Like a handful of fallen leaves, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu .

The Buddha refused to have any dealing with those things which don’t lead to the extinction of Dukkha. Take the question of whether or not there is rebirth. What is reborn? How is it reborn? What is its kammic in­herit­ance? These questions are not aimed at the extinction of Dukkha. That being so, they are not Buddhist teachings and are not connected with it. They do not lie in the sphere of Buddhism. Also, the one who asks about such matters has no choice but to indis­­crimi­nately believe the answer given, because the one who answers is not going to be able to produce any proof, but is just going to speak according to that person’s memory and feeling. The listener can’t see for himself and so has to blindly believe the other’s words. Little by little the matter strays from Dhamma until it’s something else altogether, unconnected with the extinction of Dukkha.

Now, if one doesn’t raise those sort of problems, one can ask instead, ‘Is there Dukkha?’ and ‘How can Dukkha be extinguished?’ To these questions the Buddha agreed to answer, and the listener could see the truth of every word of his answer without having to blindly believe him, and to see more and more clearly until he understood. If one understands to the extent of being able to extinguish Dukkha, then that is the ultimate understanding. One knows that, even at this moment, there is no person living. One sees without doubt that there is no self or anything belonging to a self; there is just a feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ arising due to the foolishness whereby one is deluded by the beguiling nature of sense-experience.

There being no one born here, therefore, there is no one who dies and is reborn. So the whole question of rebirth is utterly foolish and nothing to do with Buddhism at all.

The Buddhist teachings aim to inform us that there is no self and nothing belonging to a self; there is only the false understanding of the ignorant mind. There is merely body and mind, which are nothing but natural processes. They function like a mechanism that can process and transform data. If they do so by the wrong method, it gives rise to foolishness and delusion, so that one feels there is a self and things which belong to a self. If they do so by the correct method, those feelings do not arise; there is the primal truth-discerning awareness (satipanna), the fundamental true knowing and clear seeing that there is no self and nothing belonging to a self.

This being so, it follows that in the sphere of the Buddhist teachings there is no question of rebirth or anything of that nature. Rather, there is the question, ‘Is there Dukkha?’ and ‘How can it be extinguished?’ Knowing the root cause of Dukkha, one will be able to extinguish it. That root cause is delusion, the wrong understanding that there is a self and things belonging to a self.

The matter of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is the single essential point of the Buddhist teachings. It is the one thing which must be completely purged. It follows that here lies the knowing, understanding, and practice of all the Buddhist teachings without exception. So please pay full attention.

As to the foundations or root principles of Dhamma, there are not great deal. The Buddha said that there was a single handful. A sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya makes this clear: Whilst walking through the forest, the Buddha picked up a handful of fallen leaves and asked the monks present whether the greater amount was the leaves in his hand or the leaves in the forest. They all said that the leaves in the forest were much more, so much so, that it was beyond comparison. Try to imagine the scene here, try to see how greater were the leaves in the forest. The Buddha then said that, similarly, those things which he had realised and which he knew, were equal to all the leaves in the forest, but that which it was necessary to know — those things which should be taught and practised — were equal to the number of leaves in his hand.

So from this it can be taken that, compared to the myriad things that are to be found in the world, the root principles to be practised in order to completely extinguish Dukkha amount to a single handful. We must appreciate that this ‘single handful’ is not a huge amount; it’s not something beyond our capabilities to reach and understand.

This is the first important point that we must grasp if we want to lay the foundations for a correct understanding of the Buddhist teachings.

An Extract from Heart-wood from the Bo Tree by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. © 1985 suanmokkh.org

Read more teachings from Buddhadasa Bhikkhu here.

Intuitive Insight, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu !

Intuitive Insight, by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

Now intuitive insight, or what we call ‘seeing Dhamma’, is not by any means the same thing as rational thinking. One will never come to see Dhamma by means of rational thinking. Intuitive insight can be gained only by means of a true inner realisation. For instance, suppose we are examining a situation where we had thoughtlessly become quite wrapped up in something which later caused us suffering. If, on looking closely at the actual course of events, we become genuinely fed up, disillusioned and disenchanted with that thing, we can be said to have seen Dhamma, or to have gained clear insight. This clear insight may develop in time until it is perfected and has the power to bring liberation from all things. If a person recites aloud: ‘anicca, dukkha, anatta’ or examines these characteristics day and night without ever becoming disenchanted with things, without ever losing the desire to get things or to be something, or the desire to cling to things, that person has not yet attained to insight. In short, then, insight into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-selfhood amounts to realising that nothing is worth getting or worth being.

