This article is adapted by Thanissaro Bhikkhu from the workshop he taught on "Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha: The Triple Refuge” at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies on June 16-18, 1995. The act of going for refuge marks the point where one decides to take the Dhamma as the primary guide to the conduct in one's life. It means that one's relationship to Dhamma practice has matured from simple involvement into a commitment. To understand why this commitment is called a "refuge," it is helpful to … [Read more...]
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
The Not-Self Strategy
This is a revised version of a talk given during the course on Background to Breath Meditation taught by the author at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in February, 1993. Books on Buddhism often state that one of the Buddha’s most basic tenets is that there is no soul or self. Of course, different books qualify this tenet in different ways. Some say that, no, there is no self, but yes there is the moral principle of karma operating beyond death; others say, no, there is no separate … [Read more...]
A Question of Skill
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, also known more informally to many as Ajaan Geoff, is an American-born Theravada monk who has been the abbot of Metta Forest Monaster near San Diego, CA, since 1993. He teaches regularly at BCBS and throughout the US and has contributed significantly to the Dhamma Dana Publications project with his books Wings to Awakening, Mind Like Fire Unbound, and a new free-verse translation of the Dhammapada. Ajaan Geoff, thirty years ago you were a student at Oberlin … [Read more...]
The Path of Concentration and Mindfulness
This article is adapted from a workshop offered at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, February 23-25,1996 by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, San Diego County, California. Many people tell us that the Buddha taught two different types of meditation: mindfulness meditation and concentration meditation. Mindfulness meditation, they say, is the direct path, while concentration practice is the scenic route that you take at your own risk because it's very easy to get … [Read more...]
The Essence of Dhamma
This month's Insight Journal includes both an article by Ajaan Thanissaro, "The Essence of the Dhamma," and a brief interview with him about the article. The article challenges us to re-examine the way we look at the Dhamma through eyes conditioned by the 18th century Enlightenment, along with the modern and post-modern attitudes it has spawned. We have been brought up in a bifurcated culture. On the one hand, modernism assumes that knowing the world through science will make you happy. On the … [Read more...]
The Arrows of Thinking
Papañca & the path to end conflict In a striking piece of poetry (Sn 4:15), the Buddha once described the sense of saṃvega—terror or dismay—that inspired him to look for an end to suffering. I will tell of how I experienced saṃvega. Seeing people floundering like fish in small puddles, competing with one another— as I saw this, fear came into me. The world was entirely without substance. All the directions were knocked out of line. Wanting a haven for myself, I saw … [Read more...]
Getting Out of the Romantic Gate
Ajaan Thanissaro--whom many of our readers know well either from his courses at BCBS and/or from his prolific translations, commentaries, and transcribed Dhamma talks--has been studying and writing about how Romantic and Transcendentalist thought have affected Western understanding of Buddhadhamma for some time. He has deep familiarity with the relevant Western philosophical traditions, and this, combined with his first-hand understanding of Dhamma texts and practices, makes him an extremely … [Read more...]
