Buddha Words

The Liberation Manual: A Guide to Transcend the Mirage of Desires and the Illusion of Mind.

Book by Venerable Panadure Ananda

Liberation Manual: Documentary 🔽
https://youtu.be/tn9cN3F9pzA?feature=shared

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans near Silāvatī.

Now at that time several mendicants were meditating not far from the Buddha, diligent, keen, and resolute.

Then Māra the Wicked manifested in the form of a brahmin with a large matted dreadlock, wearing an antelope hide. He was old, bent double, wheezing, and held a staff made of cluster fig tree wood. He went up to those mendicants and said, “You’ve gone forth while young, reverends. With pristine black hair, you’re blessed with youth, in the prime of life, and you’ve never flirted with sensual pleasures. Enjoy human sensual pleasures. Don’t give up what is apparent in the present to chase after what takes effect over time.”

“Brahmin, that’s not what we’re doing. We’re giving up what takes effect over time to chase after what is apparent in the present. For the Buddha says that sensual pleasures take effect over time; they give much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks. But this teaching is apparent in the present life, immediately effective, inviting inspection, relevant, so that sensible people can know it for themselves.”

When they had spoken, Māra the Wicked shook his head, waggled his tongue, raised his eyebrows until his brow puckered in three furrows, and departed leaning on his staff.

Then those mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened. The Buddha said, “Mendicants, that was no brahmin. That was Māra the Wicked who came to pull the wool over your eyes!”

Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha recited this verse:

“When a person has seen where suffering comes from
how could they incline towards sensual pleasures?
Realizing that attachment is a snare in the world,
a person would train to remove it.”

- SN 4.21 Sambahulasutta🙏☸️
.

Suppose a great mass of fire was burning with ten, twenty, thirty, or forty loads of wood. And from time to time someone would toss in dry grass, cow dung, or wood. Fed and fuelled by that, the bonfire would burn for a long time.

In the same way, there are things that fuel grasping. When you concentrate on the gratification provided by these things, your craving grows. Craving is a condition for grasping. Grasping is a condition for continued existence. Continued existence is a condition for rebirth. Rebirth is a condition for old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress to come to be. That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.

Suppose a great mass of fire was burning with ten, twenty, thirty, or forty loads of wood. And no-one would toss in dry grass, cow dung, or wood from time to time. As the original fuel is used up and no more is added, the great mass of fire would be extinguished due to not being fed.

In the same way, there are things that fuel grasping. When you concentrate on the drawbacks of these things, your craving ceases. When craving ceases, grasping ceases. When grasping ceases, continued existence ceases. When continued existence ceases, rebirth ceases. When rebirth ceases, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress cease. That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.

- SN 12.52 Upādānasutta🙏☸️

“What is a person’s partner?
What is it that instructs him?
Taking delight in what is a mortal
Released from all suffering?”

“Faith is a person’s partner,
And wisdom is what instructs him.
Taking delight in Nibbāna, a mortal
Is released from all suffering.”

- SN 1.59 Dutiyasutta🙏☸️

Lord Sakka/Indra visits the Buddha

Sakka entered Indra’s hill cave, bowed to the Buddha, and stood to one side. And the gods of the thirty-three did likewise.

Dear sir, I am Sakka, lord of gods. I am the Buddha’s disciple, a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, bound for awakening.

- Digha Nikaya 21

Virtues of the Lay-follower

He has gone for refuge to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.

He places the Dhamma first.

He gives according to his ability.
He guards his deeds and words.

If he sees a decline in the Dispensation of the Teaching of the Buddha, he strives for its strong growth.

He will not accept any other teacher, not even for the sake of his life.

— Milindapañha, Ch. IV

Ārogyaparamā lābhā,
San­tuṭ­ṭhi­paramaṃ dhanaṃ;
Vissāsaparamā ñāti,
Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ.

Good health is the most precious gain;
Contentment is the foremost wealth.
Trust is the greatest relative;
Nibbāna is the highest happiness.

- Buddha, Dhammapada 204

Just as a tree, though cut down, sprouts up again if its roots remain uncut and firm, even so, until the craving that lies dormant is rooted out, suffering springs up again and again.