There is a word in Buddhism that covers this completely, the word ‘sunnata’ (emptiness), the emptiness of selfhood, the emptiness of any essence that we might have a right to cling to with all our might as being ‘mine’. Observation which leads to the insight that all things are devoid of any essence that is worth clinging to is the real core of the religion. It is the key to Buddhist practice. When we have come to know clearly that everything of every kind is devoid of selfhood, we can be said to know Buddha-Dhamma in its entirety. The single phrase ‘empty of self’ sums up the words ‘impermanent (anicca), unsatisfactory (dukkha) and not self (anatta)’. When something is perpetually changing, devoid of any permanent unchanging element, it can also be said to be empty. When it is seen to be overflowing with the property of inducing disillusionment, it can be described as empty of any entity that we might have a right to cling to. And when we discover on examination that it possesses no stable component whatever that could be ‘self,’ that it is simply nature, changing and fluctuating in accordance with the laws of nature which we have no right to call a self, then it can be described as empty of self. As soon as any individual has come to perceive the emptiness of things, there arises in that person the realisation that it is not worth getting or being any of those things. This feeling of not desiring to get or to be has the power to protect one from falling slave to the defilements or to any kind of emotional involvement. Once an individual has attained this condition, he is thenceforth incapable of any unwholesome state of mind. He does not become carried away by or involved in anything. He does not become in any way attracted or seduced by anything. His mind knows permanent liberty and independence, and is free from suffering.

The statement: ‘Nothing is worth getting or being,’ is to be understood in a rather special sense. The words ‘get’ and ‘be’ refer here to getting and being with a deluded mind, with a mind that grasps and clings wholly and entirely. It is not suggested that one could live without having or being anything at all. Normally, there are certain things one can’t do without. One needs property, children, wife, garden, and so on. One is to be good, can’t help being a winner or a loser or having some status or other; one can’t help being something or other. Why then are we taught to regard things as not worth getting or being? The answer is this: The concepts of getting and being are purely relative; they are worldly ideas based on ignorance. Speaking in terms of pure reality, or absolute truth, we cannot get or be anything at all. And why? Simply because both the person who is to do the getting and the thing that is to be got, are impermanent, unsatisfactory (suffering) and nobody’s property. But an individual who doesn’t perceive this will naturally think, ‘I am getting…I have…I am….’ We automatically think in these terms, and it is this very concept of getting and being that is the source of distress and misery.

Getting and being represent a form of desire, namely the desire not to let the thing that one is in the process of getting or being, disappear or slip away. Suffering arises from the desire to have and the desire to be, in short, from desire; and desire arises from the failure to realise that all things are inherently undesirable. The false idea that things are desirable is present as an instinct right from babyhood and is the cause of desire. Consequent on desire, there come about results of one sort or another which may or may not accord with the desire. If the desired result is obtained, there will arise a still greater desire. If the desired result is not obtained, there is bound to follow a struggling and striving until one way or another it is obtained. Keeping this up results in the vicious circle of action (karma), result, action, result, which is known as the Wheel of Samsara. Now this word ‘samsara’ is not to be taken as referring to an endless cycle of one physical existence after another. In point of fact it refers to a vicious circle of three events: desire, action in keeping with the desire, and effect resulting from that action. The inability to stop desiring leads to desiring once more, to action once more, and once again to another effect, further augmenting desire… and so on, endlessly. Buddha called this the ‘Wheel of Samsara’ because it is an endless rolling on. It is because of this very circle of events that we are obliged to endure suffering and torment. To succeed in breaking loose from this vicious circle is to attain freedom from all forms of suffering, in other words, Nirvana. Regardless of whether a person is a pauper or a millionaire, a king or an emperor, a celestial being or a god, or anything at all, as long as that person is caught up in this vicious circle, he is obliged to experience suffering and torment of one kind or another, in keeping with his desire. We can say then that this Wheel of Samsara is well and truly overloaded with suffering. For the rectifying of this situation, morality is quite inadequate. To resolve the problem we have to depend on the highest principles of Dhamma.

An Extract from Handbook for Mandkind (PDF download) by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu.

Read more teachings from Buddhadasa Bhikkhu here.

