Monks in the Morning Show Archive

222 Good-hearted Friends

In today’s sermon we will learn about what a good-hearted friend is and how we can also become a good-hearted friend to other people.

220 A Girl Gifts Gold to a Stupa

In today’s episode we’ll learn about a young girl who showed respect to the relics by offering something you might not expect.

211 The Story of Kali Yakshini, Part 3

Today we will listen to the last part of the story of Kālī Yakshini. Although lots of terrible things happen in this story, something very wonderful happens, doesn’t it. The mother and the yakkha, who had been terrible enimies for a long time in saṁsara had the chance to give up this hatred that caused…

209 The Story of Kali Yakshini, Part 1

Have you ever had something strange happen to you that you couldn’t explain? We’ll start to learn the story of a family that had something really strange, and really scary, happen to them. They couldn’t understand why it was happening. In the end, and in a panic, the went to the wisest person in the…

198 Happy Here, Happy There, Happy Everywhere

One of the things that’s so great about being a follower of the Supreme Buddha is that if we follow his advice, it brings us happiness right now as we practice his teachings, and it’s also guarenteed to bring us happiness in the future, either in a good rebirth or in attaining Nibbana. In some…

197 Can Our Relatives in Heaven Help Us?

When we collect good karma by practicing the Buddha’s instructions, we will often share merit with heavenly beings. And we may even have the wish that all heavenly beings protect the Dhamma and those who practice the Dhamma. Well one of you was curious if when our relatives are born in the heavenly worlds they…

196 Sadness from the Ones We Love

Do you remember that word, kalyanamitta? It means a special kind of friend who likes to help us practice the Supreme Buddha’s teachings. That’s what we’re going to do together today, practice the Supreme Buddha’s teachings. It’s hard to find people in the world to help us practice the Dhamma, so we can be happy…

195 Offering a Milk Rice Puja

Have you ever heard of offering milk rice to the Supreme Buddha? Today two of the monks are going to talk about the practice of offering milk rice to the Supreme Buddha. In Sinhala this special kind of milk rice offering is called kiripindu Buddha Puja. Together we’ll learn about the ancient history of offering…

194 Benefits of Loving Kindness Meditation

Today we are going to hear the eleven benefits that we get when we practice loving kindness meditation. Some of the benefits of practicing meditation we can see in this life, and some don’t come until a future life. But when we know the good things we can expect from meditating, then it’s easier to…

193 Good Friendship to Improve Our Lives

Today we are going to learn a teaching from the Supreme Buddha about the importance of friendship. We can find it in the collection called the Itivuttaka, so if you would like to read it again after the show, just click on the show notes link below and you can read it for yourself. This…

192 Noble People Let Go of Desire for Everything, Araham Quality pt. 4

Can you remember the three knowledges we learned in the last episode? The three things that the Supreme Buddha was able to see and understand on the night of his enlightenment? The first one was the ability to remember his past lives. Not just one or two, many thousands and thousands of lives. And not…

191 The Buddha Knows Three Important Things

Have you heard about the night of the Supreme Buddha’s enlightenment? You probably remember that it happened on a Vesak full moon. And that he sat next to the river Neranjara. You may even remember that Māra tried to stop him from attaining enlightenment. But can you remember the three special things that he gained…

190 Drunk on Food. Araham Quality pt. 3

Today we will learn more about the Arahaṁ quality of the Supreme Buddha. Do you remember the story we learned about the monks being happy with the food given to horses? Well, there’s more to the story and we will learn that today. If you haven’t listened to that episode, you may want to go…

189 Beauty Disappears

Today we will learn another example of why our Supreme Buddha was the best teacher in the world. You know that sometimes the Supreme Buddha would even use his psychic powers to teach if he thought they were necessary to tame someone’s mind. Well, that’s exactly what he did in the example we’ll learn about…

188 Don’t Do Bad Things in Public or in Secret

In the sermon today we are going to learn a wonderful verse taught by the Supreme Buddha. One day he was walking on alms round, collecting his meal for the day, and he saw some boys catching fish. Because he had compassion for these boys, he went up and asked them if they disliked liked…

