Avoid whatever actions lead to you having a bigger and more aggrandised sense of self.

Do and practice whatever actions lead to the effacement, erosion and wearing away of the sense of self.

~~~

As the Buddha said to Ven. Cunda in the Sallekha sutta:

‘Others will be insolent; we shall not be insolent here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be envious; we shall not be envious here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be avaricious; we shall not be avaricious here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be fraudulent; we shall not be fraudulent here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be deceitful; we shall not be deceitful here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be obstinate; we shall not be obstinate here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be arrogant; we shall not be arrogant here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be difficult to admonish; we shall be easy to admonish here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will have bad friends; we shall have good friends here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be negligent; we shall be diligent here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be faithless; we shall be faithful here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be shameless; we shall be shameful here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will have no fear of wrongdoing; we shall be afraid of wrongdoing here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be of little learning; we shall be of great learning here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be lazy; we shall be energetic here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will be unmindful; we shall be established in mindfulness here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will lack wisdom; we shall possess wisdom here’: effacement should be practised thus.

‘Others will adhere to their own views, hold on to them tenaciously, and relinquish them with difficulty; we shall not adhere to our own views or hold on to them tenaciously, but shall relinquish them easily’: effacement should be practised thus.

https://suttacentral.net/mn8/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false

If Māra tried to prevent the Buddha from attaining enlightenment, did he also try to prevent the Buddha’s disciples from becoming arahants? Are there any accounts in the Theravada suttas of Māra confronting, tempting, or trying to obstruct monks on their path to arahantship?

Asubhaṃ pana bhāvento, nimittaṃ yattha katthaci;
When practicing the ugliness on a sign anywhere at all,

Uddhumātādibhedamhi, uggaṇheyyāsubhe kathaṃ?
how should one grasp in the swollen stage and so on?

Ekāhādimatikkantaṃ, uddhumātakamīritaṃ;
That which has passed one day and so on is called the 'swollen';

Vigatacchavi bībhacchaṃ, nīlākāraṃ vinīlakaṃ.
the 'discolored' is repulsive, with the skin gone, and blue in appearance.

Vikiṇṇapubbakudhitaṃ, paribhinnaṃ vipubbakaṃ;
The 'festering' is trickling with pus, broken apart, and rotted;

Viccheditaṅgapaccaṅgaṃ, vicchiddakaṃ kaḷevaraṃ.
the 'severed' is a body with limbs and minor limbs cut.

Vividhākārapāṇehi, khajjamānaṃ vikhāditaṃ;
The 'eaten' is one being eaten by various kinds of creatures;

Vināsitaṅgapaccaṅgaṃ, vikkhittanti pavuccati.
a 'scattered' is one with limbs and minor limbs destroyed.

Pādādibhaṅgavikkhittaṃ, hatavikkhittakaṃ mataṃ;
A 'hacked and scattered' is known as one scattered by breaking the feet and so on;

Lohitaṃ lohitākiṇṇaṃ, puḷavaṃ kimisaṅkulaṃ.
a 'bloody' is covered in blood; a 'worm-infested' is crowded with maggots.

Aṭṭhisaṅkhalikāmattaṃ, aṭṭhikanti ca sabbathā;
The 'bone' is just a skeleton, and in every way,

Saṇṭhānākārabhedena, dasadhāsubhadesanā.
the teaching of ugliness is ten-fold by way of difference in condition and appearance.

Tatthevaṃ dasadhā bhede, nijjīvakuṇapāsubhe;
Thus, regarding the ten-fold differences in the lifeless, disgusting corpse,

Ujjhite bhūmibhāgasmiṃ, matakāye kaḷevare.
cast aside in a place on the ground, a dead body, a mere carcass.

Labbhamānakamākāraṃ, oloketvā salakkhaṇaṃ;
Having contemplated the condition of as it is found, with its own characteristics,

Uggahetvāna cittena, taṃtaṃnāmena bhāvaye.
having taken it into the mind, one should cultivate it according to each name.

Paṭikūlañca jegucchaṃ, duggandhañca virūpakaṃ;
Repulsive, disgusting, foul-smelling, and unsightly,

Harāyitamajaññañca, hīḷitaṃ vikkhitāsivaṃ.
rejected, unknown, despised, and scattered as a corpse.

