The Dhamma Brothers Trailer

The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter into this arduous and intensive program. This film, with the power to dismantle stereotypes about men behind prison bars also, in the words of Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), "gives you hope for the human race." 

Also book title related to The Dhamma Brothers

 

The Place of Vipassana Among the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path

Dhamma talk given by Jotinanda Bhikkhu recently in Sabah.

Ven. Jotinanda is a Malaysian Theravāda Buddhist monk. He was ordained a sāmaṇera (novice monk) in Malaysia in 2001 and later a bhikkhu (full-fledged monk) in Myanmar in 2002. He is interested in Buddhist meditation, especially vipassanā meditation, and also the study of the Dhamma (teaching of the Buddha), particularly where it deals with the practice of vipassanā meditation.

* * *

In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya, Mahāvagga, Saccasaṃyutta, Sutta 11), the Buddha declared for the first time the basic foundation of his teaching: the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths.

The first noble truth is the noble truth of suffering (dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ). In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta the Buddha gave a list of things which are suffering: birth, ageing, sickness, death, meeting with people and things that are displeasing, separation from people and things that are pleasing, and not to have one’s wish fulfilled. We can also add to this list sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. But at the end of the list in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta the Buddha said: “In short the five-aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”

So the truth of suffering is, in short, these five-aggregates subject to clinging: the aggregate of materiality, feeling, perception, mental-formations, and consciousness, subject to clinging. If we simplify them we can say that they are mundane mental and physical phenomena (nāma-rūpa). They are the truth of suffering because they have the nature of being subjected to suffering.

The second noble truth is the noble truth of the cause of suffering (dukkha-samudayaṃ ariyasaccaṃ). The Buddha traced the cause of suffering to craving that leads to renewed existence or rebirth, that is accompanied by delight and lust, that finds delight here and there in one existence or another. It is this craving that compels and propels beings, at the time of death, to seek rebirth and so be embroiled into yet another cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, another cycle of suffering. And as long as craving is present the cycle of suffering will go on and on from one birth to another, each birth marking the beginning of another cycle of suffering.

The third noble truth is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ). Here the Buddha gave us hope. Even though there is suffering in the world there can also be an end to it. Suffering ceases, according to the Buddha, when there is the complete fading away and cessation of its cause i.e. craving.

Not only did the Buddha said that suffering can cease, he even gave us the way of practice, the method to bring suffering to an end. This is the fourth noble truth, the noble truth of the way that leads to the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha-gāminī paṭipadā ariyasaccaṃ). This is the Noble Eightfold Path consisting of right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

The Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths, these are the basic foundation of the Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha taught in ancient Northern India for forty five years and all the discourses that he delivered during this time were, one way or another, based on the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. But given that these are the basic foundation of the Buddha’s teaching, where does vipassanā comes in? Where can we place vipassanā in the scheme of the Noble Eightfold Path and Four Noble Truths?

Click Link to Read More: Reflection on the Dhamma

 

G E T   F R E E   B O O K S   

O N   V I P A S S A N A @ 

www.inwardpath.org

NEWLY RELEASE VESAK 2010!

Comprehensive Instructions on 

Mindfulness Meditation (Vipassana)

Other Books on Vipassana (Mindfulness)

Till Stocks Last!

Mindfulness in Plain English

Mindfulness Meditation Made Easy

 

Visit our website @ www.inwardpath.org

Other books about Four Noble Truth

       

Dharma Seed - Joseph Goldstein's Dharma Talks (Website Link)

About the speaker

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and lovingkindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization's guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

Joseph first became interested in Buddhism as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand in 1965. Since 1967 he has studied and practiced different forms of Buddhist meditation under eminent teachers from India, Burma and Tibet. He is the author of A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, The Experience of Insight, and co-author of Seeking the Heart of Wisdom and Insight Meditation: A Correspondence Course.

Follow the link below and listen to great talks from Joseph
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/6162/



'Anyone who is serious about meditation should have a good understanding of Satipattana Sutta.' - Chien Hoong




Other titles by Joseph Goldstein

Annoucement on the Resume of Meditation session

This is to inform/remind that our regular
Metta Meditation Session at
Inward Path, 52 Rangoon Road
will resume on
Tuesday April 27.


However,
we won't be having our
Vipassana session on
Thursday April 29.


Instead we will, after April 27, have our

Metta Session
every M O N D A Y
beginning from
the Monday of May 3

and

Vipassana Session
every T U E S D A Y
beginning from
the Tuesday of May 4.

