Buddhism In A Nutshell

I am in the process of transferring this 'Label' to my other blog - 'Spiritual, not Religious'.

https://netizenv.blogspot.sg/

This article has four parts. I think it’s very well put together. Short and straight to the point. Literally, Buddhism in a nutshell. For those interested or curious about Buddhism, do have a read.

http://www.bbncommunity.com/buddhism-nutshell-part-1/

Eating Meat

Clarification on monks and Buddhist eating meat

What did the Buddha say about eating meat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSjKt3fSziM

Please copy and paste the link if clicking on it doesn't work 

The Meaning of Prayer

The Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera talks about what Buddhists believe of prayers.

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/198.htm

Buddhist Wisdom

12 Pieces Of Buddhist Wisdom That Will Transform Your Life

From the Enlightened Planet site

http://www.enlightened-planet.com/2015/03/12-pieces-of-buddhist-wisdom-that-will.html

Why Are We Here

Why are we here? Why are we born?

I am sure everyone of us has asked ourselves these questions at one time or another. Hear what Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm has to say. See if he answered the questions to your satisfaction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RrCjzi74BA&feature=youtu.be

Buddhism

At the end of the way is freedom. Till then, patience. - Buddha

Hard it is to be born,

Hard it is to live,

Harder still to hear of the way,

And hard to rise, follow, and awaken.

Yet the reaching is simple.

Do what is right. Be pure.

At the end of the way is freedom.

Till then, patience.

If  you wound or grieve another,

You have not learned detachment.

Offend in neither word nor deed.

Eat with moderation,

Live in your heart.

Seek the highest consciousness.

Master yourself according to the dharma.

This is the simple teaching of the awakened.

The rain could turn to gold

And still your thirst would not be slaked.

Desire is unquenchable

Or it ends in tears, even in heaven.

He who wishes to awaken

Consumes his desires joyfully

Buddha

The Dhammapada

The Dhammapada is a collection of the sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist Scriptures.

Buddhist Quotes

Buddhism:- the belief in the limitless human capacity for wisdom, compassion and courage, starting with a deep understanding of your own limitless nature. - Unknown

All beings tremble before violence. All fear death, all love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do? - Buddha

As the rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgments but rain your kindness equally on all. - Buddha

Be ye lamp unto yourselves. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. See salvation alone in the truth. - The Buddha

Buddhism is not about religion. Buddhism is about wisdom of nature. The nature of mind. - Unknown

Free yourself from attachment. Know the sweet joy of the way. How joyful to look upon the awakened and to keep company with the wise. How long the road to the man who travels the road with the fool. - Buddha

No matter how far out on the sea of suffering we’ve sailed, all that is required is to turn toward awakening. It’s never too late, but it takes that turning, and no one can do that for us. - Bommie Myotai Treace

The Way is in the heart. - Buddha

What is Nirvana?

Discourse by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWIPhj-ivo

Renunciation

In enjoyment there is fear of disease; in social position, the fear of falling off; in wealth, the fear of (hostile) kings; in honour, the fear of humiliation; in power, the fear of foe men; in beauty, the fear of old age; in scriptural erudition, the fear of opponents; in virtue, the fear of traducers; in body, the fear of death. All the things of this world pertaining to human beings are attended with fear; renunciation alone stands for fearlessness. - Vairagya Sakatam of Bhartrihari

Renunciation is not only for the monks and nuns. Whoever is seeking liberation or enlightenment needs renunciation of the senses. The meaning of renouncing the world is that we have less craving for and grasping at sense objects. Renouncing sensory pleasure doesn’t mean throwing nice things away. Even if you do, it doesn’t mean you have renounced them. Renunciation is a totally inner experience.

Suffering

When Lord Buddha spoke about suffering, he wasn't referring simply to superficial problems like illness and injury, but to the fact that the dissatisfied nature of the mind itself is suffering. No matter how much of something you get, it never satisfies your desire for better or more. This unceasing desire is suffering; its nature is emotional frustration. 

Suffering is the basic lot of mankind. The only way to end suffering is by purifying the mind. The individual creates his own suffering and it is he alone who can end it.

It is not the eye, nor the ear, which hold us bound to the wheel of suffering, nor is it the things perceived by the eye, or the ear. It is the desire of the one for the other that is the fetter. If the eye and the ear are not attached to things seen and heard, then there is no sorrow or suffering.

Suffering arises from desiring, wanting and craving. One escape from the burden of suffering when one is liberated from your self and its desires.

Suffering follows the evil act as the wheel of the cart follows the foot of the ox that draws it.

Source Unknown 

Four Ways Of Letting Go

A rather long talk. But I guess if you are speaking to devotees from all walks of life, you have to be more elaborate. Still, I find the talk enlightening.