Emperor Asoka and Sayagi U Ba Khin

Emperor Asoka and Sayagi U Ba Khin

(From Vipassana newsletter dated August 2011. Sayagyi U Ba Khin was the first Accountant General of independent Myanmar and Vipassana teacher.)

Two centuries after the Buddha breathed his last, Asoka became Emperor of Magadha. Driven by overweening ambition, he established a vast empire covering much of India and neighbouring countries. But one kingdom had not been brought under his sway: Kalinga, the modern-day Indian state of Orissa.

Furious at its resistance to him, Asoka attacked Kalinga and subjugated it in a bloody war. Then, after the fighting was over, he saw how many innocent people had been killed and how terrible was the suffering of this once-prosperous land. Heartsick at his own actions, he resolved to abjure the sword.

It was at this time that Asoka came to know about the teachings of the Buddha and was instantly attracted. He began by studying the words of the Enlightened One. Then someone told him that knowledge of the texts was not enough to give an understanding of the real meaning of the teachings; that can come only through the development of insight, that is, vipassanā-bhāvanā, or Vipassana meditation.

The best place then to learn Vipassana was at Bairath in the state of Rajasthan, where a bhikkhu named Upagupta taught. Handing over power to his subordinates, Asoka set out for Rajasthan. After 300 days he returned to his capital, a changed man. Now his volition was to share the teachings of the Buddha throughout his empire; he had been inspired by ehi passiko, the wholesome wish that others may come and see the Dhamma.

Printing then was unknown but Asoka was determined to spread the Buddha’s teachings among his subjects. He gave orders to inscribe the core teachings in stone, where everyone could see. This happened little more than two centuries after the Buddha, before his original words had been altered in any way. That is why we see the pure teachings of the Buddha in Asoka’s rock inscriptions.

 

Emperor Asoka, (304-232 BC)

 

More than mere study of the texts or theory (pariyatti), the Buddha gave importance to practice (paṭipatti). That is why the Asoka inscriptions often mention the practice of Vipassana.

The Buddha took no account of religious differences, giving his teaching to all. In many cases, people who started as his staunch opponents became his most fervent supporters once they learned what he taught.

In ancient India there were two communities, the samaṇas and the brāhmaṇas. The Buddha tried to unite people of all sects in the practice of Dhamma. Similarly, Asoka made no distinction between samaṇas and brāhmaṇas. He gave donations to both and encouraged others to do the same.

In fact, with the practice of Vipassana, differences between the two communities began to fade and they lived together in harmony. Asoka’s reign saw no communal tension or fighting.

Asoka tried to interest all communities in Vipassana. Far from being the monopoly of any one group, he showed that Vipassana belongs to all. It is universal.

The Buddha sent forth his disciples, telling each to go in a different direction and offer his pure, non-sectarian teaching. The result was that the Dhamma began to spread far and wide through northern India, bringing happiness to many. People from every major system of belief came in contact with the Buddha’s teachings and changed for the better.

To bring people of all religious backgrounds to a righteous way of living, Asoka urged them to learn and develop in Vipassana. He appointed male and female teachers, both members of the Sangha and laypeople. All began to teach Vipassana throughout India. In modern times as well, my revered teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin (first Account General of independent Myanmar) taught Vipassana to followers of the Buddha in Myanmar and also to other people of many different backgrounds.

Asoka decided to establish cetiyas, or memorials to the Buddha, the length and breadth of his empire. Afterwards bhikkhus came to reside at these calm and inspiring sites, which were ideal places for the teaching of the Dhamma.

Out of compassion, Asoka saw that Vipassana was taught to prison inmates so that they might be transformed. In modern times as well, prison inmates in India, Myanmar, the United States and other countries have the opportunity to change their lives through Vipassana.

Asoka was instrumental in spreading the pure teachings of the Buddha as far afield as Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Europe, although in those countries the memory of the Dhamma faded. The story was different in some Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos: there the Dhamma took root with Asoka’s help and flourishes still today.

Asoka had the military strength to conquer neighbouring countries and extend the frontiers of his empire. Instead he chose to expand the kingdom of Dhamma, so that people would live a good life. In doing so, he won the hearts of all.

With the passage of centuries, in some countries the teachings of the Buddha did not remain in the original, authentic form as sent by Asoka. But in Myanmar, people preserved the words of the Buddha and the technique of Vipassana meditation in their pristine purity from generation to generation. At least among a few, the theory and practice were handed on from teacher to pupil in their pure form as sent by Asoka.

