Daily Dhamma Drops from Ceylon!

Friends:

When is one wrapped up in blinding Ignorance?



Once a certain not very well-known Bhikkhu asked the Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, ignorance, ignorance, is it said! What is ignorance?
Venerable Sir, in what way is one wrapped up in ignorance?
The Blessed Gotama Buddha then pointed out:
Not Knowing Suffering is ignorance;
Not Knowing The Cause of Suffering is ignorance;
Not Knowing The End of Suffering is ignorance;
Not Knowing The Way to end Suffering is ignorance...
All this absence of understanding is ignorance and it is by that blindness,
that dark state of blocked insight, that one is wrapped up in ignorance!
Therefore, Bhikkhu, an effort should be made much of to understand:
This is Suffering; an effort should be made much of to comprehend:
Such is the Cause of Suffering; an effort should be made so to realize:
That is the End of Suffering; An effort should be made to penetrate,
recognize, and develop, The Noble Way leading to the End of all Suffering...



More on these 4 Noble Truths (Cattari Ariya Saccani):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Clustered_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ultimate_Fact.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Noble_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sour_Sense_Sources.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_1st_Noble_Truth_on_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_2nd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Cause_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3rd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Ceasing_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4th_Noble_Truth_on_The_Way_to_End_Suffering.htm

What is Ignorance? A Blinded Mind!



Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. [V:429]
section 56: Saccasamyutta. Thread 17: Ignorance...



What is Ignorance?

When is one wrapped up in blinding ignorance?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Ignorance.htm

Friends:

What are the Causes of Ignorance?



First: Ignorance is not seeing and not knowing the 4 Noble Truths fully!



The near and proximate cause is:
Ignorance comes into being caused by the 5 mental hindrances!
That is right here and now:
Ignorance grows up caused by desire and lust...
Ignorance arises caused by aversion and ill-will...
Ignorance emerges caused by lethargy and laziness...
Ignorance appears caused by restlessness and regret...
Ignorance comes into being caused by doubt and uncertainty...
All these 5 factors will obscure, obstruct and distort the 4 truths!



The remote and subtle cause is fermentation ~ assuming and supposing:
Conditioned by mental fermentation (asava) does ignorance emerge:
That is multi-factorially, on the long-term, as a hidden latent tendency:
Ignorance is caused by the mental fermentation linked with sense-desire.
Ignorance is caused by the mental fermentation associated with views.
Ignorance is caused by the mental fermentation coupled with becoming.
Ignorance is caused by the mental fermentation joined with ignorance itself!



The emotional component is:
Ignorance is caused by a feeling of neutral indifference, since this absence
of both pleasure and pain promotes neglect leading to no examination, which
then results in not knowing the specifics of the object = ignorance...


Ignorance thus grows in a fatal positively self-enhancing feedback-loop!

The Blessed Buddha said:
Bhikkhus, a beginning of ignorance cannot be pointed out in this way:
Before this point in time, there was no ignorance, afterward it came.
But, Bhikkhus, it can be pointed out in this way:
Caused by this, ignorance comes to be. Bhikkhus, I tell you, ignorance too
has a causing condition! What is the causing condition of ignorance?
The five mental hindrances is the reply...
Source: AN X 61, AN X 62

What is ignorance, what is the origin of ignorance, what is the ceasing of
ignorance, and what is the way leading to the ceasing of ignorance?
Not knowing about suffering, not knowing about the origin of suffering,
not knowing about the ceasing of suffering, not knowing about the way
leading to the ceasing of suffering, this is called ignorance!
With the arising of the mental fermentations, ignorance also arises.
With the ceasing of the mental fermentations, ignorance also ceases!
The way leading to the ceasing of ignorance is just this Noble 8-fold Way:
That is; Right view, right motivation, right speech, right action,
right livelihood, right effort and right concentration.
Source: MN 9



More on Ignorance (avijja):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/avijjaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Causes_of_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Whenever_and_Wherever.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Because_of_Not_Knowing.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Because_of_Not_Examining.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Indifference_Creates_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Indifference_Creates_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_the_Cause_of_Ignorance.htm

For Details on the Mental Fermentations (asava) please see:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/aasava.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Proximate_Cause.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Cause_of_Ignorance.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Three_Fermentations.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Freed_from_Fermentation.htm



Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

What Causes Ignorance?
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Cause_of_Ignorance.htm

Friends:

What is the Equanimity Link to Awakening?