187 Happy without the Defilements. Araham Quality pt. 2

Today we’ll learn more about the arahaṁ quality of the Supreme Buddha. I should also mention that usually when we see the word arahaṁ written, it will end with the letter “m” with a dot over it. You may have also seen it in the phrase “Buddhaṁ saranaṁ gacchāmi. In languages like Pāli, this was…

186 Life Is Short, Be Heedful

Today one of the monks is going to teach us a beautiful passage spoken by the Supreme Buddha. It’s a great reminder of how short our human life is, and how important it is that we work hard to practice the Buddha’s teachings. We may think that we are going to live a long time,…

185 The Buddha’s Mind Is Undefiled. Araham Quality pt. 1

Today we are going to learn about the meaning of the word arahaṁ. I know you’ve said this word maybe even 100 times before. It’s one of the qualities of the Supreme Buddha we recite in the Itipiso gatha. And to understand the meaning of arahaṁ, we are going to learn how the Supreme Buddha…

184 What Should We Plan For?

Have you ever made plans to do something and your plans didn’t work out like you hoped? Maybe we planned on taking a trip and then the trip had to get canceled. Or maybe we planned to call one of our friends and talk, but we couldn’t get a hold of them? Or how about…

183 The Blessing of Giving Up Evil, Mangala Sutta part 9

Today we are going to learn an important Pāli word. The word is pāpa. In English, this word mean evil. Now, when the Supreme Buddha uses this word, he means all the different kinds of bad things we can do, not just the really really bad actions like killing someone. He taught us that giving…

182 Half a Day of Merit, a Very Big Result

Do any of you remember the simile the Supreme Buddha gave for doing very small good things? He said that just like a water pot will eventually get filled even if only a few drops of water fall into the pot at a time. He said we should remember that even when we do a…

181 Victory through Blameless Actions, Mangala Sutta part 8

So, tell me. Should we care what other people think of us? Should we care about being blamed by other people? This isn’t a simple question, is it? But the Buddha knew how to answer it. He said that we should care about what wise people think about us. We should care if wise people…

180 Growing a Garden of Good Qualities with Right Effort

Today we are going to learn one of the factors of the Noble Eightfold path that’s all about practicing the teachings. It’s called Sammā Vāyāmo. In English we can say Right Effort. We’ve all heard about making effort to do things, but Right Effort is something very special and very specific. You’re going to have…

179 True Help for Relatives, Mangala Sutta part 7

Have you ever helped your family before? I’m sure you have. Maybe you’ve given them gifts, or you took care of them when they were sick. Or maybe you have helped them with things around the house. All of these are great ways to help our relatives. But do these things help them in their…

178 Don’t Decrease in Good Qualities

Have you ever known someone who was a really good person, but then slowly they started doing bad things? This can happen to any of us. Even though now we may be trying to follow the Supreme Buddha’s teachings very carefully, it could happen that our good behaviour starts to decrease. Our teacher, the Supreme…

177 Sharing Merits with the Gods

Recently we learned about sharing merits with ghosts. But I think you know that we often also share merit with gods as well. Today we’ll hear a story about two brothers, one good and one bad. The good brother practice dana and then dedicated the merit to gods. When the bad brother tried to cheat…

176 Like Dirt Under a Fingernail, Mangala Sutta part 6

Today we are going to learn about a very important word. In Pali, the word is dhammacariyā. Can you recognize any part of that word? Dhamma-cariyā You probably know the first part: Dhamma. The second part means action or conduct. So dhammacariyā means action that matches the Dhamma. In English we can say “righteous conduct.”…

175 Old Medicine for Corona Virus

I think many of you may be hearing about this virus that is spreading around the world. Today, the Bhante is going to help us think about this in a wise way according to the Supreme Buddha’s teachings. That way instead of feeling worried or scared, we can know how to protect not just our…

