Old News Archive

Summary:

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• [25 Oct 97] Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya (Threes), added and indexed:

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• Lakkhana Sutta (AN 3.2) &mdash; Characterized (by Action). How to recognize a wise person and a fool.
• Rathakara (Pacetana) Sutta (AN 3.15) &mdash; The Chariot Maker. The Buddha recalls a previous lifetime during which he was a chariot-maker “skilled in dealing with the crookedness of wood.” Now, as the Buddha, he is skilled in dealing with the crookedness of thought, word, and deed.
• Gilana Sutta (AN 3.22) &mdash; Sick People. The Buddha compares Dhamma teaching to medical treatment.
• Sukhamala Sutta (AN 3.38) &mdash; Refinement. The Buddha describes the insights that led him as a young man to go forth, and how those insights apply to the conduct of our own lives.
• Dvejana Sutta (AN 3.51) &mdash; Two People (1).
  Dvejana Sutta (AN 3.52) &mdash; Two People (2). The Buddha offers advice to two aging brahmans who are facing the end of life.
• Tittha Sutta (AN 3.61) &mdash; Sectarians. The Buddha explains how three common views about pain and pleasure can, if followed to their logical conclusion, lead to a life of inaction. He then shows how pain and pleasure actually do come about and how they can be transcended.
• Accayika Sutta (AN 3.91) &mdash; Urgent. Just as a farmer can't predict when the fruit will ripen, so we can't predict when Awakening will arise. So just keep your practice strong; the rest will take care of itself.
• [16 Oct 97] Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya (Fours), added and indexed:

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• Anubuddha Sutta (AN 4.1) &mdash; Understanding. Why do we continue to wander aimlessly in samsara? It's because we haven't yet realized four noble qualities of the heart.
• Aparihani Sutta (AN 4.37) &mdash; No Falling Away. If one is sincere in one's aspirations to realize Awakening, these four aspects of Dhamma practice should be constantly developed.
• Pa&ntilde;ha Sutta (AN 4.42) &mdash; Questions. Here, the Buddha's teachings on skillfulness and speech extend to mastering the art of answering questions.
• Rohitassa Sutta (AN 4.45) &mdash; To Rohitassa &mdash; The Buddha explains to a well-traveled deva that we don't have to travel to the ends of the world to find an end to suffering. We need look no further than within this very body.
• Vipallasa Sutta (AN 4.49) &mdash; Perversions. Four kinds of misperceptions that keep us bound to the cycle of rebirths.
• Samajivina Sutta (AN 4.55) &mdash; Living in Tune. Would you like to live with your spouse in future lives, too? Here's how.
• Anana Sutta (AN 4.62) &mdash; Debtless. The Buddha tells the wealthy lay-follower Anathapindika about the four kinds of bliss that a householder may enjoy. Some require wealth, but the highest bliss is free of charge.
• Acintita Sutta (AN 4.77) &mdash; Unconjecturable. The Buddha warns that if you spend too much time pondering these four things you will surely drive yourself crazy.
• Tamonata Sutta (AN 4.85) &mdash; Darkness. The Buddha explains how a person's goodness is measured not by his or her wealth, beauty, status, etc., but by the goodness of his or her actions.
• Valahaka Sutta (AN 4.102) &mdash; Thunderheads. People who sit around reading suttas all day without actually putting the teachings into practice are like thunderheads that are barren of rain. Go meditate!
• Kesi Sutta (AN 4.111) &mdash; To Kesi the Horsetrainer. The Buddha explains to Kesi, a horsetrainer, how he teaches Dhamma. Kesi is so moved by the Buddha's explanation that he pledges to follow the Buddha for life. This brilliant exposition warrants careful study by all teachers &mdash; not only of Dhamma &mdash; as it reveals the multiple levels in which effective teaching operates: the Buddha speaks in terms that the listener understands (horsetraining), he uses similes to great effect, and he deftly answers the real question that lies behind the student's query (“Please, can you train me?”).
• Patoda Sutta (AN 4.113) &mdash; The Goad-stick. How much dukkha do you need before you're moved to practice the Dhamma in earnest? What would it take to get you really motivated? To drive home his point, the Buddha uses a beautiful simile of a thoroughbred horse stirred to action by its rider. Giddyap!
• Thana Sutta (AN 4.192) &mdash; Traits. How can you recognize someone as a good and wise person? The Buddha explains what qualities to look for and how to spot them.
• Pariyesana Sutta (AN 4.252) &mdash; Searches. What are you searching for? Are you looking for happiness in all the wrong places, or are you truly looking for a lasting, noble happiness?
• [9 Oct 97] Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya (Sixes), added and indexed:

