From this book you will learn about the Buddha's direct knowledge of what happens to people after they die. All of the discourses in this book are found in the Sutta Pitaka. Buy Paperback on Amazon.com Buy Paperback on Amazon.ca Buy Paperback on Amazon.co.uk Buy Kindle on Amazon.in Buy Paperback on Amazon.de
For the most part, human beings cannot see all of the results of their good and bad actions. Because of this, people often doubt the benefit of doing good things and the danger of doing bad things. Fortunately, the Buddha taught all about the results of actions. In this book you will learn about gods and goddesses who did wholesome actions in their previous human lives. You will be able to understand how powerful the results of doing good things can be. Readers of this book will also enjoy Stories of Ghosts from the Pethavatthu. This is a complete translation of [...]
This is a complete translation of the Petavatthu found in the Sutta Pitaka faithfully preserved in the the Theravada Buddhist tradition. From this book you are going to learn the actions that lead to the ghost world and how beings are suffering living as ghosts. You will notice that they all lived in the human world like we do now. Here, the Supreme Buddha explains the suffering of the ghost world with a simile: By investigating a person’s mind using my psychic powers I understand how that person behaves. This person having behaved in such a way, on the dissolution [...]
As we go about our lives it is easy to loose track of how quickly time is passing. When faced with the natural difficulties of life, we can try to convince ourselves that tomorrow won’t be so bad. But the Buddha wanted us to use this awareness as a remider to get our life in order and not let the opportunity for spiritual development slip by. “Once upon a time, monks, there was a Teacher called Araka. He was a religious founder and was free of sensual desire. He had many hundreds of disciples, and he taught them like [...]
Once we realize that life is short and can end at any time, what should we do? When we see that we can't do anything ultimately to prevent our death, how should we spend our precious time? King Pasenadi was a devoted disciple of the Buddha who knew just what to do. We can learn his plan in SN 3.25 Pabbatupama Sutta: The Simile of the Mountain below. At Sāvatthī. King Pasenadi of Kosala sat to one side, and the Buddha said to him: “So, great king, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?” “Sir, there [...]
In this last section, we will introduce you to the Maranānussati bhāvanā or contemplation on death. The Buddha once said that footprints of all animals, despite them being two-legged, four-legged or multi-legged, could be placed within the footprint of an elephant. Similarly, all wholesome qualities can be assembled under “Appamādo”, that is heedfulness or diligence. The Buddha said that a disciple should be heedful in order to generate merit and to end suffering. The Buddha said, “mā bhikkhave punnānaṁ bhāyitta,” monks, you should not be afraid of generating merit; “kattabbaṁ kusalaṁ bahuṁ,” do wholesome deeds frequently. The merits we gather in [...]
