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If you know what he characteristics of….Ajahn Chah quote
Cathal Costello Costello If you know the characteristics of what is skillful and unskillful in physical and verbal behavior, you already see where to practice in order to give up what is unskillful and do what is good. When you give up wrong and set yourself right, the mind becomes firm, unswerving, concentrated. This concentration limits wavering and doubt as to body and speech. With the mind collected, when forms or sounds come, you can contemplate and see them clearly. By not letting your mind wander, you will see the nature of all experiences according to the truth. When this knowledge is continuous, wisdom arises. Virtue, concentration, and wisdom, then, can be taken together as one. When they mature, they become synonymous that is the Noble Path. When greed, hatred, and delusion arise, only this Noble Path is capable of destroying them.” Ajahn Chah EmailURLViews: 5
Everything is ok
dhammadasaEverything is just like this, Everything is ok, resting gently in our relaxation & breathing, Letting go, our true sweet nature is revealed EmailViews: 5
Karma: The Choice is Yours, by Bhikku Buddhadasa
Cathal Costello Costello Karma: The Choice Is Yours BY AJAHN BUDDHADASA| OCTOBER 20, 2017 There are two ways to understand dependent origination, teaches Ajahn Buddhadasa. But only one leads to liberation. Ajahn Buddhadasa. Courtesy of Buddhadasa Indapanyo ArchIves (Bangkok). In the Pali suttas there are two descriptions of what occurred under the Bodhi tree at the time of the Buddha’s great awakening. In one version, appearing in various texts, the Buddha realized the three supreme knowledges. In the first true knowing, as it is generally understood, he recollected his former lives. In this account, as traditionally understood, he is able to recall his own previous births far into the distant past. These are invariably described as happening to the same person. In the second true knowing, he reviewed how beings carry on according to their actions (cutupapatañana), how beings pass away and reappear according to the karma they have done. Through the third true knowing, he realized the destruction of the impulses (asavakkhyañana). The out-flowing fermentations (asavas) are the deepest level of defilement; when they are completely ended, no further defilement, egoism, or suffering is possible. This is the more commonly recounted description of the night of the Buddha’s awakening. Elsewhere, the Pali texts state that the Buddha awakened to dependent co-arising. There also are accounts of the Buddha contemplating dependent co-arising immediately after his awakening, while he was still sitting under the Bodhi tree. Together, these give a second description of the Buddha’s great awakening. In the immediate aftermath, during the first four-hour watch one night, the Buddha examined dependent co-arising in the forward order, starting with ignorance, then concoctings, and so on, one after the other. During the second watch of the night, he reviewed dependent co-arising in the reverse order, starting from suffering, then birth, becoming, clinging, and so on all the way back to ignorance. Then for the third watch, he examined dependent co-arising in both forward and reverse orders until dawn. Between these two versions, the second is more reasonable and acceptable in light of the overall themes and threads of the Pali suttas. In the other account, the first knowledge concerning the recollection of past lives is in the language of eternalism, just as in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads, which speak of a self or an individual being born again and again over many lives. The belief that the same person is repeatedly reborn is eternalism, which Buddhism aims to eliminate. This idea has more in common with popular beliefs and the philosophy of the Upanishads than with the core of the Buddha’s message. At heart, Buddhism teaches the end of karma, living beyond karma, rather than carrying on according to karma. The second knowledge is about beings passing away and reappearing according to karma. This is generally understood to mean that the same being disappears from one existence (bhava) and reappears in another according to karmic influences somehow carried over from one existence to the next. However, this is not directly or specifically a Buddhist teaching. At heart, Buddhism teaches the end of karma, living beyond karma, rather than carrying on according to karma. The noble path is for freedom from karma; living under the sway of karma is limiting, distressful, and burdensome. It is not good enough to merely surrender to karma, to die and be reborn according to the fruits of our actions. In Buddhism, liberating insight must go further than that. Neither of these first two knowledges can