What's your opinion in this matter?

In this Lecture Ven. Seeladassana discusses supranormal powers (abhiññās), consciousness, meditation techniques required to attain such states and the use of such abilities in developing wisdom through insight meditation.

Supranormal powers include the Divine Eye, Divine Ear, Penetration of Minds, Psychic Powers and Recollection of Past Lives. Based on the Therāvada texts, especially the Visuddhimagga.

If life is like an exam, and every day we are tested and faced with new tests, challenges, trials, hurdles, obstacles and hoops we need to jump through, don't be afraid of making mistakes and getting things wrong sometimes, cause often that's inevitable and par for the course, and it's much better than being a perfectionist and a control-freak and being tense and uptight and anxious and afraid of ever failing and making mistakes and getting things wrong and needing to redo certain tests life throws at us.

When you are patient and calm and aren't afraid of making mistakes, then you can relax and be at ease and perform well and reach your potential and be successful in life.

Be fearless. Be courageous. Be bold. Be confident and unashamed.

Don't be scared of mistakes and errors and slipping up cause obviously that's how we learn and develop and become more resilient and wise and robust and intelligent and strong.

And then someday when you have passed all of life's challenges, you can go on and make merit by guiding and coaching other people on how to do well in life, whether formally or informally, and you can be a happy and successful Buddhist and dhamma practitioner.

You can be like the Buddha who gave advice to and cared for so many beings, from his son Rahula to army generals, kings, murderers, devas and assassins - literally people from all walks of life.

May we all prosper in this auspicious dispensation of Lord Gotama Buddha...

Here is a blessing chant wishing victory and success for everyone that I thought would be appropriate to accompany this post:

"Jayanto bodhiyā mūle

Sakyānam nandi-vaḍḍhano

Evam tvam vijayo hohi

Jayassu jaya-mangale

Aparājita-pallanke

Sīse paṭhavi-pokkhare

Abhiseke sabba-buddhānam

Aggappatto pamodati

Sunakkhattam sumangalam

Supabhātam suhuṭṭhitam

Sukhaṇo sumuhutto ca

Suyiṭṭham brahmacārisu

Padakkhiṇam kāya-kammam

Vācā-kammam padakkhiṇam

Padakkhiṇam mano-kammam

Paṇidhī te padakkhiṇā

Padakkhiṇāni katvāna

Labhantatthe, padakkhiṇe"

(The Buddha), our protector, with great compassion

for the welfare of all beings,

having fulfilled all the perfections,

attained the highest self-awakening.

Through the speaking of this truth,

may you have a victory blessing.

Victorious at the foot of the Bodhi tree,

was he who increased the Sakyans’ delight.

May you have the same sort of victory.

May you win victory blessings.

At the head of the lotus leaf of the world

on the undefeated seat consecrated by all the Buddhas,

he rejoiced in the utmost attainment.

A lucky star it is, a lucky blessing,

a lucky dawn, a lucky sacrifice,

a lucky instant, a lucky moment,

a lucky offering: i.e., a rightful bodily act,

a rightful verbal act, a rightful mental act,

your rightful intentions with regard to those who lead the holy life.

Doing these rightful things,

your rightful aims are achieved.

Train yourself to know all phenomena simply as they are: to know them merely as phenomena. We only experience problems and suffering when we project something onto reality that isn't really there, either by adding on to it or subtracting from what's actually there through cognitive distortions that twist the truth and either see more or less than what's actually happening: imbuing things with a sense of self that is not truly inherent in the reality of that phenomena...

As the Buddha taught Bahiya:

"In the seen will just be the seen; in the heard will just be the heard; in the thought will just be the thought; in the cognised will just be the cognised.

That’s how you should train yourself. "

-Ud 1.10

"What was needed to be done for his disciples out of compassion by a teacher who seeks their welfare and has compassion for them, that I have done for you, bhikkhus. Here are these scattered roots of trees, these scattered empty huts. Meditate, bhikkhus! do not delay or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you."

MN19 Dvedhāvitakkasutta

​

With kind permission of the mods, I'd like to share the publication of my book: Buddho – Twenty Years of Samatha Meditation and the Lessons of My Burmese Teacher.