Even evaluation is characteristic of the Equanimity Link to Awakening.
(Upekkha-Sambojjhanga). Preventing both deficiency & excess and
securing impartiality is the function of Equanimity. Imperturbable
ballance is the manifestation of the Equanimity Link to Awakening.
Equanimity just looks on whenever new phenomena arises and ceases.
This stable yet plastic patience purifies all the other advantageous
mental states, which reach maximum, when joined with Equanimity...



Equanimity (Upekkha) is a moderating mental construction.
Equanimity is also a mood of neither gladness nor sadness.
Equanimity is also a feeling of neither pain nor pleasure.
Equanimity is also the neutral ability to be indifferent.
Equanimity is also the 4th infinitely divine dwelling.
Equanimity is also a quite high form of happiness.
Equanimity is also a refined mental purification.
Equanimity is therefore a Link to Enlightenment...



There is Equanimity both regarding live beings and dead things.
There is Equanimity both regarding all internal & external states.
There is Equanimity both regarding all past, present and future.
There is Equanimity both regarding all mentality & all materiality.



The Buddha once said: What mental fermentations (asava) should be
overcome by development? If a Bhikkhu by alert & rational attention
develops the Equanimity Link to Awakening based on seclusion, based
on disillusion, on ceasing, culminating in full renouncing relinquishment,
then neither can mental fermentation, nor any fever, nor discontent
ever arise in him. MN2 [i 11]



When mind is concentrated one can observe all closely in equanimity.
The Equanimity Link to Awakening arises right there. He develops it,
and for him repeatedly meditating it goes gradually to the completion
of its development. MN118 [iii 85]



Further inspirations on the imperturbable quality of Equanimity:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Even_is_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/High_and_Alert.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Divorced_Freedom.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Serene_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Empty_Equanimity.htm
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/Exquisite_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/u_v/upekkhaa.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Unshakable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_7_Links_to_Awakening.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Imperturbable_Equanimity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Serene_Equanimity_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/tatra_majjhattataa.htm

Imperturbable is Equanimity...

Equanimity = Upekkhaa!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Equanimity_Upekkha.htm

Friends:

The 4 Noble Truths are the Core of Buddhism!

1: This is Suffering!
Suffering is of three kinds:
a: Obvious suffering, which is any bodily pain and any mental sadness.
b: Suffering due to change includes also pleasant feeling as this indeed also
becomes quite disappointing, when it inevitably changes, fades, and vanishes.
c: Suffering due to construction is all that is conditioned, since all this thus
later inevitably will fall apart. This also includes any object which induces a
neutral feeling. This 1st Noble Truth, that points out that all worldly indeed
ultimately speaking is Suffering, has to be fully understood in all aspects...



2: Craving is the Cause of Suffering!
a: Craving for sensing forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, & mental states.
b: Craving for becoming. (ex: May I become rich, forever young, famous...)
c: Craving for non-becoming (ex: May I not become sick, nor old, nor dead!)
This Second Noble Truth on the Cause of Suffering has to be eliminated...

3: Absence of Craving is the End of Suffering!
a: Not craving any sense stimuli of any kind...
b: Not craving for any kind of becoming this or that in the future...
c: Not craving any non-becoming, but accepting all the ills that will come...
This 3rd Noble Truth on the End of Suffering has to be accomplished!

4: The Noble 8-Fold Way is the Method to End Suffering!
Which Noble 8-fold Way has to be developed in order to end all suffering?
Right View (samma-ditthi)
Right Motivation (samma-sankappa)
Right Speech (samma-vaca)
Right Action (samma-kammanta)
Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva)
Right Effort (samma-vayama)
Right Awareness (samma-sati)
Right Concentration (samma-samadhi)
This Fourth Noble Truth on the Way to End Suffering has to be completed.



More on these quintessential Four Noble Truths (Ariya-Sacca):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Actually_So.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Indeed_True.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Four_but_One.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_16_Aspects.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Focused_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Clustered_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Absolute_Certainty.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sacca.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Ultimate_Fact.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Simple_yet_Complex.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Concentrated_Truth.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Noble_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Perfectly_Enlightened.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_4_Truths_Meaning.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Indispensable_Necessity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_1st_Noble_Truth_on_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_2nd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Cause_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3rd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Ceasing_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4th_Noble_Truth_on_The_Way_to_Cease_Suffering.htm

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

The 4 Truths have to be fully understood...

