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Buddhist Wisdom, Adelaide (2026)

04/09/2026

Huge thanks to everyone for being part of our Sangha community.🙏

Your engagement helps spread the Buddha's teachings and brings more peace into the world, and it brightens my day. 😀

Rejoicing about 5000 followers.

Wishing you all much happiness, health and auspiciousness.🪷

04/09/2026

Understanding causality with Geshe Doga:
"It is not right to believe in karma just because Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said so. Rather if this topic of karma is too subtle or complex, then one should consider so many of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha's other teachings (e.g. on emptiness, impermanence) and gain a complete understanding of those
other teachings. Then, even though one does not gain a complete understanding of karma, faith in Guru Shakyamuni
Buddha's other teachings will lead to a faith in karma as well.

This faith is very important. Without having faith or belief in the law of karma and the fact that virtuous action brings
positive result and non-virtuous action brings a negative result, then one would become very careless about one's actions and whether they are harmful will be irrelevant to oneself.

Second Method: Our Own Experiences In Life

From one's own experiences in life an understanding of cause and effect can be gained. Of course some things are conditioned by immediate circumstances but still there are other factors. Sometimes things seem to happen instantaneously without any expectation. This shows the truth of the law of cause and effect.

Even the sincere practice of dharma has to come from faith in the law of cause and effect. By having this faith in the law of cause and effect, then one shall naturally think, "Just as I am hurt by abusive, harsh speech so do others feel the same." In this way one tries to prevent harm to others and the reasons for tolerating others are obvious."

- Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand block 1, a study group handout, part of the FPMT Buddhist Studies programme covering the book Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche, which is a commentary in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition on the graduated stages of the path to enlightenment (Lam Rim).

Links in comments.

04/09/2026

Verses for contemplation:
"In the garbage I see a rose.
In the rose, I see the garbage.
Everything is in transformation
Even permanence is impermanent.

Forgetfulness is the darkness
mindfulness is the light.
I bring awareness
to shine upon all life.

Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion."

by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

03/09/2026

Mindfulness, investigation, knowledge; gateways to the light of the Dharma, from the Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra:

“Investigating repulsiveness is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it enables one to dispense with thoughts about what one desires.
“Absence of malice is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it enables one to dispense with vengeful thoughts.
“Absence of stupidity is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it clears away ignorance.

4.18
“Pursuit of the Dharma is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it enables one to rely upon the meaning.
“Desiring the Dharma is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads one to connect to the light of the Dharma.
“Seeking to listen is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it enables one to investigate the Dharma precisely and in the correct manner.
“Correct application is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the right conduct.

4.19
“Knowledge of names and forms is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it enables one to transcend all attachment.
“Conquering views about causes is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the attainment of awareness and complete liberation.
“The elimination of attachment and aversion is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it eliminates judgmental thoughts.
“Expertise concerning the aggregates is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to thorough understanding of suffering.

4.20
“Equality of the elements is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the relinquishment of the source of suffering.
“Withdrawal of the senses is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads one to meditate on the path.
“Acceptance of nonarising is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the actualization of cessation.

4.21
“Mindfulness of the body is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to physical isolation.
“Mindfulness of sensations is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the cessation of all sensations.
“Mindfulness of the mind is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to a precise understanding of the mind’s illusory nature.
“Mindfulness of phenomena is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to unimpaired wisdom.

4.22
“The four thorough relinquishments are gateways to the light of the Dharma, for they enable one to relinquish all nonvirtuous qualities and to perfect all virtuous qualities.
“The four bases of miraculous power are gateways to the light of the Dharma, for they lead to lightness of body and mind.

4.23
“The faculty of faith is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads one to not depend on the guidance of others.
“The faculty of diligence is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it endows one with the wisdom of realization. [34]
“The faculty of mindfulness is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads one to engage in wholesome deeds.
“The faculty of absorption is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the liberation of mind.
“The faculty of knowledge is a gateway to the light of the Dharma, for it leads to the wisdom of direct perception."

- From: The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra, The Play in Full, Chapter 4, The Gateways to the Light of the Dharma.

A Mahayana sutra from the Kangyur, the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, translated from the Sanskrit in to Tibetan, and now into English by the 84,000 Translation project. Link to source in comments.

03/09/2026

Interview with Dhammananda Bhikkhuni:

"Q: You have written extensively on how nature is viewed in Buddhist literature, and you teach environmental sustainability, through recycling and other activities, at your monastery. Can you tell us about your work with environmental issues?

Dhammananda Bhikkhuni:
In 1985, I started a project called “Buddhist Perspectives on Nature.” As part of the project, I was researching different Buddhist texts, and I found that our texts are full of teachings about conserving nature. I wanted to start a temple where we can put all of these teachings into practice. We started simply with collecting plastics and paper, and now people come to deliver whatever they have collected from their own houses as recycling.

