The
Library

Dependent Origination

In this essay Ajahn Brahm discusses the meaning of the twelve factors that make up the standard description of dependent origination. He analyses the nature of the causes linking each pair of neighbouring factors, using a Western model of causality. Having explained what the Buddha meant by dependent origination, he then examines perhaps the most interesting question: Why did the Buddha place such importance on dependent origination? What is its purpose? In the final section, Ajahn proposes that the function of dependent origination is threefold:

1. To explain how there can be rebirth without a soul.
2. To answer the question “What is life?”
3. To understand why there is suffering, and where suffering comes to an end.

43pp. 2002

Journey to the Heart of the Lotus

Unlearning “Buddhist” Meditation

Ajahn Brahm

Based on talks given by Ajahn Brahm during a recent retreat at Jhana Grove Meditation Centre, this book records with gratitude his easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to meditation as laid out by him over the retreat.

Reflecting Ajahn Brahm’s unique way of teaching, the image of the lotus gradually unfolding is used as he shows us, chapter by chapter, how we too can discover the joy and happiness of meditation as taught by the Buddha.

143pp. 2024

Opening Up to Kindfulness

Ajahn Brahm helps us to discover the basic elements of Buddhism. Helping us to understand:

• How mindfulness must be infused with compassion and softness in the Buddhas teachings.
• The development of loving-kindness.
• How to adopt the best view in any circumstance.
• Three fundamentals of Buddhism: Nothing Lasts, Suffering and Nobody There.
• The law of kamma.
• The ability to listen.
• How to dealing with addictions

174pp. 2021

Simply This Moment

A collection of edited talks by Ajahn Brahm, in the main given to monks and vistors on rains retreat at Bodhinyana monastery.

Ajahn inspires and offers practical advice to attain the beautuful, deeper meditation states. In particular, emphasis is given to jhāna meditation, with insights on the breath meditation as instructed in the Ānāpānasati Sutta (Mindfulness of Breathing).

440pp. 2005

The Basic Method of Meditation

Ajahn Brahm, in this now classic booklet, gives an overview of the process and precise instructions for medition.

Meditation is the way to achieve letting go. In meditation one lets go of the complex world outside in order to reach the serene world inside. In all types of mysticism and in many traditions, this is known as the path to the pure and powerful mind. The experience of this pure mind, released from the world, is very wonderful and blissful.

28pp. 2002

Wisdom of Silence

The truth is always silent. The lie is always with words.

Ajahn Brahm discusses the key aspects of Buddhist practice:

• Acceptance
• Meditation
• Attachment
• The Five Hindrances
• The Fourfold Focus of Mindfulness
• Offerings

23pp. 2018

Buddhist Cosmology

Ajahn Brahmali investigates certain aspects of the suttas that appear extraordinary. Examining the Buddhist cosmology of cosmic cycles, solar systems and the fate of the earth, he shows a relationship to modern scientific cosmology.

34pp. 2015

Dependent Liberation

Ajahn Brahmali on how to cultivate joy and mindfulness that leads to liberation.

The Upanisā Sutta describes the practice of Buddhism, centred on meditation, as a natural process of one mind state causing a second phenomenon that leads to another experience ... and so on to the ultimate end point of all processes, Nibbāna.

19pp. 2013

Dependent Origination

Ajahn Brahmali

Ajahn Brahmāli gives a concise explanation of dependent origination that, in my view, extracts its core principle while remaining faithful to the original intent. A major point that Ajahn Brahmāli makes, both explicitly and through his mode of explanation, is the integral connection of dependent origination with the teaching of rebirth. It has become fashionable today to interpret dependent origination simply as an affirmation of the interdependence and interconnectedness of all events, and then to extol it as a forerunner of the scientific method. But while dependent origination may well point to interdependence and a scheme of universal interconnections, this is not its primary purpose. The primary purpose, as seen in the most archaic Buddhist texts, is to show the causal origination of suffering, which is sustained precisely by our bondage to rebirth. Thus, by revealing the conditions that keep us bound to repeated birth, dependent origination also indicates what must be done to gain liberation.

