This beautiful sutta from the Pali canon tells the story of what happened after the beloved disciple and arahat Sariputta passed away. Sariputta—(Sāriputta (Pāli) or Śāriputra (Sanskrit)—was a truly remarkable student of the Buddha’s, and along with Ananda, was considered his greatest pupil. As Nyanaponika Thera writes of him in The Life of Shariputra: “Shariputra..was […]
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Tag Archives: nirvana
How the Buddha looked at the “What is a Person?” Question
2011/12/10 
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A recurring theme in Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s writing is his stress on how important it is to understand what kinds of questions the Buddha answered, and refused to answer, in his teachings. Many people think his new way of using the Pali word “khandhas” was the answer to the question, “Who am I” or “What is […]
Continue reading Chaos Theory and Buddhist Views of Causality
2011/11/17 9 Comments
Samsara Divided by Zero by Thanissaro Bhikkhu “The goal of Buddhist practice, nibbana, is said to be totally uncaused, and right there is a paradox. If the goal is uncaused, how can a path of practice — which is causal by nature — bring it about? This is an ancient question. The Milinda-pañha, a set […]
Continue reading Why Working with Suffering is Essential to Our Awakening
2011/09/14 1 Comment
The following is an excerpt from an interview with Ajahn Sundara, a French-born ordained monastic in the Buddhist Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah. She has been teaching and leading retreats in Europe and North America for 20 and currently resides at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in southeast England. May this sharing inspire you to discover […]
Continue reading What the Buddha Said about Purity of Heart and the Grasping Self
2011/09/08 2 Comments
This passage from the Sutta Nipata of the Pali canon has very special place in many Buddhist hearts. To me, the teaching is closely related to the beloved passage from the 9th Chapter of the great Mahayana Diamond Sutra that I recently posted: See: “Does a Buddha say to himself ‘I have obtained Perfect Enlightenment?‘” I […]
Continue reading Did you know that the Buddha almost didn’t teach the Dharma?
2011/05/05 4 Comments
According to the Pali canon, not long after the Buddha attained enlightenment, he mused to himself: “This Dhamma that I have realized is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced only by the wise.” The Buddha then apparently seriously questioned whether he could […]
Continue reading The Importance of Alertness and Attention in Developing Concentration
2011/05/05 3 Comments
As I have grown in my meditation practice, I have been able to develop deeper and deeper levels of concentration and corresponding insight. And yet, when I’ve read about some of the various deeper levels of jhana (deep concentration, or samatha) I’ve sometimes wondered about my progress and whether I’m going “deep” enough. This great […]
Continue reading Sogyal Rinpoche on God and Emptiness
2011/02/17 4 Comments
A recent discussion with a friend on Facebook about the nature of the Absolute, brought to mind something I had transcribed years ago from a CD, but had forgotten about. So, I thought I’d dig it up from my dharma archives and share it here on my blog. The passage is from a talk by […]
Continue reading How Letting Go Helps Us See the Truth of Non-duality
2011/02/01 2 Comments
Ayya Khema is a highly-skilled Theravadan teacher who brought a remarkable love and light to her service as a nun in the Theravadan tradition. I highly recommend her book Who is My Self? A Guide to Buddhist Meditation. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read on developing deep concentration and insight (samatha and […]
Continue reading “Can’t you Theravadans ever just relax and just be?”
2010/09/10 4 Comments
I was talking with a Zen Buddhist buddy last week, we were “breaking each others chops” about the differences between Theravada teachings, which I lean heavily on in my meditation practice, and Zen, the tradition of my heart techer, Thich Nhat Hanh. We talked about the differences and similarities of the two schools, and their […]
Continue reading Dhamma and Non-duality-A Theravadan Point of View
2010/09/07 4 Comments
“Where I think the teaching of the Buddha, as preserved in the Theravada tradition, surpasses all other attempts to resolve the spiritual dilemmas of humanity is in its persistent refusal to sacrifice actuality for unity. The Buddha’s Dhamma does not point us toward an all-embracing absolute in which the tensions of daily existence dissolve in […]
Continue readingIndependence Day-independent from what?
