The Quotable Thanissaro

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dhammapal
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:The Buddha had discovered that there are two kinds of suffering: the stress in the changefulness in things in life, but also the unnecessary stress and suffering we cause ourselves over those changes. That’s the issue, because once that second suffering is wiped out, the changes don’t impinge on the mind at all.
<...>
We have that chant, “May I be happy, may I be free from stress and pain.” We chant that every night before the meditation to remind ourselves of why we’re here: for true happiness. And it reminds us to look at all the things we do throughout the day that get in the way of that wish.

It’s one our most sincere wishes, and yet we’re always doing things to block it, to get in its way. So try to keep this in mind. Keep checking, “What are you doing that’s getting in the way of true happiness? What are the unnecessary things you feel you just can’t do without, that are a built-in part of your personality?” They don’t have to be. They may have deep roots, but they can be uprooted, these habits we have.

We’re working on the skills right now that can uproot them until we reach the point where we’re not causing ourselves or the people around us any unnecessary stress or pain. It may sound simple. It may even sound small-minded and small-hearted for a spiritual goal, but if you actually follow the process you see that it takes you beyond what you might have imagined.

How true is true happiness? Well, follow the process, be sensitive, be observant, be ingenious in the practice, and you’ll find out.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... alks_1.pdf
From: The Pursuit of True Happiness by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
With metta / dhammapal.
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:The whole purpose of this practice is to focus on what's actually happening in your mind. The big questions are,
"What are you doing that's causing unnecessary suffering for yourself or for other people?
What can you do to stop doing that?"
These questions apply not only to things you do and say, but also the way your mind operates, the way the mind treats itself, the way it deals with its own thoughts and feelings. You want these questions to take charge.
From: Freedom Undefined by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:Is human action real or illusory? If real, is it effective? If it is effective, does one have a choice in what one does? If one has a choice, can one choose to act in a way that will lead to genuine happiness? If so, what is that way? These are questions that lie at the heart of the way we conduct our lives. The way we answer them will determine whether we look for happiness through our own abilities, seek happiness through outside help, or abandon the quest for a higher-than-ordinary happiness altogether.
From: A Refuge in Skillful Action by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:The mind is the chief producer of all the happiness and suffering we experience in the world. That's why, when the Buddha gave his first sermon, started out with the issue of suffering. That, he said, is the big problem in life. And it's to be solved right here, in the mind in the present moment, because the suffering isn't something coming from outside. The real problem in life is the suffering that comes from craving. And you can't work on craving until you're really mindful and alert, and have the steady concentration that allows you to look at it calmly to see it in action.
From Basics by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:People sometimes ask:
With all the evil out there in the world, with people willing to kill in order to maintain their power and wealth, how can you sit here with your eyes closed?
There are two answers to that. One is that we're not just sitting here with our eyes closed. We're training the mind. When you understand that, the other answer is:
How can you not sit here and train your mind given all the bad examples out there in the world, all the dangers out there in the world?
Where else are you going to find the strength to maintain your virtue, to keep your goodness alive? The nourishment that keeps your goodness alive has to come from within.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... alks_3.pdf
From: True Protection for the World by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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manas
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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No quote from me, just a testimonial. The translations and elucidations of the Dhamma by Thanissaro Bhikkhu have, over the last few years, been like a light that makes the Dhamma clearer to me, and have been able to rouse and lift me from heedlessness, back into the practice, in difficult times also. I feel very grateful for all his efforts in translation and teaching.

With much respect,
manas.
:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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mikenz66
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by mikenz66 »

Discussion about Thanissaro Bhikkhu split off here: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19379

The intention of this thread was for quotes that members fine inspiring.

:anjali:
Mike
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:As for the third misinterpretation — that the five aggregates aren't a self because they aren't permanent, but nevertheless the five aggregates are what you are — the Buddha says repeatedly that it's not fitting to identify the aggregates as "what I am" [§19]. As we will see later, he explains the five aggregates as the raw material from which you create your sense of self, but that it's not skillful to think that they constitute what you are.

Another problem with this misinterpretation is that it opens the Buddha to charges of lying in the many passages where he does refer to the self in a positive way — as when he says that the self is its own mainstay. If there really is no self at all, why does he talk about it as if it exists?

To get around this problem, the interpretation introduces the distinction between two levels of truth: conventional and ultimate. Thus, it says, when the Buddha is talking about self, he's doing so only in a conventional way. On the ultimate level, no self exists.

The problem with this distinction is that the Buddha himself never uses it — it was introduced into the tradition at a much later date — and if it were so central to understanding his teachings, you'd think that he would have mentioned it. But he didn't.

There's also the problem that, if the aggregates were what you are, then — because nibbana is the ending of the aggregates — that would mean that when you attain nibbana you would be annihilated. The Buddha, however, denied that nibbana was annihilation.

At the same time, what good would be the end of suffering if it meant total annihilation? Only people who hate themselves or hate all experience would go for it.
From: Out of the Thicket and Onto the Path by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Hi Mike,
mikenz66 wrote:The intention of this thread was for quotes that members fine inspiring.
:anjali:
Mike
The original post said:
danieLion wrote:My idea in starting this topic is for myself and others to not only drop Thanissaro quotes we like, but also the ones we find controversial, provocative, or downright heretical :twisted:/ :stirthepot:
Daniel
If you want the thread to be non-controversial let me know and feel free to delete any of my posts that are divisive.

