Samyutta Discourses BOOK II. NANDANA Lesson #1 Nandana

II. NANDANA

(1) Nandana

Thus have I heard . On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:

- "Bhikkhus! "

- "Venerable sir!" those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:

- "Once in the past, bhikkhus, a certain devata of the Tavatimsa host was reveling in Nandana Grove, supplied and endowed with the five cords of celestial sensual pleasure, accompanied by a retinue of celestial nymphs. On that occasion he spoke this verse:

"They do not know bliss

Who have not seen Nandana,

The abode of the glorious male devas

Belonging to the host of Thirty.'

"When this was said, bhikkhus, a certain devata replied to that devata in verse:

"Don't you know, you fool,

That maxim of the arahants?

Impermanent are all formations;

Their nature is to arise and vanish.

Having arisen, they cease:

Their appeasement is blissful."'

* Explanatory Notes:

a). Tavatimsa, " the realm of the thirty-three," is the third sense-sphere heaven. It is so named because thirty-three youths, headed by the youth Magha, had been reborn here as a result of their meritorious deeds. Magha himself became Sakka, ruler of the devas. Nandana is the Garden of Delight in Tavatimsa, so called because it gives delight and joy to anyone who enters it. This deva had just taken rebirth into this heaven and, while wandering through the Nandana Grove, he spoke the verse as a spontaneous paean of joy over his celestial glory.

b). this rejoinder to a female deva who was a noble disciple. Thinking, "This foolish deva imagines his glory to be permanent and unchanging, unaware that it is subject to cutting off, perishing, and dissolution," she spoke her stanza in order to dispel his delusion.

c). Formations here are all formations of the three planes of existence, which are impermanent in the sense that they become nonexistent after having come to be. Their appeasement (peaceful resolution) is blissful: Nibbana itself, called the appeasement of those formations, is blissful.

What Buddhism Has to Say About Peace and the Peaceful Resolution of Conflict:

* Like all of the major world religions, at its core, Buddhism is a religion of peace. An early Buddhist collection of verses on practice in everyday life, the Pali (Theravadin) Dhammapada, makes this abundantly clear.

    "Hatred is never appeased by hatred.
     Hatred is only appeased by Love (or, non-enmity/non-hostility).
    This is an eternal law.“

* The Pali term for "eternal law" here is dharma, or the Buddhist teachings. So, this verse on non-enmity has to do with a tenet of the Buddhist faith that is fundamental, namely, peace and non-harm. (Moreover, though not often cited, the very last verses of the Dhammapada condemn the class (varna) and other prejudicial distinctions that would divide people.)

As we move ahead several centuries, we find the famed 8th century Mahayana poet, Santideva, saying pretty much the same thing. For example, one finds in Santideva's great work, the Bodhicaryavatara, these verses regarding the dangers of hatred:

"There is no evil equal to hatred, and no spiritual practice equal to forbearance. Therefore, one ought to develop forbearance, by various means, with great effort." --(Ch. 6, verse 2).

And again:

"One's mind finds no peace, neither enjoys pleasure or delight, nor goes to sleep, nor feels secure while the dart of hatred is stuck in the heart" -- (Ch.6, verse3)

* Buddhist teachings tell us that hatred and aversion, like their opposites desire and greed, all spring from a fundamental ignorance. That ignorance is our mistaken notion of our own permanent, independent existence. In ignorance, we see ourselves as separate beings, unconnected with others. Blinded to our true state of interdependence and interconnectedness, it is this basic ignorance that keeps us divided. Only practice that leads to overcoming such ignorance will help to free us from the prisons we make for ourselves and for others.

* We all harbor prejudices of various sorts. There is no exception to this fact. Not one of us is completely freed of prejudicial attitudes. We don't like certain colors or sounds; we're annoyed by certain circumstances, behaviors, or styles of doing things. We are harsh critics even of ourselves. Having likes and dislikes is taken for granted. Indeed, the ability to discriminate is considered an essential part of what makes us human beings. After all, human beings, unlike other living creatures, can form judgments and make choices. Free will and choice are taken as fundamental rights. So, one might ask, what's the problem?

* Since September 11th, we now know that such hate-filled actions are not just events that can be observed from a distance, on television, from the safety of our living rooms. It is no longer the case that we can view ourselves as simply the innocent observers of the "bad guys.“

* In reality, at our innermost cores we are all exactly the same: we are human beings who wish to have happiness and to avoid suffering. Yet, out of ignorance, we go about seeking these goals blindly and without insight. In short, we suffer because we embrace the mistaken notion of our separateness from one another. The illusion of separateness actually works to prevent us from finding the beginning of this erroneous spiral.

