Three-Sided Section of a Portable Shrine (11.4 cm high) with Scenes from the Life of the Buddha. Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara), 5th–6th century.
Photo Metropolitan Museum of art
Spiritual Disease, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
Every one of us has the disease of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, and we absorb more germs every time we see a form, smell an odour, touch a tangible object, taste a flavour, or think in the manner of an ignorant person. In other words, there is the reception of the germ, those things surrounding us that are infected and cause the disease, every time there is sense contact…
Everything comes from mind, by Bodhidharma
As they are attached to appearances, they’re unaware that their minds are empty. And by mistakenly clinging to the appearance of things they lose the Way. If you know that everything comes from the mind, don’t become attached. Once attached,… Read More ›
The Path of Wisdom, by Ajahn Sumedho
Talking about universal love is a very inspiring subject. There is nothing wrong with contemplating universal love, either. But if that’s all we are doing, then it can be merely a whitewash over inner pain and anguish. We might want to love all beings and live in a world of unity and total love. That might be a very appealing idea. What is it that prevents us from that unity? If we trace it back, we will find it’s the ignorance that we have about ourselves…
Buddha is only a provisional name, by Harada Sekkei Roshi
No matter how much we think about the past, it isn’t possible to change it…
Nyoirin Kannon
The bodhisattva Kannon (Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara) manifests in many forms, each of which demonstrates aspects of his compassion and salvific vows…
Dark Side of Life, by John Snelling
Unfortunately, one of the ills of modern society is that it’s in headlong flight from the truth of the human condition, from the fact that we all, without exception, are subject to old age, sickness and death…
A Good Dose of Dhamma: For meditators when they are ill, by Upasika Kee Nanayon
You can’t prevent pleasure and pain, you can’t keep the mind from labelling things and forming thoughts, but you can put these things to a new use. If the mind labels a pain, saying, `I hurt,’ you have to read the label carefully, contemplating it until you see that it’s wrong. If the label were right, it would have to say that the pain isn’t me, it’s empty. Or if there’s a thought that `I’m in pain,’ this type of thinking is also wrong. You have to take a new approach to your thinking, to see that thinking is inconstant, stressful, and not yours…