2010/07/04 2 Comments
Independence Thanissaro Bhikkhu July 4, 2003 Independence Day. A good time to ask yourself what you’d like to be independent from. What are the things that weigh down on the mind, that oppress the mind? If you ask most people, they’ll talk about things outside: their job, their family, their worries about the economy or […]
Continue readingA Blessing-Beyond the Face of Fear-Poem and Music
2010/06/23 1 Comment
blessing the boats (at St. Mary’s) may the tide that is entering even now the lip of our understanding carry you out beyond the face of fear may you kiss the wind then turn from it certain that it will love your back may you open your eyes to water water waving forever […]
Continue reading Dissatisfaction with Life-the Start of Discovery
2010/06/10 2 Comments
The Buddha is often quoted as saying he taught one thing: “I teach suffering and the end of suffering.” Sounds kind of limiting and simplistic, no? Where’s the joy and liberation in that? Since the First Noble Truth is the truth of suffering, and since this insight is so often misunderstood by non-Buddhists, and even […]
Continue readingThich Nhat Hanh on Buddhism, Mindfulness, and the Holy Spirit
2010/05/21 16 Comments
“We can touch the living Buddha. We can also touch the living Christ. When we see someone overflowing with love and understanding, someone who is keenly aware of what is going on, we know that we are very close to the Buddha and to Jesus Christ.” Thich Nhat Hanh One of the things I love […]
Continue readingThe Mind like Fire Unbound-the Fire Metaphor for Nirvana
2010/04/28 0 Comments
In an earlier post, The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta-the Buddha on the Nature of Existence and Nirvana, the Buddha explains how nirvana is like the extinction of a flame. The ascetic wanderer Vacchagotta can’t understand what happens after death to one who attains nirvana, or complete Unbinding. Does he still exist? Does he not exist? Does he […]
Continue reading The Buddha on Not Getting Caught in Metaphysical Speculation
2010/04/22 1 Comment
The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta is one of the Buddha’s teachings that I have come back to again and again when I have found myself entangled in metaphysical speculation and argument with myself—and with others! In this sutta, the Buddha answers the questions of the wandering ascetic Vacchagotta on the nature of existence and uses the simile […]
Continue reading Nirvana is a Verb, Not a Place
2010/02/22 3 Comments
A Verb for Nirvana by Thanissaro Bhikkhu “Back in the days of the Buddha, nirvana (nibbana) had a verb of its own: nibbuti. It meant to “go out,” like a flame. Because fire was thought to be in a state of entrapment as it burned — both clinging to and trapped by the fuel on […]
Continue reading If You Dislike Christianity, You’ll Hate Buddhism!
2010/02/03 2 Comments
Although I didn’t plan it, an emerging theme of posts this week seems to be the skillfulness of challenging of orthodoxy and mere conceptual thinking. Whether we agree or disagree with them, iconoclast teachers make us think—or maybe in the case of these two teachers, not so much think, as pay attention and wake up! […]
Continue reading The Ten Ox-herding Images of Zen
2009/12/20 3 Comments
I thought I’d do something different and fun in this post, and take a look at probably the most beloved images in Zen Buddhism. Known as The Ten Ox-herding Pictures, they have been the source of endless commentary and inspiration in Zen since at least the 12th century. From the first time I saw them, […]
Continue readingMay All Beings Be Happy
- Looking at the Ninth Zen Precept-I Do Not Indulge In Anger
- True God, True Buddha
- The Difference Between Compassion and “Idiot Compassion”
- Ajahn Brahmavamso teaches Loving-kindness Meditation
- Now-and-Zen-Are you still carrying her?
- A Buddhist Mantra based on the Prayer of St. Francis
- Mindfulness of Breathing-The Anapanasati Sutta
- Buddhist Forgiveness-When We Have Hurt Another-Part 3
- Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing
- Practicing the Middle Way-not too much, not too little
- Look at the Three Characteristics in Terms of Actions
- Thich Nhat Hanh – Healing Through Resting in the Breath
- How Metta Can Help You When Meditation is Hindered by Overwhelming Feelings
- The Importance of Taking the “Should” out of Spiritual Practice
- Can We “Choose” to Be Happy? No—and Yes!
- Ken Mcleod on how to use Thich Nhat Hanh’s Five-Step Method of Emotional Releasing
- Non-resistance and the Art of Resisting without Resisting!
- Don’t be fooled! There is a Way and We Can Walk It!
- The Importance of Compassion in Assessing Our Dharma Progress
- Jesus and the Buddha on Good Friday
Metta Refuge 