In modern times the Venerable Ledi Sayadaw decided to revive the ancient tradition of lay teachers of the Dhamma. There was a common belief that 2,500 years after the time of the Buddha, there would be a resurgence of the Dhamma for another 2,500 years. The time was approaching for that resurgence, when the Buddha’s teachings could be expected to spread rapidly and widely. To prepare for this moment, Ledi Sayadaw trained Saya Thet Gyi and appointed him the first lay teacher of Dhamma. Saya Thet Gyi in turn taught Vipassana to lay people as well as some bhikkhus.

After Saya Thet Gyi, the next link in the chain of teachers was my own teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. In him we have a glimpse of both the Buddha and Asoka. In his discourses he spoke at length about pariyatti. But in his courses, the focus was on the practice of Vipassana from morning to evening.

Global Pagoda, Mumbai, India -  built as a mark of infinite gratitude to Sayagyi U Ba Khin

As a teacher, Sayagyi made no distinction between people whatever their background. He never spoke critically of any religious group. Instead he tried to understand the teaching of each group from the view point of Dhamma and to interpret it in light of the words of the Buddha.

Once a well-known writer from the United States, a Christian priest, joined a course with Sayagyi. As usual, the first step was to take refuge in the Triple Gem of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. The American resisted doing this, saying that he was willing instead to take refuge in Jesus.

Sayagyi smiled and said, “Very well, do that. After all, the Buddha is not sitting in the heavens, waiting to fulfil the wishes of those who take refuge in him. The refuge is really in his qualities. Jesus also had many wonderful qualities. Take inspiration from his example and try to emulate him in your life. If you take refuge in Jesus, take refuge in his qualities, not in Jesus as a person.”

This man agreed and began to work. When the course ended, he came to Sayagyi and begged forgiveness for his initial resistance. He had realized that the pure Dhamma transcends all distinctions between religions.

An important principle of this tradition is that no price can be put on the Dhamma because in fact it is priceless. To earn money by teaching the Dhamma is unethical and completely forbidden. If someone wants to earn money, there are endless business opportunities. But the Dhamma is not a commercial commodity, not something for sale. A businessman makes money by his work and becomes rich; but a teacher of the Dhamma must never amass wealth by charging fees for the teaching. Instead, this tradition strictly follows the Buddha’s injunction,

Dhammena na vanaṃ care

Do not make a business of Dhamma.

Anyone who ignores this injunction teaches not Dhamma but its opposite.

During Asoka’s reign, the Dhamma remained in its purest form. But a small number of priests of other traditions suffered financial losses as the Dhamma spread, and so they were motivated to introduce changes that would contaminate the teaching. As a consequence, the Dhamma lost its pristine purity 2,000 years ago. In truth it was only a small number who were responsible for this decline, and it would be totally wrong to blame an entire community. In every community there are people of pure heart.

My revered teacher fully lived the ideals of Dhamma. He was a senior member of the civil service, where it was commonplace to amass fortunes through fraudulent practices. But Sayagyi was ripened in Dhamma. He worked in this corrupt environment and emerged without any stain on his character.

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The teaching grates against our desires, by Ajahn Chah !

The teaching grates against our desires, by Ajahn Chah

Some people, when they come to practise, don’t want to be bothered by anything, they don’t want friction. But there’s friction the same as before. We must try to find an end to friction through friction itself.

So, if there’s friction in your practice, then it’s right. If there’s no friction it’s not right, you just eat and sleep as much as you want. When you want to go anywhere or say anything, you just follow your desires. The teaching of the Buddha grates. The supramundane goes against the worldly. Right view opposes wrong view, purity opposes impurity. The teaching grates against our desires.

There’s a story in the scriptures about the Buddha, before he was enlightened. At that time, having received a plate of rice, he floated that plate on a stream of water, determining in his mind, ‘If I am to be enlightened, may this plate float against the current of the water.’ The plate floated upstream! That plate was the Buddha’s right view, or the Buddha-nature that he became awakened to. It didn’t follow the desires of ordinary beings. It floated against the flow of his mind, it was contrary in every way.