* Buddhist traditions tell us that from the very moment the notions of 'I' and 'mine' arise, there simultaneously arise the notions of 'not me' and 'not mine.' That is, from the moment we conceive of 'us,' there is a 'them.' Once the notions of separateness, difference, and otherness enter our thinking, we see the world in terms of us vs. them, me vs. everyone else, mine vs. yours. We are immediately caught up in a world of mistaken, logically unfounded, and seemingly uncontrollable hatred and prejudice. And all these dualistic bifurcations (divisions) occur at lightning speed and for the most part impossible to perceive.

* In Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, one is taught to use the end as the means, that is, in order to become a Buddha, we must begin now, to act and think as Buddha. We must stop thinking of peace as some distant and perhaps unachievable goal and make it our goal right now. *  "There is no path to peace; peace is the path.“

Samyutta Discourses Lesson 10 Forest

 Forest

At Savatthi. Standing to one side, that devata recited this verse

in the presence of the Blessed One:

"Those who dwell deep in the forest,

Peaceful, leading the holy life,

Eating but a single meal a day:

Why is their complexion so serene?"

[The Blessed One:]

"They do not sorrow over the past,

Nor do they hanker for the future.

They maintain themselves with what is present:

Hence their complexion is so serene.

"Through hankering for the future,

Through sorrowing over the past,

Fools dry up and wither away

      Like a green reed cut down."

* This verse was spoken by an earth-bound deva who dwelt in that forest. Each day he would see the monks who inhabited the forest sitting in meditation after their meal. As they sat, their minds would become unified and serene, and the serenity of their minds would become manifest in their complexion. * Puzzled that they could have such serene faces while living under these austere conditions, the deva came to the Buddha to inquire into the cause. The facial complexion or complexion of the skin is understood to indicate success in meditation.

Why do monks living in the forest wilderness look so happy?

The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment

A). You Are Not Your Thoughts

Life unfolds in the present. But so often, we let the present slip away, allowing time to rush past unobserved and unseized, and squandering the precious seconds of our lives as we worry about the future and ruminate about what's past. "We're living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, de-coherence," says Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace. We're always doing something, and we allow little time to practice stillness and calm.

-When we're at work, we fantasize about being on vacation; on vacation, we worry about the work piling up on our desks. We dwell on intrusive memories of the past or fret about what may or may not happen in the future. We don't appreciate the living present because our "monkey minds," as Buddhists call them, vault from thought to thought like monkeys swinging from tree to tree.

We need to live more in the moment. Living in the moment—also called mindfulness—is a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present. When you become mindful, you realize that you are not your thoughts; you become an observer of your thoughts from moment to moment without judging them. Mindfulness involves being with your thoughts as they are, neither grasping at them nor pushing them away. Instead of letting your life go by without living it, you awaken to experience.

-Mindful people are happier, more exuberant, more empathetic, and more secure. They have higher self-esteem and are more accepting of their own weaknesses.

-Mindful people can hear negative feedback without feeling threatened. They fight less with their romantic partners and are more accommodating and less defensive. As a result, mindful couples have more satisfying relationships.

1: To improve your performance, stop thinking about it (unselfconsciousness)

That's the first paradox of living in the moment: Thinking too hard about what you're doing actually makes you do worse. If you're in a situation that makes you anxious—giving a speech, introducing yourself to a stranger, dancing—focusing on your anxiety tends to heighten it. "When I say, 'be here with me now,' I mean don't zone out or get too in-your-head—instead, follow my energy, my movements," says Hayden. "Focus less on what's going on in your mind and more on what's going on in the room, less on your mental chatter and more on yourself as part of something." To be most myself, I needed to focus on things outside myself, like the music or the people around me.

-By reducing self-consciousness, mindfulness allows you to witness the passing drama of feelings, social pressures, even of being esteemed or disparaged by others without taking their evaluations personally, explain Richard Ryan and K. W. Brown of the University of Rochester. When you focus on your immediate experience without attaching it to your self-esteem, unpleasant events like social rejection—or your so-called friends making fun of your dancing—seem less threatening.

2: To avoid worrying about the future, focus on the present (savoring)

-Often, we're so trapped in thoughts of the future or the past that we forget to experience, let alone enjoy, what's happening right now. We sip coffee and think, "This is not as good as what I had last week." We eat a cookie and think, "I hope I don't run out of cookies.“

-Why does living in the moment make people happier—not just at the moment they're tasting molten chocolate pooling on their tongue, but lastingly? Because most negative thoughts concern the past or the future. As Mark Twain said, "I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." The hallmark of depression and anxiety is catastrophizing—worrying about something that hasn't happened yet and might not happen at all. Worry, by its very nature, means thinking about the future—and if you hoist yourself into awareness of the present moment, worrying melts away.