—Dhammapada 338

Light the Lamp of Wisdom in Your Heart.

I kindle the light within my self.
It is the constant light of wisdom.
My mind is always concentrated.
I live my enlightened life with a liberated mind.

The light should be kindled in your heart.
A well-trained mind shines brightly.

the Dhamma of the Buddha is the lake with the shores of virtue.
Living with a still mind is always praised by the noble people.
Those skilled Dhamma practitioners bathe in that lake.
They cross to the far shore without getting wet.

- Buddha, SN 7.9 Sundarika Sutta

A List of Difficulties and an Exhortation to Cultivate

It is difficult to give when one is poor.
It is difficult to study the Way when one has wealth and status.
It is difficult to abandon life and face the certainty of death.
It is difficult to encounter the Buddhist sutras.
It is difficult to be born at the time of a Buddha.
It is difficult to be patient with lust and desire.
It is difficult to see fine things and not seek them.
It is difficult to be insulted and not become angry.
It is difficult to have power and not abuse it.
It is difficult to come in contact with things and have no thought of them.
It is difficult to get rid of pride.
It is difficult to practice equanimity of mind.
It is difficult not to gossip.
It is difficult to meet a Good and Wise Advisor.
It is difficult to see one's own nature and study the Dharma.
It is difficult to see a state and not be moved by it.
It is difficult to have a good understanding of skill-in-means.

- Sutra in Forty Two Sections

🌷

Abhaya Paritta - The Danger-free Protection


Having revered the jewel of the Buddha,
the highest, most excellent medicine,
the welfare of human & heavenly beings: Through the Buddha’s majesty & safety, may all obstacles vanish. May your sufferings grow totally calm.

Having revered the jewel of the Dhamma,
the highest, most excellent medicine,
the stiller of feverish passion:
Through the Dhamma’s majesty & safety,
may all obstacles vanish.
May your fears grow totally calm.

Having revered the jewel of the Saṅgha,
the highest, most excellent medicine,
worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality:
Through the Saṅgha’s majesty & safety,
may all obstacles vanish.
May your diseases grow totally calm.

Are you oblivious to the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death?

There is no guarantee that you will survive, even past this very day! The time has come [for you] to develop perseverance in [your] practice.

For, at this singular opportunity, you could attain the everlasting bliss [of nirvāṇa]. So now is [certainly] not the time to sit idly, But, starting with [the reflection on] death, you should bring your practice to completion!

The moments of our life are not expendable, And the [possible] circumstances of death are beyond imagination.

If you do not achieve an undaunted confident security now, What point is there in your being alive, O living creature?

- Padmasambhava

Asubha: Protective Meditation on Impurities of the Body

Seeing this body as impure when it is dead, without consciousness, and also impure when alive with consciousness, one should meditate on its foulness.

The thirty-two impurities of one’s body are disgusting in colour, and sign, foul smell, position and space where impure parts connect together.

The impurities within the body are more disgusting than those that fall from it, since impurities that fall from body may touch even pure things, but inner impure parts rest just on impurities.

Like a worm born in filth, this body was also born in filth. Like a cesspit that is full, this body is full of filth.

Just as fat pours from an over flowing pot, likewise impure things always flow from this body. Like a cesspit full of filth, this body is the home to various kinds of worms.

This body suffers from boils, diseases, aches and pain like a wound that is incurable. It is extremely repulsive. This impure body indeed is subject to destruction.

The Supreme Dhamma King

I realized everything that should be realized.

I developed everything that should be developed.

I eliminated everything that should be eliminated.

I have attained the most supreme state. I am unbeatable.

I defeated the army of Māra. Having overcome all enemy powers, I live happily seeing no fear from any direction.

It is truly difficult to often have the appearance of such a rare being in the world.

Dear Brāhmin, I am an unsurpassed Dhamma surgeon. The Dhamma Wheel that I turn cannot be turned back by anyone in the world.

I am the Buddha.
I am the Supreme Buddha.