174 Helping Ourselves and Helping Ghosts

Have you ever offered dāna to monks and shared merits with your departed relatives? Have you ever wondered about how that works? Well, today we’re going to hear about an incident that happened in the time of our Supreme Buddha where a ghost came back and asked his former brother for help. I know that…

172 Shocked by Impermanance

How have you been doing with your job of being an investigator? Remember I asked you to start looking around you to see if you could find anything that lasted forever, using your powers of investigation. Well, today we’ll learn about a man who was shocked when he realized that things were impermanent. If we…

171 Super Giving with Five Factors

What do you think? Does a gift need to be very big and expensive to collect merit? No, it doesn’t. Our teacher, the Supreme Buddha taught us that how we are thinking and the way we give the gift are more important. This is really good news, since sometimes we don’t have big things to…

170 Questions on Precepts, Jealousy, and the Next Buddha

Today we have some of your questions and the Bhantes will answer them. We’ll also practice loving-kindness meditation in a new way. You’ll want to know which direction is north, so if you’re not sure, now’s the time to ask someone. There’s a PDF with the compass points in the shownotes you can download to…

169 Does It Last Forever?

Today we are going to become investigators. An investigator is someone who likes to look very carefully at things and discover the truth. Because we have minds that are very strong, we can use our other senses to look at things and see them exactly as they are. Today we are going to use our…

168 Share Things, Share Happiness

Yesterday we learned three things that help us to get along with people. Do you remember what they are? Showing people loving-kindness to people with our bodies, showing people loving-kindness with our speech, and showing loving-kindness with our minds. Well, today we will learn three more things to help us live in harmony, and these…

167 Harmony Happiness

Today we are going to learn advice from the Supreme Buddha on how to live in harmony with people. Do you know the word harmony? When we live in harmony, we get along with the people around us. We don’t fight. We don’t argue, and we don’t get upset with them. That’s a happy way…

166 Happiness in a Dungeon

Have you ever been stuck somewhere you didn’t want to be? If we can’t be content where we are, then it’s hard to be happy. Today we are going to hear the story of one of the great disciples of the Supreme Buddha named King Bimbisara. This king understood the Dhamma very well, so much…

165 Happiness from Contentment

Today we are going to talk about a very special word, a word that if we can remember and practice it, it will be really easy to be happy. That word is “contentment”. When we are content, then we are happy with whatever we have. We don’t keep thinking about all the things we don’t…

164 Our Minds Have Power

Today we are going to think about how powerful our minds are. Just by thinking, we can collect good or bad karma. Today the Bhante is going to give us some tips for training our minds. He’ll also tell us a little bit about the great Arahant Monk Upāli. He was the monk who was…

163 Poisonous Jewelry

Have you ever been blamed for something you didn’t do? Most people have. It doesn’t feel good, does it? We may even get angry at the person who is accusing us. And afterwards most people don’t learn anything from the situation. Maybe they just complain about the person who accused them. But do they attain…

162 It’s Time to Read Suttas!

Have you heard the word sutta before? A sutta is a specific teaching or sermon given by the Supreme Buddha or one of his enlightened disciples. It’s amazing, isn’t it, that over 2500 years later, we still know what the Buddha taught? Today we are going to start to talk about ways that we can…

161 The Secret to Being Generous

Have you ever had to make a difficult decision? Maybe there was a time that you had to decide not to tell a lie, even though you might get in trouble. Or maybe you had to decide to help someone else, even though it might mean that you loose something for yourself. Well, today we’ll…

160 Is a City of Grandchildren Happiness?

Have you ever heard about the lay disciple Visākhā? She was an amazing person. For one thing, she was the woman who was the biggest supporter of the Supreme Buddha and the Sangha. No one gave more than she did. But what’s really amazing is that she was a stream enterer. Not just that—she attained…

159 May the Triple Gem Protect You!

One of the best things we can do to start the day is to go for refuge to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Then when we have difficulties or problems today, we can remember to think about what our teacher the supreme Buddha has told us and try and find a solution that matches with…

