"And why do you call it 'perception'? Because it perceives, thus it is called 'perception.' What does it perceive? It perceives blue, it perceives yellow, it perceives red, it perceives white. Because it perceives, it is called perception." http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/...

Buddha's direct disciples I know of and some major Theravadin figures in the 19-20th centuries, but that leaves a vast period of time I am ignorant of. Aside from Buddhagosha and Ashoka there must have been many Arahants or sages that Theravadins admire. As far as I know, neither Buddhaghosa nor As...

So, the verses of the Theragāthā and Therīgāthā, having been spoken by arahants, and vetted and approved by the arahants of the First Council, must be taken as having been well-spoken and so have honorary status as buddhavacana. There are even some verses and some Suttas which (according to the com...

Someone apparently asked him later and LP Waen replied that he had projected just an image of himself towards the direction of a certain tree, but it ended up in the sky!

This teacher (Ajahn Thoon -- recently passed away) gives an interesting explanation of "birth": Shut out other senses and focus your mindfulness and wisdom on the mind. If you do not know where to locate the mind, you can focus your mindfulness and wisdom on a feeling instead. When you get...

I think Ajahn Buddhadasa is referring to cases such as described in this text: 162. Then venerable Sariputta addressed the bhikkhus:- Friends, bhikkhus, these are five ways of repressing anger through which the bhikkhu should repress all arisen anger. what five? Here, friends, a certain person is wi...

I think there is a confusion regarding the term sa-upādi-sesa which Buddhadasa takes as referring to upādāna . Therefore he interprets it as a state below the arahant level. However, there are passages in the Suttas which indicate otherwise: The terms saupádisesa and anupádisesa nibbánadhátu, which ...

Sometimes just "tuning into" a mental state based on Metta can help. These audio-visual tools can be quite helpful, for example:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk_152Pgy ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hello Graham, I spent over 4 years at Chithurst monastery as a new monk. It is a great place. But I can see why you tend to go to Amaravati instead if your wife is Thai. Not many monks at Chithurst speak Thai, although Ajahn Karuniko does a little bit. Also Thai monks rarely stay in Chithurst (it is...

Here are some interesting suggestions from Nanavira-Nanamoli correspondence:

http://nanavira.blogspot.com/2008/09/el-119-1v1958.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ajahn Buddhadasa had his vision of "Dhammic Socialism":

http://www.suanmokkh.org/ds/what_ds1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you Retro :) I couldn't help but notice that full buddhahood was missing from the list... How is it different from an Arahant? Is the difference that a Buddha will teach? For a good explanation, see Arahants, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas by Bhikkhu Bodhi http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/ebdh...

Although many people in Theravada history are reported to have undertaken the bodhisattva path, there are almost no mentions of individuals who have undertaken the paccekabuddha path. One possible exception is Ajahn Sao, the teacher of Ajahn Mun in his early days in Ubon, who apparently made such a ...

Another passage (AN 4.94) indicates that if samatha precedes vipassana — or vipassana, samatha — one's practice is in a state of imbalance and needs to be rectified. A meditator who has attained a measure of samatha, but no "vipassana into events based on heightened discernment (adhipañña-dham...

Hello, Ajahn Chah's memorial day falls on the 16th January, and I expect Ajahn Sumedho and other Western monks to be in Ubon for this occasion. I have myself been present for the circumambulation of the Stupa at Wat Nong Pag Pong only once but it is a powerful occasion to see how many people a simpl...