-The flip side of worrying is ruminating, thinking bleakly about events in the past. And again, if you press your focus into the now, rumination ceases. Savoring forces you into the present, so you can't worry about things that aren't there.

3: If you want a future with your significant other, inhabit the present (breathe)

-How does being in the moment make you less aggressive? "Mindfulness decreases ego involvement," explains Kernis. "So people are less likely to link their self-esteem to events and more likely to take things at face value." Mindfulness also makes people feel more connected to other people—that empathic feeling of being "at one with the universe.“

-Mindfulness boosts your awareness of how you interpret and react to what's happening in your mind. It increases the gap between emotional impulse and action, allowing you to do what Buddhists call recognizing the spark before the flame.

-Focusing on the present reboots your mind so you can respond thoughtfully rather than automatically. Instead of lashing out in anger, backing down in fear, or mindlessly indulging a passing craving, you get the opportunity to say to yourself, "This is the emotion I'm feeling. How should I respond?“

-There's a simple exercise you can do anywhere, anytime to induce mindfulness: Breathe. For many, focusing on the breath is the preferred method of orienting themselves to the now—not because the breath has some magical property, but because it's always there with you.

4: To make the most of time, lose track of it (flow)

-Perhaps the most complete way of living in the moment is the state of total absorption psychologists call flow. Flow occurs when you're so engrossed in a task that you lose track of everything else around you. Flow embodies an apparent paradox: How can you be living in the moment if you're not even aware of the moment? The depth of engagement absorbs you powerfully, keeping attention so focused that distractions cannot penetrate. You focus so intensely on what you're doing that you're unaware of the passage of time. Hours can pass without you noticing.

-To set the stage for flow, goals need to be clearly defined so that you always know your next step. "It could be playing the next bar in a scroll of music, or finding the next foothold if you're a rock climber, or turning the page if you're reading a good novel," says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who first defined the concept of flow. "At the same time, you're kind of anticipating.“

-As your attentional focus narrows, self-consciousness evaporates. You feel as if your awareness merges with the action you're performing. You feel a sense of personal mastery over the situation, and the activity is so intrinsically rewarding that although the task is difficult, action feels effortless.

5: If something is bothering you, move toward it rather than away from it (acceptance)

-The mind's natural tendency when faced with pain is to attempt to avoid it—by trying to resist unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and sensations. But in many cases, negative feelings and situations can't be avoided—and resisting them only magnifies the pain.

-The problem is we have not just primary emotions but also secondary ones—emotions about other emotions. We get stressed out and then think, "I wish I weren't so stressed out." The primary emotion is stress over your workload. The secondary emotion is feeling, "I hate being stressed."

-It doesn't have to be this way. The solution is acceptance—letting the emotion be there. That is, being open to the way things are in each moment without trying to manipulate or change the experience—without judging it, clinging to it, or pushing it away. The present moment can only be as it is. Trying to change it only frustrates and exhausts you. Acceptance relieves you of this needless extra suffering.

-If you feel anxiety, for instance, you can accept the feeling, label it as anxiety—then direct your attention to something else instead. You watch your thoughts, perceptions, and emotions flit through your mind without getting involved. Thoughts are just thoughts. You don't have to believe them and you don't have to do what they say.

6: Know that you don't know (engagement)

-You've probably had the experience of driving along a highway only to suddenly realize you have no memory or awareness of the previous 15 minutes. Maybe you even missed your exit. You just zoned out; you were somewhere else, and it's as if you've suddenly woken up at the wheel. Or maybe it happens when you're reading a book: "I know I just read that page, but I have no idea what it said."

-These autopilot moments are what Harvard's Ellen Langer calls mindlessness—times when you're so lost in your thoughts that you aren't aware of your present experience. As a result, life passes you by without registering on you. The best way to avoid such blackouts, Langer says, is to develop the habit of always noticing new things in whatever situation you're in. That process creates engagement with the present moment and releases a cascade of other benefits. Noticing new things puts you emphatically in the here and now.

-We become mindless, Langer explains, because once we think we know something, we stop paying attention to it. We go about our morning commute in a haze because we've trod the same route a hundred times before. But if we see the world with fresh eyes, we realize almost everything is different each time—the pattern of light on the buildings, the faces of the people, even the sensations and feelings we experience along the way. Noticing imbues each moment with a new, fresh quality. Some people have termed this "beginner's mind."

-By acquiring the habit of noticing new things, says Langer, we recognize that the world is actually changing constantly. We really don't know how the espresso is going to taste or how the commute will be—or at least, we're not sure.