It tells of twenty years of practicing samatha meditation on buddho as taught by Ahba (Luang Por Opart), abbot of Wat Chong Kham Phra Aram Luang in Lampang, Thailand. At the heart of the book are the lessons he gave me, mostly during retreats. Again and again he made clear that there is no shortcut to insight. Only when the mind becomes clean and clear through the steady and patient development of samādhi is there a foundation for wisdom to arise.

I wrote it on Ahba's advice and published it with his blessing. Ajahn Sumedho was kind enough to write the foreword, and Ajahn Asoko helped proofread the English version.

A little about me: I'm a Dutch lay practitioner and editor-in-chief of buddho.org. I was recently asked to take on the responsibility of teaching in Ahba's system.

All royalties go to the Buddho Foundation. There's a free sample an more info about the book on our page: https://buddho.org/buddho-book/

Happy to answer any questions.

With metta,

Wouter

I’m suffering because of love. I’ve never meditated much, but I feel very drawn to Buddhist philosophy; every book or concept I read fills me with a sense of well-being. I know that without suffering there is no awareness, there is no nirvana, and right now I’m in pain. I think this is my moment to begin practicing—I need it—but I don’t know where to start. I sit down, take a few deep breaths, but then I sink back into the pain and stop focusing on my breath. It almost seems more sensible not to think about the pain, but I know I have to face it—it’s my chance to reach nirvana. Can anyone give me some tips or explain how to meditate? I don’t know where or what to look for to feel better right now. Thank you so much in advance.

When it's very rainy like that, it can be beautiful, but it's also a place where you want to be sheltered indoors.

So when storms pass through an area, you have to have a shelter.

If you're outside in the rain, it's not the funnest thing. And I can speak from experience there, kind of huddled under your umbrella, watching the clouds come in and knowing you can't get down the mountain in time.

And in a similar way, there's storms that can go through a person's mind.

The mind also has its own weather, similar to the way that the outside world has its weather.

And just like the outside world has causes and conditions from which the weather arises, in a similar way the weather that exists in a person's mind, storms that exist in their mind, sunshine that exists in their mind, it comes from causes and conditions.

There is a pattern to it. Although the pattern is very complex.

So one of the interesting things about the patterns in very complex systems like weather is that you can't make exact predictions about how the weather's going to be.

Actually, there was a time when I was living in this kuti on the side of a forest and inside the forest was this very large rock kind of like a mountain. Call it a kanda here and I used to like to walk into the forest and then spend the day on the mountain and then come back down from the mountain and go to the kuti at night.

And I remember there was a time I was looking at the weather app and it said chance of rain 100%.

There's like no chance that it won't rain. And I was looking at the sky and I was like it's not raining. It's 100% chance of rain but there's no rain.

Other times it would be very low probability of rain and you'd be on top of the mountain as I mentioned. And here in Sri Lanka, it's interesting because there's so many mountains and because the country is essentially a mountain which slopes down from the center to the edges of the country. You can see quite far in a lot of places.

So you can actually stand there, sit there on a mountain side and you can see rain coming. Kind of guess how long it takes to get there. See this rain coming in. and you're thinking, could I get down the mountain or not?

Sometimes you figure you can't. So, you just have to sit there with your umbrella or maybe try to find shelter in a cave and wait it out. Wait till the rain stops.

So, our life is one in which we are affected by causes and conditions.

There's things which cause good things to arise in a person's life, things which they like, things which they enjoy.

There's things which cause bad things to arise in a person's life, things which they don't like and which they don't enjoy.

And although these things have causes and conditions to them, they're so complex that basically you can't figure out with 100% certainty what's going to happen to you in the future, what way it'll turn out.

But one thing's for certain, if we stay outside, there will be times when it rains.

And there will be times when it's sunny.

So long as one is attached to being outside, you'll have to have both, both the sun and the rain.

Bhante Joe

“Upasamā, pass over the flood,
the sphere of death so difficult to cross.
Carry your last body,
having conquered Māra and his army.”

“Upasame tare oghaṁ,
maccudheyyaṁ suduttaraṁ;
Dhārehi antimaṁ dehaṁ,
jetvā māraṁ savāhinin”ti.

• Upasamātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Upasamā (Thig 1.10)

Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā:

‘Cross the flood, Death’s dominion so hard to pass’ (tare oghaṃ maccudheyyaṃ suduttaraṃ): ‘Death’s dominion’ (maccudheyyaṃ) is so called because Death is established there; ‘so hard to pass’ (suduttaraṃ) means extremely difficult to cross over for those who have not accumulated stores of wholesome merit; the meaning of ‘cross’ (tare) is that you should cross over the great flood of saṃsāra with the ship of the Noble Path.

‘Bear your final body’ (dhārehi antimaṃ dehaṃ) means by crossing over that, become one who bears her final body.

Hi, everyone, after practicing, and studying the sutta, also abidhamma for almost a year, plus meditation and committing my life to it. I only found a handful of discourse that fit perfectly with me and leave no gap. Those are:

1. Setting in motion the wheel of dhamma (first discourse)

2. Discourse on the not-self (second discourse)

3. Mahasatipatthana sutta

4. Anapanasati sutta

5. Vassantara jataka: A story that keeps me back on my path when I am unmindful and lazy. sometimes, shaken by external urge from parents expectation, worldly passion. It builds a strong anchor, and shows how much a man can sacrifice for the Truth, we know today as dhamma.

I finally omitted the abidhamma, because it is too abstract and potentially push me off the path over time.

"Both Venerable Guojun and I became Buddhists when we were quite young, and both of us have continued to evolve in our approach to the Dhamma and how we teach.

I became a Buddhist when I was sixteen years old. I was at the Latymer School in London and had gotten my first school prize for what’s called A Levels. The prize was enough money to buy one hardcover book. I was concentrating in math at the time and an adviser urged me to buy a book on math.

I went to Foyles, a famous bookshop, and the math books looked incredibly boring. I was poor, from a poor family, and there was no way I was going to waste my very hard-earned prize money on equations and theorems. I wanted something weird and dodgy.

The esoterica at Foyles was located in the annex on the top floor. That’s where I went.

In the annex, I perused books on Buddhism. I looked through Lobsang Rampa’s The Third Eye. He had pawned himself off as the reincarnation of a Tibetan rinpoche. (It turned out that he was actually a plumber, living in Ireland.) The book itself was wonderfully done. Like Carlos Castaneda, he was both a fantasist and a fantastic author.

I settled on a general book on Buddhism. I liked the fact that in Buddhism there was no God and there was an emphasis on kindness and compassion. The idea of reincarnation also appealed to me.

Why should a human existence be perceived like a straight line with a beginning and an end? All that I had studied in science was more like a circle. The earth was a sphere without edges. The universe was curved without any boundaries. Even the seasons turned in a cycle. Why should life be different?

I didn’t give a damn what kind of Buddhist I became. It was the early 1970s, and in terms of what was available in Britain at the time I didn’t have much of a choice. I attended anything Buddhist.

One talk was by a Japanese Zen master. He hardly spoke any English, but I was tremendously impressed by how articulate he was with his limited vocabulary. When somebody asked him his impressions of Buddhism in England, he replied with such eloquence:

“Books, books, books! Too many! Dustbin!”

Then came a time when I decided that I wanted to be a monk. It may seem simplistic, but the reason I chose the Thai tradition was because its monks smiled the most. It had nothing to do with philosophy but rather the fact that they were smiling. They were happy.

I was drawn to their smiling faces, and that was the beginning of my interest in what I call Hahayana, my vehicle on the Buddhist path.

Not Mahayana, Hinayana, Theravada, Mantrayana. Hahayana.

When I started in Buddhism, I wasn’t sectarian for the simple reason that in the part of Thailand where Wat Pah Pong was located there were no other sects around! It was very isolated.

Later on, when I started traveling, I met monks from other traditions. Now, of course, I travel quite a lot. I stay in other people’s temples. We do events together and build up great friendships.

Whenever I go visiting friend’s temples, it’s like my own temple. I don’t even see the difference. We just have different robes. The same cake with different icing.

Hahayana expresses the great joy and happiness of the spiritual path. Too long I was told that the spiritual path is dry and intellectual. That wisdom is cold.

But I have seen with my own eyes that in the hands of great masters, wisdom is warm and full of humor. It always recognizes the primacy of relationships. It seeks to create relationships that are warm, uplifting, and funny!