be considered truly Buddhist principles. Why, then, are they included in the Pali scriptures? My own view is that perhaps the compilers of the discourses included these passages for the benefit of ordinary people. For those people unable to understand dependent co-arising and the end of karma, these passages were included for the sake of morality. Consequently, this is an account of the Buddha’s awakening for the moral benefit of ordinary people. The second account puts dependent co-arising at the center of the Buddha’s awakening. Not only did he express his awakening in these terms but he also described how he pondered and contemplated dependent co-arising both before the awakening and immediately after. After experiencing the bliss of liberation for a week, he examined and investigated dependent co-arising throughout at least one night, the first watch of which focused on how dependent co-arising occurs. He repeatedly investigated this in the forward order from ignorance to concoctings on through suffering. He spent four full hours thoroughly penetrating this truth. In the next four hours, he investigated the causality of dukkha in careful detail all the way back to ignorance. In the final four hours, he examined dependent co-arising in both directions, forward and backward. This shows the central importance of dependent co-arising. The formula recorded is brief and succinct—the Buddha looked into it forward and backward for twelve hours without a break. He had the most profound spiritual experience of this through each of the watches: forward order, reverse order, and both forward and backward, each for four full hours. Please consider how profound, how difficult, how subtle, and how important this is. This ought to be of great interest to all serious meditators. The words we have translated as “forward order” and “reverse order,” or “forward” and “backward”—anuloma and patiloma—can be understood rather broadly. Thus, for clarity’s sake, we can explain anuloma, “with the hairs,” as the examining of the arising sequence, that is, dependent co-arising. The reverse, patiloma, “against the hairs,” is the quenching of dependent co-arising, that is, dependent quenching. In the first watch, the Buddha investigated and reviewed how dependent co-arising arises. In the second watch, he investigated and reviewed how it quenches. In the final watch, he investigated and reviewed both. This understanding is eminently reasonable and fully supported by the core themes of the discourses. Please consider this important question: Have you ever practiced like this? Have you ever investigated dependent co-arising in the way that the Buddha did before, during, and after his awakening? We suggest that you examine and scrutinize dependent co-arising in […]
There are no chains
Cathal Costello Costello But the direct path is to realize that right now, there really are no chains. In reality, the ignorant mind is grasping at the smoke and mirrors of these five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, thinking, and sensory consciousness), which are all subject to arising and therefore subject to passing away. But this essential knowing nature that is not subject to arising and passing away—the ever-present awareness of this moment—is the place of liberation here and now. In other words, there are no chains holding you. There is only you holding yourself. That’s why Ajahn Chah says the Dhamma is easy. Simply know and let go. That knowing is what they call “Self” in Vedanta. The Buddha taught not-self (non-identification) because when we look for our essential knowing nature (as Ajahn Chah called it), we first notice physical sensation (form) and mistake that as it. Or we mistake feeling, perception, thinking, and/or consciousness as it. This is what the Buddha called “the five aggregates afflicted by clinging (identification).” Non-identification is the direct path out of suffering. The Dukkha Dukkha Nirodha I practice now is going from the conditioned directly to the unconditioned anytime this present awareness contracts even a tiny bit. The chains don’t have us. We are like the monkey whose fist is stuck in the coconut because it won’t let go of the food inside… –Dhammarato EmailURLViews: 9
Text file quotes, not my writing *