The 4 Noble Truths!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Noble_Truths.htm

Friends:

What is the Meaning of the 4 Noble Truths?



1: This and such is Suffering is The 1st Noble Truth!
The meaning of this suffering is the oppression, when pain is being formed due
to the burning of frustrated desire, created when the wanted object changes
into something else, now undesirable, and thereby always and inevitably is lost..
This is the meaning of Suffering, which is real, neither unreal, nor otherwise.

2: Craving is the Cause of Suffering is The 2nd Noble Truth!
The meaning of craving as the origin of suffering is something that is stored
and accumulating, since this source and cause of suffering, means addiction,
obsession, enslavement and bondage and thus vulnerable un-free dependence..
This is the meaning of the Cause, which is real, neither unreal, nor otherwise.

3: Ceasing of Craving is the End of Suffering is The 3rd Noble Truth!
The meaning of ending craving ceases suffering is escape, since one now has
become sheltered and protected, due to the suffering not being recreated,
when the cause of craving have subsided. Ending craving means deathlessness...
This is the meaning of the End, which is real, neither unreal, nor otherwise.

4: The Noble 8-fold Way is the Path to end Suffering is The 4th Noble Truth!
The meaning of the Noble 8-fold Way is outlet, since this method causes exit
from the state of suffering, through knowing, seeing and understanding what
is real as the dominant releasing factors, that has to be developed into a unity!
This is the meaning of the Way, which is real, neither unreal, nor otherwise...
Vism 494



More on these Four Noble Truths (Ariya-Sacca):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Indeed_True.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Focused_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Clustered_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/sacca.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4_Noble_Truths.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_1st_Noble_Truth_on_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_2nd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Cause_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_3rd_Noble_Truth_on_The_Ceasing_of_Suffering.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_4th_Noble_Truth_on_The_Way_to_Cease_Suffering.htm



Have a nice noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

The Meaning of the 4 Noble Truths!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/V/The_4_Truths_Meaning.htm

Friends:

Calm Kindness Protects All Beings!

The Blessed Buddha often said:
With good will for the entire cosmos,
Cultivate an infinite & boundless heart:
Above, below, all across and all around,
Beaming, without any hostility or hate!
Sutta Nipata I, 8



May all creatures, all breathing things,
all beings one and all, without exception,
experience joyous good fortune only!
May they never fall into any harm.
Anguttara Nikaya II, 72



Let no one deceive another
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer.
Sutta Nipata I, 8



More on All-Embracing Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/United_in_Harmony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kalyanamitta.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm

Have a nice Calm & Kind day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Goodwill fused with Tranquillity makes Safe Ease!

Calm Kindness!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Calm_Kindness.htm

Friends:

How to Beam & Extend Amity Universally:

The Grace of Goodwill: A Meditation on Friendliness (Metta):
May my mind be filled with the thought of Kind Friendliness & open Amity.
May the minds of my good teachers be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of my parents and dear ones be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of all unfriendly persons be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of all living beings be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May the minds of all strangers be filled with the thought of Friendliness.
May we be free from fear, tension, anxiety, worry, and restlessness.
May our hearts become soft. May our words be pleasing to others.
May we be generous. May we be gentle. May we be relaxed.
May we be happy and peaceful. May we be healthy.
May we be a source of pure peace and happiness.



May the minds of everyone in this room be free from greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, and fear.
May the peace and tranquillity of tender Friendliness pervade their entire bodies and minds.
May they have good fortune. May they be prosperous. May they have really good friends
May the minds of everyone in this building, in this street, in this city, in this nation on
this continent, on this planet & in this universe be free from greed, anger, & doubt.
May these thoughts of Friendliness embrace them, charge them and envelope them.
May every cell, every drop of blood, every atom, be charged with kind amity.
May the peace & tranquillity of goodwill pervade their entire bodies & minds.
May they be happy-hearted. May they be free from worries and troubles.
May all beings in all directions throughout this multiverse be happy.
May they be filled with Friendliness, abundant, exalted, & infinite!
May they be free from enmity affliction, and anxiety.
May they live happily.



May all beings in all directions, all around the universe be happy.
May they have good fortune. May they be prosperous.
May they be famous. May they have good friends.
May they be reborn in a happy destination.
May they be reborn in the heavens.
May all beings Awaken swiftly!
May they become thus Happy!



