Today we’ll learn a new simile taught by the Supreme Buddha about the difference in people’s minds. Normally we look at people and see that their bodies are different. Some may be tall, some may be short. Some may have dark skin and some may have light skin. But the Buddha didn’t care about those things so much, did he. He cared most about our minds. And when we look carefully we can see that different people have different kinds of minds. Now, the good news is that we can develop our minds and make them better. We can’t do so much to change our bodies, but our minds we can completely improve to bring happiness into our lives. So we’ll learn some similes to help us think about different kinds of minds.
Episode 125 Questions on Metta and Giving Dana to One Monk
Today we’ll hear answers to a couple of questions your friends from
Dhamma School have asked. We’ll also hear a new segment where we
can learn about the 32 marks that all supreme Buddhas have. I think
you may have heard about these before. There is the very famous story
of when the Bodhisatta baby was taken to the Brahmins to predict his
future. When the brahmins looked at him they could see these signs
that showed he would either become a ruler of the entire world, or a
Samma Sambuddha. So for each of these marks we want to pay close
attention for three things. First, what was the action he did in the
past. Second, what was the mark on his body that came as a result of
that action. And finally, what was the special ability or quality the
Supreme Buddha had in his life as a result of that mark.
Now, I bet you remember how the Supreme Buddha’s cousin Devadatta tried to kill the Buddha. But he wasn’t successful, was he. Well, when we learn this first mark, we’ll understand why. It was because of the Buddha’s good karma done in his previous lives.
Contents
6:02 32 Marks of a Great Man, #1 7:59 Q & A 17:58 Karaniya Metta Sutta. Download a PDF or read online.
Can’t listen live in the morning? Checkout the podcast version!
Episode 124 Problems with Wealth, Solutions with Wealth
Today I want to tell you about a sutta taught by the Supreme Buddha to help us understand wealth, or money. Do you like to have money? Most people do. Have you thought about the disadvantages of money? Have you thought about the best ways to use money? Well, we’ll learn about that today.
Episode 123 Beauty Tips from the Buddha, CullaKammaVibhanga Sutta 4
Do you remember the karma or
action we learned about in the last show? One was harming living
beings, like humans or animals. The other was not harming living
beings. What was the result of harming? One result is being born in a
bad destination like hell or the animal world. The other result of
harming is that we become sick very easily. And the opposite, not
harming others? We can be reborn in a good destination and be very
healthy.
Today
we’ll learn about another set of actions and a way to become
beautiful in the future.
Episode 122 True Path to Good Health: CullaKammaVibhanga Sutta 3
Today we are going to learn the next part of the Cula Kamma Vibhanga sutta. Previously we learned about the type of action, or karma, that leads to someone having a short life or a long life. Do you remember what that is? The Supreme Buddha saw directly with his own mind that when we kill living beings, in the future we will have a short life. And if we give up killing, then that results in having a long life. When we keep the precepts we can be happy knowing that by observing the first precept we are helping ourselves to have a long life.
Episode 121 Questions on Feeling Lonely and Not Wanting to Meditate
Today we’ll hear answers to a couple of questions your friends from Dhamma School have asked. Have you ever felt sad or lonely when you couldn’t be with your friends? I bet that happens a lot. And what should we do when we don’t feel like meditation? That probabaly happens a lot to you too. We’ll talk about these things today.
Activity
Try to use one of the techniques you learned today and write to us and tell us how it worked. See the contact info below.
Today we are going to learn about a man who’s mind was filled with hatred and thoughts of revenge. Someone said something to him that he didn’t like and all he could think about was how to get even with that person. Has someone ever said something to you to criticize you or blame you? I’m sure they have. It happens to everyone. People even blamed the Supreme Buddha. But the way we react completely depends on how pure out mind is. We’ve learned before how when people would criticize and scold the Buddha he never got angry or had any thoughts of taking revenge or getting even with that person. This is the big difference between us and a Supreme Buddha.
Activity
Think about a time that someone has accused you of something that made you unhappy. Are you happy with how you reacted? How could you react better in the future?
Contents
5:57 Sermon on Sumangala and the Thief, from Dhammapada commentary 136 16:58 Paṭicca Samuppāda chanting. Read along online or download a PDF.
Can’t listen live in the morning? Checkout the podcast version!
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