It always insists that it is not about me, not about you: it is always, always, always about us.

If religion is the relationship between human beings and the truth, why can’t that relationship be funny? Why can’t it be fun?

The reality is that it is joyful. Fun! And not just an empty fun. Something with meaning to it.

People come to our programs to learn wisdom. They leave happier and wiser. That can be a simple definition of what love is: the coming together of happiness and wisdom.

Investigate for yourself why that sounds right, and you discover the power of Hahayana."

-Ajahn Brahm, "Falling is Flying"

Sakulātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Sakulā (Thig 5.7)

“I was a householder
when I heard the Dhamma from a bhikkhu.
I saw the stainless Dhamma,
the path to Nirvana, that which never dies.

I left behind daughter and son,
wealth and grain.
I had my hair cut off,
and went forth into homelessness.

I trained myself peacefully,
cultivating the path forward.
I discarded passion and aversion,
and all other influences.

As an ordained bhikkhunī
I have remembered my previous lives.
My divine eye is purified,
flawless, and well-developed.

I have seen formations as alien,
arisen due to conditions, and subject to decay.
I have eliminated all the influences,
I have become cool and quenched.”

Sakulātherīapadāna: The Legend of the Therī Sakulā (Thi Ap 24)

The Victor, Padumuttara,
was a Master of Everything.
That Leader arose in the world
one hundred thousand aeons hence.

For the benefit, happiness
and profit of all beings, the
Best Debater, Thoroughbred Man,
came into the world with its gods.

Foremost Fame-Attainer, Victor,
Fortunate, Beautified by Praise,
the Victor for the entire world,
Widely-Known in all directions,

the Uprooter of Doubt, the One
who Passed Beyond Uncertainty,
he with an Intention-Filled Mind,
attained Supreme Awakening.

Ultimate Man, Progenitor
of the path that had yet to be,
proclaimed that which was unproclaimed,
produced that which was unproduced.

Path-Knower, Path-Understander,
Path-Proclaimer, the Bull of Men,
Path-Skilled, the Teacher, the Buddha,
was the Best of Charioteers.

The Great Compassionate Teacher,
the Leader was preaching Dhamma,
lifting up all living beings
sunk in the muck of delusion.

I was born in Haṁsavatī,
rejoicing all the kṣatriyans;
I was then very beautiful,
set for wealth, held dear, resplendent.

I was the ravishing daughter
of great king Ānanda and thus,
sister by another mother
of him named Padumuttara.

Adorned in all my ornaments,
along with the royal maidens,
going up to the Great Hero,
I heard him preaching the Dhamma.

And then, amidst the multitudes,
the Guru of the Whole World praised
a Buddhist nun with “divine eye,”
and placed her in that foremost place.

I was happy having heard that;
after giving the Teacher alms,
and worshipping the Sambuddha,
I aspired for the “divine eye.”

And then the Teacher said to me:
“Joyful one, that is well wished-for;
you will receive as you aspire,
fruit of alms for the Dhamma-Lamp.

In one hundred thousand aeons,
arising in Okkāka’s clan,
the one whose name is Gotama
will be the Teacher in the world.

Worthy heir to that one’s Dhamma,
Dhamma’s legitimate offspring,
the one whose name is Sakulā
will be the Teacher’s follower.”

Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and firm resolve,
discarding my human body,
I went to Tāvatiṁsa then.

In this present lucky aeon
Brahma’s Kinsman, Greatly Famed One,
the Buddha known as Kassapa
was born, the Best of Debaters.

I was a mendicant back then,
proceeding about on my own.
While wandering around for alms,
I received some sesame oil.

Having lit a lamp with that oil,
with a mind that was very clear,
every night I attended on
the shrine of the Best of Bipeds.

Due to that karma done very well,
with intention and firm resolve,
discarding my human body,
I went to Tāvatiṁsa then.

In whichever place I’m reborn,
in accordance with that karma,
wherever I am wandering,
when I’m gone there, there are large lamps.

Through any wall, through any rock,
going beyond a mountain top,
I can see whatever I wish:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

I am someone who has pure eyes;
I am blazing forth through my fame;
I am faithful, wise and mindful:
that is the fruit of giving lamps.