Inspired by 2 really good friends.

More on this shining, radiating through all & everywhere beaming Friendliness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Infinite_Friendliness.htm

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Friendliness Frees :-)

The Grace of Goodwill!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/IV/The_Grace_of_Goodwill.htm

Friends:

Detachment from Feeling gives Immunity towards Suffering!



The Blessed Buddha once explained this to some sick bhikkhus:
If one keen on mental training feels a pleasant feeling, he understands:
"This impermanent pleasure is neither to be clung to, nor indulged in."
If he feels a painful feeling, he also understands and observes:
"As this pain is transient, it is neither to be clung to, nor engaged in..."
If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he similarly notes:
"This passing neutral feeling is neither to be clung to, nor delighted in..."
When he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it, as if detached from it!
When he feels a painful feeling, he feels it, as if detached from it!
When he feels a neutral feeling, he feels it, as if detached from it!
He feels all feelings as something remote, alien, and not belonging to him.
When he feels a feeling terminating with the body, he understands:
"I feel a feeling terminating with the body..." (all bodily feeling!)
When he feels a feeling terminating with life, he understands:
"I feel a feeling terminating with life..." (all mental feeling!)
He understands: With the breakup of this body, at the exhaustion of life,
any feeling, neither being delighted in, nor clung to, will cool down right
then and there... Just as, bhikkhus, an oil lamp burns depending on the oil
and the wick, at the exhaustion of the oil and the wick, the burning flame
is extinguished through lack of fuel, exactly so similarly here, bhikkhus,
when a bhikkhu feels a feeling terminating with the body... or terminating
with life... He understands: With the breakup of this body, at the very
exhaustion of this life, all that is felt, not being indulged in, nor clung to,
will vanish right there and then... This - only this - is the end of Suffering!



Pleasant feeling induces greed...
Painful feeling produces hate...
Neither-painful-nor-pleasant neutral feeling
causes neglect & thus generates ignorance...



All states converges on Feeling (Vedana):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Three_Basic_Kinds_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Feeling_Causes_and_Effects.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_8_Aspects_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Bodily_and_Mental_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Detached_from_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Dependent_on_Contact.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Focusing_on_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Analysis_of_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_108_Feelings.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Emotional_Storm.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Latent_Feeling.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Five_Feelings.htm


Curing even death The Buddhas are the very best Doctors!

Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [211-3]
section 36: Feeling. Vedana. The Sick-Ward. 7.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Detached from Feeling!

All mental states converge on feeling!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Detached_from_Feeling.htm

Friends:

Any Advantageous Mental State Improves the Future!

Train yourself in doing good
that lasts and brings happiness.
Cultivate generosity, the life of peace,
and a mind of boundless love.
Itivuttaka 16

Generosity, kind words,
doing a good turn for others,
and treating all people alike:
these bonds of sympathy are to the world
what the axle is to the wagon wheel.
Anguttara Nikaya II, 32

Good are friends, when the need arises;
Good is contentment with just what one has;
Good is merit done, when life is at an end,
and good is the elimination of all Suffering!
Dhammapada 331


Come on! Do Good! Good Gets Better!

In this world, good it is to serve one's mother,
Good is it to serve one's father,
Good is it to serve the monks, and
Good it is to serve the holy pure ones.
Dhammapada 332

Good is pure moral virtue until life's end,
Good is fine Faith, that is unwavering,
Good is the acquisition of understanding, and
Good is the avoidance of all evil wrong-doing.
Dhammapada 333

To avoid all evil,
to cultivate only good,
and to purify one's mind
this is the teaching of all the Buddhas!
Dhammapada 183


Yes We Can!

The good relinquish attachment to everything.
The wise do not prattle with yearning for pleasures.
The clever show neither elation, nor depression,
when touched either by happiness, or by sorrow...
Dhammapada 83

With good-will for the entire cosmos,
Cultivate a limitless & infinite kindness:
Above, below, across and all around,
unobstructed, without hostility or hate.
Sutta Nipata I, 8

Let all guard themselves against irritability in thought;
Let every one be controlled in mind,
Leaving mental misery & misconduct,
Let every one practice good behaviour in any thought.
Dhammapada 233


Seeding Good, Sprouts in Good!

