The Quotable Thanissaro

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dhammapal
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Create a sense of well-being inside. If you don’t feel any well-being, it’s hard to wish for other beings or people to have well-being too. So work with your breath, get the breath comfortable, as an act of kindness to yourself and to other people. When you’re less irritated inside, you’re much less likely to lash out at other people and to forget the fact you have to have goodwill [mettā] for them, too.

From: Goodwill, Grounded with Transportation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Other people shouldn’t play that much of a role in our practice, because the practice is purely an internal matter. As Ajaan Lee once said, it’s your own business where you are in the practice. It’s nobody else’s business. If your behavior is a burden on them, that makes it other people’s business. But the less burdensome your behavior is, then it becomes less and less and less anybody else’s business — until finally you reach the deathless. That’s totally your own business. Nobody else has to know. They just sense it in that you’re less of a burden on them.

From: Self-esteem by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Perhaps one of the reasons we’re so messed up in the West is because our culture is designed so that goodness of heart doesn’t really count for much. Our society is designed to take advantage of good-hearted people. They’re not the ones who rise to the top. And because we believe that rising to the top is what matters, goodness of heart doesn’t seem to count for much. And the Buddha wants to reestablish that it does.

Even in [Ancient] India, of course, society was not necessarily designed so that the good people would rise to the top. Remember when the Buddha would talk about kings, he would often put them in the same phrase with thieves: “kings and thieves.” And so it wasn’t the case that society was moral back then and somehow changed now. There are, and have been, a lot of immoral elements in human society, all over the world. But the Buddha’s asking you to look at the good results that come from generosity: not only the impact on the person who receives the gift, but also the good things that happen in your own heart when you’re generous. He’s saying, “Value that.” Value the freedom of choice that you have; value the good results that come from generosity. These are important. They matter in the long run.

From: The Buddha's Basic Therapy by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Even though there are miserable people in the world — and by that I mean people acting in miserable ways — not all human beings are like that. There are human beings who have been shining examples. You can take them as an example and you’ll benefit. That was one of the Buddha’s discoveries: By being good — in other words, developing really skillful qualities of the mind, qualities that are harmless, qualities that strengthen the mind in a good direction — you can find true happiness. And it’s not the happiness simply of patting yourself on the back that you were good, but you open up to a dimension that’s totally other, totally free from suffering.

From: To Gladden the Mind by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Right view and right resolve are filters on how you talk to yourself. The mind churns up all kinds of voices in the course of the day, and you want some standards for judging what’s true, what’s beneficial and what’s timely.

So you think about right view: The basic message is that whatever suffering weighs down the mind comes from within, comes from your craving; and the way to put an end to it comes down to training your thoughts, your words, and your deeds. That cuts through a *lot* of garbage right there. All too often, you tell yourself you’re suffering because of this person or that event, laying all the blame on things outside. But instead of laying blame, right view has you simply ask yourself, “What am I doing that’s piling suffering on top of the mind? How can I stop?” Those kinds of thoughts are useful, they’re true, they’re beneficial, and the Buddha says they’re always timely.

Then, based on your thoughts, you ask yourself, “What am I going to do?” Because a huge part of the mind’s inner conversation is what to do next: A thought comes into the mind and the question is, “Should I follow this thought or should I drop it?” Something happens outside: “Should I pay attention to this or should I ignore it?” “What to do? What to do? What to do?” This is always there in the background.

So here again, you want some filters. Resolve not to indulge in sensuality, which means thinking about how nice it would be to have *this* sensual pleasure or how nice it would be to have *that* sensual pleasure, spending all your time dressing up your sensual pleasures in your mind. Resolve not to follow any thoughts of ill will and or any thoughts of harmfulness.

Anything that doesn’t fall in with those standards is not beneficial. And from there: What’s the best thing to do with your mind? If you’re going to be avoiding sensuality, well, you’ve got to find pleasure someplace else.

So you turn and talk to yourself about getting the mind to settle down with the breath. Here again, you want to think in ways that are true, beneficial, and timely.

From: Standards for Thinking by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
So don’t underestimate acts of merit, and don’t underestimate the joy that can come from being heedful. After all, what are you being asked to do? Be generous. Be virtuous. Think thoughts of goodwill for everybody. That should be a source of joy. Learn to behave in ways that avoid harm. That’s a source of joy. So there’s a joy in being heedful. And the more you appreciate that, the better your practice will go.

