We study and practice with the Buddha’s teaching on the five aggregates in order to take part in the liberating journey towards realizing that body, feeling, perception, intention and consciousness are impermanent, suffering and not self. I have found that the key to this breakthrough liberation has been in observing and discovering for myself how the second aggregate, vedanā or feeling, operates. In the Buddha’s teaching on dependent origination, vedanā marks what some people call the … [Read more...]
Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia
A Simple Matter of Choice?
These remarks are exerpted from a Bhavana Program on Intention offered at BCBS in June of 2001. When we first look at the issue of intention, we might have the sense that it is all just a simple matter of choice. But when I reflect upon this phrase, I find myself putting a question mark at the end of it. A simple matter of choice? Maybe yes, maybe no. Let’s have a look and see what is happening when we make choices. First of all, we should recognize that in Buddhist teachings the idea of … [Read more...]
The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness
dhammesu dhamm-ānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhā-domanassaṃ One abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware, mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. —Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta The Bhāvana Program is a seven-day vipassanā retreat of sitting and walking practice which includes a textual study session each morning. This new model, unique to BCBS, allows for an in-depth investigation of the Dhamma using both … [Read more...]
There’s More to Giving Than We Think
A number of years ago, I taught several workshops on the theme of generosity (dāna) as a spiritual practice. The audience was a group of volunteers at a community meditation center. It was a bit of a rude awakening for all of us to discover that only a few of the volunteers saw their service as an integral part of their spiritual practice. A majority of the volunteers said that they offered their time and energy because they didn’t have much money and volunteering was a way to attend the … [Read more...]
The Last Stronghold of Self
I find Buddhist practitioners to be quite good at establishing skillful intentions. We endeavor to keep the precepts, to rise up to the demands of daily practice, and to diminish sense desires. And this can be inspiring to witness. Our resolve is undeniable. Still, the thing I hear most often as a Dhamma teacher is how frustrating it can be trying to stay on course once we establish our intentions. We are constantly faced with patterns and habits that run contrary to our … [Read more...]
A Builder of Bridges
I know it is an obvious question, Taraniya, but how did you get into all this? As far back as I can remember, I was interested in what we now call the spiritual path. It took many forms in my early years, but I can tell you what led to my interest in Buddhism and how I first got exposed to it. Throughout my twenties and early thirties I had been interested in facilitating change through political, social and economic systems. I wanted to work in fields that served people in a positive … [Read more...]
“Seeing” the Āsavas
The Sabbāsava Sutta (M 2) is one of the most important and practical teachings in the Pāli Canon. It summarizes our most deeply entrenched patterns of delusion and suffering and it points to the methods by which these are managed and overcome. This is what it's all about—seeing our patterns and working with them skillfully. Thus, one might say that the Sabbāsava Sutta outlines the whole of the practice. The key word here is āsava, often translated as "taint" although there have been … [Read more...]