—Bhikkhu Bodhi

19pp. 2013

Satipaṭṭhāna and Samādhi

Ajahn Brahmali investigates the relationship between mindfulness and stillness.

One of the most common unquestioned assumptions among Buddhist meditators is that satipaṭṭhāna is synonymous with vipassanā. This assumption, it seems, often is a result of reading the Satipaṭṭhāna Suttas in isolation without carefully considering the context in which satipaṭṭhāna is used throughout the suttas. When the broader view of the entire Sutta Piṭaka is taken into account, it becomes clear that such an assumption is, at best, only partially correct. In this short study I will investigate the various contexts in which satipaṭṭhāna appear and in particular consider its relationship with samādhi.

19pp. 2016

What the Nikāyas Say and Do not Say about Nibbāna

Ajahn Brahmali gives an overview of the usage of the term Nibbāna in the Nikāyas. He argues that, according to the Nikāyas, Nibbāna cannot be regarded as a self; that the Nikāyas do not see Nibbāna as a form of consciousness, including such exceptional kinds of consciousness as anidassana viññāṇa and appatiṭṭhita viññāṇa; nor can Nibbāna be regarded as equivalent to mind, or any particular state of mind. He aims to show that the most reasonable interpretation of the Nikāyas is that final Nibbāna is no more than the cessation of the five khandhas.

90pp (Wisdom & Wonders edition). SuttaCentral References. [2022]

34pp (Buddhist Studies Review edition). PTS References. 2009

A Flower Called Mettā

Ajahn Chatchai gives precise instructions on the cultivation of loving-kindness.

47pp. 2017

Footprints in the Dust

The Life of the Buddha from the Most Ancient Sources.

Bhante S. Dhammika

From the forward by Sarah Shaw:

“What was the Buddha like as a human being? How did he relate to others? With great care and an eye for detail, Venerable Dhammika pieces together the life events we can 'read' from very early texts. The result is a truly authoritative biography. It shows that as a man, as well as a teacher, the historical Buddha was remarkable indeed. The chapter headings are refreshingly original: a day in the life of, his humour, his debating style, his background. I really enjoyed thinking about Gotama Buddha simply as a person - and clearly an extraordinary one, as Ven Dhammika shows us. I recommend this book to anyone who would like a down-to-earth, accurate and readable appraisal of the founder of this great world religion, seen through modern eyes.”

241pp. 2023

Good Kamma! Bad Kamma! What Exactly is Kamma?

Bhante S. Dhammika deals with kamma and its related doctrine of rebirth exclusively as they were explained by the Siddhattha Gotama, known to history as the Buddha and the founder of the religion called Buddhism.

This account includes:

• the many misunderstandings surrounding kamma,
• a description of what constitutes kamma
• the connection between kamma and rebirth
• passages from the Pali Canon to illustrate what the Buddha taught regarding kamma

56pp. 2015

Like Milk and Water Mixed

Buddhist Reflections on Love

Bhante S. Dhammika

Bhante Dhammika combines Buddhist insights with modern psychology to craft a cohesive definition of love. Drawing upon his many years study of Buddhist scriptures, he explores what the Buddha had to say about romantic love, parental love, love of animals, loving friendship and others. Included is an in-depth look at mettā, the highest love—what it is and why it is an essential part of the spiritual life.

183pp. 2024

A History of Mindfulness

Bhikkhu Sujato

From the preface:

The purpose of this book is to analyze the textual sources of 20th century Theravāda meditation theory. The focus is on the prime source works for what I call the vipassanāvāda, the ‘vipassanā-doctrine’. This is a special interpretation of some central meditation concepts that has become the de facto orthodoxy in Theravāda Buddhism, although not without controversy. The term vipassanāvāda is useful in that the Pali suffix -vāda points to the importance of the theory on which the practices are based. More than that, the same suffix comes to mean not just a doctrine, but also the school that follows the doctrine. This is all too appropriate in the current case, since ‘vipassanā’ has come, rather strangely, to be used as if it refers to an actual school of Buddhism (rather than an aspect of meditation cultivated in all schools).

