1. Caring for the elderly

    Comment August 21, 2015

    Observe how your mother has become your child. Before you were her child, now she has become yours. She has become older and older until she has become a child again. Her memory goes, her eyes don’t see well and her ears aren’t so good. Sometimes she garbles her words. Don’t let it upset you. You who are nursing the sick must know how to let go also. Don’t hold onto things, just let her have her own way. When a young child is disobedient sometimes the parents let it have its own way just to keep the peace, just to make it happy. Now your mother is just like that child. Her memories and perceptions are confused. Sometimes she muddles up your names, or asks you to bring a cup when she wants a plate. It’s normal, don’t be upset by it. ~Ajahn Chah

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  2. Becoming a Good Human Being

    Comment August 21, 2015

    It’s crucial for us to become good people. If we are not, then how could we say we’re Buddhist? We need to reflect: What kind of person am I? If you’re making a golden vase, first you have to see if the material is real gold. If it’s brass, then you’re not making a gold vase. To become a good Buddhist, you have to become a good human being. It doesn’t mean that you have no anger or jealousy, for example, but that you have decreased the negative emotions. Otherwise, it’s a shame: you have the name of a Buddhist, but have not transformed yourself. Nobody can change us. We have to talk to and instruct ourselves about the right way, then change will happen. ~ 17th Karmapa

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  3. We Truly Have Everything We Need Already

    Comment August 21, 2015

    The moment we stop letting greed make us chase after what we do not have and take for granted all that we do have, we can feel a deep and joyful sense of appreciation. We truly have everything we need already. ~ 17th Karmapa

    Red Tail Hawk Circling Me! Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

    Red Tail Hawk Circling Me! Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

     

     

  4. The Wealth of Contentment

    Comment August 19, 2015

    Contentment is a wealth that gives the highest satisfaction, and we can gain it simply by mining our own mental resources, and knowing our own mind. We can cultivate the perspective that what we have is enough. We can see that we do not actually need more than we already have, and can be completely satisfied with that. ~17th Karmapa

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  5. Our Relationship to the Material World

    Comment August 19, 2015

    The priority we give to material goods in our life is up to each of us to determine. This is also part of deciding how we want to define ourselves. If we are looking to our jobs and to material things to tell us how we are, what we are worth, and where we fit in the world, this is a sign that we have become profoundly confused about the order of things. It shows we have missed the point about how we human beings stand in relation to the material world. ~ 17th Karmapa

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  6. Taking Delight in Your Inner Nature

    Comment August 19, 2015

    The deepest reasons to love yourself have nothing to do with anything outside you — not with your body or with others’ expectations of you. If you ground yourself in your own goodness, nothing will be able to damage your self-esteem. Take delight in your inner nature, in your virtues, and in all your beautiful qualities. ~ 17th Karmapa

    The Natural Bridge. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

    The Natural Bridge. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

  7. The Remedy is Meditation

    Comment August 19, 2015

    Most living beings seek mental happiness and want to eliminate suffering, but just wishing will not bring this about. We may even create the opposite. So we must search for the cause of suffering and the cause of happiness. The afflictions are the cause of samsara, of all mental discomfort and suffering. The remedy is meditation. ~ 17th Karmapa

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  8. The purity of heart

    Comment August 18, 2015

    Love doesn’t mean to win someone. But it means to lose yourself for someone. It is not done by the excellence of mind. But it is done by the purity of heart. ~Vikas Runwal

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  9. Joyous and clear like the lake

    Comment August 17, 2015

    Yielding like the earth,
    Joyous and clear like the lake,
    Still as the stone at the door,
    He is free from life and death.
    His thoughts are still.
    His words are still.
    His work is stillness.
    He sees his freedom and he is freed.

    The master surrenders his beliefs.
    He sees his freedom and he is freed.

    The master surrenders his beliefs.
    He sees beyond the end and the beginning.

    He cuts all ties.
    He gives up all his desires.
    He resists all temptation.
    And he rises.

    ~The Dhammapada

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    Sunflowers in Providence, Rhode Island.

     

Live & Die for Buddhism

candle

Me & Grandma

My Reflection

This site is a tribute to Buddhism. Buddhism has given me a tremendous inspiration to be who and where I am today. Although I came to America at a very young age, however, I never once forget who I am and where I came from. One thing I know for sure is I was born as a Buddhist, live as a Buddhist and will leave this earth as a Buddhist. I do not believe in superstition. I only believe in karma.

A Handful of Leaves

A Handful of Leaves

Tipitaka: The pali canon (Readings in Theravada Buddhism). A vast body of literature in English translation the texts add up to several thousand printed pages. Most -- but not all -- of the Canon has already been published in English over the years. Although only a small fraction of these texts are available here at Access to Insight, this collection can nonetheless be a very good place to start.

Major Differences

Major Differences in Buddhism

Major Differences in Buddhism: There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly Judgement Day ...read more

Problems we face today

jendhamuni pink scarfnature

Of the many problems we face today, some are natural calamities and must be accepted and faced with equanimity. Others, however, are of our own making, created by misunderstanding, and can be corrected...

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