1. Desire — a temporary pleasure

    3

    I want you to understand clean clear that we distinguish two things: negative, or sinful, and positive. Attachment, or desire, can be negative and sinful, but it can also be positive. The positive aspect is that which produces pleasure: samsaric pleasure, human pleasure — the ability to enjoy the world, to see it as beautiful, to have whatever you find attractive.

    So you cannot say that all desire is negative and produces only pain. Wrong. You should not think like that. Desire can produce pleasure — but only temporary pleasure. That’s the distinction. It’s temporary pleasure. And we don’t say that temporal pleasure is always bad, that you should reject it. If you reject temporal pleasure, then what’s left? You haven’t attained eternal happiness yet, so all that’s left is misery.

    But you should not make the mistake of trying to actualize temporary pleasure [as an end in itself]. You can enjoy it while you have it but you should not squeeze yourself striving for it. The problem is the mind that believes temporary pleasure to be the best there is. That’s a total delusion, an over-estimated conception. Like looking at a cloud in the sky and thinking, “What a beautiful cloud; I wish it would last forever.” You’re dreaming.

    ~ Lama Yeshe

  2. Do all the good you can

    3

    Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. —John Wesley

  3. Whatever choice you make makes you

    2

    Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely. ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

     

  4. This world is your best teacher

    Comment

    This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise. Every failure is a stepping stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore nil desperandum. March forward hero!” ― Swami Sivananda Saraswati

     

  5. The Story of Koka the Huntsman

    Comment

    Verse 125: If one wrongs a person who should not be wronged, one who is pure and is free from moral defilements, viz., an arahat, the evil falls back upon that fool, like fine dust thrown against the wind.

     

    The Story of Koka the Huntsman

    While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (125) of this book, with reference to Koka the huntsman.

    One morning, as Koka was going out to hunt with his pack of hounds, he met a bhikkhu entering the city for alms-food. He took that as a bad omen and grumbled to himself, “Since I have seen this wretched one, I don’t think I would get anything today,” and he went on his way. As expected by him he did not get anything. On his way home also he again saw the same bhikkhu returning to the monastery after having had his alms-food in the city, and the hunter became very angry. So he set his hounds on the bhikkhu. Swiftly, the bhikkhu climbed up a tree to a level just out of reach of the hounds. Then the hunter went to the foot of the tree and pricked the heels of the bhikkhu with the tip of his arrow. The bhikkhu was in great pain and was not able to hold his robes on; so the robes slipped off his body on to the hunter who was at the foot of the tree.

    The dogs seeing the yellow robe thought that the bhikkhu had fallen off the tree and pounced on the body, biting and pulling at it furiously. The bhikkhu, from his shelter in the tree, broke a dry branch and threw it at the dogs. Then the dogs discovered that they had been attacking their own master instead of the bhikkhu, and ran away into the forest. The bhikkhu came down from the tree and found that the hunter had died and felt sorry for him. He also wondered whether he could be held responsible for the death, since the hunter had died for having been covered up by his yellow robes. Continue reading

  6. Do not brood over your past mistakes

    Comment

    Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future. – Swami Sivananda

     

  7. Trying to grasp things, you lose them

    Comment

    Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
    Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.
    Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course.
    He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning.
    He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose.
    What he desires is non-desire; what he learns is to unlearn.
    He simply reminds people of who they have always been.
    He cares about nothing but the Tao.
    Thus he can care for all things.

    ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

  8. Patience is to be calm no matter what happens

    Comment

    Patience is not the ability to wait. Patience is to be calm no matter what happens, constantly take action to turn it to positive growth opportunities, and have faith to believe that it will all work out in the end while you are waiting. ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

  9. How do you let go of things?

    Comment

    How do you let go of things? This means you leave them as they are; it does not mean you annihilate them or throw them away. It is more like setting down and letting them be. Through the practice of letting go we realise that there is the origin of suffering, which is the attachment to desire, and we realise that we should let go of these three kinds of desire. Then we realise that we have let go of these desires; there is no longer any attachment to them.