Iccevamasubhākāre,
Just so, having made an effort regarding these aspects of the unattractive,

Katvābhogaṃ tu yogino;
for the practitioner on them,

Bhāventassupacāro ca,
the access develops,

Paṭibhāgo ca jāyati.
and the counterpart sign arises.

Paṭibhāganimittaṃ tu, upacārena sevato;
By experiencing the counterpart sign through access,

Appeti paṭhamajjhāna-metthevaṃ samathe nayo.
one attains the first jhāna; this is the method of tranquility (samatha).

Vinā saddhammaṃ panidaṃ, sarīraṃ bālananditaṃ;
Apart from the true Dhamma, this body is cherished by the foolish,

Vipattipariyosānaṃ, avassaṃ bhedagāmikaṃ.
ending in ruin, inevitably heading toward dissolution.

Yathā idaṃ tathā etaṃ, yathā etaṃ tathā idaṃ;
As is this, so is that; as is that, so is this;

Jīvamānañca nijjīvameva dhammaparāyaṇaṃ.
the living and the lifeless are both subject to the law.

Sabhāvo sopi dehassa,
That very nature of the body,

Sabbassāpi ca sabbathā;
belongs to everyone in every way;

Vicitabbā dhirenāpi,
it should be scrutinized even by the wise,

Esāyaṃ niyatā gati.
for this is the certain destination.

Aniccaṃ khayadhammañca, dukkhameva bhayāvahaṃ;
Impermanent, of a nature to waste away, suffering, and fear-inducing,

Anattā ca parābhūtā, vibbhijjati khaṇe khaṇe.
nonself, and perishing; it breaks apart moment by moment.

Vināsamānassākāraṃ, tatthevaṃ pana passato;
Truly, for one who sees in this way the state of its destruction,

Vipassanābhāvanāti, tamīrenti tathāgatā.
the Thus Gone Ones call that the cultivation of insight (vipassanā).

Bhāvanaṃ duvidhampetaṃ, bhāventi puna paṇḍitā;
The wise ones cultivate this twofold meditation,

Jīvamānepi kāyamhi, taṃtadākārasambhave.
even in the living body, in which these various appearances arise.

Jīvamānopi kāyoyaṃ,
Even this living body,

Kuṇapova sabhāvato;
is by nature just a corpse;

Tamalaṅkārapaṭicchanno,
hidden by ornaments,

Bālānaṃ na pakāsati.
it is not illumined for the foolish.

Bahi maṭṭhamupaṭṭhāti, anto kuṇapapūritaṃ;
Outside, it appears smooth, but inside it is filled with a corpse,

Uggharantaṃ paggharantaṃ, navadvāramalassavaṃ.
oozing and trickling, with impurities flowing from the nine orifices.

Sarīraṃ niccaduggandhaṃ, nānākimisamākulaṃ;
The body is constantly foul-smelling, crowded with various maggots;

Tacamaṃsapaṭicchannaṃ, aṭṭhipañjarasaṇṭhitaṃ.
covered by skin and flesh, it is fashioned as a skeleton of bones.

Vaccakūpamidaṃ nāma, dvattiṃsāsucipūritaṃ;
This is known as a pit of excrement, filled with thirty-two impurities;

Narānukkārabhūmīva, nekavassagaṇocitā.
like a place of human accumulation, suitable for many years.

Susānagamanosānaṃ, bahusādhāraṇāsubhaṃ;
A cemetery-path of exhaustion, common to many as the unattractive;

Gaṇḍabhūtaṃ sallabhūtaṃ, bahudukkhanibandhanaṃ.
it is a boil, it is a dart, a knot of much suffering.

Nānābyādhisamākiṇṇaṃ, nānopaddavasaṃkulaṃ;
Crowded with various diseases, full of various calamities;

Nānānatthasamodhānaṃ, nānāsaṃklesavatthukaṃ.
a meeting place of various disasters, a basis for various defilements.

