We often do not realise clearly that all our actions are of the same nature: they are bits for the ‘cabinet’ which is being made. One piece is as important as the other; some are bigger, some are smaller, but they are all important…
Buddhist meditation
Absence of Thought, by Shen-Hui
To see the absence of thought is to master all the dharmas. To see the absence of thought is to embrace all the dharmas…
Breakthrough Sermon by Bodhidharma
Those who understand the mind reach enlightenment with minimal effort. Those who don’t understand the mind practise in vain. Everything good and bad comes from your own mind. To find something beyond the mind is impossible…
All The Keys, by Trevor Leggett
As enlightenment is approached keys to the locked rooms become available. At first it may take a good deal of courage to use even the smallest of them. Because the room has been locked we do not know what is in it and the mere fact that it has been locked seems to imply that what is in it, is terrible…
Pointers to the Ultimate, by Ajahn Sumedho
In any religion there is the exoteric side — the tradition and forms, scriptures, ceremonies and disciplines—and the esoteric, which is the essential nature of that. So, in much of what we call religion, the emphasis is really on the external form.
We can always start anew, by Ajahn Sumedho
Emotions can be very convincing, very powerful, like a melodrama. They can sound real and true when they’re going on. But, at that time, there was that which was aware of them; an awareness of those emotions as mental objects was established already. And I trusted in that.
Self is Heavy, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
Often, when we say that there is no self, people get worried, or angry. Their attachment and identification to this idea of a self is so strong that they actually become hostile towards us if we begin to say there is no such thing. We need to explain this a bit, therefore, so that you don’t get mad at us. The idea of a self is common to everyone. Whether we come from the East or the West, we have some kind of idea and belief in a self, every one of us, absolutely; it is a fundamental illusion that arises in all human minds. Indians, Thais, Chinese, everybody, is walking around with this idea of a self, a soul, an atman, or whatever we want to call it.
Buddhist Insight from Mahasi Meditation Tradition, by Bhante Bodhidhamma
Bhante Bodhidhamma’s talk begins with a short meditation then goes on to explore the nature of self as experience.