    When you find yourself attached, remember that ‘letting go’ is not ‘getting rid of’ or ‘throwing away’. If I’m holding onto this clock and you say, ‘Let go of it!’, that doesn’t mean ‘throw it out’. I might think that I have to throw it away because I’m attached to it, but that would just be the desire to get rid of it. We tend to think that getting rid of the object is a way of getting rid of attachment. But if I can contemplate attachment, this grasping of the clock, I realise that there is no point in getting rid of it – it’s a good clock; it keeps good time and is not heavy to carry around. The clock is not the problem. The problem is grasping the clock. So what do I do? Let it go, lay it aside – put it down gently without any kind of aversion. Then I can pick it up again, see what time it is and lay it aside when necessary. — BuddhaNet

  10. Perfect harmony

    4

    Harmony: When there is Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, then one is fearless. There is fearlessness because there is nothing to be frightened of. One has the guts to look at things and not take them in the wrong way; one has the wisdom to contemplate and reflect upon life; one has the security and confidence of sila, the strength of one’s moral commitment and the determination to do good and refrain from doing evil with body and speech. In this way, the whole thing holds together as a path for development. It is a perfect path because everything is helping and supporting; the body, the emotional nature (the sensitivity of feeling), and the intelligence. They are all in perfect harmony, supporting each other.  Source: BuddhaNet

    Jendhamuni at Greylock Mountain in Massachusetts on November 22, 2020.

     


Live & Die for Buddhism

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Khmer Tipitaka 1 – 110

 ព្រះត្រៃបិដក

ព្រះត្រៃបិដក ប្រែថា កញ្រ្ចែង ឬ ល្អី​ ៣ សម្រាប់ដាក់ផ្ទុកពាក្យពេចន៍នៃព្រះសម្មាសម្ពុទ្ធ

The Tipitaka or Pali canon, is the collection of primary Pali language texts which form the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism. The three divisions of the Tipitaka are: Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, Abhidhamma Pitaka.

Maha Ghosananda

Maha Ghosananda

Supreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism (5/23/1913 - 3/12/07). Forever in my heart...

Samdech Chuon Nath

My reflection

វចនានុក្រមសម្តេចសង្ឃ ជួន ណាត
Desktop version

Listen to Khmer literature and Dhamma talk by His Holiness Jotannano Chuon Nath, Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia Buddhism.

Shantidevas’ Bodhisattva vows

My reflection

Should anyone wish to ridicule me and make me an object of jest and scorn why should I possibly care if I have dedicated myself to others?

Let them do as they wish with me so long as it does not harm them. May no one who encounters me ever have an insignificant contact.

Regardless whether those whom I meet respond towards me with anger or faith, may the mere fact of our meeting contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes.

May the slander, harm and all forms of abuse that anyone should direct towards me act as a cause of their enlightenment.

As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not shaken by blame and praise. As a deep lake is clear and calm, so the wise become tranquil after they listened to the truth…

Good people walk on regardless of what happens to them. Good people do not babble on about their desires. Whether touched by happiness or by sorrow, the wise never appear elated or depressed. ~The Dhammapada

Hermit of Tbeng Mountain

Sachjang Phnom Tbeng សច្ចំ​​ ភ្នំត្បែង is a very long and interesting story written by Mr. Chhea Sokoan, read by Jendhamuni Sos. You can click on the links below to listen. Part 1 | Part 2

Beauty in nature

A beautiful object has no intrinsic quality that is good for the mind, nor an ugly object any intrinsic power to harm it. Beautiful and ugly are just projections of the mind. The ability to cause happiness or suffering is not a property of the outer object itself. For example, the sight of a particular individual can cause happiness to one person and suffering to another. It is the mind that attributes such qualities to the perceived object. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Nature is loved by what is best in us. The sky, the mountain, the tree, the animal, give us a delight in and for themselves. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Our journey for peace
begins today and every day.
Each step is a prayer,
Each step is a meditation,
Each step will build a bridge.

—​​​ Maha Ghosananda