Let any being guard himself against irritability in speech;
Let every one be controlled in speech.
Leaving all verbal misconduct,
Let every one practice good behaviour in all speech.
Dhammapada 232

Overcome the angry by kindness;
Overcome the wicked by goodness;
Overcome the miser by generosity;
Overcome the liar by truth.
Dhammapada 223

Consort only with the good,
Come together only with the good.
To learn the Teaching of the Noble ones,
Gives an understanding nowhere else found!
Samyutta Nikaya I, 17


Same are all beings, just different! ;-)

Neither mother, nor father, nor
any other family or friend can do
greater good for oneself, than a
well trained & well directed mind!
Dhammapada 43

Think not lightly of good, saying, "It will not return to me."
Since: Drop by drop is the water pot filled with rain!
Likewise, the wise one, gathering it little by little,
fills himself with advantageous good...
Dhammapada 122

More on Generosity (Dana) = The 1st mental perfection:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Glad_Giving.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/daana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Openhanded_Generosity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Generosity_Contemplation.htm

Forest Sangha Support:
If you wish to help the Forest Sangha materially with upholding and sharing
the Saddhamma, then a quite good opportunity is open right here and now!
Any support is indeed needed and very appreciated. Many Thanx in advance :-)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/various/Dhammadhara_Foundation.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/various/Subscribe_to_Regular_Donation.htm

Have a nice & noble day!

Yes We Can make it Easy!

Doing Good => Produces a Better Future!
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Good_gets_Better.htm

Friends:

Cruelty, Mercilessness & Revengefulness are diluted Hate:



How to cure these evil derivatives of Cruelty:



1: Review the Danger in Cruelty like this:
This can bring me to a bad destination, the downfall, to pain, even to hell!
This is a path of thorns, an evil way, a dark state, conflict, violence, pain!



2: How does a friend dwell pervading all with his heart endued with pity?
Just as he would feel pity on seeing an unlucky, unfortunate person, so he
pervades all beings with infinite pity. Therefore first of all he imagines a
poor man, unlucky, unfortunate, in every way a fit object for pity, ugly,
reduced to utter misery, with hands and feet cut off, sitting in the shelter
for the helpless, with an empty pot in front of him, with maggots oozing
from sores on hands and legs, moaning, infinite pity should be felt for him
in this way: 'This being has been reduced to utter misery! If he just could
be freed from this misery...' Then later one can arouse the same pity and
compassion for a neutral person and later for even a wrong-doing person!
This is the complete mastery of pity: Compassion even with the Evil One!



3: All wrong doing is caused by blindness: A real pity for the wrong-doers!
All wrong-doers will thus suffer immensely in the future. How sad for them!



4: Begin and Cultivate meditation on Infinite pity:
Sit down a silent, empty place with closed eyes & beam this from the heart:
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating awareness of pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating examination of pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating energetic pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating joyous infinite pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating stilled infinite pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating concentrated pity.
May I & all beings be free from cruelty by cultivating imperturbable pity.
Beaming first out in front, then right, left, down below and also up above:
May all beings live happily and free from suffering, pain and frustration.
May all beings be free from hate, cruelty, mercilessness & revengefulness!



One who is virtuous and wise
Shines like a blazing fire;
Like a bee collecting nectar
He acquires wealth by harming none!
Digha Nikaya III, 188



May all breathing creatures, all living things,
All beings, every one without exception,
Experience good fortune only!
May they not fall into harm.
Anguttara Nikaya II, 72



Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees.
Non-violence is happiness in the world
Harmlessness towards all living beings.
Udana 10



JOY
Oh let us live happily! Freed from all cruelty!
Living even among those, who always flames by hate!
Among those dominated by anger, let us live free from anger!
Dhammapada 197

Regarding Pity and Compassion (Karuna) see also:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Karuna_is_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Wrong.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/harris/bl141.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Great_Compassion.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Compassionate_Pity.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Space_Compassion.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an05-161.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an06-013.html



Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Mercy, Pity & Compassion Soften the Mind!

Cure your Cruelty!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness.htm

Friends:

Tranquillity is the way to Superhuman Delight!

