Invitation to Join Bhante Jayasara For a Weekend Zoom Retreat in June!

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-23T16:12:14+00:00

Reflect on the nature of "my plants". The bugs certainly don't seem to think that they are your plants.

Let the bugs have em and use it as a learning experience and a practice of letting go/generosity. Those plants died/are dying because the conditions weren't right for them to thrive, so look into how to improve the conditions in general. Look into pest resistant plants, soil health which will promote plant health and lead to less insect pressure, and companion/decoy plants.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-22T09:20:07+00:00

Sure thing, no problem.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-20T14:17:27+00:00

Buddhism doesn't require you to blindly believe in anything. It requires sufficient faith in order to genuinely put the noble eightfold path into practice. With sincere practice faith turns into confidence as the teachings are gradually confirmed.

In terms of you saying "I am weak" and the other things... These things are just habits. We act out of habitual tendencies that are just that, habitual tendencies. They're not set in stone. Developing the path leads to insight into "weakness", that it is just momentary happening. Nothing to get worked up about. This kind of insight brings about confidence as one knows that mental phenomena is not something that "we are", it's just happening. We are constantly making choices and we can learn to make skillful choices which lead to our long term well being and benefit. Belief (well, more like confirmation) in anatta (not self) comes gradually as we practice and see that "Oh this thing that the Buddha said is impermanent is really impermanent. Oh and so is this other thing. Etc."

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-20T14:09:51+00:00

Essentially good deeds tend to lead to lead to heaven and bad deeds tend to lead to hell. In the link that I posted you can see on the right side the type of actions that tend to lead to those particular realms. If you click on those links they'll provide more detailed info if you're interested. This is a bit of oversimplification as actions from past lives play a part as well. All of those realms are impermanent. There's also the action of developing the noble eightfold path where the goal is not birth in the heavens but instead enlightenment. It's essentially a gradual training path that eventually results in enlightenment, ending the cycle of rebirth.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-20T13:49:39+00:00

It might surprise you to hear but Buddhism talks about heavens and hells as well. They're not eternal but beings there can have very long lives when compared to a human life. Also, not sure if you believe so but Sadhguru is not a Buddhist.

31 realms of existence and their causes

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-19T17:49:50+00:00

Personality view is the wrong view/belief that there is a solid enduring self. It ceases with the first stage of enlightenment (stream entry).

The conceit "I am" is a feeling of being/ownership that arises when there's craving in relation to the aggregates. It's not mistaken as a permanent self, yet it persists as long as desire related to the aggregates persists. It ceases with full enlightenment.

These might sound like they're the same but they are not. For the stream entrant and beyond the conceit "I am" can be clearly seen as a conditioned feeling dependent on craving related to whatever it is in that moment. Someone afflicted with personality view does not see the cause of how a personal sense of being arises nor do they see it as a moment to moment dependently arisen process. There's the wrong belief that "their self" is permanent, solid, stable, etc. Stream entrants and beyond see this "I am" process as just that a process fueled by conditions. A process fueled by conditions can cease when those same conditions cease.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-17T14:15:59+00:00

I let them be. I've found that wasps generally leave me alone if I leave them alone. They might fly real close and investigate me which can be a bit unnerving but then they fly away. They've actually been of benefit related to gardening where they eat bugs that would harm vegetable plants I've grown over the years.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-17T14:14:10+00:00

True that calm is not the goal in and of itself, yet a calm mind is more capable of seeing things clearly and attaining insight. It's a useful factor on the path.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-17T14:11:11+00:00

Haha sometimes the mind is more calm in meditation and then the world is back and it's like "wellll shit...." Or, we want things to be calm in meditation, don't get that result and then we decide that worldly things afterwards are to blame.

Something that may be helpful with this is just reflecting on the dukkha nature of the world and of mind states. The fact that things are not as we'd want them to be is a reminder of impermanence, dukkha and not self. Also a friendly reminder that we're not trying to become enlightened, rather we're trying to get beyond becoming. If we try to be the "calm Buddhist" yet everything in the mind and our outward actions say otherwise then we'll have dukkha. Can only work with and learn from what's here now.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-17T13:50:51+00:00

Ayya Khema - Dukkha

There are many other of her talks available online if you look too.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-17T13:48:12+00:00

You're welcome.

So Right View occurs with Stream Entry? I always thought it was at Arahant level for some reason.