I myself like to weave what you call “rag rugs,” that is those rugs made from rags and plastics. I also try to encourage the nuns to see that recycling is possible. We do need to address this issue of recycling, which actually goes back to the understanding of Venerable Ananda in the Buddha’s times.

Venerable Ananda answered the question of a particular king, whose wife donated 500 robes to the monks, who wanted to know what Ananda would do with the robes. He told the king that the robes were distributed to monks in faraway places who didn’t have robes.

“Then, what do you do with the robes?” the king asked. Ananda replied that after the robes have been worn and torn and cannot be used, they use them to cover the ceiling.

“Then, what do you do with the robes?” Venerable Ananda told him that when the rags cannot even be used as rags anymore, they would be pounded, mixed with clay and pasted on the floor. The king was so happy about the monks’ efforts in nature conservation that he brought 500 more robes to offer to Venerable Ananda.

I tell this story to remind the nuns that the idea of recycling already existed at the Buddha's time 2600 years ago, and we should follow this tradition, particularly at this time when we are facing global warming and climate change. We are all responsible, and the least we can do is to start recycling!

Q: You are also engaged with offering Buddhist education and solace to prison inmates. Can you tell us more about this?

A: Yes, we visit the inmates in the local provincial prison. There are 3500 inmates, out of which 700 are women, and we visit the women's section. However, we are not giving talks or lectures, as they are not interested in that. They like to just listen to us, talk to us, getting to know the Dharma.

They are eager for us to come, because they feel that they benefit from our exchanges. When they practice what the bhikkhunis teach them, they can feel that life in prison, after all, is not so bad. One dying woman asked me to visit when she was about to pass away. I realized that our presence is very important for each one of them. She could not speak anymore, but she still recognized me when I visited her. Helping her towards a safe journey is the least we could do as bhikkhunis for the female inmates.

Q: Preparing for and facing death is an important facet of practice in Buddhism. How can we overcome our fear or unease about the topic?

A: Some people think it is negative to think about death in our practice or in our daily lives. But life and death are present. As soon as we are born, death is waiting for us. But we tend to forget it, so we always welcome birth, but we do not welcome death, even though it is part of nature.

We should be peaceful and happy to live this life and peaceful and happy at having to depart. Just like when you’re travelling somewhere, you cannot stay sitting in the departure lounge forever, you have to depart at one point somewhere. So, when we recognize that death is part of nature, it's very important that we focus on the moment that we are living now, and that we make this moment most beneficial for ourselves and most beneficial to others."

Read the whole interview at the Study Buddhism website, link in comments.

02/09/2026

Zen master Dogen: "Birth is an expression complete this moment. Death is an expression complete this moment. They are like winter and spring. You do not call winter the beginning of spring, nor summer the end of spring.

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.

Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.

The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long of short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.

When dharma does not fill your whole body and mind, you think it is already sufficient. When dharma fills your body and mind, you understand that something is missing."

Extract from: Actualizing the Fundamental Point (Genjo-koan) by Dogen, Translated by Robert Aitken and Kazuaki Tanahashi, Revised at San Francisco Zen Center.

Link to full text in comments.

02/09/2026

Sariputta speaks on death and rebirth.
Sariputta addresses the Buddha saying:

"And moreover, sir, how the Buddha teaches the knowledge of the death and rebirth of sentient beings is unsurpassable.

It’s when some ascetic or brahmin—by dint of keen, resolute, committed, and diligent effort, and right application of mind—experiences an immersion of the heart of such a kind that with clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman, they see sentient beings passing away and being reborn— inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place.

They understand how sentient beings pass on according to their deeds:

‘These dear beings did bad things by way of body, speech, and mind. They denounced the noble ones; they had wrong view; and they chose to act out of that wrong view. When their body broke up, after death, they were reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. These dear beings, however, did good things by way of body, speech, and mind. They never denounced the noble ones; they had right view; and they chose to act out of that right view. When their body broke up, after death, they were reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.’

And so, with clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman, they see sentient beings passing away and being reborn—inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place. They understand how sentient beings are reborn according to their deeds. This is unsurpassable when it comes to the knowledge of death and rebirth."

- Sampasādanīyasutta Long Discourses 28, Inspiring Confidence 1 Sāriputta’s Lion’s Roar, translated by Bhikkhu Sujato.

01/09/2026

Remove faults with Mahamudra practise.
""Just as the ocean’s salty water
Taken into the clouds turns sweet,
The stable mind works to benefit others;
The poison of objects turns into healing nectar."

If we realize the true nature of the mind, this realization itself will remove all defects and problems. These could be of various types—disturbing thoughts or emotions, experiences of intense sadness or regret. They can all be removed through the recognition of mind’s nature in mahamudra practice.

