We encounter many fortunes and misfortunes in life. When misfortunes arise, people tend to rely on conventional and superficial explanations, directing blame outward. When someone we love dies, we point to an illness: “He died because of cancer.” When someone suffers great financial loss, we attribute it to external conditions: “She lost money because of competitors.” Many such examples can be given; they are virtually endless. Here, by “suffering,” the emphasis in this post

When we observe the mind carefully, let’s be honest to ourselves: it is rarely straight. It leans, bends, and inclines: pulled by lobha, pushed by dosa, clouded by moha. Even when we intend to act rightly, something within distorts that intention. This inner crookedness is the natural condition of an untrained mind. The mind is always bending in such a manner, conditioned by defilements to act in these ways throughout beginningless saṃsāra. In the teachings of the Buddha, the

The commentaries provide a profoundly important clarification about attainments of Path and Fruition, and that liberation is neither random nor mechanically guaranteed. It unfolds through prior and present causes. The Apadāna Commentary expresses this as follows: “To all disciples of the Blessed One: (1) the presence of meritorious supporting conditions (adhikāra), and (2) a strong and resolute aspiration (chanda) for the noble knowledge of enlightenment (bodhi-ñāṇa) one seek

Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is a choice. Growing old happens to you, whether you like it or not. Growing up is something you do, only if you choose to. Time passes and makes this body age. Responsibilities grow, roles change, life goes from one phase to another but from the perspective of the Dhamma, none of this guarantees maturity. A person can grow old while remaining emotionally reactive, self-centred, resentful, weak-minded and deeply attached to how things sho

Before we explore the remaining forms of subtle deception in the mind, let’s briefly recall what we covered in Part 1. There we looked at how unwholesome states can masquerade as wholesome qualities: how attachment to lust might feel like loving-kindness, how grief can appear as compassion, how even equanimity can be shadowed by indifference and so on. The Buddha’s teachings point out these deceptions so that we become more aware of how easily the mind can be led astray wh

The Buddha said: “Pāpasmiṃ ramati mano — the minds of people delight in what is unwholesome.” Pāpa does not only mean unwholesome deeds; it can also mean the mind delights in the unwholesome qualities that arise within it. If you look honestly, you will notice this in yourself. The mind delights in lobha, but not in alobha. It delights in dosa, but not in adosa. It delights in moha, but not in amoha. These are all unwholesome qualities. And when māna (conceit), issā (envy) a