Tag Archives: bhikkhu bodhi

The Nobility of the Truths

19 Monday Nov 2018

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by Bhikkhu Bodhi

The most common and widely known formulation of the Buddha’s teaching is that which the Buddha himself announced in the First Sermon at Benares, the formula of the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha declares that these truths convey in a nutshell all the essential information that we need to set out on the path to liberation. He says that just as the elephant’s footprint, by reason of its great size, contains the footprints of all other animals, so the Four Noble Truths, by reason of their comprehensiveness, contain within themselves all wholesome and beneficial teachings. However, while many expositors of Buddhism have devoted attention to explaining the actual content of the four truths, only rarely is any consideration given to the reason why they are designated noble truths. Yet it is just this descriptive word “noble” that reveals to us why the Buddha chose to cast his teaching into this specific format, and it is this same term that allows us to experience, even from afar, the unique flavor that pervades the entire doctrine and discipline of the Enlightened One. Continue reading →

The Search for Security

07 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Dhamma

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by Bhikkhu Bodhi

It may be a truism of psychology that the desire for happiness is the most fundamental human drive, but it is important to note that this desire generally operates within the bounds set by another drive just as deep and pervasive. This other drive is the need for security. However insistent the raw itch for pleasure and gain may be, it is usually held in check by a cautious concern for our personal safety. We only feel at ease when we are sealed off from manifest danger, comfortably at home with ourselves and with our world, snugly tucked into familiar territory where everything seems friendly and dependable. Continue reading →

The Balanced Way

06 Tuesday Nov 2018

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by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Like a bird in flight borne by its two wings, the practice of Dhamma is sustained by two contrasting qualities whose balanced development is essential to straight and steady progress. These two qualities are renunciation and compassion. As a doctrine of renunciation the Dhamma points out that the path to liberation is a personal course of training that centers on the gradual control and mastery of desire, the root cause of suffering. As a teaching of compassion the Dhamma bids us to avoid harming others, to act for their welfare, and to help realize the Buddha’s own great resolve to offer the world the way to the Deathless. Continue reading →

The Case for Study

05 Monday Nov 2018

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by Bhikkhu Bodhi

The recent upsurge of interest in Buddhism, both East and West, has been marked by a vigorous practical orientation and a drive to discover the peace and freedom to which the practice of Dhamma leads. This zeal for practice, however, has often been accompanied by another trait which may not be so fruitful, namely, a tendency to neglect or even belittle the methodical study of the Buddha’s teachings. The arguments offered in defense of this attitude have already become familiar currency among us. It is said, for example, that study is concerned with words and concepts, not with realities; that it leads only to learning, not to wisdom; that it can change only our ideas but fails to touch us at the deeper levels of our lives. To clinch the case the testimony of the Buddha himself is enlisted, with his famous remarks that to learn much without practicing is like counting the cows of others or like carrying a raft on one’s head instead of using it to cross the stream. Continue reading →

The Buddha’s Teaching As It Is – Audio Lectures by Bhikkhu Bodhi

30 Wednesday Aug 2017

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MicrophoneThe source of these excellent lectures is Bodhi Monastery, New Jersey, U.S.A. The Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi currently resides there and has done so for many years. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an eminent scholar in both Theravada Buddhism and the Pali Cannon. He has authored many articles, essays and books, as well as being responsible for the translation of a huge section of the Sutta Pitaka into the English language.

‘The Buddha’s Teaching As It Is’ provides a superb introduction to Theravada Buddhism. Anyone interested in investigating Buddhism from any path, Theravada or Mahayana, will benefit greatly from listening to them. I certainly did, and I had looked into Tibetan Buddhism for a couple of years before I came across them. Continue reading →