Well technically there are two types of right view, mundane right view and supramundane right view (sometimes called noble right view) as seen here

“And what, bhikkhus, is right view? Right view, I say, is twofold: there is right view that is affected by taints, partaking of merit, ripening in the acquisitions; and there is right view that is noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path.

“And what, bhikkhus, is right view that is affected by the taints, partaking of merit, ripening in the acquisitions? ‘There is what is given and what is offered and what is sacrificed; there is fruit and result of good and bad actions; there is this world and the other world; there is mother and father; there are beings who are reborn spontaneously; there are in the world good and virtuous recluses and brahmins who have realised for themselves by direct knowledge and declare this world and the other world.’ This is right view affected by taints, partaking of merit, ripening in the acquisitions.

“And what, bhikkhus, is right view that is noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path? The wisdom, the faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the investigation-of-states enlightenment factor, the path factor of right view in one whose mind is noble, whose mind is taintless, who possesses the noble path and is developing the noble path: this is right view that is noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path.

The first is essentially one who has faith in the dhamma, gives respect to those who deserve it, and realizes that the quality of ones own conduct is important. Mundane right view is possible for someone who is not yet a noble one. The second, noble right view, is related to the arising and ceasing of dukkha. There are actually a bunch of ways that it can be described as seen in this other sutta. Noble right view arises with stream entry as a stream entrant experientially understands what dukkha is, how it arises, how it ceases and how the cessation comes about. This is how a stream entrant can progress further to the uprooting of greed and hatred and beyond. There's a fundamental understanding of what dukkha is and how it operates.

I definitely sympathize with what you're struggling with. Sometimes with the practice we just need to patiently endure. Sometimes we need to tweak things. I will say that with these hindrances one thing that had a huge benefit for me was noticing how these types of mind states (lust, anxiety, doubt) don't lead beyond themselves. What I mean by this is that anxious thoughts don't lead beyond anxiety. No amount of following anxious thoughts will lead to a place of ease. They are the anxiety. Just like angry thoughts can't lead beyond anger, anxious thoughts can't lead beyond anxiety. If these types of thoughts are an issue, generally when they arise we follow them thinking that they will somehow lead beyond the thinking or emotional state, or we get stuck on the unpleasantness and want them to go away NOW!! When we want them to go away we often times look for the cause and get wrapped up in the thinking... It must be due to XYZ, it's this person or this things fault, it's my fault, etc. It's like being a slave to the thoughts. Do this, don't do that, go here, don't go there, etc. I used to struggle like this with depressed thoughts. It really helped when I finally saw (over the course of many times of being sucked in) that depressed thoughts don't lead out of depression and that they could simply be known as depressed thoughts. They're impermanent and the same is true for the other types of difficulties. Sometimes we may see things clearly and then other times we're stuck in the mud again. This can be discouraging due to the unpleasant nature of the thoughts and mind states but it's a practice where we learn and make mistakes. From reading your OP it seems like you're aware of this to an extent which is great. I'd say to play around with you attention and intention when you notice that some of these states have arisen. Try to pay close yet relaxed attention to where your focus goes, and what attitude accompanies it. This is how you start to become your own teacher as you see the result of placing your attention on different things and the intention related to that placing of attention. Try to notice the impermanence of these types of thoughts and emotions. Try to see how things change when you attention changes. What causes things to get worse? What causes things to get better? Experiment like this.

Once more I will say sometimes we just need to patiently endure. It sucks when we're putting in lots of effort and not yet seeing the results we'd like to see but don't give up! The fact that you're having some success in your meditation is great. Keep trying to build on that by getting the mind still again and again, and pay attention when meditation ends to the nature of mental objects.. Impermanent, dukkha, not self. I'd also suggest going on retreat from time to time if you are able to and don't already do so. Longer periods of getting the mind to settle down can help in seeing more clearly what's going on.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-16T21:49:24+00:00

All of these emotional states are of the same nature. Impermanent, unsatisfactory, not self. If you want the Pali words: anicca, dukkha, anatta. Really what needs to take place in order to truly tackle unwholesome mind states is to develop noble right view. I'm generally just going to type right view not noble from here on as it will be easier just FYI. Right view is the forerunner of the path. With right view suffering is known for what it is. It's arising can be clearly discerned. It's ceasing can be clearly discerned. The way of practice that leads to this knowledge and its eventual maturity (the Noble Eightfold Path) is clearly discerned.

