Most Ancient Original Buddhism

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The Four Noble Truths are the cornerstone of Buddhism. If any organization, sect, school, person, or group denies these, then they cannot be called Buddhist. This is the first teaching the Buddha taught after his enlightenment, and he said that all other teachings are merely elaborations on these. The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha), monks, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, dissociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to receive what one desires is suffering — in brief the five aggregates subject to grasping* are suffering." "The Noble Truth of the Origin (cause) of Suffering is this: It is this craving (thirst) which produces re-becoming (rebirth) accompanied by passionate greed, and finding fresh delight now here, and now there, namely craving for sense pleasure, craving for existence and craving for non-existence (self-annihilation)." "The Noble Truth o...

Karaniya Metta Sutta: Loving-Kindness translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu This is to be done by one skilled in aims who wants to break through to the state of peace: Be capable, upright, & straightforward, easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited, content & easy to support, with few duties, living lightly, with peaceful faculties, masterful, modest, & no greed for supporters. Do not do the slightest thing that the wise would later censure. Think: Happy, at rest, may all beings be happy at heart. Whatever beings there may be, weak or strong, without exception, long, large, middling, short, subtle, blatant, seen & unseen, near & far, born & seeking birth: May all beings be happy at heart. Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere, or through anger or irritation wish for another to suffer. As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings...

Don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are unskillful; these qualities are blameworthy; these qualities are criticized by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to harm & to suffering' — then you should abandon them. - Gotama Buddha [AN 3.65]

Whatever the fine clothes I wore when astride the elephant's neck, whatever the fine rice I ate, the pure meat sauce, today — fortunate, persevering, delighting in whatever falls into his bowl, Bhaddiya, son of Godha, does jhana without clinging.

Not to gain or loss, not to status or honor, not to praise or blame, not to pleasure or pain: everywhere they do not adhere - like a water bead on a lotus. Everywhere they are happy, the enlightened, everywhere un-defeated.

Your own self is your own mainstay. Your own self is your own guide. Therefore you should watch over yourself — as a trader, a fine steed. - DHP XXV 380

Let no one deceive another or despise anyone anywhere, or through anger or irritation wish for another to suffer. [ Sn 1.8]

"With what virtue, what behavior, nurturing what actions, would a person become rightly based and attain the ultimate goal?" "One should be respectful of one's superiors & not envious; should have a sense of the time for seeing teachers; should value the opportunity when a talk on Dharma's in progress; should listen intently to well-spoken words; should go at the proper time, humbly, casting off stubbornness, to one's teacher's presence; should both recollect & follow the Dharma, its meaning, restraint, and the holy life."

Buddha taught vimutti which is 'deliverance' or liberation. There are two types of vimutti. 1: pañña-vimutti - which is liberation via wisdom; and, 2: cito-vimutti - which is liberation via samadhi (concentration).

You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there. Not taken in, unshaken, that's how you develop the heart. Ardently doing what should be done today, for — who knows? — tomorrow; death. [MN 131]

"Thus the Teacher teaches the Dhamma, and others practice, for [the sake of] Suchness. And there are countless hundreds of them, countless thousands of them, countless hundreds of thousands of them." [AN 3.60]

"What difference does being a woman make when the mind's well-centered, when knowledge is progressing, seeing clearly, rightly, into the Dhamma? Anyone who thinks 'I'm a woman' or 'a man' or 'Am I anything at all?' — that's who Mara's fit to address." [Soma Sutta]

On seeing a form with the eye, he isn't infatuated with pleasing forms, and doesn't get upset over unpleasing forms. He dwells with body-mindfulness established, with unlimited awareness. He discerns, as it has come to be, the awareness-release and discernment-release where those evil, unskillful qualities cease without remainder. Having thus abandoned compliance and opposition, he doesn't relish any feeling he feels; — pleasure, pain, neither-pleasure-nor-pain; — doesn't welcome it, doesn't remain fastened to it. As he doesn't relish that feeling, doesn't welcome it, and doesn't remain fastened to it, delight doesn't arise. From the cessation of his delight comes the cessation of clinging and sustenance. From the cessation of clinging and sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair all ceas...

We praise companionship - yes! Those on a par, or better, should be chosen as friends. If they're not to be found, living faultlessly, wander alone like a rhinoceros.