These days, in the same way, the Buddha’s teaching is contrary to our hearts. People want to indulge in greed and hatred but the Buddha won’t let them. They want to be deluded but the Buddha destroys delusion. So the mind of the Buddha is contrary to that of worldly beings. The world calls the body beautiful, he says it’s not beautiful. They say the body belongs to us, he says not so. They say it’s substantial, he says it’s not. Right view is above the world. Worldly beings merely follow the flow of the stream.

Continuing on, when the Buddha rose from that spot, he received eight handfuls of grass from a Brahmin. The real meaning of this is that the eight handfuls of grass were the eight worldly dhammas — gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness. The Buddha, having received this grass, determined to sit on it and enter samadhi. The action of sitting on the grass was itself samadhi, that is, his mind was above the worldly dhammas, subduing the world until it realized the transcendent.

The worldly dhammas became like refuse for him, they lost all meaning. He sat over them but they didn’t obstruct his mind in any way. Demons came to try to overcome him, but he just sat there in samadhi, subduing the world, until finally he became enlightened to the Dhamma and completely defeated Mara. That is, he defeated the world. So the practice of developing the path is that which kills defilements.

From: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah.

We are responsible for our actions !

We are responsible for our actions

Discourse: Venerable Dhammapiya

The teachings of the Buddha have been compiled into Tripitaka, three baskets, that is, three categories. Rules and regulations are in Vinaya Pitaka. The Buddha gave many discourses; he conveyed the same ideas to different people, according to their understanding. These discourses are compiled in Sutta Pittaka. He was said to teach the profound dhamma in devaloka to his mother Mahamaya.

Siddhartha Gautama’s mother passed away after giving birth to him. When he became the Buddha, the enlightened one, he achieved abhijnana, higher knowledge. With the higher form of knowledge, wisdom eye, he could see ‘who was where’, even beyond the earth. The Buddha focussed his mind and surveyed and found his mother in devaloka. As an obedient son, he wanted to express gratitude, so he taught dhamma to his mother. The Buddha ascended to devaloka, and during Varshavas, rainy retreat, he taught profound abhidhamma to celestial beings in devaloka. The third pitaka is Abhidhamma Pitaka. Recently, October 13 was celebrated as Abhidhamma Day.

Every word of the Buddha has the potential to transform human and other beings, including animals and devas. That’s why the Buddha’s teachings are said to have characteristics of adi kalyanam, majhya kalyanam and antima paridosha kalyanam; teachings of the Buddha when followed are beneficial in the beginning, in the middle and even towards the end of one’s life. Not at any time, will they cause harm or hurt to any living being. The Buddha, after attaining enlightenment, formed the sangha, and it is said that 60 men became enlightened.

It is not easy to become enlightened; when the person takes the first step towards enlightenment, his mind becomes free of fear and delusion. A fully enlightened person is an arahant, who has uprooted all defilements such as lobha, dosha, moha, anger, hatred, animosity, ill-will, and achieved sustained peace.

The Buddha was concerned about life, its experiences, the existence of human beings, and of other beings. We have to ask: What is life for a Buddhist? Where are we going? Life and existence have infinite dimensions. We have to think about which dimension of life we have to focus on.

The Buddha is not a creator, or messenger; he is a guide, a pathfinder, who is showing us the path. The Buddha said “I may be showing you the path, but you have to walk on it by yourself.”

For followers of the Buddha, there is no force or faculty outside; everything points to our own actions. They maybe good or bad, but only we are responsible for our actions. The Buddha was clear about one thing – that he was not interested in finding the meaning of life in sensual pleasures. In a sense he was a physician and gave long standing solutions for a disease called dukkha, dissatisfaction, in life. The Buddha gave us the eightfold noble path as medicine. It helps us overcome dissatisfaction and attain sustained peace only when we put it into practice. There are several categories of the eightfold path: the first is sheela, how to live our lives. Then there are right efforts, right mindfulness and right concentration. These things are not to be understood at an intellectual level, but at an experiential level.

(From a talk given at NGMCA, Delhi, as heard by Sonal Srivastava)

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own. Sorce by The Times Of India Blogs .

7 Things the Buddha Never Said : By Thanissaro Bhikku .

7 Things the Buddha Never Said : By Thanissaro Bhikku .

First edition /12 sep 2017

The historical Buddha said many things in his long lifetime of teaching. But have you ever heard a supposed Buddha quote and wondered, Did he really say that? Monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu, a trained translator of the Buddha’s words, certainly has. Here he reveals seven of many he’s found. See if you’re not surprised.