 -"When we're there at the moment, making it new, it leaves an imprint in the music we play, the things we write, the art we create, in everything we do," says Langer. "Once you recognize that you don't know the things you've always taken for granted, you set out of the house quite differently. It becomes an adventure in noticing—and the more you notice, the more you see." And the more excitement you feel.

B). Don't Just Do Something, Sit There

- You can become mindful at any moment just by paying attention to your immediate experience. You can do it right now. What's happening this instant? Think of yourself as an eternal witness, and just observe the moment. What do you see, hear, smell? It doesn't matter how it feels—pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad—you roll with it because it's what's present; you're not judging it. And if you notice your mind wandering, bring yourself back. Just say to yourself, "Now. Now. Now."

- Here's the most fundamental paradox of all: Mindfulness isn't a goal, because goals are about the future, but you do have to set the intention of paying attention to what's happening at the present moment. As you read the words printed on this page, as your eyes distinguish the black squiggles on white paper, as you feel gravity anchoring you to the planet, wake up. Become aware of being alive. And breathe. As you draw your next breath, focus on the rise of your abdomen on the in-breath, the stream of heat through your nostrils on the out-breath. If you're aware of that feeling right now, as you're reading this, you're living in the moment. Nothing happens next. It's not a destination. This is it. You're already there.

Samyutta Discourses Lesson 9

Samyutta Discourses  Lesson 9

 One Prone to Conceit

At Savatthi. Standing to one side, that devata recited this verse in the presence of the Blessed One:

"There is no taming here for one fond of conceit,

Nor is there sagehood for the unconcentrated:

Though dwelling alone in the forest, heedless,

One cannot cross beyond the realm of Death."

[The Blessed One:]

"Having abandoned conceit, well concentrated,

With lofty mind, everywhere released:

While dwelling alone in the forest, diligent,

One can cross beyond the realm of Death."

4 Major Differences Between
Being Self-Confident And Being Conceited

1). When accepting a compliment

-Self-Confident:
Someone who is self-confident knows how to accept a compliment humbly, understanding that the person supplying the compliment wants nothing more than for you to accept it. Rejecting it is to reject his or her perception. Why would you do that?

-Conceited:

Conceited people are often insecure and overcompensate by taking compliments as a given, when in reality, they crave the praise to feed their (low) self-esteem levels.

- Someone who is self-confident appreciates praise but is not desperate for it.

2). When admitting you're wrong or can't do something

- Self-Confident:

Being able to gracefully admit you're wrong shows you are confident in who you are. A common misconception is that by admitting you're wrong, you allow the other person to “win” when, in reality, doing so only makes you stronger. Being open to change shows you are ready to grow as a person. Nothing about that says “weak.”

- Conceited:
If your outlook on life is “my way or the highway,” it implies you believe everything you do is correct and/or better than everyone else. This arrogance scars others and yourself. Pushing the truth away, not admitting you're wrong and failing to apologize causes hard feelings and eliminates growth, which strains relationships. Admitting our faults requires vulnerability. Being vulnerable and opening yourself up requires strength and self-confidence.

3). When carrying yourself

- Self-Confident:

You are capable of seeing life through another pair of eyes, from another perspective, making you understanding and compassionate. Being able to do this is a sign of true confidence because you see others' concerns and problems and sympathize, instead of constantly focusing on yourself. This gives you perspective when others try to knock you down.

- Conceited:

You walk with your nose stuck up. You find it difficult to pay attention and be considerate of other peoples' feelings or situations in life. You view yourself as higher than others, as opposed to equal. At first, people mistake this for confidence. They soon realize it is merely a fabricated façade, painted with preconceived prejudices and coated with pride. It is put in place merely to protect your weak personality.

4). When addressing your success

- Self-Confident:

Self-confident people admit to working hard to get where they are, but you do not boast about the opportunities that have come your way, nor do you fail to acknowledge the many people and coincidences that have pushed you forward. You know you wouldn’t be where you are today without the help of others. This realization shapes a humble and grateful mindset. You have no desire to boast your successes and would rather spend your time enjoying them with those who surround you.

- Conceited:

In contrast, conceited behaviors make you think you are the sole source of your success. Everything you've done up to this moment is because of your constant motivation and work ethic, and you've built and created your own future.

However hard you have worked, however difficult it's been, however many trials you've been through and gotten out of, I'd like to congratulate you, but I'd also like to update you: It's not all thanks to you. You are the sum total of all moments, people and events that have come before you. Because of these things, you stand where you do now.
- Self-confidence shines; conceit blinds.