dharma notes

A frequently recurring theme in Than Phor Lee’s Dhamma talks was that the Dhamma is a skill to be mastered, in the same way that a manual skill is to be mastered, through using one’s powers of observation and ingenuity. Here, for example, is an example of how he developed this analogy:

What does discernment come from? You might compare it with learning to become a potter, a tailor, or a basket weaver. The teacher will start out by telling you how to make a pot, sew a shirt or a pair of pants, or weave different patterns, but the proportions and beauty of the object you make will have to depend on your own powers of observation. Suppose you weave a basket and then take a good look at its proportions, to see if it’s too short or too tall. If it’s too short, weave another one, a little taller, and then take a good look at it to see if there’s anything that still needs improving, to see if it’s too thin or too fat. Then weave another one, better-looking than the last. Keep this up until you have one that’s as beautiful and well-proportioned as possible, one with nothing to criticize from any angle. This last basket you can take as your standard. You can now set yourself up in business.

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“This leads up to the next step, being sensitive to rapture—or refreshment, which is probably a better translation of the Pali word, piti. Breathe in with a sense of refreshment; breath out with a sense of refreshment. And this is how you get there, by being aware of the whole body, by calming the way the breath comes in, calming the way the breath goes out. This allows for a sense of fullness. It’s almost as if every cell in your body is allowed to have its space and to fill up its space, all the way down to the tips of your toes, all the way down to the tips of your fingers, through all the muscles of your head , through all the muscles at the back of your head, down the back of your neck, all the parts of the body that you tend to ignore. Allow all of them to have their space, so that they are not squeezed with the out-breath, not pressured with the in-breath. The more there’s a sense of connectedness of the breath energy throughout the body, the less pressure you have to apply. It’s almost as if you allow all the pores of your skin to open up, and everybody gets to breathe. Everybody gets to have a part of the breath.” – Thanisarro Bhikkhu

https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/CrossIndexed/Published/ePublish_talks_4/080105theBuddha's16Steps.pdf

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“Washing the dishes is like bathing a baby Buddha. The profane is the sacred. Everyday mind is Buddha’s mind.” – #ThichNhatHanh

My practice is doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, gardening. Immersed in the world takes time, takes effort. Being in “the world” but not “of the world.” Let the stillness seep in.

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“Simply pose the question in the mind each time you breathe in: 'What kind of breath would feel especially gratifying right now?' See how your body responds.” – Thanissaro Bhikkhu in With Each & Every Breath

“If, before you start meditating, you realize that you’re facing an important decision in life that might interfere with your meditation, tell yourself that you’ll use the meditation period to clear your mind before contemplating the decision. Before meditating, pose whatever questions you want to have answers for, and then drop them. Refuse to pay them any attention if they pop up during the meditation. Focus your attention exclusively on the breath. When you emerge from the meditation, see if an answer presents itself to your awareness. ere’s no guarantee that the answer will be correct, but at least it’s coming from a quiet spot in the mind, and it gives you something to put to the test. If no answer presents itself, your mind is at any rate clearer and sharper than it was before the meditation, putting you in a better position to contemplate the issues you face. But be sure that while you’re meditating you don’t have anything to do with thoughts about those issues at all.” – Thanissaro Bhikkhu in With Each & Every Breath

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The Buddha’s teachings are like the instructions posted on a hotel room door, telling you what to do when the hotel’s on fire:

— Heed the fire alarm. This corresponds to the Buddha’s teachings on saṁvega, the sense that you’re enmeshed in a dangerous situation and want to find a way out.

— Realize that your conduct will mean the difference between life and death. This corresponds to heedfulness, the attitude underlying all skillful behavior.

— Read the map, posted on the door, for finding the closest fire escape. This corresponds to right view.

— Make up your mind to follow the map. This corresponds to right resolve.

— Don’t abuse any of the other people in the hotel as you try to make your escape. Don’t lie to them about the escape route, don’t claw your way over them, and don’t cheat them out of their belongings. This corresponds to right speech, right action, and right livelihood.

— Do your best to follow the instructions on the map, and resist the temptation to stay in the comfort of your room or to wander down the wrong corridors. This corresponds to right effort.

— Keep the map in mind at all times, and check your efforts to make sure that they’re in line with it. This corresponds to right mindfulness.

— Keep calm and focused, so that your emotions don’t prevent you from being clearly aware of what you’re doing and what needs to be done. This corresponds to right concentration.

This analogy, of course, is far from perfect. After all, in the actual practice of the Buddha’s teachings, the fire is already constantly burning inside your own mind—in the form of the fires of passion, aversion, delusion, and suffering—and the escape from these fires lies, not in leaving your mind, but in going deeper into the mind to a dimension, nibbāna, where fire can’t reach. Also, because both the fire and the escape lie within you, you can’t pull other people to safety. The most you can do for them is to tell or show them the way to practice, which they will have to manage for themselves.

But still, the above analogy is useful for highlighting a number of important features of the Buddha’s practice.

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/OnThePath/Section0005.html

The idea that beauty is an important part of the Dharma is characterized by the Buddha’s often repeated saying:

“The Dharma is beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful in the end.”

Wise, skillful eating.