Emptiness

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form;

Emptiness is not separate from form,

Form is not separate from emptiness;

Whatever is form is emptiness,

Whatever is emptiness is form.

The same holds true for sensation and perception,

Memory and consciousness. 

- Red Pine

Emptiness is the usual translation for the Buddhist term Sunyata (or Shunyata). It refers to the fact that no thing - including human existence - has ultimate substantiality, which in turn means that no thing is permanent and no thing is totally independent of everything else. In other words, everything in this world is interconnected and in constant flux. A deep appreciation of this idea of emptiness thus saves us from the suffering caused by our egos, our attachments, and our resistance to change and loss. - James Ure 

True emptiness exists when the mind is clear and all forms have disappeared. Externally, there are no objects. Internally, there is no mind. There is only emptiness. In this state even emptiness does not exist. In true emptiness there is no space, no desire, no will; there are no appearances, no thoughts. All realms of existence are dissolved. In absolute stillness there is no self and no other. There is only Earlier Heaven in its undifferentiated whole. - Shui-ch'ing Tzu

Teachings Of Buddha

One must not accept my teachings from reverence, but first try them as gold is tried by fire. 

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside. Knowing yourself is most important. 

Don't just go and believe in the teacher because he says a fruit is sweet and delicious. Taste it for yourself and then all the doubting will be over.

Teachers are those who point out the direction of the Path. After listening to the teacher, whether or not we walk the Path by practicing ourselves, is strictly up to each one of us. 

We must learn to let go of conditions and not try to oppose or resist them. Know your own body, heart, and mind. Be content with little. Don't go and hold on to emotions.

Self is a fever; self is a transient vision, a dream, but truth is wholesome, truth is sublime, truth is everlasting. There is no immortality except in truth. For truth alone abideth forever.

By oneself is evil done; by oneself is one made impure. By oneself only is evil stopped, by oneself is one made pure. Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can purify another.

The noble swerve not from the right path let happen what may, and crave no longer after worldly joys. The wise remain calm and constant in mind alike in joy and sorrow.

The one of few desires is the happiest. The one who knows contentment is very rich and honoured.

Just as the dweller in his body passes through childhood, youth and old age, so at death, he merely passes into another kind of body. 

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

Yield not to idleness, neither give way to lust nor cravings. He who is full of earnest, diligent in devotion to others attains great happiness.

Teachings Of Buddha

The wise man never changes in face of happiness or sorrow, even as a mountain shakes not, being blown against by fierce gusts of wind.

He who destroyed craving has overcome all sorrow. Conquer your desires or they will conquer you.

A wise man blows off the impurities of his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver one by one, little by little and from time to time.

Blessed are they who earn their livelihood in a way that brings hurt or danger to no living thing.

Rude speech is the sharp sword. Greed and lust are the repulsive poison.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care. 

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love, this is the eternal rule. 

Nothing is, everything is becoming. There is no present - only change.

Hatred is the great blazing fire. Ignorance is the deepest darkness.

No one and nothing can free you but your own understanding.

Death appears unlovely only to those attached to earthly things.

Patience is the strong armour. Wisdom is the sharp weapon.

Of all mindfulness meditations, that on death is supreme. 

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. 

He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. 

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. 

From what is dear to us, suffering arises.

Joyful is the accumulation of good work. 

All things are transient and void of self.

Teachings Of Buddha

Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor in entering a mountain cave, is found the place, where abiding one may escape the consequences of an evil deed.

Speak not harshly to anyone; Those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Painful indeed is language violent; Blow for blow will pursue thee.

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye. 

The original human nature is pure. It is our worldly cultures and conditionings that fogged our mind and divided people. 

Self is an error, an illusion, a dream; open your eyes and awake. He who has found there is no 'I' will let go of all the lusts and dreams of egotism.

We are the results of what we were. And will be the results of what we are.

No enemy can harm one so much as one’s own thoughts of craving, hate and jealousy. 

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well. 

He who sees things as they really are, is not affected by scents whether vice or pleasant.

When emotional thoughts such as pride, hatred, jealousy arise, there is no place for us to practice patience. 

Just as a solid rock remains unshaken by the wind. Even so, may blame and praise not ruffle the wise.

Let a man overcome anger by love; Let him overcome evil by good; Let him overcome greed by liberality, and lies by truth.

A man is not learned because he talks much; He who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.

The Teachings Of Buddha

Just as water cools both good and bad and washes away all impurity and dust, in the same way you should develop thoughts of love to friend and foe alike, and having reached perfection in love, you will attain enlightenment. 

A victor only breeds hatred, while a defeated man lives in misery, but a man at peace within lives happily, abandoning up ideas of victory and defeat. 

Through zeal, knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal, knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow. 

To utter pleasant words without practicing them, is like a fine flower without fragrance. 

As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives. 

Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water... 

Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water. 

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm. 