158 Discussion on Loving-Kindness and Attachment

Today we have a special chance to listen to a discussion between a young student who visited the monastery and one of the monks. This student understood the value of going to see people who know the Supreme Buddha’s teachings. And because they let us record it, we get to learn too. We’ll learn about…

157 What Exactly Is Right and Wrong View?

Do you know what a view is? You may hear people use that word when they look out a window of a very tall building and say, “Wow, that’s a great view! You can see so many things from up here!” Well, that’s one kind of view. Another kind of view is a view about…

156 What Could Be Better Than Money?

Do you know what a stream enterer is? In the Buddha’s teachings we say that someone has entered the stream when they have a deep understanding of the Dhamma and the Four Noble Truths in a way that cleans the mind in a special way. The thought that our body is really who we are…

155 Dhamma Protection from Danger

Sometimes we may hear about things happening in the world that seem a little scary. Usually we try not to think about these things, don’t we. But sometimes we keep hearing about them again and again so it’s hard to ignore. It’s important to talk to someone we trust and ask questions and tell them…

154 Does Wishing Work?

Have you ever wished for something? Maybe wished for a special toy or game? Maybe you wished that you could go to a friend’s house to play. Maybe you wished that you could be good in sports. Maybe you wished that you would get good marks in school. We wish for things all the time….

153 Giving without Stopping: Visayha Jataka part 2

In the last episode we started to learn about a previous life of the Supreme Buddha when he was named Visahya. If you haven’t listened to that episode, you should go back and listen to it now. But just to refresh our memory, the Bodhisatta was practicing giving so much that god Sakka noticed. God…

152 Giving without Limits: Visayha Jataka part 1

Have you ever heard the word Jātaka before? The Jātaka stories are good information about the previous lives of the Supreme Buddha before he became enlightened. When we are talking about the supreme Buddha in those times we call him the Bodhisatta. You know, most people in this samsara waste their time either doing bad…

149 Learning from a Greedy Crow

Have you ever made a mistake before? I think we all make mistakes sometimes. But did you learn anything from your mistake? This is what wise people do. They learn from their mistakes. Today we’ll hear the story of a monk who learned from something bad he did in one of his previous lives. If…

148 Who Are Parents?

Lets learn more about the special relationship we have with parents.

147 Question on Scolding Parents

Our beloved parents, if treated respectfully will bring great merit to us. However, if you disrespect them, it will generate very bad karma.

146 A God Has Gratitude

Learn the good actions done by the lay disciple Uttarā that helped her be reborn as a beautiful devata.

143 Learning from a Deva’s Merit

Do you know what a deva is? A deva, or devata, lives in one of the heavenly worlds. In those worlds they get to live in beautiful palaces and have all the most wonderful things. Today we’ll get to meet a deva who collected a special kind of merit when they lived in the human…

142 When is Giving Useful?

Today we are going to meet a very wise disciple of the Supreme Budha named princess Sumana. I know that she is wise because she went to the Supreme Buddha and asked a very good question. She already understood the importance of saddha, sila, and pañña. Do you know the meaning of those three words?…

141 Happy Merit on Pilgrimage

Today we are going to listen to a Dhamma Discussion where one of the Bhantes interviews a couple of kids from the Dhamma School about the many trips they have taken to Anuradhapura. They call these trips pilgrimages. A pilgrimage is a special kind of trip because we are going to a special place to…

138 The Demon Alavaka is Tamed

Today we have a special show. There’s a sutta that I’ve been wanting to chant with you, but it’s a little long. So today we’re dedicating the entire show to reciting the Alavaka Sutta. I think maybe you are familiar with that name, Alavaka. He is a yakkha. Yakkha’s are a type of non-human being…

137 Seven Years of Merit

Have you ever practiced loving kindness meditation? Well, today we are going to learn a sutta that talks about the benefits that the Supreme Buddha gained by practicing loving kindness in one of his previous lives when he was a hermit. Do you know what a hermit is? That’s an English word for someone who…

136 To Support Mother and Father: Mangala Sutta part 4

You know, the Supreme Buddha taught us that we can consider him to be the best kalyanamitta of all, because he is the one who discovered and taught us the Four Noble Truths. Another kalyanamitta who is very important to us is our parents. Because they are our very first teachers and they teach us…