- Theragāthā 16.6

After seeing the Awakened One,
the Buddha, kinsman of the Sun,
they revere him from afar,
the one great of heart and intrepid

Homage to you, O thoroughbred!
Homage to you, supreme among men!
We bow to Gotama the victor,
We bow to Gotama the awakened!’

-Āṭānāṭiya Sutta

If a mortal desires sensual pleasure
and their desire succeeds,
they definitely become elated,
having got what they want.

But for that person in the throes of pleasure,
aroused by desire,
if those pleasures fade,
it hurts like an arrow’s strike.

One who, being mindful,
avoids sensual pleasures
like side-stepping a snake’s head,
transcends attachment to the world.

There are many objects of sensual desire:
fields, lands, and gold; cattle and horses;
slaves and servants; women and relatives.
When a man lusts over these,

the weak overpower him
and adversities crush him.
Suffering follows him
like water in a leaky boat.

That’s why a person, ever mindful,
should avoid sensual pleasures.
Give them up and cross the flood,
as a bailed-out boat reaches the far shore

—Kāma Sutta

Live the teachings yourself

A senior monk recently told me of an occasion when he was abused online over a certain teaching that he had given. His tone of voice as he told me the story was even and natural. It was immediately clear that his reason for telling me was not to defend himself or let off steam. He simply considered that the whole matter was instructional. Any impact on him or his reputation was incidental. What he wanted to impress upon me were the consequences of shoddy scholarship.

I have often felt that it is in seeing teachers embody the Dhamma that i have learnt the most in my life, more even than listening to their discourses. Criticism, especially unfair criticism, is hard to deal with. It is a blessing to be in the presence of one whose mind is such that harsh words aimed at them dissolve in the void, as if they were daubed in thin air.

People often ask me how to inspire their parents or children in Buddhadhamma. My advice is to first seek to live the teachings yourself. In words attributed to Anton Chekhov: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass"

Ajahn Jayasāro

Thig 6:6 Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī

Awakened! Hero! Homage to you,
highest of all beings—
you who’ve released me
and many other people
from suffering!

I’ve comprehended all stress,
dried up craving, the cause,
developed the eightfold path,
and touched cessation.

Not knowing things as they were,
I wandered on without respite.
But now that I’ve seen the Blessed One,
this is my last body-heap.

Birth & wandering-on
are totally ended.
There is now
no further becoming.

I see the disciples gathered,
their persistence aroused,
resolute, constant
in strong exertion:
This is the worship of the Buddhas.

Truly for the benefit of the many
did Māyā give birth to Gotama,
thrusting away the mass of pain
of those mired in illness & death.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thig/thig6_6.html

Saṁyutta Nikāya
SN 7.14 Mahāsāla Sutta:
Father

At the city of Sāvatthī…

Then a certain father of the brahmin caste wearing a dirty shabby outfit, went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side. The Buddha asked him, “Dear father, why are you wearing a dirty shabby outfit?”

“Master Gotama, I have four sons. At their wives’ order my sons chased me out from my house.”

“Well then, father, memorize these verses that I am going to teach you now and recite them when your sons are all seated in the assembly hall with a large crowd.”

The Buddha:

“I was overjoyed when my sons were born,
and wished for them the very best.
But at their wives’ order they chased me out,
as dogs chase out a pig.

“These nasty sons are mean,
though they called me dear dad.
They’re cruel demons in the shape of sons,
throwing me out as I’ve grown old.

“Like an old, useless horse,
led away from its fodder,
the elderly father of those fools,
begs for food at others’ homes.

“Even my walking stick is better,
than those disobedient sons,
because this stick drives off a wild bull,
and even a wild dog.

“It goes before me in the dark,
on uneven grounds it supports me.
By the wonderful power of this stick,
when I stumble, I stand firm again.”

Having memorized those verses taught by the Buddha, the father recited them when his sons were all seated in the assembly hall with a large crowd.

“I was overjoyed when my sons were born,
and wished for them the very best.
But at their wives’ order they chased me out,
as dogs chase out a pig.

“Like an old, useless horse,
led away from its fodder,
the elderly father of those fools,
begs for food at others’ homes.