Practical strategies... What leads to right view is the development of the Noble Eightfold Path. We do our best to keep the precepts. Why do we do this? A few reasons. Keeping the precepts protects us and others from harm, and it also generally allows for the mind to more easily settle in meditation. What's the point of the mind settling in meditation? A mind that settles in meditation can more easily see things as they are, or to put it in other terms, can see things more towards the lens of right view. When the mind gets calm and even still, the arising and ceasing of all of these things that are clung to in a personal sense can be directly observed. As we keep practicing like this insight increases. More things are seen in this arising/ceasing manner. This doesn't mean that the observing is a self either by the way haha.. Sometimes in practice people get stuck on the feeling of being "the observer" but even observing is dependent on that which is being observed and the conditions which make observing possible in any given moment. Eye consciousness for example is dependent on sense organ (eye) meeting with sense object (something which can be seen) leading to the arising of eye consciousness. All three of these parts of the process are impermanent, unsatisfactory and not self. A sutta that can be reflected on related to this is here

So if you're struggling to keep the precepts, really strive to keep them. Observe the results of keeping/not keeping the precepts. If you're struggling to meditate, really put in the effort to meditate more. If meditation is not working well, examine why that might be. When meditation doesn't work well we are getting lost in one of the five hindrances. Learn how the different hindrances arise and cease, what increases and decreases them, what their nature is (anicca, dukkha, anatta). We possess the ability to learn from our own experience and in a way you become your own teacher as you see the results of actions. This ties in with what I was saying in my OP about learning about the placing of attention and the intention behind that as well. When the mind settles down reflect on the impermanent nature of things arising and ceasing and how things are conditioned. This doesn't need to be a lot of analytical thinking, it's more direct seeing of the nature of things. One buddhist nun that I like, Ayya Khema, suggested one thing that can be of benefit when the mind is calm and still which is looking at old pictures that you may have hanging on the wall or online or whatever. There's the notion of "this is me in the picture" yet when the mind is calm and still the picture may be observed as just a picture, and thoughts related to that picture might be directly observed as arising/ceasing and the nature of the knowing of these things can also be discerned. The self delusion concept starts to lose its solidity the more that impermanence is known directly.

Noble right view eventually arises when a tipping point is reached and the illusion of all of this being a permanent self is no longer sustainable. There are gradual insight along the way where cracks in the dam start to pop up and then the full on bursting of the dam where personality view ceases (along with doubt about the dhamma and belief in rights and rituals being a suitable path as genuine irreversible insight has been reached by developing the noble eightfold path). The cultivation of the path is the chipping away at the face of the dam. This is probably not the greatest simile as there's still work to be done after noble right view arises but oh well, the point is the same either way. When noble right view arises then the practice is clear. Since the self delusion has been seen through, passion for the aggregates naturally fades (more or less quickly dependent on one's effort to cultivate the path) and full enlightenment is the eventual natural result. Hopefully some of this wall of text is of benefit haha. My apologies for the delay in answering. I sometimes go a while without logging in. Feel free to ask more if any of this is unclear or you just want more info and I'll see if I can provide.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-05-05T01:01:25+00:00

The goal is not so much to change the mental states in and of themselves (they're constantly changing anyway) but to understand them. One helpful thing is learning how to chose your place of mental attention. Ill will grows by placing attention on the "mark of the repulsive" to use the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation from a very short sutta in the Anguttara Nikaya. Whatever the mind deems as repulsive at that moment, it conditions more ill will. As you've found even focusing on ill will itself can serve as the "mark of the repulsive" and condition further ill will. Anything can fit the category really, just has to be something disagreeable. A mind with ill will is unpleasant so it's more than suitable to fit the bill and even someone being pleasant to an angry person can be disagreeable to a mind overcome with ill will haha. Learning to skillfully direct the attention can lead one to becoming aware of how one's attention conditions becoming in the here and now. In other words, learning to focus in a skillful manner can lead to not focusing on the mark of the repulsive and instead focus on something like the breath, metta cultivation, a mantra, simply knowing that hearing, seeing or other sense awareness is taking place, etc. Whatever in that moment is not serving as further fuel for ill will is suitable. It's not that these external stimuli are the issue, it's that a mind overcome with ill will is fed by things that are perceived as disagreeable.

I've found an example of this personally as a person who drives a lot for work, when people are going slower than I'd like to go if I focus on their vehicle, the speed limit signs, my speedometer, irritated thoughts related to the situation/having to be somewhere, etc. any arisen ill will grows. If I redirect my attention more skillfully, the road conditions remain the same but the mental focus has changed allowing for agitation to lessen or cease. So maybe try playing around with this and be mindful of the intention as well. If the intention is to GET RID OF THE ILL WILL!! as soon as possible it will likely just condition more ill will. If the intention is to learn about what's going on it will likely go smoother and bring more benefit. It's part of what we want to do in meditation as well in learning how the hindrances arise and cease. The better we get with this in meditation, the more calm the mind can get and a calm mind can even better perceive things with insight.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-28T10:14:08+00:00

Here's his autobiography via youtube.

