Mother Rain S 1:80 vuṭṭhi alasam analasañca mātā puttaṃ va posati vuṭṭhibhūtā upajīvanti ye pāṇā pathaviṃ sitā ti The rain pours down on weak and strong As a mother nurtures her child. The spirits of the rain sustain All creatures who dwell on the earth. * Slipping Away Heraññakāni Thera Thag 145 accayanti ahorattā, jīvitaṃ uparujjhati, āyu khīyati maccānaṃ kunnadīnaṃ va odakaṃ. Days and nights go hurtling by Till our lifetime comes to an end. the life of mortals slips … [Read more...]
King Pasenadi Goes on a Diet (Samyutta Nikāya 3:13)
Once when the Buddha was living at Sāvatthi, King Pasenadi of Kosala ate a whole bucketful of food, and then approached the Buddha, engorged and panting, and sat down to one side. The Buddha, discerning that King Pasenadi was engorged and panting, took the occasion to utter this verse: Now at that time the brahmin youth Sudassana was standing nearby, and King Pasenadi of Kosala addressed him: "Come now, my dear Sudassana, and having thoroughly mastered this verse in the presence of … [Read more...]
A Comprehensive Matrix of Constructed Experience
These are the building blocks with which we construct our world. Every action which creates karma is represented on this chart. It is meant as an exhaustive categorization of all conditioned human experience. Try examining each of these options, one at a time, and look for examples of such activity in your own life and practice. You will find that such a matrix of experience provides a generic and de-personalized way of looking at what is taking place moment by moment, which supports the … [Read more...]
The Five Spiritual Powers
Sarah Doering has had a long association with the Insight Meditation Society and with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. On both boards for many years, she has been a devoted practitioner of insight meditation, and has been teaching at IMS for the past several years. Sarah is currently one of the resident teachers at the newly opened Forest Refuge. Three Month Retreat October 1999 For forty-five years after his enlightenment, the Buddha wandered about northern India teaching. … [Read more...]
The Pāramis: Heart of Buddha’s Teachings and Our Own Practice
This article is adapted from a one- day workshop offered by Sylvia Boorstein at the Bane Center for Buddhist Studies on April 5, 1997. Since that time, Sylvia has also taught a ten-week course on Paramis at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. We begin this day of practice in the traditional way of honoring the Buddha and all those others who have awakened to the possibility of living a fully wise and compassionate life. We take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the … [Read more...]