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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"