From: The Joy of Heedfulness by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Ajaan Lee once made the comment that we tend to confuse things. We think the teachings that seem basic and simple aren’t deep. We think the deep teachings are the ones that are abstract and obscure. But a lot of times, those abstract and obscure teachings are just words; the fact you can say them doesn’t mean anything at all. The deep teachings are the ones that give us advice that’s useful all the time, right here right now. Because what use is wisdom if it can’t lead to long-term happiness, if it can’t stop you from causing yourself to suffer?

From: The Wisdom of Tenacity by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Many pleasures require that things outside be a certain way, and you’re not going to be happy unless they are just that way. Those pleasures, and the attitude they induce, actually weaken the mind. You find yourself creating a hothouse environment for yourself, and only within that hothouse environment can you be happy. Step outside of it and you can’t stand it. Yet, we all know about hothouse plants: They’re perfectly fine as long as the temperature is just right, the humidity is just right, but if you change anything, they die.

That’s the way it is with a lot of our pleasures: They require that society be a certain way, that the economy be a certain way and have reached a certain level of development. When you stop and think about how much your sensual pleasures are dependent on a huge network — a very fragile network — that could break down at any time, you begin to realize that they’re pretty scary. To really enjoy those pleasures, you have to forget about how fragile the network is. That’s what leads to heedlessness, and you start blocking out huge areas of your awareness, which gets in the way of mindfulness: That’s a price you have to pay as well.

From: Pleasure Has a Price by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
It’s only through heedfulness that you’re protected. So heedfulness, even though it’s a type of fear, is the opposite of worry. It’s a confident kind of fear. It recognizes dangers but it also recognizes that there’s a way to avoid those dangers, and it gives you motivation for working on your skills. So even though we will die at some point, if you’ve worked on your skills, you can die without regret, because you find that your skills carry you through. These are the things that you’re really going to need at that point.

Most of the activities we engage in in the course of our daily lives are not going to be helpful at all at that point. But the skills of keeping the mind under control, developing your mindfulness, developing your alertness, developing ardency, your discernment: These are precisely what you’re going to need. And of course, they don’t show their benefits only then. As you go through daily life, these qualities based on heedfulness will see you through. After all, the five strengths, the five faculties, the Buddha says, are all based on heedfulness.

So as we take precautions as we go through daily life, it’s not a matter of worry and fear. It’s strength, protection, confidence, lack of regret — all of which are good qualities to nurture in our hearts and minds.

From: In Heedfulness We Trust by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
The times that are needed to say things displeasing are *very* rare. It’s a sign of a lot more skill, when you have difficulty with someone, that you can get your emotions under control and you can express your thoughts in ways that they will be happy to hear. Even when you’re saying things that are unpleasant, you have to show respect for the other person. Don’t show disdain; don’t show contempt. Choose the right time, the right place, the right situation to say those things.

From: True Freedom of Speech by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Sometimes you read that in the stages of insight you get into weird psychophysical experiences. Those descriptions are designed by people who are trying to sell a particular kind of meditation. You’re going off to spend a week where you want to have something to show for it, something you can talk about when you return. It’s hard to tell your friends, “You know, I maintained my mind in a state of normalcy for the entire week.” It doesn’t impress anybody. But you’re not here to impress people; you’re not here to impress yourself. You’re here to see things clearly. The best way to see things clearly is to get the mind into a state of stillness.

We tend to think of the stages of jhana as very strong trance states, but actually they’re the mind in a state of genuine normalcy where it’s very perceptive, very clearly perceiving things as they are, as they come as they go, able to see distinctions. That’s what we’re working on, trying to keep the mind in a state of normalcy, as with all the elements of the path. The qualities of the path are things we’ve already experienced, things we’ve already tasted. It’s simply that we haven’t seen the strength they can develop if they’re made continuous, if they’re made all-around. This state of centered, clear normalcy in the mind, if you could really maintain it, would build up a lot of strength.

From: Normalcy by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
A lack of self-esteem doesn’t come from the fact of not loving oneself, it comes from loving yourself but then having a sense that you’re not deserving of that love. And so you have to act in a way to make yourself deserving of it. You’re not automatically deserving.

There’s a misunderstanding that you often hear when people attribute to the Buddha the idea that you could search the world and find no one who’s more deserving of love than yourself — which is not what he said. You’re not automatically deserving of your love. You have to *act* in a way that’s deserving of self-esteem.

From: Loving Yourself Wisely by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
A lot of people like the brahma-vihāras. It feels good to be sitting here thinking, “May all beings be happy” or to think of anyone who’s suffering and send compassion: “May that person be free from suffering.” You see people who are happy or doing things that are good, you’re happy for them. Those are pleasant things to think about, and you feel good about yourself thinking them.

