they are inseparable. The ‘self arises, then selfishness comes. And selfishness is a powerful and destructive burden which can easily be observed in oneself and in the world.

Selfishness gives rise to love, greed, anger, hatred, fear, worry, frustration, envy, jealousy, possessiveness. All of these are aspects of selfishness. Love through fear and worry, are just different aspects of selfishness. All this is such a powerfully destructive burden upon the mind. It weighs the mind down. If we get outside of our little worlds and start to observe what is really happening around us and also within us, if we come out of our clouds, break free of our daydreams, and really look, we shall see all this selfishness and all the harm and pain that it causes, both to ourselves and to others, This is the burden of selfishness. (more…)

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The Old Zen Master

Posted on 19 January 2011 by Buddhism Now

The Old Zen Master, by Trevor Leggett
The Old Zen Master

by Trevor Leggett

ISBN 13: 978-0946672073
ISBN 10: 0946672075

Buddhist Publishing Group
Published: 1987, reprint 2010
Paperback 194 pages

£10.95 / $16.95

Stories, parables, and examples have been a favoured way of conveying spiritual insights and truths since time immemorial, and Trevor Leggett was a master at it. He had the knack of pointing out the spiritual implications of practical events which people can relate to.

You can buy  The Old Zen Master from the Book Depository for around £8.30 with free worldwide delivery. See below for other online sites

(more…)

Filed under: Books, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, Ch'an / Seon / Zen, Mahayana, Trevor Leggett | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Natural Cure for Spiritual Disease, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 7 December 2010 by Buddhism Now

Standing Buddha Rock carvingBuddha-Dhamma is as vast as the universe and as concise as a moment’s flash of insight. Many sentient beings have got lost between the two, unable to resolve through direct personal experience the many teachings available today. Fundamental perspectives are required for us to begin sorting out the multiplicity of experiences and concepts. Here, we offer a clear, direct, and practical guide into the essentials of Buddhism, that is, the Dhamma.

While many Buddhists take Dhamma to be “the Buddha’s teaching,” it really means “Natural Truth” or “Natural Law.” Of course, this is what the Buddha taught and demonstrated, but we must be careful to distinguish the teaching from the Truth itself. Thus, to understand Buddhism one must begin with the Dhamma. (more…)

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Work with Void – free mind by Buddhadasa

Posted on 24 February 2010 by Buddhism Now

We’ve been tweeting this link to a PDF eBook Work with Void-free mind by Buddhadasa and thought you would like to read it too.

Bodhisattva possibly Hua Yen.Previously we spoke of emptiness metaphorically as a special kind of power or force that can look in any direction. We spoke of a certain hermit with fiery eyes. Whatever direction he looked, with his fiery eyes popping out, everything would be burnt to a crisp so that direction was completely cleared. I’d like to use this as a metaphor for understanding emptiness.

The language of legend and myth always has hidden meanings. There’s a certain trick, or purpose, of important scriptures, such as the Ramayana, which shows that people in those days had a rather exalted imagination in their ability to consider and ponder things quite different from the ordinary. (more…)

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What is Dukkha? by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 21 November 2009 by Buddhism Now

Meditation Buddha China. Photo: David BlancoWhat are the characteristics of dukkha? What are the symptoms? One is the lack of relaxation for the spirit — the suffering soul has no place to rest its weary bones. This is an aspect of dukkha. Conditions spin round and round compounding each other. And this is constant. This constant process of conditioning doesn’t give the spirit, or soul, or whatever, any chance to relax.

Things don’t happen according to our wishes and desires. Nothing in this world goes the way we want it to. every now and then something accidentally pleases us, but all of us are aware of countless things that don’t fit in with our wishes. Wars, starvation, the political messes, economic exploitation — none of these things are according to our wishes. This is dukkha. And, coming closer to home, we can see that our bodies get old, get sick, fall apart. Our bodies don’t go the way we want them to, either; they aren’t the way we want them to be. This is dukkha.

Dukkha is the ‘wanting’ in our lives. There is always something stirring up wishes and desires, craving and wanting. And this thing that stirs up all these desires is avijja, ‘not knowing, ‘ignorance. This lack of correct understanding, this lack of correct knowledge, gives rise to craving. Ignorance produces these states of mind which come up and interfere with the natural peace and brightness of the mind.

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.

If you enjoyed this Buddhadasa Bhikkhu post there are more here.

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Nirvana for Everyone, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 28 October 2009 by Buddhism Now

Stone Buddha, Sri Lanka Photo: Paul Heatley When you hear the phrase ‘Nirvana for everyone’, you may shake your head in disbelief. People in general believe that nirvana is a special place where there is no suffering, only happiness, the place usually being reached after death by those who have already achieved perfection in thousands of incarnations. Buddhist ordinands mostly pay lip service to their request to be ordained for the sake of realising nirvana. Old monks [in Thailand] sometimes say that nirvana can no longer occur today. (more…)

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Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Posted on 28 October 2009 by Buddhism Now

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, suanmokkh.orgBuddhadasa Bhikkhu (Servant of the Buddha) became a monk in 1926. He established Suan Mokkhabalarama (The Grove of the Power of Liberation, Thailand) in 1932. He worked to explain the essential principles of what he called ‘pristine Buddhism’—the original realisation of the Buddha— before it was buried beneath commentaries, ritualism, and clerical politics. His work was based in research of the Pali texts, especially of the Buddha’s Discourses (Sutta Pitaka), followed by personal practise. He taught whatever he could say truly quenches dukkha (dissatisfaction, suffering). His approach was always straightforward and practical. (more…)

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