With metta / dhammapal.
dhammapal
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Hi Mike,

A non-controversial, very inspiring teaching:
Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:It can be a long path. It requires a lot of discipline. It requires persistence, patience - qualities that we in the modern world tend to have in only minimal amounts. So it's very easy to give up. You need to keep on generating that desire, keep on reminding yourself why you're here. You're here to learn about the potentials in the mind: How far toward true happiness can these potentials go?
From: Questioning & Conviction by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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dhammapal
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Hi Mike,
dhammapal wrote:Hi Mike,
mikenz66 wrote:The intention of this thread was for quotes that members fine inspiring.
:anjali:
Mike
The original post said:
danieLion wrote:My idea in starting this topic is for myself and others to not only drop Thanissaro quotes we like, but also the ones we find controversial, provocative, or downright heretical :twisted:/ :stirthepot:
Daniel
If you want the thread to be non-controversial let me know and feel free to delete any of my posts that are divisive.

With metta / dhammapal.
So the General Theravada discussion forum is for inspiring quotes? :) Maybe we could create a new thread "Inspirational Thanissaro Bhikkhu quotes" and then rename this thread "Controversial Thanissaro Bhikkhu quotes" and move it the Open Dhamma forum. I'd be happy to do the work of sorting out the controversial quotes.

With metta / dhammapal.
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mikenz66
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by mikenz66 »

dhammapal wrote:Hi Mike,
mikenz66 wrote:The intention of this thread was for quotes that members fine inspiring.
:anjali:
Mike
The original post said:
danieLion wrote:My idea in starting this topic is for myself and others to not only drop Thanissaro quotes we like, but also the ones we find controversial, provocative, or downright heretical :twisted:/ :stirthepot:
Daniel
If you want the thread to be non-controversial let me know and feel free to delete any of my posts that are divisive.

With metta / dhammapal.
The key point is that it was not intended to be a thread for discussion. Any further discussion will be deleted or moved to the other thread.

:anjali:
Mike
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by dhammapal »

Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:This is another way the breath can be your friend. It's like having a friend who reminds you when you get angry that it's not in your best interest to be angry. It can soothe you when you're angry, put you in a better mood. It can be your friend when you're sick; it can be your friend when you're suffering from fear or any other strong, unpleasant emotion.
From: Befriending the Breath by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
With metta / dhammapal.
dhammapal
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:Stress (dukkha)
Alternative translations for dukkha include suffering, burdensomeness, and pain. However -- despite the unfortunate connotations it has picked up from programs in "stress-management" and "stress-reduction" -- the English word stress, in its basic meaning as the reaction to strain on the body or mind, has the advantage of covering much the same range as the Pali word dukkha. It applies both to physical and mental phenomena, ranging from the intense stress of acute anguish or pain to the innate burdensomeness of even the most subtle mental or physical fabrications.

It also has the advantage of being universally recognized as something directly experienced in all life, and is at the same time a useful tool for cutting through the spiritual pride that keeps people attached to especially refined or sophisticated forms of suffering: once all suffering, no matter how noble or refined, is recognized as being nothing more than stress, the mind can abandon the pride that keeps it attached to that suffering, and so gain release from it.

Still, in some of the verses of the Itivuttaka, stress seems too weak to convey the meaning, so in those verses I have rendered dukkha as pain, suffering, or suffering & stress.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
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dhammapal
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote: Anguttara Nikaya 5.75
Yodhajiva Sutta: The Warrior (1)
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Translator's Note
This discourse is addressed to monks, and deals with their battle to maintain their celibacy and to come out victorious in the practice. The Buddha compares the victorious monk to a victorious warrior, an analogy that was probably intended to appeal to the monks' masculine pride (see AN 7.48).

In this analogy, a celibate is not a wimp, but is instead a warrior to the highest degree. Because the first confrontation for a man trying to maintain his celibacy involves his attraction to women, women play the role of first-line enemy in this discourse.

Unfortunately, we don't have any record of how the Buddha advised his nun followers on how to maintain their celibacy, so we don't know if he would have used a woman-warrior analogy when teaching them to resist their attraction to men, or if he would have replaced it with another analogy to appeal more specifically to their feminine pride (again, see AN 7.48). However, there are discourses in the Pali canon that depict nuns as successfully maintaining their celibacy when confronted by men in the forest. A prime example is Therigatha XIV; there are other examples of nuns resisting temptation in the Bhikkhuni Samyutta.

Ultimately, of course, the true enemy lies, not without, but within. This is shown by the fact that the monk in this discourse has to go off alone and put an end to the fermentation of sensual passion in his own mind before he can be considered truly victorious.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
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gavesako
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Re: The Quotable Thanissaro

Post by gavesako »

(Left to right:) Ajahn Nyanadhammo, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Thanissaro in Wat Pah Ratanawan (วัดป่ารัตนวัน) on 10 Dec 2013.

Puja ca pujaniyanam etam mangalamuttamam
"To revere those worthy of reverence is the highest blessing"
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