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• Saraniya Sutta (AN 6.12) &mdash; Conducive to Amiability. The Buddha describes how to behave with one's peers in ways that engender mutual feelings of fellowship, friendship, and respect.
• Nakula Sutta (AN 6.16) &mdash; Nakula's Parents. A wise female householder consoles her worried husband as he faces death during a grave illness.
• Sona Sutta (AN 6.55) &mdash; About Sona. In this famous sutta the Buddha uses a simile of tuning a musical instrument to instruct Ven. Sona on the importance of balancing one's effort in meditation practice. After attaining arahantship as a result of this teaching, Ven. Sona describes the qualities that characterize the mind of the arahant.
• Nibbedhika Sutta (AN 6.63) &mdash; Penetrative. The Buddha explains that mastery of the Dhamma is reached through meditating on six factors in the mind, each of which should be understood deeply in six different ways. This sutta contains a lovely short verse pointing out the true cause of attachment based on sensuality.

Developing skillful qualities in the heart:

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• Avaranata Sutta (AN 6.86) &mdash; Obstructions. Six qualities that prevent, and six qualities that foster, the development of skillful states of mind.
• Kammavaranata Sutta (AN 6.87) &mdash; Kamma Obstructions. Another group of six qualities which, if present, render one incapable of developing skillful mental qualities.
• Sussusa Sutta (AN 6.88) &mdash; Listening Well. The Buddha's instructions on how to listen well to the Dhamma, so that we can truly take it to heart.
• [2 Oct 97] Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya (Fives), added and indexed:

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• Samadhi Sutta (AN 5.27) &mdash; (Immeasurable) Concentration. The Buddha encourages the practice of the Brahma-viharas (metta, karuna, mudita, and upekkha) as a basis for concentration practice, as it leads to the arising of five important realizations.
• Siha Sutta (AN 5.34) &mdash; To General Siha (On Generosity). General Siha, known for his generosity, asks the Buddha about the fruits of generosity that one can experience in this life. The Buddha describes four such fruits; a fifth fruit (a happy rebirth) Gen. Siha can only take on faith.
• Kaladana Sutta (AN 5.36) &mdash; Seasonable Gifts. Gifts given at the proper time bear the greatest fruit. Here the Buddha describes five such occasions.
• Bhojana Sutta (AN 5.37) &mdash; A Meal. Whenever one gives the gift of food, five wonderful things are also given, automatically, to both giver and recipient alike.
• Adiya Sutta (AN 5.41) &mdash; Benefits to be Obtained (from Wealth). The Buddha describes for the wealthy householder Anathapindika five skillful ways of using one's money that bring immense benefits to the giver &mdash; benefits that can last long after all the wealth is gone.
• Ittha Sutta (AN 5.43) &mdash; What is Welcome. The Buddha explains to Anathapindika how true happiness can't ever be achieved by merely wishing for it; one must instead endeavor to make merit and follow the path of practice.
• Kosala Sutta (AN 5.49) &mdash; The Kosalan. When Queen Mallika dies, her husband, King Pasenadi, is overcome with grief. The Buddha advises the king on how to free himself of obsessive grieving.
• Gilana Sutta (AN 5.121) &mdash; To a Sick Man. The Buddha reminds a sick monk that by keeping five particular themes of meditation well established, even a sick person can realize Awakening.
• Parikuppa Sutta (AN 5.129) &mdash; In Agony. Five grave deeds that are said to prevent one from realising any of the noble attainments in this lifetime. Don't do these things, OK?
• Udayi Sutta (AN 5.159) &mdash; About Udayin. The Buddha explains to Ven. Ananda the five prerequisites for teaching Dhamma to others.
• Candala Sutta (AN 5.175) &mdash; The Outcaste. The Buddha describes five qualities that determine the degree of one's commitment to being a lay Buddhist follower. How do you measure up?
• Dhammassavana Sutta (AN 5.202) &mdash; Listening to the Dhamma. The five rewards in listening to the Dhamma.

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