dhammadasa All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Blaise Pascal "Another student once told me that he can accept that life and death are happening in each moment of our daily life. that life and death inter-are. but he wondered whether it is possible for us to continue after our body disintegrates. He asked, 'How can the brain imagine after it disintegrates, and, therefore, how can we conceive of a continuation?' If you look deeply in the present moment, you can see. Each of my students carries me within himself or herself. Right now in the city of Moscow, someone is breathing and smiling. That is me." Thich Nhat Hahn "If you know the characteristics of what is skillful and unskillful in physical and verbal behavior, you already see where to practice in order to give up what is unskillful and do what is good. When you give up wrong and set yourself right, the mind becomes firm, unswerving, concentrated. This concentration limits wavering and doubt as to body and speech. With the mind collected, when forms or sounds come, you can contemplate and see them clearly. By not letting your mind wander, you will see the nature of all experiences according to the truth. When this knowledge is continuous, wisdom arises. Virtue, concentration, and wisdom, then, can be taken together as one. When they mature, they become synonymous—that is the Noble Path. When greed, hatred, and delusion arise, only this Noble Path is capable of destroying them." Achaan Chah "Many people have misunderstood this point, believing that the Buddha's teachings on non-attachment require that one relinquish one’s attachment to the path of practice as quickly as possible. Actually, to make a show of abandoning the path before it is fully developed is to abort the entire practice. As one teacher has put it, a person climbing up to a roof by means of a ladder can let go of the ladder only when safely on the roof. In terms of the famous raft simile [§§113-114], one abandons the raft only after crossing the flood. If one were to abandon it in mid-flood, to make a show of going spontaneously with the flow of the flood’s many currents, one could drown." Thanissaro Bhikku "Only when we look dispassionately can we begin to see." Thich Nhat Hahn "Our problems today are no longer as simple as those encountered by the Buddha. In the twenty-first century, we will have to practice meditation collectively — as a family, a city, a nation, and a community of nations. The Buddha of the twenty-first century — Maitreya, the Buddha of Love — may well be a community rather than an individual. Sanghas that practice loving kindness and compassion are the Buddha we need. We can prepare the ground for bringing that Buddha to life, for our sake and for the sake of countless others, by transforming our own suffering and cultivating the art of Sangha-building. It is the most important work we can do." Thich Nhat Hahn "[Buddhanussati] Recollection of the Buddha This fine report of the Blessed One's reputation has spread far & wide: He is a Blessed One a Worthy One a Rightly Self awakened One consummate in knowledge & conduct one who has gone the good way knower of the cosmos unexcelled trainer of those who can be taught teacher of human & divine beings; awakened; blessed" Source: The Complete Book of Pâli Chanting "Samsara and suchness are not different. They have the same ground. The wave does not have to do anything to become water. It is already water. It has had nirvana in it for a long time. Just like the water, you don’t have to look for nirvana. When you are able to see through the eyes of interbeing and interdependence, you touch the nature of nirvana within yourself." Thich Nhat Hahn "So this is what you think of me: “The Blessed One, sympathetic, seeking our well-being, teaches the Dhamma out of sympathy.” Then you should train yourselves—harmoniously, cordially, and without dispute—in the qualities I have pointed out, having known them directly: the four frames of reference, the four right exertions, the four bases of power, the five faculties, the five strengths, the seven factors for Awakening, the noble eightfold path." MN 103 "The Buddha is recorded as saying that anyone who gets rid of tanhā (ignorant desire) is someone who eats time. Usually it's time that devours; it devours people and all other living things. Would anyone who puts an end to desire, that one turns around and eats time, which means that time becomes a small matter, something to smile at, an inconsequential matter that can't eat or bite us." Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikku EmailViews: 5
Dana from Text file, not my writing
dhammadasa Dana Teachers listed with the Open Sangha Foundation as individual instruction do not charge students fixed amounts but rather accept donations from them. This means that students can contribute what they are able to based on their circumstances. This is dana in action. Dana, which translates as ‘sharing’ or ‘generosity’ in English, is an important and rich concept across the Buddhist traditions, not least in how it relates to the teaching and learning of the Dharma. From the time of the Buddha to the present day, monastic sanghas do not charge for access to the teachings. Instead teachings are offered as a gift, as dana, with an open and compassionate heart to those that seek them. In response to this priceless gift, people in turn have supported their teachers, out of generosity, out