When one masters his wretched desire, which is so hard to overcome, then one’s sorrows just drop off, like a drop of water off a lotus. 

Suffering does not befall him who is without attachment to names and forms. 

There is only one reality in life - change. Everything changes, nothing remains without change. 

If a man should do wrong, let him not do again nor take pleasure in it, for painful is the accumulation of evil.

A heart untouched by worldly things, not swayed by sorrow, passionless and secure - that is the greatest blessing.

The Teachings Of Buddha

The one who carries things thinks he's got things, but the one who looks on only sees the heaviness. Throw away things, lose them, and find lightness.

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. 

Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed. 

Like a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not moved by praise or blame.

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity. 

Full of love for all things in the world, practicing virtue, in order to benefit others, this man alone is happy.

A kind man who makes good use of wealth is rightly said to possess a great treasure; but the miser who hoards up his riches will have no profit. 

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. 

Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. 

From craving arises sorrow, from craving arises fear, but he who is freed from craving has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 

When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world, one’s sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain. 

If a viper lives in your room and you wish to have a peaceful sleep, you must first chase it out. 

Just as the bee takes the nectar and leaves without damaging the color or scent of the flowers, so should the sage act in a village.

The Teachings Of Buddha

He who looks for me, that is, through any material form, or seeks me through any audible sound, that man has entered on an erroneous course, and shall never behold the Buddha. 

The truth is open for all who can understand. You must be lamps unto your selves. You must depend upon no eternal refuge, depend on no leader, and depend on no teacher. Look within. You are the Buddha. 

When we feel happy and peaceful, our happiness and peace radiates around us, and others can enjoy it as well. This is called ‘the enjoyment of others of our body of bliss’. 

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. 

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. 

Let go the past, let go the future, and let go what is in between, transcending the things of time. With your mind free in every direction, you will not return to birth and aging. 

He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness. 

One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of one’s time in religious offerings to the gods.

There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed. 

All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this in wisdom, then one becomes dispassionate towards the painful. 

Though one should conquer a million men in battlefield, yet indeed he is the noblest victor who has conquered himself. 

Do not speak harshly to any one; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful: blows for blows will touch thee.

The Teachings Of Buddha

It is in the nature of things, however dear they may be to us, that we must separate from them, leave and depart from them. Anything that is born, that is formed and brought into being, contains within itself the qualities naturally associated with its own dissolution.

Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. Therefore don’t take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes. From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 

When the senses touch sense objects and the thoughts touch thought objects, the fires of lust and desire are kindled. Your ears hear praises of yourselves and then your thoughts think of self importance and you are fearful lest you lose the self-importance. You forget that this self is not the true self of you which is universal and deathless. 

Once you understand non-self, then the burden of life is gone. You'll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy. Learn to let go without struggle, simply let go, to be just as you are - no holding on, no attachment, free.

If a man cares not if things are thus and not thus, then provided he has no harsh thoughts, he has indeed found happiness. He has certain security for he has found freedom from grief and care. Truly, he has overcome the world. 

Improvement or degeneration, happiness or misery, are all the results of our deeds. We ourselves are moulders of our fate. No one else is to be blamed for our misery, or praised for our happiness.

Conditions all go their own natural way. Whether we laugh or cry over them, they just go their own way. And there is no knowledge of science that can prevent this natural course of things. Everything falls apart in the end.

All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter. He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.

The Teachings Of Buddha

Within this fathom - long body with its sense impressions and its thoughts and ideas, I do declare to you, are the world and the origin of the world and the cessation of the world and likewise the way that leads to its cessation. 

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. 

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom. 

When we are thinking generously, we give allowance to the inconsiderate, the unkind, the selfish and mean people in the world. Thereupon, we become generous in our speech; to speak well of others behind their backs, to rejoice in their success, to understand their errors. Then our deeds become generous too. 

Do not think of the past; do not worry about the future. What is past is gone; the future has not come. Use your wisdom and pay attention to the present. Do your work today itself. 

If you see things with real insight, then there is no stickiness in your relationship to them. They come - pleasant and unpleasant - you see them and there is no attachment. They come and they pass. Even if the worst kinds of defilement come up, such as greed or anger, there's enough wisdom to see their impermanent nature and allow them to just fade away. If you react to them, however, by liking or disliking, that isn't wisdom. You're only creating more suffering for yourself. 

People are always looking outwards, at people and things. They are so busy looking around and having opinions about what they see that they have no time to look at themselves. 

A clever person watches others, but he watches with wisdom, not with ignorance. If one watches with wisdom, one can learn much. But if one watches with ignorance, one can only find faults. 

The one who has ceased to search for a permanent self among things that are transient is no longer a slave to his desires. He has found the means of controlling those clamouring selves. He has won deliverance from them. He has found the peace of Nirvana.