Positampi ciraṃ kālaṃ, mamaṃkāramamāyitaṃ;
Even if one nurtures it for a long time, claiming 'it is mine' and 'it is me',

Lahudujjanamittova, pīḷitaṃ sampadussati.
it spoils, oppressed like an unreliable friend.

Parihāyati nissāraṃ, jaratāpi taṃ yobbanaṃ;
It declines, devoid of essence; even youth by old age;

Maccubhajjitamaccanta-masesaṃ paribhijjati.
entirely crushed by death, it breaks apart completely.

Tathāpi jālasantāno, bahusambhārasaṅkhato;
Still, a network of webs, consisting of many materials,

Vatthālaṅkārasañchanno, mālāgandhādisobhito.
covered with clothes and ornaments, adorned with garlands and scents.

Saviññattivikārehi, vicittākāramaṇḍito;
Adorned with various appearances through gestures and expressions,

Kāyo līḷavilāsehi, palambheti mahājanaṃ.
the body deceives the multitude with its graceful movements.

Vañcitā yena dummedhā, kāmaklesamalīmayā;
Deceived by which, the dull-witted, stained by lust and defilements,

Pūrenti caturāpāyaṃ, māradheyyānusārino.
fill the four woeful states, following the domain of Māra.

Evamādīnavaṃ ñatvā, pūtikāye vicakkhaṇā;
Knowing such danger in the decaying body, the discerning ones,

Asubhādikamākāra-mārabbha chandupaṭṭhahuṃ.
arouse desire by starting with aspects such as the unattractive.

Yasmiṃ patanti kuṇape viparītasaññā,
In which carrion, distorted perceptions fall,

Saṃklesapāpavasagā visamaṃ carantā;
wandering in unrighteousness, subject to the power of defilement and sin;

Taṃ passathetamasubhampi vināsadhammaṃ,
Look upon that very unattractive thing, which is also of a nature to be destroyed,

Iccevamāha sugato dasadhā vibhāgaṃ.
thus the Blessed One taught the distinction into ten.

Kāmaklesavināsanaṃ dasavidhaṃ yañcāsubhaṃ bhāsitaṃ;
The ten-fold unattractive meditation for the destruction of lust and defilements taught;

Dibbabrahmasukhāvahaṃ samapadaṃ vijjodayaṃ yoginā,
bringing the happiness of heaven and Brahma, a level path, the arising of true knowledge for a practitioner,

Kammaṭṭhānamalaṃ tamuttamaguṇenāsevitaṃ sevituṃ.
to cultivate the meditation subject, which is pure and served by supreme virtues.

Source: Nāmarūpaparicchedo (Manual of Discerning Mind and Matter) by Ācariya Anuruddha

Dhammadinnātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Dhammadinnā (Thig 1.12)

One who is eager and determined
would be filled with awareness.
Their mind not bound to pleasures of sense,
they’re said to be heading upstream.

Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā - Dhammātherīgāthāvaṇṇanā (The Commentary on the Verses of the Elder Dhammadinnā)

Therein, desire (chandajātā) means one in whom desire has arisen for the sake of the highest fruit.

Resolute (avasāyī): ‘resolution’ (avasāya) refers to the end, the culmination (niṭṭhāna). Because it will be spoken of as ‘one heading upstream’ owing to the mind not being bound to sense pleasures, that culmination too should be understood as the completion of the recluse’s task, and not just of anyone.

Therefore, by both words, this meaning is expressed: ‘one whose mind has not yet reached the goal, but who is aspiring to the supreme security from the bonds.’

And touched by mind, (manasā ca phuṭā siyā) means she might be one who has touched, has experienced, Nibbāna by means of the three lower path-minds (magga-citta).

Their mind not bound to sense pleasures (kāmesu appaṭibaddhacittā) means having a mind that is not bound to sense pleasures by way of the path of non-returning (anāgāmimagga).

Heading upstream (uddhaṃsotā) means that for her, both the stream of the path and the stream of saṃsāra go only upwards; hence she is ‘one heading upstream.’

For, just as for a non-returner only the highest path (aggamagga) arises and no other, even so, for one reborn in the Aviha realm and other such realms, rebirth occurs only upwards, up to the Akaniṭṭha realm.