383pp. 2012

A Swift Pair of Messengers

Bhikkhu Sujato clarifies the meaning and function of calm and insight in Buddhist meditation.

This work is an attempt to clarify the meaning and function of samatha (tranquility) and vipassanā (insight) in Buddhist meditation. Much has been written on this topic, yet a cloud of confusion persists. Though modern Buddhism claims to rest on a foundation of inquiry, many meditators seem willing to invest their spiritual trust in meditation techniques without carefully considering exactly what it is they are practicing.

This is not a beginner’s introduction nor a guide to the nuts and bolts of practice. It is intended for those who have some knowledge and experience in Buddhist meditation, but who are confused by the diverse and often conflicting opinions expressed by meditation teachers. All of those teachers, however, are unanimous on one point—the greatest Teacher, the Teacher of teachers, is the Buddha himself. We wish to follow the path of the Buddha, so our starting point should be to see what the Buddha himself said, and did not say, about meditation. Even though the main aim here is theoretical clarity, I hope to offer inspiration and practical tools for meditation as well.

175pp. 2012

The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts

Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali

This work articulates and defends a single thesis: that the Early Buddhist Texts originated in the lifetime of the Buddha or a little later, because they were, in the main, spoken by the Buddha and his contemporary disciples. This is the most simple, natural, and reasonable explanation for the evidence.

Our argument covers two main areas:

1. The grounds for distinguishing the Early Buddhist Texts (EBTs) from later Buddhist literature;
2. The evidence that the EBTs stem from close to the Buddha’s lifetime, and that they were generally spoken by the historical Buddha.

Most academic scholars of Early Buddhism cautiously affirm that it is possible that the EBTs contain some authentic sayings of the Buddha. We contend that this drastically understates the evidence. A sympathetic assessment of relevant evidence shows that it is very likely that the bulk of the sayings in the EBTs that are attributed to the Buddha were actually spoken by him. It is very unlikely that most of these sayings are inauthentic.

188pp. 2014

Seeds, Paintings and a Beam of Light

Similes for Dependent Arising

Bhikkhu Sunyo

This book explores Dependent Arising from the perspective of the earliest Buddhist texts. The focus is on three similes taught by the Buddha, which answer some important questions about his deepest teachings. With coloured illustrations, schematic overviews, and new translations by the author.

Dependent Arising is one of the Buddha’s most important and central doctrines, but in recent decades it has been interpreted in a large variety of ways. This book illustrates that the early Buddhist texts support the traditional multiple-lifetime interpretation of this teaching, taking a particular interest in the factor of consciousness. Centered around three similes, it connects this factor to rebirth and explains how it relates to the other factors of Dependent Arising. It also explains that appatiṭṭhita viññāṇa, a term used in the similes, refers to the cessation of consciousness.

311pp. 2024

Viññāṇa Anidassana

Bhikkhu Sunyo

A wide range of opinions has long surrounded two innocent Pali words: viññāṇa anidassana. They are translated variously, as ‘consciousness that is without feature / signless / invisible / non-manifesting / makes no showing / can not be characterized’, et cetera. This variety already indicates that their meaning is somewhat obscure. This obscurity has, however, not stopped interpreters from giving the words a lot of importance, because some see in viññāṇa anidassana a kind of consciousness essentially equal to nibbāna. But there are many problems with this. Bhikkhu Sunyo examines these problems and discusses why viññāṇa anidassana is not nibbāna, but rather it is the state of boundless consciousness, the second “formless” meditation state.

30pp. 2021