Epstein Secrets

r become unfamiliar. In this respect there are three important pieces of advice for the practitioner coined as mottos for those attending Wat Phra Dhammakaya: 1. Any morning when you have not given alms, you shouldn't allow yourself to take breakfast: You should get up in time to give alms to the monks

p could hardly be called friends. 6. When free joining up to talk and eat together. When the wise have free time they come together to discuss the Dhamma and to clear up their doubts (not to gossip about the neighbours). 7. Reflection on Dhamma and Getting Down to Earnest Practice. This is one of th

tep, you cannot call it true association. Also, if you do none of the first six but do the seventh one, it is as good as true association, because Dhamma always has the same flavour — it always gives rise to self discipline [sEla]: it always gives rise to concentration [samAdhi]: and it always gives

mmediate environment or neighbourhood- but the more distant environments of his locality or country also have a part to play. A.1 Amenability in Dhamma practice The sort of location to be examined in this Blessing is the location amenable to refining the mind or put another way, the location that

tained the Sphere of Dhamma or you are still not able to maintain the Sphere of Dhamma the whole of the time or you are still unable to attain the Dhammakaya — then getting on with our daily practice in spite of what anyone else says, can be counted as patience. B.3 Misunderstandings concerning patience

nities pass you by, to train yourself spiritually. A3 Three Characteristics of the reckless The usual way in which a person's recklessness in the Dhamma expresses itself is to overlook the importance of putting in the appropriate effort in order to get the hoped-for results. Here are some examples o

ail of this particular Blessing, let us examine the nature of the Dhamma, so that we can orientate ourselves in a non-reckless way towards it. The Dhamma can be compared to the spire of a pagoda. A flag attached to the top of the pagoda of the Dhamma could be marked 'non-recklessness' or equally well

ich you maintain the whole of the time. It is also like being constantly 'awake' to one's proper priorities. B.2 Importance of non-recklessness in Dhamma as a whole We have already mentioned the preciousness of opportunities to cultivate oneself — and the Dhamma, or teaching of the Buddha, is the s

: Culti- vating our meditation further to the point we can know and understand the reality of life and the world — otherwise known as attaining the Dhammakaya; • Blessing Thirty-Four• The Attainment of Nirvana: Having seen the Four Noble Truths, if one cultivates meditation fur- ther, bringing the mind to

noticeable from the way a monk's accommodation is furnished (excessive luxury or with a television or radio — which are not for helping to practice Dhamma — and accumulating lot of things in their kuti beyond any already outlined for academic teachings in Blessing Seven §E. [The Learning Process]). In

n (A.i.61) what is in fact not the case." This is in addition to what has already been men- tioned in Blessing Three (§D.2) about joking about the Dhamma; 3. to acquire wisdom: Dhamma discussions are in- tended as a way of cultivating wisdom. Above all other things the Buddha praised `wisdom'. Most p