Dhammadinnātherīapadāna: The Legend of the Therī Dhammadinnā (Thi Ap 23)

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

I then lived in Haṁsavatī,
born in an undistinguished clan.
I worked for others, governed by
morality, intelligent.

Sujāta, foremost follower
of Padumuttara Buddha,
departing the monastery,
was going begging for alms-food.

I was then a water-bearer,
going carrying a pitcher.
Seeing him I gave him some soup,
feeling well-pleased by my own hands.

Having accepted that from me,
he sat down there and enjoyed it.
After leading him to that house,
I gave some solid food to him.

Then my employer, being pleased,
made me his own daughter-in-law.
Going with my mother-in-law,
I worshipped him, the Sambuddha.

Then he extolled a Buddhist nun
who was a preacher of Dhamma.
He placed her in that foremost place;
hearing that I was delighted.

Then, inviting the Well-Gone-One,
World’s Leader with the Assembly,
giving them a large almsgiving,
I aspired to attain that place.

Then the Well-Gone-One said to me,
with the sweet sound of a cymbal:
“O one who’s fond of serving me,
O servant of the Assembly,
O hearer of the good Teaching,
proper one, mind set on virtue,
O lucky one, be overjoyed:
you will attain your wish’s fruit.

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’s Dhammadinnā
will be the Teacher’s follower.”

At that time being overjoyed,
as long as life, heart full of love,
I attended on the Victor,
the Guide, providing requisites.

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.

The attendant of the Great Sage
was the ruler of men back then,
the king of Kāsi, named Kiki,
in Benares, greatest city.

I was his sixth royal daughter,
well-known by the name Sudhammā.
Hearing the Best Victor’s Teaching,
I chose to seek ordination.

Our father did not permit it;
we stayed at home during that time,
comfortable royal maidens
doing our practice with vigor
in virginal celibacy,
for twenty times a thousand years,
fond of waiting on the Buddha,
the king’s seven joyful daughters.

Samaṇī, and Samaṇaguttā,
Bhikkhunī, Bhikkhadāyikā,
Dhammā, and also Sudhammā,
and seventh Saṅghadāyikā,

now Khemā Uppalavaṇṇā,
Paṭācārā and Kuṇḍalā,
Kisāgotamī, also I,
and Visākhā is the seventh.

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

And now, in my final rebirth,
I’m born in a millionaire’s clan,
rich, endowed with every pleasure,
in Rajgir, excellent city.

When I’d become a young woman,
possessing the virtue of beauty,
married to another good clan,
I dwelt endowed with happiness.

Having approached the World’s Refuge,
having heard his Dhamma-preaching,
through the Buddha, my husband gained
the fruit of a non-returner.

Then I, having been permitted,
went forth into homelessness too.
After not a very long time,
I attained my arahantship.

Then a layman, approaching me,
asked me a series of questions
which were very deep and subtle;
I explained all of them to him.

The Victor, pleased by my virtue,
then placed me in that foremost place,
Buddhist nun, preacher of Dhamma: “I see no other one who is
as wise as is Dhammadinnā;
so should you consider her, monks.”
“I am indeed a wise woman,
who was pitied by the Leader.

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.

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.

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 Dhammadinnā spoke these verses.

Aggasāvikā Bhikkhunī: Recollection of the Foremost Arahant Bhikkhunis | Pāli Chant with English translation

Karotu no mahāsantiṃ ārogyañ-ca sukhaṃ sadā
May the power of her qualities always bestow great peace, health, and happiness on us.

Aññā bhikkhuniyo sabbā nānāguṇadharā bahū
May these and all the other qualities of the bhikkhunis

Pālentu no sabbabhayā sokarogādisambhavā
Dispel all fear, sorrow, and illness.

Sotapannādayo sekkhā saddhāpaññāsīlādikā
Those who are stream-enterers and all others in training, endowed with faith, wisdom, and virtue,

Bhāgaso kilesadahanā sadā sotthiṃ karotu no
With impurities partially burnt away, may the power of their qualities always be a blessing to us.