Tranquillity comes due to insight. As he is sitting, whether by night or by day,
then he experiences neither fatigue, heaviness, rigidity, slowness, nor sickness
in his body, nor in his mind, but rather his body and mind are tranquil, very light,
adaptable, pliable, quite sharp and ultra-clear! With his body and mind aided by
such tranquillity, he experiences a superhuman delight, about which it is said:



A Bhikkhu with his mind all quiet...
Retired to a remote & empty place.
There right insight in the Dhamma,
Awards him a superhuman delight!
It is because he really comprehends
The rise and fall of all phenomena
That he relishes this high happiness:
A silent joy not of this world!
A bliss transcending the human!
And knows it to be the deathless...
Dhammapada 373-74



More on this delightful Joy (Piti), that is not of this world:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happiness_of_the_Flesh_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_of_the_Flesch_and_Beyond.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Joys_Beyond_This_World.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Alert_Elevated_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Joy_Piti.htm



Supra-Human Delight!

Tranquillity is the way to Superhuman Delight!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Super-Human_Delight.htm

Friends:

Appropriate Appreciation is Gratitude!



One should be grateful towards one's Parents! Why so?
They have worked hard and very long raising one into being!

One should be grateful towards one's Teachers! Why so?
They do much to make one learn and understand the good...

One should be grateful towards one's Friends! Why so?
They have shown one an open kindness and much goodwill!

One should be grateful towards one's Spouse! Why so?
They have loyally accompanied one along a long way...




What is the future kammic effect of gratitude or ungratefulness?
The one who is grateful will receive gifts and favours ever again!
The one who is ungrateful will never again receive gifts or favours !
Thankfulness wisely invested thus pays back quite a lot!

Therefore: Always Say Thanx!



Thanx for Your Attention! ;-)



On Contentment and Rejoicing Appreciation:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Contentment.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mutual_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm



Have a nice gracious day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Gracious is Gratitude!

Appreciation Echoes Back... :-)
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Appropriate_Appreciation.htm

Friends:

Instantly Evaporating all Evil Mental States!



The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus and friends, if while one is trying to behave good and clever,
occasionally due to a lapse of awareness, a momentary neglect occurs and
evil detrimental memories and bad intentions arise in one, then slow might
be the re-arising of one's awareness, but one should ultra-quickly leave all
these thoughts, dispel these obsessions, and end these impulses, thereby
eradicating both any phobia and mania. Imagine a man who let a tiny drop
of water fall onto an iron plate heated for a whole day on the stove...
Slow might be his letting go of the water drop, but then it would quickly
vaporize and vanish, when hitting the pan. Even so, while one is neglecting
the presence of acute awareness and the mind strays back into the mental
habits of evil detrimental mental habits & bad intentions: Slow might be the
re-arising of one's awareness, yet one should still then instantly leave these
evil thoughts, dispel these obsessions, end these impulses, thereby eradicating
any disadvantageous and afflicting phobia and mania. It is in exactly this
way that a Bhikkhu has comprehended the ideal mode of behaviour and habit
of living, that prevents any evil detrimental mental state of avariciousness,
lust, greed, envy, jealousy and discontent in flowing in upon, enveloping and
completely dominating his mind...



What is Evil, Bad, Wrong, Disadvantageous and Detrimental (Akusala)?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/What_is_Detrimental.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/What_is_Disadvantageous.htm



Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV [190-] 35:
6 Senses. Salayatana. States that entail Suffering. Dukkha-Dhamma 244.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html



Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Evaporating all Evil...
http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/II/Evaporizing_Bad.htm

Friends:

Jhãna Absorption eliminates all Physical Pain!



The Blessed Buddha once pointed out:
Where does all bodily pain cease, without even a trace remaining?
Aloof from all sense-desire and secluded from any disadvantageous state,
one enters and remains in the first jhana absorption of directed thought
and sustained thinking, joined with pleasure and joy, born of sole seclusion.
It is right there, that all bodily pain ceases without a trace remaining...

Comments:
Therefore do beings reborn at the fine-material brahma level, never feel
any physical pain, since they are continuously absorbed in this first jhana..!
The amateur meditator can use this absence of pain as a diagnostic tool:
If pain is still felt anywhere in the body, then the present meditative state
cannot be first or any higher jhana, but must be a case of calm (samatha),
preparatory concentration (parikamma-samadhi) or near neighbourhood
concentration (upacara-samadhi).