of dana, and from a place of responsibility and so ensured that their teachers can continue to share the practices and teachings. Traditionally, this would take the form of offering food, clothing or medicine to the monks and nuns. While this traditional paradigm is still the norm in most heritage Buddhist cultures and communities, it is an aspect of the teachings that has been neglected by some as Buddhism has spread globally in the 20th and 21st centuries. Instead the Buddhadharma is often taught and learnt in something more akin to a capitalistic paradigm. This paradigm creates barriers to the Dharma, limiting who can access it, and alters the nature of the transmission in a potentially problematic way. In the Open Sangha Foundation we are encouraging and supporting teachers to teach within a traditional dana based context to whatever extent they feel moved and able to. For this model to flourish outside of heritage Buddhist cultures though both teachers and students of the Buddhadharma need to train in and trust in each others’ generosity. This acting from generosity then has the potential to form an integral part of our Dharma practice, as teachers and students, and allows us to divest ourselves from modern naratives of separation and take on greater responsibility in our relationships and in our lives. https://youtu.be/kQvlHo9aYQY EmailViews: 1
A Deep Spring of Happiness
Mountain DhammaThe Buddhist world is overflowing with academic minded people who hold up a clipboard of sutta criteria to evaluate your experience and see if it fits what that nonlivivng text says. But that’s not where or what the Dhamma is. The Dhamma is this very real, very alive, bottomless well of happiness that flows inside, covered over by greed, hatred, and delusion, muddied by hinderances, distorted by this cyclical pursuit of stimulating activities. But despite all that obstruction, when we can stop, it takes only a slight turn in the right direction to see this happiness that’s always already here. And when you see it, stay with it and be satisfied. As you remain looking at this causeless happiness, it will grow and overflow all the defilements that once covered it over, and the endless seeking for stimulating sensory activities, stimulating ideas and answers, will become valueless, like straw in your hand. “Problems” that once occupied decades of discussions will look like a single grain of dust on your pants, and you’ll laugh or giggle when they arise in the mind, starved for attention. It’s really that simple, there’s nothing to it. Don’t worry, be happy. EmailURLViews: 28
Autobiography In 5 Short Chapters
CallumChapter I: I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost… I am hopeless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter II: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in this same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. Chapter III: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it there. I still fall in… it’s a habit… but, my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. Chapter IV: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. Chapter V: I walk down another street. EmailViews: 27
Testing Elementor Header
Michael Clark TEST POST TO TEST THE HEADER (USERS PLEASE IGNORE) EmailViews: 11
Wat Buddha Manodham – an oasis of Metta
https://m.facebook.com/watbuddhamanodham Last Thursday I once again had the privilege of visiting Wat Buddha Manodham in Chickamauga, GA. Over the years I have known Bhante Prasasouk, there is always the glow on his face of genuine Metta and Contentment that can’t be hidden. Not only have I been allowed to practice and take refuge on the grounds of the Wat, but I have been welcomed in to give Dana and assist in any way possible. I have seen others who sought refuge at the Wat treated with the same warmth, acceptance, and generosity. This week the monks were preparing for an upcoming event (as well as the upcoming Laotion New Year) and I was allowed to assist in some of the construction inside the Wat, and found that Metta transcends language barriers as I was treated with kindness even though my excitement for the Dhamma can overwealm my speech at times. Bhante has always showed incredible Patience and a recognition that my Desire to practice Lord Buddha’s Dhamma and train the mind in the laylife is Sincere. He has always been extremely direct in correcting my delusion based misconceptions whenever he has caught me speaking them out loud, yet he has done so with a gentle grace and skill i have rarely encountered outside ordained Sangha. Every one of my handful of visits so far to the Wat has been an inspiration to the practice, and i will visit whenever it is within my means to do so and Bhante or Ajahn say that i am welcome. The fact that there are monks practicing the Buddha’s Noble 8-fold is undenyable in every