Showing titles in Theravada

This is the story of what happens when the author's plans to ordain as a Buddhist monk in Thailand are derailed after he has arrived in the country. Next Life in the Afternoon is spiritual, funny, at times irreverent, and full of personal lessons learned along the way. From Next Life in the Afternoon: "I’m squatting naked on a concrete floor in the predawn coolness of Udon Thani, pouring water from a washbasin onto my head to rinse off the bar soap I used as shampoo. My hair is long and stringy. I had counted on it being shaved off by now, so I had let it grow out a bit leading up to the ...

Bill Crecelius has written a straightforward, practical guide for those who seek to establish themselves in Vipassana meditation. He is an experienced Vipassana teacher who was one of Goenkaji's earliest Western students. Drawing on his own long experience in the practice, A Meditator's Handbook is full of encouragement and homey examples. It contains a wealth of sound, friendly advice. It is recommended for any Vipassana meditator, and especially for those who have just started practicing.

Clinging is the greatest possessiveness and attachment we have. As long as we cling, we cannot see reality. We cannot see reality because clinging is in the way. Clinging colors whatever we believe to be true. Now, it is not possible to say “all right, I’ll stop clinging”. We can’t do that. The process of taking the “me” apart, of not believing any more that this is one whole, is a gradual one. If we really want to get rid of suffering, completely and totally, then clinging has to go. The spiritual path is never one of achievement; it is always one of letting go.

In this 10 part lecture series Sarah Shaw explores several stories from the Jatakas, stories of the previous lives of the Gautama Buddha both in human and animal form. The stories are entertaining and allegorical. Sarah connects these tales from fourth and fifth century B.C.E. with their relevance for our lives today.

Self-identification with one’s state of being is the great trap. So, we must first become aware of the props we use to maintain who we think we are. It begins with: “I’m a woman” or “I’m a man.” There’s strong identification. There’s strong support for the ego, for that “I am” is the ego itself talking. Next, we identify with our abilities and our knowledge. “This is what I can do!” and “This is what I know.” Two further strong supports for the ego.

Scopri l'audiolibro straordinario creato da Ubiliber in collaborazione con Paola Maugeri! Registrato a Malmö, in Svezia, di fronte all'infinito Oceano, questo audiolibro è un'esperienza unica che ti porterà in un viaggio sensoriale e spirituale. Le meravigliose musiche e i suoni della Svezia, raccolti con tanta passione, avvolgono ogni parola e ti trasportano in un mondo di pace e serenità. Possiate godervi queste storie di autentica felicità quanto coloro che le hanno sentite raccontare dal vivo.

In most forms of meditation, the meditator is instructed to let go of thoughts as they arise. As a result thinking is often taken unnecessarily to be something misguided or evil. This approach is misguided, says Jason Siff. In fact if we allow thoughts to arise and become mindful of the thoughts themselves, we gain tranquility and insight just as in other methods without having to reject our natural mental processes.

The purpose of this book is to help the earnest seeker to understand the idea of and the 12 links of Dependent Origination. This is the most important concept to be understood on your journey to Nibbāna. The Buddha used the term Paṭicca Samuppāda, which is Pāli for dependent origination. When one understands Dependent Origination, one understands himself/herself, and the world. It is truly the answer to the question of “Who am I?” This is a 12-part series of small books for each one of the links. This is booklet is on the link of Clinging (Upadana) which represents thinking and the...

What if you could go back and sit under a tree with the Buddha and listen to him giving his original meditation instructions? What did he teach over 2500 years ago, and are those original instructions valid for today’s practitioners? Most of us cannot travel through time, but we do have the records of the Buddha’s teachings in the Pali suttas. In this book, Mark Edsel Johnson, Ph.D., demonstrates that by following a meditation practice called Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation or TWIM, which is directly based on the records of the Buddha’s teachings, practitioners quickly experience ...

This Bodhi Leaf by Ajahn Brahmavamso (Ajahn Brahm) is an essay on the path, and the qualities, that lead to Nibbana. Ajahn Brahm is a senior Western monk of the Forest Tradition who lives and teaches in Australia.

Once a person understands the rise and fall of all phenomena, then experiencing the worst that human life can give does not make one tremble. You know that it’s something passing just as the wind passes your face. You don’t know where that wind comes from, and you can’t tell where that wind is going. All you know is that a wind is blowing. You don’t know when that wind is going to end, nor if it will get stronger or weaker. Like the weather, the forecast for moods is “changeable".

The Dharmapada is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form. The original version of the work is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. Here is the perfect audiobook for everyone interested in expanding their own distant spiritual horizons, both ethically and philosophically. For every dedicated Buddhist, Eastern philosopher, student of classic literature, simple and curious commuter, and all school and university systems, this is the esoteric, inspirational audiobook for you.

This book is meant for the beginner and will start you out on your journey of mindfulness. Everything in it is simple and easy to follow - it contains specific, easy-to-do tips and exercises, and because knowing why you're doing something and how it works helps to build your confidence in it, it also looks at the theory and concepts behind the practice of mindfulness in none-too-technical, easy-to-understand language.

The Symbolisms in Buddhism is a contemporary, in-depth writing on the philosophies and teachings of the Buddha. It defines who the Buddha is and the significance of events in his life. It explains in detail the Buddhist terminologies (meditation, enlightenment, nirvana, vesak, etc.), objects, and rituals so they can be meaningful to you in your practice.

For the most part, human beings cannot see all of the results of their good and bad actions. Because of this, people often doubt the benefit of doing good things, and the danger of doing bad things. Fortunately, the Buddha taught all about the results of actions. In this audiobook, you will learn about gods and goddesses who performed wholesome actions in their previous human lives. You will be able to understand how powerful the results of doing good things can be. Listeners of this audiobook will also enjoy Stories of Ghosts from the Pethavatthu.

As a profound thinker, as the most profound thinker the world has ever known, the Buddha had two ways of speaking to people. At one time he would address them in words that expressed the utmost depth of his knowledge. At other times, he would tell them simple things within the compass of their ready understanding, in words that were taken from the ordinary speech used among themselves. In both modes of speech, he spoke what was true.

By performing an act of body, speech, or mind as the outcome of one’s volition, one also creates a possibility to act in a similar way in future. One, so as to speak, lays foundations for creating a way of behaving, a habit or a tendency. In other words, one adds some new or strengthens some old feature of one’s personality, perpetuating thereby one’s state of conditioned existence and determining the quality of one’s future character.

Gotama Buddha's teachings are not based in belief. His teachings need to be learned and practiced with guidance so that you can independently observe the truth in his teachings to acquire wisdom. It is this newfound wisdom that the mind imbibes to gradually function in the world differently to attain a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy - the enlightened mind.

In our relationships with each other, with our families, we can begin to use wisdom as our refuge. That doesn’t mean that we don’t love, that we don’t grieve for our loved ones. It means that we’re not dependent on our perceptions of our mother and father, children, or close friends. We’re able to surrender to the rhythm of life and death, to the natural law, the Dhamma of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Learn more with the audiobook The Joy Hidden in Sorrow by Ayya Medhanandi.

Most of us are able to see beings who have been reborn in the human realm and many of the beings born in the animal realm. But it is very rare to have the opportunity to witness for ourselves the suffering experienced by those beings born in the ghost realm. Our great teacher, the Supreme Buddha, had an excellent knowledge and vision to be able to see these beings as well as the action that led to the suffering that they experience.