“It’s as if your child gets a balloon. Whatever else it’s been playing with, it puts aside. Its interest in other preoccupations grows quiet. It plays as it likes with the balloon. It’s right there. Its mind is quiet. This…
Teaching from the Top “The way we teach when we follow the Buddha’s teachings is that virtue comes first, concentration comes in the middle, and discernment comes at the end. That’s how we memorize these things. But with some people,…
Staying at Home “If you have mindfulness and alertness at all times, you’ll come to your senses. If you waste your time playing with other things, suffering will arise and you’ll suffer—because you don’t have any mindfulness. Your alertness isn’t…
Seeing the Fullness “When you make merit, what is merit? It’s correctness. In other words, it’s bringing the mind to peace, away from all kinds of evil. All of you lay people have gathered to make merit, but when you…
Rocks in the Way “We’re walking along a road that goes straight ahead. It doesn’t matter how many kilometers it goes, we just keep walking straight ahead. When we find a log or a rock obstructing our way, we pick…
Patience “Desire is something known right at the mind. We’re like fishermen who go out to cast their nets. As soon as they catch a fish, they rush to pounce on it, which scares the fish away. The fishermen are…
Eating the Hook “When people are deluded, they deludedly see that hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, and skin are wonderful things. Beautiful. It’s like a fish biting a hook. Whether it’s biting the hook or…
Our Responsibilities “When we practice we’re like a man planting a tree. He goes out and gets a tree, digs a hole, puts the tree in the hole, fills the hole with soil, waters it, gives it fertilizer, and keeps…
Looking for a Teacher “When you go looking for teachings on how to meditate, you have to look for people who are pure, monks who are pure, who really act in line with what they say: people who are content…
Neither Large nor Small “This bell here: Do you think it’s large or small? [A layman answers: “Small, sir.”] Small, eh? It’s not large? Hmm. Is that how you see it? This bell is a physical phenomenon. Your feeling about…