How this is possible is explained in this verse through an analogy of ocean water. We cannot drink seawater because it is too salty. Nevertheless, after the ocean’s water evaporates, gathers into clouds, and returns to the earth as rain, it has become pure. No longer salty, it is fit to drink.

The meaning of this analogy is as follows. We continually give rise to various forms of disturbing emotions. For example, when we encounter an external object that makes us angry, this experience of anger causes us to be unhappy. If we act on this anger, others can suffer as well.

To give another example: When we are frustrated by the failure of our endeavors, we can become highly anxious and miserable, and this may last for our whole life.

In each of these situations, it seems to us that the disturbing emotion or suffering that arises in our mind is very solid and powerful. Since it is so intense, it appears to be more powerful than we feel we are. However, if we actually look and meditate on the mind’s nature, we discover that all the things arising in our mind—thoughts, disturbing emotions, sadness, and misery—are mere appearances. If we scrutinize them, looking to see what they really are and where they really are, we will discover they are empty of substance and location.

When we look directly at the thoughts, disturbing emotions, and misery that arise in our mind, we cannot find where they are located, or where they came from, or whether they have a shape or color. We never find any of these qualities that all the objects seem to have.

Examining here means looking at the thought within the mind, not examining the object that inspired the thought or the condition that led to the disturbing emotion. It is scrutiny of the thought itself; we directly observe the emptiness of the thought. Whether we do this in the context of benefiting others—as the verse states, “the stable mind works to benefit others”—or simply in the context of benefiting ourselves, what happens when we see the nature of thoughts is that the previously poisonous quality of the thought, the disturbing emotion, or the suffering is transformed into a situation of great benefit. And so as the verse states, “the poison of objects turns into healing nectar.”

We believe that disturbing emotions are terrible, that thoughts are bad, and that sadness is a shame. But the nature of these conditions that arise in our mind is actually flawless bliss. Since we do not recognize their nature, we are afflicted by them. Actually, in and of themselves, thoughts and emotions are not bad, because their nature is peace.

Nevertheless, as long as disturbing emotions arise as afflictions, they are, of course, a problem. When we recognize the nature of thoughts, disturbing emotions, or sadness, it is like experiencing a healing nectar.

The poison of thoughts and disturbing emotions is transformed into medicine.
In the context of the gradual instruction of mahamudra, this process of scrutinizing thoughts is called looking at the mind within occurrence, or looking at the moving mind. It is normally preceded by the practice of looking at the mind within stillness.

This latter practice means that when we are in a stable state of meditation, we look directly at our own mind. Specifically, we look to see where and what the mind is. Through this investigation we eventually discover that there is no location and no substance of mind to be found. In this way, we resolve experientially that the mind is empty."

- From: Mind Is Empty and Lucid, Its Nature Is Great Bliss, by Thrangu Rinpoche, 2007/07/01.
Link in comments.

01/09/2026

Archeology and Mahāyāna texts:
"New discoveries shed light on the origins of the Mahayana giving researchers the impression that Mahayana Buddhism in the early centuries after Buddha was not institutionally, and perhaps not even doctrinally, distinct from what later came to be called the “Hinayana” or “Lesser Vehicle.”

All indications are that the more traditional or conservative practices coexisted with Mahayana ideas, even within the same monastic communities.

The discovery of previously unknown texts also offers a hint of how much of the Buddhist literature that once existed has not come down to us. The fact that extensive remnants have come to light in Gandhara is no coincidence but rather a result of particular climatic and cultural factors.

The geological region of Gandhara (modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan) lies beyond the central monsoon zone, whose extremes of heat and humidity prevent the long-term survival of organic materials such as birch bark or palm leaf. Additionally, the Buddhists of ancient Gandhara had a practice of ritually interring their manuscripts in clay pots or other containers in the precincts of their monasteries, further promoting their preservation.

It was likely due to these incidental factors that the oldest known Buddhist manuscripts were found in Gandhara, and not because such manuscripts were unique to the region. Similar texts must have existed elsewhere – perhaps everywhere – in the Buddhist cultures of the Indian heartland, but there is virtually no chance such manuscripts would have survived the deleterious effects of the monsoon climate.

The discovery of some random fragments of the literature of Gandharan Buddhism from the beginning of the Common Era is significant in part because it enables us to triangulate with the Pali and partial Sanskrit canons and begin to see all three as merely the surviving fragments of a vast tapestry of local Buddhisms and Buddhist literatures.

Even from the tattered remnants of this grand tapestry, we can discern common threads in the form of shared basic texts, particularly among the sutras recognised, at least in theory, as authoritative by all schools, which still form a common core of beliefs and principles."

- From the article "Ghandaran Manuscripts Change What We Know About The Course of Buddhist History". Link in comments.

01/09/2026

Zen joke or Zen koan? What do you think it means❔️❓️❔️

🍜🛏🧘

Buddhist Wisdom

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