encounter with Bhante Joseph Prasasouk. He has not only had time to accept Dana and listen to me pour out my emotions in times of grief when I was having difficulties. He responded with loving kindness and nurturing and was more than willing to listen without judgment, even when I was caught in restlessness and worry. This is generosity of the highest nature, and it stuck with me for years. What i continue to be grateful and amazed about, is the fact that Bhante can be so calm and strong, yet without the slightest shred of superiority in his tone, face or delivery. He never places himself in a position of power over, he is there to empower others, and there is no doubt. This is the kind of Good Friend that the Lord Buddha told Ananda was the Whole of the Holy life. A good friend supports you, not your Delusion. Whenever I do give Dana, Bhante allows me to hit the gong myself, and the experience of taking refuge and chanting the Vandana at the Wat is a source of Viriya and Saddha (energy and faith) for the practice here. It’s always worth visiting ordained Sangha who are pracing under the protection of dhamma vinaya. The reason why is because the Virtue they have developed is impossible to miss as it shows in everything they do, say, and in their very face. It’s impossible to hide the kindness that radiates from every direction. If you catch yourself wondering what the fruit of good practice looks like, just go hang out with those who have been living Dhamma Vinaya for years. It will be a benefit to your Practice in ways you can’t imagine. It was truly refreshing to hear Bhante say that in the Laos tradition, taking care of family and our elderly was part of the practice of virtue. On more than one occasion other laypeople have stopped by the Wat for advice while i was visiting, often on their first encounter with any Buddhist tradition. They were treated with warmth and acceptance by the monks. Wat Buddha Manodham, in my experience is an oasis of sanity, generosity and loving kindness in the deep south. Views: 39
Thailand Travel Info & Traveling to Koh Pha ngan
David MatteGreetings dhamma pals! If you’re planning a trip to come to the land of smiles (Thailand), I wrote a brief guide containing information and tips on your travels here. See you here soon! 🙂 EmailURLViews: 25
Silent Poetry
dhammadasaWhen we are walking in nature all things disappear, when we practice Silence of the heart the Dhamma is revealed within us, the wind on our face in the graveyard, the grass on our skin, all is well right here n now, what more could one ask for?, when we walk in the warm sun beams, Where do questions & answers go? When we smell the sweet flowers fragrance, where does politics & religions go? When we Laugh gently & with Wholesomnes, Where does buddhism & meditation practice go? All is Mara Save Satisfaction, all is dukkha Save Silence & remaining calm❤️🌱🌲🌄 EmailViews: 41
Thank you Dhammarato and Friends.
Finding True Friendship through the Generosity of Dhammarato and friends has been a repeated experience of joy and a rememberance of what Metta and True Generosity feels like in the Heart. It is worth waking up in spite of the big mess we see when we do. The practice here has changed more in the last year than in the previous 9. Not only experiencing for the first time in nearly half a century of life, a practice which can be based in taking an honest look at what’s happening right now, arriving at non-reactivity at the senses, then making a change. Not only has Ardency in personal practice and Devotion has intensified, but the entire experience of Life and Reality is normalized to joy as default. I don’t mean that to sound stuffy and intellectualized. What’s true is that everything has softened and the fictional sense of intractability has vanished, such that even family members and friends are more receptive to listening and working harder to love and contribute. Maybe getting off my own butt in some ways (I used to think weren’t possible for me) has helped, but it is seen to be profound how taking up the attitude of a lion (even on mornings where we feel more like a kitten) helps those around us. Every time I have come to a member of Dhammarato’s Sangha, with a question about the Dhamma, I am Satisfied and calmed by the words of these skillful practitioners. It is amazing how skillful the facilitation can be, in many cases coming from those who have practiced a relatively short amount of time. If Doubt arises, someone is available to talk briefly, or sometimes for a while, until we return to remembrance and appreciation – of this very breath. The only thing needed to recall the refreshment waiting for us when we live with the 4 Noble Truths and the Buddha’s 8-fold Path as a guide to our Intentions, Speech, and Actions. I am only just beginning on my Journey to appreciate and contribute to a Sangha and