In the Maṅgala Sutta, the Buddha presents a profound and practical guide to the true causes of well-being and genuine blessing. In Part 1 of this series, we examined the introduction to the Sutta and explained the first sixteen blessings. If you reflect them, you can find that these qualities are relatively accessible: they are practices that a diligent person, and anyone aspiring to grow in wisdom, can begin to cultivate in everyday life. In this second part, we turn to the

The story begins during a time when everyone, devas, brahmas and humans alike, were obsessed with figuring out what counts as a maṅgala — blessing . They wanted to know the signs, conditions, or qualities that genuinely bring welfare, happiness and good fortune. Not the superstitious kind, but the real blessing. For twelve long years, perhaps even longer, the beings of both the deva world and the human world turned the question of maṅgala over and over in their minds. They wa

Among the many qualities one must cultivate to purify bodily, verbal, and mental actions, acceptance stands as one of the most essential. So often, human beings act from impulse or rigid personal views, neglecting the well-being of themselves and others: an outcome born of the absence of acceptance. True acceptance is not passive submission; it is a profound state of mind grounded in wisdom, and embraces patience, renunciation, empathy, karuṇā (compassion), and mettā (loving-

All the Buddhas' teachings can be summed up in three simple but profound principles: avoid unwholesome actions, cultivate wholesome qualities, and purify the mind. To live as a truly good person, we need to align ourselves with these principles. In Part 4, I want to focus on the second one — cultivating wholesomeness — because it’s the active practice that shapes our character, mind and kamma. A wholesome mind is guided by hiri (a sense of shame at doing wrong) and ottappa (f

A human rebirth is as an extraordinarily rare and valuable opportunity. In the human realm, unlike in many others, there is the right...

The Buddha often emphasised that human birth is extraordinarily rare and precious. As mentioned in the previous post, in the Chiggala...