BALANCED OPINIONS: full moon – Thursday 10th July 2025
Dwell not on the faults and shortcomings of others, instead, seek clarity about your own.
DHAMMAPADA v. 50
It is understandable that we have opinions about the way others behave. To do so is part of the natural functioning of our discriminative intelligence. In this verse the Buddha is not saying we ought to dismiss our capacity for assessing that which is wholesome and that which is not. Rather, he is highlighting the risk of losing balance. To be consistently caught in a habit of criticising others for their faults, is to have lost perspective. The primary focus of attention needs to be on recognizing one’s own limitations. If you can be genuinely honest about your own motivations there is a better chance your actions of body and speech will contribute to inner and outer harmony.
Q: Could You Guide Us In A Contemplation On The 5 Spiritual Faculties?
(approx. 12 minutes) KEYWORDS: "In one of your talks you ask us to contemplate on 5 spiritual faculties. You had given some ideas on faith. Could you please guide us on this too." Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Thate, indriyasamvara, hiri ottappa, basic tools, sadha, faith, fragrance, honeysuckle, floating, 3 levels of faith, viriya, energy, intensity, transformation, tedious mediocrity, interest, challenge, sati, embodied mindfulness, satipatthana sutta, gatekeeper, praise and blame, samadhi, collectedness, ceto-vimutti, discernment, mirror, self-reflective capacity, accuracy of perception, compassion, goal.
Q: What Role Do You Address To Meditation Techniques?
(approx. 12 minutes)Keywords: Form and spirit, playing a violin, right holding, regularly, commitment, determination, internalised, structures encoded in the forms, Five Spiritual Faculties, trust, energy, embodied mindfulness, collectedness, discernment, creativity and agility, fundamentalism, meditation on listening to The Sound of Silence, accumulated denied fear, disillusionment, navaka monks training.