135 Words We Like to Hear: Mangala Sutta Part 3

Today we’ll learn three more blessings from the Mangala sutta. We’ll also create blessings by practicing loving-kindness meditation. Contents 6:41 Sermon on Mahamangala sutta.15:12 Metta Bhavana: Loving Kindness Meditation Download PDF or MP3. Related Books Mahamevnawa Pali-English Paritta Chanting Book. Print Book. We’d love to hear from you! You can write to us at info@serenecolombo.org…

133 Does It Matter Where We Live? Mangala Sutta Part 2

Today we’ll learn more details about the Maha Mangala sutta. Do you remember what Mangala means? It means blessings. That’s really just a fancy word for things that are good for us. Today we’ll learn four more things that are good for us. Contents 5:07 Sermon on Mahamangala sutta.13:19 Chanting Maha Mangala Sutta. Read online…

131 Associate with the Wise: Mangala Sutta Part 1

We should always remember that even just by coming together for this programme, we are following the Supreme Buddha’s instructions. Have you thought about that? When we listen to these teachings together we are associating with wise people. Who are the wise people? Well the most important wise person is of course the Supreme Buddha…

130 Getting Power, Wealth, and Wisdom: Culakammavibhanga Sutta Part 5

Today we are going to learn the last part of the CullaKammaVibhanga Sutta. Now, you may remember that Culla means litter, or shorter. Well, don’t think that means it is somehow less important. You may be small, but your still important, aren’t you? In the same way, eventhough this discourse is called shorter, it has…

129 Being Undefiled

Today we are going to learn about the defilements. Another word for defilements could be impurities. So when we eat food, we don’t like it to have any impurities in it do we? Things like chemicals, or dirt, or stones. So we could say that those things are defilements of the food. They are things…

128 What’s Going on With Christmas?

Today we’ll we’ll learn what Christmas is all about. Unless one of your parents or relatives are Christians, you may not know what the significance of Christmas is and why it is important to people. As Buddhists, we should at least know a little bit about these things, especially because people who are Christians may…

Index

9 Buddha Qualities, abandon suffering, aggregates~khanda, alcohol, anger, animal world, anuttaropurisadammasarati quality, araham quality, Aṅgulimāla Arahant, bad association, bhagava quality, buddhanussati meditation, Buddhism, Buddhist, Buddhist etiquette, chanting, Chattamanavaka Gatha, compassion, confidence~saddhā, courage, craving, Culla Kammavibhanga Sutta, death, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, dharma classes near me, Enlightenment, evil deeds, first noble truth, Four Noble Truths, friendship, ghost world, giving~dāna, good actions, gratitude, greed, guided meditation, heaven, ignorance, impermanence~anicca, jataka, jealousy, karma, Katina, Katina Clothing, kids dhamma school, killing, life of Buddha, Life of Buddha with English Subtitles, Load Buddha, lokavidu quality, losing loved ones, loving-kindness~mettā, lying, Maha Satipatthana Sutta, Mangala Sutta, marks of a great man, meditation, merit~puññā, Mihintale, mindfulness~sati, Mora Paritta, Mundane Right View, nibbāna, Noble Eightfold Path, noble truth of suffering, non-attachment, Offering Katina Robes, online dhamma school, ordination, origin of suffering, parents, paritta, patience, pilgrimage, practice, precepts, psychic powers, pujas, Pāli, rains retreat, Rainy season, rare human birth, Ratana Sutta, respect, right speech, right view, sacred places, Sakka God, sammasambuddho quality, samsara, Sangha, Second Noble Truth, sexual misconduct, similes, Sri Lanka, Story of Buddha, stress, Suprime Buddha, Sāriputta Arahant, Taking advice, Third Noble Truth, Triple Gems, uposatha, Vas Season, Venerable Maha Moggalana, Vesak, vijjacaranasampanno quality, virtue~sīla, wisdom, Work, worldly conditions, wrong view