Today people all over the world love physical beauty: But how many people examine themselves when defilements rise to the surface of the mind? How rare it is to find an individual who can recognize the arising of defilements and then willingly suppress them. The rest of us give free rein to our defilements and allow them to run rampant in our mind. As if

The present text – Buddhism in Buddha’s own words – is a systematic exposition of all the main tenets of the Buddha’s Teachings presented in the Master’s own words as found in the Sutta-Pitaka of the Buddhist Pali Canon.Its chief aim is to give the reader who is already more or less acquainted with the fundamental ideas of Buddhism, a clear, concise and authentic summary

If one wants to accumulate wholesome kamma in this life, there are 10 bases or ways of meritorious action that produce good effects and which should be performed by all means. 1) Dana: giving charity or generosity 2) Śīla: morality i.e. observing 5 precepts, 8 or 10 precepts, etc. 3) Bhāvana: meditation i.e. both tranquillity and insight 4) reverence to elders and holy persons 5)

Buddha spoke of the advantages of cultivation of the five virtues, which are the Five Precepts, namely: 1) Abstention from killing living beings 2) Abstention from taking what is not given 3) Abstention from sexual misconduct 4) Abstention from telling lies 5) Abstention from partaking of intoxicants. One who has these five virtues lives the home-life with complete self-confidence. • One who has these five

‘Śarana’ in Pali means ‘Refuge’ and is defined as ‘a shelter or protection from danger or trouble; a person, thing or course that provides protection’. Theravada Buddhist teachers define ‘śarana’ as follows: If one pays respect or reverence to a certain object or person, and if that act of respect or reverence amounts to a Kuśala kamma (wholesome action), which can save one from the

Buddha mentioned 5 destinations (pañcagati) for rebirth. What are the five? Hell, the animal realm, the realm of ghosts, human beings and gods. Hell, animal and ghost realms are woeful states of existence (duggati) while the realms of humans and gods are happy states of existence (sugati). The animal, ghost, and human realms exist on the surface of the earth. The gods are believed to

This is an article dedicated to the teachings on Death and Rebirth and more precisely - to teachings on Death and Rebirth as it is taught and understood in Theravada Buddhism... First off, this is very important subject and should be treated as such; it is not a castles of sand - it is based on ancient religious teachings of Arahants and Buddhas and sages

The Law of Kamma is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism: Although this belief was prevalent in India before the advent of the Buddha, it was the Buddha who explained and formulated this doctrine in its complete form, which we have today. "All living beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions; they originate from their actions, are related to their actions, have their

Dependent Origination (PATICCA SAMUPPADA) What is the Law of Dependent Origination? According to this law, every phenomenon owes its origin to another phenomenon prior to it. It may simply be expressed as “depending on this, this originates”. Why then did the Buddha teach the doctrine of Dependent Origination? It was to show through which causes and conditions, suffering comes into being, now and hereafter. It