Awakening To Four Noble Truths
These are four articles and related Dhamma talks and sangha discussions on the meaning of awakening in relation to Four Noble Truths from summer 2016…
The Meghiya Sutta
In the Meghiya Sutta, the Buddha teaches Meghiya five qualities that bring awakening or full human maturity…
The Buddha Taught Happiness
I believe it is wrong speech to misrepresent the Buddha’s Dhamma. Cultural influence, individual views, and a lack of thorough inquiry has led to a “thicket of views” within Buddhism…
Samadhi And Jhanas – Concentration And Absorption
The Samadhi Sutta shows the proper use of Jhana meditation within the Eightfold Path. Jhana, meditative absorption is initiated with mindfulness…
Fear, Meditation, Anatta
Fear arising during meditation, particularly shamatha-vipassana meditation, is a subject that comes up often. When meditation is practiced within the framework of the Eightfold Path the context of the Four Noble Truths brings understanding and guidance…
The Anusota Sutta – Going With The Flow
It is remarkable how often the Buddha’s original teachings as preserved in the Pali Canon are simple and practical advice on staying focused within the framework …
Maha-Assapura Sutta
In the Maha-Assapura Sutta the Buddha teaches the assembled monks and nuns that being known as “contemplatives” and identifying as contemplatives does not fully describe the qualities of one following the Eightfold Path…
Unanswered Questions The Khema Sutta
The Buddha did not make a definitive declaration or left unanswered, questions that could not be answered as the declaration or direct answer would likely develop additional confusion or distraction…
Sankhitta Sutta – A Monk’s Concise Teaching
The Sankhitta Sutta – A Monk’s Concise Teaching recounts the teaching given to a monk who was eager to develop the Buddha’s teaching in seclusion….
Akankha Sutta Wishes Granted
In the Akankha Sutta the Buddha addresses the assembled sangha on the wish to be helpful to others. He teaches that having a mind inclined to compassion and wisdom is noble…
Eightfold Path – Wisdom, Virtue, Concentration
Eightfold Path – Wisdom, Virtue, Concentration is an article and Dhamma talk on the Eightfold Path of developing wisdom, virtue, and concentration…
Anicca, Anatta, Dukkha The Three Marks Of Existence
Anicca, Anatta, Dukkha The Three Marks Of Existence is an article on the importance of understanding the interplay of impermanence, Not-Self, and the underlying unsatisfactory life experience…
The Buddha Sutta – The Self-Governing Principle of Awakening
There are three governing principles of awakening. The self, the cosmos, and the Dhamma are the governing principles of awakening…
Going Forth
The Buddha called himself the “Tathagata” which means “one who has gone forth and” and has through his own efforts awakened to the truth of reality…
Upajjhatthana Sutta – 5 Subjects For Contemplation
In the Upajjhatthana Sutta the Buddha teaches that there are five subjects that should be mindfully considered as part of developing release from clinging…
Becoming Buddha 2017 Retreats
These are the pictures and Dhamma talks from our 2017 Becoming Buddha Spring Retreat at Won Dharma Center…
A Dhamma of Mindfulness
Throughout the Buddha’s teaching he emphasized mindfulness. Mindfulness is the quality of mind that brings insight to the Buddha’s teaching…
Dispassion – Freedom From Desire
The Buddha taught that conditioned states of mind have definite and direct causes. This is often referred as the law of conditionality or the law of “if this occurs then that results”…
The Alagaddupama Sutta – The Water Snake
In the Alagaddupama Sutta – The Water Snake Sutta, the Buddha uses the simile of a water snake to teach the nature of clinging maintained by a mind conditioned by confused and deluded views…
Modern Buddhism – A Thicket of Views
What I have found through my own direct experience and inquiry is that the attempt to protect a particular modern lineage or to insist on a one-size-fits-all reconciliation of all the modern Buddhist “Dharmas” leads to a confusing and, again in my experience, an ineffective “thicket of views.” The term thicket of views are the words the Buddha used 2600 years ago to describe what would occur by craving for an adapted form of Dharma practice…
Post Election Mindfulness
Post Election Mindfulness is an excerpt from our Saturday morning Dhamma class at Cross River Meditation Center in Frenchtown, New Jersey, on February 4, 2017. A question was asked regarding the turbulence following the recent presidential election about maintaining a calm and well-concentrated mind during these quickly changing times…
The 12 Causative Links of Dependent Origination
This is a Dhamma talk on the twelve observable causative links of Dependent Origination. This talk was recorded on January 31, 2017. Dependent origination is what the Buddha awakened to and shows that from ignorance of Four Noble Truths, all manner of confusion, delusion, and suffering arises…
Right Intention Right Thinking
Right Intention is being mindful, holding in mind, the intention to recognize and abandon clinging to objects, events, views, and ideas. The Buddha’s original and direct teachings show that the common problem of dukkha, the unsatisfactory nature of life that gives rise to all manner of confusion and suffering, originates in clinging rooted in ignorance…
Metta Intentional Meditation
This is a recording of Metta Intentional Meditation. Metta means Goodwill or Lovingkindness. Metta is both an aspiration of those developing the Eightfold Path and the ongoing expression of an awakened, fully mature human being….
The Kalama Sutta – A Refined Dhamma
In the Kalama Sutta the Buddha addresses greed, hatred and deluded thinking directly as a way of pointing out how other teachings fail to directly address the defilements…