"There is the case where evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — arise in a monk while he is referring to and attending to a particular theme. He should attend to another theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful." - [MN 20] Vitakkasanthana Sutta: The Relaxation of Thoughts

In this excerpt, the Buddha is seen giving advice to his son, Rahula "What do you think, Rahula: What is a mirror for?" "For reflection, sir." "In the same way, Rahula, bodily actions, verbal ations, & mental actions are to be done with repeated reflection. [MN 61] Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta: Instructions to Rahula at Mango Stone

"It isn't right, monks, that sons of good families, on having gone forth out of faith from home to the homeless life, should get engaged in such topics of conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state; armies, alarms, & battles; food & drink; clothing, furniture, garlands, & scents; relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women & heroes; the gossip of the street & the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity, the creation of the world & of the sea; talk of whether things exist or not." [AN 10.70]

"He (the Buddha) thinks any thought he wants to think, and doesn't think any thought he doesn't want to think. He wills any intention he wants to will, and doesn't will any intention he doesn't want to will. He has attained mastery of the mind with regard to the pathways of thought. [AN 4.35]

"You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there." [MN 131]

He who, knowing, declared release for all beings from the snare of death, welfare for beings human & divine, the methodical Dhamma — seeing & hearing which many people grow clear & calm; who is skilled in what is & is not the path, his task done, fermentation-free: is called one of great discernment, bearing his last body, awake.

1. The Rejection of Nihilism (Natthika) in Buddhism Buddhism is not nihilistic because it acknowledges a reality beyond the conditioned world of nāma-rūpa ( name and form ), which is subject to arising and ceasing. Nihilism, by contrast, posits that there is nothing beyond the physical aggregates , which is explicitly condemned in the suttas. Vimanavatthu #1252-1253 The case of King Piyasi shows that he initially held nihilistic beliefs but was later corrected through proper Dhamma instruction. His views are classified as natthikaditthi (nihilism) and ucchedavada (annihilationism) —both of which are considered dangerous misconceptions. SN 1.96 (Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation) This passage describes how a nihilist (natthika) faces dire consequences, suffering from darkness to darkness . The idea that natthatta (no-Soul) = Ucchedavada (Annihilationism) = Natthika (Nihilism) is supported across multiple texts. 2. Natthatta ("No-Soul") as a Heretical View The phrase ...

1. Non-Emptiness (Asuñña) and the Self (Attā) The passage states: "What is non-emptiness (Asuñña), O monks? It is the Self (Attano), Self-Nature (Sabhava) is non-emptiness, is the refuge to be sought." This highlights that while phenomena (nāma-rūpa, aggregates, mental fabrications) are empty (suñña) of Self , the Self (Attā) itself is not empty (asuñña) . The Buddha repeatedly emphasizes that all conditioned things (aggregates, mental formations, and sensory experiences) are empty of the Self ( suññam idaṁ attanā vā attaniyena vā —"This is empty of Self or anything belonging to the Self"). However, the unconditioned , which is described as Amata (the Deathless), Tathatā (Suchness), or Nibbāna , is not empty in the same way , because it is beyond arising and ceasing . This aligns with the Uparipannasa-Aṭṭhakathā (4.151) : "Having become the very Soul, this is deemed non-emptiness (Asuñña)." This suggests that true realization ( vimutti ) is not just a r...

Anatta as a Descriptor of Phenomena In the Pali Canon, the term anatta is applied to phenomenal, conditioned, and temporal things , meaning that they lack an inherent, unchanging, or autonomous Self ( attā ). The five aggregates (pañc'upādānakkhandha) —form ( rūpa ), feeling ( vedanā ), perception ( saññā ), mental formations ( saṅkhāra ), and consciousness ( viññāṇa )—are all explicitly described as being anatta . This is because they arise and pass away ( anicca ), are sources of suffering ( dukkha ), and are not the true Self ( anatta ). No "Doctrine of Anatta" in the Nikayas Unlike the widely held modern assumption that Buddhism teaches a “doctrine of no-Self” , the term anatta is not used to deny the existence of an ultimate reality or a transcendent principle ( ātman ). Rather, it simply states that none of the conditioned phenomena we mistakenly identify with as "self" are actually the Self. This crucial nuance is often lost in secondary interpre...

The root-word of Nirvâna is vâ, to blow; and you may translate Vâna the "being blown out like a flame" if you like. But it is quite certain that Nirvâna never can mean this. Nir is the Sanskrit privative (negator), and Nirvâna must mean "not blown", or "not blown out like a flame". (Source, Buddha and Early Buddhism by: Arthur Lille)

Ten Fetters (bonds which keep one shackled to the realm of suffering; Samsara): corporeal identity view, doubt or uncertainty about the teachings, attachment to rites and rituals, sensual desire, ill will, lust for material existence/lust for material rebirth, lust for immaterial existence/lust for rebirth in a formless realm, conceit, restlessness, ignorance

"The world in general, grasps after systems and is imprisoned by dogmas. But he (the Arahant, enlightened person) does not go along with that system-grasping, that mental obstinacy and dogmatic bias, does not grasp at it, does not affirm: 'This is my self.' He knows without doubt or hesitation that whatever arises is merely suffering, that what passes away is merely suffering and such knowledge is his own, not depending on anyone else. This, is what constitutes right view." - SN 12.15