But you have to realize the brahma-vihāras are not entirely pleasant, especially the first three, because after all they’re involved in wishes. May all beings be happy. May all those who are suffering be free from their suffering. May all those who are happy or doing good things, may they continue to be happy. May, may, may. But you look at the world. Not everybody is happy. A lot of people are suffering or doing things that are going to cause suffering both for other people now and for themselves on into the future. And there are some people who are happy and yet are abusing their happiness.

So the brahma-vihāras can hurt. When you look frankly at the world, you realize that if you really wish for people to be happy – if it’s a sincere wish and not just a little happy, happy, happy thought you put in the mind – you find that looking at the world gets painful. You wonder: Why can’t we just get along? You look around at people, and for some reason they keep on finding ways of not getting along. You’d think it should be easy for people to learn how to cooperate, to treat one another with respect, and yet they don’t. And as the Buddha pointed out, it’s going to get worse, this human world of ours, before it gets better.

This is why equanimity is the most refined of all the brahma-vihāras. It’s not a wish; it’s a statement of fact. All beings are the owners of their actions, heir to their actions. Whatever they do, for good or for evil, to that will they fall heir. Period. It’s a chastening thought, but one that you can hold on to and not suffer nearly so much. Ajaan Fuang commented that mettā needs upekkhā or equanimity if it’s not going to turn into a source of suffering.

This is why the brahma-vihāras come in a set. Mettā keeps upekkhā from becoming cold and heartless. You go through the first three before you get to the fourth one. The equanimity is where you can go when you look at the world and realize, “They’re hunting people down and they’re making it legal. People in power are ripping off the rest of the society, and it’s legal.” And you want to wonder, what’s wrong with this human race?

So you have to step back a little bit further and say, “Well, it’s karma.” And where are you going to find the way out, and how are you going to show people the way out? You have to find the way out through your own actions. Because the important part of developing the brahmavihāras is that you really are sincere in your wish. It’s not just an idle wish that you switch on when you want to feel good, and then switch off as you go through the rest of your life. One of the reasons we practice the brahma-vihāras is so they can become the motivation for our actions even in the face of difficulty, even in the face of difficult people.

From: Metta Can Hurt by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people depict the Buddha’s teachings like this: There really is no happiness in the world, and contentment lies in just admitting that fact and basically giving up on the search for happiness and learning how to be equanimous and unaffected by anything. That’s the best that can be expected. There is no transcendent. There’s nothing unconditioned. It’s just a matter learning how to accept where you are.

That’s almost too depressing to think about, if that’s what it was all about. But fortunately, it’s not.

The Buddha did find an ultimate happiness, one that is totally satisfying — so totally that it’s more than anything you could think about, more than anything you could imagine. Can you imagine not hungering? For most of us, just that idea stretches our imagination a lot. We’re used to being hungry and we find satisfaction in things that seem to satisfy the hunger, at least for a while. We forget that a lot of the things that are appealing in life are appealing only because we’re so hungry that we go after them. This happens as we’re alive. This happens as the body dies.

There’s still a hunger in the mind that’s going to go hungering on for other things; other lifetimes. So we’re working toward a happiness where that hunger ends — not because we’ve simply decided that there really is nothing out there worth feeding on, so we might as well not feed anymore. That doesn’t work at all. The hunger is still there. The Buddha’s approach was to find a way to put an end to that hunger by totally satisfying it.

So always keep that in mind. There’s a very positive thing that we’re working toward here. And the human mind and human effort are capable of obtaining it.

From: The Brightness of Life (2011) by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:
Freud has a weird way of looking at things. He says our basic desire is for sex. If that desire gets frustrated, we go looking for other things. Actually, the basic desire is the desire for pleasure, and the Buddha takes advantage of that in his path: You’ve got the pleasure of jhana, and from that vantage point, you look at the pleasures that come from the senses and sensual enjoyment and sexual activity and you realize that they’re not really all that pleasant. They have their bad side as well.

The mind wants pleasure more than it wants anything else. This is why even our drive for survival is dependent on finding pleasure in life. When people find no more pleasure in life at all, they want to die. That shows where our real drive is: It’s for pleasure.

So you sublimate the drive. You actually become more discerning in how you’re going to look for pleasure. So much of what we do in our lives is driven by the desire for pleasure, and yet we very rarely sit down and think it through: what really is pleasant for us, what really does give satisfaction.

You have to learn how to see the desire for pleasure as basic, but then you want to look for a pleasure that really is pleasure all the way through, that has no drawbacks either now or on into the future. That means you have to focus on the pleasures of the path.

So when you’re looking at things and you find that their pleasant side is going to pull you away from the path, you’ve got to look for their bad side as well.

From: The Pleasure Principle Made Noble by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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