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Walking Meditation

"And how is a bhikkhu intent on wakefulness ? Here, during the day, while walking back and forth and sitting, a bhikkhu purifies his mind of obstructive qualities. In the first watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, he purifies his mind of obstructive qualities. In the middle watch of the night he lies down on the right side in the lion's posture, with one foot overlapping the other, mindful and clearly comprehending, after noting in his mind the idea of rising. After rising, in the last watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, he purifies his mind of obstructive qualities" (AN3.16.8)

This off-repeated phrase shows the centrality of walking meditation to the purification of the mind in the time of the Buddha.

Walking meditation offers an alternative to sitting meditation when there is some obstruction to sitting e.g. a health problem or intense drowsiness.

Alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation allows meditators, if they wish, to meditate for many hours a day. Samadhi arising during walking meditation is not so deep as that which may occur during sitting, but it can provide as good and sometimes an even better basis for the cultivation of wisdom. Walking meditation practised at a normal walking pace helps meditators to cultivate an awareness easily integrated into daily life. Some meditators may find walking meditation more suited to their personality than sitting. In such cases they may walk more than sit, but should not abandon sitting altogether. Similarly for those who prefer sitting to walking. The goal is to cultivate a continuity of awareness independent of posture.

Ajahn Jayasāro

Whatever suffering arises, in whatever form, it must have a cause - that is samudaya, the second Noble Truth. What is the cause? The cause is that your practice of sila, samadhi and panna is weak. When magga is weak, the kilesa can take hold of the mind. When they do take over the mind, they become samudaya and inescapably give rise to different kinds of suffering. If suffering arises it means that the aspect which is able to extinguish suffering has disappeared. The factors which give rise to magga are sila, samadhi and panna. When they have reached their full strength, the practice of magga will advance inexorably, and will destroy samudaya - that which is able to cause suffering in the mind. It is then - when suffering is in abeyance, unable to arise because the practice of magga is in the process of cutting through the kilesa - that suffering actually dies out in the mind.

Why are you able to extinguish suffering?

Because the practice of sila, samadhi and panna has reached its highest level, which means that magga has reached the point where its progress has become unstoppable. I say that if you can practice like this, it will no longer matter where you have got to in studying the theoretical knowledge of the mind and mental factors, because in the end everything unifies in this one place. If the mind has transcended conceptual knowledge, it will be very confident and certain in the practice, having gone beyond all doubt.

Even if it starts to wander off, you won't have to chase it very far to bring it back onto the path.

~ Ajahn Chah

If you have confidence in and trust yourself, you can feel at ease. Both when people are criticizing you, and when they are praising you, your mind remains at ease. Whatever they say about you, you remain calm and untroubled. Why can you stay so relaxed? Because you know yourself. If other people praise you when you are actually worthy of criticism, are you really going to believe what they say? No you don't simply believe what other people say, you do your own practice and judge things for yourself. When people who have no foundation in practice get praised, it puts them in a good mood. They get intoxicated with it. Likewise, when you receive criticism, you have to look inwards and reflect for yourself. It might not be true. Maybe they say you are wrong, but actually, they are mistaken and you aren't really at fault at all. If so, there's no need to get angry with them, because they aren't speaking according to the truth. On the other hand, if what they say is true and you really are wrong, then again there's no reason to be angry with them. If you can reflect in this way, you can feel completely at ease, because you are seeing everything as Dhamma, rather than blindly reacting to your opinions and preferences. This is the way I practice. It's the shortest most direct way to practice. Even if you were to come and try to argue with me about theories of the Dhamma or Abhidhamma, I wouldn't join in. Rather than argue, I would just give you reasoned reflection.

The important thing is to understand the Buddha's teaching that the heart of the practice is letting go. But it's letting go with awareness, not letting go without awareness, like buffaloes and cows who don't pay much attention to anything. That's not the right way. You let go because you have insight into the world of conventions and concepts and you have insight into non-attachment.

~ Ajahn Chah

"Ajaan Chah has an interesting passage where he tells his monks to keep watch over their minds, that that’s the basic practice. And then he explains what he means by keeping watch over your mind, which is: “Try to catch yourself lying to yourself.”