Photo by David Gabriel Fischer.

1. “Life is suffering.”

This is one of the Big Lies of Buddhism—a claim assumed to be true simply because it is repeated so often—both in popular books and academic books. The phrase “Life is suffering” is supposed to be a summary of the Buddha’s first noble truth, but the first noble truth simply lists the things in life that constitute suffering: “Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.” (Quotation from Samyutta Nikaya, The Grouped Discourses of the Buddha, 56.11)

Life, you’ll notice, isn’t on the list.

The other noble truths go on to show that there’s more to life than just suffering: There’s the origination of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering as well.

2. “Past love is but a memory. Future love is but a dream. True love is in the here and now.”

I saw this on a card attached to the mirror in the bathroom of a home where I was teaching once. It’s so unrelated to anything the Buddha said that I have no idea of what the original inspiration might have been.

3. “There is no self.”

This is the other Big Lie. The one time the Buddha was asked point-blank if there is or isn’t a self, he refused to answer (Samyutta Nikaya 44.10). In Majjhima Nikaya (the “Middle-Length Discourses” of the Buddha) 2 he stated that the views “I have a self” and “I have no self” are both a thicket of views that leave you stuck in suffering. When the Buddha taught not-self (anatta) — as opposed to no self — he was recommending a strategy for overcoming attachment, a way of cutting through the mind’s tendency to cling to things by claiming them as “me” or “mine.”

The Buddha never said that “There is no separate self” either. He declined to get involved in the issue of whether any kind of self exists or doesn’t exist.

4. “Everything is impermanent.”
5. “Suffering comes from resisting change.”

These two misquotes tend to go together. If everything changes, then the only way you could escape from suffering would be to accept that all happiness is impermanent and stop trying for anything more lasting than that. A pretty miserable message.

Fortunately, the Buddha said simply that all fabricated things are impermanent. Anything perceived through the six senses is fabricated, in the sense that it is shaped by conditions, both external and internal.

However, there is something unfabricated that you can experience, and that’s nirvana. (See the Majjhima Nikaya the “Middle-Length Discourses” of the Buddha, 49, and the Samyutta Nikaya, the “Grouped Discourses of the Buddha,”43, for more.)

As the Buddha said, nirvana is the ultimate happiness (Dhammapada 203)—free from change, free from death, free from all limitations. That’s why he taught the path: so that people can find an unconditioned happiness. If his message had been, “Hey, there’s no lasting happiness, so give up thinking about it,” it wouldn’t have lasted all these years.

As for the second misquote, the Buddha actually said that people suffer because they identify with things that change. When the mind is strong enough that it doesn’t need to identify with anything, that’s when there’s no more suffering. On this point, see Samyutta Nikaya 22:1.

6. “If you want to see a person’s past actions, look at his present condition. If you want to see a person’s future condition, look at his present actions.”

This idea turns karma into something very simplistic and deterministic. It’s what I call the “one karmic bank account” theory—the idea that your present condition shows the running balance in your karmic account: the sum total of all your good actions, minus the sum total of your bad actions, equals what you’re experiencing right now.

Instead of a single bank account, the Buddha compared your past karma to a field of seeds: Some seeds have already sprouted, some are not yet ready to sprout, and as for the ones that are ready to sprout, those that get the most water with the best chance of flourishing. This means that, even though you can’t go back and change the seeds you’ve already planted, you do have some control over which seeds you’re going to water. In other words, your present condition shows only a sliver of your past actions; your present actions influence the extent to which you’re going to suffer over that sliver or not.

7. “A thousand candles can be lit by a single candle and yet not diminish the first candle’s light. Happiness is never diminished by being shared.”

This quote is popular among people who write fund-raising brochures—even though they want your money, and don’t necessarily care about your happiness. It’s a nice sentiment, but there’s no record of it among the Buddha’s words. The closest he gets to a sentiment like this is in Anguttara Nikaya (“The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha”) 10:177, where he says that when you make merit and dedicate it to your dead relatives, then even if those particular relatives are not in a place — the realm of the hungry ghosts –- where they can receive that merit, the merit isn’t lost. Others among your dead relatives who are in that state will partake of it—and you can be assured that at least someone among your relatives is there.

Not a suitable quote for fund-raising brochures, but something worth keeping in mind.