On how to attain the Jhana absorptions:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Requisites_for_Jhana_Absorption.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Concentration.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Concentration_Samadhi.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/g_m/jhaana.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Jhana_Absorption.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Art_of_Absorption.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Samma-Samadhi.htm


Microscopic, astronomic, or other visions are not uncommon during jhana

Source:
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book V 213-4
The Abilities section 48. Thread on The Irregular Order: Uppatika 40
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Have a nice, noble and absorbed day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_ Sri Lanka
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

When Absorbed, then Pain is Absent!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Ending_Physical_Pain.htm

Friends:

Why do some beings attain Nibbãna, while others do not?



Sakka, the king of the 33 Gods once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, what is the cause & reason, why some beings here do not
attain Nibbana in this very life? And what is the cause and reason, why
some beings here do indeed attain Nibbana in this very life?
Knowing this being's addiction to divine delight the Buddha answered:
There are, King of the thirty-three Devas, forms experiencable by the eye,
sounds experiencable by the ear, smells experiencable by the nose, touches
experiencable by the body, and mental phenomena experiencable by the
mind, that all are attractive, charming, agreeable, pleasing, tempting, and
tantalizing. If a bhikkhu hunts for delight in them, welcomes them, and
remains holding on to them, his mind becomes addicted to them and clings
to them. Any being mentally dominated by clinging cannot attain Nibbana!
This is the cause & reason, King of the Devas, why many & most beings here
do not attain Nibbana  in this very life... There are, King of the Devas,
forms experiencable by the eye, sounds experiencable by the ear, smells
experiencable by the nose, touches experiencable by the body, and mental
phenomena experiencable by the mind, that all are attractive, charming,
agreeable, pleasing, enticing, tempting and tantalizing. If a wise Bhikkhu
avoids seeking any delight in them, does not welcome them, and does not
remain holding on to them, then his mind doesn't become addicted to them,
Any being mentally wholly freed of clinging can indeed attain Nibbana!
This is the cause and reason, King of the Devas, why some beings here can
attain Nibbana in this very life, while most neither can, nor will....


Deva king Sakka and a few of his hundreds of dear nymphs...

More on the Deva King Sakka (Indra) of the 33 Gods (Tavatimsa):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/sa/sakka.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/t/taavatimsa.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra



Source:
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikaya. Book IV 102
The 6 senses section 35. Thread on Sakka's Question: 118.
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Have a nice day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Why and Why not?
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Sakkas_Question.htm

Friends:

How to train Rejoicing Joy in others Success?



When sitting alone, in silence, each early morning, with closed eyes one wishes:
May I radiate and meet only never-ending and mutually rejoicing joy!
May I & all the various beings on the 31 levels of existence develop and find
only celebration and elation in a never-ending mutually rejoicing joy!
May I & all beings on the sense-desire, fine-material, and the formless plane
develop and encounter this generous, infinite and mutually rejoicing joy!
May I & all beings in the front, to the right, the back, the left, and below as
above, develop and experience openhearted, sharing, & mutually rejoicing joy!
May I and all beings within this city, country, planet and universe always:
Be fully aware and deeply mindful of this content and mutually rejoicing joy!
Examine all details & aspects of this satisfied and mutually rejoicing joy!
Put enthusiastic effort in our praxis of this devoted mutually rejoicing joy!
Enjoy enraptured jubilant gladness in this exulting mutually rejoicing joy!
Be silenced by the tranquillity of quiet and all smiling mutually rejoicing joy!
Be concentrated & absorbed into one-pointedness by genuine rejoicing joy!
Dwell in an imperturbable equanimity of pure and mutually rejoicing joy...
Yeah! May it be even so, since mutual joy causes the jewel of contentment!



Comment: Mutual Joy is the 3rd infinite mental state (Appamañña):
This gradually reduces all envy, jealousy, possessiveness, stinginess, avarice
miserliness, green covetousness and unhappiness related with all these states.
The cause of Mutual Joy in rejoicing in your child's or boon companion's success.
This same joy can then be beamed towards all liked, neutral and hostile beings.
Mutual Joy is then the proximate cause of satisfied and fulfilled Contentment...
Lack of mutual joy is thus the proximate cause of dissatisfied discontentment...
Joined with the 7 links to Awakening it will later cause a formless jhana...
Be happy at all and especially other being's success! Then calm comfort grows!



More on Mutual Joy (Mudita):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Rejoicing_Joy.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Safe_Medicine.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Infinitely_Joyous_Consciousness.htm

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samahita _/\_
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Mutual Joy causes Contentment!

Rejoicing Joy!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mutual_Joy.htm


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