-
Join 936 other subscribers
Categories
Author Archives: lynnjkelly
Not Sure
Quite often, we react emotionally to events when they are still in process. If we can keep still and take in whatever information is available (including our fear or other emotion), we will be less disturbed by our instinctive reactions. … Continue reading
Posted in Causes and results, Compassion, Faith, Mindfulness, Patience, Wisdom
Tagged Humility, Mindfulness, Patience
Leave a comment
Winning and Losing
Some of us follow sports, not to gamble, but to participate in some tribal feeling for our town/city. There’s a perverse pleasure in taking the emotional roller coaster ride with the fortunes of our favorite team. There’s also a lesson … Continue reading
Posted in Causes and results, Dhamma, Karma, Mindfulness, Patience, Wisdom
Tagged The eight worldly winds, Wins and losses
Leave a comment
Good Friendship
…As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, “This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.”[footnote: As AN 8.54 points out, this means not only associating with good people, but … Continue reading
Posted in Causes and results, Friendships, Karma, Mindfulness, Relationships, Wisdom
Tagged good friend, noble friendship
3 Comments
Mindful Sensing
As we peruse the perfections or paramīs, we are looking for entry points to mindfulness practices that may suit us right now. The third precept is “I undertake the training rule to refrain from misconduct with sexuality (or sensuality)”, and … Continue reading
Posted in Mindfulness, Precepts, Wisdom
Tagged Mindful choices, Mindful of the senses, Wisdom with sensuality
Leave a comment
Determination (Adhiṭṭhāna)
There are various different lists of paramīs which emerged from different historical schools of Buddhism. In at least one 10-item list, a quality called determination appears. Adhiṭṭhāna or resolution works as a force-multiplier for the rest of our efforts towards … Continue reading
Posted in Causes and results, Mindfulness, Perfections, Wisdom
Tagged aditthana, determination, resolution, resolve
2 Comments
Nekkhamma (renunciation)
One quality that’s on later lists of perfections (paramīs) is nekkhamma, usually translated as renunciation. In the context of the Buddha’s teachings, it mainly has to do with renouncing something that’s appealing for something that has longer term benefits. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in Causes and results, Faith, Mindfulness, Patience, Perfections
Tagged Nekkhama, renunciation
Leave a comment
Why be good?
There are many ways of “being good” and many lessons in the Buddha’s teachings that encourage us to cultivate wholesome actions of body, speech, and mind. In a classic sutta, the Buddha lays out a very simple reason to behave … Continue reading
Posted in Compassion, Harmlessness, Mindfulness, Precepts
Tagged goodness, happiness, Mindfulness of dhammas, non-harming
Leave a comment
What’s our purpose?
We’ve been considering the Buddha’s teachings on how to live ethically and harmoniously in community. Each of us must decide for ourselves how to make use of those teachings. If we think generally about the precepts (non-harming, generosity, ethical sensual … Continue reading
Posted in Causes and results, Compassion, Generosity, Harmlessness, Karma, Mindfulness, Patience, Perfections, Precepts, Speech, Wisdom
Tagged Community, Legacy, Purpose, Spiritual urgency
1 Comment
Virtuous community
The idea for today’s post comes from an article, “Buddhism and the Virtues” by James Whitehill, published in a textbook, Contemporary Buddhist Ethics, edited by Damien Keown. The central point is that it is difficult or impossible to develop the … Continue reading
Wisdom (the 6th perfection)
One school of early Buddhism listed six perfections: giving, virtue, patience, energy, jhāna (concentration), and wisdom. We’ve talked about the first five and today we’ll consider the last of these, paññā or wisdom. Wisdom can be cultivated on its own, … Continue reading
Posted in Dhamma, Mindfulness, Patience, Perfections, Wisdom
Tagged discernment, Perfections, Wisdom
1 Comment
The Buddha's Advice to Laypeople 