After flowing-on for a hundred thousand ages, she evolved in this Buddha-era among gods and men in a poor family in Sāvatthi. Her name was Gotamī-tissa, but because her body was very skinny she was called 'Skinny Gotamī'. When she went to her husband's family, she was scorned [and called] 'daughter of a poor family'. Then she gave birth to a son, and with the arrival of the son she was treated with respect. But that son, running back and forth and … [Read more...]
Andrew Olendzki
This World Is Not Yours
In a discourse about the teaching of non-self, the Buddha offers the following illustration: “Bhikkhus, what do you think? If people carried off the grass, sticks, branches and leaves in this Jeta Grove, or burned them or did what they liked with them, would you think: ‘People are carrying us off or burning us or doing what they like with us?' No, venerable sir. Why not? Because that is neither our self nor what belongs to our self.” (M 22) As we hear this example today, however, we have to … [Read more...]
The Tathāgata Is “Truly Gone”
"In ancient times when seafaring merchants put to sea in ships, they took with them a bird to sight land. When the ship was out of site of land, they released the bird; and it flew eastward and westward, northward and southward, upward and all around. And if the bird sighted land nearby, it was truly gone; but if the bird saw no land, it returned to the ship." - Anguttara Nikaya 6.54 The word used here for "truly gone" is tathāgatako (translated by E.M. Hare in the PTS edition as "gone for … [Read more...]
Māra Meets His Match (Samyutta Nikāya 1.5.2)
The nun Somā has entered Andhavana (Blind Man's Grove) near Sāvatthi to practice meditation. Māra, the embodiment of delusion, sees her there and desires to make her waver and abandon her concentration. He addresses her with a verse: This, in my view, is the definitive statement in the Buddhist tradition regarding the equality of the sexes. Whatever other words have crept into the literature—from ancient times to the present—whatever attitudes may have been expressed by Theras, Lamas, Roshis … [Read more...]
A Tree Called Steadfast (Anguttara Nikaya 6.5.54)
Once upon a time there was a royal fig tree called Steadfast, belonging to king Koravya, whose five outstretched branches provided a cool and pleasing shade. Its girth extended a hundred miles, and its roots spread out for forty miles. And the fruits of that tree were indeed great: As large as harvest baskets—such were its succulent fruits—and as clear as the honey of bees. One portion was enjoyed by the king, along with his household of women; one portion was enjoyed by the army; one … [Read more...]
No Greater Contentment: The Poem of Bhuta (Theragāthā 522-526)
Three entirely different moods are portrayed so sensitively in the first three stanzas of this poem by the monk Bhūta—the first wild and clamorous, the second bright and benevolent, the third dark and mysterious. Constant among these dramatic changes of nature is the meditating monk, content in any setting. Mindful awareness allows all things to be just what they are, undisturbed by the reconstructions of the petty ego. Like the tiny figure in a Chinese landscape painting, the monk blends into … [Read more...]
Breaking the Cycle (Brāhmaṇa Saṃyutta [SN 7.2.2])
The composers of Pali poetry love to play on words-puns, alliteration (see lines 3,6 & 7), and double intentions abound in the verses that have emerged from the lost world of ancient India. This poem is unique in its thorough repetition of the first phrase, which sets the tone of cyclical activity that drones on and on until the pattern is transformed. Even the pronunciation of punappunaṃ contributes to this: The first two syllables rise up in tone, a pause or break occurs at the … [Read more...]
Directed and Undirected Meditation (Satipatthana Samyutta 47.1.10)
The venerable Ānanda arose early one morning, and taking up his robe and bowl approached a certain settlement of nuns, where he sat down on a seat that had been prepared. A number of nuns approached the venerable Ānanda, and after greeting him, sat down to one side. So seated, these nuns said this to the venerable Ānanda: ‘There are here, Ānanda sir, a number of nuns who abide with minds well established in the four foundations of mindfulness. Their understanding is becoming ever greater … [Read more...]
You Call Yourself a Farmer?: Kasibhāradvāja Sutta (SN 76-80)
At one time the Buddha was living in Magadha, just below the hills, near a brahman village called Ekanāla. At that time the brahman Kasibhāradvāja had yoked together a number of plows, for it was planting time. The Buddha arose in the morning, and having dressed and taken up his bowl he went up to where the brahman Kasibhāradvāja was working. At that time the farmer was feeding his workers. So the Buddha went up to where that feeding was taking place and stood to one side. Seeing the … [Read more...]
The Foolish Monkey (Samyutta Nikāya 47.7)
There is, on Himavat, king of mountains, a rugged and uneven land where monkeys do not wander —and nor do men. And there is, on Himavat, king of mountains, a rugged and uneven land where monkeys do indeed wander –but men do not. And there is, on Himavat, king of mountains, a level stretch of ground, quite pleasing, where monkeys do wander –and so do men. There a hunter set a trap on the trails used by the monkeys, in order to capture those monkeys. There were monkeys there who … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 11
- Next Page »