We are unable to have our session on Thursday as
the Charismatic Church on the first floor is now
having activity every Thursday and
their loud drumming and music
will disrupt our meditation.

A N N O U N C E M E N T

Dear yogis,

Please be informed that
the Vipassana Meditation session
on 11 February 2010 (Thursday) and
the Metta Mediation session
on 16 February 2010 (Tuesday)
will be canceled due to
the celebration of Chinese New Year.

The Vipassana session will be resumed on
18 February 2010 (Thursday).

We would also like to wish all the yogis
a Happy Chinese New Year.

With metta, Beng

Executive Vipassana Course in India

by Vipassana Research Institute

Vipassana Meditation As Taught By S. N. Goenka
in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin

In 2009 a short film was produced that describes how senior business leaders in India from across industries & sectors cope with uncertainty and change in a challenging market environment. In a series of candid interviews, senior executives discuss how the practice of Vipassana meditation enables them to more effectively manage their own stress, increase employee engagement and productivity, face the pressures of competition, and make decisions from a base of personal wisdom and authenticity.

This film is available in English below:



http://www.executive.dhamma.org/en/index.htm

        

METTA & VIPASSANA MEDITATION CLASS 2010

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to inform that our meditation teacher Visu and his wife Barbara are back from Europe after a five-month teaching stint — leading metta and vipassana retreats at various European centres.

Visu will resume his meditation classes at House of Inward Journey (52 Rangoon Road, Level D, Penang) every Tuesday and Thursday beginning on Jan 19 2010 until further notice.

The program is as follows:

T U E S D A Y

8:00pm to 9:00pm — Metta (Lovingkindness) Meditation

9:00pm to 10:00pm — Dhamma Talk and Discussion

T H U R D A Y

8:00pm to 9:00pm — Vipassana (Insight) Meditation

9:00pm to 10:00pm — Dhamma Talk and Discussion

For those of you who have been attending Visu's classes from February to June this year you are most welcome to resume practice with Visu.

For those who have not have the benefit to practice with Visu you are most welcome to now take the opportunity to do so.

If you have friends who are interested in learning meditation please invite them to come along. Visu will give simple and precise instructions to newcomers and beginners.

For the talk on Tuesday Jan 19 Visu will elaborate on the benefits of metta practice — why it is so helpful in our everyday life. This talk is aimed at motivating you to maintain a strong metta practice.

We will appreciate if you can send us an SMS or email or give us a phone call to confirm your attendance.

I can be reached at my mobile phone 012 4302893.

Email: inwardpath@hotmail.com

If you have any enquiries please contact me.

With metta (lovingkindness),

Sunanda Lim

* * *

More information below on Metta and Vipassana Meditation:

M E T T A (Lovingkindness)

May all beings be happy.

May they be safe.

May they be peaceful.

May they be healthy.

May they take care of themselves happily.

Metta is a Pali word meaning lovingkindness, goodwill, friendliness, benevolence, non-hatred, non-anger, non-irritation and non-annoyance.

Metta Meditation is the cultivation of lovingkindness, friendliness, benevolence, and goodwill through the continuous generating of wholesome thoughts and well wishes towards oneself, loved ones, friends, people we know and all beings in general.

Metta practice helps to free our hearts from hatred, anger and ill-will. It has a very positive effect on both oneself and others and is conducive to improving our relationships. We come to be more patient, tolerant, loving, friendly, kind and understanding in our relationships with others.

Metta meditation provides a wonderful complement to Vipassana (Insight) meditation as it helps us to develop concentration that can aid and support our Vipassana practice.

* * *

V I P A S S A N A (Insight)

Vipassana or Insight meditation is the direct and clear seeing into the true nature of mental and physical phenomena. It involves the application of mindfulness to closely observe our mind and body processes during formal sitting and walking meditation and in all other activities.

With practice we gain calm and peace as well as insight into our mental conditioning, behavioural patterns and habits. We learn how to cultivate, sustain and strengthen wholesome and joyful states of mind while diminishing the unwholesome and painful.

We will develop a skillful approach that is conducive to peace, joy and happiness in all aspects of our daily life.

Our practice is based on the Buddha's Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. These are Body, Feelings, Consciousness or Mind States, and Dhammas/Phenomena. We will learn how to observe and investigate all these in our direct and immediate experience.

In due course we will come to understand what the Buddha called "The Three Marks of Existence" — Impermanence, Suffering/Unsatisfactoriness, and Not-Self.

