Category Archives: Suffering

The island of coolness

By Paul | Published: December 28, 2009
The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana is a hefty collection of extracts from the Pali Canon, Mahayana texts, and other Buddhist writings compiled and commented on by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. The two Theravada monks are co-abbots of Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California. Ajahn Amaro handles the first part [...]
Also posted in Belief, Buddhism, Delusion, Desire, Dukkha, Nibbana, The Buddha, wisdom | Leave a comment

Dirty fighting in the home of the brave

By Paul | Published: August 30, 2009
When I was a little boy, my mother talked to me about fighting. She knew that sometimes boys got into fights. What she told me more than once was, “Don’t fight dirty.” In addition she would say, “No hitting below the belt.” In other words, it was wrong to kick someone in the crotch for [...]
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Watching a doubtful mind

By Paul | Published: June 28, 2009
My visit to Abhayagiri Monastery last week – and the 13-hour drive to and from – is in the past. So too is the feeling that overcame me shortly after arriving early Friday evening. The Buddha speaks of three kinds of feeling: pleasant, unpleasant and neither pleasant nor unpleasant. What I experienced during the initial [...]
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What is Happiness?

By Paul | Published: May 25, 2009
Six bhikkhus in ochre robes sat along the wall to Ajahn Liem’s left (see previous post). Below the altar and to his right sat his translator, Ajahn Siripanyo, abbot of Wat Dtao Dam. To the right of the altar sat two anagarikas. The two were conspicuous in their youthfulness, in their stark white robes, and [...]
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