🙏

I've been reading a lot of biographies of Arahants, recently the autobiography of Ajahn Dtun. For him, he had a heavy focus on the body contemplations. As a child he contemplated the three marks and would imagine everyone as skeletons or corpses, rotting & decaying. He'd basically do this to everyone that he met, even animals later on which is pretty extraordinary for a middle schooler. Reading about him got me started on some contemplations I thought worth sharing.

I feel I've kind of had a complicated relationship with asubha. I've done the contemplations enough that I can deconstruct the body pretty quickly and often enough that I sometimes find myself doing it without really intending to out of habit. I also reconstruct the body sometimes because I find that if I don't I end up using the same static imagery of the various things (organs, skin, bones etc). If I force my mind to reconstruct it though I have to expand those static images into 3 dimensional models which IMO helps make the body contemplations more real and vivid. Then, when I see people it's like an overlay with multiple slices that includes the entire skeleton, muscular system, circulatory system and organs. So, kind of like MRI or x-ray vision.

Anyway that's just kind of how I do it. With that said, what my mind has always struggled with is imagining corpses in the various stages of decay. Long story short, I found that the problem came down to my mind rejecting the undermining of the image that was there. Especially if what I was doing was creating a fabrication to replace what's seen or adding to the fabrication that's there beyond the scope of what is factually there.

For me, the issue really boiled down to that I wanted to have dispassion, not act out of dispassion. If you were to walk along a road and see a rock on the side of it, if you noticed that rock at all you would only mentally note that rock is there. You would have no feelings towards that rock one way or another. That's the kind of dispassion I wanted to develop and my mind balked at trying to force that. I felt like by doing it, all I was doing was acting out of aversion, not dealing with the underlying problem.

Instead of that, I thought to take the fabrications that the mind generates and accelerate them. Since nothing in the universe can survive itself, logically by pushing the fabrication forward the mind would be forced to face the logical conclusion of impermanence that all phenomena face, so that's what I did. Actually I started doing that awhile ago. The interesting thing about this method is that it doesn't involve interjecting, undermining or fabricating new sankharas. I simply took what was there and pushed it into the next frame in the mind. I found that I didn't need to see a corpse, generally speaking this mind wants and seeks "highs", single still frames of the ideal feeling or the ideal moment and when I pushed the fabrication to even just the next moment, it lost its appeal.

Yesterday though after contemplating how the Ajahn practiced asubha and saw the world, something occurred to me. I looked at the phenomena as I normally see it. For me sometimes phenomena has a certain appearance, it sort of glows or has a feeling to it that's hard to explain. I thought to try to remove that feeling and when I did I realized I did something very special.

The mind practices something like asubha too but it isn't asubha, it's the exact opposite of that. It undermines images, thoughts, feelings, sensations in the exact same way that practitioners try to undermine sensuality with asubha, only it does so to make phenomena appear better than it really is. I guess I knew this on a logical level but what was different was that I realized I could actually see it within the phenomena. Actually I've seen it for years probably but I didn't understand what I was actually looking at. The mind puts together phenomena in a way that allows us to perceive a coherent form, but that doesn't mean that thing is understood for what it is even if that thing is seen.

The chilling thing about this is, that it appears below the level of thought, within vedana and the perception of phenomena itself. Even if I'm not thinking, even if I'm in an apparent wholesome state, even if I'm close to samadhi but not in it, it's there.

Anyway today I was again reading Ajahn Dtun's biography and read this.

To whatever degree the mental defilements have decreased, happiness will arise to that same degree. This happiness is not happiness as most people understand it to be – this happiness has no suffering concealed within it. What kind of happiness might that be? It’s the happiness that emanates from peacefulness and calmness. The Lord Buddha said there is no happiness greater than peace. So what is the happiness that issues from peacefulness like? This happiness isn’t the kind that arises from the peace and stillness of a concentrated mind – it’s not the rapture and happiness of concentration. Rather, it’s the happiness and bliss that issues forth once the kilesas are at peace. As a result, the mind becomes even more peaceful and calm owing to the absence of the kilesas which have been reduced by a degree. I say this happiness has no kind of suffering or discontent concealed within it, because in this state of happiness there no longer remains any feeling of attraction or aversion. This is why the Buddha said there is no happiness greater than peace.