teacher who has made such a difference that leads directly to happiness. What I was seeking when I joined OSF was a place where I could meet friends who would not only serve as comfort and calmraderie along the way, but also hold me accountable for nonsense in my thinking and speech. This is something I never had from friends outside the Dhamma. It helps. Thank you. D.J. Over at Dischord has especially been patient, as it literally took me two years to understand how to log on and know what was going on, and regardless of my foibles and social network naivate, he was always patient and unwavering in representing the nurturing side of Dhammarato’s style/message while retaining a strong practice anchored in Samma Ditti (Right View) and Anapanasati (Mindfulness of breathing). Buddham Saranam Ghachami (I go to The Buddha for Refuge) Dhammam Saranam Ghachami (I go to The Dhamma for Refuge) Sangham Saranam Ghachami (I go to The Sangha for Reguge) Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambudassa! (Honor to him the Beloved Teacher, the Arahant, The fully Enlightened Buddha) Views: 56
Remaining calm
dhammadasaThere’s a Quote by Sri Ramana Maharshi that is used & taught often by His student Robert Adams, it basically goes like this, ” Whatever occurs, don’t react, good or bad, remain calm in all situations, this is the only practice one needs , is not react” , I Love this Wholesome Thought so much, especially for it’s straightforward message & brilliant simplicity, often it remains in the forefront of my mind as a Mantra, it has become a very important cure all Wholesome thought that transforms any dissatisfaction into pure joy & peace, also i enjoy meditating on Silence of the heart, an Actual Title of one of Robert Adams Books, we don’t necessarily have to be quite in outward speech, but it does help, when not only our speech but especially our heart is Silent, all negativity, all dissatisfaction seems to be burnt up in the beautiful flame of pure unborn awareness, gladening the mind here n now, questions don’t even arise, answers don’t mean anything, self, not self, soul no soul doesn’t even appear anywhere in the clear waters of the Mind , all is well 💙 EmailViews: 46
The Saturday Night Sangha
David James Bennison Hosting the Saturday sangha call on Discord has been beneficial beyond measure. The mind comes back again and again to Dhamma, and enthusiasm honing the skills of the Noble Eightfold Path. Not only for myself but for others as well. Being able to share this wisdom is a blessing in itself. It’s wonderful to talk to people who understand this wisdom and share it. We cultivate and grow together with noble friendship. If you are interested in joining the meetings it’s at 7 pm EST on Discord. Link below https://discord.gg/VzczkNX63v EmailURLViews: 49
Be here Last Tuesday
Dhamma DasaThe ego aka character we develop can only appear to exists in the past or future, this false idol is the Dukkha creator, remembering to look for dog dookie on our island 🏝 walk is great Sati as we walk around the dookie staying shining & clean, but I have experienced a deeper level, as Buddhadasa Bhikkhu spoke of, the head of the snake, the Dukkha creator, the ego self character, the ” I, my, me mind” , in the island 🏝 dookie analogy, this would be a dirty dog on our island shitting everywhere, avoiding the Dukkha is great, but I have found also sending the ego false self dog on a boat 🐕 to another island is also a great solution because sure other animals may leave some droppings around, but once the main culprit is gone, avoiding the dookie is much easier with no dookie creator insight, & for this I use the wholesome thought of remembering there is no ego character of me, it exsist only in a false ghostly past and future biological thought pattern, a story that builds momentum & strength only if we allow it, only if we forget to remember to look lol😂, our true nature is not a self really, it’s like emptiness, Silence of the heart, peace, pure unborn ever present awareness, unattached to cognitive biological functions, the the Dhamma, Truth, nature shines bright right here, right now, in one sense it can be described as just this, here, like this now, very plain , unexciting, yet on the other yinyang hand it is completely mind blowing, Magikal & miraculous, yet also none of these things ☯️☺️ EmailViews: 43
What is going on right now