“Even my walking stick is better,
than those disobedient sons,
because this stick drives off a wild bull,
and even a wild dog.

“These ungrateful sons are mean,
though they called me dear dad.
They’re cruel demons in the shape of sons,
throwing me out as I’ve grown old.”

Then those sons brought him back home, bathed him, and gave him two new cloths.

Then the father, taking one of the cloths, went to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha, “Master Gotama, as you know I am from the brahmin caste and according to our tradition we offer gifts to our teachers. Master Gotama is also one of my teachers now. May Master Gotama please accept my gift!”

So the Buddha accepted the cloth out of compassion. Then the father said to the Buddha, “Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! Just as if someone turned upright, what was upside down, revealed what was hidden, pointed out the path to whoever was lost, or lit a lamp in the dark so people with good eyes could see what’s there, Master Gotama taught me the Dhamma, which is clear in many ways. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha. From this day forth, may Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge to the Triple Gem for as long as I live.”

https://suttafriends.org/sutta/sn7-14/

Sabbitiyo vivajjantu
sabbarogo vinassatu
ma te bhavatuantarayo
sukhi dighayuko bhava

May all misfortunes be averted.
May all diseases be cured.
May you never face any danger.
May you live long and happily.

-Buddha, Āṭānāṭiya Paritta

When Buddha gave dhamma talks, he would give instruction, encouragement, urging, & rousing—One part handing over information, then encourage…urge…& rouse to give mental strength; confidence that it will be worth it. So we must urge ourselves; this will be good, these are good qualities, because when you get old, these [qualities] will be the only things you can depend on.

…Because what else do we have in life? All the good things get subject to sickness, aging, & death. As you get older, you can’t see things, hear things properly. The sensual pleasures are not so enjoyable anymore. As you grow ill, the things you used to enjoy eating lose their pleasure. & when you’re dead, you can’t have any of these things.

& when we grow old, it’s going to be much harder to practice the Buddha’s teachings. I need to practice now while I can, so that even when I’m old, I don’t suffer.

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Achaan Chah just laughed and pointed out how much the monk was suffering by trying to judge others around him.

Then he explained that his way of teaching is very simple:

"It is as though I see people walking down a road I know well. To them the way may be unclear. I look up and see someone about to fall into a ditch on the right-hand side of the road, so I call out to him, 'Go left, go left' Similarly, if I see another person about to fall into a ditch on the left, I call out, 'Go right, go right!' That is the extent of my teaching. Whatever extreme you get caught in, whatever you get attached to, I say, 'Let go of that too.' Let go on the left, let go on the right. Come back to the center, and you will arrive at the true Dharma."

—Ajahn Chah, from 'A Still Forest Pool'

"It is possible to be generous and not be very happy about it. Especially when you think you’re being generous in hopes of getting something back from the people that you’re benefiting. You start getting impatient about, “When are the results going to come?”

This is what the meditation is for: to remind you that you’re being generous because, in and of itself, it’s good for the mind. That’s the reward right there. It helps to cleanse the mind of its greed and to develop a sense of the needs of other people and how good it feels to help other people when you have something and they lack it, and you’re able to fill up the lack for them.

And it so happens that when you’re generous, other people will tend to be generous with you. But the prime purpose of the generosity is to cleanse the mind, to open up the mind, to make the mind broader.

It’s like living in a house. If you’re living in a very narrow room, it’s very confining. But if you’re living in a wide-open room with lots of sunlight and lots of space, you’re very comfortable.

It’s the same with the mind. If your mind is greedy and acquisitive, it’s narrow, it’s confining. All you can think about is how little you have and how much more you want and how you’re afraid that what you’ve got is going to get taken away. That’s a very confining, very narrow place to be

But if you realize that the goodness you’ve done by being generous doesn’t get taken away, then you can live in a world where they have fires and floods and storms, but your good inner possessions are not affected by the fires or floods or storms.

At the same time, you’ve found a way to connect with other people. So not only do you have a wide-open house inside your own mind, but other people are also happy to open their houses to you. So the mind gains a greater sense of spaciousness by cultivating the virtue of generosity."



~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Understanding Happiness"