The deep and profound understanding of these fundamental truths will lead to the liberation of the mind from all clinging and delusion that lie at the root of all suffering. Peace, release and happiness are the fruits of the practice.

Vipassana promotes true happiness, fulfillment and freedom in life while leading the practitioner to the ultimate and highest peace and happiness of Nibbana, the end of all craving/greed/attachment, hatred/anger/aversion and ignorance/delusion.

* * *

THE TEACHER

Visu (shortened from his full Pali name Visuddhacara) has been practising the Dhamma and meditation since 1982. He was born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1953. He was a journalist for 12 years and a Buddhist monk for 17 years before he returned to the lay life in 2003. He has studied with several meditation masters, notably Sayadaw U Pandita, Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Sayadaw U Jatila and Ven Sujiva. He is married and has led retreats in Asia, Australia and Europe. He is the author of several books including “Curbing Anger Spreading Love,” “Drinking Tea Living Life: Applying Mindfulness in Everyday Life and Critical Times”, “Loving and Dying” and “Hello with Love and other Meditations.”

Visu’s emphasis in his teaching is on the integration of the Dhamma in everyday life while striving for the ultimate release of Nibbana. He stresses the importance of cultivating lovingkindness, joy and happiness in the present moment while on our journey towards Enlightenment.

Retreat in Ireland July 2009

Retreat in Czech Republic Oct 2009

Visu and Barbara in Holland Sept 2009

Giving Dhamma Talk at Kuching Dhamma Vijaya Centre,
Kuching, Dec 2009

NEW RELEASE

THE VIPASSANA RETREAT

A Guide Book on Vipassana Meditation
with an Audio Guide to the practice on

Compact Disc (CD)
in MP3 format (AF405) -->

by VENERABLE PANNYAVARO

ISBN 978-983-3512-67-6
Size: 5.5” x 8.25”
Pages: 136 pages

As a guidebook it offers a framework for the teachings based on the source material: The Four Establishments of Mindfulness. It includes sections on mindfulness of the body, being aware of feelings, orientating to the sense doors, the supportive practice of loving-kindness, how to report the practice in the daily interview, difficulties facing meditators and how to work with them, as well as advice on continuing the practice at home.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Venerable Pannyavaro is an Australian Buddhist monk who has devoted his life to the meditational aspects of the Buddha's teachings. During his meditation training he practiced under several meditation masters in Sri Lanka and Burma including Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka of Chanmyay Meditation Centre, Rangoon, who is the foremost disciple of the renowned Burmese meditation master, the late Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.

Pannyavaro was involved in the beginnings of a number of the very early Buddhist communities in Australia. He later received full ordination at Wat Borvornivet in Bangkok under Venerable Phra Nyanasamvarva, the Sangha Raja of Thailand.

For the past twenty-five years, he has from time to time studied and practiced meditation in most of the major Theravada Buddhist countries, including long periods of intensive practise of Satipatthana-Vipassana meditation at the Mahasi Sayadaw centres in Burma.

As a Western meditation teacher, Ven. Pannyavaro naturally empathizes with the concerns and needs of meditators in their own culture. His long training and life experience combine to bring a practical in-depth approach to the teaching of insight (vipassana)meditation in contemporary life.

Pannyavaro is the resident teacher with the Buddha Dharma Education Association at its Centre at Surry Hills in Sydney and gives retreats from time to time at the Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre, Medlow Bath.

BODHI TREE

Bodhi Tree Forest Monastery and Retreat Centre was founded by Venerable Pannyavaro Mahathero. He is better known as the founder and webmaster of BuddhaNet.net.

Venerable Pannyavaro plans to develop a meditation community to serve both lay and monastic practitioners on ninety-five acres of beautiful land at Tullera five minutes from Lismore in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia. This land has been purchased as a sanctuary and hermitage — known as Bodhi Tree Forest Monastery and Retreat Centre. Site works and development are being planned.

Supportive conditions for ordained and lay practitioners to undertake long term intensive meditation practice are hard to find in western countries. To assist people to penetrate the heart of the Buddha's teaching The Buddha Dharma Education Association is planning a 'hermitage' area in addition to a large meditation hall and an individual accommodation area at Bodhi Tree.

ALSO BY VEN. PANNYAVARO
Published by INWARD PATH PUBLISHER

THE ART OF ATTENTION: Meditating for Insight
ISBN 983-9439-19-7 (IJ021/98/05)