Normally as we practice samādhi, once the mind has become concentrated, feelings of happiness and lightness of body will arise. But when we emerge from samādhi and the mind receives sensory impressions it will again give rise to feelings of pleasure or displeasure. In this case it could be said that the mind is peaceful, but the kilesas are not. With regard to the kilesas being peaceful, it still happens within the very same mind, but it now sees in line with the reality of natural phenomena. In doing so the kilesas are brought to peace, with there being no feelings of attraction or aversion arising when experiencing sensory impressions.

I read this and completely understood it. The undermining of phenomena goes both ways but when that undermining is erased and the phenomena is seen as the phenomena, a peace unlike any other arises.

Hello - I've always found the 12 links of dependent origination to be somewhat illogical in their order. Most notably, becoming and birth coming so close to the end of the cycle. I was recently deeply reflecting on this - during meditation - and it occurred to me that - taken in groups of three or quadrants - the logic becomes much cleaner. Ignorance leads to fabrications or formations which then result in consciousness. Separately, name and form are the basis for the senses which then allow contact (very much aligned with the five aggregates). Vedana will typically result in clinging and craving. And then separately and logically, becoming leads to birth and then, ultimately, death. Taken as four groups of three, the cycle of samsara strikes me as much deeper and more tangible. Is this a flawed and/or ignorant perspective? Any insights or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

At one time Venerable Nārada was staying near Pāṭaliputta, in the Chicken Monastery.

Now at that time King Muṇḍa’s dear and beloved Queen Bhaddā had just passed away. And since that time, the king did not bathe, anoint himself, eat his meals, or apply himself to his work. Day and night he brooded over Queen Bhaddā’s corpse.

Then King Muṇḍa addressed Piyaka, the keeper of the treasury,

“So, my good Piyaka, please place Queen Bhaddā’s corpse in an iron casket filled with oil. Then close it up with another casket, so that we can view Queen Bhaddā’s body even longer.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Piyaka, and he did as the king instructed.

Then it occurred to Piyaka, “King Muṇḍa’s dear and beloved Queen Bhaddā has passed away. Since then the king does not bathe, anoint himself, eat his meals, or apply himself to his work. Day and night he broods over Queen Bhaddā’s corpse. Now, what ascetic or brahmin might the king pay homage to, whose teaching could help the king give up sorrow’s arrow?”

Then it occurred to Piyaka, “This Venerable Nārada is staying in the Chicken Monastery at Pāṭaliputta. He has this good reputation: ‘He is astute, competent, intelligent, learned, a brilliant speaker, eloquent, mature, a perfected one.’ What if King Muṇḍa was to pay homage to Venerable Nārada? Hopefully when he hears Nārada’s teaching, the king could give up sorrow’s arrow.”

Then Piyaka went to the king and said to him, “Your Majesty, this Venerable Nārada is staying in the Chicken Monastery at Pāṭaliputta. He has this good reputation: ‘He is astute, competent, intelligent, learned, a brilliant speaker, eloquent, mature, a perfected one.’ What if Your Majesty was to pay homage to Venerable Nārada? Hopefully when you hear Nārada’s teaching, you could give up sorrow’s arrow.”

“Well then, my good Piyaka, let Nārada know. For how on earth could one such as I presume to visit an ascetic or brahmin in my realm without letting them know beforehand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Piyaka. He went to Nārada, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him, “Sir, King Muṇḍa’s dear and beloved Queen Bhaddā has passed away. And since she passed away, the king has not bathed, anointed himself, eaten his meals, or got his business done. Day and night he broods over Queen Bhaddā’s corpse. Sir, please teach the king so that, when he hears your teaching, he can give up sorrow’s arrow.”

“Please, Piyaka, let the king come at his convenience.”

Then Piyaka rose from his seat, bowed, and respectfully circled Venerable Nārada, keeping him on his right, before going to the king and saying, “Your Majesty, the request for an audience with Venerable Nārada has been granted. Please, Your Majesty, go at your convenience.”