Corey LupoWhat is going on around you right now? I will tell you what is going on around me right now. I am sitting at home, it’s late at night. It’s a bit cold, but the heater will kick on soon enough. And I can always grab a blanket. There is a light next to me, and a wood wall behind the computer. I feel good. Now that we have a little bit of raw data to examine. Let’s consider why it’s important to be here now. Our memory is fallible, but what you are aware of and can sense around you right now is freely available. It’s a direct experience. No need to remember anything, no need to rely on memory. Not until we really want to or feel like it at least. If you try and hold on to a single thought… lets try and do a little peter pan exercise, think of a single happy thought. and try to hold on to it. Of course you’ll probably want to close your eyes, since it’s easier that way. But even with eyes closed, it’s quickly obvious just how difficult and slippery memory is. How rapidly a thought can fade into memory, and how hard we have to focus in order for it not to. But when you open your eyes, and you just look around. When you are just aware of what is here now, you can feel there is no strain. And there is no fallibility like with memory… lol, well if you are the philosopher type you might draw swords with me there on the “no fallibility” statement. But let me have it, and I will concede that the sense are…pretty much infallible 🙂 And if you are skilled, you should also be able to feel peace. Memory is where most of our pain comes from. Books have been written about pain, so I won’t go much into it. But just try to analyze pain while you are practicing these things we talked about. Try to see, in real time and direct experience, how your ability to be here now is directly related to the pain felt from memory. The more skilled you are at being here now, the less pain you feel from memory. -Corey Lupo EmailViews: 49
The tales from the Crypt
Yesu Upasaka (Jesus) Tales from the Crypt One day, meanwhile walking in the wat’s forest, I I ended up finding a broken-down abandoned few hundred years old village nearby, with houses falling apart. The nature had retaken the place as trees where breaking through the old stone floor. As I kept going, I stumbled upon a graveyard that looked forgotten, with ancient tombstones. Some of them open, maybe thefts looking for jewels, some of them because time, and most of them still with their owners inside, forgotten by their loved ones. While I was checking out the old building, I found a small hole in the wall, like 50cm tall. Curiosity drove me inside, started crawling on the floor, avoiding sticky mold, roots, spiders and strange long legged insects. The place was dug on soft ground, about 15 metres deep in the wall. I went through it and discovered a room full of skeletons, placed in holes in the wall, and in the middle, a wooden meditation bench and old wet Bhikkhu colour blanket. Some candles were available. It was spooky, but I saw a great opportunity for maranasati meditation and to fear old fears from childhood, about death, ghosts, demons and stuff, I decided to sit and meditate among the bones In the dim light, an old candle started making weird loud sounds, I suppose because humidity. Even though my mind knew there was no real danger, I felt scared, a sensation of tightness in the chest and vision getting blurred. Because caution, I put of the candles and I left the place, but that fear stayed with me. During the night, in my kuti, the chest pain, the visions, fantasies, feeling presences near me haunted me for 3 nights, fear of ghosts, death, fear of going crazy, fear of my mind going against me. I even though of calling Dhammarato or talking to the Bhikkhus but the tricky mind was shy and embarrassed.. I went back three more times to that place, trying to face it. 2nd time I walked around the place but even the thought of entering the crypt was making me run away. Second time I entered, with decision and the help of the advice of the noble friends and Anapana Sati. The spine shivers were hard and some kind of neck throat blockage was releasing coughing, cramps, weird phenomena. The last time, I went full pitch black night and I invited a friend, a lay person who is living there for few years already. When I asked him if he wanted to come and spend the night with the dead, he said “you are the friend I was waiting for”. He led the way without a help of a torch, the half moon was enough to see. Meanwhile we walked, he chanted in pali with his old broken voice. I felt I was living a kind of lucid dream. It was fascinating We visited caves, cliffs, paths, strange trees and finally we got in the secret crypt. We sat down there quietly, so quiet that the inner sound of my own ears was so loud. There in the middle of the night. Surprisingly, it was peaceful. Since that night, I feel different, but in a good way. The scary feelings are gone, and I’ve found a sense of calm. The crypt’s story became my own tale of overcoming old fears and discovering peace in unexpected places. Thank you, J EmailViews: 52
Reminder
Nour MeddebBe thankful for the things you have. Be thankful for being alive today. So be responsible and make the most out of it by living an ethical life. EmailViews: 42
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