It’s an interesting idea. Watching the mind doesn’t mean just watching whatever comes up and being passive or accepting or equanimous about it. It means looking for deceit, which is a different process entirely."


~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Catch Yourself Lying to Yourself"

https://youtu.be/h4t-foBQWhY

"The attitude of respect is built into the Buddha’s teachings. A lot of people think that Buddhism is an interesting philosophy, perhaps a very good philosophy, that somehow got religion tacked on to it, with all the bowing and all the other paraphernalia that go along with religion. And they’d like to separate the two: “Can’t we just have the philosophy without the religion?” But if you look at the nature of the Buddha’s philosophy, his teachings on the Four Noble Truths, the whole attitude of respect is built into the teaching itself. When you realize that the big issue here is the possibility of a great deal of pain or a lot of pleasure, true pleasure, it puts an edge on the teachings. It’s not just an interesting description of things. It points out a dilemma we’re all placed in. We’ve got to do something about it, for otherwise we just keep cranking out suffering all the time. If you’ve got any concern for your own well-being, you’ve got to take these truths seriously."



~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Respect for Heedfulness"

JASMINE

References to flowers appear throughout Buddhist texts, the most well-known of which refer to the lotus. Its beauty born from mud is a potent symbol of the liberated mind. Petals to which water does not adhere express non-attachment.

Although the Buddha preferred that householders paid homage to the Triple Gem through Dhamma practice, he did not refuse material offerings. Offerings of flowers have always been popular. Nevertheless, an ancient verse encourages donors to remember that just as the flowers they give will wither and die, so too will those who offer them.

The fourth chapter of the Dhammapada is called 'Flowers'. In one verse it is said that someone who remembers wise words but does not act upon them is like a beautiful flower with no fragrance. One who acts upon the wise words is like a flower that is both beautiful and fragrant.

In another verse, the Buddha says that while the fragrance of flowers cannot go against the wind, goodness - the fragrance of the human heart - can be appreciated in all directions.

Jasmine flowers are acknowledged as the most fragrant of all flowers, and so are referred to in a number of similes in the suttas. For example:

"Just as, bhikkhus, among fragrant flowers jasmine is declared to be their chief, so too when the perception of impermanence is developed, it uproots all conceit, 'I am'."

Ajahn Jayasāro
22/2/25

Time To Heal

So here we want to have some time to sit down and be quiet and heal the mind. The breath helps. It feels good coming in, feels good going out. You’ve got physical seclusion so that you can turn inward and deal with all these chattering voices in your mind.

So as you’re working with the breath, think of it that way: You’ve got these chattering voices, well, throw a little breath nice breath in their direction. That way, they’ll be contented and keep quiet, so that you can do the work you need to do in dealing with the issues of the mind.

- Ajahn Ṭhānissaro

https://www.dhammatalks.org/audio/evening/2010/100621-time-to-heal.html

Who are the mad ones?

People outside may call us mad to live in the forest like this, sitting like statues. But how do they live?

They laugh, they cry, they are so caught up that at times they kill themselves or one another out of greed and hatred. Who are the mad ones?

- Ven. Ajahn Chah

SILA

Sīla is distinguished from other moral codes by certain unique features:

1) Buddhist precepts are not commandments. There is no concept of a divine creator or enforcer, one who rewards compliance and punishes transgressors.

2) Each precept must be undertaken voluntarily, through recognizing both its value as a tool for educating one’s conduct, and the suffering for oneself and others liable to occur through not keeping it.

3) Sīla can only be practised well when accompanied by a training of the heart, particularly the virtues of mindfulness, loving-kindness and forbearance (khanti).

4) Sīla is sullied if keeping precepts leads to feelings of superiority over those who don’t keep them.

5) Sīla is sullied if one keeps precepts with an ulterior motive such as a heavenly rebirth.

6) The keeping of precepts must be conducted in a way that creates the supporting conditions for the development of samādhi and paññā, most vitally by removing the mental agitation that results from unwise actions and speech.

7) Ultimately, sīla reaches the level where it becomes natural and spontaneous. This occurs when the mental states responsible for transgressions have been completely abandoned.

Ajahn Jayasāro
25/1/15