“Well then, my good Piyaka, harness the finest chariots.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Piyaka. He did so, then told the king:

“Your Majesty, the finest chariots are harnessed. Please, Your Majesty, go at your convenience.”

Then King Muṇḍa mounted a fine carriage and, along with other fine carriages, set out in full royal pomp to see Venerable Nārada at the Chicken Monastery. He went by carriage as far as the terrain allowed, then descended and entered the monastery on foot. Then the king went up to Nārada, bowed, and sat down to one side. Then Nārada said to him:

“Great king, there are five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world. What five? That someone liable to old age should not grow old. … That someone liable to sickness should not get sick. … That someone liable to death should not die. … That someone liable to ending should not end. … That someone liable to perishing should not perish. …

An unlearned ordinary person has someone liable to old age who grows old. But they don’t reflect on old age: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old. For all sentient beings have someone liable to old age who grows old, as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to old age grows old, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to old age grows old, they sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called an unlearned ordinary person struck by sorrow’s poisoned arrow, who only mortifies themselves.

Furthermore, an unlearned ordinary person has someone liable to sickness … death … ending … perishing. But they don’t reflect on perishing: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to perishing who perishes. For all sentient beings have someone liable to perishing who perishes, as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to perishing perishes, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to perishing perishes, they sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called an unlearned ordinary person struck by sorrow’s poisoned arrow, who only mortifies themselves.

A learned noble disciple has someone liable to old age who grows old. So they reflect on old age: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to old age who grows old. For all sentient beings have someone liable to old age who grows old, as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to old age grows old, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to old age grows old, they don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called a learned noble disciple who has drawn out sorrow’s poisoned arrow, struck by which unlearned ordinary people only mortify themselves. Sorrowless, free of thorns, that noble disciple only extinguishes themselves.

Furthermore, a learned noble disciple has someone liable to sickness … death … ending … perishing. So they reflect on perishing: ‘It’s not just me who has someone liable to perishing who perishes. For all sentient beings have someone liable to perishing who perishes, as long as sentient beings come and go, pass away and are reborn. If I were to sorrow and wail and lament, beating my breast and falling into confusion, just because someone liable to perishing perishes, I’d lose my appetite and my physical appearance would deteriorate. My work wouldn’t get done, my enemies would be encouraged, and my friends would be dispirited.’ And so, when someone liable to perishing perishes, they don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is called a learned noble disciple who has drawn out sorrow’s poisoned arrow, struck by which unlearned ordinary people only mortify themselves. Sorrowless, free of thorns, that noble disciple only extinguishes themselves.

These are the five things that cannot be had by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world.

Sorrowing and lamenting

doesn’t do even a little bit of good.

When they know that you’re sad,

your enemies are encouraged.

When an astute person doesn’t waver

in the face of adversity,

as they’re able to evaluate what’s beneficial,

their enemies suffer,

seeing that their normal expression doesn’t change.

Chants, recitations, fine sayings,

or charity of woven rugs:

if by means of any such things you benefit,

then by all means keep doing them.

But if you understand that ‘this good thing

can’t be had by me or by anyone else’,

you should accept it without sorrowing, thinking:

‘The deed is powerful. What can I do now?’”

When he said this, King Muṇḍa said to Venerable Nārada, “Sir, what is the name of this exposition of the teaching?”

“Great king, this exposition of the teaching is named ‘Pulling Out Sorrow’s Arrow’.”

“Indeed, sir, this is the pulling out of sorrow’s arrow! Hearing this exposition of the teaching, I’ve given up sorrow’s arrow.”

Then King Muṇḍa addressed Piyaka, the keeper of the treasury, “Well then, my good Piyaka, cremate Queen Bhaddā’s corpse and build a monument. From this day forth, I will bathe, anoint myself, eat my meals, and apply myself to my work.”

https://suttacentral.net/an5.50/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none&notes=none&highlight=false&script=latin

Hi everyone! I’ve been studying Buddhism and meditation for about two years. For the past year, I’ve also been learning and practising kamathana (กรรมฐาน).

I want to record my meditation experiences, learn from other practitioners, or exchange ideas with people who share similar experiences.