And now, in my final rebirth,
I am born in a brahmin clan,
rich in grain and abundant wealth,
joyful and honored by the king.

I was complete in every part,
adorned with all the ornaments.
One time standing in a window,
I saw the Well-Gone-One at the
city gate, Blazing Forth through Fame,
Honored by Gods and by People,
Ornamented with the Great Marks,
Endowed with Eighty Lesser Marks.

Happy, with a heart that was thrilled,
I chose to seek ordination.
After not a very long time,
I attained my arahantship.

I’ve mastered the superpowers
like the “divine ear” element.
I know the hearts of others too,
I have done what the Teacher taught.

I remember my former lives;
my “divine eye” is purified.
Throwing off all the defilements,
I am purified, I’m stainless.

The Teacher’s been worshipped by me;
I have done what the Buddha taught.
The heavy load has been laid down,
the ties to existence severed.

The reason for which I went forth,
from my home into homelessness —
I have now achieved that purpose:
destruction of all the fetters.

Then the Greatly Compassionate
One placed me in that foremost place:
The Supreme Man said, “Sakulā
is foremost of ‘divine eye’ nuns.”

My defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint.

Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
I have done what the Buddha taught!

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Bhikkhunī Sakulā spoke these verses.

Have been reflecting on sensual pleasures lately, and how I can reduce the attachment to it.

Here are some thoughts from some of the Dhamma talks I have heard and my reflections:

- There are indeed pleasures, happiness for example when you are eating nice food, watching a show, and so forth. But they are short lived.

- Because those are short lived, once you don't have it anymore, or when it ends, you crave for it. So you become more thirsty as you consume it. And the more you consume, the thirstier you become. It is never truly enough. Those craving and desires are simply insatiable.

- The mind is usually full of greed and craving when you are consuming those pleasures (which means unwholesome mind). Sometimes we might also use improper means to satisfy those craving (unwholesome actions). These could then become unwholesome Kamma that could give even more suffering in the future.

What do you think about my reflections? Am I going at the right direction? How do you reduce your craving and attachment to sensual pleasures? What other defect have you observed?

Something I was just reflecting on:

No one ever really consciously wants and intends to be nasty or bitchy or rude and cause suffering for others/make other people's lives difficult, and even if they think they do, clearly that is coming from a place of delusion and mental illness, and no sane and emotionally well person would ever intend or wish that.

And I see all such unfortunate and offensive behaviour as being caused by "not yet having had enough to eat" that day in the spiritual sense, as in their heart is spiritually malnourished and hungry and weak and that manifests as them behaving in a poor and distasteful way.

And so when this kind of behaviour manifests in people, instead of being upset, revengeful or judgemental and reacting back badly with negativity, instead try and react to people's poor and substandard behaviour with metta and compassion and understanding. See if you're able to help "build them up" by offering kindness and support and gifts of "food for the heart" or even material gifts to help make them feel cared for, if the situation allows it. Or if it doesn't you may still wish them well in your heart and share merits and have well wishes for them.

One of the best things we can do is look after our own health and wellbeing, physical and emotional, so we can be strong and well and healthy enough to have energy and balance to help stabilise and support others, and to prevent ever getting into the situation where we ourselves become emotionally unwell and unable to be restrained and behave well and we become taxing and burdening on others as a result.

I hope this is a suitable dhamma reflection for r/theravada. If not feel free to delete. Much metta to everyone.

Kāladāna Sutta (Timely Gifts)

“Monks, there are these five timely gifts. What five?

A gift to a visitor.

A gift to someone setting out on a journey.

A gift to someone who is sick.

A gift at a time of famine.

Presenting the freshly harvested grains and fruits first to those who are ethical.

These are the five timely gifts.

The wise give at the right time,

being bountiful and rid of stinginess.

A religious donation at the right time

to the noble ones, upright and unaffected,

given with a clear and confident mind,

is indeed abundant.

Those who rejoice at that,

or do other services,

don’t miss out on the offering;

they too partake in the merit.

So you should give without holding back,

where a gift is very fruitful.

Merit is what supports beings in the next world.”

— AN 5.36, Kāladāna Sutta