The Buddha never encouraged his followers to seek retribution, i.e., punishment for old wrongs. The conflict between retributive justice and true happiness is well illustrated by the famous story of Aṅgulimāla (MN 86). Aṅgulimāla was a bandit who had killed so many people—the Canon counts at least 100; the Commentary, 999—that he wore a garland (māla) made of their fingers (aṅguli). Yet afte…

Now, how do you use your powers of observation to get acquainted with the breath? Ask yourself: Do you know the breath yet, or not? Is the breath truly there, or not? If you can’t see whether the breath is true, look further in until it’s clearly there. There’s no trick, no mystery to it. It’s always true, right there. The important thing is whether or not you’re true. Are you? Yes. Then that’s al…

‘Discouraged’ is a word we shouldn’t use and a thing we shouldn’t allow in our hearts. Let it go and get it out. If you see it arising, let it go. Don’t take it in. If you are careless and let it sneak into the heart, then as soon as you are aware that discouragement has snuck in, you must immediately get it out. Don’t let it feed on the heart. Otherwise it will become a habit, and you will become…

A frequent question is how to give rise to rapture, and the Buddha gives a very vague answer: There are potentials for rapture in the body, so you pay appropriate attention to them. That doesn’t give you much to work with, but from personal experience I’ve found that there are certain parts of the body that have a nice pleasant feeling, nothing particularly impressive. But if you can locate them a…

May every living being, Our minds as one and radiant with light, Share the fruits of peace, With hearts of goodness, luminous and bright. If people hear and see, How hands and hearts can find in giving, unity, May their minds awake, To Great Compassion, wisdom and to joy. May kindness find reward, May all who sorrow leave their grief and pain; May this boundless light, Break the darkness of their…

Peacefulness and tranquility can be incredibly boring, and can bring up a lot of restlessness and doubt. Restlessness is a common problem because the sensory realm is a restless realm; bodies are restless and minds are restless. Conditions are changing all the time, so if you are caught up in reacting to change, you’re just restless. Restlessness needs to be thoroughly understood for what it is; t…

“All that I have said up to now has merely been words. When people come to see me, I have to say something. But it is best not to speak about these matters too much. Better to begin practice without delay. I am like a good friend inviting you to go somewhere. Do not hesitate, just get going. You won’t regret it.” § One day a young woman was sitting in meditation with Ajaan Fuang and everything see…

Farmers need to take the season, the environment, and the location into consideration in order to do their work. The crops are dependent upon the season, because they require water. The rainy season is therefore the most appropriate season for planting rice. But the field has to be well prepared – the farmer must make it ready first. The tools and methods for working the rice fields are numerous a…

Any society prospers and flourishes when its members cultivate spiritual qualities. Having fully developed the human potential, the capacity for profound thoughts, people will be diligent and skilled in earning their livelihood without intending even the slightest harm to one another. If we wish to so prosper, again, it goes without saying how much we have to be grateful for to our parents and tea…

Ajahn Chah would often give the following example: we can take a glass and call it kaew nam in Thai; in the Pāli language we would refer to it differently; in Chinese, in Hindi, in English it is called something different still. Because actually there is no glass. It’s just elements that humans have brought together in a certain way to produce this thing. If the elements are pulled apart again th…