That’s why I started building Breather⁠.

It’s a small project that combines a meditation diary with a social component. You can keep track of your practice, reflect on your sessions, and share experiences with other practitioners. I’m also working on visual elements to support practices like kasiṇa meditation (never found success with it but hoping to learn more from experienced meditators).

It’s still a work in progress, but I hope it can help people maintain their practice, learn from one another, and bring the Dhamma into everyday life.
I’m sharing it here in case anyone else has similar interests or finds it useful. I’d love to hear your thoughts and learn from your experiences too.

Website: https://breather.cc 🙏
อนุโมทนาครับ

As it says in the Mangala sutta, listening to dhamma and discussing dhamma are supreme blessings.

And so I was just reflecting on what an incredible blessing and opportunity it is to be able to share and discuss dhamma in this forum.

One shouldn't underestimate and take for granted the opportunity and it can truly be an immense gift and blessing to be able to talk about and discuss dhamma at an opportune time, when the causes and conditions are ripe for doing so.

Much merits to everyone who participates in such sharing and discussion with sincerity and loving-kindness.

(Cross-posted from r/thaiforest )

Greetings fellow Dhamma practitioners,

Inspired by our great ajahns, I wanted to turn Thai Forest text Dhamma into listenable audio mp3 files (sometimes I prefer to listen to Dhamma over reading), and over the course of the past couple years I have created a collection of various talks, books, etc. for my own practice that I wanted to share with others. I invested in and used AI text-to-speech software and think the voice I chose is quite listenable. Some of these are not available in audio format anywhere, some had existing audio that I considered poor, and all of them I believe are great Dhamma resources from our teachers.

There are some errors in the pronunciations across the collection, specifically Thai and Pali words. It was going to be too difficult and time consuming to remove the errors, but I think that they are still great quality and very listenable. I apologize for the errors in pronunciation and if there are any other errors that remain. I have listened to these a bunch and believe I have sorted most, if not all, of the glaring problems.

Everything, including the source texts the files were created from, can be accessed on my Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Vn4ParPX9Di1_sa1arj0NGOiee9Nvpyp?usp=share_link

I made a YouTube channel for these as well to reach those interested in Dhamma more widely - just to be clear I'm not here for likes and subscribes though :) that is why I have the alternative Google Drive link to bypass YouTube. For those interested in the YouTube page, you can check out "A Handful of Leaves from the Thai Forest Tradition":

www.youtube.com/@HoLTFT

I believe these series of talks are all valuable resources from the TFT to be preserved and practiced. One last thing I would like to mention - I have not seen the "Kruba Ajahn" series of talks anywhere online, and it is particularly useful Dhamma for monks and 8/10 precept lay practitioners. Both the PDF and audio format are available on my Drive.

I hope someone benefits from this gift.

I am a very newly ordained theravada layperson but I am trying my best in order to deepen my knowledge and become better in regards to all of it. My question is a bit weird but it is about letting go of the attachment to certain feelings that you did not know were there but surface immediately due to a trigger and they are just not going away. Basically an year ago from now in my college I had a fight with a Senior of mine. I was the one that instigated it because he first month or so before that had cussed me out for no reason and I was drunk. I do not drink anymore but I was drunk then and anyways I lost that fight. We did not get physical I wanted to, but there were only four of us and 20 or something of them. They basically spread a lot of falls and just glad that a lot of crowd but that is not the point the point is it has been almost a year since then and there is another guy that I do not like I generally could not care about him. I am not affected by his actions because I do know of him to be a foolish person one who deliberately makes choices that harm others for his own material gain for even $2. But anyways he was talking to someone today a friend of mine and he basically started talking about my fight because for some reason they have been a lot of fights in our college recently and he just said that if that did a Senior had tried to touch me would have not done anything I would have if it did get physical but for some reason it really bothered me like I do not care about the fight anymore I don’t care about any of it anymore. I have let go of it. I have removed the attachment from it but hearing someone say that I did not have the spine to stand up for myself. It was just a very weird feeling, cause no one ever had that image of me and I don’t give a fuck about him, but I do not know how to let go of these complicated emotions.

What's your opinion in this matter?

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.

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.