Search found 2597 matches

by dhammapal
Tue Apr 02, 2024 2:37 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

The Buddha talks about having goodwill [mettā] as solid and large as the earth, or as large and as cool as the River Ganges. In other words, you have to think of your goodwill as being too big to fail — i.e., too big to be affected by irritation — and that goodwill and kindness are not weaknesses. ...
by dhammapal
Sun Mar 31, 2024 10:33 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

There have been many cases where people talk about how their attitude of goodwill [mettā], when going into a difficult situation with lots of danger, has protected them, changed the energy of the situation. Again, it’s not trying to be tender or gentle toward other beings, it’s simply wishing them ...
by dhammapal
Sat Mar 30, 2024 11:59 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

There is a true happiness that can be obtained through human effort. It’s not in a lot of the activities that most people assume will lead to happiness, and that’s something you do have to accept. But, [the Buddha] says, your desire for true happiness is something you should honor. That’s what he h...
by dhammapal
Sat Mar 30, 2024 9:26 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

We’re always worried about our relationships to people outside, but our relationship to ourself is very unskillful and that’s a lot more basic, and a much bigger problem. How do you relate to your own thoughts? How do you relate to your perceptions? Learn how to relate in more skillful ways. From: ...
by dhammapal
Fri Mar 29, 2024 5:45 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Question: The fact that I, the self, am sending thoughts of goodwill [mettā] to others: Does this not risk developing an even bigger ego? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: There is such a thing as a healthy and an unhealthy ego. An unhealthy ego doesn’t care about the happiness of others. A healthy ego does care...
by dhammapal
Thu Mar 28, 2024 10:01 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

So remember, your actions are important, and you can make skillful choices now. Now, as you live in this human life, we can’t guarantee that once you’ve started on the path everything will be a path of roses. We all have our past kamma, the things that come at us in life from our past actions. But ...
by dhammapal
Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:52 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
When things don't go well [in the meditation], just drop whatever it is that's not going well. Move back to a level where you're pretty sure you can do things properly.

From: Good Humor by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
by dhammapal
Mon Mar 25, 2024 3:49 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

The question came up: Isn’t the purpose of all this practice to find the ultimate truth about things? And the answer is No. We’re trying to find a particular truth that’s useful for a higher purpose, the purpose of true happiness. It’s truth with a purpose. After all, there are many truths of the w...
by dhammapal
Mon Mar 25, 2024 3:45 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Here it’s useful to remember the Buddha’s own analogy for his project as a teacher. From the first day of his teaching to the last, he stated that he was teaching a path . He started not with a first principle, but with a self-evident problem — stress — and then showed a path to its solution. Inste...
by dhammapal
Sun Mar 24, 2024 6:54 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Even though there may be limitations on what you can do, you always have the opportunity to do the skillful thing, say the skillful thing, think something skillful. And that will be your food down the line. Even though the refreshment and the nourishment and the rapture may not be coming immediatel...
by dhammapal
Sun Mar 24, 2024 9:14 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

[The Buddha] was the sort of person who had already found true happiness. He didn't need to gain anything from anyone else, but he went out and he taught for 45 years, walking around Northern India. Wherever there was someone who was ready to be taught, ready to benefit from his teachings, he would...
by dhammapal
Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:42 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Question: If any unskillful thought arises and you acknowledge it as unskillful, does it still have negative kammic effects? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: No. Question: In other words, does the arising of unskillful thoughts cause bad kamma or is it just our reaction to them? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: It’s our rea...
by dhammapal
Fri Mar 22, 2024 12:41 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

If you want to gain awakening, you have to learn not to take anything for granted. Don’t take the breath for granted, don’t take the body for granted, don’t take your concentration or your perceptions or your insights for granted. They’re all choices. Some of them skillful; some of them not. And yo...
by dhammapal
Thu Mar 21, 2024 9:09 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Ajaan Chah is usually characterized as having one teaching: Let go . Well, there’s a lot more to Ajaan Chah than you might suspect. There’s a monk who’s come to see him and talks about how much he wants to get his mind to calm down. Ajaan Chah doesn’t say, “Well, just learn to accept the fact the m...
by dhammapal
Tue Mar 19, 2024 11:39 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: The Quotable Thanissaro
Replies: 2277
Views: 426808

Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

No scores are fully settled. Things don’t come to closure. This is the nature of saṁsāra: It just keeps wandering on and on and on. No story comes to an end. We watch plays, read books, where events come to a satisfying closure, and part of us would like to see that in our own lives as well. But on...