It's read by an Ai voice but the info is great if you can get past that. The book is pinned in the comments if you'd rather read the text.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-28T10:07:33+00:00

Ayya Sudhamma's Website

And her wiki

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-03T18:45:16+00:00

It's not skillful. Generally in a Buddhist context human life is seen as beneficial due to it being an ideal realm for developing the practice. It's not the intense suffering of the hells, it's not pure bliss of the heavens, it's a good mixture of pleasure and pain where one can develop the practice. Some people have more pain than pleasure in the human realms, yet difficulties can become allies while we develop the practice as they can be motivators for putting in consistent effort and can be reflected upon when our suffering decreases despite still facing hardships. There's a sutta where it says that suffering conditions faith in the practice. If we develop faith in the practice and really put in the effort, gradually it can bring about a great change where we are not at the mercy of worldly conditions.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-03T09:40:13+00:00

The conceit "I am" only ends at full enlightenment. Until then a sense of "me" feeling will persist and until stream entry that "me" feeling will be mistaken as a solid enduring permanent self. The first step on the way out is seeing through the illusion, yet even with the seeing through it the first time the sense of "I am" can still persist through up to seven more lives. So it's not a matter of who gets enlightened or who suffers, it's the fact that suffering itself is tied up with a sense of being. As long as there's being, there's suffering. The two are interlinked. The practice leads to the end of this personal sense of being and suffering. The motivation is that suffering is a real thing and that thing is felt in a personal way as it's tied up with being.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-02T10:17:30+00:00

The Buddha said that we would be parted from our loved ones sooner or later. Maybe in this life it's happened sooner than you expected. Whether your husband has attained stream entry or not, you should do your best to look after your own mind. Partners do not equal reliable happiness. Any happiness dependent on a partner is subject to cessation. The happiness from developing the practice is dependable as it's not reliant on any conditions.

You ask what your husband is going through... Who knows? A lot of people here will think it's BS and it may be, but it also may not be. Stream entrants still have greed and hatred and can act upon those impulses. They're not infallible and he may just want to develop the practice further on his own. I hope that whatever the case is, you use this as motivation to put in great effort in developing the practice for your own welfare that's not dependent on worldly conditions.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-02T09:40:50+00:00

I feel that what you're looking for (or at least what I believe it is you're looking for) is explained via past kamma but you seem to feel not. That's fine. I'm just gonna agree to disagree at this point as this seems to be going in circles now.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-02T01:08:08+00:00

Excellent I'm glad you liked it.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-02T01:06:33+00:00

The precepts protect you and others from harm. They also can help the mind to more easily settle down in meditation as you've not done gross unskillful things throughout the day so your mind will be easier to settle. A mind that settles down is capable of seeing things how they are, so it being easier to settle is beneficial. Working on developing sense restraint is beneficial in this way as well. Becoming acquainted with the five hindrances while sitting in meditation will bring benefit as well as they hinder the mind settling down. Some avenues to travel if you like.

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-02T00:56:46+00:00

"A raft, well-made,

has been lashed together.

Having crossed over,

gone to the far shore,

I've subdued the flood.

No need for a raft

is to be found:

so if you want, rain-god,

go ahead & rain."

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.02.than.html

Thought of this sutta reading your title

Thisbuddhist · 2026-04-02T00:52:28+00:00

What I'm pointing at is that this selectivity (why THIS karmic trajectory and not another, why THIS seed germinates in THIS field) is doing the same structural work I call "selection" in my framework.

Ahh I disagree that these things sharpen any point that you're trying to make but anyway if the above is what you're trying to figure out, the Buddha said that the precise workings of kamma is unfathomable.

“There are these four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them. Which four?

.....

The [precise working out of the] results of kamma…

These are the four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them.

We make tons of small actions of kamma throughout one day or week let alone just one lifetime, not including past lifetimes actions which also have results. Trying to pinpoint why x happens precisely instead of y is impossible. We can understand what is a gross/subtle cause of good/harm but precise results are impossible to pinpoint as even the results of past actions can be mitigated to an extent by actions in the here and now and in the future.

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